Dear Mr. Jennings,

Thank you for being the most patient man on the planet. Really though, you are so patient (because I can sometimes be difficult...)

Thank you for always putting so many fruits and vegetables into my lunches that you make me everyday to take to work. Today one teacher told me that her husband packed her a lunch that day so that he wouldn't keep getting upstaged by other husbands.

Thank you for driving over to my house at 6:55 am every morning to give me those lunches that you make me. I know you get up a little earlier to do this every day so that I can sleep a little longer.

Thank you for being so tall. Not only can I wear heels, but you so often use your height to serve me. For example, you always stand in front of me to block the wind if I am cold, and you hang things in my classroom that would require any other person to stand on a chair or two.

Thank you for understanding that I am not a morning person and can sometimes be slightly grumpy. I think I snap out of it quickly when you are around...

Thank you for knowing that I love doing romantic things like going to the ballet and then looking at Christmas lights. My dream of seeing "The Nutcracker" will finally be realized!

You have such a better memory than me. Thanks for always remembering the things I tell you to remember so that you can remind me when I forget.

My class loves you.

You remind me a lot of my parents in that you are completely selfless. I'm trying to be a little more like you.

I love playing basketball with you.

I'm really, really, really lucky to have you.

Love always,
The future Mrs. Jennings

p.s. do you promise that we can come back to moonlight a lot?

Funny Stories

Funny things happen in room 169 all the time. Here are a few of the highlights. Remembering makes me laugh. I hope it does the same for you...

1. During partner work I hear two boys having the following conversation:
"I have never seen Mr. Dyer"
"That is because she doesn't have a husband"
At this point I asked them what they were talking about. One boy asked to clarify that I'm not married. I said, "Nope I'm not married yet." Then the first boy replied, "Well I think someday you will find the right guy".

2. On the Friday before Halloween we had a ten minute discussion about brushing teeth and why it is so important to do after eating all the candy (especially the sticky candy). I passed out toothbrushes that a company had sent me (Colgate!) and made everyone promise me that they would brush their teeth after eating their Halloween candy. Right before the kids left, a boy came up to me and said, "Ms. Dyer I am not going to go trick-or-treating. I think I will just stay home and pass out candy." I asked him why and told him that he should go and have fun. I was expecting him to say that he didn't want to get cavities, but he looked me very seriously in the face and said, "I don't like to brush my teeth."

My students are awesome.

Happy Halloween from the best 2nd grade class!

We had quite the celebration yesterday. Aren't they cute?

little notes

Today as I was grading some math assessments, I turned one girl's page over and saw that she had written me a note on the back of her test after finishing. It said:


we all love you!


I guess she forgives me for having to take away her cell phone toy. It's still on my desk.

Gratitude Today

This week I have had a very grateful heart. Today I am expressing gratitude for:
-Parents that video chat with me and read to my class
-A job at a great school
-28 students that I love so much and who will sometimes tell me they love me as they walk out the door
-A healthy body
-Parents that taught me to save my money
-An apartment to live in
-Extended family gatherings
-Church leaders and conference. I support them in every way.
-Students that love to read. They remind me of myself when I was their age.
-Women that come up to me in the library on Sunday morning and tell me thank you for working today so that they can come do their genealogy work
-A car to drive to work everyday

Can I Just Say...

That I love playing basketball with my sister? We just won a game with only four players... mostly because of her rebounds and motivation. Rach, I will make my free throws next time.

Sincerely,

your cherished one

Friday was a hard day at work. I had my first official observation. It went well, but I was a little hyper sensitive given the fact that I was feeling very sick all day. The kids were excited for the weekend. The air conditioning went out in the whole school. I was sweating. So were the kids. After recess one of my boys came up to me and said, "Mrs. Dyer, some kid out there said you are the worstest teacher ever. Really, its true, he said it!" After politely reminding him to return to his seat I just thought .... "of all the days to hear that..."

First of all, worstest isn't a word. And I have to remind myself that it was some kid who doesn't even know me and was probably pulling the whole "my teacher is better than yours" thing. I was telling this to my sister later that night, trying to lick my wounds, and she said, "You are not allowed to care what a 7 year old thinks about you." Then she added that he probably said that because he was jealous that he wasn't in my class.

That made me think, and I have decided that I agree. I was sick and emotional that day. But regardless of that, I do have a fun class. We love read alouds. We get really into them. I have a store where they can buy silly bands and candy. I hug them everyday and tell them how much I love having them in my class. So even though Friday was rough, I am looking forward to Monday. Because I may not be a perfect teacher, but I am trying my hardest to be the best teacher I can be for them. And you know what? I think they know that.

A letter...

Once a week my students write friendly letters to someone. Since we are still practicing, I had them write their letters to me again this week. As I was going through them and responding this weekend, I found this one:

September

Dear Miss Dyer

I know we are going to haf a grat year. I am glad I got you so far its fun. this is long. Learning is fun and it is grat grat.

From,
*****

It warmed my little heart. I think learning is great great too, little buddy. See you in class tomorrow.

Dear Man driving the truck outside my window,

Is it really necessary to blast your music and sing along at the top of your lungs at midnight? Right outside an apartment complex? It is summer, people sleep with their windows open so they don't have to break the bank keeping the air conditioning on. I know it is Provo, but there are still some people that need to sleep and be responsible. I'm sorry, but I don't think it is funny when you make pig noises and other strange animal noises very loudly to your passengers and honk to get the person you are waiting for to hurry up.

That being said, I am sorry that I yelled at you. Well, really I just yelled out my window. But if you did hear it among all the other noises you were making, I apologize. I will keep it classy next time. But maybe you should too.

Sincerely,
me

I received my first official love note today. The girl obviously wrote it at home because it was written on cardboard. It says "Teacher. You are so nise."

Also, one student kept calling me "Teacher" in class and one little boy turned to him and yelled "Call her her name. Call her Mrs. Dyer"

Speaking of my name, there is some confusion in the school. On my door is a big sign that says "Welcome to Miss Dyer's class!" Clearly my students are using this to know how to write my name because when I read their letters they wrote me the other day, half of them started with "Dear Ms. Dyer's,". I have the the task of being on recess duty this week and as I was holding the door open for one other 2nd grade class to go through, one girl said "Hi Mrs. Dyer's".

I love my job.

...little things

...are saving me in this job.

Like yesterday when I took my class to lunch feeling as though I had just failed as a math teacher and was feeling very despondent, one of my boys came up to me and said:

"I like your clothes. I like this," as he pointed to my coral sweater.

I just thought to myself: bless you child.

Little did he know that that morning I was about to put on my gray sweater but then decided to wear a brighter one because maybe the kids would think it was fun.

That little comment turned my day around.

...until I made the mistake of asking track 2 if they were excited to come back the next day...

Tokens

I am the kind of person that is comforted by good luck tokens. You know, things that you have on you to remind you of someone or something when you look at it. I needed that comfort on my first day of school. As I sat in my room counting down the final minutes before I went and picked up my class, I realized that I am very blessed as I looked around at all the tokens I have in my room.

For instance, there are the hundreds of books from my second grade teacher (many of which I read myself as a seven year old) with S. Walker written inside of them. There are crayon boxes with names labeled on every one by my mom because "she would have wanted her crayons labeled in school". Each of my books are marked with a beautiful sticker from my sister who designs beautiful things. Outside my wall are 29 bees hot glued to clothespins to display work on. My dad hot-glued on every one of those bees hours before open house. I have big dragonflies hanging from my ceiling over the reading chairs from Sister Jennings. I have books, flashcards, and math tools from my mom who has been handpicking them out at garage sales for the past several months. My sister pinned up the number line on the back wall because only she was able to reach it. My teaching chair comes from a good, good friend who taught several years herself and loaned this one out to me. All of my folders and spirals were labeled with the help of family and friends.

I couldn't have done it without you. My room was built and prepared with a lot of love. From a lot of people. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

2 weeks from today

My students will be walking into my classroom.

I get very overwhelmed thinking about everything I have to do before then, so I am just going to start tackling that list one thing at a time. First up, finish decorating the room by Friday.

My little brother will also be going into the MTC 2 weeks from today. I am sad that I won't be able to be there to drop him off, but I think it is fun that we are going to be starting something very new and exciting on the same day. He is going to do great things down there in Argentina.

It is official...

My plaque. And my one purple wall.

My very own classroom

Today I used the keys to room 169.

I took down the desks and inventoried the drawers and cupboards. I arranged my teacher's desk and tried to organize 30 desks into groups of 5 and 6 while still allowing a portion of carpet space for group instruction. (They are surprisingly heavy. It was hard work by myself)

I designated the area for the listening center and book nook. (Anyone know where I can buy cheap pillows for the nook? Or can anyone help me sew some quick ones?)

I plugged in the pencil sharpener. It didn't work. (I will have to figure that out)

I organized my tissues and clorox wipes, which are the only things I have brought into the classroom so far.

Then I sat in my teacher's desk and thought for a while.

This summer hasn't been what I had expected. Sometimes things don't happen as easily as you want them to.

Sometimes things take you by surprise. But then I realized that in three weeks time I will have 30+ new friends. I won't have any time to feel lonely or sad because I will be responsible for their learning and keeping them engaged throughout the day.

Then I realized that I am really excited. I'm nervous, and I am too overwhelmed for words, but I can't wait to meet my students.

Hopefully the room will be ready by then.

I would like to say thank you...

To the people that let me cut in the security lines. For the upstairs terminals AND the downstairs terminals (because I went to both).

To everyone that did not point out the fact that I was soaked through my gray shirt with sweat as I booked it through the airport.

To the TSA man who took an extra long time checking my ID in order to "teach me a lesson" (I did not appreciate the humor at the time).

To the man behind me in the plane that pushed my bag up for me the rest of the way into the overhead bins when it was clear I was not going to make it (I was so so tired). I think the woman sitting in the seat below it was glad the bag did not come crashing back down on her (because it would have).

To my mom who drove me to the airport in bumper to bumper traffic and endured a near rear ending.

To my dad who came to the airport straight from work just so he could hug me goodbye.

more SF adventures

I have been having so much fun with Nicole. She is so positive and happy all the time and makes me laugh all day long. I love her! I am sad to be leaving tomorrow but here are a few of the adventures we have had lately:

-Weekly checkups. Everything looked great again. Seeing Baby D on the ultrasound and hearing his heartbeat is amazing. The other day Nicole made a comment along the lines of , "Most women who have a baby with spina bifida, that keep it, are religious." That statement kept going through my mind as I saw his head and his heart beating on the screen. How anyone could do that to their unborn child is beyond me. I have seen him and heard him. Baby D is a human being. He has as much of a right to this life as any other baby. He is going to have great parents and a great extended family that love him beyond words. Because he will have some physical limitations does not make him any less special. If anything, he is more special. I know he will bring so much joy to our family and I can't wait to meet him.

-More fun lunches and dinners. San Francisco sure knows how to do good food.

-Packages from Mr. Jennings. He sent up some of my very favorite treats, which are total contraband in rooms, but Nicole and I have been enjoying the sugar.

-Ghiradelli Square. They give out free samples! Which was awesome. It was very big and pretty being right there next to the water.I'm going to miss this girl. Thank goodness for sisters.

exploratorium and park day

The exploratorium was a success. There were a lot of cool things to explore. I'm sure Nicole will post some more pictures of our adventures in there. The highlights inside the exploratorium:
-The mood bubble (or germ bubble according to Nicole) that you placed over your head
-Shadow box which captured your shadows at a particular moment up on the wall
-Speech Delay machine
-Startle Response Booth (even though neither one of us were very startled)

Outside the exploratorium was a really pretty "tribute to love" dome and column outside by a lake with swans in it. It was very romantic. I guess it is called the palace to Fine Arts. I feel like Emily would have loved it.


Today we went to the park because it was actually sunny and warm outside today. We sat on a blanket in the botanical gardens for a few hours, playing Monopoly (the card game) and reading. Even though we are a little burnt from the outing, it was totally worth it. We watched a gopher stick his head up and get ALL THE WAY OUT of his little hole. I have never seen one do that before! Did you know that gophers actually have tails like mice? I bet you didn't because they never come all the way out of their holes. Look for pictures of the gopher on Nicole's blog. It was a highlight of the day.

San Francisco!

Well I have been here in San Francisco for three days now. I must admit that I was really looking forward to returning to California for great weather, but I think it is worse here than in Utah! It is windy and cold (well at least for my cold blooded genes) but it is very pretty. This is my first time in this city.

Nicole is doing great! She is pretty fun to hang out with all day. Every night we eat out, come back and video chat with someone and then watch a show or movie. Last night was Young Victoria. You should all watch it. We loved it.

Yesterday was appointment day at the hospital. I pushed her up to the hospital and we were able to see Baby D on the sonogram. It was amazing. We saw a perfect picture of his little ear and the outline of lots of hair on his head! Its incredible that technology can do that. I love that little guy so much already.

We had a two hour break after that so we went to this little restaurant named Pamelo for lunch. It is "globally refreshing". (Everyone here in San Fran is very concerned with being healthy and organic. I have learned that we should ONLY be eating meat from grass fed cows. Any other way is just inhumane. Don't forget it.) The hilarious thing was that this restaurant was two big hills down. It was pretty hard wheeling the chair down these hills. I had a firm grasp on the handles and couldn't talk because I was so focused on not letting Nicole go. Could you imagine? We made it though and the food was very exotic. I had plantains in my Cuban dish. The hard part was getting back up the hills. My goal was to make it to the top of the block without stopping. I put my head all the way down and pushed with my legs. I told Nicole to tell me if I was going to run into anything. Needless to say, I wish we had a picture documenting it. We were laughing so hard though and I achieved my goal! The other highlight of the day was hearing Baby D's heartbeat. That was a really cool experience for me.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day! Nicole and I were able to go to the beach with some friends from the Ward and have hot dogs and fruit and other treats. Granted, we were all bundled up in our sweatshirts and blankets, but we were at the beach! That is another thing I am so glad about. There are so many couples in the Ward up here that are so kind to Nicole and her support person. They are always offering rides, and inviting us to events. Seeing that has made me more resolved to be that kind of a person because I know now more than ever how appreciative the recipient is.

Today we are going to the science Exploratorium! Pictures and stories will follow soon.

This planet earth

Right now Amazon is showing the first episode of the Planet Earth series for free on video on demand. It is called "Pole to Pole" and I suggest you watch it right now. (And really, watch the entire series if possible)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00321SMFO/ref=s9_simh_gw_p318_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0NJEMBNXAMHGG8A6A3KH&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

I don't know how someone can watch this and say that they don't believe there was a Creator that put this world together. It is incredible. I'm so grateful that He made it so beautiful.

my new apron

Last week I was briefly explaining to Troy how much I love aprons. I just love cooking in them. I mentioned that I saw an apron years ago that I have loved and wanted ever since. I only mentioned that it was online somewhere and it was black with sparkles on it. I told him that it would be such a glamorous apron to cook in...

Fast forward to yesterday when he surprised me with a present. Inside was the EXACT SAME apron I saw those years ago and wanted. He told me that he had google imaged "black apron" and went through page after page until he found one that was black with sparkles on it, and it was the same one! He told me this was my present for finishing classes and that I could now "feel glamorous as I cooked". What a cutie.

maybe i'm not ready for this...

Today the good majority of my friends I started this BYU journey with are graduating.

I'm so happy for them, but I can't help to feel a little nostalgic. I myself sat in a meeting at the district office yesterday to sign my contract and listen to all my insurance options. Somewhere between listening to flex spending and life insurance with the optional dental and vision insurance I started to feel a little overwhelmed. I began to wish that I could go back to freshman year of college where all we needed to worry about was making it to the Cannon center before they closed and whether or not the vending machines were restocked, or at least to be able to call my dad and have him explain all of this business stuff to me before I had to write it down on my contract. How am I supposed to know what to claim on my W-4 forms without him?

I loved being a student. I loved the predictable schedule of classes and work every single day. Now I have the "real world" to worry about. Being a grown up is a little overrated. But I am grateful for the experiences I have been able to have for the last four years and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to teach 2nd grade this coming year. I will make it through this grown up life one day at a time for now.

At least my dad is on speed dial.

bowling poses

This weekend we went bowling with the kids. Highlight came when I realized that my niece was literally posing herself and waiting for me to take her picture. On each pose.

She totally did this on her own.

all of us bowled 2 games for free thanks to this guy. i think he is a keeper.

Chad Becker

In second grade, I was the queen of the handball court. Nobody could beat me. I am pretty sure I had one of the longest running records of being undefeated too.

This same year, my teacher used a money system in the classroom. We could earn different amounts of dollars that would be exchanged or taken away when candy or some other treat was purchased (I always saved my money for a long time and bought the lunch date at Burger King with the teacher). I even figured out a way to get more money. I had my mom buy a bucket of fire balls at sam's club and I sold them to my classmates, for their class money, for 50 cents a piece. This lasted for a few days until the teacher found out about the business I was running and put an end to it. (No worries, I had already sold out of my bucket and was very rich).

Anyways, one day at lunch we were having another handball tournament. I was on the court and had been the entire recess, until Chad Becker came on the court. It was a close game and he won on a questionable move. The whole line broke into applause and shock (because nobody ever beat me) and kept telling me that I lost and had to get in the back of the line to wait my turn to play again. I threw the ball on the floor and shouted, "You guys are so mean!" and ran away (probably to the jungle gym, I still pretended at this point that it was a pink bubble gum castle).

When I came into class after recess, there was a five dollar bill (of class money) on my desk with a little note written on it that said:

i'm sorry
-Chad

Even in second grade I knew enough to be embarrassed for my tantrum I had thrown because someone had actually beaten me. This note made me feel even worse.

I'm not sure why I remember this episode so clearly, but I do know this. I am now teaching second grade, and we are using the money system in my classroom. Those students will do ANYTHING for money. They love earning whatever they can. They count their money every morning (and some compare as to who has more). This has only made me realize what a big deal that was for Chad to give me that $5. I mean, when you are earning mostly quarters at a time, five whole dollars is a lot. What a sweetheart he was. I have no idea what happened to him after second grade, or why I can remember his full name, but wherever Chad Becker is, I hope he still has such a big heart. I bet he does.

Family

The best thing about families is that we go through things together. We are a unit. We cry with each other, laugh with each other, and love each other unconditionally.

I know this more now that I ever have before.