"Just Ask Her!"

My mom is coming to visit next week, and she's going to come to my school to watch me teach. I'm pretty excited to show her the school and introduce her to my students. However, I'm kind of nervous, too. She's going to be sitting in the back watching my every move. I am going to have to find a cool lesson to teach next Wednesday. Wish me luck!

I was supposed to have been observed by my principal by last Friday, but he never contacted me, so I'm waiting for him to make his move. That will also be nerve racking to have the big guy sitting in my classroom. I've had AP's (Assistant Principal;s) casually stop in for five or 10 minutes, but the Principal is supposed to stay the entire time. And then there is a big interview process about what went well/what didn't go well. That will be interesting.

I've really been making a connection with my students, so it's a lot of fun to develop these relationships. The sad part is that the semester is over in just a few short weeks, and I get new students (not all new, but many new) come January. I will miss the old ones. I have really connected with my 10th grade class (the one where I read the letter to them). Ever since reading that letter, we have become "friends" and every day is fun and exciting.

It's funny the things I hear my students talking about. They don't realize that I can hear a lot of what is going on in the classroom. Sounds travels. For example, the other day I heard two girls whispering.

"You ask her."
"No, you ask her. I'm too embarrassed."
"Fine...Ms. Nichols. I have a question for you after class."

They continued their whispering. I heard one say, "She has to know the answer. She's an English teacher." I assumed at this point that they were talking about an English question. I couldn't have been farther from the truth.

"I'm kind of embarrassed. I don't know if I should ask her."
"Just do it. She's a girl. She'll know the answer."
"Do you really think she'll know what a clitoris is? It's kind of a weird word."

I ended the conversation right there by telling them to get back to work. As soon as the bell rang, I went about looking REALLY busy, and luckily enough, the girls decided they were too embarrassed to ask me their question. Phew. Not sure how I would have answered that one.