just what i needed

i almost forgot about joe purdy's website. katherine mcclellan brought it back to my attention - and I jammed out to it during my planning period at school. ALL of his songs are free for listening. i recommend paris in the morning.

http://www.joepurdy.com/ or any song, especially the ones with the harmonica.

a three day weekend away from reality, in taos, new mexico, with some of the coolest ladies i know. i haven't laughed out loud that much in a long while.

and the final thing i'm just so thankful for that i have to share via the internet... a quick story from the classroom.

sometimes i feel like an ogre who snaps at her students when they're talking. sometimes i feel so rushed to get through all the math content and the reading lesson and the "this day in history" and let's say the pledge of allegiance and hurry up we have to go to lunch... that i worry i'm not telling my students how proud of them i feel each day, how awesome they are, how full of potential and hope, and how glad i am to see them each day.

and then, an affirmation that i'm not completely screwing it up. i asked two students to take my laptop upstairs to my classroom (i had been entering grades outside during part of recess) while we went to the driveway for dismissal. when i got back to my desk after an after-school meeting, i found two notes from them on my desk. "you rock, ms. rob. we love you so much. for real! we love you!!!!!! so much!" love, and then they signed their names with about 15 hearts.

it was such a sweet, simple surprise, but it completely made my day. as did seeing my student's faces when i told them we were calling my mom on speaker phone to let them sing happy birthday. it was like i had just given them 32 sour patch kids each, they were so thrilled and jumping around.

as always, thanks for reading. happy day!