C is for Chris Garrido

Have you ever had a boss/supervisor that is totally awesome? I have been lucky enough to have quite a few. (Hi Sherri! Hi David! Hi Ed!)

I have two great administrators at my full-time job. They pretty much let me do whatever I want. And they bring doughnuts.

This post is about my part-time boss/supervisor. His name is Chris Garrido. He has an adorable son. He just got married to a beautiful lady (who I hear can bake like an angel.)

His half birthday was two days ago. Hap Birt, Chr!

He trusts me. He believes in me. He appreciates me and even gets my sarcasm.

Even though he is a Red Sox fan, he's pretty awesome (at least he's a Gator fan).

I think my feelings for him can best be expressed through a song (random SNL reference):

Here's the story of a lucky lady,
Who was tutoring some cute little kids. (2008-2009)
All of them did very well, because of their tutors.
Then the next year we had no dough. (Thanks a lot feds!)

Here's the story, of a man named Chris,
Who was busy with tutoring as well.
He was trying to keep us all together,
From the other side of the world (seems like it).

Till the one day when the lady got a call from this fellow,
And he knew he wanted her to work for them again.
That she could somehow find him more teachers.
That's the way we all became the HLC Bunch!
The HLC Bunch, The HLC Bunch.

That's the way we became the HLC Bunch!

Okay, that song is probably a little more about me, but I like it.

I'm not trying to suck up for "Tutor of the Month". I'm just felt like RANDOMLY writing a blog about an awesome person. 

S is for Social Studies

I've decided to spend a little extra time on Social Studies this year...

Here are the top 10 reasons:

1. "Abraham Lincoln sneaked into a theater and shot George Washington."

2. "The teworwists fwew an aiwerpwane into the Empiwer State Buiwlding."

3. "America is a part of Florida."

4. "Cavemen and Indians hunted for dinosaurs to eat."

5.  English is a language. Spanish is a language. French is a language. British is a language.

6. Judges are the same as presidents.

7. People in a jury are called "Jur-mans". 

8. I am a "Zephyrhillian" and it is considered to be a BIG city.

9. "The capital of California is Hollywood."

10. I kid you NOT... (I called a few students up to my desk this morning to sing with me) here is a compilation of "America the Beautiful":

O beautiful for space in skies,
For amber waves of grain.
For purple mountains magically
Above the fruit in pain!
America! America!
God’s head is great on me!
And crown my good with brotha-hood
From sea to shiny sea!

(you should try singing this at the top of your lungs...it's inspiring)

I just hope we have time to set some records straight before 'they' create a Social Studies FCAT.

O is for Overwhelmed

So I felt a little like a hamster in one of those little plastic ball thingies. Kind of running around haphazardly, bumping into stuff, pretending I knew what I was doing so no one picked me up and put me in a cage.

And then...I got a box. It had my name on it and it was from OUT OF TOWN!

Wow! I thought to myself. Buckler, what did you forgot you ordered now?

Well, it wasn't something I forgot I ordered. It was a surprise gift! A beautiful, wonderful, super fantastically awesome gift! From my former "Valentine" and teacher friend! Sewn with love by a tiara finding friend. Both of whom have moved far, far away to places I hear have all four seasons.

Here it is:

It is a hall pass holder/sign that has LADYBUGS on it!!!!!

I want to laminate it!

I want to spray 10 layers of Scotch Guard on it!

I want to put it in a glass box my top shelf and tell the kids they can just LOOK at it!
(and maybe have some lazers protecting it...)

That is how much I love and adore it.

Here is a picture of how I feel about it:

Here is the note it came with:

Notice the cute little jar/milk bottle it came with! I know these took some hard work to clean-up. They are going right on my window sill with my collection. Love, love, love them!

I also enjoyed the packaging materials. Here is what the kids saw when I opened the box:

An ad for 99 cent underwear and comics from a Yankee newspaper. It was like a gift inside a gift!

One of my darlings, which I shall call Type A, said that my gifts were a wonderful example of bucket filling. She also applied the Second Step lesson for the day: "Ms. Buckler! You're feelings changed just like Tonya's did. First you were feeling a little stressed out, but now you are so happy!" She was exactly right, that observant little Type A.

Public Service Announcement:
"If you ask Emily Buckler to help you with something, she is GOING to help you. Maybe it was growing up on a farm before child labor laws or maybe she is trying to get some good Karma. Nevertheless, you do NOT need to repay her. She hopes you do not feel as though you need to do so. She is just thankful for all the help she's received in her lifetime and is trying to pay it forward."
(this message is approved by Emily Buckler)

Thanks from the deepest depths of my heart, Mrs. Campbell. And the "little help" from you, Mrs. Dudley!

P in for penCil

So the other day, I accidentally made a typo on my facebook status. I got a lot of comments on it.

The funny thing that none of you knew... "pencil" was one of our Challenge Spelling Words this week. It has a short e.

Thankfully, I've written it correctly everywhere my students can read it.

Here are some alternate spellings of the word "pencil". I'm sure you will notice that NONE of them were spelled MY way.

pencle, peincl, pintsol (my favorite)

pensol, pennsly (say what!?)

pencill, pensl, pecil

Cutest work to date: