I'm an English teacher.

I just noticed that the title of my post says "mockinbird" rather than Mockingbird. Awesome! At least I didn't write Mockinjay, as I almost did many times.

To Kill a Mockinbird Anyone?

If you have read or are familiar with this great classic, you will really enjoy this essay. It was written and turned in FOR REAL by one of my cute students who was just so preciously confused.

"Bob Ewell, Mr. Cunningham, and Atticus Finch are way different people and their different personalities. Bob Ewell is 50 something years old man and is married his wife named Barbara Ewell. Mr. Cunningham is the same age as Bob Ewell and isn’t married and has one child named Walter Cunningham. He is the same age as Scout Finch, he does work for Atticus Finch by chopping down their wood. Last but not least is Atticus Finch and he is also about the same age as Bob Ewell and Mr. Cunningham, he has 2 kids named Jem Finch and Scout Finch, he used to have a wife but his wife died in a car accident, he also has a housekeeper names Calpurnia who helps them doing the children’s chores and makes them breakfast in the morning when the kids are off to school.

Bob Ewell and Mr. Cunningham were very prejudice against black people and that Bob Ewell’s wife was cheating on him with Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch is defending Mr. Tom Robinson while he is in court. While they were in court they asked Tom Robinson and Barbara Ewell questions on how Mr. Tom Robinson held down Barbara Ewell and raped her. The jury in court where saying that Tom Robinson is defined Guilty and they were supposed to send him to jail but someone shot him when they got the chance to put him into the jail cell, the person who shot him ran off so fast they can barely see him, like is was invisible. Atticus Finch went to tell Tom Robinson’s wife that he had been killed and the wife almost fainted and she was crying really bad and she told Atticus to come in and tell his father what happened to his son about when he got shot when he was about to go to jail and he seemed okay but he was sad too. Then Mr. Finch went home and went to bed. The next day they had another court jury and Mr. Finch had to still defend Tom Robinson and they called up Bob Ewell and told him to write his name on a piece of paper, so he did. After he wrote his name he asked why he had to do it and Judge Taylor said that the person whop raped Mrs. Ewell was left handed and Mr. Ewell was left handed, after he wrote him name they told him to sit down and the called up Tom Robinson and also told him to sit down, when he sat down Mr. Finch started asking him questions like “Did you rape Mrs. Ewell”? And he said “No” and they asked him another question “Did you by any change try to hurt Mrs. Ewell while you raped her”? And he said “No”. Then he told him to sit down and the court jury was over. The next day another court jury began. Tom Robinson went up again and the jury kept asking him questions like “Did you beat her when your rapped her 2 years ago”? He said “No”. Then Mrs. Ewell went up again and they asked her more questions like “Did you have an affair on your husband”? And she all of a sudden burst into tears and ran out the door but luckily Mr. Heck Tate caught her and told her to sit down. Mr. Finch’s kids were sitting up on the balcony with a bunch of more black people that were friends with Tom Robinson. Scout and Jem’s friend Dale fell asleep but Tom Robinson’s father, then soon enough the jury was over again and began the next morning, but luckily the court jury was very fast and quickly over with because Mr. Finch’s kids were getting really tired. The jury eventually thought Mrs. Ewell was guilty but she ended up being innocent and they told her to go home with her husband. The next person up was Heck Tate. He told the jury and the judge of what happened that night he saw Tom Robinson rapping Mrs. Ewell. He had a very convincing story but that still didn’t cut and the jury thought he was innocent and he went home. But when he started going home he saw Atticus Finch walking past the jail cell and Mr. Heck Tate was wondering why he was still there even though Tom Robinson was dead. And that is all about my essay."

No need for a Title.

I really like the ocean. And Tracie. And I'm pretty sure that soon after this picture she lost those cute sunglasses in the great abyss.

What the??? Sorry. Tracie THURSDAY!

Not that anyone looks anymore. I know, I know, we're all busy.

SNOW Tracie!

Happy snow day! Or, as some might think, the end of the world! Cheer up, we still get a pic. Or two.

105, 109, 90. And Tracie.

Tracie gets real gassy when she's excited. And she was SUPER excited that I beat my average in ALL THREE GAMES last night at bowling.

Martes.

Lol. Love you, Andy.

Vocabulary Lesson

"The colors at dusk reminded me of cat vomit. Very pretty cat vomit." -favorite student in 2A

T-t-t-TUESDAY!

Why I stay up past my bedtime and other random thoughts.

1. I believe Brayden or Audrey took this treasure. Sorry it's a day late two weeks in a row. Not a habit.

2. Had my first encounter with plagiarism on a book report. Called the student over.
Me: What does "ubiquitous" mean?
Him: Oh, um, uh, oh, well, I can't really describe it. . . .
Me: Maybe because you didn't write it? (He had cut and paste-d the info TWICE. Couldn't have been more obvious.)

3. I was informed today that there is at least one but possibly three teachers in my hallway who hate my singing and loud talking and feel it need to be addressed. So I will address it tomorrow in the hallway, loudly, during each class change. Sorry that I actually enjoy my job.

4. I was so happy to see Uncle Jesse showing off his pipes and dance moves on "Glee" last night. Only thing that could have made it better? The mullet. (ps I haven't finished the episode so if it sucked don't tell me.)

5. Just got my flirt on with my friend and wing-girl, Natalie at the Tute. It was a good talk by a seasoned CES teacher full of great info on the Book of Mormon. Nice. But to top it off? We had some really classic moments with the boys in the gym afterwords. Priceless. I'm pretty sure that Nat and I should have a reality show in BYU-tv. It would be a must-see. Classic comments:
a. So how often do you come here?
b. You were a snowboard instructor?
c. My name is Carlos. (From a blond haired blue eyed german-decent-ed fellow.)
d. Maybe you could show me some moves on the slopes.
e. Snowboarding is better. Skiing is better. reminded me of. . . . shampoo is bettah. . .no, conditionah is bettah! Name that movie for five extra credit points.
f. We don't like church.

Tracie Tuesday. . .er. . .Wednesday

Sorry!

T-FORCE!!

Muchas cosas.

That means, that I have a lot of things that I've wanted to write about lately, but when I have the time, I forget about it. So we'll just do a big ol' informational post.

I've been really thinking lately about how sad our world seems right now. I know, downer way to start a post, right? I just mean that it seems as if there have been so many tragedies lately and it makes me sad. Most recently, I'm sure most have heard of Madison Mecum, the 13 year old Orem girl who was hit and killed by her 13 year old class-mate who made a choice that altered both their lives. Maddie lived next door to Alan and April and babysat my little babies. When April told the kids, Victoria had a really hard time with it and cried a lot. Being the helicopter aunt that I am, I drove right on down there to rock her in the chair. It broke my heart to see her affected in that way. Although I don't think it's the first encounter she or Brayden has had with death, it just really struck her sensitive little heart. I pray that both families will find peace and comfort during this unfathomable time. I can't imagine ever dealing with something like this and pray I'll never have to.

On a lighter note, I was able to spend a lot of time with my nieces and nephews this weekend as I went on two separate birthday dates and had a great time on both. I love them all so so much and am so glad that Alan and April are so nice about me wanting to see/hug/call them all the time. It's probably good they live 45 minutes away. For them, anyway. I'll post a few pics that I snapped of the dates later, when I download them off my camera.

I've been taking a lot of pictures lately, well, a lot compared to when I wasn't doing any, and I really really just love this time of year. The colors of fall are so breathtaking and the air is so crisp and clear that it just provides the perfect backdrop for pictures. My cousin Heather married Tyler just a few days after conference, so the temple grounds were even more stunning than usual. The weather was overcast and we just barely missed some sprinkles, but it was a lot of fun reveling in their newly-married bliss. I also took some family pictures for my sis-in-law, Kami's family. It's not a secret, I love the Andrew's. From the first meeting, I think at the Firehouse restaurant in Bountiful, I knew that there were good times to be had. We've told Erik many, many times how glad we are that he snatched Kami up when he did, but in-laws come with a spouse, and we're glad that they are fun. Remember Kim and Ted's excellent adventure? Yeah. Fun. You can check out some of their pictures on my photography blog, here. I have some more family photo shoots coming up with a lot of cute kids in cute little costumes, so stay tuned for those.

Finally, I want to mention how much in love I am with Sara Bareilles' new album, Kaleidoscope Heart. I thought about doing a movie review, but we'll just do it here. I love it. I love the music, the complicated beats, the thoughtful lyrics, the juxtapositions, the harmonies. It's just really great. I highly recommend it. Some of my favorites are:
Kaleidoscope Heart
Gonna Get Over You
Hold My Heart
and
Breath Again.
I don't know why I like break up songs so much. I could honestly list the whole cd. Maybe over time, I will. You might just get lucky.
Oh! One more thing! I made a super awesome commercial advertising for the Academic Team with one of the other coaches and I'll try to get it uploaded somewhere because it's soo funny and I would love to let you see it. Believe me, you want to see it. I think that's all. For now. I get to see Tracie this weekend! Yay!

I said BRRRR!!!

It's COLD in here. There must be some TRACIE in the atmosphere!!!

Happy first Tracie Tuesday in October! Yay for fall!!

Whose eye is it anyway?

HA HA HA. One Sunday night a long time ago, we were at my grandma's and for some reason we had my camera with me. Randomly, Tracie and I took pictures of each others eyes, and then I think she took pictures of everyone's eyes. I was just looking for treasures for Tracie Tuesday and came upon these. They needed to be shared.

Miss Paul, bully.

Call me narcissistic, but I like to put myself into all of my students vocabulary quizzes. All as extra credit, of course, but I like to ask questions that I think they should know. For example, last time, was "What is the best class at MJH? Answer carefully." Obviously, it's my class. Most got the point. If they put Mr. Dipo, no way, jose. More on Mr. Dipo in the future.
Today, one of the questions was, "What are two things Miss Paul likes to do?" Really? I tell stories all. the. time. Most of them are about me, doing things I like to do. Shouldn't be too hard to throw out an idea and see if I like it. I even gave the girl who wrote "bike" the point because, well, she's just so sweet.
The overwhelming responses were reading, teaching, singing and dancing. Not a real shocker. Some random responses were, "work in her garden and sit on her porch," which after reading, I yelled, "Victor*! I don't have a garden OR a porch!" He responded that it was just a guess. I gave it to him because I would like to have a porch to sit on. Another favorite response from my 3b period in particular was "bowling," as I had just told them the story of my big 117 point game last night. They were excited for me. Except for that one kid (there's one in every class of every school--you know who s/he is) who says, "one time I got like 175." Sure you did.
But one student left a response that I laughed out loud at. It said, "bullying and teaching." "Louise*! I do not like bullying!" and she laughed sheepishly and said, "Oh, I spelled it wrong." Bowling. Easy mistake.
What she doesn't know is that I get great pleasure out of bullying. Just ask Tracie. Or Laura. Or Erik. Not Alan because he was more of a bully than I was.

PS Laura, I told one of my classes the "gum incident" story and they all said I was so rude. They just didn't realize how disgusting it was. I'd do it again tomorrow. Please don't make me.
PPS *all names of students will be changed because I don't want to be sued.

T-Pain Tuesday

Hey Anne, how do you spell freckles?

Tracie Tuesday + Ode to the 9 volt.

So Tuesday's are generally a good day. Not only do I get to see gems like the one above, but I get to go to bowling. It's a good time. I am still improving, last week my best game was a 94, this week it was a 95. Every pin counts.
But the best part about this week was that one time when I almost won $107 in "Strike it Rich". You can buy raffle tickets for $.25/ticket and they draw a ticket to bowl. If that person gets a strike, they win the pot. If nobody gets a strike after three tickets are drawn, it rolls over to the next week. This was the third week so not only was the pot higher, but they draw until someone rolls a strike. It was nobody's night. It was unfathomable (vocab word) to everyone who'd been there for years because this had never happened before. Finally, one of my tickets was called. I shrieked like I'd automatically won. And then I proceeded to roll a gutter ball. I blame it on the adrenaline. It was crazy high. Oh well, maybe next time.
Go, Hot Tamales (not Tomales)!!

Things you'll hear or see at a jr. high dance.

Boy to girl: my friend says that he thinks you should kiss me.
Girl's friend: yeah, do it! Kiss him!
Boy shrugs shoulders, like, well?
Girl pauses, hesitates, obviously doesn't want to kiss boy 1.
Girl's friend encourages again.
Miss Paul starts to poke girl on shoulder to tell her how stupid the idea is.
Boy and girl kiss.
They turn and walk away in two different directions.

Pushing, screaming, running, attacking, hugging, everywhere there is hugging.

Overheard but the culprits were not seen, "Stop touching my boobs!"

Boy and girl seen in hard core make out session. Ms. Ungricht walks over to couple and informs them they need to suck face outside. Boy and girl are then separated and placed in different parts of the gym.

More running. More pushing. More hugging. If only the sound system was working better, we could have had a real soundtrack to the event.

Tracie Tuesday!!

I heart Music.

I do, I really do. I love that songs can trigger memories like nothing else. One of the groups that triggers such memories is Colors. I vividly remember first hearing them at orientation at Snow College in 1998. They performed several times in the two years I was down there and I went to every one. I had them sign cd's and I dreamed of marrying Russ. He was hot. I guess he still is, but he's married now so I'm over it. We would sing and dance and it was always number one in the road trip playlist (is that one word?). Good, good times were had while listening to one or all of their three cd's.
My roommate Christina told me that they were doing a concert on September 11 at the Sandy Amphitheater and I jumped at the chance to replace her husband as her date. We had amazing seats and it was so weird to be listening to them play and sitting down. But everybody else was and I find that now that I'm 30 I conform a lot more. I couldn't handle it anymore by the last song though and had to dance. They haven't lost anything in their music skills and I found myself commenting to Christina more than once that I didn't remember them being that funny. They played some new songs, which are also awesome, but I really loved hearing the old ones. Undoubtedly, one of the coolest moments of the night was when they paid tribute to 9/11 by singing the national anthem. It was beautiful and so touching to see so many people standing and singing along in respect. I was so so glad I went! Thanks again, Christina (and Aaron for getting the tickets!)!

The guy that opened for Colors is named Ryan Innes. Oh my word, does that man have some pipes!! They kept talking about the "soul" in his music, and really, it was phenomenal. I love the description written on his page:
Ryan Innes has always been one for breaking the ice. From his newsboy cap to his bold kicks, his personal style makes him “fat and sassy”, but it is his wit and boldness that will make you fall in love. With a laugh that melts your heart and a beard that claims it, Ryan Innes has created his own brand of soul. If Michael Buble and Joni Mitchell had a love child raised by Jimi Hendrix and babysat by Norah Jones, that child would be Ryan Innes. His self-titled EP tastes like dark chocolate, smells like musk, and feels like silk. Ryan’s voice will dig deep into your memories and help you release emotions long repressed in a way that is new and inspiring. Not only is his skill as a vocalist impeccable, but his ability to express emotion is the difference he brings to the table—then serves with a side of pie. His lyrics are infused with familiarity reminiscent of your mother’s lullabies. In Beautiful Baby he says “when you give what you’ve got, a little is a lot” and truly, Ryan Innes has given “what [he’s] got”. His is a talent you hear once in a few lifetimes. His music makes you want to love harder, hurt deeper, and let go of all your inhibitions, leaving you speechless—until you learn the words well enough to sing along. -Ashlie Lohner
Babysat by Norah Jones. . .hilarious. Really, though. AMAZING. And not just because he's single. I feel a new crush coming on. It's been a while.

I want this in a poster.

ODE to the Big Salad. PS this is about bowling.

Well, my friends, Tuesdays will forever be the best day of the week. From here to forever. Or mid-march. Not only for Tracie Tuesday, but for the following reason as well. Remember how you thought that there wasn't any possible way that I could get more awesome? Well, it happened. I joined a bowling league. I even have a membership card. My friend Lindsey (not Lind-SAY) informed the facebook world that her team needed another member. I jumped at the opportunity to not only hang out with her (she's really cool) but to improve my rockin' bowling skills. And who wouldn't want to cross "join a bowling league" off their bucket list?
We meet at Bonwood (Lanes? Place? Center? I don't know) on Main and 2500 south on Tuesday nights and it was really, really great.
Lucky for me, it is a handicap league. Go ahead, laugh. I did. Finished? It's not THAT kind of handicap. It means that you don't have to be good. So let's say that my average score is 70. BIG numbers. That means that as long as I do better than that, our team can still win. Plus, I believe that I get like 140 pins added to my end score, which is a good thing. I don't know why, or what any of that means, but that's just what they tell me. I don't know what I'm doing, I just pick the ball according to the color I like.
So, my little ones, be ready for great stories; such as me being approached for a chest bump. It really was a time for celebration because I got my first strike of the night, but I was caught so off guard that I almost peed my pants. That would have been a good video for youtube. Maybe next time.

PS Lindsey ordered a salad and it was giant. I said I'd put it in the blog. It was an integral part of the evening.

Happy Tuesday!

Laura thinks this is too mean. But I reminded her that Tracie does this to herself. She takes these all on her own. I believe this is on her way home from her first trek. And no, she's not crying. She sometimes just makes these special faces. Awesome.

Words Can't Even Describe

How much I love this video. I want to memorize it. I think my class would appreciate it.


Oh, and this one.

Introducing. . .TRACIE TUESDAY!!!

It's true. I miss her. So welcome to the new weekly addition.

Well.

When did this girl




get old enough to go to this school?



She'll have a great time and I'll miss her!!

Killer

Brandon Flowers-- "Crossfire". Awesome.

Dear Heidi and Clayton.

Sometimes God answers prayers through people. Sometimes, He uses Yogurtland. In this case, He used both.
You've opened my eyes to a whole new world of joy, happiness, and dancing taste buds.
For that, you will be forever blessed.
I will be naming my firstborn child, male or female, Heyton.

Frumpalicious!

I was thinking last night about how if people came across my blog and didn't know me they would think that I had four kids. Because let's face it, that's 90% of what I blog about. So, as much as I love them, I'm going to boot them down to an occasional post because I know you'd rather read about me, right?
Ok.
Well, I'm working up the courage to ask a certain boy I know over for dinner. I know y'all want details, but I don't have any yet so just keep your pants on. I'll keep you posted.
That's about it.

PS when school starts, a new rule will go into place: I can only wear a ponytail-braid two times a week. But right now, it's just too dang hot.

Summertime. . .and the livin' is easy

I love summer. Being a teacher definitely helps that. But I love the summertime holidays and activities, too, and as long as I'm not stuck in traffic without A/C, I love the heat! Most of the time, anyway.
Following are many many pictures from hanging with the kids, the 4th of July "Cul-de-sac of Fire" in Orem, and Bear Lake. Eat your heart out.
So Ellie does this surprise face that is so dang cute. She's so funny!

Audrey was taking my pitcho while I took her pitcho.
Here, she had prepared my lunch.






Audrey needed to "seep in pool".







Tracie's such a good example. Nothin' like a good punk while watching fireworks.


Ellie LOVES phones.

I tried to get Audrey to kiss Tracie with this face.








Audrey had gotten sunscreen in her eyes and was crying and she wore herself out by the time we got to the beach.