Finishing up

As far as a last week of student teaching, I couldn't have asked for anything better. Monday: normal-- I teach half. Tuesday-- same thing. Wednesday-- work for 20 minutes and then have a going-away party. Thursday-- Veterans' Day. No school! Friday-- Field trip.

Yup, it was a great last week.

My first-period class has some incredibly motivated students in it. There was an entire planning committee who planned, delegated, and carried out a fantastic going-away party. It was originally a surprise going-away party, but when your only time to plan is during school, it was almost inevitable that I heard little snippets of conversations that let me on to their plans. That didn't detract from its awesomeness, though! They made some going-away banners that said things like "Thank you for being our teacher" and "We'll miss you" -- in Chinese! One person was designated to make a card, and the whole class signed it. And then everyone brought food. You might think that 8:00 AM would be too early for chips and salsa, homemade guacamole, pudding cake with strawberry sauce, soda, and brownies, but you'd be wrong. Everyone chipped in either food or utensils, and it was a fantastic party! I was amazed at their preparation, and I was almost as amazed that everyone remembered to bring things. I guess it's easier to remember party supplies than homework.... ;)

Each class after that had a few students bring things in, and Mrs. Holmes and I both brought treats, so they were all really fun parties. I have awesome students, and it was nice to just hang out for a few minutes.

I made turtles for everyone, and a few people wanted the recipe, so here it is:

Turtles

Ingredients:

Mini pretzels

Rolos

Pecans or cashews

Directions:

Set pretzels on cookie sheet. Peel Rolos and place one on each pretzel. Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes. Pull them out of the oven, and poke a pecan or cashew on each one.

Tadaa! Easy! The hardest part was peeling all the Rolos. Oh, and making sure not to buy Honey-Mustard flavored pretzels. I haven't tried them, but I have a sneaky suspicion they might not go so well with chocolate.