dinkin flicka

During lunch today, I had an intense 20-minute conversion about why Mr. Krabs (a crab) on Spongebob Square Pants has a whale-daughter named Pearl. One of the four students I had this discussion with had a powerful retort to a theory that Pearl is the daughter of Mr. Krabs' adopted whale-sister who died suddenly: "If you recall the episode, 'Spongebob: Friend or Foe,' it was revealed that Mr. Krabs is an only child, therefore, Pearl cannot, in fact, be his niece by an adopted sister." Wow. And wow that I spent 20 minutes of my life actually discussing this.

Teaching fourth grade is going surprisingly well for a fourth grade math and science teacher whose expertise is kindergarten reading (and I use the word "expertise" very loosely). Actually, a lot of what I learned in Kindergarten has worked really well in fourth grade. I can modify some of the same activities, games and tricks. I convinced my students the other day that algebra is the most exciting kind of math and I shouldn't even tell them about it because they shouldn't even know about it until the 6th grade so they better not tell anyone that I told them about it because I could get into big trouble. So they promised not to tell and begged me for practice sheets to do at home. They already do algrebra in fourth grade form, so I gladly sent home some of those practice sheets and they were thrilled. BAM! Hand me an Oscar!


In other news, Ruby has adjusted well to our home. She is used to our routine, and has decided that things like the dishwasher and TV aren't going to hurt her. She loves going outside and playing in the backyard, and also has a new friend: Hunter, the Counsell's golden retriever/lion down the street. He came over to play on Sunday and they had a grand ol' time. AND I found her a shiny, sparkly ruby-red collar- just like ruby-red slippers! CUTE.

I just finished watching one of my favorite Office episodes. It's the one where Dwight gives a Mussolini speech at the paper convention: "Blood alone moves the wheels of history!...We are warriors!" That has no relevance to this post, but it just makes me laugh.

Stay warm!