Last Day!!!

There are two great things about teaching high school. They are Christmas and Summer.

Actually this may be a little too cynical, but right now I'm really appreciating our breaks. Yesterday was the last day of class before Christmas vacation, and I think everybody was about ready. I think every person in the school is sick, and the students have been, shall we say, disiniclined towards pedagogy. Anyway, here are some pictures from our last day of 2008.

It was COLD out. There was a lot of snow on the mountains, which might be kind of hard to see in these pictures. It was very beautiful, but it didn't help to make one feel any warmer. Those of you in Oregon and Maine may scoff, but it felt pretty chilly - you can even see the frost on the football field. The picture with the trees in front is from the stairs in front of my classroom.

I do have a mantle in my room, but, unfortunately no fire - the school disapproves of open flames in the classrooms.

Here's a picture of my 11th grade American Lit class (or those who showed up). They had some pretty good Christmas spirit. Only one of them did the final homework assignment (memorize the Gettysburg Address - can you believe it?), but the mood was good & I'll be happy to see them next year.

The 9th graders were in the computer lab for the day finishing an essay. Amazingly, almost all of them finished it (they're not as jaded yet as the juniors), but I think the look on Johnny's face here about sums up how everybody was feeling about school at this point. They're good kids, but I think that we will all enjoy these three weeks apart.

Meanwhile, our family is moving to a new place!!! It's only about 5 minutes away, but it's pretty exciting for us. So there may be fewer posts in the next little while as we move, but I hope that everyone is enjoying the season & staying warm!

Peace & Love to all,

Patrick