the day they have been waiting for!

Remember when you were in middle school and you (finally!) got to hear the birds and the bees human growth and development talk?!  Well, I don't.  It must have been just that bad for me!

Today, I had my students begin by reading the information in the textbook and writing down 10 facts they learned on a piece of paper.  I also had them write down any further questions they were wondering about on a separate paper which I collected from them, and oh my did they have all kinds of great questions saved up special for me!  Here are the top 8:

What happens to the umbilical cord after it is cut off?

Can a man have a baby?

How could a woman know if she is pregnant?

How can a twins fit in there?! 

Can twins be connected?

After you have a baby, do you still stay a little fat?

Do I HAVE to have a baby if I am a girl?

And (my favorite)  How many baby teeth do you loose? 

I am looking forward to what they will throw at me tomorrow when I read them a cute book about hormones, display some fancy diagrams on periods, and show the famous "Feeling Good About Growing Up" movie.  Man, am I looking forward to Easter break!

Good days, cell projects, and crockpots!

Some days everything just seems to go right, and TODAY was one of those days! This morning I picked out a cute outfit, and did my hair like the hairdo video blogs I have been watching- basically I got all prettied up for my OBSERVATION today. My principal was coming in to observe me teaching my class and I had a great lesson planned. Also, today was PROJECT DAY! All the kids stopped by before school with all of their cell models. I love the way they creep in with a big proud smile on their faces and their projects in their hands! Well, all of the kids did their projects, even one kid who I have in my class for the second year in a row. (I called his mom to tell her how proud I am of him!) My lesson went off without a hitch. (If you know a teacher, you probably have heard how nerve wracking these can be!) My daughter has been angel today- homework is done, yes! And I came home to the smell of BLUEBERRY CHICKEN in the crock-pot! Man, there is nothing like coming home to dinner already cooked. What a great day!

microscopes and hand sanitizer

Do you remember how cool it was looking through microscopes when you were in school? I remember being in 7th grade and going into a small lab room filled with microscopes. We would all stand there in the dark observing all the cool stuff we could find in a few drops of pond water. It is amazing to me how many little critters live in just one tiny (gross!) drop. It also makes me want to wash my hands- a lot. The pond water lab has always been one of my favorite labs to do with my students every year. I enjoy hearing them squeal over what they see swimming around in their drop, and I don't even mind when they go through an entire bottle of hand sanitizer!