Spring Is Here!

After a long, cold, Rexburg winter, it seems only natural to worship the first rays of warm sun to grace our presence each spring. When the sun is out and the snow begins to melt, 43 degrees has never felt so warm and beautiful. Today, however, it got to a scorching 63 degrees! We had to take advantage of this beautiful Easter weather. Becca and Stu came over for Easter dinner, and then we threw a frisbee around at the nature park and we fed the ducks. It was so fun and so refreshing!

I LOVE SPRINGTIME! 

We also carved our initials into a tree... is that bad? We had never done that before. It was fun! Here are some photos. We are wearing jackets because the sun was going down and getting a little chilly, but the weather really was very nice.

Confessions of a Teacher in a Lockdown

The terrible tragedy that happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School occurred on the very same day that I graduated with my degree in Elementary Education. That event was probably the saddest thing I have ever heard about since.... like... 9/11/01. It really affected me. I shed many, many tears for those children and their families and the teachers at that school. I cannot fathom what that must have been like. Ever since that day, I have wondered what it would have been like to be in that position. As a teacher. At that school. Seeing those little faces and knowing that all of them were looking to me to be their hero.

If you weren't already aware, schools now practice lockdowns. This is when the principal gets on the intercom, says lockdown, and all the students gather silently in the corner of the classroom. The teachers are in charge of getting the lights turned off, locking the doors, and keeping the children quiet and calm. The good news is that teachers are informed before a lockdown drill takes place so that they do not panic. I have been informed about all the lockdowns I have had during the time I have been teaching, but since I am not a full time teacher, I get that news from the actual classroom teachers. Unfortunately, today I was not informed that we were going to have a lockdown drill. The other teachers knew, but I did not.

As soon as I heard "Lockdown! Lockdown! Lockdown!" over the intercom, I immediately realized I did not have a key to the classroom I am in. I used to teach on the stage, and I have a key to that, but I just recently started teaching in the classroom. So yes. No key. In a lockdown. I think it is real... not good. So I turn off the lights, tell the kids to go sit down in the corner, and I sit next to the door, hanging onto the door handle. A couple seconds later, I realized this was a dumb idea. I am sure I will not be able to hold back a crazed gunman. So I have the students sneak through the cubby area to the next classroom over. We are safe. Behind locked doors, at least. It didn't take me long after we were all seated to realize that it was a drill. They always go around and bang on the windows and jiggle the door handles when it is a drill, and I assumed a gunman wouldn't have chosen those same tactics. I was definitely relieved.

Being in that situation, however, really gave me a chance to think about how I would react in an actual lockdown situation. When I was hanging onto that door handle, I knew exactly what I would do if someone tried to enter. I would tackle him. (or her). I would run straight at him, full speed, wrap my arms around him, and tackle him to the ground. I would probably bite, kick, and punch. I would die, yes, but I know that would have been my reaction. I already had my mind made before I realized I would need to make a decision like that.

Anyway. It was definitely a scary, interesting experience. But, today was a great day, because I didn't have to tackle any gunmen at school!

Valentines for My Kids

I just realized that I forgot to share with my blog friends the Valentine's I gave to my cute 4th and 6th grade students. I just printed out a bunch of hearts on red and white paper, put a couple hole punches in them, and then inserted a glow stick! Personally, I think they are so cute, and a great, cheap alternative to candy :)... Plus. they LOVED them! 

PS: I got the glow sticks in packs of 10 from the dollar store :) 

Computer Programming

In case you didn't know, my husband is going to school to be a computer scientist. He is SUPER good with computers. Bryce always has been such a natural. He is absolutely amazing. He spends hours of his day every day programming..... but honestly I never really understood what he was doing. Whenever I look at the screen and at what he is doing, it just looks like a mess of numbers and symbols. It looks like a completely different language (which it pretty much is).
Here is an example: (You will probably have to click on the picture and make it bigger to really see.)

Here is my cute husband working on his latest project. He is creating and programming a game boy, pretty much. One step of his project is to create an alphabet library.... meaning he has to create every letter using code so that it shows up on the little LCD screen near the bottom of the photo. 

I have always thought it was cool that he programs computers and stuff... but honestly, like I said, I had no idea what that even entails. So, Bryce decided to give me a mini lesson! I got to help create some of the letters in his program.... It was actually a lot of fun! I created the "K", "L", "M", and "N". After I created those letters, Bryce said, "Good Job, Honey! You are now a computer programmer!" Haha. Yah. Right. But it was still super fun!
And now I kind of understand what it means to write code! 

*****Kind Of*****

Bryce is almost finished creating all his letters (right now he working on "x"). But here is a sample of what shows up on his LCD screen when we write a message using the font he created.

 (Bryce says "the font WE created").