I never seen somebody smile so hard

The first day of school!!!!! Has there ever been anything more exciting? Not only do the students all come to school in their best outfits, but the teachers do too! We all get there early, in our best clothes with our hair done and makeup on. Everyone is pumped, and more prepared than they were last year, excited that this is going to be the best school year ever! 

I give my happiest, craziest welcome to my new sweet physicists. I am so excited. This is what I love to do. At one point in the afternoon, one of my brand new babies remarked, "I never seen somebody smile so hard." Ha. My favorite quote of the day. 

Let the school year, and the resulting blog posts it will bring, begin!!

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They don't want to leave

In 3rd period today, the bell rang, and no one left.

Today was the last day of normal class. Next week students only have to come if they have to take exams, (students can be exempt by their grades and attendance.) 

Third period has an inside joke about extra credit. Whenever someone does something especially good, (or especially funny, or especially embarrassing,) the whole class yells, "extra credit!!!" and claps. They want me to give out extra credit for all of these random things, the silly munchkins. I never did, haha, until after class today. I actually made an assignment titled "Third Period Extra Credit <3" and gave each of them 10 dailywork points (hardly anything,) but they were so sweet today!

Today we had finished our last fun activity and the members of third period were all just talking and laughing and hugging each other. When the bell rang, one student exclaimed, "For the last time, EXTRA CREDIT!!!" And the class exploded like someone had won the lottery. They jumped up and down and happy-screamed, and group hugged me, and were filming it on their phones like it was New Years Eve. Haha. I usually teach with my door shut. I noticed during all of this that my door was still shut. Not a single student had left yet. For a high schooler, that is rare. They normally want to leave class as soon as possible, exploding out of the door when the bell rings. (I don't let them open it before the bell rings. They'll try to trickle out. Hah.) But today they were in no rush. They wanted to be here, enjoying the last moments of third period.

How wonderful is that, to have a class that students don't want to leave? My heart is filled to the top with love today. 

This year's 3rd period

This is a really weird club, isn't it?

During Physics Club on Monday I had a sentimental moment. I was lying on a taped-shut trash bag on a lab table and my students were all around me, literally lifting me up with the breath from their lungs as they blew into straws they had poked into the sides of the trash bag. (We saw it on the internet... you see we're our own form of amateur myth busters. And hey, it worked!) A girl who has been going to Physics Club since her freshman year, (she has an older brother. And I am proud to say this girl is one of our school's valedictorians this year!) commented during this endeavor, "This is a really weird club, isn't it?" And that meant so much to me! Ah, and we reminisced all the weird things we've done in Physics Club... Yes, we have marched into the neighbor chemistry class with flaming (as in on fire) flaming cheeto torches chanting physics rules chemistry drools... Yes, we have duct taped me to the wall... we have made ice popsicles in the freezer... we have all been electrocuted with the tesla coil as a right of passage... my heart is full with such good times.

In other news, one of my most difficult-to-manage students, (whom I sincerely adore!!!) had to write me a letter, (always my first discipline step for students.) It makes me chuckle because his writing exactly matches his speech. His first sentence is, "I got this EA because I didn't hear Mrs. Fitz talking to me but she thought I was disrespecting her." Oh, the sweet physics babies haha... I wonder how many of you can relate? I don't ever want to teach anywhere but LHS. 💙

This week is spirit week! For decades day I was 50's, and so was one of our fabulous counselors! We were told we could have been sisters!

I was super proud of my hair... Seriously one of my biggest accomplishments

The most adventurous thing

Every Wednesday in the middle of group bellwork I ask my students a get-to-know-you question. Last Wednesday the question was, "Who in your group has done the most adventurous thing?" Most groups shared normal answers, "So-and-so has gone cliff jumping, so-and-so has been indoor skydiving," (yes, apparently that's a thing.) And then 3rd period Group D comes along. "I crossed the border." (And it's funnier when it's true...)

And that, my friends, is what every day teaching high school is like! Haha. Lovin it.

Last week I taught the Refrigeration Process dance, (something I made up to help students remember the steps in that cycle.) I was re-choreographing it from last year, getting rid of an outdated move, and staring off into space before first period. (I couldn't actually practice the moves because then the students would know it was coming!) And a student asked, "What are you doing?" And I snapped, "I'm thinking!" "Mrs. Fitz I wasn't talking to you." "Oh, uh, my bad..." haha of course all of this was said with love. 

I just love how into it my students get with the dance...They do it at lunch, they show it to their parents, they say they can hear me saying it in their heads while they take the quiz. Haha. It's been a good week.

And of course it ended on Friday the 13th that was also a full moon and one of my seniors says to his classmates of mostly sophomores and juniors, "Hey, if anybody wants they're doing $13 Friday-the-13th-themed tattoos at this place..." Hand palm to face. To my class of 15-and-16-year-olds. Sigh. We all know that if a student raises his/her hand, there is absolutely no telling what statement might come out!

Nothing like some leopard print to warm up cold winter weather!