Hijinx at the Annual Softball Game

It's a tradition that the faculty plays softball against the 6th graders at the end of the school year (and yes, I am enjoying my summer break already). As long as I have worked at this school, the faculty has always won.
It is also tradition that on this day of days, I wear my good ol' Las Plumas High School class of '98 Senior shirt. For those of you not blessed to grow up in Oroville, it has a large "98" on the back where all the seniors signed their names (in order to make it much easier to steal all of their identities). I do this for several reasons: 1. to show that I actually look better in the shirt now than I did back then. 2. If I wear the shirt anywhere else, it will show what an old spinster I am. 3. That shirt's dang lucky when it comes to softball games.
We were warming up before the game, and my students (along with most of the other 5th graders and some 4th graders) started chanting "Miss Rotar, Miss Rotar." You get the picture. What I thought was funny was when the chant changed to "Ninety-eight, Ninety-eight."
The students, thinking that 98 was some sort of sports number for me, were trying to be supportive for the game. The chanting actually lasted for a minute or two (which is a lot of chanting for elementary school kids).
And we did win the game.

Thanks to number 98.

If He Looks Like a Monkey, You Have Bad Taste

This blog entry is actually dedicated to my friend, Kelly. I was talking about how much I enjoyed the new Star Trek movie (and all the exceptionally yummy on screen eye candy). So surprised, she said that she had seen the previews and thought that my favorite (Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock) looked like a monkey. But she couldn't remember his name or the name of the character he played. So the conversation sounded something like this:
Michelle: The guy who plays Spock is so dreamy.
Kelly: Are you serious? Isn't he the one who looks like a monkey?
Michelle: What are you talking about? You think Spock looks like a monkey? The new one or the old one?
Kelly: Huh? Doesn't he look like a monkey?
Michelle: I don't think either of them look like monkeys.
Kelly: Well, if he looks like a monkey, you have bad taste.
Mallory: Wise words to live by.

Last night I showed Kelly a pictures of the regular Zachary Quinto (not all Spockified) and she said that no, he doesn't look like a monkey.

Moral of the story: Slanted eyebrows and a bowl cut= monkey.
In case you were ever concerned about it.

The Bane of My Otherwise Enjoyable Existence

My students have been taking the end of the year CRT tests this past week. These are the tests that are supposed to be seeing that they've learned and remembered everything they're supposed to in fifth grade. Last year all of my kids passed their 4th grade one with flying colors. I just got done looking at this year's math test. It's a BEAST!!! Just when I think I've got the test figured out from past years, and I try to help my students (all year long) to see the kind of questions they ask on the test (though I need to state that I don't share actual test questions with the students, but I do get them familiar with "testing language"), we get a new test, with completely different problems.
And you know what? It's harder. I can't go into specifics ('cause that's against the law, and I could actually lose my job over it), but I have to say, I'm crossing my fingers and saying prayers over and over that my kids will perform their best. They are all really bright kids, but this test has a way of making really bright kids look not so bright.
Wish me luck.