I made it back from Minnesota yesterday. I had a fabulous Thanksgiving with my family there. Dinner with my dad, Suzanne, Chelsea, and Rachel and extended family members from both sides. Everyone was on their best behavior and it was an enjoyable meal. I enjoyed spending time with my little sister. 
She can be adorable and a handful at the same time. Sort of like a young Jewish boy I know who frequently yells “Abba” during the service and hangs off of his father the rabbi when he’s trying to accomplish other things.
I also had Thanksgiving with my mom’s side which was pleasant as well. Good food; pleasures and people whose company I have not enjoyed for more than a year.
Onto the “Back to School Update.”
Today, I failed to properly clothe myself. I failed to realize this fact until part way through the school day. I was decent, of course. The cold weather would have warned me otherwise far sooner. But around 10:30 this morning as I looked down at my arms, I realized that my shirt was inside out. The seams were on the outside! I prayed all day that my students would not notice. Thankfully, they did not. Crisis averted.
Today, I had a student who created a Christmas Wish List instead of doing his math. It included “Nintendo Will” and “200 dollers.” Seeing that he was creating a wish list instead of doing his work, I took the list from his hand and spell checked it with my blue marker. Then I wrote a note at the bottom saying that “[Student] deserved none of these things until he started doing his math work instead of creating wishlists and disrupting testing by talking to other students.”
Then I gave the student a written assignment to do for me to explain why talking during a test is not a good thing for other people.
I think I’m going to have my students create Christmas Wishlists and then as a class we will calculate what percent of us want what types of gifts. Perhaps we will do this on half-day Friday. Oh, thank god I teach in Philadelphia where we never go too long without a break.
