Read on to learn more about April Fool's Day Pranks, the Senior Prank, Bunco, Prom, Artwork, and a Shopping Cart Stealing Adventure.
April Fool's Day
I didn't pull any pranks on my students this year. I've actually never pranked my students before. At #EdCampTULSA, an administrator in one session mentioned that she has her staff wear their crazy Christmas sweaters on April Fool's Day. Whenever students mention the sweaters, the teachers act like they are wearing the most normal attire ever. Hmmm... Maybe next year!
Anywho, I did have several students try to pull pranks on me. First hour, one of my students came in my classroom and said, "Ms. Hagan, I saw one of your calculators out in the hall." Now, I hold my calculators in a place very near and dear to my heart. Several calculators have gone missing this year, and that makes me so mad! So, I was very excited to rescue one of my calculators from its uncertain future in the hall. I walk out in the hall, and I don't see my calculator. So, I start walking up and down the hall, looking for my calculator. It's just nowhere to be seen. But, I look on because I WANT to find my calculator! Pretty soon students start giving me funny looks as I pace up and down the hall looking for the elusive calculator. Finally, curiosity gets the best of some of my students in the hall, and they ask, "Ms. Hagan, did you lose something?" To this, I said, "I can't find my calculator! Somebody told me that one of my calculators was out in the hall, and I can't find it!" It was at this point that I realized that it was April 1st, and I had been pranked. My students got a big laugh out of this.
Fourth hour rolls around, and I ask my statistics students if they've seen any good April Fool's jokes. One student remarks that the identical twins who go to our school have traded places for the day. At this point, none of their teachers had caught on. I have one of the twins in my fifth hour, so I knew about the prank in advance. But, it wouldn't have been too hard to catch on otherwise. At the end of lunch, the twin who is not enrolled in my Algebra 2 class walks in with a student who is enrolled in Algebra 2. Very conspicuously, he points to a seat and says, "You sit here!" Then, he proceeds to describe where everybody else sits and what supplies the student will need. All this is going on as I am sitting at my desk! Still, I pretend to be in my own world.
Class starts, and I go on like I don't know anything is up. The twin raises his hand, participates, answers questions. He's never used a graphing calculator in his life, so students at his table take him under his wing and show him how to complete the problems. Truth be told, this twin (who is enrolled in geometry) actually participated in class a lot more than his brother normally does! All the while, my students are trying to figure out if I know what's going on. There are whispers and lots of pointing going on. Towards the end of class, I decide to write a note to the twin letting him know that I appreciate his participatory attitude even though he was only in my class for a day. I write this on a post-it note and lay the note on his desk as I walk by. Of course, I could have just announced it to the class because he has to let the entire class know that I had caught on to the prank. Only two teachers caught on to the prank. I wish I had been there to see one twin work on the other's sewing project in FACS class!
Playing With Barbies
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| High School Students Playing With Barbies In Class |
One afternoon during testing week, I walked in my classroom to find that a group of my students had gotten my box of barbies and wrestler dudes out of my cabinet to play with. I guess standardized testing is stressful, and playing with dolls helps?
Prom 2014
Prom 2014 was a success. As a sophomore class sponsor, I attended prom as a chaperone, but I didn't have any prom-related duties. Next year, I will be a junior class sponsor, and that will make prom my responsibility. Yay?
This year, we had prom at the beautiful Wilderness Center in Stroud. This place is truly in the wilderness! We drove for miles and miles and miles to get there. All the time I was driving, I was thinking that *if* I believed in Big Foot, this is the type of place you would find him!
We had a beautiful view of Stroud Lake. And, did you know that you can purchase a disposable fountain? This thing was made out of cardboard!
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| Fountain at Prom |
My action shots turned out a tad blurry. Sorry!
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| Prom 2014 |
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| Prom 2014 |
Prom planning has already started for next year. This is going to be a huge job!
Senior Prank
Our Seniors worked hard to pull of a most interesting senior prank. Each floor presented a different challenge. On the first floor, they spread out ten square bales of hay. On the second floor, they opened all of the lockers and threw trash all over the floor (not pictured.) On the third floor, they set out 400 cups of Kool-Aid. |
| Senior Prank 2014 |
The teachers who had to clean up all three floors were NOT happy. The entire school smelled like hay. I texted my sister, "So I guess this is what it's like to work in a horse stable." Let's just say that many of our students discovered that they were allergic to hay on this day when their allergies kicked in. Students were begging me for Benadryl. I didn't have any, and even if I did, I couldn't have given it to them.
New Artwork
Remember the pencil cup that my sister made me? She recently gifted me with this cool triangle paperweight. I'm so jealous of her amazing artistic ability. Thanks sis!
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| Triangle Paperweight |
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| Triangle Paperweight |
Bunco
I went and played bunco last month. I didn't win enough games or lose enough games to win a prize, but one of my students who was at bunco won this prize. Since she doesn't wear jewelry, she passed it on to me. How sweet!
And, I got my first bunco. And, my second bunco. It was an exciting night!
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| Bunco Prize |
Shopping Cart Story
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| Shopping Cart |
Yes, I'm that crazy person who had a shopping cart sitting in their dining room. Yes, I'm the crazy person that sees their neighbor has put a shopping cart on the curb to be picked up by the garbage truck and decides to rescue it. Yes, I'm the crazy person who waits until it is dark outside to take the shopping cart from my neighbor's garbage because I don't want anyone in my neighborhood to know that I'm the one who stole/rescued a shopping cart from the garbage.