Fitness, 5-Alarm Educational Challenge & Emergency Chocolate

My ladies exercise class occasionally undertakes what we call a “Fitness Challenge.”

Now, boys and girls, the Fitness Challenge should not--I repeat not--be confused with being fitness-challenged. (Which, of course, I am, but that’s not the point.) In our Fitness Challenge, we come up with a few objectives, throw in a reasonable weight loss goal (like I promise to lose 6 ounces within 4 weeks (OK, OK, OK maybe it’s a tad bit more weight), and we devise proper punishment for failing to live up to the expectations and standards of the class. In our case, it’s a money jar. Each and every failure costs a one dollar fine to the money jar.

At the end of the challenge, we empty the money jar and rush speedy quick over to a nearby Mexican restaurant to consume mass quantities of food. Let’s just say that the dinner is usually on me (and not just on my shirt either). Now, I’m not sure about the wisdom in all of that, but it sure is fun.

Well, this Fitness Challenge thing got me to thinking about things. (I know, I know, I know. We all know that happens when I get to thinking, and we all know how I feel about things.)

So, I got to thinking that perhaps I should devise an Educational Challenge, you know, with objectives, goals and consequences. (I think some of you call those lesson plans, but no, silly, I’m not talkin’ about lesson plans here--although I probably ought to rustle up some of those before next week.)

No Siree, Missy. I’m talking about a full-blown 5-alarm Educational Challenge here, strictly not for the faint of heart or Richie hatas. So let’s get right to it. We don’t have a moment to lose. After all, we’ve got five days down and done, and only 172 more school days to go, but, hey, who’s counting? Nope, not me.

Richie’s Full Blown
5-alarm Fun-Filled Educational Challenge

Challenge #5…Can I have more chocolate, please?
I realize that this one directly undermines the whole Fitness Challenge thing (which probably explains why most of my paycheck ends up in the Fitness Challenge money jar), but ah well…

Challenge #5 is to give out more (what else?) chocolate prizes. Chocolate just sets the bar at a higher standard of fabulousness for the year. I gave out chocolate to one of my classes last week for prizes and one kid exclaimed, “I just love this class!”

Forget the AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) located throughout the school, I now have an ECD.

As in Emergency Chocolate Drawer.

I think it’ll come in quite handy throughout the year. Don’t you?

Challenge #4…Increasing membership in the RFC--Richie Fan Club and decreasing membership in the RHC--the Richie Hata’s Club…
Now my principal (who by the way is a very, very nice guy) claims there isn’t such a thing as the RHC, but we all know there are teacher-types who like us (after all, what’s not to like about us?), and we all know, sadly, that there are naysaying hatas out there too. Hails Bails, isn’t that life in general? Still, we can all try and get along, can’t we?

Last year, I identified five charter members of the RHC. (There may have been a sixth one, but I’m not sure.) Despite those five, I still managed to win a few more hearts and minds… OK, OK, OK so it usually involved mass quantities of chocolate, a few StarBucks gift certificates and some favor trading on my part. But still, I think my fan base has grown a bit from last year.

HOWEVER…

…and don’t you just hate those “howevers”?…

With underclassmen photographs scheduled for next week (you do remember I’m the yearbook adviser, don’t you?), I have a feeling that picture day will most certainly significantly and most definitely negatively impact my fan base.

I guess I better fill up the ECD. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.

Challenge #3… Big Fat Stupid Head No More
OK, all you Naysaying Nellies can stop right now. I know I have made numerous proclamations and promises NOT to say Big Fat Stupid Head, and, of course, I have failed miserably. But let’s not be dreamkillers. Let’s see if we can get beyond our record of 92 days, 19 hours, 39 minutes and 15 seconds. Let’s not concentrate on our failures. If we did that, would we have put a man on the moon? Would post-it notes have been created? Would Michael Phelps have won his gazillion gold medals? Give me the dream. Let’s start up that counter again! Let’s reach for the stars! Let’s just see just how long we can make it through the year without once--audibly--uttering, “Big Fat Stupid Head!”

Ladies and gentlemen, start your counters!

Challenge #2… Do not be a bubblehead.
This sort of goes with Challenge #3. This year I will attempt to leave my thoughts in the bubble above my head and not say them. Verbalizing the thoughts in the bubble is bad. (You know what I’m talking about, or rather, what I shouldn’t be talking about.) So, everyone, repeat after me… “The bubble is bad. Verbalizing the bubble is very, very bad indeed.”

Now before we move onto our top challenge, we need to have a money jar and agree that violations of each and every challenge will cost us a dollar a pop.

OK, now on to Challenge No. 1… Can we have a drumroll pah-leese…

Challenge #1…Ta-da! Keep my desk clean
Every year I start school with a clean desk. I neatly sort through the piles of stuff and file them, toss them or hide them. OK, OK, OK so there’s a lot of hiding going on there, but at least at the start of the school year, I can actually see the brown formica of my desk. My paper clips rest neatly housed in their black desk organizer tray, multi-colored post-it notes are stacked in their special baskets and I have neatly labeled and color-coded my file folders to say things like “Hot File,” “Budget” and “Things That Will Get You Fired 2008-2009.”

If only life were so simple.

If only my desk would remain organized.

If only the desk gremlins would stay hidden at night.

If only.

I told you that emergency chocolate was going to come in handy.

186th Carnival of Education

The 186th Education Carnival is up over at SharpBrains! If you want to be in the know about what’s going on in the EduSphere, well, you really should trot on over there and read all the buzz.

My post on “Back to School, YouTube Videos & Shadow Puppets” was included, but hey, you don’t have to go there to read about it here. But you really should go over there.

And while you’re there check out Cherish’s post at Faraday’s Cage is where you put Schroedinger’s Cat. This time instead of figuring out how fat we are on different planets, we can figure out how OLD we are. OMG! Now how fun is that? There’s lots of other stuff too to read at the Carnival so get trotting…

Thank you so-o-o-o-o very much

I’m honored to be given this award by two fab-u-lous bloggers, Mr. Teacher and Loonyhiker.

In order to accept this award in all its awesomeness, the rules state that the rules must be posted. So here there are…

(1) Put the logo on your blog
(2) Add a link to the person who awarded you
(3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
(4) Add links to those blogs on yours
(5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

So-o-o-o-o-o-o my friends, here are the 7 fab-u-lous bloggers I nominate…
1. NYC Educator
2. Old Andrew
3. So You Want To Teach
4. Clix
5. Assorted Stuff
6. Joanne Jacobs
7. Right on the Left Coast

Back to School, YouTube Videos & Shadow Puppets

Like most teachers on the planet--or at least in these parts--I spent last week frantically trying to organize my room and plan for the upcoming school year in the moments provided between attending meetings, learning how to bond with my fellow teacheroos and setting goals.

While at these meetings, we got to watch several nifty little PowerPoints along with nifty little YouTube videos. Don’t you just love those videos? I do.

Jeez, I’d love to show nifty little YouTube videos to help keep my kiddos engaged, but sadly I do not have the keys to enter the YouTube video kingdom where all is nifty and fan-tab-u-lous.

No Siree, not me.

Try as I might, St. Bernard, our school’s Internet gatekeeper, blocks me. No YouTube video kingdom keys for me. No Siree. I couldn’t watch Mr. Teacher’s rather fab-u-lous rendition of Darth Vader explaining the Pythagorean Theorem on YouTube no matter how hard I try.

Nope. No can do. And if you’re reading this from your school, you probably can’t go there either.

And, I’m sad to report that I can’t show an interesting video by that University of Virginia professor to my newly bonded teacheroo friends to discuss how the professor basically cans everything I’ve ever been told about learning styles when he proclaims “Learning Styles Don’t Exist.”

Try accessing that at your school. Nuh-uh. Sorry. No can do. The watcher of all that is Internet will not allow access.

So much for the free flow of ideas. I’m down to a trickle here. I bet you are too. It’s enough to make you think you’re in China. Hey, maybe Chinese spies created Internet blockers.

Now, I could request access from my tech guy buddies, but with our tech guys opening up two campuses and troubleshooting all the computer scheduling problems etc. that surface at the start of the school year, I didn’t because (1) I really, really do like our tech guys and I didn’t want to bother them and add to their stress, and (2) I know this request isn’t that important so it probably stands as much of a chance (at this point in time) as this guy.

So in the meantime until things settle down, I guess shadow puppets will have to suffice.


And if you don’t think I’ll do that, well then my friends, you don’t know me well at all.

Hop Across the Pond & Post A Comment (pah-leese!)

My new found friend from across the pond, Sarah Ebner at the London Times, asked me to look at her most recent post on “The 15 worst teachers in the movies,” but sadly I must report that I am not much of a movie buff. However, I know bunches of y’all are. So I’m asking you’se guys to hop on over there, check out her list and post a comment. (Hey, are y’all catching all these fab colloquialisms?)

Comments over there can be made using your real name, anonymously or using a pseudonym if you prefer.

I do know enough about movies to be pleased that Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter made No. 1 on Sarah’s list. I think my BFF Jennifer on the east coast would be pleased as well as she actually knows someone whom everyone refers to (in code, of course) as “Dolores.” Yikes!

Well, I gotta go for now so I can get ready for FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL stuff. You know the important stuff like what in the SAM HILL am I gonna wear??? Jeez Louise! I do hope to have my regular post ready by tomorrow or Monday.

Unless, of course, I have a wardrobe crisis.

In the meantime, go to Sarah’s site, check it out and post a comment.

185th Carnival of Education

The Ticonderoga pencils stand sharpened, the seating chart ready and the bells, well, they are a ringin’.

We’re back to school all right. No more salsa and chips by the swimming pool at two in the afternoon. No siree, Missy. We are ramped up, ready to go and primed for the new year.

But my feet–which haven’t seen the inside of a high heel shoe in almost 12 weeks–throb. Oh yeah, we’re back in school all right and look who’s joined us…

There’s Travis from Stories from School: Practice Meets Policy standing over there by the frig in the teacher’s lounge admonishing teachers to purge their educational refrigerators before school starts. There’s no room for that toxic-aged tuna sandwich or that educational Muda.

Now while you’re throwing out the tuna and pondering the whole Muda thing, you might want to fly on over to Teacher in a Strange Land and see why Nancy Flanagan thinks first time flyers and new teachers are a lot alike. Then take a peak at Alex Landis’ list of qualities that make for a great teacher. See how you rate.

But pah-leese, don’t think you need to be a hero. Check out what eduwonkette has to say about “Whatever It Takes.”

And while we’re at it, let’s see if you have it. “It?” you ask. Well, head over to Scenes from the Battleground and see what Old Andrew has to say about it.

Jose over at The Jose Vilson lists when he knew he was a certified teacher. You know, things like “I explain to a prospective teacher the pros and cons of teaching using a Venn diagram in my mind.”

And since we’re in the rating groove, let’s go ahead and take a quiz. Great Schools challenges us to take the “Are you smarter than an 8th grader?” quiz. And, no, I didn’t take it yet… it had the word “math” and “science”… need I say more? It’s enough to make my head explode.

And speaking of head explosions… Jasmin’s head got all explodey at Insanity Ensues over some brouhaha over a dress code issue in North Carolina.

But wait! Before our heads explode and we lose important brain matter, let’s exercise our brains and hustle on over to SharpBrains and play the Spot the Difference. Let’s all sing together (you know, like in Sesame Street. You know you want to)… “One of these things is not like the other thing…”

And speaking of things (and we all know how I feel about things don’t we?). Well, it’s a good thing we’ve got this picture thing going because apparently our kiddos are reading less not more even though they have more opportunities to read on line. Extra, extra read all about it on what we know and don’t know about reading and the web from our friends at Britannica Blog.


As if that wasn’t bad enough, wait until you hear about what my daughter had to tell me this weekend… and I’m not kidding around either.

And neither is Looneyhiker at Successful Teaching who thinks we need to do more about bullies–especially cyberbullies.

Well, let’s just send in the clowns. Yep, you heard that right. The Hall Monitor over at DetentionSlip is talking about clowns and wondering why a rodeo clown is the most qualified person we can find to educate kiddos about bullying.

Jeez Louise, what is with you people and clowns? Is there a problem with my hair again? Do I look like Bozo? No? Are you sure? I think I need a cup of coffee. OK, OK, OK, so the transition doesn’t work well, but it’s late and … oh well, let’s just head over to the coffee machine and join the discussion on the fab-u-lous Olympics. A Voice From The Middle is talking about the true Olympic winner in swimming, and it wasn’t (gasp) Michael Phelps either.

What’s wrong with NYC Educator? He looks like he needs a bit of moral support. Yeah, he caved and bought his daughter her own television--one that’s better than his.

Hey, was that the lunch bell? Lightly Seasoned is here, but not eating? What?! No money after buying school supplies for your classroom? Jeez Louise! Here, take half my sandwich then I won’t have to move to Mars when it’s time for the staff fitness weigh-in.

What? You don’t know about the Mars thing? Well, where have you been, girlfriend? Cherish over at Faraday’s Cage is where you put Schroedinger’s Cat (don’t ya, just love the name of that blog?) has a nifty post, “Does this planet make me look fat?” Even if math and physics make you cringe, you’ve got to go there just for the fun link where you can pop in your weight (with no math, no less!) and decide which planets to avoid (you can bet your-you-know-what that you’ll never find me on Jupiter, but go ahead and book me a ticket to Mars). I can’t remember when I’ve been so easily amused.

OMG, I want to know how in the Sam Hill I ended up in the lunch with all the math nerds. Mr. Teacher just popped in his latest YouTube video with Darth Vader explaining the Pythagorean Theorem. May the force be with all of us after that one.

For all my math-challengeness, A over at It’s the Thought that Counts had a really, really, really (did I mention really?) interesting post on why we learn math. I actually found myself nodding my head in agreement and saying “Amen” to his comment that “If math can be taught as something that’s interesting, rather than as something that’s useful, it changes the way students look at it.”

Whoa, why are the lights flickering? Did someone forget to pay the humongous electric bill? Is that DesertJim at the Teaching Excellence Network discussing how energy costs are impacting schools?

Whew! Glad the lights are back on. Oh, I guess it was just Mr. Teacher fiddling with the lights. See those guys over there? Aren’t they part of the new mentoring program to help us? Yep, there’s Instructify with some tips to help improve on-line learning while Garnet is offering tips for profreding ones wrok in his post @edu. Ms. Ward is giving some handy dandy tips at Teacher et cetera on incorporating memoirs in the secondary classroom and homeschooler Steph W. at Life Without School examines how standardized tests mismeasures intelligence.

Hey, did someone see Larry Ferlazzo? I hear he’s pieced together some very useful websites to help teach about 9/11. If you’re a new teacher (or even if you’re not), you might want to check out Catching Sparrows teaching tips. And if you ever wondered about the differences between young students and older students in college, head over to see what Mamacita has to say. And, boy, does she have a lot to say about that.

Rats! There’s that bell again. We better get going, but before we do, we all (yes, every blessed one of us) need to stop by Mrs. Bluebird’s classroom and read about the Pinball Wizard. It will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside…a feeling I don’t get very often.

Oh no, there’s the tardy bell. This time I’ve really gotta go. Have a fan-tab-bu-lous new year! And, hey, don’t forget to meet us at the next carnival hosted by SharpBrains. You can use this handy, dandy form.

“I’ve got this feeling that there’s something that I missed…”

–Snow Patrol

And, if I did, my apologies. Until next time…

Ratios, Russia & Peaches

(Just a brief note to any naysayers out there–I couldn’t make this stuff up even if I wanted to which, of course, I don’t.)

My daughter, who works at a day care while attending attending Texas Tech, called this past weekend to rhetorically asked if I knew “what moron decided it’s OK to put 18 4-year-olds in a room with one teacher.”

“Why the same moron who has never been locked in a room with 18 4-year-olds, bless their hearts,” I replied.

Then, my daughter, who also works a second job at a grocery store, said her co-workers were discussing the recent Russian crisis…

(Isn’t that great, I thought, young people discussing current events. I got goosebumps just thinking about it.)

Oh, but wait… one of her co-workers, well…

“She thought Russia had invaded Georgia,” my daughter said, “as in the state, not the country.”

Never one to let a teachable moment slip by, I said, “You see why it’s so important to get your college degree?”

“But Mom, I think she is in school,” my daughter said.

“Oh my,” I replied.

I guess that girl thought the Russians needed some peaches, bless her heart.

Holely Moley Guacamole!

OMG… and no, I didn’t get bit by another brown recluse spider, but I just got an email from Sarah Ebner who edits an education blog for the London Times (you know, over there in England) and she commented on my recent post “Back to School, Nifty Sayings & Bless Your Heart” and linked to my post and asked if it was all right. All Right? Crap Fire, how all right and fab-u-lous is that?

Check out her post on my post by going here.

184th Carnival of Education

It’s a good thing I got my post “Back to School, Nifty Sayings & Bless Your Heart” out and over speedy quick so it made it in time for the 184th Carnival of Education hosted by the EduSphere Queen Joanne Jacobs. Of course, you don’t have to go there to read it here. But you really need to go there, because there are lots and lots of posts and Joanne did a fab-u-lous job providing a synopsis of each one to help you pick and choose what you want to read. Did we expect anything less?

And speaking of the Education Carnival, next week’s edition will be hosted by yours truly right here. You can use the handy, dandy submission form or you can email your rumblings directly to mybellringers@gmail.com. Don’t forget all entries are due by 6 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, Aug. 19. And, remember that us journalism types are very, very, very (did I say very?) persnickety about deadlines, so make sure your submission finds its way to me by 6 p.m.

The 185th Carnival of Education will be up and running Wednesday, Aug. 20 barring any catastrophes or unforeseen circumstances.

Back to School, Nifty Sayings & Bless Your Heart

School districts across the country are ramping up their back to school in-service or professional development sessions hoping to give us tools we can use throughout the year.

Me? Well, I’m sorry, I usually find those sessions less than helpful. (Have you read the little blurby thing under the Bellringers name?)

So since I’m less-than-a-fan of all things in that in-service realm, I thought I would put together a nifty little list of sayings that just might come in handy during the school year. So here we go…

Richie’s Nifty List of 5 Sayings
You Can Probably Use Without Getting Fired

Saying #5…“Well that’s about nine kinds of stupid.”
I don’t know exactly when I started saying the “nine kinds of stupid thing,” but it was at least seven years ago. I don’t know where or why I started saying it, but when I was reading Scott Westerfeld’s novel Peeps which was published in 2006, I noticed he used the phrase “nine kinds” of this and that all throughout the book. Now since I’ve never met Scott Westerfeld, I don’t know how both of us started with the “nine kinds”of this and that thing going on. All I can say is that both of us are Texans (we’ll forgive him for moving) and that perhaps great minds think alike. Not that my mind is great, but…

Saying #4…“That’s interesting.”
I know we’ve covered this one before, but that phrase is so important to have in your teacher lingo repertoire. Go here to read more about that one, but briefly, when someone says something that’s about nine kinds of stupid, you can always say, “Hmmmm, that’s interesting” and then move on.

Saying #3…“Crap Fire!”
Clearly this one’s perfect for situations that normally demand an explicative such as smashing your knee into your desk drawer or when a purple pen explodes all over your hands or your supervisor requests a little chat with you. I’d love to take credit for this one, but it actually comes from my friend Wayna who is a walking dictionary of quirky colloquialisms. If “Crap Fire!” is a bit too strong, you can always alter it to my rendition of “Crack Fire!”


Saying #2…Bull Flop!
My BFF Jennifer (you know the one who lives on the east coast?) sent me this one. When a new policy is implemented that you don’t like, why you can just say, “That’s just Bull Flop.” Or if a kiddo gives you a particularly suspicious excuse, you can respond with “bull flop.” Or, you can just say “bull flop” for no apparent reason, just because it’s fun to say. Try it--bull flop, bull flop, bull flop. See what I mean?


And the Number 1 Nifty Saying, drum roll pah-leese…

Saying #1…Bless her heart
At a recent summer workshop, we decided that you can say just about anything as long as you end your statement with “Bless her heart” or “Bless his heart.” Now before you go off being a naysaying unbeliever just try saying these little ditties aloud and you’ll see what I mean…

“Oh my, she’s dumber than a bag of cat hair, bless her heart.”

“Oh my goodness, his classroom management skills are absolutely horrible, bless his heart.”

“She certainly gained quite a bit of weight over the summer, bless her heart.”

See what I mean? It’s Crap Fire amazing!

So, now you said you were in education?

Why, bless your heart.

183rd Carnival of Education

Woo-hoo! The 183rd Carnival of Education is up and running over at Pass The Torch. If you want to see what’s going on in the EduSphere, make sure you plan to hop on over there and check out all the stuff people are blogging about. (Sorry, but I wasn’t able to peruse all the posts to tell you my favorites as I have a plane to catch this morning so I will have to read them later.)

My post “Shopping, Barneys & Back to School Survival Tips” was included, but you don’t have to go there to read it here.

Shopping, Barneys & Back to School Survival Tips

This week, ahem, has been slightly less exciting than the brown recluse spider hoopdeedo of last week, but that’s OK because with temperatures ready to soar to 107 degrees (don’t ya, just love August in Texas?), I’m not sure that I possess the stamina to survive any more of that kind of excitement.

The start of school still looms just a hop, skip and a sweltering jump away… August 18 for us teacher types and August 25 for the kiddos so there’s still time to…oh, I don’t know… think about things. And, we all know just how dangerous that can be for me (both in the thinking and things realm).

Still, all this before-school shopping thing got me to thinking especially when I navigated my way from the North Park mall shopping center parking lot through Barneys New York. (For those of you unfamiliar with Barneys, well, let’s just say Barneys makes Neiman Marcus sort of look like Target (sorry, Stanley). Not that I’ve spent much time in either store (Barneys or Neimans that is).

Well, there I was walking through Barneys on my way into the mall. Of course, I glanced at a snazzy dress over there on the rack located just past the personal shopper station for $2,200 or so, and naturally, I tried to surreptitiously check the price tag on a nifty pair of boots for a mere $1,100 or so. The sales clerks--excuse me, personal shoppers--never did offer me a bottled water from their neatly stacked rows of chilled spring water. Obviously those bottles were reserved for real Barney types (and I’m not talking about the purple dancing dinosaur types either).

Oh well, like I said, all that got me to thinking just how pathetic my paycheck really is and just how thankful I am that while I may never own a pair of $1,100 plus boots or shoes, I am the proud owner of this extremely clever list…and you can have it for free. Of course, you can always send $1,100 too if you wish.

Richie’s Nifty List of
Top Five Survival Tips For Back to School

#5… Teacher in-service… I wish I could say something clever and insightful, but my mom always said if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say it at all. So, my friends, my mouth’s zipped up tighter than a drum. You’ll find me in the back of the room sitting behind the coaches reading the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s annual report.

#4…Lesson plans… Ah well, you should probably have a plan, you know, a plan to do lesson plans. And maybe even another plan to do those lesson plans sometime before the actual plans are due in your supervisor’s plan for your evaluation plan. Of course, that means you actually have to find some time to plan, so you might want to add that on your List Of Things To Do. (You have one of those, don’t you?) But then if you’re like me (and be thankful that you’re not), you’ll probably lose your List Of Things To Do so now you have to plan to put that list in a safe place. And Jeepers Creepers, we all know what happens in those safe places, and now I’m exhausted just thinking about all that planning we have to do. Jeez Louise.

#3…Improve your disposition… Buy a tiara for school… it may not make you feel better (although it usually does), but at least you will look fab-u-lous!

#2… Check the Things folder… Review the things in the “Things That Will Get You Fired Folder” and watch for those things again… and again… and again… and if you are a publications adviser, you know exactly what I mean and what kinds of ugly things lurk there.

And finally, the #1 Nifty Back to School Tip… drum roll pah-leese…

#1… BYOB… Instead of wishing for a classroom full of Barneys types, just think of all the fun you’d miss if you couldn’t rummage through those dollar Target bins (and if I’ve got to explain that metaphor, well, you probably should rethink the whole teaching thing…ah, there are those things again.)

And besides, you can always BYOB--Bring Your Own Bottled water.

Worst Job Meme

Thanks to Loonyhiker who tagged me with this Worst Job Meme and my apologies for being so late in responding…

My worst job? Hmmmmmmmmm that’s a difficult one because I have always had a motto that if something (as in a job) isn’t fun or rewarding anymore, then it’s time to move on. So in my “real world” adult life, I don’t have any worst jobs… just some really, really bad, crazy moments. I have to go way back to high school when I waitressed for, oh, about a month. When I almost slid a plate of spaghetti on top of a patron’s head, I knew then it was time to quit and start studying for college.

Now the rules of this game say to tag five people so here it goes…play if you want or don’t… afterall, don’t big people get to chose what they do? My five potential playas are Scholastic Scribe, Mr. Teacher, So You Want To Teach Joel and the Eduwonkette (who I’m sure is too busy to play, but will appreciate the tag) and Edna Lee at Regurgitated Alphabets (who should have time after she cleaned out her closet).

The rules are to write a post, acknowledge the person who tagged you and then tag 5 others.