"They said they love you more than the universe."

"But less than their mom." Hard to believe, but I think Ruby was almost as excited about this compliment as I was. Those Red Teddy Bears really are the best part of my day. She even went so far as to say that she just didn't know how they were going to replace me when the year is up. It's not like the end is coming all that fast, though. I've still got another 7 months + here. So for now, I'm still beating ivleague.



This seems to be the end of my Teacher's Day haul. I'm really pleased with my kids. They sure know how to shop for teacher.






They're cellphone charms, handmade on Jeju Island. And I really love giraffes. This kid, KKid, is awesome.






When Ruby got to the school today, she called me into her office to say, "Erin! He is here! He's weird." ivleague. Oh yeah? 'Magine that.

I didn't actually talk to the guy. Or get within 10 feet of him. I think we made eye contact once, but I was in the middle of a conversation, so nothing came of it. He is weird. He hovers and sketches up the place. He takes it upon himself to help teach the classes that he is observing and after hearing him do that to Tooly I knew he was coming for me next. The walls were thin enough that I could tell tension was running pretty high in there. So when Ruby came to my door to ask if he could sit in on my Red Teddy Bears I said no. That's the best part of my day, no way. She agreed it would be weird for everyone, but she just didn't know what to do with him. Send him on home, Rube. How hard is that to figure out?

She just let him continue casting his creeper shadow over everything, but my classroom remained untouched.

Oh! And get this. That experience he had in Singapore? He got fired from that gig last summer. "My old school wasn't very accepting of constructive criticism."

New Guy's right. There's no way this guy was socialized as a child. There's something not right about him. He doesn't seem to know anything about how to converse with humans. After my kids met him in the halls they told me that they definitely want to have me forever. He's weird.

I like that the only way people know how to describe this guy is with that one word. It sure fits, though. He's a weird sketchy guy. It's still early, so it might just be that his recovery from jet lag is adding to his weird factor. His first impression was pretty piss-poor, but I try not to judge people on those. My first impressions are rarely all that impressive either. He might be a cool guy. Buried under all that sketch, of course.

So the day progressed the way most days do for me recently. I spend a lot of time laughing in class and trying my best to catch the grammar mistakes before the kids do. With the advanced kids, though, sometimes I don't get to the mistakes in time. Take today:

KKid: "Simon said that he would take the job, unless if his coworkers wanted him to stay."
Erin: "Good, now-"
JKid: "Teacher!! Grammar mistake! He said 'unless if.'"


Crap. That's that thing Mom keeps bugging Steve about.

Erin: "... You know the rule: You have to correct him."

JKid then went into a detailed explanation of the proper times to use "unless" and "if" and finished with a classy "Okay, YES! I get a sticker??"

I never really feel like a teacher, but I think I'm faking it pretty well.

Here's to hoping no one ever figures it out.