Goodbye February

Wow.... February's already over? My kids didn't believe me when I told them that today was the last day of the month... I think the conversation went something like this:

Student: "What is today?"
Me: "February 28. Last day of the month."
Student: "What?"
Me: "February 28. Last day of the month." (yeah, I'll admit, I can be a bit of a smart aleck with them sometimes, especially when I have to repeat myself about 19 times)
Student: "No, I mean, February has 30 days in it. So today can't be the last day, it's only the 28th."
Me (in my head): Duh. February's only had 28 days in it SINCE YOU WERE BORN.
Me (out loud): "No, it has 28. It's the only month that is shorter."
Student: "For real?"
Me: "For real."
Student: "But miss, why? Why didn't they give it 31 days like all the other months?"
Me: "Not all months have 31 days. Some have 30 and others have 31. And February has 28, remember?"
Student (silent for a minute): "Wait. Some months have 30 days in them? Not all of them have 31?"
Me (silently): Oh wow. If we haven't mastered a calendar, it's no wonder we have troubles with fractions.

What's amusing is that this kid definitely knows their months. Some days, they just have brain freezes and have a hard time remembering my name much less anything else. Welcome to the joys of junior high! :)

Where has the time gone?

OK, so it was only yesterday that I said to myself, "I know I didn't blog tonight, but I'll do it tomorrow and I'll make it extra-good to make up for skipping a night". Wow... that was like 3 weeks ago. Sorry I've been such a procrastinator. I have the best intentions, but life seems to keep getting in the way....

Anyway, has anyone else noticed just how fast the weeks are flying by? I was gearing myself up for a loooooooong semester, but we're already to the end of the 4th six weeks. We have a month until Spring Break, and after that, only a month to the TAKS test. And then a month until school's over. When I first started teaching, I thought my age would just kinda "freeze"... I mean, when I'm teaching to my kids, I definitely don't feel like I'm 24. I feel pretty young, and I assume that feeling will continue because even though I'll get older, the kids will always be 12 and 13. But teaching's a tricky thing... even though I don't feel like I'm getting any older, time is going faster than I think it ever has in my life. If you want your year to fly by, plan everything 3 weeks at a time -- by the time you realize 3 weeks have gone by, it's time to plan again.

Hopefully that argument will hold up for the summer... like, if I don't plan much, it'll seem much much longer!! :)