Snarky Kitten » School

Winning isn’t Everything

Trix — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:20:04 +0000

Our classes are always being asked to create displays for special events in the school. They are usually a part of some competition. Not to sound conceited, but my class generally wins. Well… we win when we TRY to win.

Yes, that’s right… I don’t always try to win. Why? I have a competitive spirit, but also some common sense. If the prize for winning a contest is a field trip to an undisclosed location planned by the most disorganized person in the school… then I’m pretty much going to do the minimum to avoid winning. If there is a pizza party or something fun involved (and impossible for someone to screw up)… then we’re going all out!

There are other highly competitive teachers, too… but they always do their best. They’re always nervous, too. I purposely wait and make mine the last one up just to generate a little fear. Like this week, for example… we were asked to create a display about our assigned country for Hispanic Heritage Month. I waited until the last minute to do mine (traditional Snarky style). In the meantime, one teacher in particular was very nervous about this. I took advantage of the situation and had a co-worker plant some information at lunch time. “I can’t figure out what Snarky is up to… she’s been very secretive about her project!” Mission accomplished… everyone was all worked up by the afternoon.

Then my plan backfired. I started to feel like the display should have a little something extra just to warrant all the hype. Not enough to win, but enough to keep my reputation in tact. So I decided to add a LITTLE flair to our display. Apparently it was too much flair… everyone was buzzing about how cute it turned out. (Obviously, I have no idea how powerful my flair truly is. LOL) Now I’m the one who is super nervous… we just might win this thing. And even worse… the prize hasn’t been announced… the great unknown! Serves me right for stirring up trouble.

Snarky – 1, Mac – 1

Trix — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:13:04 +0000

The war between Snarky and her Mac has escalated to physical violence… on the part of the Mac. OK… so maybe I started the fight last year when I would bang the laptop on the desk to get it to power up. But this is an entirely new laptop… it doesn’t know about my past war crimes.

Anyway… from the very beginning, the Mac has been trying to hurt me. The edges on this thing are unbelievably sharp, cutting into my wrists all day long. My friends laughed at me and called me a wimp… they couldn’t possibly imagine that a company would make a computer with razor sharp edges. Hmmmm… just mine, I suppose. But I googled it and discovered that many were experiencing the same issue. In fact, there are even cushion-type products on the market for just this issue. There wasn’t much I could do, so I covered the edges with sticky notes (classy!) and learned how to type with my wrists in the air a little more.

Today, however, the Mac lashed out at me and actually drew blood! I was shutting it down and shoving it in my file cabinet for the night, when it actually sliced my finger open. That bitch! This wasn’t even caused by the sharp edges… it was something lethal on the outside of the laptop. Who manufactures these things? Ginsu?

So I just want you all to know… if my lifeless body is found at work near my desk… it wasn’t suicide… it was the Mac.

Chicken?

Trix — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:35:51 +0000

A small group of my struggling students were reading a book about a birthday party with me today. The last page had this picture on it:

We talked about what was going on in the picture, and I asked the students what the girl got as one of her presents. One student said, “It looks like a teddy bear.” But then another student interrupted, in all seriousness, and said, “No! It’s chicken!” “CHICKEN?” We all leaned in to look closely at the picture in our books… trying to figure out why she sees a chicken instead of a teddy bear. Then it dawned on me… the brown lumpy fur kind of looks like KFC Original Recipe!

Still giggling…

Oh noes!

Trix — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:36:24 +0000

I feel absolutely awful! My last frog died today. After wishing her demise yesterday, I feel REALLY guilty now.

I love animals… I have more compassion for them than I do for people many times. I feel very cold-hearted for being happy to see these pets go. In my defense, I even get upset when a harmless pixel animal gets killed in WoW… I have actually uttered the phrase, “Oh no, I killed a frog!” Oh, the irony!

I’m sure there’s some sort of karmic retribution waiting for me, as a result of my evil thoughts…

Another One Bites the Dust

Trix — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:27:41 +0000

Yes! Frog #4 of 5 died today. What were supposed to be low maintenance classroom pets have turned into quite a pain in the ass. Maybe that last one will kick it before summer. We can only hope…

Poison

Trix — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:27:43 +0000

I took a nature walk with my students yesterday to collect leaves and seeds for science. We did all kinds of sorting and investigating with our finds. During recess today some students were looking at our leaves and stuff again. I overheard one student say (in reference to some berries), “Don’t touch those! They poison!” Another student responded (in a very “duh, you’re an idiot” tone), “Ms. Kitten wouldn’t pick them if they poison!” I had to laugh… it was too cute!

It was also an interesting situation, though. One student was so rooted in common sense and the other relied completely on trust. Which one would win out? Well, the kids all looked at each other… shrugged… and touched the berries. LOL

Trust is everything… any relationship without it is poison.