Hello again

It has been several weeks since I last posted, which was not my intention. Shortly after my last post, we had two students get into a car accident very close to the school. One of the students died at the scene, another held on and fought but eventually passed away as well. It was a rough start to the school year and we had crisis counselors present on the first day of school. I had both of these girls in class in previous years, and they had just graduated as seniors. They both have siblings that still attend our school and one is in my class this year. The families have been so strong through all of this. While the entire community was devastated by their loss it was also amazing to see everyone come together and support the families.

Anyways, for some reason dealing with that, on top of the stresses of a new school year, just took away any desire I had to blog, but today I figured I would try to post something and thought I should start out by remembering our two students and explaining my absence. I still think of these girls often and I know from losing other students in the past it is not something you ever forget. In this particular case, I drive past the site of the accident daily on my way to work and see these crosses to represent them. I hope that students also see their crosses and not just remember their friends, but remember that life is precious and they need to drive safe.

So my last post also promised photos of my classroom pet, we have a handful this year!

At the end of summer I purchased 3 baby turtles- 2 red-ear sliders and 1 yellow belly slider. They are so adorable and my students just love them!

We also have bess beetles (left over from our zoology lab last year), a crayfish, a fish tank with guppies, and another fish tank with a betta fish and snails.

My classes have been going well overall, I have pretty good students this year! I will try to post more about some of our fun labs soon. I hope all of my teacher friends are also having a great school year!