Autumn joys

So apparently I'm finding it hard to teach full time and remember to keep up a blog. :)
Five for Sunday, anyone?!

The kids made doughnut monsters for their Halloween party treats.
I love the teeth!
Some kids put the pretzels underneath as legs to hold up the body.
Those were a little intimidating. ;)

The tree outside my classroom was RED this week.

Absolutely gorgeous.

And this leaf, one morning, with picture-perfect dew drops:

Happy teacher. :)

Our media specialist is due with her first child, a boy, at the end of November.  I've been working on this baby blanket since July. :)

It turned out HUGE (oops).  This picture shows the front (at bottom) folded over the back (the strip at the top).  I chose this pattern for the stripes on the front - the polka dots on the back were a happy surprise!

Left side: back of afghan.  Right side: front of afghan. :)

We live in a one-street neighborhood with two courts that branch off the street.  Total walking distance is almost exactly a mile, which makes it easy to calculate how far we walk each day, and since we live in the middle of woods, we see a variety of animals around the neighborhood on our walks.

We see squirrels, of course, but also deer, foxes, and the occasional dead snake (very flat when found on the road . . .).  There are a few rabbits at one end of the street and, lately, a single black cat.  Our first Halloween here, we were out trick-or-treating and watched bats flying overhead.

And then, last weekend, there was this friendly fellow.

Picture at left: I spot snake (about 4 feet long) and freeze in my tracks.  Then I take a picture.  

Picture at right: snake approaches, waving his head back and forth and hissing at me.

I decided, "I'm bigger than you, YOU should be afraid of ME," and started shouting and stomping toward it.  Snake decided, "She's nuts," and turned onto our driveway (dark pavement at left in pictures).  I realized, "Oh no, not toward the house!" and managed to head him off.  He slithered rapidly all the way across the street and disappeared in the grass heading away from our house.

Later, I thought, "I'll bet those neighbors across the street from us weren't too happy with me . . ."  :D

Have you ever seen oak leaves that changed color one half at a time?  I love the way these are half red, half green, split down the middle.


Next week are parent-teacher conferences.  We teach a half day Wednesday and Thursday and have conferences both afternoons.  Then, somehow, we teach a full day Friday (without specials that day).  Methinks perhaps a short video will be in order Friday afternoon . . . or some outside time if the weather permits . . . or just naptime. :D

This year I decided to make 15-minute time blocks for conferences.  I've always done 20 in the past, but realized last year that some teachers at my school do TEN.  (Why am I doing 20 minutes if others are doing 10?!)  So I shortened it this year.  We'll see how it goes. :)  Does your school have a specified conference time length?