Brilliant!

You know what I love?

Cardigans and TOMs shoes.

You know what is brilliant?

A wine decanter. It makes wine taste amazing!

You know what looks super dapper and makes you feel like an intelligent man?

Tying your own bow tie. None of this pre-tied nonsense.

You know what is super cozy and the perfect thing to wrap yourself in after a long day of work?

A blanket handmade by one of your best friends. It is my very own so Casey and I do not have to fight over the California Raisin blanket his next door neighbor made for him when he was six.

You know what makes me laugh so hard I can't hold back the tears?

Leslie. And the fact that she bought me a set of women's nightshirts from the DI.

You know what is thoughtful?

Friends who give gift cards so that you can buy whatever you want. AND...friends who listen to what you want and pick out something great. Also...friends who don't ask you what you want, but find you a gift you love.

You know what I got this year for my birthday?

All of the above.

Master Brandon

Sometimes while I'm sitting at the computer, or watching television, or faking interest in someone else's conversation, it dawns on me. I have my Masters. It truly is an amazing feeling. Being the first person on either side of my family (with the exception of my Dad's Dad) to graduate from college was a huge accomplishment for me. Now, being the first person on either side (period) to graduate with a Masters is even more important. I am so grateful that I had parents who encouraged me to succeed in Education. It is my love of learning (even though Casey would disagree with that statement...he thinks I'd rather watch reality television than pick up a book) that has brought me this far. I just wish having your Masters was recognized somehow. If people with Doctorate degrees are called "Doctor," why aren't people with their Masters' degree called "Master?"In some ways, having the “Master” title might be more awesome than being called “Doctor”.

“Hello, I’m Master Brandon. Pleased to meet you.”

I feel like I've earned that title, and people should start using it. I also feel like I've earned the right to start wearing bow ties. And so I have been. A bow tie is grown up and sophisticated, just like a person with a Masters degree is.

From now on please refer to me as Master Brandon, especially if you see me in a bow tie.

I'm back...

It has been far to long since I have blogged about anything to do with my life. This will be a quick catch-up blog for those who are interested.

I finished up with my student teaching. YAY! It was a wonderful experience in the long run. Even though it was one of the most stressful and difficult things I have ever had to do, it proved to me how much I love teaching. I had such an amazing class and each and every one of them touched my heart in some way. I could not have asked for more. They were a handful at times(to prove to me that teaching is hard work and you have to be a disciplinarian), they were hysterical at times (to prove to me how great it is to be around children all day), and they were challenging at times (to prove to me that I have to be on top of my game if I am going to succeed). On the last day of student teaching my kids surprised me with a tee-shirt that they had all signed the back of, a book of letters they had each written to say good-bye, and a little going-away party. Knowing I would be an emotional wreck by the end of the day, the last thing Casey had said to me that morning was, "Don't cry. It's not good for the kids." Well, I was doing quit well until my mentor had me sit in a circle of my students and asked them each to say one thing they liked about me. I was a mess by the end. They had the greatest comments for me...everything from, "You have the coolest shoes" to "You are the greatest teacher I have ever had." Needless to say the waterworks came and as soon as they all saw me crying, they started to cry. I made 22 8 year olds cry in a matter of seconds. I'm a MONSTER!

Since student teaching ended I've gone back to work full-time and am trying to substitute for my school district whenever possible. It is a great way to get your name out there and to network. So far I have been back four times to sub and it is going well. Substituting is far different than student teaching. As a student teacher the kids took me serious and treated me with respect. As a "substitute" all rules go out the window. Even the classes I taught as a student teacher treat me differently now. What is it about the word "substitute" and the need to push the boundaries of human decency? It is crazy what these kids will try to get away with. I'm not in love with substituting. Perhaps if the money was better I would try to do it more often, but for now once or twice a week will suffice.





Christmas is just around the corner and I must say that I am on fire this year. I already have Casey completely gifted and wrapped sitting underneath the tree with the exception of one additional gift I had to purchase because of poor decision making on my behalf. I'm still waiting for this said gift to show up at my door from China. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE gift wrap, ribbons, tags, and wrapping. Wrapping presents is therapeutic to me. It is honestly one of my great loves in life. I would love to work in the mall wrapping presents for people, but unfortunately the free gift wrap they supply you with is not up to my standards. I believe in beautiful packages...not paper covered in "Barnes and Noble" or "Layton Hills Mall" logos. It just doesn't do it for me. With that said this year I am hand making tags and doing a whole black and white theme for each gift. They look fantastic sitting together under the tree. Yes...my tree is up already! As controversial as it may sound, it has been up for almost a week now. We are hosting Thanksgiving this year for my family and I didn't have time to get it up the night before so that it could look festive for this lame holiday, nor would I have time to do it ON Thanksgiving (which is usually the standard) since we'd have everyone to deal with, and food to cook and clean up, so we put it up early. Besides, if I didn't have a tree then all of Casey's gifts would still be sitting on the new bench we bought for the kitchen. Not a cute look.

(Not mine...but you sort of get the idea)

Oh yeah...we updated our kitchen in the last few months. We finally got some color in there to help make our semi-newly painted cabinets pop. We went with a Restoration Grey and Blue scheme and it looks great. We also hung a chandelier, some new art work, and bought a bench and table to make the wall across from our dinning table a little more cozy and useful. The changes look great and we couldn't be happier with them. All that is left is new counter tops, a back splash, and updated appliances and the kitchen will be practically perfect. All in good time.


Well, there is not much left to talk about. At least not in this blog.

HaPpY hOlIdAyS fRiEnDs!

2 Reasons Why I Love Teaching...

#1 The third grade teachers in my school teach rotations of science and social studies lessons. Today I had to go next door to teach my first science lesson to the other third grade classroom. When I was walking back to my regular classroom a student of mine said...

"Hey Mr. Christensen, how did your lesson go?"

My response to this completely adorable and totally off the wall question was...

"It went well buddy, thanks for asking!"

#2 I was teaching acrostic poems to my class the other day. Our first poem was an example based off of a story we were reading about penguins. P-E-N-G-U-I-N-S were the letters my class had to fill in with descriptions about the Antarctic birds. Later I had the class create a poem using their own names. I wrote my last name going down the white board as an example, and asked the students to help me think of clever, descriptions for myself. I told them I wanted to use things like onomatopoeia and alliteration. When we got to the letter "T" in Christensen I asked my students to help me. Their response was...

"T-alented, terrific, teacher!"

I swear I almost shed a tear! My students make me smile everyday! I love my job!

I loathe late work!

So far student teaching in 3rd grade has been a blast. I am learning so much from this experience and I am very grateful to have such a wonderful mentor who is open and honest and knows what she is doing. It has been amazing to see her wonderful teaching skills at work and to gain such useful techniques for my own teaching experience.

However, I do have one major problem with student teaching so far. Late work!!! Well, actually, it's the way my mentor handles late work. I understand that you need to teach children to be responsible when it comes to turning in their assignments. I don't think anyone should get a free ride, so I agree that students need to be held accountable for getting their homework in on time. The problem that I am having with late work is that my mentor holds these fun projects over the student's heads in order to bribe them into turning in their work on time. I don't know how she normally carries out this plan, but because I'm in the classroom this is how it has taken place the last two weeks....

Mentor- (tells the students) "If you have all of your assignments turned in you get popcorn and a fun art project to work on this afternoon. If you don't...you are in for recess and you will sit and work until they are completed."

Me- (thinking to myself) "Oh, that sounds reasonable."

Students- (thinking to themselves) "OH MY GOD! I HAVE TO GET MY WORK DONE RIGHT NOW! IF I DON'T FINISH THIS MATH ASSIGNMENT AND TURN IT INTO THE CLOSEST OBJECT THAT RESEMBLES A HOMEWORK BASKET IMMEDIATELY MY LIFE WILL END!!!"

As you can imagine, this causes some major panic and drama for an 8 year old. For the next three hours all I hear is..."Do I have any missing work? What do I need to do now? I turned that in already, why don't you have it? I put that in the basket! I swear I've turned that in! What does it look like? What am I missing still? Can I have my fun project now? Why don't I get to work on the art project? "So and So" is eating their popcorn in front of me and it makes me sad! What am I missing still? Did you get that assignment yet? Can I start my art project now? What am I still missing? I'm done with that assignment where do I put it? Am I missing anything? Is this the right assignment? I can't find my assignment, can I have another one? Can I cross my name off the board and start my fun project?" ETC. ETC. ETC.

By the end of our "Fun Fridays" I want to blow my brains out! I don't understand what my mentor used to do before me to keep this process on track and running smoothly? Right now, they all come running to me with their questions because they don't want to ask her and be in trouble for not knowing what to do. My problem is that I can't handle 20 kids asking me questions all at once, and have to know what has and hasn't been turned in yet, and who is or isn't prepared, and which kids do or don't get to start the fun projects that we dedicate our "Fun Fridays" too! Right now fun Fridays are not much fun at all. In fact they are more like nervous breakdown Fridays for me. There has got to be a better way to handle this late work issue. I am open to any and all suggestions. PLEASE!!!! SHARE YOUR WISDOM WITH ME!

3rd Grade Shenanigans

Student teaching is far more complicated than I ever thought. With all the lesson planning, paper grading, faculty meetings, and photo copying to accomplish it is amazing to me that I still have time to get in my 2 hours a night at work (my real job that actually pays me). The issue I have with student teaching is that you don't REALLY get to teach things your way. Sure you get to be in front of the class and be in charge of the kids, but you are basically a guest in someone else's house and they like things done their way. I understand this completely. I wouldn't want some "kid" coming into my well established classroom and making up a bunch of new rules, regulations, and rewards based on their own beliefs that alter what I have already taught. It is just strange to see things in the classroom that you are fundamentally against, and yet you have to carry them out because you are the "guest." It sounds like I am complaining about my placement, but I'm really not. I am learning so much from my mentor teacher. I know there is a rhyme and reason for the things she does, and for some reason, even when she pulls those cards or disciplines the kids, they come back the next day loving her. They are sort of like dogs in that aspect; you punish, but they still show you unconditional love.

My class is fantastic this year. I could not have asked for better students. The majority of them are super bright and have these fantastic little personalities that I can't wait to get to know better. Like every class though, we do have some low kids, and there are definitely some behavioral children, but honestly nothing you couldn't handle on a day to day basis. I really lucked out with this classroom. They are polite, well spoken, funny, and seem to enjoy both school and learning. It's going to be an exciting ten weeks. Well... eight actually. I can't believe it, I'm two weeks down already.

Moaning Myrtle(s)...

I had two separate experiences with moaning woman on Sunday. For most men that sounds as if it would be a rather enjoyable afternoon, but for me it was just uncomfortable. Let me explain...

First, I had breakfast at Cafe Normandie on Sunday where I sat across from an older woman (mid 40's I'd say) who kept moaning every time she raised a leg, or stood, or sat, or even slightly moved her body; including raising her fork. I later learned (by the shear volume of her voice during conversation) that she had gone on an "intense" 40 mile bike ride earlier in the day. This I can only assume explains why she showed up to brunch wearing a hot pink and black sports bra. Her and her "girls" had a hell of a time working out that morning, and apparently she was feeling the results at brunch.

Later, I went to the Broadway Theater to see the film Food, Inc. and there was a woman two rows behind me who kept making moans of enjoyment at the fact that she was either sitting in a cool theater, eating a bucket of delicious popcorn, OR about to see a film she was very excited for. I couldn't really tell what the moans were about, but those are some suggestions.

For the remainder of my Sunday everything I did involved a moan of delight...

"Let's make some cookies."

"MMmmm okay!"

"Want to watch the new Design Star?"

"MMmmmmmm definitely."

"How do you feel about burritos for dinner?"

"MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sounds good!"

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. It got a laugh every time!