...about some great news

here is something that every english teacher longs to hear and I heard it today...

"We only have eight full days in here and we have 110 pages to read still. I want to show you guys some clips from some different movies that are based on this story so I think we are going to have to skip Part 2. Don't worry though. I will tell you what happens, we will read a spark notes type thing on it. We will just skip right to Part 3. That way we get thought it and read the most important parts."

*J says, "But Miss H, we can't skip a whole big part of the book! It's getting interesting now. We can't just skip stuff. I'm into it"

When was the last time a student was disappointed that we were going to not have to read the whole book? haha!

and in third period, I said the same thing and got this.
*M says, "Miss H, I think I'm just going to read this again over the summer. I read better on my own when I can just really pay attention and think about what is happening. And then I can also read the part we skip."

?!?!?!
Did that really just come out of a ninth grader's mouth? What magic have I worked with this book? Kids not wanting to skip some pages and wanting to re-read it over the summer? Yay! My little heart has leapt with joy!

They also keep asking me to read to them. They don't mind reading silently but they don't want to listen to the audiobook, they have told me that they pay better attention when I read and that they enjoy my version better. Double yay! This compliment also means, however, that I read aloud for 4 hours a day. But I don't mind.

In other news, I got my artspace townhouse! They are these artist work/live spaces downtown and they are kind of hard to get into. I submitted a portfolio, had an interview, had a background and credit check and found out today that I got it! Triple yay! So, now the packing starts. And then the moving and oh man, I hate the moving. It doesn't help that I have soo much stuff. I need to downsize.

Gallery stroll tonight.