And what exactly was the rubber chicken for...?

Staff Retreat.

For many reasons, which I will not disclose, staff retreat at my school is infamous. I was lucky enough to get to help plan it this year. Hands down my co-workers are the coolest people alive. Where else will your bosses meet you at the door in hula skirts and coconut bras ( over shirts of course) while preparing your surprise luau dinner?

We rented out a lovely beach front house in Galveston for the weekend. Yes we went in the water, no we were not covered in oil. However, tiny crabby things liked to bite us. Songs were sung, teams were built, scavenger hunts won ( by my team of course 2nd year in a row), and tastes in music shared. I even got in a 2 mile run on the beach and almost all of Mockingjay read. Don't ask how a flashlight, lightsabers, Lord of the Flies references, and sleeping on kiwis are all related, just know we had a heck of a time. Still not sure what the intended use of the rubber chicken was...we'll never know. Good times.

Mockingjay

What do you mean you haven't read The Hunger Games? What do you mean you haven't read Catching Fire? Why don't you know who Katiness is? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I mean I know I teach kids, but you read Harry Potter right?

Our 8th graders are lucky to have a star ELA team who gives them amazing texts to read. This is how I discovered The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. You might remember her Gregor The Overlander books ( also top notch young adult reading). I picked it up last year to have something ( non-math) to discuss with them. I couldn't put it down. Part of that is the fact that just about every chapter ends on a cliffhanger moment. Collins uses every trick in the book to fire up your curiosity to just turn the page and start another chapter. 

Yes I know the post-apocalyptic tournament to the death this is a bit over done but I just really enjoyed turning pages. I highly suggest you take the short amount of time ( you can finish them in like 2 days) to burn through the series. It's worth skipping these crappy summer reality shows.

4-day teaching week and then Austin-bound. Here's to Monday kids.
-HK