Speed Speeches

I've been subbing the last week in a 7th grade English class and have been a part of a month long project that culminated in speed speeches.  Each student read an auto/biography, took pages of notes, then worked those notes into a paper, then into a speech were they 'are' that person for 2 1/2 minutes. Three classes of 7th graders are together with the wall out between 2 of the rooms, so there are roughly 90 kids together, sitting inside and outside of a huge square with adults interspersed every three to four seats on the outside. The clock is set for 2:30 and the lead teacher says, "Go!".  About 30 kids on the inside of the square start talking at the same time and you try very, very, very hard to hear the one sitting across from you as you need to grade him/her according to a rubric. It was crazy and amazing at the same time. They are graded on content, eye contact, voice, character, artifacts, fluency. I've been doing it for three days as I'm catching all the make-ups and absent students and being engaged, looking into the eyes of these kids for hours a day is exhausting and I wouldn't have thought it would be. Most of them have done an amazing job. I'm teaching here all of next week too.  Jodi, I feel for you.


I am also teaching Seminary this week.  When it rains, it pours.  Nothing for almost a month, and then BAM, two things at once.

Jamie is doing great at the MTC.  She loves her companion, district, teachers, and they wrote a  note to their mission president in Samara and he wrote them back.  He is excited for them to come.  There are 62 missionaries and there will be 10 sisters when they get there. Half the mission is leaving by the end of summer so he encouraged them in their lang. studies as they are going to need to understand Russian quickly. What an exciting time in Jamie's life.

Tyler and Jodi are going to Portland Oregon for their summer APEX job. Tyler is going to head up a team this summer for a change, and Jeremy is going to be back at school. Luckily, Jeremy is working APEX right now every other weekend to earn some bucks in his off semester. I don't know what Talon will be doing.  It depends when he reports for his mission.  He might end up going out with Tyler for a bit to install. He is loving being back in Hawaii.

Kellie is loving her mom right now.  I told her she needed to pick up after herself or I would bag items which she could redeem for $$$ or chores. She hasn't and I have, so neither of us are happy with the other on that count.  She just finished reading 'The Hunger Games' and is now on the second book, 'Catching Fire".  I love that she is into these books. When she finds something she likes, she goes all into it.  She does have more self control than I and can put the book down without having to finish it in one sitting. She is using my Kindle and she loves it, so thanks kids for giving me such a wonderful gift.