So I can't stop updating!!

Briefly...

1.) The bad news: one of our custodians (my favorite!!) is being sexually harrassed by another custodian (who I thought was a decent person). She's talked to the principal and superintendant about it, but not much was done. She (the custodian) came into my room tonight and broke down into tears. She's thinking about quitting to be rid of the guy and the whole situation. I told her she did the right thing, and that she should make a police report as well. I hear she's not the first in this position, either. Oy.

2.) The interesting news: the superintendant took me out to lunch today. Only it wasn't just him & me; he invited a "friend" who is also from Ohio. This "friend," it turns out, is a DPS officer with whom the superintendant was trying to set me up. Ha. Seems *everyone* wants to hook me up with law enforcement officials. Also, turns out that almost the ENTIRE staff at school knew about this matchmaker attempt... except me!

3.) The good news: I'm in Phoenix tomorrow for a conference... suckers! I get to leave town AND get paid for it! Doesn't get much better than that! Peace out.

T.G.I.T.!!

Yay!! So since I'm leaving town for a conference tomorrow (God bless professional leave!!), today is essentially a Friday for me. Also, in about 15 minutes, the superintendant will be taking me out to lunch for "dealing so well" with the situation on Monday. Ha. That means I get an extended, free lunch away from school! Awesomeness.

Also awesome is our staff "Secret Santa" program... I've already gotten: a scented candle, body lotion, and today... hot chocolate! I am one perky person.

Hmm... that's about it for now. Thought I'd update mid-day, so I can tutor in the afternoon and then go home. Peace!

Observation #1: complete

So I felt quite sick this morning, and decided when I woke up that I'd come home after the observation. The only problem? The school had no more subs left!! :( Fortunately, the resource teacher took over for most of the day, and then a library aide will be helping for the last hour of the day.

I had all my kids there this morning for math (minus 2 or 3 who were absent), and the lesson actually went pretty well! The prinicpal gave me a very nice evaluation, and said, "You're a good teacher now, with no experience. You'll be a WONDERFUL teacher if you decide to stick with it, and I hope you do." That was nice.

I left school around 10:30 (after teaching for an hour in the morning, meeting with a parent, then with the principal, etc.), and when I got home, I felt mostly fine. Now, at 1:45pm, I'm feeling a little "off" again, which makes me feel less guilty for taking the day off! Maybe this is all in my head? Anyway, I MUST be there tomorrow because I won't be on Friday (due to a workshop I'll be attending). I'll probably have to get hopped-up on DayQuil before school. Hehe.

Finally, before I left school today, I informed the class that I was feeling sick and was leaving. They protested!! A lot of them begged me to stay! It was hilarious... they love me when I'm leaving, yet they abhor me when I'm there. Anyway, I'm gonna take some time to plan the rest of this week (and next??) out. Ciao.

Another day done.

So today was neither awesome nor awful. A bit annoying, perhaps, but tolerable. I'm just sick of the kids being so mean to each other. They're also so loud... oy.

Anyway, tomorrow is my first *official* observation by the principal. I'm not particularly nervous, even though my plans have been slightly thwarted. You see, I had originally planned to have the observation done yesterday (Monday), but then rethought it when I realized it was the day after Thanksgiving break. Turns out my kids were calm and relaxed in the morning, and it would've been a pretty mellow observation. Ha. Well, tomorrow, the 5th grade teacher is out, so she's requested that I keep my whole class for math. Go figure. So instead of 12 fourth graders, I'll have about 28 crazy kids. Should be interesting...

Not too much else to complain about at this time; I need to jet to the dollar store and massage class, though, so I'm out. Peace.

An end-of-day visit from the sheriff...

Oy. It was NOT easy coming back to school this morning, especially after such a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I didn't even plan out today's lessons until an hour before school started... whoops.

Anyway, I got yet *another* new student today, who seems to have some pretty bad learning disabilities. My class total is now up to 28, and I'm sure I'll hit 30 at some point. Joy. I still had 4 out today, though, so it was manageable. It'll be rough when the whole class shows up.

So let's fast-forward to the end of the day. There was a student (we'll call him "Carl") who would NOT do his work all afternoon. It was annoying, but there wasn't all that much I could do about it, aside from giving him consequences (detentions, call home, etc.). Bleh. Anyway, it got to the point where Carl was not only *not* doing his work, but was being defiant and disruptive as well. Eventually, after the whole class and I had had enough, I told Carl to go across the hall to the library to do his work. He refused and just sat there. I told him he was only making things more difficult for himself, but he still didn't budge. At the end of the day, the class was ready to go to recess. I told Carl and another student to go to the classroom next door, because that's where I send students who have not earned the day's recess. Again, Carl refused.

At this point, we were all out in the hallway. I stood in Carl's way, redirecting him toward the other classroom. He still refused. It got to the point where I blocked him by putting my hands out in front of me and standing in his way. Eventually, I was physically holding him back from going outside. He pushed against me several times, one time bumping me against the wall. There were several teachers and numerous students who saw the whole thing. Ultimately, I let him go and he took off running outside. I was so furious that I actually burst into tears right in front of my whole class. I haven't been that angry in... I can't remember how long.

All the teachers who witnessed the incident told me I had to call the police. Our principal was gone (oy), so I had to try and handle it myself. I went to the office once all the kids had gotten on their buses, and I told the secretary what had happened. She immediately radioed the buses to get Carl off his. During this time, I called the Sheriff's department to have an officer sent over. Carl came into the office, and I was still shaky from adrenaline.

The officer showed up minutes later, and I explained what had happened. The officer was verbally harsh with Carl, who was himself visibly shaking. Carl was commanded to call his parents to pick him up. He called his mother, who showed up about 20 minutes later. She was not happy, especially when she saw a deputy there because of her son. The father was then called, and the principal, and the superintendant. Soon, there were 6 adults in the principal's office for Carl. The father was PISSED (and was very scary at a muscular 6'3") because he had to leave work to come and deal with Carl. All of a sudden, I was asked if I was going to press charges. Oy. Press charges?? I didn't want to be in that position at all. I said that I was not comfortable making that decision, so it was left up to the principal and the parents. In the interim, Carl was handcuffed and put roughly in the back of the sheriff's car.

The verdict? That Carl will serve in-school suspension (for an as-of-yet-to-be-determined amount of time) and will join... the basketball team. The superintendant demanded this, saying that Carl needs productive ways to get out his agression, and that he needs to be part of a team. Interesting. I had to go outside with the deputy to get Carl and inform him that I would not be pressing charges and thus, he did not have to go to juvenile. Oy. This kid is 11 years old...

Anyway, an interesting end to a long day. I'd like to go home and relax, but I still have the rest of the week to plan out. How long until Winter Break, again???

Trying to get out of here on time...

So my class is at Art right now (Thank God!!!), so I have a little tiny bit of downtime. I figured I'd write in this now, so that I may leave on time (at 4!) today and get my Thanksgiving weekend started! :)

Today has been OK so far, though none of the teachers (myself included) particularly want to be here. Considering the nature of today (the day before a fairly long holiday break), it hasn't been all that bad. Sure, the kids are a little hyper and restless, but it's been manageable so far.

For "writing" today, we made hand-shaped turkeys (Hey, I can be a dorky teacher once in a while, can't I?). On each "feather" (finger), the students listed one thing for which they're grateful. We then cut them out, glued them onto construction paper, and wrote more on the final product. Though they're not perfect, they look pretty good. I'll take a picture of some now, and add them to this post later.

All we have left is a brief brush-up of geography (The Midwest!! Represent!!), a quick clas meeting (yipee...), classroom clean-up (always a joy), and recess/earned free time. Wish me luck!! After that, syanora, school! Muwahaha...

(My fear is, though, that I am an ineffective, unmotivated, boring, lazy teacher. I hope I can improve, because I still don't know if I'm cut out for this. At least I know I'm here for the school year, though. That helps.) OK, peace out!

Turkey Day break can't come soon enough...

So today started out well... almost too well. The morning was actually really good, and it was downhill from there. I'm starting to think it's them, not me, who are crazy after recess. How about that?

I'm just glad that I only have to teach tomorrow, and then we get the rest of the week off! :)

Not too much to report, aside from the end-of-the day fight between two of my boys. One called the other a "dirty, black Mexican," evidently. The insulted boy punched the other several times. I love it.

I came in to school today with NO plan for the afternoon, and somehow it all turned out relatively fine. We did a lot this afternoon (that I planned during P.E. and lunch), and academically, the kids had a decent day.

I'm starting to wonder if the kids are bored in school at times because my teaching style is boring. I don't want to be in front of the class all day, but I don't know how to differentiate my instruction, either!! As always, ideas are welcome and appreciated! I've tried group work a time or two, but we're not ready for that yet. I don't know if it's them or me, but group work failed miserably. Any other fun, creative ideas would be wonderful, though!

Ok, I'm out. Time to go home, relax, then just get through tomorrow! :)

Oh!! I have a website with photos... (This one is me with my funky socks & another teacher on Halloween!) Let's see if this works:


by picturesofmb

Yay!! The week's over!!

Today was just an annoying day overall. The morning was OK, and then ... chaos. The Thanksgiving family luncheon was scheduled for half an hour before our regular lunchtimes this week, don't ask me why. However, about 20 minutes before our class was supposed to go, an office worker came in to let me know that we got pushed back to our normal lunch time, half an hour after what I'd told the kids ALL week. Blah!

The lunch wasn't all that bad; about half the kids (and 2 parents) ate in the class with us, so it was pretty chill. Two of the boys danced around the room (I had music on) with their pieces of turkey. Sadly, it was pretty amusing.

During their library time, I had to stay with them, since the librarian apparently can't handle 26 kids all at once. (Like I can?!) Anyway, I had not 1, not 2, but six volunteers who helped me grade papers! I got ALL my grading done from the past few weeks!! :) I just have to put it in the gradebook, and it's done! Awesomeness.

The rest of the day was blah, and I don't particularly feel like recapping it right now. More than anything, I'd like to have a beer after today, but that and the job-required antidepressants don't mesh well. We have 2 days next week (we'll get so much done then, right??), and then we have 5 days off for break!!! Yay!!

Anyway, that's all. I need to get out of here, and it's gotta be fast. Peace.

Almost Turkey Day break!!!

So today was better than the past two days, fortunately. The morning actually went like clockwork; the kids were attentive and relatively calm. We got ALL of our morning work done (which rarely happpens), and we did reading buddies with another class. It all went very well, and I kept telling them all how proud I was of the whole class. It was a great morning.

As usual, the afternoon was a little rockier, but it wasn't terrible. This week, instead of reading aloud to the class after lunch recess, I have them read for 15-20 minutes. It's a beautiful time to watch: 20-some students all engaged in a book. A lot of them are very into my comic book collection (consisting mostly of old Archie & Garfield books mooched from my sister), but the point is they're reading and enjoying it. Awesome.

Interesting things today: 1.) During P.E., one of my kids (we'll call him "Jack") got in a fight with another (who had been ousted from our class and placed in a self-contained setting). Jack apprarently was pushed by the other, so pushed him back. This caused the other boy to punch Jack in the face. When I came to pick my class up from P.E., Jack was in the hallway, away from the rest of the class. When I approached him to see what was going on, he exclaimed, "I'm gonna go kill that kid!" and promptly took off running toward his assailant. I sprinted after Jack(down the hall, past the library), which shocked nearby students. I caught Jack before he got to the other kid and asked him what on earth was going on. He was seething, but I actually got him to be calm enough to rethink his decision. I asked him what he needed, and he responded that he needed to see the counselor. I was so proud!! He was rational enough to realize how to better react in the situation. We ended up going to the office, where other staff members took care of the problem. Later, Jack and I talked again about the incident, and I told him that it's not OK to push or threaten other students (so he served a lunch detention), but that I was proud of him for not making things worse.

2.) Three of my girls were in tears today from P.E. Turns out they're doing physical fitness tests, which require the girls to do fewer push-ups than the boys. The P.E. teacher allegedly told the girls that they were to do fewer because the boys are stronger. This upset the girls a great deal, who came running to my classroom to tell me about it. When we reconvened as a class, I explained that there are different standards for males and females, all the way up to the military. One boy raised his hand to comment, so I called on him. "My opinion," he said, "is that women are good for being teachers and cleaning the house and that's about it." I stared at him, a deer in headlights. What the heck do I say to that?! , I wondered. By some miracle, my mentor happened to pop her head into the classroom just then, and went off at the boy about discrimination and how much trouble he could get into by saying things like that. We explained that having opinions is OK, but that there's a time and a place to share them. Heh.

3.) I tutored two of my lower students yesterday (the daughters of the angry-letter mother from a while back). I drove them home (since their mom apparently can't afford the $1.50 in gas it'd cost to drive here and back), which was no small feat. My car is a MESS. That's no exaggeration, either; neither girl had much room to sit in the car. We were laughing about how the car is "my dirty little secret." It was quite a ride. Today, one of the girls left me a note on my desk: "Homework: clean out dirty secret!!?" I love it.

4.) In math today, we were studying a 12 by 12 multiplication table and noticing patterns. They were very observant in what they saw, and we ended up talking about prime numbers. At first, one of my boys was completely uninterested and frustrated that we had to learn about prime numbers. However, once we started doing more and more examples, he became one of the most involved participants in our discovery of them. It was really awesome. For once, it seemed like someone actually learned something in the classroom!

5.) At the end of the day for Social Studies, I got a video from the library about Thanksgiving. I had the children write down at least 5 facts about the movie, showing them how to take notes during the viewing. I was so impressed; many people filled a whole page with notes, and only 3 out of 25 students wrote just the required 5 facts (everyone else did more). Another beautiful thing!

Finally, tomorrow is our school's Thanksgiving family luncheon. It shall be a disaster, I think. First, our lunch got scooted up half an hour (for some unknown reason), which makes the plans for the afternoon unclear to me. Next, I was told that we had to eat with our class and their families in the classroom, but others said we don't. Very confusing. Quite a few parents should be here tomorrow, so that's always nice. We drafted thank-you letters to them, which we'll finish up tomorrow morning. Should be good. After that, the day will most likely end in chaos.

Okee, that's about all for now. That was a really long entry... it's nice to be excited about school, though! Until later, peace.

A first-year teacher loses her temper

Good grief! I love my kids, I swear I do, but they just drive me crazy sometimes. Today was definitely one of those "sometimes."

So I try to mix it up a bit for the kids sometimes- playing games, doing pair work, etc. However, either I can't manage them right, or they just can't do it. I can't tell which. This morning, math was a bit boring (even for me), and we're just doing multiplication. I tried to spruce it up a bit with a game my mom bought me called Multiplication Math War. It's just a deck of cards with multiplication problems on them, and the kids go against each other to see who has the larger number. It worked well for a while, but they get so noisy so quickly. We had to stop the game (as usual) because, even after several warnings, they still would not just work quietly.

Reading was moderately successful, as they worked quietly on their own. After lunch, however, it all came tumbling down again. ALL we had to do before Art was S.S.R. (sustained silent reading) and a Social Studies activity. That's it! In fact, I was worried that we'd have extra time left over. Wrong! The reading went fine, but Social Studies drove me absolutely crazy!! We were learning a fun state song, which should've taken 15 minutes. We first reviewed the lyrics together, which has all 50 states and their capitals. We underlined each state as a class, then circled the capitals.

In an exercise that should've been quick, I asked students (at random) to tell me the capital of each state as I said the state's name. If you take a look at the lyrics, you'll see that each state's capital either directly precedes or follows the state. I was even pointing out each state on the overhead, while the students followed along on their own copies. HOWEVER, I'd call on people who would ask, "Where are we?" or "Which one are we on?" or "What are we doing?" Ugh!! It took sooooo long. I was extremely frustrated, especially since the answers were RIGHT THERE!!! I told them that we had to get through the review before we could go to Art. We ended up being almost 15 minutes late to Art because of so many students being off-task. One girl was even on the floor. Peer pressure ultimately got her back in her seat, but people were angry. Several girls even cried because of missing Art. I told them that I was upset, too, and that it's not fair for this to happen. I got stern and angry, and they knew it.

The rest of the day wasn't much better. I have one student who is totally ostracized from our class. Though I personally am fine with him, no one else in the class is. He also infuriates other teachers to the point where he gets kicked out of detention! Anyway, he made things difficult, and the whole class made it worse. During the last 10 minutes of the day, he got checked out early. The class actually cheered (while the poor kid was still there!), and I came down on them hard for it. I told them it is NOT OK to be that rude, disrespectful, and mean to another student EVER. I told them that every day I am annoyed at some point, but I don't complain (much) and I'm certainly not hurtful and mean toward people.

Anyway, I feel remarkably not like quitting, despite how annoyed I am at the moment. The librarian told me after school that she thinks it's good for the students to see that they're not going to wear me down. At least not this year. Heh.

Finally, I have to input grades now (an hour-long task) for progress reports. After that, it's Round 2 of massage classes! I NEED a massage now, after today!

I've got a case of "The Mondays"...

So despite getting to school a full 15 minutes early (!!), the day wasn't all that good. The morning started out well, but I just have to figure out how to keep it going smoothly!

Again, I'm exhausted and upset that I have several hours' worth of work left to do at home. Sigh.

The day started out interestingly: I learned that one of my students was chopping wood with his father this weekend, and didn't hit the stump hard enough. The axe bounced back into the student's face, breaking his nose and requiring 13 stitches on his face. Ouch. He'll be out this week, I hear, so we'll have to do something for him. :(

Also, I set up my first formal evaluation by the principal! Two weeks from today, I'll be done with the dreaded first-year-teacher's-first observation!! Eek!

Finally, some photos for you:

1.) I wish it were

2.) My classroom, end-of-the-day:

3.) Me and our district's *beautiful* (read: ghetto) Ford Focus:

Ta da!! OK, now I'm going home to do even more school stuff! :P

TGIF... again

Friday!! Yay!! On my way out the door, so here's a brief rundown:

-No real drama today, just lots of chatty kids

-Had our 2nd student-of-the-month assembly, where we celebrated not only the s-o-m, but also our students on the Principal's List, honor roll, and with perfect attendance. Yay! I had a TON of kids on mine, and promised the school that I'm not grading too easily, but that I really do have a class with a lot of hard workers.

-One student has head lice. Yummy. The rest of the class had to get checked in the afternoon, which took a big chunk out of my afternoon activities. Oh, well.

-Spelling bee workshop (yesterday) was a-w-e-s-o-m-e. I'm looking forward to our bee!

That's all for now; I actually have places to go and people to see! (I'll be back in here this weekend, though, because a teacher's work is never done!) Peace.

Briefly...

... showed up an hour late to our in-service today... whoops!

Superintendant is trying to hook me up with another police officer. Go figure.

In-service wasted a day of my life that I'll never get back... grr...

We did talk about bullying, though, which was immensely depressing. What to do?

Time to write up sub plans for tomorrow (so I can attend a spelling bee workshop), then get a part for my car, then go to massage class, then sleep! ! Ciao.

Oh, Tuesday...

So today was an interesting day. The morning started out well; the math lesson went well, and then we reconvened as a whole class. We did a quick kinesthetic (sp?) grammar review that was fun, and then did stretching and The Macarena before music class. The kids were actually good in music!! That almost never happens. During reading, I had several boys who just wouldn't do their work... most annoying. They were disruptive, so I put the whole class to work, silently and on their own. It worked well.

The afternoon started well, with reading aloud and then art class. After art, however, the day was a cruel rug ripped out from underneath me. All we had to get through was 10 words of vocab (where we define and draw a picture of each word) and social studies (where we were to vote on the actual issues on Arizona's midterm election ballot). That's it.

Two boys in the back would NOT stop talking, though, so I walked back to let them know that they won't be able to sit next to each other anymore. That's where the excrement hit the fan, so to speak... one boy (who is one of my "runners") decided that I was being completely unfair. I told him I wouldn't argue with him, and I walked away to continue our vocab work. When I got to the front of the classroom, I turned around, and there was the boy, seething. In slow motion, I saw him pick up his chair and hurl it across the room. Thank goodness one boy was just coming back from the bathroom (and not in his seat), or else he would've gotten hit in the head. The chair knocked over another chair on top of a desk, causing two chairs to nearly injure several students. I told the chair-thrower that he had to leave immediately, and he just stood there. The rest of the class watched, mouths open, to see what would happen next. I told him he could leave or I could escort him out. He still diddn't budge. I walked over to him and took his arm to lead him out of the room. He became irate and fought against me. He punched me in the arm and hit me, and started yelling. Luckily, my door was open so that the staff members in the library across the hall could hear the commotion. One ran to get the principal, and at that point the student fled the classroom. I tried to continue the lesson, but the class seemed very shaken up.

We spent the end of the day discussing what had happened, and what we can do about controlling anger. During the last 10 minutes before school let out, the principal came to debrief our class on the outcome of the incident. The student has been removed from my classroom for at least a month (probably 2) and is on in-school suspension. I told the students it's their right to feel safe in the classroom, and that no one can mess with that. We actually had a good talk.

When the kids were gone for the day, I had to go to the office to fill out an incident/injury report, even though I'm physically fine. What a day! For now, I go vote and then on a date (I have a pseudo-life!!).

What?? A good Monday??

Wow, so today wasn't bad at all! Since I didn't come in at all this weekend (oops), I came in an hour early this morning. It was actually nice, and I may do it again soon! I got a lot accomplished, though not everything. Such is teaching.

New 4th grade student showed up today, bringing my class total back up to 27. She's a delight, though; she's a fast learner, and is sweet so far. A ton of the girls took an immediate liking to her; I give it about a week before massive girl drama starts up again. :P

The morning was actually really good... We got a lot done, and the kids were mostly respectful and quiet. They were relatively mellow, and I didn't get frustrated. The afternoon (as usual) was a bit rougher, but it wasn't as bad as usual. I know this all won't last, but it was a nice way to start the week. It also helps that I only have to teach 2 more days this week! (We have an in-service all day Wednesday- no kids- and I'm going to a spelling bee workshop on Thursday.... muwahaha!)

In other news, there was an announcement today that there will be no more salad bar through December. Since I'm lazy enough to buy school lunches about every other day, this was earth-shattering news!! No good!! I don't want to eat the yucky stuff they have sometimes, so I may have to start packing lunch more often. Oh, life is rough. Anyway, I'm off to nap and prepare for tomorrow (and maybe even get a run in!!)... Peace.

Wooo hooO!! Freedom!!

Yay for Fridays!! So I mostly like my class, but they're just so... loud! It gets super annoying, and I'm super tired of it. Yucky. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm becoming this nasty, vile person, and I don't want to be. Unforunately, my classroom management style is still being developed, even this late in the game. I wonder if I'll ever have a grasp on it.

Anyway, yesterday was the day from heck. It was awful, and I mean awful. Not one, but THREE boys threw desks in the classroom yesterday, and the principal's punishment was minimal. There is just so much anger these kids carry around, and we're working on dealing with them better, but it's just so dang difficult!

Today ended on a good note, though. We had our "fall party" during the last 30 minutes of the day, after cleaning the classroom up. Actually, considering everything, the room looks pretty decent right now. During our earned free time earlier, three students actually helped me grade tests!! Beautiful!! :)

Anyway, I'm gonna come back here tomorrow to get a LOT of stuff done... Fun, fun. For now, I'll wrap up in the classroom, and try to ENJOY Friday! (Oh, and it's WARM here!! It's probably almost 80 out and sunny!! In November!! I love Arizona.)

Mmmm, Wednesdays

So today wasn't as bad as I had anticipated (being the day after Halloween and all). I had 5 kids out again, which makes my class nice and manageable!

Lately, I've been feeling like I'm doing the bare minimum of teaching. Sure, I care and all, but I feel like I'm slacking. When I get home, I just don't feel like doing more school stuff! I do my planning the Sunday before the next week, and I haven't put ANY grades into my gradebook this quarter yet. I'm not sure if it's laziness or feeling overwhelemed, but I'm letting a lot fall by the wayside right now.

Also, I think I'm starting to get sick. I felt it this morning when I got to school, though I feel OK now. This might be the beginning of the infamous Downfall of the First Year Teacher's Immune System. We'll see!

It also feels like I'm becoming more impatient and annoyed with the students. I don't mean to be all nasty towards them, but we've been in school 12 weeks now- why are we still working on our lines in the hallway and not talking in the classroom? I honestly wonder if they've learned much this year at all. Hmm... I've also been thinking that I should spend the good part of Saturday here, to make sure I get everything caught up.

For now, I'm somehow apathetic. We'll see how the week ends up.

Oh! Before I forget, I should talk briefly about Halloween, small-town style. I had a friend over for dinner, and we passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. All the kids who came to my house showed up in their parents' cars! How weird! My friend told me that nowadays, parents don't walk door-to-door with their kids anymore; they all drive the kids from house to house. It didn't seem to help much, but I did see two of my students and siblings of a few more. It was exciting having trick-or-treaters come to my place!!