No animals were harmed in the making of this yearbook.

Tonight, I will be submitting my 6th yearbook.  I hate to think of the first yearbook I submitted in Fosston years ago - Listen, if you ever have the chance to be yearbook advisor - walk away - run away!
  It's the one publication that everyone  finds every single mistake and then, tells you about it.  You thought you sent the best book ever made until ... it's in other people's hands.  And let me tell you this, kids aren't always very nice in their criticisms.  Parents neither. But as every year, I believe this is the best one ever!

If you are ever the yearbook advisor, I will tell you this - if there is a mistake - even a big mistake - say you forgot a senior in the yearbook - or the company puts the wrong school on the cover, it's not the end of the world.  Don't let anyone tell you it is either because no one got physically hurt making this yearbook.

You are human - and guess what? I tell kids that there are Obama problems and there are yearbook problems.  This works in many other instances - like curbing drama - and I mean drama with a small d - the kind of drama that shrinks your brain.  They tell me how awful there friend is and I say "Well, this is not an Obama problem, this is a small annoyance let's not go overboard."  They usually laugh.

You can call in your staff and remind them of the importance of proof reading.  Remember it as a life lesson - and maybe do a google search of famous typos and mistakes and remember how they moved on. 

Hello!

Years have come and gone, and I've been teaching for eight years.  What I can't believe is that I still have so much to learn and how much there is to learn.

I'm still learning about kids and their sometimes scary worlds.  I'm still reading new books and finding new things to teach. 

Natalie will graduate high school this year, and we'll be sending her off to college. It's funny that I never really wanted to think about that and now I'm scheduling senior pictures!

This fall, I will have some of my first "Oklee 7th Graders" back in my classroom as Juniors.  Time marches on!  I've been peeking at their progress through the last two years as they pass on to Mr. Swenson's classroom.  They are still the energetic bunch from four years ago.  The only difference is the stubble on their chins and the shade of the lip gloss.