No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher's Dirty Looks

I have now resorted to using a timer and giving myself 45 minutes to knock this post out because I'm pretty sure I'll never get it done otherwise.  {Not even joking.}  Even though the school year ended a good month ago, I've only just now gotten around to doing our traditional end-of-school-year interviews this morning.  Seeing as to how the boys were the only ones up and awake when I was ready to get started, I'm going to go in reverse order and start with Isaac and then work our way up to the top.

The Last Day of School 

(Grace and Sophie were already done at this point, which is why they're MIA for this photo op.)

Isaac -- 

{I should perhaps note that Isaac was NOT in the mood for my questions this morning seeing as to how he really wanted to be on screens and I had told him no.  His disgruntlement colored the entire interview and it wasn't until I "tricked" him into answering my questions (by telling him I bet I could guess all of his answers) that he started to thaw.}

*    WHAT IS THE COOLEST THING YOU LEARNED IN SCHOOL THIS YEAR?

Isaac: I just don't want to do that thing!  {that thing being this interview}  I don't like surveys!  {accompanied with a scowl}  I don't like doing this!  {and that's all the answers I got for this question}

*    WHO WERE YOUR BEST FRIENDS AT SCHOOL?

Me: {guessing} [kid's name redacted]

Isaac: No!

Me: Okay.  Cort?

Isaac: Yeah

Me: {guessing a couple more names from Isaac's class that he then shot down}

Me: I can't think of any others -- who else should I add?

Isaac: William

Me: Who's William? Oh, the biscuit boy?

Isaac: Mom!  Yes -- how could you forget the biscuit boy??

{A quick explanation for context -- William is a kid in his class who once ate a biscuit for breakfast and has forever after been dubbed Biscuit Boy in our household.} 

*    WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT?
Me: PE.  Did I get that one right?
Isaac: {it was at this point that he began to settle down} It's just because I like doing the stuff in PE 'cause it's fun.

*    WHAT WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT?

Me: Art?

Isaac: Yeah

*    WHAT IS YOUR BEST MEMORY FROM THIS SCHOOL YEAR?
Me: Field Day.  Am I right?
Isaac: I mean, kind of...
Me: Do you have another favorite memory?

Isaac:  When we went to the play

Me:  What play?

Isaac: Boogie Barnyard

Me: Oh -- were there songs in it?  Was it like a musical or something?

Isaac: Yeah, there was a frick ton of singing

Field Day 2023!

(That hair, though.)

You gotta love the classic spinning around the baseball bat event.  Hahaha.

(I couldn't NOT take a picture of Grace taking a picture of the Field Day festivities.)

*    HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE YEAR IN ONE WORD?

Isaac: GOOFY.  I'm just kidding.  

Isaac: BIZARRE

Me: Bizarre? 

Isaac: I'm just kidding

Isaac: Okay fine, you can put bizarre

*    IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THE RECORD ABOUT YOUR 1st GRADE EXPERIENCE?

Isaac: I don't even want to do that! {"that" being this last question}

Alex --

*    WHAT IS THE COOLEST THING YOU LEARNED IN SCHOOL THIS YEAR?

Alex:  Ummm...hmm... {insert lots of pondering}... Genes

Alex:  That was also probably the thing I got the most out of because I already knew everything in math

Alex: It's spelled G-E-N-E-S

Alex's pod (the Broncos) had an end of year awards ceremony to hand out "Bronkies."

Apparently all that in-depth knowledge about genes and knowing everything about math paid off.  Hahahaha.  In all honesty, though, I was thrilled for him when he won the Educational Enthusiast Bronkie.  He really is an endless source of all kinds of random information and loves sharing everything he learns with anyone who will listen.  😊

*    WHO WERE YOUR BEST FRIENDS AT SCHOOL?

Alex:  Landon, Thomas, Matthew, and maybe Ted -- it's a nickname for Edward

*    WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT?

Alex: Math

Me:  Should I put "duh" in parentheses?

Alex:  Yeah

Me: (DUH)

*    WHAT WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT?

Alex:  Medical Detectives -- it was really boring because it was really quick

*    WHAT IS YOUR BEST MEMORY FROM THIS SCHOOL YEAR?

Alex:  No clue

Alex:  I have lots of good memories from the school year -- I can't think of only a single thing

*    HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE YEAR IN ONE WORD?

Alex:  GOOFY

*    IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THE RECORD ABOUT YOUR 6th GRADE EXPERIENCE?

Alex:  No

My little graduate!  😍

 ------------- { Breaking News!  I'm only half way through, and ... the timer just went off.  DOH!!!} ----------

Jane --

{Side note:  The girls were all still asleep when I finished interviewing the boys, so I thought it would be fun to fill in the blanks and then see how they compared to the actual answers.  I'll put all my guesses in blue.}

*    WHAT IS THE COOLEST THING YOU LEARNED IN SCHOOL THIS YEAR?

My guess:  Uh nothing.  School isn't cool.

Jane: {I'm pretty sure she was still half asleep when I started the interview, so there was LOTS of zoning out and taking a super long time to give me an answer}  Umm...I learned what stocks are I guess.

Jane: {at the very end of the interview, when she was actually awake}  Can I change my answer from stocks?  It was actually not that interesting and it was a boring day.  

Jane:  Just scratch it out!

Jane:  I learned some cool stuff in history

Jane:  {after I'd finished Grace's interview and she wanted to hear what Jane had put for everything}  I did not say history!

Me:  Uh, yeah -- you did

Jane:  Wait!  Manifest Destiny!

Me:  You know that's kind of a problematic concept, right?

Jane:  I know.  I'm not a white supremacist, though.

*    WHO WERE YOUR BEST FRIENDS AT SCHOOL?

My guess:  Emma, Quinn, and Annie

Jane:  Quinn, Emma, and Annie

Quinn * Emma * Jane

Jane and Annie

*    WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT?

My guess:  Science

Jane:  Math

*    WHAT WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT?

My guess:  Band -- I hate band with a passion

Jane:  ELA

Me:  What??  I thought for sure you'd say band!  You hated band.

Jane:  Band doesn't count -- it's an extracurricular

Jane:  I always tell you how much I hate ELA!

*    WHAT IS YOUR BEST MEMORY FROM THIS SCHOOL YEAR?

My guess:  idk

Jane:  Colt Celebration

Jane:  It's like Field Day

*    HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE YEAR IN ONE WORD?

My guess:  INSUFFERABLE (it's been one of her favorite words this year)

Jane: [word redacted]

Jane:  Don't put that down!  It's gonna ruin my reputation!

Jane:  {lots of ummmms} This is so hard!

Jane:  Can Taylor Swift count as one word?

Me:  It's not one word, so no

Jane:  Ummm...UNMEDICATED

Jane:  I'm just joking -- don't put that down!

Jane:  Okay you can put it down

*    IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THE RECORD ABOUT YOUR 8th GRADE EXPERIENCE?

My guess:  {distraction, distraction, zoning out} What was the question? {me repeating the question with Jane cutting me off halfway through to answer "no"}

Jane:  Future note to myself -- don't ever take any AP ELA classes

Sophie -- 

{Out of the three girls, I came the closest to getting all of Sophie's answers right.  Hahaha.}

*    WHAT IS THE COOLEST THING YOU LEARNED IN SCHOOL THIS YEAR?

My guess:  idk

Sophie:  Nothing {close enough, in my opinion.  hahaha.}

*    WHO WERE YOUR BEST FRIENDS AT SCHOOL?

My guess:  Lauryn & Ella

Sophie:  Lauryn & Ella

Sophie, Lauryn, and Ella

*    WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT?

My guess:  Lit Mag

Sophie:  Block 

Me:  What about Lit Mag??

Sophie:  I hated Lit Mag.  I mean I liked the content, I just didn't like the environment -- I've told you that.  The class was all Seniors.

*    WHAT WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT?

My guess:  Chemistry & Calculus

Sophie:  Math and science

*    WHAT IS YOUR BEST MEMORY FROM THIS SCHOOL YEAR?

My guess:  Nothing -- I hated this school year

Sophie:  Mt Rushmore project

I honestly don't understand what exactly this project was for her APUSH class.  I think the assignment was to create a "Mt Rushmore" of presidents using whatever measuring stick for greatness they wanted...

...And Sophie chose "hotness."  😐

And her presidents are...JFK, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. 

😳😳😳😳

*    HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE YEAR IN ONE WORD?

My guess:  TERRIBLE

Sophie:  BAD  {again, close enough}

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THE RECORD ABOUT YOUR SOPHOMORE YEAR EXPERIENCE?

My guess:  Nope

Sophie:  No

Grace --

*    WHAT IS THE COOLEST THING YOU LEARNED IN SCHOOL THIS YEAR?

My guess:  Nothing really

Grace:  Hold on, I'm trying to think of all my classes.  Um...I don't know, sociology was fun.

*    WHO WERE YOUR BEST FRIENDS AT SCHOOL?

My guess:  That's such a weird question -- why do you always ask that?

Grace:  erm -- my only school friend is Taylor.  And Brennan.  The rest are from church -- Christian, Ella, Lauryn, Trevor, Jackson...

Grace:  {after hearing what my guess was} I mean...it IS a weird question

Christian, Grace, Ella, Trevor, Sophie, Jane, and Lauryn at a church dance

*    WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT?

My guess:  Probably AP Lit because I'm so good at ELA.  Like, I can just come up with stuff out of nowhere and still get a good grade on whatever I write.

Grace:  Hold on, I've gotta think in my head about all my classes.  I liked study hall, sociology, film, and theater.

Grace:  {after hearing my guess}  I can NEVER come up with stuff out of nowhere to write for AP Lit!  Those essays are so hard.

Me:  I thought you've said that it's so easy to write stuff

Grace:  Not for AP Lit.  ELA is probably my favorite core subject, though.

*    WHAT WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT?

My guess:  I don't know -- probably study hall because it's boring

Grace:  AP Lit

Me: {laughing since I totally had her favorite and least fave switched} 

Grace:  I hated AP Lit -- didn't I complain enough about it this year?  

Me:  I thought you'd think study hall is so boring!

Grace:  It's when I get all my edits done

*    WHAT IS YOUR BEST MEMORY FROM THIS SCHOOL YEAR?

My guess:  Ugh... There's too many to choose from.  Graduation?

Grace:  Oh, well I liked our sociology project that I did with Taylor about Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.  And I liked filming "Degrees" {that's the Bachelor spoof she made with her creepy doll}.  Also, literally any moment in theater was entertaining.

*    HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE YEAR IN ONE WORD?

My guess:  SILLY

Grace:  What's that one word?  SENIORITIS -- is that a word?

Me:  Yeah

Grace:  What does it mean?

Me:  Like when you're a senior and you're just over school and can't wait to get out of there

Grace:  I had that like freshman year

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THE RECORD ABOUT YOUR SENIOR YEAR EXPERIENCE?

My guess:  Not really.  At least not about school, but my Avatar edit on TikTok has like 100K views, so...

Grace:  Um... I just graduated, so just text my mom personally for my Venmo.  {Lolololol}

That's all folks!  It has officially taken me 8 hours to finish up this blog post and get it ready to publish.  It is now way too late and I think I've earned my rest, so...thank you and GOODNIGHT!  Hahaha.