A Nerdy Teacher's Closet: Week 4 (9/24 - 9/28)

This week's theme was exhausted. I was operating under a constant cloud of physical and mental exhaustion. I had been preparing for our District Family Game Night since the summer and, what I thought I would have help with, I was doing 95% alone. Between the promotions and wrangling up raffle prizes, to organizing permission slips for my club kids and fielding questions from parents... I don't know how I survived. I even had another mental slip-up day where I forgot to wear one of my planned shirts. But things came together to provide a unique week of dress-up.

Week 4: 9/24 - 9/28

Monday, September 24, 2018
Today my students were going to start to investigate how to create a better energy source to help emergency respondents when they go into rough situations. Why worry about their battery running out? Since we had used the Because Science video on the how Captain America's shield works, I decided to wear my blueprints shirt. This shirt came in a Loot Crate.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018
I can't remember exactly why I chose this shirt. Maybe because of our small moment stories and mine has to do with Peter Pan? I was too tired to try to figure out the connection. Maybe I wanted to take a trip so that I didn't have to deal with all the stress building on my plate. You can purchase this shirt through WootShirt!

Wednesday, September 26, 2018
I was extremely exhausted from prepping for the district game night alone, to finding out I was duped by a coworker regarding co-curricular support, then all the normal kid stuff, and also my outside of school. So I felt I needed to remind myself that Goonies Never Say Die. This shirt came from a Loot Crate.

Thursday, September 27, 2018
This day ended up representing how I was feeling, which is reflected in my pathetic face. I felt like I had been broken down into pieces and being hauled off for scrap. I just had so much going on and the exhaustion just doesn't get any easier. Sadly, I also forgot to wear my "literal" shirt, because I was so stressed the word wasn't on my mind when I got up. Oh well.  I got this shirt through WootShirt!

 The Rainbow Dash headband came from the Target $1 area. I was just trying to brighten my day and contemplated a look for Picture Day.

Friday, September 28, 2018
Today was Picture Day, so I had to get at least a little bit fancy. I packed a few shirt options, though, because this was the night of our first District Family Game Night. I had to have a shirt to wear for the event and I wans't sure if I wanted to wear my club shirt or a different game shirt. But before all of that, I had to rectify the mistake from Thursday. I wore my "literal" shirt in honor of the quiz. Sadly, I never changed my shirt and wore my "literal" shirt for the rest of the day. I got the shirt from Snorgtees.com 

The Joy of Gaming - Ray's Rate a Shelf #33

At the beginning of this year, my husband started a Twitter feed, posting a different part of our game shelves and rating the games that are on them. I was so impressed by this activity, I thought it would be great to share it on my blog.

Click the Tweet to see the rankings and the games.

Rate a Shelf: @CMONGames Well this one's easy. pic.twitter.com/zTPm0P4hCF

— Ray Bonilla (@OldManMerton) February 5, 2018

A Nerdy Teacher's Closet: Week 3 (9/17 - 9/21)

While I was incredibly excited to break out all of my game club shirts, I made one misstep this week which broke my heart. The school year is getting intense, so sometimes it's easier to forget the finer things in life... like International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Either way, there were several wonderful and glorious t-shirt moments that really made my week that much more interesting and... provocative is not the correct term, but... like... engaging?

Week 3: 9/17 - 9/21

Monday, September 17, 2018
Today was the first day of Game Club. So I wore my N.E.W. Game shirt, promoting one of the exciting events my club kids will have a chance to participate in. One of the highlights of Game Club. It's a staff shirt, so it's super elite.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018
I was so excited to take this shirt to a whole new level in Literacy. We're working on small moment stories. Taking a tiny seed or a tiny event in our life and turning it into a larger story to really enrapture the reader. I told them the story of how Rogue One started as one line in a Star Wars movie and they turned it into a Blockbuster. I'm keepin' it simple here. We're not going to go into the lore, we're going to stick with the basics. So I loved being able to wear this. I got this through TeePublic.com.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018
We are studying energy forms in Science. Without thinking ahead of time (um... it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day....), I thought it would be fun to wear my minion Star Wars shirt, because of the Science and energy implications. What kind of energy is the Force? Potential? Kinetic? Energy? Light? You get it. The discussion was somewhat interesting, but at least it got a few wheels moving at 8:45AM. I purchased this shirt through TeeFury.com, but it is no longer available.

Thursday, September 20, 2018
I had to go present my District Family Game Night to the district's Parent/Teacher Organization. So all the PTN's from all the schools in the district. I wanted to promote the event and hope that they would all take the information back to their schools. I had already had the head office send out fliers and had done some other things. So hopefully it'll be fruitful. GO SPTGC!!!

Friday, September 21, 2018
It was tornado drill day! How could I NOT wear my Sharknado shirt. Now that made my day happy. Sadly, only a few people got it, but still... I'm the only one who needs to be happy about it. I got this shirt SnorgTees.com, but apparently it has gone missing from the site since the other day when I checked. Demand the shirt be renewed.

The Joy of Gaming - Ray's Rate a Shelf #32

At the beginning of this year, my husband started a Twitter feed, posting a different part of our game shelves and rating the games that are on them. I was so impressed by this activity, I thought it would be great to share it on my blog.

Click the Tweet to see the rankings and the games.

Woops. let's try that again. Rate a Shelf! Last of the space game shelves.

@StrongholdGames @Zmangames_ @mayfairgames @FFGames @Funforge pic.twitter.com/YLHgwsV8dC

— Ray Bonilla (@OldManMerton) February 4, 2018

A Nerdy Teacher's Closet: Week 2 (9/10 - 9/14)

My giant closet threw me some curveballs this week. I had some moments where I was at a loss for what to wear, but I figured it out.

I also suffered a chastisement by my husband for a sneaky shirt purchase. Yes... shame and consternation, but I don't buy anything else! I just wish shirts weren't so expensive. I have a friend who is obsessed with socks and I'm like... gosh... wish my obssession was cheap like that.

Regardless, here is this week's offering of shirts that I was really just happy to wear, because the heart was, once again, insane and I have no A/C in my classroom.

Week 2: 9/10 - 9/14

Monday, September 10, 2018
Today I was scheduled to teach one of my favorite Literacy lessons: Wooing Literature. I compare the choosing of a book to finding a relationship. There's the love at first site, then you get a little closer to try to learn a little more, then you ask questions, get their digits, and then go on your first date. Then I talk about the relationship that is formed or maybe there's a break-up. What happens when it's a series? Well, you're in it for the long-haul. It's really a great lesson. I had a few shirts picked out for this but 1) one had a spot and 2) the other had these two black Miyazaki style soot sprites kind of right over my boobs. I know this shirt will probably come up again, but I wore my Satellite of Love shirt and dorkishly giggled at my idea that I'm riffing relationships by comparing people to books. (From TeePublic.com)

Tuesday, September 11, 2018
I feel like, to some degree, there are still many people who hold onto this tragic image and this tragic day. What I've been learning, though, as a teacher, is that the generation that doesn't understand or know or even liked during 9/11 are quickly becoming adults with no context for the inciting incident that made their world the twisted place it is right now. I brought out my 9/11 shirt and then had my students make a slide sharing what they knew about 9/11. (From 911Day.org, but no longer available.)

Wednesday, September 12, 2018
We had our yearly training for how to handle concerns over people who we think are depressed or who might want to commit suicide. It is a topic close to my heart, so I wanted to stand in solidarity, even if it was just for myself, to helping others who are in so much pain. So I wore my "Always Keep Fighting" shirt, which was part of a campaign that Jared Padalecki (Gilmore Girls, Supernatural) made when he came out as suffering from depression. I bought it for the motto, because it is a constant battle. (From Represent.com, but they reprinted it, so it's not the exact shirt.)

Thursday, September 13, 2018
Today my students had to do their research for what we call a On-Demand Writing Assessment. We provide them with resources and then they write an informative essay about the topic. Many years ago, my district colleagues chose the topic of "Eating Bugs." Too often, it does not turn into an informative essay, it turns into an argumentative essay, but either way. It was on the docket for today. Additionally, we were doing our first lab in Science. Nothing grandiose, just making little fans using different types of energy, but an experiment nonetheless. So I wore my AntMan shirt from LootCrate, which is no longer available through LootCrate.com, but you can find it in various places online if you must have it. I'll leave the connections for you to ponder, though.

Friday, September 14, 2018
This was the day that gave me trouble this week. I almost wore dress clothes, but I didn't want to yet. I genuinely really had nothing I wanted to connect with and some of my shirts I wasn't ready to break out and show off. So since the students were actually doing the writing of their On-Demand (they get a day for research), I figured it's collecting data about the truth of their understanding about informative writing. So I wore my Punisher shirt. I had my typical black shirt over it, plus I'm realizing no one REALLY notices my shirts, but that's okay. I don't wear them for the attention. I wear them for the love of my shirts. They make ME feel AMAZING and that's all that matters. SO TAKE THAT DATA!!! TAKE IT I SAY! (From TeePublic.com)

Goodness.... it just dawned on me that I put quite a bit of thought into my shirts, but that thought is like two minutes in the morning. That's gotta be some kind of talent, right?

The Joy of Gaming - Ray's Rate a Shelf #31

At the beginning of this year, my husband started a Twitter feed, posting a different part of our game shelves and rating the games that are on them. I was so impressed by this activity, I thought it would be great to share it on my blog.

Click the Tweet to see the rankings and the games.

Rate a Shelf: @StrongholdGames @ArtipiaGames @RioGrandeGames @TastyMinstrel @thegamecrafter @alderac @RatherDashing More space games and further proof this is really a fave genre for me. pic.twitter.com/7EDNQ9cQFp

— Ray Bonilla (@OldManMerton) February 3, 2018

A Nerdy Teacher's Closet: Week 1 (9/4 - 9/7)

I have a giant collection of t-shirts. I have officially started calling myself a t-shirt addict. As I was organizing my shirts this summer, I joked that I should take a picture of a day with the shirts that I wear. The joke turned into something I became serious about doing and here we are.

Start with this first week of school, I'll be taking a picture everyday of the shirt that I'm wearing. Preferably t-shirts, but there are just some days you cannot wear a t-shirt to work. Additionally, I'll only be posting for school days, unless something else comes up. For instance, last year I wore a piece of Star Wars clothing everyday for 30 days up until The Last Jedi was released. If something like that inspires me, there might be more days, but for now, it will only be the days that I have work.

Week 1: 9/4 - 9/7

Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Our first day of school, we are asked to wear our Panther Way shirts. That way the students know who the teachers are and can ask for help.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018
On the second day of school, my sixth grade team was walking students through orientation, so I wore another Panther Way shirt.

Thursday, September 6, 2018
It was so hot this week, I thought I'd wear some sort of camp t-shirt, so I pulled out my Welcome to Endor shirt. Available through TeePublic.com.

Friday, September 7, 2018
The first theme dress-up day of the year was for Wisconsin Sports. I  have one Packer shirt and that is what came with me.

The Joy of Gaming - Ray's Rate a Shelf #30

At the beginning of this year, my husband started a Twitter feed, posting a different part of our game shelves and rating the games that are on them. I was so impressed by this activity, I thought it would be great to share it on my blog.

Click the Tweet to see the rankings and the games.

Rate a Shelf: @StrongholdGames @RedRavenGame @WhiteGoblin_ @MirrorBoxGames The start of my space game shelves. I love all 4 of these space games. I've also played all 4 SIGNIFICANTLY less times than I want. pic.twitter.com/XASLCBZNOd

— Ray Bonilla (@OldManMerton) February 2, 2018