So, I don't know the proper way to kill a cockroach, but Lois and I have devised our own method and it seems to work remarkably. Anytime we see a roach, one of us screams like a girl (typical, really) and the other one comes running saying, "what, what, what is it?" Last night I found one in my bathroom and tried to drop a heavy shoe on it. Well, that failed and it scampered off to the corner...so by the time Lois got there I was standing in the bathtub looking for it...our method of killing roaches? Raid wasp spray. Trust me, it works like magic. It shoots out powerfully so even though they can move pretty fast, they aren't expecting it and can't get away from it. And it basically drowns them in it, no matter how big they are! The only downside, it makes my bathroom smell like raid for awhile. So far I've used this on two roaches and a spider that was literally 3 inches in diameter and BLACK....this was not a daddy-longlegs, this was nasty McGee. Don't worry, the raid worked like a charm because I wouldn't get within 10 feet of that nasty thing.
Okay, this has to be a quick post, I want to get to school early. Friday's are always so crazy because lesson plans for the next week are due so I have to finish them, get them printed, and have my class ready to go for the day or have it ready to go for the next week. I'm not sure if my class is getting any better...we have a hard time listening to directions and I feel like all I do is shout, but I'm working on other ways to get their attention and keep their attention. I'm finding that the majority of my class does what I want, but there are about half a dozen that keep me on my toes all.day.long.
Let's talk about one girl. This girls momma told me the day before school started that "she bad." Well, so did every other momma. However, this woman wasn't lying. She is the smallest, most petite thing...but she is ALWAYS the one hitting, pinching, pushing other kids. And she does it in a way that no one can catch her at (under the table, in line, etc). Last week during centers I was missing a ton of play dough at one of the tables. I had my assistant check her pockets (knowing she has had things of mine in the past) and sure enough there is a huge ball of play-dough and some magnetic letters from the table before that. WTF, who steals play dough. Okay...other things, a couple of days later I am missing 4 bags of magnetic letters that we use at one of the tables. I can't find them ANYWHERE during my planning period. I decide I'll tear apart my room the next morning. Since I had one of the kids put them away, I figured they just hadn't ended up in the same spot that I put them in. Nope, they were gone, not in my room, not in the school. This week I talked to her mother and she tells me that her daughter has been bringing home puzzle pieces, blocks, like 20 pencils, etc. Oh sure enough, all of these things are from my room. I ask her about this the next day, she tells me she took all of that stuff AND my magnetic letters. Well, her momma hasn't seen the letters, but that means her daughter either hid them or got mad and threw them away. OMG, that girl is not going to recess until those letters come back to school and she knows it. The kicker, now that I check her pockets each morning (so she doesn't have candy in class) she stuck an individually wrapped cinnamon roll thing in her pants, like literally next to her hip flexor ALL morning and kept her hand in her pocket to hold it in place. UGH, really???? Yesterday she brought a 6-inch long race car to school in her pocket. Not only am I dealing with a 5 year-old klepto, but a friggin' smart one at that. I'm not sure if I'll ever see my magnets again though. The last thought on this...her momma called me again last night to for warn me that her daughter had stabbed her cousin in the back with a pen and to make sure she can't get ahold of any pens. omggggggggggg. She also told her momma that I am mean, I told her momma that she was right. But seriously, why didn't they warn me about THIS at institute?!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Hot cheetos
I will never understand their obsession with hot cheetos. I tried the smallest bite in Houston and thought my mouth was going to be on fire and that I was going to drink the water fountain dry. G.R.O.S.S. At my school the kids can purchase snacks in the morning. They give the money to my assistant and tell her what they want. They get their snack at the end of the day and either eat it while walking home or eat it at home or something, I don't really know? I'm not a fan of buying snacks, but whatev I don't have to deal with it. Until the very end of the day and they are throwing their folder and bookbag around and I threaten to take away their snack, but what am I going to do with it??
Anyway, this week has been hectic, go fig. Yesterday (Monday) was probably the worst day that I have had. I had several students that refused to do anything. All morning/afternoon I was in a struggle with R'Vant. He refused to sit in his seat, he would roll around on the carpet, he would be laying under the tables, just acting a fool. I took him to the hallway multiple times trying to coerce him to behave and threatening him with calling his momma and all sorts of other things. They might have worked for short stints of time, but nothing lasted. At one point he was rolling down the hallway. Ms. Ballard talked to him and he apologized, but even that didn't last forever. Finally after lunch during math he was ridiculous, no matter how much I yelled or how stern I was with him, he still refused to do anything. While the rest of the kids were working on worksheets, we were in a power struggle. He was laying on the ground knocking the chairs from one side of him over to the other side. After another struggle in the hallway, I realized I couldn't take it. Ms. Ballard came out again (after hearing from her assistant that I was probably in need of some help). Our principal was gone to a meeting....R'Vant was taken to the next person in charge. He came back in my room maybe 10 minutes later much more calm and subdued. He had gotten whooped. Don't worry, he seemed fine, but I cried.
Understanding corporal punishment has been really simple, accepting it is another challenge. Although I don't want parents to be whooping their kids based on how they act in my class, the fact of the matter is that this culture identifies with that. If kids are bad, they know that is what is going to happen. It doesn't mean that I have to whoop kids and as much as I thought I wouldn't send kids to the principal's office knowing that's what they would get, I realized that is the only thing they fear. If I do everything in my power to get them to behave and it still doesn't work, the only thing left is the fear the resides in that office at the entrance of the building. I've realized that the more my class watches him act out and not do anything that he is supposed to, the more they are going to think they can get away with that. It seems easy to think that you'll just ignore him because all he wants is attention, but for the sake of the rest of your class, that isn't possible. If you ignore him, the next kid is going to think he can throw chairs or try to bite me and nothing will happen to him. The worst part of the whole situation is that I love that kid. No joke, he is by far my favorite in the entire class. Therefore, to see anyone yell at him or give him a hard time about how he acted yesterday or this morning or even last week REALLY pushes my buttons. I'm UBER protective of my kids, it's one thing if I yell at them, but you had better believe I don't want anyone else yelling at them unless they are in authority (like the principal). That sounds awful because I know I give them a hard time, but I'm also the first one to offer praise when they are doing what they should be or showing me that they can do great work.
In other words, don't mess with my class and don't talk bad about my kids, because I truly love them!..and thank goodness, because we are going to be together for the next 10 months....
Anyway, this week has been hectic, go fig. Yesterday (Monday) was probably the worst day that I have had. I had several students that refused to do anything. All morning/afternoon I was in a struggle with R'Vant. He refused to sit in his seat, he would roll around on the carpet, he would be laying under the tables, just acting a fool. I took him to the hallway multiple times trying to coerce him to behave and threatening him with calling his momma and all sorts of other things. They might have worked for short stints of time, but nothing lasted. At one point he was rolling down the hallway. Ms. Ballard talked to him and he apologized, but even that didn't last forever. Finally after lunch during math he was ridiculous, no matter how much I yelled or how stern I was with him, he still refused to do anything. While the rest of the kids were working on worksheets, we were in a power struggle. He was laying on the ground knocking the chairs from one side of him over to the other side. After another struggle in the hallway, I realized I couldn't take it. Ms. Ballard came out again (after hearing from her assistant that I was probably in need of some help). Our principal was gone to a meeting....R'Vant was taken to the next person in charge. He came back in my room maybe 10 minutes later much more calm and subdued. He had gotten whooped. Don't worry, he seemed fine, but I cried.
Understanding corporal punishment has been really simple, accepting it is another challenge. Although I don't want parents to be whooping their kids based on how they act in my class, the fact of the matter is that this culture identifies with that. If kids are bad, they know that is what is going to happen. It doesn't mean that I have to whoop kids and as much as I thought I wouldn't send kids to the principal's office knowing that's what they would get, I realized that is the only thing they fear. If I do everything in my power to get them to behave and it still doesn't work, the only thing left is the fear the resides in that office at the entrance of the building. I've realized that the more my class watches him act out and not do anything that he is supposed to, the more they are going to think they can get away with that. It seems easy to think that you'll just ignore him because all he wants is attention, but for the sake of the rest of your class, that isn't possible. If you ignore him, the next kid is going to think he can throw chairs or try to bite me and nothing will happen to him. The worst part of the whole situation is that I love that kid. No joke, he is by far my favorite in the entire class. Therefore, to see anyone yell at him or give him a hard time about how he acted yesterday or this morning or even last week REALLY pushes my buttons. I'm UBER protective of my kids, it's one thing if I yell at them, but you had better believe I don't want anyone else yelling at them unless they are in authority (like the principal). That sounds awful because I know I give them a hard time, but I'm also the first one to offer praise when they are doing what they should be or showing me that they can do great work.
In other words, don't mess with my class and don't talk bad about my kids, because I truly love them!..and thank goodness, because we are going to be together for the next 10 months....
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Only in Ruleville....
So, today was like my pseudo-snow day. Being that I have strep and am banned from the school...okay, okay, it is completely justified...I planned on sleeping in. I guess I should have passed that memo onto my landlord who called me at 6:04 a.m. Sorry Mr. Free, I am in no mood to talk to you that early in the morning!
Anyway, let me tell you about my day...because it's kind of funny. I got up at 9...after attempting to call Sara Vargason/Lawrence to tell her Happy Birthday although she ignored my phone call...I sat on my porch swing eating breakfast. This might see mundane, but it was quite amazing because for the first time this week I was able to eat solid food like cereal! WAHOO!! That shot in the butt really did wonders!
I'm not going to give you the complete details, but I was REALLY freaking productive today. I walked to the post office, got a bunch of phone calls in, cleaned the kitchen, unpacked the rest of my stuff, then I baked chocolate chip cookies, choc chip muffins, banana nut muffins and brownies. Have no fear, everything I made was from a box or a package. I put together 4 plates for people who helped Lois and I get through our first week. Joe for showing us the house we ended up renting, Marie's house for "hosting" us for several weeks until we finally had our own house, Ballard & Mariam for helping us survive our first week as teachers and answering the phone each night when we called with a million questions, and my assistant Mrs. Beamon who rocks my face off and really saved me this week when I was sick.
While doing all of that I washed two loads of laundry (trust me, this is where the story gets interesting). For whatever reason, all of the water drained into my bathtub, toilet and sink. And then refused to drain out. So, I went next door to Mrs. Free's house to get the number for the plumber that was here recently. I called them...they said they would be over shortly. In the meantime, Mrs. Free came over just to "see what it looked like." Have I mentioned that she is kind of batty...or just nosey. But I keep reminding myself that if someone were robbing our house she would be the first one over there with a bat, or a shotgun. Anyway, she made a few phone calls of her own...
Soon, some man shows up to check out the plumbing. I assumed he was the plumber, nope, he was from city hall. Mrs. Free called him. He asks where I teach and all of that stuff (everyone assumes you're a teacher if you're under the age of 40 and just moving to town). Then he tells me he saw me walking up town this morning. Mind you I only walked two blocks to the post office and back, whatev. Everyone knows your business, that's for certain!
Finally, the plumbers come over, they looked familiar, maybe because I just saw them last week....anyway, they poke around outside and all of a sudden water comes gushing out of a hole they drilled. Found part of the problem, I'd say. Mrs. Free comes over to keep them company, surprise, surprise. Soon, the head-honcho shows up and wants to check out the bathroom to make sure everything is now draining properly. They had it fixed already! I offer him some cookies since I was in the middle of making them; I filled a ziplock for the plumbers. He goes back outside and 5 minutes later knocks on the door and asks if I would like any cantaloupe or watermelon. He had just picked some from his farm and they were in the back of his truck. Well, sure I love cantaloupe! (Just so you know grandpa, I didn't take watermelon because I knew I couldn't eat it before it went bad!) So, I take two from this pile of at least 20 in his truck and then he pawns a 3rd one off on me that I could eat right away! I went walking in the house with my arms full of cantaloupes thinking, "only in Ruleville do you get cantaloupe from your plumber...."
Anyway, let me tell you about my day...because it's kind of funny. I got up at 9...after attempting to call Sara Vargason/Lawrence to tell her Happy Birthday although she ignored my phone call...I sat on my porch swing eating breakfast. This might see mundane, but it was quite amazing because for the first time this week I was able to eat solid food like cereal! WAHOO!! That shot in the butt really did wonders!
I'm not going to give you the complete details, but I was REALLY freaking productive today. I walked to the post office, got a bunch of phone calls in, cleaned the kitchen, unpacked the rest of my stuff, then I baked chocolate chip cookies, choc chip muffins, banana nut muffins and brownies. Have no fear, everything I made was from a box or a package. I put together 4 plates for people who helped Lois and I get through our first week. Joe for showing us the house we ended up renting, Marie's house for "hosting" us for several weeks until we finally had our own house, Ballard & Mariam for helping us survive our first week as teachers and answering the phone each night when we called with a million questions, and my assistant Mrs. Beamon who rocks my face off and really saved me this week when I was sick.
While doing all of that I washed two loads of laundry (trust me, this is where the story gets interesting). For whatever reason, all of the water drained into my bathtub, toilet and sink. And then refused to drain out. So, I went next door to Mrs. Free's house to get the number for the plumber that was here recently. I called them...they said they would be over shortly. In the meantime, Mrs. Free came over just to "see what it looked like." Have I mentioned that she is kind of batty...or just nosey. But I keep reminding myself that if someone were robbing our house she would be the first one over there with a bat, or a shotgun. Anyway, she made a few phone calls of her own...
Soon, some man shows up to check out the plumbing. I assumed he was the plumber, nope, he was from city hall. Mrs. Free called him. He asks where I teach and all of that stuff (everyone assumes you're a teacher if you're under the age of 40 and just moving to town). Then he tells me he saw me walking up town this morning. Mind you I only walked two blocks to the post office and back, whatev. Everyone knows your business, that's for certain!
Finally, the plumbers come over, they looked familiar, maybe because I just saw them last week....anyway, they poke around outside and all of a sudden water comes gushing out of a hole they drilled. Found part of the problem, I'd say. Mrs. Free comes over to keep them company, surprise, surprise. Soon, the head-honcho shows up and wants to check out the bathroom to make sure everything is now draining properly. They had it fixed already! I offer him some cookies since I was in the middle of making them; I filled a ziplock for the plumbers. He goes back outside and 5 minutes later knocks on the door and asks if I would like any cantaloupe or watermelon. He had just picked some from his farm and they were in the back of his truck. Well, sure I love cantaloupe! (Just so you know grandpa, I didn't take watermelon because I knew I couldn't eat it before it went bad!) So, I take two from this pile of at least 20 in his truck and then he pawns a 3rd one off on me that I could eat right away! I went walking in the house with my arms full of cantaloupes thinking, "only in Ruleville do you get cantaloupe from your plumber...."
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Who gets sick in the middle of summer????
OMG...tomorrow is day 6 of teaching and I have the day off. Why? Because I FREAKING have strep throat...omggggggg. What kind of teacher gets strep throat? Who gets it in the FIRST week of school? JEESH.
I woke up on Sunday with a sore throat and blamed it on air conditioning or something lame like that. Then it hadn't gotten any better and I lost my voice on top of it. Basically, I sounded H.O.T. Luckily my assistant is amazing and rocks my face off. She helped me tremendously this week by doing all of my read-alouds (aka, reading books to the kids) and helping teaching or monitor anything that I asked her to. Last night my throat hurt sooooo badly I knew I needed to get it checked out. I was taking NyQuil and Dayquil like it was my job and it still didn't help. And Excedrin doesn't make any Excedrin Froat Hurts. The white bumps on the back of my throat made me realize that it probably wasn't getting better anytime soon. TMI (too much info) I know...therefore, I called on Tuesday afternoon and asked for an appointment at anytime on Wednesday afternoon. They kept trying to make me pick a doctor before I set up an appointment, I said I really didn't care who I saw, whoever might be free on Wednesday afternoon was good for me. Turns out, my doctor rocked too! She was awesome and I would totally go back....although I hope I don't get sick for 6 months AT LEAST. The only bad part...they gave me a shot of some medicine and a steroid to reduce the swelling in my throat...in my butt. Well, not really my butt, but lower back. Go fig, I almost passed out and had to sit down. Stupid. I hate shots. I'm 25 years old and act like I'm 5 when it comes to getting shots. I had to sit in my car with the AC full blast talking on the phone for awhile before I was safe to drive!
So....the first 5 days of school have been interesting. I have a total of 22 kindergartners. My kids talk wayyyy too much and have a hard time listening. I blame this on two things, first and foremost, I blame their inattentiveness on me and not keeping them engaged enough with my lessons and discussions. Secondly, I blame it on the fact they have never been to school before, they haven't learned that when the teacher is talking, they are not. On Friday afternoon I had two parents call me by 3:45 p.m. It was only the second day of school. Their kids came home with their daily calendar colored in yellow (this means they had a warning and were going to lose recess because they couldn't follow the rules). Both parents wanted to know what their kids were doing...basically because they wanted a reason for why they were whooping their kids. I also had several parents stop in today and tell me that if I have to tell their kids to listen more than once to call them and they would come to school (also to whoop their kid). It's so sad, but totally the culture here. These kids don't know any different, but I'm bound and determined to use other methods of getting them to behave than having to resort to that.
My kids are B-E-A-UTIFUL. In case I haven't mentioned that before...they are just gorgeous...I love 5 year-olds and how innocent but incredibly intelligent they are. If they get busted for starting to bicker with someone else they always say, "but he/she was messing wit me." Or Jarrius, everytime I ask if he did something another student claimed he did (such as push another kid) he always says, "maaaan, I didn't do that...he/she did dat" and puts the blame on someone else around him. Today someone said something really funny at lunch but I can't remember what it was...I was laughing though. It's great that you can "reward" the kids that are doing good with letting them carry your lunch, or I'll send them down the hall to fill up my waterbottle. This is, like, HUGE for them!
PS...the Indianola Wal-mart is the only place I know that literally sells out of Mac & Cheese. WTF is that?! If you thought me being a teacher was going to result in me trying to cook as well....well, that was a funny thought, huh? I have enough cereal to get me through a month of suppers ;)
Anyone have any old happy meal toys??? I'll take them for my "toy box" that the students who end the day on silver get to play with on the rug. They just eat it up, it's like the best thing in the world for them! Let me know!!!
Okay...the olympics rock. My voice is a disaster...call me if you want to hear something really hilarious. Sometimes when I say sentences, certain words just don't come out! Tomorrow I'm going to be SUPER productive...working on my room, making things for my classroom, hopefully sign my contract (since that hasn't happened yet) and baking treats for the people who have helped me through my first week or helped us find our house!! and maybe a few extras....Oh, relax Jeannie, I'll sleep in and probably take a nap in the afternoon!
AHHHH, I'm missing the LeSueur County fair and am sooooooo sad...... :( I haven't missed that fair in the last 5 years!! L-O-V-E that place and those people....
I woke up on Sunday with a sore throat and blamed it on air conditioning or something lame like that. Then it hadn't gotten any better and I lost my voice on top of it. Basically, I sounded H.O.T. Luckily my assistant is amazing and rocks my face off. She helped me tremendously this week by doing all of my read-alouds (aka, reading books to the kids) and helping teaching or monitor anything that I asked her to. Last night my throat hurt sooooo badly I knew I needed to get it checked out. I was taking NyQuil and Dayquil like it was my job and it still didn't help. And Excedrin doesn't make any Excedrin Froat Hurts. The white bumps on the back of my throat made me realize that it probably wasn't getting better anytime soon. TMI (too much info) I know...therefore, I called on Tuesday afternoon and asked for an appointment at anytime on Wednesday afternoon. They kept trying to make me pick a doctor before I set up an appointment, I said I really didn't care who I saw, whoever might be free on Wednesday afternoon was good for me. Turns out, my doctor rocked too! She was awesome and I would totally go back....although I hope I don't get sick for 6 months AT LEAST. The only bad part...they gave me a shot of some medicine and a steroid to reduce the swelling in my throat...in my butt. Well, not really my butt, but lower back. Go fig, I almost passed out and had to sit down. Stupid. I hate shots. I'm 25 years old and act like I'm 5 when it comes to getting shots. I had to sit in my car with the AC full blast talking on the phone for awhile before I was safe to drive!
So....the first 5 days of school have been interesting. I have a total of 22 kindergartners. My kids talk wayyyy too much and have a hard time listening. I blame this on two things, first and foremost, I blame their inattentiveness on me and not keeping them engaged enough with my lessons and discussions. Secondly, I blame it on the fact they have never been to school before, they haven't learned that when the teacher is talking, they are not. On Friday afternoon I had two parents call me by 3:45 p.m. It was only the second day of school. Their kids came home with their daily calendar colored in yellow (this means they had a warning and were going to lose recess because they couldn't follow the rules). Both parents wanted to know what their kids were doing...basically because they wanted a reason for why they were whooping their kids. I also had several parents stop in today and tell me that if I have to tell their kids to listen more than once to call them and they would come to school (also to whoop their kid). It's so sad, but totally the culture here. These kids don't know any different, but I'm bound and determined to use other methods of getting them to behave than having to resort to that.
My kids are B-E-A-UTIFUL. In case I haven't mentioned that before...they are just gorgeous...I love 5 year-olds and how innocent but incredibly intelligent they are. If they get busted for starting to bicker with someone else they always say, "but he/she was messing wit me." Or Jarrius, everytime I ask if he did something another student claimed he did (such as push another kid) he always says, "maaaan, I didn't do that...he/she did dat" and puts the blame on someone else around him. Today someone said something really funny at lunch but I can't remember what it was...I was laughing though. It's great that you can "reward" the kids that are doing good with letting them carry your lunch, or I'll send them down the hall to fill up my waterbottle. This is, like, HUGE for them!
PS...the Indianola Wal-mart is the only place I know that literally sells out of Mac & Cheese. WTF is that?! If you thought me being a teacher was going to result in me trying to cook as well....well, that was a funny thought, huh? I have enough cereal to get me through a month of suppers ;)
Anyone have any old happy meal toys??? I'll take them for my "toy box" that the students who end the day on silver get to play with on the rug. They just eat it up, it's like the best thing in the world for them! Let me know!!!
Okay...the olympics rock. My voice is a disaster...call me if you want to hear something really hilarious. Sometimes when I say sentences, certain words just don't come out! Tomorrow I'm going to be SUPER productive...working on my room, making things for my classroom, hopefully sign my contract (since that hasn't happened yet) and baking treats for the people who have helped me through my first week or helped us find our house!! and maybe a few extras....Oh, relax Jeannie, I'll sleep in and probably take a nap in the afternoon!
AHHHH, I'm missing the LeSueur County fair and am sooooooo sad...... :( I haven't missed that fair in the last 5 years!! L-O-V-E that place and those people....
Thursday, August 7, 2008
"I want them to think that school is the coolest thing since Pokemon"
For the record, I read that quote in a Classroom Culture 101 packet tonight and laughed outloud. This lady wants them to crave school and to be begging for Saturday School. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that my kids probably don't know what Pokemon is....it hasn't reached Mo'head yet.
Anyway, put a check mark next to my first day of teaching, it's OVER! Phew...I was super excited this morning and stayed up wayyy too late last night finishing my agenda for the day and getting things ready. It went...okay. I'm not going to say it was great, they are in Kindergarten. The attention span of a 5 year old is literally 10 minutes, on a good day. I felt like I did a lot of yelling or had to raise my voice a lot. They haven't gathered the idea of not talking when they are not supposed to. Trust me, I was PLENTY stern today....hard for me to even believe it. That's probably another reason I don't feel like the day was phenomenal...I hate yelling. I know there are other ways to get kids to do what you want them to do, I just need to find those alternative methods. It will come...we spent a lot of time practicing how to make a straight line, how to walk in the hallways (one hand on your hip, the other on your lips), how to efficiently use the bathroom (and not play), how to move from the rug to our tables and so forth. We have yet to master how to get a drink without putting your mouth on the faucet and without getting water ALL over your shirt and ALL over your shorts. Oh well...it will come.
In fact, we even mastered the lunch line...the only person that got yelled at was me. Apparently, you are not supposed to pick up any of the silverware to see if there is a spoon....I guess you're just supposed to know? Whatev, the lunchlady isn't the nicest from what I heard, I think it goes with the job of wearing a hairnet. I would be a crab too.
Speaking of which...not really, but I needed a transition, we have hot water in our house YAYYYYY!!!! The landlord's mother lives behind us, we call her "Mama Free" (not to her face) as her son is Mr. Free, and she has been meeting with various people in our house during the day who come to do the inspection, hook up the gas, light the hot water heater, etc. She's a bit...odd, but it's nice she is there because we leave the house by 6:30 and aren't back until supper usually.
So...back to my class. Did I mention that I love my kids. I don't know why, but there is always one that you know is going to cause you stress, but that is the one you love the most. In Houston it was Marc Valdez, granted he wasn't paying attention unless he was HIGHLY engaged in the lesson, but you can't get over his minor speech impediment and the way he talks about loving "his kitties." This one is R'Vant...he is repeating Kindergarten and although I already know he is going to challenge me plenty this year, he is my favorite by far. Don't pick favorites, I know...but he is definitely a child that needs to be challenged both socially and academically.
All of my kids are great, they talk too much, but they are great. And I'm basically in love with my class list, mostly because of the names. Let's run through it (this is like my favorite thing to do!): Breanna, Cakiyah, Cordarius, Da'Janae, Invia, Ja'Khia, Jala, Janiya, Jaqualan, Jarrius, Kyra, Lamaurice, Lechedrique, LaVaunshe', Makayla, Marcus, Miracle, Phamous, R'Vant, Samara, Siseli, Sydney, and Tyler. Feel free to call me and guess how you pronounce some of these names, it's really fun actually! But most of them make perfect sense once you hear it. Anyway, they are great, they are all african american and cute as buttons, they wear school uniforms so you better believe that I stuck a nametag to each and everyone of them today, and they give me hugs even when I feel like I'm yelling at them.
Anyway, I'd better get going, I need to print out my agenda and get some sleep, 4 hours didn't do it for me. I sympathize for teachers, I didn't sit down at all today unless I was reading them a book or when we were eating lunch...in fact, I don't even have a chair at my desk yet...life would rock if I could wear flip flops to school! (PS, I take out my eyebrow ring at school....AND I have learned to put the ball back in the hoop myself...hallelujah!)
Peace, love and cypress...
Anyway, put a check mark next to my first day of teaching, it's OVER! Phew...I was super excited this morning and stayed up wayyy too late last night finishing my agenda for the day and getting things ready. It went...okay. I'm not going to say it was great, they are in Kindergarten. The attention span of a 5 year old is literally 10 minutes, on a good day. I felt like I did a lot of yelling or had to raise my voice a lot. They haven't gathered the idea of not talking when they are not supposed to. Trust me, I was PLENTY stern today....hard for me to even believe it. That's probably another reason I don't feel like the day was phenomenal...I hate yelling. I know there are other ways to get kids to do what you want them to do, I just need to find those alternative methods. It will come...we spent a lot of time practicing how to make a straight line, how to walk in the hallways (one hand on your hip, the other on your lips), how to efficiently use the bathroom (and not play), how to move from the rug to our tables and so forth. We have yet to master how to get a drink without putting your mouth on the faucet and without getting water ALL over your shirt and ALL over your shorts. Oh well...it will come.
In fact, we even mastered the lunch line...the only person that got yelled at was me. Apparently, you are not supposed to pick up any of the silverware to see if there is a spoon....I guess you're just supposed to know? Whatev, the lunchlady isn't the nicest from what I heard, I think it goes with the job of wearing a hairnet. I would be a crab too.
Speaking of which...not really, but I needed a transition, we have hot water in our house YAYYYYY!!!! The landlord's mother lives behind us, we call her "Mama Free" (not to her face) as her son is Mr. Free, and she has been meeting with various people in our house during the day who come to do the inspection, hook up the gas, light the hot water heater, etc. She's a bit...odd, but it's nice she is there because we leave the house by 6:30 and aren't back until supper usually.
So...back to my class. Did I mention that I love my kids. I don't know why, but there is always one that you know is going to cause you stress, but that is the one you love the most. In Houston it was Marc Valdez, granted he wasn't paying attention unless he was HIGHLY engaged in the lesson, but you can't get over his minor speech impediment and the way he talks about loving "his kitties." This one is R'Vant...he is repeating Kindergarten and although I already know he is going to challenge me plenty this year, he is my favorite by far. Don't pick favorites, I know...but he is definitely a child that needs to be challenged both socially and academically.
All of my kids are great, they talk too much, but they are great. And I'm basically in love with my class list, mostly because of the names. Let's run through it (this is like my favorite thing to do!): Breanna, Cakiyah, Cordarius, Da'Janae, Invia, Ja'Khia, Jala, Janiya, Jaqualan, Jarrius, Kyra, Lamaurice, Lechedrique, LaVaunshe', Makayla, Marcus, Miracle, Phamous, R'Vant, Samara, Siseli, Sydney, and Tyler. Feel free to call me and guess how you pronounce some of these names, it's really fun actually! But most of them make perfect sense once you hear it. Anyway, they are great, they are all african american and cute as buttons, they wear school uniforms so you better believe that I stuck a nametag to each and everyone of them today, and they give me hugs even when I feel like I'm yelling at them.
Anyway, I'd better get going, I need to print out my agenda and get some sleep, 4 hours didn't do it for me. I sympathize for teachers, I didn't sit down at all today unless I was reading them a book or when we were eating lunch...in fact, I don't even have a chair at my desk yet...life would rock if I could wear flip flops to school! (PS, I take out my eyebrow ring at school....AND I have learned to put the ball back in the hoop myself...hallelujah!)
Peace, love and cypress...
Ms. Ward...Ms. Ward...
OMG, I've never been called my last name and it's starting to hurt me. People say Ms. Ward and I'm oblivious. After 2 seconds I'm like, "oh crap, that's me."
Anyway, a LOT has been happening this week, but nothing exciting that was worth writing about. I spent last Wednesday and Thursday in school district trainings...zzzzzzzzz, kind of a snore not going to lie. Then Friday morning was an all staff school district meeting. Another snore....but the most interesting part about that was we had a prayer before starting. Who says you can't have prayer in education, not folks in the Delta.
Each day this week was spent in more trainings, school specific. Aka, our principal, Ms. Winters' made us go. I would have much rather had the time to work in my classroom, but that is mundane compared to learning about a smart board (that we will never have in our school) and talking about rules and consequences like it's the most important thing on the face of the planet.
Yesterday (Wednesday) was parents orientation. Parents could come in and register their child for school and they could meet their teacher, fill out paperwork, etc. I met about 15-18 of my parents and families. Some brought their kids, some didn't. It was sooooo exciting :) However, all but like 2 of my parents said this about their child, "oooooo, they bad. Yeah, they real bad." Good start, good start, Ms. Ward....
Oh well, I left school feeling fairly prepared (minus the fact I hadn't done my first day agenda yet, but I had all night to get that done). So, while I'm looking through a couple of books that I thought we might read as a class, I get a phone call from Ballard. Mind you this is the person I am supposed to be looking up to because she knows the Kindergarten ropes and is going to help me get through this year. She went driving through a soybean field and got her Tahoe stuck, THEN expected me to come help her get out! When I got out there, I realized that she drove under the big water sprayer thing that stretches across the field. Down here, SUV's and Tahoe's don't need 4-wheel drive (um, what, excuse me?) so she is stuck AND walking through the mud without shoes on and in a white skirt. I laughed for a longgggg time, in fact, when I think about it now I still laugh!! Luckily, before we had to do much, the farmer was checking the field and found us out there and he pulled her out....not before we took about 30 pictures to document this brilliant choice she made!
Okay, first day of school is todayyyyyyy....I feel like I'm typing at the speed of light right now because I am so anxious and excited. I have a 5 page agenda that will hopefully take up the entire day!! If not, I'll be writing another venting blog tonight! I got my class roster yesterday and am positive that I will struggle with some of the names, these poor kids and having to write such long names with vowels and silent letters all OVER the place! I'll post some of my names tonight. Lois and I have to take our picture, since it's the first day of school at all ;)
Pray for me...I might need it today. My principal asked me yesterday if I have been practicing my "teacher tone" aka mean voice. They specifically tell you not to smile until Christmas...I am supposed to have 23 5-year olds and not smile at them when they come in the room? I'm probably going to smile just thinking about how "they bad!"
Over and out from the Cypress house....first day of school.....EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Anyway, a LOT has been happening this week, but nothing exciting that was worth writing about. I spent last Wednesday and Thursday in school district trainings...zzzzzzzzz, kind of a snore not going to lie. Then Friday morning was an all staff school district meeting. Another snore....but the most interesting part about that was we had a prayer before starting. Who says you can't have prayer in education, not folks in the Delta.
Each day this week was spent in more trainings, school specific. Aka, our principal, Ms. Winters' made us go. I would have much rather had the time to work in my classroom, but that is mundane compared to learning about a smart board (that we will never have in our school) and talking about rules and consequences like it's the most important thing on the face of the planet.
Yesterday (Wednesday) was parents orientation. Parents could come in and register their child for school and they could meet their teacher, fill out paperwork, etc. I met about 15-18 of my parents and families. Some brought their kids, some didn't. It was sooooo exciting :) However, all but like 2 of my parents said this about their child, "oooooo, they bad. Yeah, they real bad." Good start, good start, Ms. Ward....
Oh well, I left school feeling fairly prepared (minus the fact I hadn't done my first day agenda yet, but I had all night to get that done). So, while I'm looking through a couple of books that I thought we might read as a class, I get a phone call from Ballard. Mind you this is the person I am supposed to be looking up to because she knows the Kindergarten ropes and is going to help me get through this year. She went driving through a soybean field and got her Tahoe stuck, THEN expected me to come help her get out! When I got out there, I realized that she drove under the big water sprayer thing that stretches across the field. Down here, SUV's and Tahoe's don't need 4-wheel drive (um, what, excuse me?) so she is stuck AND walking through the mud without shoes on and in a white skirt. I laughed for a longgggg time, in fact, when I think about it now I still laugh!! Luckily, before we had to do much, the farmer was checking the field and found us out there and he pulled her out....not before we took about 30 pictures to document this brilliant choice she made!
Okay, first day of school is todayyyyyyy....I feel like I'm typing at the speed of light right now because I am so anxious and excited. I have a 5 page agenda that will hopefully take up the entire day!! If not, I'll be writing another venting blog tonight! I got my class roster yesterday and am positive that I will struggle with some of the names, these poor kids and having to write such long names with vowels and silent letters all OVER the place! I'll post some of my names tonight. Lois and I have to take our picture, since it's the first day of school at all ;)
Pray for me...I might need it today. My principal asked me yesterday if I have been practicing my "teacher tone" aka mean voice. They specifically tell you not to smile until Christmas...I am supposed to have 23 5-year olds and not smile at them when they come in the room? I'm probably going to smile just thinking about how "they bad!"
Over and out from the Cypress house....first day of school.....EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)