yeah, brrrrrrrr.
I know what you're thinking, "oh whatever...it's the south, it can't be thatttt cold." Well, let me tell you, this morning my car read 35 degrees at 6:30 a.m. and I guarantee my house temperature is probably hovering around 50. Ridic. I don't deal with indoor cold weather well at all....hence the reason my Heffy apartment was a tropical 85 degrees on most days...well, and because I didn't pay for it...thank you SMU. I came home and took a hot shower, like hot enough to get a sunburn, hot. Truthfully, the only reason I blow-dryed my hair was for warmth tonight! Heck, even last night I slept with my electric blanket under my several layers of quilts and fleece blankets set on number 7 while still wearning my sweatshirt and sweatpants. This is the lone reason I hate fall, when it starts to get cold. I hated it for the last three years when maintenance would resist turning on the heat...I was probably the only one that welcomed coming home to the burnt-register smell signifying the heat had been turned on. Anyway..my house is cold. We do have heat...it consists of individual heaters in both bedrooms, the living room and dining room. Those were just fixed/replaced last week but because they are hooked up to the gas and we are poor teachers, we are trying to minimize our gas bill and not use them until frostbite sets in. The light at the end of the tunnel is that it is supposed to warm up to 60's and 70's tomorrow and Thursday, please oh please....
So, I just got off the phone with the ever-so-hilarious Gabe King who turned 6 years old today. I love little kids...he had me cracking up. He got a bike WITH a WATER BOTTLE on it for his birthday, I love that kids can get so excited about things that are NOT electronic. I asked if HE liked his kindergarten teacher and he replied, "um...sorta" in a very matter-of-fact-Gabe-like-way. Apparently she is strict. But in all reality, she sounds a lot like me. They didn't get recess because they were naughty. check. They have to turn around and walk back into the room because they weren't walking in the hallway the way they were supposed to. check. In fact, tomorrow my class is going to skip morning recess and we are going to practice walking in the hallways. I don't care if it takes 15 minutes or a half-hour, we will do this everyday until we stop looking like fans from a Hannah Montana concert running down the hallway. Okay, it's not thatttt bad, but we don't walk in a straight line, we are always talking, we are never hip and lip (the ridic form they have to walk in--one hand on your hip, one hand on your lip). Anyway...today the ENTIRE class got their clips pulled down, TWICE. This means that everyone was acting a fool, so they all moved down one color from whatever they were on. Well, you know it's bad when everyone gets moved once, but TWICE. Good Lord...
We did carve a pumpkin today...it was the most uneventful thing that happened considering what the rest of our day was like...
A few tidbits that I definitely wasn't trained for prior to teaching Kindergarten. One of my girls was out of school for two weeks...why? This is gross...beware....a spider had gotten into/under her braids and layed it's eggs there (and/or bit her)...which literally made a large indent in her head. Soooo sad, I felt so bad for her. However, there was no way she could have known it was there and she didn't feel anything, so it's good that it wasn't painful. I was told by a school helper in my room that one of my little boys has ring worm on his forehead. Well, I saw there was a spot, but I didn't know it was ringworm. Heck, the closest thing I've come to ringworm is when we thought my first rabbit had it when I was in the 8th grade. I am not trained in this kind of stuff. I thought I was going to deal with loose teeth, wet pants, or scrapes and blood, not ringworm, spiders, etc! Ah...my poor babies, it's not their fault....
I realize that I never actually talk about the teaching aspect of this gig...I usually ramble about the "other" stuff. Well..my class has learned 15 letters, all but 6 have mastered all of them. We have learned 21 sight words, which means we are able to read a lot of basic words like, "the, and, I, a, is, my, like, can, etc." We sound out cvc words in our phonics lesson everyday and we practice reading for comprehension. My kids know what their schema is, we are slowly learning how to make connections while reading, and we have started introducing inferences this week. We practice separating beginning sounds, ending sounds, counting syllables, and a multitude of other things each day in centers. In math we have learned how to identify, create and extend patterns, position words such as over, under, on, above, left, right, and how to sort objects. We are currently learning (and struggling) with creating groups that have one more or two more objects in them, or one fewer and two fewer. Soooo difficult!
Anyway, there is my soapbox. Send some prayers and WARM wishes my way ;)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Pumpkin spice your life
So, I got this A-MAZING pumpkin spice candle from Wal-Mart last weekend and just lit it today...our house smells so good I could eat it. AHHHHHH....pumpkin spice foreverrrrrr.
Anyway, Saturday night, 5 p.m., I haven't done a darn thing ALL weekend. That is not good. I always tell myself to do a little on Friday night, a little on Saturday and then Sunday won't be so rough, but does that ever really happen? Not exactly, I usually get consumed with phone calls and sleeping...
So, we have been in school for 54 days and my kids saw phy-ed for the first time on Friday!! Haha...basically, I never go to PE. It's not my fault (really, it is), but our schedule for PE is just whack to being with. We are supposed to go from 11:15 to 11:30 and then go right to lunch. Well, the kids get back from their specials (computer or library) at 11:15. It generally takes us 10 minutes to even get lined up for lunch...so what's the purpose of trying to get lined up, go outside, start a game/activity, line up again, and get in line for lunch...we wouldn't eat until noon and my principal would have a field-day with me. Also...since we are supposed to have 30 minutes of PE everyday, our time from 2:45 to 3 is also reserved for PE...but since school is dismissed at 3:15, my class needs that time from 2:45 until 3:15 to color behavior charts, get bags, get situated for the end of the day and whatnot...BUT yesterday, we went outside and played Red Rover for 15 minutes at the end of the day. PS...not a good game to play with little kids, when someone is running at them they squeal and let them run by which defeats the purpose of that entire stinkin' game. But, after one girl was clothes-lined, I decided maybe it wasn't the best game to play anyhow.
I don't know if anything exciting has happened in kindergarten lately...a certain child has been sent home as usual. However, the school is doing a lot more to keep him in school during the day to try and help him pass. The other day he took all of the little tennis balls that are on the bottom of our chairs and threw them across the room while the rest of the class was learning phonics. I just ignored him, knowing he only wanted attention and rolling under the tables wasn't hurting anyone else so I didn't really care. However, fishing out those stupid balls from the garbage was not my idea of a fun time.
Monday we didn't have school because it was Parent's Day...so my assistant and I were in our classroom from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. We made GREAT progress on our room...sorting out all of our books, hanging paper, filing papers and tests galore, and organizing all of my junk. Granted I also spent the day meeting with parents as they came in and thankfully no one left too terribly mad!
Last weekend we had ProSat...our professional development Saturday in Helena/West Helena Arkansas. After, a few friends and I headed up to Memphis since it was only an hour away. We stayed in a hotel and spent the night enjoying the "city life" or basically everything the Delta doesn't have...chain restaurants, retail stores, an outlet mall, bars with people under the age of 30, etc. We spent the majority of our evening on Beale Street which is batting 2/2 in positive ratings for each time I've been there! They basically close 4 blocks of the street off from traffic and there are people everywhere. They even sell beer in the street, what more can you ask for? Don't worry grandma...I didn't have any (I opted for liquor instead!).
Living with Lois is sometimes a cultural experience in itself...in Memphis we went to a Thai restaurant (not my choice, I voted for Subway but lost) and I actually liked it. Basically I got the simplest thing on the menu, noodles and chicken, but it was still good! And today she made Japanese curry which sort of reminds me of beef stew on rice...but that was good as well! She rarely carved pumpkins as a kid, so I opened that door for her and we spent last night carving pumpkins and although my haunted house didn't turn out quite like it should, we still had fun. We spent today wallowing (i.e. working) in smells of pumpkin spice and roasting pumpkin seeds. Sooooooo good :) :) :)
I am in such distress today....weather channel says it's 77 degrees here right now (that seems debatable, but then again I haven't been outside all day)...but 8+ people called to tell me it was snowing at home. UGH...I make myself wait to listen to Christmas music until November 1st OR the first snowfall...but I can't quite bring myself to singing about a "holly, jolly Christmas" when it's 77 degrees out. One more week....one more week....
Anyway, Saturday night, 5 p.m., I haven't done a darn thing ALL weekend. That is not good. I always tell myself to do a little on Friday night, a little on Saturday and then Sunday won't be so rough, but does that ever really happen? Not exactly, I usually get consumed with phone calls and sleeping...
So, we have been in school for 54 days and my kids saw phy-ed for the first time on Friday!! Haha...basically, I never go to PE. It's not my fault (really, it is), but our schedule for PE is just whack to being with. We are supposed to go from 11:15 to 11:30 and then go right to lunch. Well, the kids get back from their specials (computer or library) at 11:15. It generally takes us 10 minutes to even get lined up for lunch...so what's the purpose of trying to get lined up, go outside, start a game/activity, line up again, and get in line for lunch...we wouldn't eat until noon and my principal would have a field-day with me. Also...since we are supposed to have 30 minutes of PE everyday, our time from 2:45 to 3 is also reserved for PE...but since school is dismissed at 3:15, my class needs that time from 2:45 until 3:15 to color behavior charts, get bags, get situated for the end of the day and whatnot...BUT yesterday, we went outside and played Red Rover for 15 minutes at the end of the day. PS...not a good game to play with little kids, when someone is running at them they squeal and let them run by which defeats the purpose of that entire stinkin' game. But, after one girl was clothes-lined, I decided maybe it wasn't the best game to play anyhow.
I don't know if anything exciting has happened in kindergarten lately...a certain child has been sent home as usual. However, the school is doing a lot more to keep him in school during the day to try and help him pass. The other day he took all of the little tennis balls that are on the bottom of our chairs and threw them across the room while the rest of the class was learning phonics. I just ignored him, knowing he only wanted attention and rolling under the tables wasn't hurting anyone else so I didn't really care. However, fishing out those stupid balls from the garbage was not my idea of a fun time.
Monday we didn't have school because it was Parent's Day...so my assistant and I were in our classroom from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. We made GREAT progress on our room...sorting out all of our books, hanging paper, filing papers and tests galore, and organizing all of my junk. Granted I also spent the day meeting with parents as they came in and thankfully no one left too terribly mad!
Last weekend we had ProSat...our professional development Saturday in Helena/West Helena Arkansas. After, a few friends and I headed up to Memphis since it was only an hour away. We stayed in a hotel and spent the night enjoying the "city life" or basically everything the Delta doesn't have...chain restaurants, retail stores, an outlet mall, bars with people under the age of 30, etc. We spent the majority of our evening on Beale Street which is batting 2/2 in positive ratings for each time I've been there! They basically close 4 blocks of the street off from traffic and there are people everywhere. They even sell beer in the street, what more can you ask for? Don't worry grandma...I didn't have any (I opted for liquor instead!).
Living with Lois is sometimes a cultural experience in itself...in Memphis we went to a Thai restaurant (not my choice, I voted for Subway but lost) and I actually liked it. Basically I got the simplest thing on the menu, noodles and chicken, but it was still good! And today she made Japanese curry which sort of reminds me of beef stew on rice...but that was good as well! She rarely carved pumpkins as a kid, so I opened that door for her and we spent last night carving pumpkins and although my haunted house didn't turn out quite like it should, we still had fun. We spent today wallowing (i.e. working) in smells of pumpkin spice and roasting pumpkin seeds. Sooooooo good :) :) :)
I am in such distress today....weather channel says it's 77 degrees here right now (that seems debatable, but then again I haven't been outside all day)...but 8+ people called to tell me it was snowing at home. UGH...I make myself wait to listen to Christmas music until November 1st OR the first snowfall...but I can't quite bring myself to singing about a "holly, jolly Christmas" when it's 77 degrees out. One more week....one more week....
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
"What are you going to do if you see a ghost?" "Catch it!" says Luc' Nycia
Ah...the anticipated trip the pumpkin patch...
For a brief moment this morning, I didn't think we were going to go. I walked into school this morning at 7:05 to find out that the slips that were sent home to parents were not sufficient as permission slips. I didn't create them, I didn't question them, I just passed them out. So, I basically freaked out. I had 50 minutes to call 19 parents and have them come into school to sign a new permission slip. I was p.i.s.s.e.d. And upset that if my kids were so excited about going but couldn't because of this last minute change, I would feel awful. Anyway, THANKFULLY a sub at our school, a guardian of one of my students, and also a parent volunteer for our trip was in school at that time so she took a stack of papers and called parents, Ms. Ballard took another stack and I had the last section. We got all but 3 parents/guardians/relatives to come in and get a form signed by about 8:15. Another staff member at my school who also works in my room for an hour in the morning took the last three slips to those homes to have the parents sign them, they were all unable to get to school because of a lack of transportation. Basically, those people SAVED.MY.LIFE this morning. We didn't leave at the anticipated 8 a.m., but we were probably rolling out of school by 8:45, so not too bad!
Anyway, back to the trip...let's recap...we started the morning by playing on inflatables. getting their faces painted, and riding horses/ponies. Then we went for a ride on the hay wagon and stopped at a big pig pen in which my class literally went inside and chased the baby pig named "lightning." That sucker was fast! They loved it though and I took a video on my camera...is America's funniest home videos still on the air?!
We continued on our hayride and the next stop was to the edge of a lake where the kids fought over pieces of outlandishly moldy bread to feed to a few ducks in the water. Then we got on a boat, sort of looked like a pontoon from 1950 but bigger. We rode around the lake for awhile looking for the "12 foot alligator" while the kids each took a turn driving the boat. The farmer made a joke about throwing one of the kids in to feed the alligator and well, he picked the wrong kid to joke with because he started to cry, a lot. Lesson learned.
Back ashore we continued on the hayride over LOTS of tree roots and up a lane in which a couple of horses were walking. They finally moved over and we went around...suddenly we were stopping or trying to go or something and all of a sudden momentum is pulling us backwards. Several kids fell out of their seats, I slid down the bench about a foot and almost fell onto the floor myself...I don't know what or why that resulted, but it was kind of funny. It was a good thing we weren't on a typical hayride, we were in a make-shift one that was enclosed on the sides...for good reasons, obvs!
Anyway, we reached an area of multiple pastures containing either goats, sheep, cows, and a llama. Don't worry, the random horses in the lane caught up to us and were wondering around eating food out of kids hands or the bucket, whichever was easiest. I was holding the youngest/smallest student in my class who was deathly afraid of the horses and random goat walking around. Anytime they got close he would start to kick and do a scream-type of sound. Poor little guy. We all went into the llama pen and watched Ms. Ballard take a huge spit shower to the entire side of her face. I'm going to use my scheme to make a prediction and say the llama didn't care for her much.
Finally it was time for lunch which went smoothly after we hustled 38 kids through one single bathroom to wash their hands. The fun began after lunch....we rode the hay wagon again to the edge of the woods. We formed a line and went for a walk through the woods. Well, at first I didn't realize this was going to be a "haunted walk" but they had a few fake skeletons and ghosts hanging in the trees and all of the kids were chanting, "We not afraid, we not afraid." Well, that would quickly change. We started reading signs on our walk about witches and creepy/corny things. Finally to our right, back in the woods, was a person dressed in white with a mask on. The kids started to be like, "ehhh, ehhh..." I'm like just keep going...you're fine. No big deal. Ha. I thought we were fine once we got past that one...well sure enough on the left side there is another character in the woods. This one sent all the kids running for the nearest adult clinging, screaming, wailing "I want to go homeeeeeee, I want my mommaaaaaa, I want my grandmommaaaaaa." There was literally a kid wrapped around my leg, another one in my arms because they were bawling, three more on my left side holding onto my hand, arm, elbow, anything they could, and as many as could fit on my right side and hold onto anything despite my arm holding the kid on my hip. I also had a drawstring bag on my back which ended up with one side being taken off and wrapped around kids as they were fighting to get closest to me. Picture 38 kids ALL crying and screaming, "I want to go homeeeeee" Haha, ALL.I.COULD.DO.WAS.LAUGH. In fact, I think about it now and I still laugh out loud. There were kids crowded around every adult...the big, bad, tough kids and the wee little babies, ALL CRYING. So, hysterical! Somehow we keep the kids moving (which was semi-impossible since it was just a free walk through the woods, why on EARTH would they walk TOWARDS the scary people). At one point I pushed everyone away and jogged a few feet knowing they would follow but hoping we could attempt to catch up with the rest of the group. That idea was dangerous because they ran frantically for me and didn't care where they were stepping or what was on the ground in front of them. FINALLY, after shuffling past the third person in the woods who I motioned to NOT climb out of the ditch at us (I did not have spare pants or underwear for any of these children)...we looked back and watched them take off their costume. I was like, "ha ha, see that was funny guys!" They were like, "waaaa, waaa, ha.....ha.....yeaaaa" still skeptical but trying to humor me. We got back and for once it was pretty quiet...until they started to get brave again and they were all like, "I wasn't scared...no that didn't scare me!" I'm like yeah right, you were clawing the crap out of my arm, don't tell me you weren't scared! At one point, one of my little boys was in front of my group and I watched him turn around and high-tail it RIGHT into the middle of my group looking like he was swimming...he made up his mind he didn't want to be there and he was going to book it the other direction! I'm just mad that even if I could have physically GOTTEN to my camera, it would have been all over the place as I was pulled in every direction, but I could have had some fun with that video!!
Our last adventure was to go to the pumpkin "patch" and get our pumpkins. Basically it was a grassy pasture with pumpkins set out, but they each got to pick out their own pumpkin to take home which was ever so exciting! The bus ride home was quiet...most of them passed out in 5 minutes and NUMEROUS pumpkins fell off their laps and rolled to the front or the back of the bus once they were asleep.
Our adventure was over after SOOOO many pictures and sooooo many laughs! Not to mention all of those tears. Really, I'm not trying to be insensitive...but 38 kids ALL crying...and none of us really expected that to happen! Anyway, it was a great day, I'm so glad that almost all of my kids were able to go, and I'm excited tomorrow when we can review one of our vocabulary words of the week "frantic" and see if they can remember a time when they were frantic!! If I can figure out how, I'll try to post some pictures from our trip :) Linda...take your camera, you NEVER know what is going to happen at the pumpkin patch!! In all honesty, I CANNOT WAIT for next year!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! :)
For a brief moment this morning, I didn't think we were going to go. I walked into school this morning at 7:05 to find out that the slips that were sent home to parents were not sufficient as permission slips. I didn't create them, I didn't question them, I just passed them out. So, I basically freaked out. I had 50 minutes to call 19 parents and have them come into school to sign a new permission slip. I was p.i.s.s.e.d. And upset that if my kids were so excited about going but couldn't because of this last minute change, I would feel awful. Anyway, THANKFULLY a sub at our school, a guardian of one of my students, and also a parent volunteer for our trip was in school at that time so she took a stack of papers and called parents, Ms. Ballard took another stack and I had the last section. We got all but 3 parents/guardians/relatives to come in and get a form signed by about 8:15. Another staff member at my school who also works in my room for an hour in the morning took the last three slips to those homes to have the parents sign them, they were all unable to get to school because of a lack of transportation. Basically, those people SAVED.MY.LIFE this morning. We didn't leave at the anticipated 8 a.m., but we were probably rolling out of school by 8:45, so not too bad!
Anyway, back to the trip...let's recap...we started the morning by playing on inflatables. getting their faces painted, and riding horses/ponies. Then we went for a ride on the hay wagon and stopped at a big pig pen in which my class literally went inside and chased the baby pig named "lightning." That sucker was fast! They loved it though and I took a video on my camera...is America's funniest home videos still on the air?!
We continued on our hayride and the next stop was to the edge of a lake where the kids fought over pieces of outlandishly moldy bread to feed to a few ducks in the water. Then we got on a boat, sort of looked like a pontoon from 1950 but bigger. We rode around the lake for awhile looking for the "12 foot alligator" while the kids each took a turn driving the boat. The farmer made a joke about throwing one of the kids in to feed the alligator and well, he picked the wrong kid to joke with because he started to cry, a lot. Lesson learned.
Back ashore we continued on the hayride over LOTS of tree roots and up a lane in which a couple of horses were walking. They finally moved over and we went around...suddenly we were stopping or trying to go or something and all of a sudden momentum is pulling us backwards. Several kids fell out of their seats, I slid down the bench about a foot and almost fell onto the floor myself...I don't know what or why that resulted, but it was kind of funny. It was a good thing we weren't on a typical hayride, we were in a make-shift one that was enclosed on the sides...for good reasons, obvs!
Anyway, we reached an area of multiple pastures containing either goats, sheep, cows, and a llama. Don't worry, the random horses in the lane caught up to us and were wondering around eating food out of kids hands or the bucket, whichever was easiest. I was holding the youngest/smallest student in my class who was deathly afraid of the horses and random goat walking around. Anytime they got close he would start to kick and do a scream-type of sound. Poor little guy. We all went into the llama pen and watched Ms. Ballard take a huge spit shower to the entire side of her face. I'm going to use my scheme to make a prediction and say the llama didn't care for her much.
Finally it was time for lunch which went smoothly after we hustled 38 kids through one single bathroom to wash their hands. The fun began after lunch....we rode the hay wagon again to the edge of the woods. We formed a line and went for a walk through the woods. Well, at first I didn't realize this was going to be a "haunted walk" but they had a few fake skeletons and ghosts hanging in the trees and all of the kids were chanting, "We not afraid, we not afraid." Well, that would quickly change. We started reading signs on our walk about witches and creepy/corny things. Finally to our right, back in the woods, was a person dressed in white with a mask on. The kids started to be like, "ehhh, ehhh..." I'm like just keep going...you're fine. No big deal. Ha. I thought we were fine once we got past that one...well sure enough on the left side there is another character in the woods. This one sent all the kids running for the nearest adult clinging, screaming, wailing "I want to go homeeeeeee, I want my mommaaaaaa, I want my grandmommaaaaaa." There was literally a kid wrapped around my leg, another one in my arms because they were bawling, three more on my left side holding onto my hand, arm, elbow, anything they could, and as many as could fit on my right side and hold onto anything despite my arm holding the kid on my hip. I also had a drawstring bag on my back which ended up with one side being taken off and wrapped around kids as they were fighting to get closest to me. Picture 38 kids ALL crying and screaming, "I want to go homeeeeee" Haha, ALL.I.COULD.DO.WAS.LAUGH. In fact, I think about it now and I still laugh out loud. There were kids crowded around every adult...the big, bad, tough kids and the wee little babies, ALL CRYING. So, hysterical! Somehow we keep the kids moving (which was semi-impossible since it was just a free walk through the woods, why on EARTH would they walk TOWARDS the scary people). At one point I pushed everyone away and jogged a few feet knowing they would follow but hoping we could attempt to catch up with the rest of the group. That idea was dangerous because they ran frantically for me and didn't care where they were stepping or what was on the ground in front of them. FINALLY, after shuffling past the third person in the woods who I motioned to NOT climb out of the ditch at us (I did not have spare pants or underwear for any of these children)...we looked back and watched them take off their costume. I was like, "ha ha, see that was funny guys!" They were like, "waaaa, waaa, ha.....ha.....yeaaaa" still skeptical but trying to humor me. We got back and for once it was pretty quiet...until they started to get brave again and they were all like, "I wasn't scared...no that didn't scare me!" I'm like yeah right, you were clawing the crap out of my arm, don't tell me you weren't scared! At one point, one of my little boys was in front of my group and I watched him turn around and high-tail it RIGHT into the middle of my group looking like he was swimming...he made up his mind he didn't want to be there and he was going to book it the other direction! I'm just mad that even if I could have physically GOTTEN to my camera, it would have been all over the place as I was pulled in every direction, but I could have had some fun with that video!!
Our last adventure was to go to the pumpkin "patch" and get our pumpkins. Basically it was a grassy pasture with pumpkins set out, but they each got to pick out their own pumpkin to take home which was ever so exciting! The bus ride home was quiet...most of them passed out in 5 minutes and NUMEROUS pumpkins fell off their laps and rolled to the front or the back of the bus once they were asleep.
Our adventure was over after SOOOO many pictures and sooooo many laughs! Not to mention all of those tears. Really, I'm not trying to be insensitive...but 38 kids ALL crying...and none of us really expected that to happen! Anyway, it was a great day, I'm so glad that almost all of my kids were able to go, and I'm excited tomorrow when we can review one of our vocabulary words of the week "frantic" and see if they can remember a time when they were frantic!! If I can figure out how, I'll try to post some pictures from our trip :) Linda...take your camera, you NEVER know what is going to happen at the pumpkin patch!! In all honesty, I CANNOT WAIT for next year!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! :)
Monday, October 13, 2008
How many syllables in "pineapple?" "That's Scourngebob's house!"
Don't worry, it IS possible to get sent home from school TWICE in the same day. One infamous student was sent home today, sometime before 9 a.m. In fact...my literacy advisor was in observing my whole group instruction this morning and he was acting up on the rug, so she pulled him from the rug and made him sit by her. Well, this didn't phase him to say the least. He continued to act out and either not pay attention to me, or just shout out answers and act a fool. At times she would tell him to be quiet and whatnot, but he didn't care what she said. He would slide off the chair, and stare at the door, and literally do whatever he wanted. She was at her wits end when he laid on the floor in front of the door and ripped the paper off the door along with my public tracker about the letters that each student knows. The life help therapist came in and took him and he went home. Only to surprise me at 12:15 like an early morning alarm clock and show up at school again, this time with his dad. This is the first time I met his dad...he just moved back from Texas and I truly hope this is the change this little boy needs in his life. He is getting worse and worse. I was happy he came back to school because he hadn't STARTED his 9 weeks test for math (because it is in the afternoon and he never makes it that long in the day) that I administered to the rest of the class last week. Well, we went and took the test, he went back to the room while I went to pick up some copies and lo and behold, he starts to show out ONCE AGAIN. He walked out of the room on my assistant twice (Big No-No). Then I came in....got him working on the worksheet he missed. I went to ask a question down the hall and all of a sudden I see him bouncing off the walls on his way down the hallway thinking life is hilarious. He left the room AGAIN. Without the play-by-play, he went to the office...then ended up back in the classroom until someone came to get him...then he started throwing pencils and picked up a chair (luckily it wasn't airborne) and ended his behind in the back seat on my Principal's car with a personal escort home. How much science and social studies instruction do you think I got through this afternoon?? Not much...obvs.
Tomorrow is our pumpkin patch field trip!! I'm so excited but sooo freaking nervous! I just want them to act decent! ALL day we went over the rules and expectations of our field trip. It's an all day affair which could be good or could be bad. I'm going to bring some rope, I have a feeling that several of them will need to be on a makeshift leash. Oh I'm kidding...I'm not bringing rope...only yarn. The one little boy that I wrote about previously, the one that runs around the room and ignores each and every word out of my mouth...well, his momma told me today he wasn't going to be able to come because it cost too much. Of course I feel bad...this is the only time these kids are going to have the opportunity to do something like this...my principal doesn't think he needs to go because he has been in trouble lately...but he is coming, I say so! I might regret this decision tomorrow, we shall see. His situation is that IF he really should be on medicine to calm him down...then his actions really are not his fault and he shouldn't be the only one left behind because of that. I take that back, my half-day headache is staying home tomorrow. That was mean, I really do love him, I feel as if I am exhausting my options/ideas for getting him to perform in school.
Ah...hard to believe my dilemmas now lie within the confines of a pumpkin patch field trip and sitting properly on the rug. And hard to believe someone in their right mind would issue me a license to instruction teeny-tiny brains to learn how to read, write, count, all of those valuable skills necessary for success for the remainder of your life...okay, I'm getting ahead of myself...let's take it one day at a time, starting with the pumpkin patch...
Tomorrow is our pumpkin patch field trip!! I'm so excited but sooo freaking nervous! I just want them to act decent! ALL day we went over the rules and expectations of our field trip. It's an all day affair which could be good or could be bad. I'm going to bring some rope, I have a feeling that several of them will need to be on a makeshift leash. Oh I'm kidding...I'm not bringing rope...only yarn. The one little boy that I wrote about previously, the one that runs around the room and ignores each and every word out of my mouth...well, his momma told me today he wasn't going to be able to come because it cost too much. Of course I feel bad...this is the only time these kids are going to have the opportunity to do something like this...my principal doesn't think he needs to go because he has been in trouble lately...but he is coming, I say so! I might regret this decision tomorrow, we shall see. His situation is that IF he really should be on medicine to calm him down...then his actions really are not his fault and he shouldn't be the only one left behind because of that. I take that back, my half-day headache is staying home tomorrow. That was mean, I really do love him, I feel as if I am exhausting my options/ideas for getting him to perform in school.
Ah...hard to believe my dilemmas now lie within the confines of a pumpkin patch field trip and sitting properly on the rug. And hard to believe someone in their right mind would issue me a license to instruction teeny-tiny brains to learn how to read, write, count, all of those valuable skills necessary for success for the remainder of your life...okay, I'm getting ahead of myself...let's take it one day at a time, starting with the pumpkin patch...
Monday, October 6, 2008
Raccoons at the pumpkin patch? I'm not so sure...
I would like to document that today, October 6, is the fourth time I have had a attempted bite happen. And, today is either the second or third time this same little lovely has kicked me. Basically, it doesn't matter to me anymore. It doesn't hurt, in fact, it doesn't even make me mad. I just realize that his temper is far beyond out of control and to walk away, with or without him following me to the office. Today, after he kicked the wall for a little while causing a scene, he followed me to the office. As I was getting his momma on the phone, he had the guts to go out the main door with the principal standing there with a stick in her hand. I let her chance him and I didn't look back. He only went a couple of feet, but she inevitably gave him a swift reminder about whether or not that was a good choice. How does all this start? Because he lays on the rug instead of doing centers claiming he wants to go see the school's Life Help Therapist. Well, I would too, she gives them prizes and treats and all sorts of other stuff, ONLY if they are good. I don't let him go see her acting like a punk-rocker like this. "Do you work, you can go see her." Apparently, he misheard me and thought I said, "kick the door 10 times and you can go see her."
Pretty sure the Delta is giving me a false sense of what world-wide public school systems are like. However, it doesn't really bother me. These occurrences phase me less and less each day, although the more they happen, the more I realize I need to change something in order to prevent them, or at least minimize them. They say October is the longest month because it drones on, you feel like you've lost complete control over your class, and there really isn't a vacation insight. Well, the losing control part is correct, although let's be honest, have I ever had complete control? Doubtful. haha, it's okay, I laugh about it too.
This weekend Lois and I ventured down to Quiver River (as Eric Lear asks, "what drunk guy did they let name that one?") and went fishing. We didn't catch anything except a log at the bottom of the river which forced me to break the line of my new pole....grrr. Oh well, it was fun just sitting outside now that it is nice out (and not sweltering hot) and not seeing a single person in the 2+ hours we were there! Next time our goal will be to actually catch something!
This week is homecoming for the high school in Indianola. Majority of the Moorhead kids go there for high school. Let me tell you, homecoming around here is OUT.OF.CONTROL! They have queens for EVERY class, like freshman spanish, sophomore english, sophomore US history, etc. It's nuts. There is even a king and queen from my school. All of these people wear white ball gowns and ride on a car in the parade. Two of my students are cheerleaders (not cheering for a sport, just learning cheers for fun I think) so they will be in the parade too. I'm excited to see that! I love going to Ruleville football games and of course I get a kick out of the marching bands and their half-time shows. If you ever watch drumline, this is SO SIMILAR, except in high school!
This week marks the end of our first nine-weeks....baaaah. Okay, the end of the first nine isn't that bad, it's the nine-weeks test that we have to give that is the bad part. We give a test in reading, math and language. And, since our kids can't read, majority of the test is individual or small group. It's literally going to take me almost ALL day, ALL week to get all of these tests done. Oh well, the week should fly by then, right?! I could hardly sleep last night because I was so nervous...I knew that I got test anxiety, but I didn't realize I got test-administration anxiety. I just know that if my kids do badly, that is a reflection of my teaching, and well, the self-confidence doesn't really need that blow at this stage of the game. Anyway....from today they were doing so-so. Some were doing better than I expected, some worse. Guess we'll see what happens when it's done.
Next week we get to go to the pumpkin patch....good lord that was an exciting announcement in KB today! It also means if they are going to act like a pain in my behind, they will stay at school. Little JaQualon raised his hand for the VERY first time today when I asked what kind of animals we might see at the pumpkin patch? "Raccoons." Um, interesting, but doubtful. This trip should be turned into a one-episode tv show! I have one who I can hardly contain within the confines of my classroom, he just runs all over the place and refuses to follow directions. What on EARTH will happen when he gets into the middle of a pumpkin field with miles and miles of endless earth. Good lord, I don't even want to imagine. He is the child that will be on one of those made-for-toddlers-but-looks-like-a-dog-leash. Random realization of the day: although he sucks two of his fingers like it's going out of style, he doesn't touch the whole world with those fingers...thank goodness. His immune system would be out of control trying to ward off all of those germs! I'm excited for this pumpkin patch adventure and secretly hope that 10+ parents volunteer to go with because we're going to need it!
Wow, getting long-winded....totally missing the fall colors of Minnesota, haunted forest, RASCAL FLATTS CONCERT :( :( :(, but realizing that although this whole experience has been hella hard, I am so lucky in so many ways. My assistant is amazing, what WOULD I do if I didn't have a great assistant? Probably cry all of the time! The other Kindergarten teacher has saved my butt soooo many times and done MORE than her share of the lesson planning knowing that it would keep me from wiggin' out. And my kids...although they can be bad, they are still so wonderful at the same time! I say that now...ask me again after the pumpkin patch adventure/fiasco. Keep cutie-pie Kylie Jean in your thoughts and prayers as she has probably gone through more than I have in my entire life. No five-year-old should have to spend the weekend in the hospital being pricked as many times as she probably was. Nor should any kid have to deal with shots daily. But hey, she's 37 pounds of tough-cookie...and if there's one thing you can be thankful for, Kayla, at least she doesn't pass out each time she sees a needle!
Pretty sure the Delta is giving me a false sense of what world-wide public school systems are like. However, it doesn't really bother me. These occurrences phase me less and less each day, although the more they happen, the more I realize I need to change something in order to prevent them, or at least minimize them. They say October is the longest month because it drones on, you feel like you've lost complete control over your class, and there really isn't a vacation insight. Well, the losing control part is correct, although let's be honest, have I ever had complete control? Doubtful. haha, it's okay, I laugh about it too.
This weekend Lois and I ventured down to Quiver River (as Eric Lear asks, "what drunk guy did they let name that one?") and went fishing. We didn't catch anything except a log at the bottom of the river which forced me to break the line of my new pole....grrr. Oh well, it was fun just sitting outside now that it is nice out (and not sweltering hot) and not seeing a single person in the 2+ hours we were there! Next time our goal will be to actually catch something!
This week is homecoming for the high school in Indianola. Majority of the Moorhead kids go there for high school. Let me tell you, homecoming around here is OUT.OF.CONTROL! They have queens for EVERY class, like freshman spanish, sophomore english, sophomore US history, etc. It's nuts. There is even a king and queen from my school. All of these people wear white ball gowns and ride on a car in the parade. Two of my students are cheerleaders (not cheering for a sport, just learning cheers for fun I think) so they will be in the parade too. I'm excited to see that! I love going to Ruleville football games and of course I get a kick out of the marching bands and their half-time shows. If you ever watch drumline, this is SO SIMILAR, except in high school!
This week marks the end of our first nine-weeks....baaaah. Okay, the end of the first nine isn't that bad, it's the nine-weeks test that we have to give that is the bad part. We give a test in reading, math and language. And, since our kids can't read, majority of the test is individual or small group. It's literally going to take me almost ALL day, ALL week to get all of these tests done. Oh well, the week should fly by then, right?! I could hardly sleep last night because I was so nervous...I knew that I got test anxiety, but I didn't realize I got test-administration anxiety. I just know that if my kids do badly, that is a reflection of my teaching, and well, the self-confidence doesn't really need that blow at this stage of the game. Anyway....from today they were doing so-so. Some were doing better than I expected, some worse. Guess we'll see what happens when it's done.
Next week we get to go to the pumpkin patch....good lord that was an exciting announcement in KB today! It also means if they are going to act like a pain in my behind, they will stay at school. Little JaQualon raised his hand for the VERY first time today when I asked what kind of animals we might see at the pumpkin patch? "Raccoons." Um, interesting, but doubtful. This trip should be turned into a one-episode tv show! I have one who I can hardly contain within the confines of my classroom, he just runs all over the place and refuses to follow directions. What on EARTH will happen when he gets into the middle of a pumpkin field with miles and miles of endless earth. Good lord, I don't even want to imagine. He is the child that will be on one of those made-for-toddlers-but-looks-like-a-dog-leash. Random realization of the day: although he sucks two of his fingers like it's going out of style, he doesn't touch the whole world with those fingers...thank goodness. His immune system would be out of control trying to ward off all of those germs! I'm excited for this pumpkin patch adventure and secretly hope that 10+ parents volunteer to go with because we're going to need it!
Wow, getting long-winded....totally missing the fall colors of Minnesota, haunted forest, RASCAL FLATTS CONCERT :( :( :(, but realizing that although this whole experience has been hella hard, I am so lucky in so many ways. My assistant is amazing, what WOULD I do if I didn't have a great assistant? Probably cry all of the time! The other Kindergarten teacher has saved my butt soooo many times and done MORE than her share of the lesson planning knowing that it would keep me from wiggin' out. And my kids...although they can be bad, they are still so wonderful at the same time! I say that now...ask me again after the pumpkin patch adventure/fiasco. Keep cutie-pie Kylie Jean in your thoughts and prayers as she has probably gone through more than I have in my entire life. No five-year-old should have to spend the weekend in the hospital being pricked as many times as she probably was. Nor should any kid have to deal with shots daily. But hey, she's 37 pounds of tough-cookie...and if there's one thing you can be thankful for, Kayla, at least she doesn't pass out each time she sees a needle!
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