Not funny.

I am getting ANOTHER new student. Ugggh! One just moved last week and I was really hoping to get a little break from getting a replacement. I takes so much extra time and energy to prepare for and help a new student get settled in...so much time and energy I feel I just don't have right now. Who knows what kind of kid I'm getting too...my last three were doozies! We (my team partner and I) are testing like crazy this week in preparation for report cards and conferences next week. So when the testing is all done I get to hunker down and analyze all the assessments in order to write the report cards then get mentally ready to face all the parents. *trying not to hyperventilate* Did I mention that rainy days have my kids all wound up and crazy? Did I mention that my principal asked me why one of my students didn't know their own last name? Psst...this kid doesn't know A LOT of basic things...like, how to tie his shoes, blow his nose, wash his hands after going to the bathroom, wear a jacket when it is cold, etc. So, my principal says, "You need to be teaching stuff like that!" Ummm, the way are standards (expectations) are in kindergarten, they need to know that stuff BEFORE they get to kindergarten. We hit the ground running and if I stopped for every kid to learn something their parents should be teaching them, I would not get past taking roll everyday. Did I also mention that this new tutoring gig is kicking my butt? I need to leave my school immediately after dismissal in order to get to the other school on time. This entails getting my kinders on their busses, making sure my other kids have all been picked up, pack my bag to lesson plan later, drive across town, and set up for tutoring. Sometimes I get to use the bathroom. The kids have about ten minutes to transition from their already full day, inhale a snack, and use the bathroom before I run them through the ringer for another hour and a half. They are fried, I am fried, and a few of them are holy terrors. One of them is so immature he rivals even my most immature kindergartner. He likes to say everything is "not fair", pout, whine, and tease others. Oh, and his parents are perpetually late picking him up which blesses me with an additional twenty to thirty minutes with the cherub.
I don't even know where this post is going anymore. I am just tired and frustrated and tired and venting...and tired. I have been having these bizarre, "who am I?", "how did I get here?", "is this what I should really be doing?" moments lately. I am going to stop now because I need to be grateful that I have a job to go to everyday. In fact I have two jobs, so I should be doubly grateful and enjoy it while it lasts. I should be sharing hilarious moments, like, when I called a student over for testing this morning and with a gigantic smile and hop in her step she said, "I don't know what you're doing to me, but I LOVE it!!"

Happy 100th Day of School!

100th day of school today!!
24 students
0 absences...unprecedented!
2400 Fruit Loops...for necklaces, of course!
1 student sent out for suggesting he would slap another student
81 more days of school...

Truth!

I loved this piece of wisdom I heard a teacher giving a student today. "When you let someone else get you all upset and then you say mean things then you are giving away your power. Who cares if they cut you in line! Is there a prize for getting to the classroom first? So, next time you say calmly and nicely, "Go right ahead of me in line", then they look like the baby for caring about spaces in line and you didn't give away your power and it diffuses the situation. You don't ever let anyone bring you down like that." This kid listened attentively and agreed...he's a first grader! It was very moving and powerful.

Good news!!

The teacher who is on maternity leave (i.e. the person who technically owns my job) has decided not to come back this year! The principal got an email from the district HR person saying she is filing her paperwork with "the intent to not return this year". I got called into his office...which is never a good feeling...and he had me read the email. I read it three times before he asked if I was done yet!!! Yayyy!!!

Creepy.

This is what rainy day schedule does to children. They draw their own chalk outlines. Like I said...creepy.

Honest Abe

We did a directed drawing today in honor of Lincoln Day on Monday. It is always very telling to see who can listen and follow directions during directed drawings. I give one little direction at a time, demonstrate how to do it, and then they copy it. Some of them are awesome, some of them are...kinda scary.

Field trip

a.k.a. Nerve wracking! I'm all for exposing children to the arts. However, taking 25 squirrelly kindergartners to an unengaging play with sound problems is not my idea of fun. Our bus left late, we saw a fatal accident moments after it occurred, the microphones kept cutting out, and the kids were encouraged to interact at times...that meant spontaneous bouts of screaming. I had quite the migraine brewing by the time we got back on the bus. I, also, can not emphasize enough how BORING the show was (way over their heads = them not interested...except for getting to scream). I actually had kids asking me halfway through, "Is it time to go back to school yet?" and "Is it time to get back on the bus yet?" I honestly think they will go home and tell their families that had more fun on the bus than at the play. If I haven't killed my point enough yet...my "diagnosed ADHD, but unmedicated" student put her head in my lap and closed her eyes for the last 15 minutes of the show. Yes, my child that NEVER stops moving was stopped dead in her hyperactive little tracks by this atrocious display of entertainment. At least I didn't lose any kids! Woo-hoo!!!