O Dark Thirty

I think the thing I wanted to write about was that it's getting to be that time of year when I don't get to see much daylight. If there is one thing that I don't like about winter, it's that we are limited in the amount of daylight we actually get to enjoy. It's dark when I get up. It's dark when I get home. This year, we don't have to do recess duty so I barely even have a chance to step outside and get my required daily dose of vitamin D. This for a person who actually enjoys being outside in the cold is truly a bummer.

The party went really well on Friday. I had 2 parents end up coming in to help and all went smoothly. At home, one of the kids was chewing on a small glow stick that came in his treat bag and swallowed the liquid inside. The mom called the school panicked but I didn't have the wrapper so I wasn't able to tell her for sure if it was toxic. I gave her the number to poison control and I haven't been fired yet so I'm assuming everything turned out okay. Nothing like adding a little drama to a Friday afternoon.

I saw Illinois volleyball beat Michigan and football beat Purdue and basketball won their exhibition so also a great weekend to be an Illini. Here's to hoping for a successful November!

Losing my mind

Yesterday, I thought of something that I wanted to blog about. Today, I have no idea what it was.

It's extremely unfortunate that my kids aren't as funny as I thought they would be. There have been a few funny quips but I don't write them down or tell anyone and promptly forget them. Seriously, losing my mind. Mildly funny is that a girl announced to everyone that "her panties just kept going up her butt" and "she just had to keep pulling them but it wasn't working."

I was down to 21 kids for 4 days this week, but tomorrow I'm getting a new one so 22 is apparently my magic number. 10 girls and 12 boys. Fall party tomorrow!! BINGO, playdoh, crafy spiders, Smartboard games, and snacks galore. 3 parents volunteered to come in and I decide to let them all come. Why not. They want to come and this class can never have enough supervisors. Happy Halloween!

Homecoming Weekend 2010

We went to the Reindeer Ranch on Friday for our field trip. Great time was had by all. I had a student ask me if the dog that walked up to us when we first arrived was a reindeer. Seems like maybe we need to get out a little more. No one was lost. No one had an accident. Someone cried. They got over it. Everyone got a pumpkin. Everyone got a cookie. Everyone got worn out. We did an easy writing page in the afternoon and for the first time all year it was almost quiet in my room. SUCCESS.

Thursday was PJ day since we were learning about the letter Pp. Even the principal wore PJ pants and a big cookie monster t-shirt. They LOVED showing them off for everyone and being comfy in the jammies. Almost everyone remembered and I even remembered to finally take a class picture. It was a crazy week because after being in sweats all day, we finally had softball recognition that evening. We recognized the players and everyone got a softball that commemorated the first JH softball team in school history. We signed them for each other and got team pictures as well. The season is officially over.

I then spent the weekend with 2 great friends who came for Homecoming. We enjoyed a great Illini win, walked around campus, saw my classroom, visited the House, and caught up on all things of life. Beautiful weather, good food, great friends, and conversation. Love having them here and look forward doing it again!

Things I Want to Know

Why is it that 90% of the time it's girls who wet their pants and boys who crap them?

Why the full moon makes kids crazy?

Why there is always someone who feels the need to step up and cause a scene when it would otherwise be calm?

Field trip tomorrow!

Parent/Teacher Conferences Take 2

Parent/Teacher conferences were last Thursday night and Friday morning. I think I had 18 of 22 show up which I would call a major success. Lots of good reports and happy parents. They were early this year especially when you consider our late start but it was also the first chance for us to actually meet the parents face to face and for them to see the classrooms. They enjoyed it and I did too. It's always eye opening to meet parents and get a little bit of a history that explain some students better than anything else we get. Sometimes, there isn't much consistency anywhere in their lives. Structure is absent and parenting is optional. It's a good time to remember that my attitude can either be one of discouragement and frustration or energy and encouragement. How you approach the day is how the day will end. Head up or head down-you're going to go through it anyway so you might as well see where you are going.

Columbus Who?

On this, Columbus Day, and every subsequent holiday after this, I will be going to school. Thankfully, I still get Thanksgiving off. I think because we got the waiver to have school on the state and federal holidays we're supposed to be teaching them something about the holidays and making them important. Today I made my kids say "Christopher Columbus" and told them we live in America because of him. I don't think they got it. At least I tried.

Last week was a bit of a struggle with the power struggles and orneriness coming back in full force. Have I mentioned yet that 10 of my 22 students just turned 5 in June, July, or August? I think their youth is a big part of how long it is taking us to adjust and settle in this year. The difference between almost 6 and just turned 5 is more than you would think. The week was only 4 days because of a teacher's institute on Friday but I couldn't wait for them to get out the door. We started this week with a better attitude (on my part) and an okay day. Good weather always makes the days go faster. I don't know where I'd be if we were having a rainy fall. This week, we are starting intervention groups and hopefully settling into a permanent schedule. It will definitely make the mornings go faster. It's sad to also post that I don't have any good stories. There have been a few funny things said but things get crazy before I can write them down and then I don't remember. I'm sure some you only read this for the funny, cute kid stories though so I'll try to do better. Promise.

Kindergarten Faces

The only faces you'll ever really see on this blog.



I do such a great job modeling this by making one of myself while talking about how I'm drawing it with yellow hair, blue eyes, earrings, etc. because that's what I look like. Then, I turn it over to them and get vampires, blue hair, missing eyes, and monsters. Perhaps they are drawing pictures of how I perceive them most days. HA! Just kidding of course. No monsters here. Just kiddos.

A Work in Progress

A new school year always brings its share of new challenges, surprising twists and turns, and a reminder that every student is a work in progress. Luckily for me, I get them at the beginning. It's great because they love school, their teachers, learning, and anything new (which is pretty much everything). I can keep that passion going and really set them up for a great many years to come. Also for me, is a lot to teaching that we take for granted in the later schooling years. It's little things like raising hands, fast drinks at the drinking fountain, sharing, being quiet in the hallways, and following directions that take time to learn. At week 4, I think we've turned a corner. Those little things are coming along. Slowly but still coming. Last weekend, I would have said I wasn't sure if I was going to survive the year. This weekend, I'm confident that we won't only survive but have a great year despite a few bumps in the road. It's a work in progress. An up and down effort that is unpredictable and uncertain. There will be good days and bad days. Good moments in the midst of bad days. Bad moments in the midst of good days. The important thing to remember is that there should always be progress. Progress in academics. Progress in being better people. Progress in being better learners. Progress in sharing. Progress in better attitudes. Progress in the quest for fostering life-long learners. Progress in the little things. Progress in the big things. No matter what: It's always a work in progress.