Happy Halloween! Uh, I mean Fall!!

Yeah, we don't get to have holiday parties here at PA, but we are going to have a party nonetheless. Officially, it is a "Fall Party" but since all of my students do celebrate Halloween, it is definitely a Halloween themed party. We will have LOTS of snacks, a movie, a game, a craft, and an assembly to finish off the day. I have a parent coming in to help and I'm probably not nearly as planned as I need to be for it to go off without a hitch but I'm jumping in anyway and excited to see how it all falls down.

Otherwise, it's been a pretty regular week. It's felt really long since it's the first 5 day week since the last week of September, but I was prepared for that. And really, they haven't been that crazy or hyper about Halloween. I let them talk about it at certain times and otherwise they are content to just be their regular 5 year old selves. Which is still loud and silly and crazy but just not more so than usual. However, I am glad that the actual day of Halloween falls on a Saturday and they won't be spending it at school. It is the small things that I am grateful for these days. I am also almost completely recovered from my hacking cough. It's still there but I'm always careful to "catch" my germs so someone else doesn't! All the kids are back too and excited as ever to be at school. YIPPEE!

I will report that I had to write my first discipline referral this week. I probably had reason to do it before this and probably let a few more things slide than I should have, but there had to be a first. Now, it's done and over with and if it weren't for the fact that I am writing it here I probably wouldn't be able to tell you what my first referral was a year from now. On a side note, you should know that we have 2 kinds of referrals. An "Ooops Note" and a real hard core discipline referral. The Oops Note is a "I messed up and didn't make a great choice so I got in trouble" kind of note. It usually involves the teacher calling the parent and the student sitting out of recess or getting a timeout. The principal sees them but is not involved unless the teacher asks him to be. You might get one if you pushed and shoved in line, talked all day and couldn't shut up, did a cartwheel in the hallway, etc. Basically, anything that isn't violent, vulgar, or a repeated problem. Discipline referrals are handled by the principal with the teacher, parents, and student.

I wrote mine for a student who has been refusing to do anything in the classroom. It's power and attention issue for him, but after 3 Oops Notes for the same thing, I decided to step it up. It was little things like getting in line or moving to a center or washing his hands but he just outright refused to do whatever I asked him no matter what else I said or did. So, instead of picking him up and throwing him, I let Mr. E handle it because by the end of the day I had tried everything I could think of and didn't want the other students to think the he was winning and start to do some of the same to see what they could get away with. That is exactly NOT what I need: a classroom full of students who do whatever they want. Or a nightmare. Basically the same thing. In the end, I think it was definitely the right thing to do, and it did help because he was much better today. I only hope it stays that way and it doesn't become a routine problem. I'm sure more insight will come from Parent/Teacher conferences next week. Ooohh yeah.

My Colorful Drive

Between sunrises in the morning and turning leaves and combines, my 30 minute drives have become quite the array of fantastic colors. Sometimes, I think I should stop and take a picture but the thought of stopping the car and getting out just never really makes it further than a thought. I'm really trying to just appreciate the sunrise and it's beauty instead of being depressed that I am actually awake to see it and most days that goes pretty well. I just know that it's going to be a long winter of lots of brown for that drive so I hope to appreciate the colors while I have them. The trees really are quite fantastic with lots of reds, yellows, and oranges. I'm a pretty big fan of fall, cold weather, and winter but not the rain. I could without all the rain and I'm sure every farmer in the state of IL is thinking the same thing. GO AWAY RAIN!

In sickness news, I still had 5 kids gone on Friday. I'm really hoping we recover soon because too much of this and I'm going to forget what it's like to have a full class. Oh wait, I think I already have. Might be a long 5 day week next week. I am also getting another new student on Monday so I'll be up to 19. Whoo Whoo. I felt like crap on Thursday but toughed it out at school and was better on Friday. Today feels even better so I'm probably on the up swing. Never had a fever and the cough seems to be the only lingering symptom. With the trend of the previous paragraph: GO AWAY SICKNESS!

Reindeer Ranch

Today was very successful field trip number two to Hardy's Reindeer Ranch. It is literally just 5 minutes outside of town and made for a perfect Kindergarten trip.

I have been hit by the 2nd round of sickness so I only had 13 kids at school go on the trip. The most I have had all week has been 14. On Monday between the 4 K classes, we had almost 20 kids out. Eeek! They are slowly coming back, but it's been a quiet week so far. I'm not really managing to stay very healthy with a stopped up nose, horrible cough, and a teensy bit of a sore throat that comes and goes (possibly due to the coughing) but no fever and I feel pretty good so I'm just toughing it out. Can't let the sickness win! Luckily though, the Champaign County Health Department is going to give the H1N1 vaccine out for free to all the students next week. I pretty sure that's not what is going around, but hopefully, that will keep us from even more sickness starting and spreading rampant through the classrooms.

Back on the topic, we got to take a short hayrack ride, feed the reindeer, pick out a pumpkin, play at the playground, eat a cookie, and take a quick jaunt through the corn maze. I was given the map with the highlighted shortcut through the maze and told to lead away. You almost got a story about how the first year teacher got 60 kids and 5 adults lost in the maze, but luckily I have a better sense of direction than my brothers and we made it out in record time with only one extra loop. I'm pretty sure no one else even knew we weren't exactly on the highlighted path. I only had one student terrified of the reindeer and she got much braver after seeing the other kids pet them. I'll have to check to see if there are any pictures without kids faces before I post anything. I might have a few possibilities but we'll see. It was a quick morning but just the right amount of time for the group. It was a noon dismissal day so by the time we got back we sat down, did calendar, read a story, and went home. Everyone was tired and worn out for sure. The best part for me was the following conversation:

Student: Are we in nowhere?

Me: Ha! No, we're not nowhere. We're somewhere. We're in the country.

Student: The country???

Me: Yeah. The country. We left the town of Rantoul and now we are in the country.

Student: We're really in the country?

Me: See? We're surrounded by fields and there aren't very many houses. This is called the country. Not the a city anymore but the country.

Student: Hmm. The country. . . .

I could really tell they were having a hard time getting that vocab but I tried my best to educate them on such things. But she sure was convinced that we were in "nowhere." I think I convinced her it was the country which is actually somewhere but perhaps I just made her even more confused. Oh well. I tried.

Pizza Hut!

I have to put it out there and say that I have a great class. The majority of the time they listen, follow directions, and work hard. This was exhibited Friday on our field trip. There wasn't a single problem, and it was a great warm up for our bigger trip this week. At Pizza Hut, we got to go "behind the scenes" and see the ovens, where they wash dishes, the GIANT refrigerator, the bread crust rising machine, and of course make our own pizzas. The staff had them all ready to go and the kids added cheese and another topping if they wanted it. Then, they put it on the oven conveyor belt and waited for it to come out the other side. There was only 2 Pizza Hut staff members working so I had to help take pizzas out of the oven and cut them. I was a glorified Pizza Hut employee for all of 20 minutes. It was a lot of fun. Now I know what I'll do if teaching doesn't work out. : ) And, while all this was going on my kids who had their pizzas were quietly eating unsupervised out in the restaurant. Again, they are great. (I say this so that I can go back and read about them on days when I am not feeling so great about things. Have to stay positive some how.)

So to wrap it up, here is, as promised, a look at Mr. Pumpkin who is now on our stoop at the apartment. Yeah Fall!!

"But I forgot . . .

to wipe my bottom!" said to me by a mischievous little boy. My response? "Well, you'll remember next time." Bethany says I'm mean. I think it's survival of the fittest.

We carved a pumpkin today! I would definitely mark it as a success. Everyone was brave enough to stick a hand into it and the rest of the day they laughed about "our pumpkin" watching us. I have pictures of the final product but I left my camera at school so that I would have it for Pizza Hut tomorrow. I'll get to them this weekend and let you know how our first outing goes. It's sure to be an adventure that's for sure.

Otherwise, everything is going pretty well. Kids are a little antsy in the rainy weather but I'm doing my best to keep them busy. The end of the quarter is next week. I hope I've taught them something!!!

In 1400 and 92, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

It's Columbus Day! Which means that I am at home in my apartment and NOT at school. I went in yesterday to get ready to Tuesday but decided to devote the entire day today to being a little lazy and catching up on all the things I'm usually too tired to do after school. I didn't set my alarm but only managed to sleep until 8:15. It's probably okay that I don't get too much off my schedule though. Tomorrow might be kinda rough if I get too accustomed to sleeping past 9.

Thus far, I have cleaned the bathroom, organized and cleared off my desk, put away summer clothes and got out winter ones, taken out the trash, and cleaned out the van. Not bad for a morning's work. This afternoon I'm going to go to Curtis Orchard and shopping with Bethany. Did I mention that I LOVE days off?

This is going to be an exciting week because it's all about the letter P! We are going to carve a pumpkin and go to Pizza Hut! I have a feeling everyone will be more than a little excited. I'm excited anyway. However, it's going to be a challenge because I have way too much that I want to do in only 4 short days. We'll see how goes. : S

And, a story. Not from my kids though. This one is from the 30 year veteran teacher across the hall. This was a first for her which is probably hard to come by these days. It happened some time last week and she told us about it later that day.

To set the scene:

She was reading a book about nocturnal animals and there was a picture of a fox, owl, rabbit, and mouse. Students are sitting on the carpet quiet and innocent listening very attentively.

Teacher: What do you think the fox is going to do if he sees that rabbit or mouse?

Student: He's gonna rape 'em!!!

Teacher: (Dumbfounded and speechless) What!?!?!?

Student: Or eat em?

Teacher: Right. And on the next page . . .

Straight from the horses' mouth. No kidding on this one folks. There are really no more words because there just isn't much to say.

A New Arrangement

Again, not much to report. However, I decided that things were starting to get a little bit out of control. My thought is that everyone is becoming too good of friends and they just can't stop talking or arguing or playing. Therefore, I rearranged everyone after school today. I figure it's been the same since day 1 and now that I know the kids and who likes who and who likes to talk and who likes to pick fights, etc., I can do a better job. And, maybe keep them on their toes for a few days. At least, I hope so. I've actually had to shout twice in the last week to make myself heard. I've got to find something that works because I'm a little worried once things get away from me I'll never get them back. And that my friends, is terrifying.

I am getting a new student on Thursday so if you are keeping track I am at 18. I'm not sure I posted about having one start at The Pavilion (which is a place for kids with psychological issues) but she could come back anytime. Therefore, minus her, plus one new, I'm will be at 18. If she returns, I'll be back up to 19.

October is going to fly by with no school this Friday for the kids because of staff improvement, no school on Monday because of Columbus Day and a half day the week after that for more school improvement. We also have 2 field trips planned and before I'm ready it's going to be Parent Teacher Conferences. EEeeeK! Better get back to work. I've lessons to plan.