If all the raindrops were snowflakes,

We wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow. Isn't that how the song goes? No?? Oh.

I want snow really bad because I think it's fun and fresh. It's December 20th for crying out loud. Christmas is 5, count em' FIVE (5) days away! If I didn't want snow in December, I would live somewhere else!

There's a funny thing about Kindergarteners and Christmas. They KNOW about Christmas. They are super excited about Christmas. They LOVE presents, trees, candy canes, cookies, and everything else associated with the holiday. BUT, they don't yet understand the concept of time. They don't understand that the anticipation should actually be for a 2 week break off of school. I try to tell them that they are about to get to stay at home for 14 days and they cheer because I say it excitedly but not because they really understand what that means. They don't appreciate getting to sleep in and not having to go to bed early or do homework. They look at the calendar with Christmas so clearly labeled with a nice little tree and still see the 5 white days before we get there so they don't get really excited. I mean they get excited about a Christmas game we might play or talking about Santa but really only when it's happening RIGHT NOW. Tomorrow, I will be asked 30 times before 10 when the party is going to be and what's going to happen and if they'll get to eat extra candy but they'll probably forget to ask about Christmas. 4 more days is practically an eternity. Why even waste the time when there are cupcakes to be eaten TODAY.

Keeping up with the Joneses

We didn't like taping things to walls in the hallway so our principal ordered us bulletin boards. They finally got them all put up in October and since then it's been "keeping up with Joneses" bulletin board style. See for yourself. They show kids artwork, teacher artwork, teacher hard work, pre-bought kits, and a variety of other combinations.










Mine is the first one with the reindeer. "Rein in the excitement." That's right. Hold it in. Don't get too excited. BUT, it is supposed to snow enough to stick tonight so I'm no longer holding it in. BRING ON THE SNOW!!!

FINALLY something funny

Ms. Lock-I have a frog in my throat.
Student-Really? (He's totally serious.)
Ms. Lock-Yep. It's making my voice so scratchy.
Student-How did it get there?
Ms. Lock-I swallowed it.
Student-EHHHHHHH!

Much later

Ms. Lock-Do you want to look down my throat and see the frog?
Entire class-YES!! I WANT TO SEE! GET OUT OF THE WAY, I DIDN"T SEE!

I can still project if I need to and it doesn't hurt but my regular talking voice isn't sounding very good. In fact, one of my students just said it was different. I have a "new voice." The old one has taken a vacation I guess. It was pretty funny to see how long I could have had them going with the whole frog thing. They really bought in to it. I could almost see his imagination picturing me swallowing a frog and what it was doing down there and how was it going to get out and so on.

We came back from Thanksgiving break with GREAT attitudes and apparently our minds needed a break too because the interventionist who has been working really hard and intensively with my lowest kids saw three of them make HUGE gains. They have to name a random list of letters to see how many they can get in a minute and one girl DOUBLED her total from two weeks ago. She went from saying 19 with 5 errors to 41 and no errors. It's pretty amazing and why year round school is very beneficial. They need a break sometimes to help them refocus and come back strong. We won't be to year round by next year but hopefully the year after that. I think it would rock.

Also a funny story is that today the fire alarm puller klepto got INTO the trashcan. Yeah, the big one. He climbed inside. Probably just to see if he could. I have no idea what we will do with him. Too bad he didn't get stuck. Just kidding! Right?

YES.

One of my students thinks I look like Faith Hill from the Monday night football intro. YES.

I have not yet killed the klepto fire alarm puller. YES.

With the help of Skittles, my students are now sitting in their seats 75% more of the time than they were 2 weeks ago. YES.

Thanksgiving break has officially started. YES.

I have tomorrow to cook, do errands, catch up, and sleep in. YES.

My only plans for the weekend are eating and hanging out with family. YES.

It's cold outside. YES.

Basketball season is here. YES.

Tornados in November

Student: Ms. Lock, it's tornado weather!
Ms. Lock: No, it's just a lot of wind and rain. There's no tornado.

three minute interlude of writing instruction

Class is interrupted by another teacher.

Teacher: Ms. Lock, we're under a tornado warning. We're moving classes to the hall.
Ms. Lock: Everyone line up!

We spent 30 minutes of our afternoon sitting on the floor in the commons area trying to keep 240 students quiet and sitting calmly on the floor. My students just assumed it was a drill and quickly began complaining that it was boring and why couldn't we go back to class yet. As far as I know, there was never a funnel cloud spotted but some hail and strong winds. The area was under a warning for the better part of 30 minutes until the conditions passed. Good times in Kindergarten.

Keeping Up

This last week had it's share of big ups and downs. It started off rather terribly with a visit from the school psychologist as she was trying to observe one of my students. The entire class was just really restless and not doing anything particularly well. She was aghast and I was feeling pretty insignificant. It led to a couple of conversations with my principal about what we can do to get everybody back on track and my mean face firmly planted on. It was only a four day week but it definitely ended better than it started. The next 7 days before Thanksgiving break will be a lot of going back to the basics. We are going to keep it simple and matter of fact. Stay in your seat. Raise your hand.

Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to teach for 30 years. That's a LONG time. I think for the most part it would be good. However, I wonder about how I will survive things like packing a sack lunch everyday. How many containers of yogurt will I eat in 30 years? I'm not so sure about that.

2 more things
Illini football makes me depressed. I will forever be fan but I'm also not sure how I'll survive 30 years of that either.

I am 98% sure my van would not have started when it was cold last week. When I was scrapping the frost off my windshield, that's what I was thinking, "I made a good choice to get rid of the van."

Thursday Thoughts

This is going to sound very shallow and lame but the only thing that gets me through Thursdays is Thursday night TV. I am wearing sweats and waiting for Bones, Grey's, and The Mentalist. While I'm waiting, I'm watching NCIS and Castle from earlier this week. I'm also doing laundry and writing this blog. By the way, NCIS from last Tuesday is HILARIOUS.

We have decided that Thursdays aren't really the best days. As teachers, we're feeling the weekly drag and the kids are typically just all kinds of riled up. I've also noticed that the end of the first quarter tends to bring out whining. I've had loads of whining lately which is just about driving me crazy. I think everyone is over tired from Halloween, 5 day weeks, and the drag of school. It's the reason year round school is a good idea. I don't know if we will get to it as fast as next year but here's to hoping we try. We need two week vacations about mid-October. The extra sleep would do everyone a world of good.

In three years, I've improved at some of the little things. I'm still working on others. I've remembered to teach my students how to push in chairs. I've yet to figure out how to teach them to pick up their trash.

There is a mouse that lives my ceiling. I hear him chewing on the tiles during my plan time and believe you me is it disconcerting. The janitors have put in a trap for him but it's yet to catch anything. He's just running around up there trying to get down to the crumbs. I hope he finds the trap first. I need him to go away.