You could call it frustration...

This year has been a rough one. For some reason, things are just not going as smoothly I expected or, as they did last year. I've yet to figure out the reason for this. It may be that our schedule is a bit different and causes many rushed afternoons trying to fit in my entire science lesson. It may be that my class NEVER STOPS TALKING! I'm leaning more towards my second option.

My class is so talkative, I feel like I'm just begging them to stop talking every day. I had sit down talks with them about the effects of their talking. I've expressed my concerns and frustrations to them. I've moved their desks around every way possible. I've tried the overly nice thing. I've tried being Mrs. Viola Swamp. I've done what I know to do to beg them for their consideration and to stop talking. Nothing has worked. At the end of each day, I'm left with a sense of failure. I feel like I've failed in teaching that day's lessons. I feel like I didn't do anything but ask for them to stop talking.

This semester I have an intern and she was doing a science lesson on Thursday. During this time, I was able to sit back and watch my class differently than I usually did. I was able to see my intern "beg" for them to stop talking and repeat things many times over for all the students to hear. What I saw was embarrassing. When the lesson was over, I got up and explained to them that the way she felt was the same way I feel at the end of every day, which is unacceptable. And the worst part, her supervisor was observing the lesson. Not only did that reflect poorly on her, but I felt it reflecting poorly on me because that showed my classroom management skills, or lack thereof. I don't feel I have poor classroom management skills, especially with my past classes as proof.

I've somehow got to get over this. We are only 11 weeks into school. It's way too soon for me to start feeling like I don't want to go back and summer should begin soon. When I return on Monday, each student is going to receive a note from me. On the note will be all the things I like about them and all the things they do well. Because when it came down to it, I do like each student, as an individual. But when I think of them as a class, all I think about is their obnoxious talking. Hopefully this works...

This Is It!

Don't worry, I'm not ending my blog, but just making a reference to Michael Jackson with the title. I've had classes in the past who enjoyed certain celebrities and fads that were going through the 9 and 10 year old community, but nothing to this extent.

I have a student (or 4) that are obsessed with Michael Jackson. They sing his songs all day, they dance when they get the chance, they write about him during writing time, they check out the few library books we have about him, and much more!

Now let me elaborate: I hear, "Billie Jean is not my lover" throughout the day along with "Beat it, just beat it". Along with these lyrics, I also get to enjoy the classic Michael Jackson dance moves that aren't always appropriate for 4th graders. I understand the lyrics aren't either, but I'm not sure that 99% of the kids even understand them. I am pretty sure they just like singing the songs. Now here's the best part. One of these kids that has an obsession with the King of Pop is a pretty good imitator. He knows the dance moves, he knows the songs, and he has a silver glove. He's so much like a junior Michael Jackson, that the kids would spend their recess pretending he was the man himself. One of his friends was his manager who would schedule his place on the playground by minute. Another friend was his publicist who would try to find more kids who wanted him to dance for them. And the rest of his friends acted as body guards and felt they had to encircle him everywhere he went. At one point, they even had fake money they carried around and charged for people to talk to him. It was funny...until he was so wealthy that it was raining money on the playground. At that point, I was the rich one after I confiscated all the fake dinero!

One final question...Did these kids even know who Michael Jackson was before he died?

This is Legit!

I know I haven't written much this year. I mean, I know I haven't written at all this year, but I've been inspired to write again because of events last week.

It's that time of year when we learn the phases of the moon. For such an odd topic that is unnecessary to know, it is one of my favorite topics to teach. I guess it's one of my favorites because we do lots of fun stuff, including a lesson with Oreos. I've decided that this lesson is very unnecessary, but loads of fun and the kids love it. The Basics: Place 8 Oreos in a circle and scrape the cream in the center off to illustrate the 8 phases of the lunar cycle. It has to be a favorite lesson with my class each year. I was even receiving, "You are the best teacher EVER!" comments because of this lesson. I also got my personal favorite, "This is the most legit thing I've ever done in school!" I paused for a second thinking one of my good friends had taken over the body of a 4th grader. I am familiar with hearing the word "legit" come from her...not a 9 year old!