This means a lot...

I've had an ongoing relationship with a parent this year based on focusing issues, aggression and the effort he's putting into work. Yesterday was quite rough. Elliot was yelling at kids on the playground that they "sucked" and also threw his homework on the floor and said the custodian could pick it up. It was one of his roughest days at school this year. I had a two meetings after school and did not have time to e-mail until I got home and remembered around 6pm. I tried to start with positives and remind the dad how proud I am of Elliot and then mention the day. I wasn't sure what kind of response I would receive. This is an excerpt that made me smile and remember why I do this.

"I understand your problems, Elliot and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to send a late message. This dedication to the education of my son is greatly appreciated, but due to district regulations, I'm not at liberty to reward your behavior. If there's a recommendation letter that I can send to the principal or the school district based on this effort, let me know who I should notify."

No mas hablas in Espanol.

I received a call on Wednesday afternoon that the parent and family-friend of my new non-English speaker wanted a conference. They weren't sure that my classroom was the right situation for her. I had this feeling from the first day she arrived, but it's different when a parent says that your classroom is not right for their child.

Thursday morning comes and in the meeting, everyone wanted to know how she was doing. Basically, she is not ready for 4th grade. Especially 4th grade in a country where she does not speak the language. It was hard for me to sit there and say that regardless of anything I've done in the classroom, she's not at the level she should be in order to be successful. The dad and family-friend were completely understanding and mom was a bit hesitant. After all, we decided that the family would go look at the bilingual school in the district that morning to see if it would better suit her needs. If they did like this school, we would transition her over there beginning on Monday.

Around 9:00 (attendance time), I get a phone call from the registrar telling me not to mark her absent. She is withdrawing so that she can transfer and is no longer counted as absent. I was in a bit of shock. I didn't think things were going to happen so quickly. My class started to ask questions about where she went, why didn't she say goodbye, and would they see her again. Although they might not have spoken the same language, they understood her. She was a kid after all and kids understand other kids. They were quite disappointed that they were unable to say goodbye. I was also quite concerned that the parents were so quick to remove her from my classroom.

That was until I received a call from her new bilingual teacher. This teacher was already concerned that 4th grade was not the right place for her. We had a talk about what had happened and what I felt was going on with this child and her family. When all was done, I felt better knowing that my classroom wasn't the right place for her because she didn't belong in 4th grade even if they did speak her language.

Cry Babies

I have a class of cry babies...the following examples will give you a clear description of how many tears I encountered in just ONE DAY!

It's about 3 minutes after the tardy bell rings in the morning and one of my students comes walking in and I notice he is a bit teary eyed. This student has cried many times before, and usually it's more like crying wolf, so I don't really pay much attention. After I notice him grabbing Kleenex after Kleenex to dry his tears. I finally ask him what's wrong...

William: "Nothing!"

Me: "Well, nothing doesn't usually makes someone cry like that."

W: "It's nothing!"

Me: "Okay. Well here's the deal. I can't let you sit in my classroom crying like that if I have no idea why."

W: "It's NOTHING!"

Me: "Something is making you very upset. Is it school or home?"

W: "School."

Me: "Is it in this classroom or outside."

W: "I'm not saying."

Me: "Are you upset with something I did or something else."

W: "Something else."

Me: "In specials, lunch, PE, recess?"

W: "I've been crying ever since choir this morning."

Me: "Are you upset about choir?"

W: "No."

****I'm not a dentist and have not been trained in how to pull teeth.**wink**

It turns out that there were some stray dogs roaming our school and he was very upset that the Animal Control was on their way to catch them. I then had to talk to him about what we can do for homeless animals and their owners will have a chance to find them. It's not okay that dogs are roaming around school because they can sometimes be dangerous and might even bite some children. BLAH BLAH BLAH! He wiped his tears away to finally join us in class...for the time being...

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Today was also our Explorer Excellence Awards. This award ceremony is to honor Perfect Attendance, A and A/B Honor Roll, and a few other rewards just for our kids. I thought it went very well and except for me mispronouncing my first student's name, there were no other glitches. As we were returning back to class, I noticed 2 students who were crying like infants. I knew they were both upset that they didn't win any awards, but that is what happens. That is what happens when you don't finish your work in class, when you don't turn in homework, and when you don't make it up during the allotted times every Friday afternoon. One of these students was William. He was very upset and was refusing to do his work. I've had many conversations with him about his grades before and he had no reason to be surprised by not winning an award. He is in 4th grade and has opportunity, after opportunity, after opportunity to get is work done, CORRECTLY. I asked him to talk to me outside and because of all of our previous discussions about his grades and chances, this is what I had to say: "William...I understand you are very upset because you didn't win an award. I really have no sympathy for you at this point because I gave you chance after chance to turn in all of your work. There are some teachers who don't give as many chances. If you are out here crying, that means you are already getting behind on the work for this 9 weeks. If I were you, I would go back to my desk and finish my work. You will not come in my room crying like this because this is not a surprise. This is a result of your actions last 9 weeks. You can change it if you want, but you can't change that sitting out here. When you've stopped crying, you may come back in."

William finally joined us back in class, with only minutes to spare before we were headed to PE.
He sat down very dramatically in his chair and gave me the look of death. Too bad the look of death doesn't work on teachers...since they are Stare Professionals. I told him to join us in line to leave and his response was a very angry, "NO!" I told him he could then come with me so we could visit the Principal's office. He got up, slammed his chair around and grunted, "I hate this school anyway." See, I don't take any of this personally because I dealt with much worse last year, students who didn't necessarily hate the school, but might have hated me at some points.

I took him to PE, the principal was busy, and returned to my room to call his dad. I let him know what was going on and he said he would be to the school immediately. Dad and William had a nice long chat and talked about what they can do to prevent this problem in the future.
Problem #1 resolved!

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My other student who had been crying after the award ceremony ended getting over it very quickly. I will talk to her this week about goals for this 9 weeks and how she can meet them.
Problem #2 sort of resolved!

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On our way to PE, I also had another student boo-hooing with tears dripping from his face. Elliot was having trouble understanding the math assignment. As a teacher, it is my job to help students who are having trouble. I have many students in my class who truly need my help. Elliot, on the other hand, does not need math help. He was commended on last year's standardized test and he was very successfully completing the exact same type of multiplication. Today he claims that he had no idea what to do. I sat and showed him step by step what our assignment was yesterday and also again today. He still did not know how to do the problems...I need a break. I thought he was understanding what he was supposed to do, so I walk away. The next thing I know, he is sitting, head-down crying. What am I supposed to do? I have kids who really don't get thing...I need to help them. You just don't WANT to get it.

Problem #3 unresolved!

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As I was getting ready to take the bus riders to the buses, I notice a student using her cell phone and causing a distraction in the line. The bell has yet to ring and regardless, the school/district policy is that no cell phones are allowed to be visible at school. I ask her to hand me the phone and she gets very upset. (This is not a student in my class.)
Student: "But I need my phone to call my mom after school."
Me: "I'm sorry. The rule is no cell phones at school. You had yours out were causing a distraction. I will turn your phone into the office and your mom can get it there."
Student: "But I am supposed to call her on the way home."
Me: "On the bus on the way home? Cell phones are not allowed on the bus either. Your phone is not to be out at school."
Student: "I only had it out because I got a text message."
Me: "Hmmm, a text message? You said your phone was to call your mom. You were text messaging with your phone. That is not okay and I will again tell you that it will be in the office for your mom to pick up."
I turn the phone in, take care of some after-school business and return to my classroom to find a voicemail and e-mail from this student's parent. She is very upset and said her daughter would NEVER have her phone out when she wasn't supposed to. She had more words to say, but none of importance (ha!). I told the vice principal about this situation and it is now under her control.

Problem #4 resolved!

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As I was sending kids to particular buses, one of my very trusty-worthy students came to me and said that another student (not in my class) was throwing rocks. As I turn around to ask him about it, a rock hits me in the leg. I'm talking about a nice (inch-sized) rock. I ask him if he threw the rock and his reply, "I didn't throw a rock. I don't know what you're talking about." LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! ahhhhhhhh....I may not have been so bothered by it if I hadn't dealt with all of these other situations in one day. I ended up writing this student up after talking to his teacher and asking what needed to be done. Turns out, this was not his only behavior incident today.

Problem #5 semi-resolved!

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All of this happens in one day and now I get to be at home relaxing in front of election results. Yes it is exciting, but not exactly the type of TV that helps my mind forget about today.

Are you refusing to work?

I have a very difficult students who I'm sure I've talked about before, but can't remember his alias. I guess I'll rename him with...Elliot. Elliot is severely unmotivated in most content areas, but especially in reading and writing. He often does not participate during reading mini lessons or write during Writers' Workshop. I've tried many things to get him going, but he just doesn't seem to care. I would like to rephrase that. He does seem to care, because when I talk about his behavior or refusal to work, he often gets a very angry look like he is upset with himself. In most cases, I understand where a child's anger or dislike for a certain type of work come to play, but with Elliot, it happens so often that I'm confused by it.

Today during math, we were noticing patterns when multiplying by 10s, 100s, 1000s. The class had a sheet to follow along with. We talked about the pattern, the answer for each one, and how we would figure out the next. Well, we excluded Elliot. I sauntered (we're learning about verbs of steel as well) to his desk only to notice all the blanks were filled with question marks. The first words out of my mouth were, "This is unacceptable!" I said this first because this was a discussion I was about to have for about the 10th time with Elliot. We've talked about it being unacceptable to write a question mark in the blank when we are working as a group and when there are 2 teachers to help (myself and my aide). I erased all of the question marks for him, tried to get him going again and he just put his head down. I asked, "Are you refusing to do your work?" He nodded his head.

-- I am documenting exactly how I handled the situation. I would not handle this type of situation like this every time, but I have given this child about 300 chances in many different settings within our classroom. You may not agree with this, but at the moment, and still during reflections, I agree with what I did. Also keep in mind that I already have a conference scheduled for tomorrow with this child's parents.--

I asked Elliot to leave my classroom. My door was already propped open, so I asked him to sit right in the doorway. When I got the rest of the class back on track, I asked Elliot if he was ready to re-enter our classroom and return to work. If he was not, I told him that he could go sit in Ms. H's room next door. (She is aware of this student's behavior and is very helpful in stressful times.) He followed me back to his desk and immediately put his head down. I said, "Grab your paper. You are going to Ms. H's room." "I don't want to go in there." "I'm sorry. It is not a choice. I gave you a choice to work and you chose not to. You have no more choices." He went to Ms. H's room and sat for the remainder of math.

I obviously have to figure out some way to motivate this student to work, but I'm stumped. He HATES cooperative work (and we do a lot of that), he hates anything that takes too much energy, he hates talking in front of the class (which I don't force on any child), and he hates when I ask him to do something. This child is very bright in math (commended on our state test last year) and fairly competent in reading. Unfortunately, he has only shown me that he is incapable of doing work without my step-by-step-by-step guidance....uuuugggghhhh!

Can I wear your glasses?

I have a student who has an obsession with glasses. He wants to know why people wear them (each one specifically), when are they going to get Lasik, and if he can wear their glasses. At times, this can be quite funny and at other times, it's quite annoying. Some things that are a part of his obsession are as follows:

- Continually asks me why I don't want Lasik. "It's not a big deal. A surgeon does it quick and easy. He just opens your eye and fixes it."

- Wants to wear my glasses, or my mom's when she visited, or anybody else's that are within his reach. He will almost steal them in order to try them on if I leave mine laying around.

- Once wore a pair of glasses to school that were not his. He told everyone they were his, but mom said they were not and she had no idea where he got them from.

- Wants to know the day people got Lasik if they did (or if they aren't wearing their glasses for some reason that day).

- Wants to know if every first grader is the little brother of a kid in our class who wears glasses.

Today he was trying to wear my glasses because they were temporarily left unattended on my desk. When I told him he should ask before picking things up, he asked, asked again, asked again and again until I couldn't stop laughing. When I said no he could not wear my glasses, he was trying to see through them without putting them on. He looked through the front and then through the correct side. He was so interested in what it feels like to wear my glasses. I have to keep an eye on where they are so they don't disappear at a random moment.

Editing

Today we talked about editing and peer conferences. I introduced the 3 steps we were going to use for editing and how to go through each step. Using the 6 traits of writing, they would first look in their paper for certain things for ideas and organization, then word choice and voice, and lastly sentence fluency and conventions. Each step had some steps within. They were to do the steps themselves, then with a buddy, and then conference with me. It seems pretty straightfoward, but of course, there were always more questions. I don't mind questions because then I know the kids are trying to understand. I 100% prefer it to the students who sit at their desk because, "I don't know what to do." Unfortunately, I have a questioner who never gets anything...even the answers I give him.

R: "What do I do now?"
Me: "You need to look at your paper for these things. Once you see them and check for mistake or things you need to change, sign your name on that line."
R: "So, I just sign my name on this line?"
Me: "No. You need to check for these 3 things in your paper first. Do not sign your name until you have done that."
R: "I'm going to sign my name."
Me: "NO. You need to read your lead, conclusion, and the middle first."
R: Moves to sign his paper.
Me: "Wait! You need to underline your lead in red."
R: Underlines whatever he feels like (or so it looks).
Me: "What did you underline? Where is your lead?"
R: "What are you talking about?"
Me: "Remember last week, we talked about engaging leads. We even hung a poster on the wall and looked for them in books we were reading. We were all supposed to be writing our leads for our paper last week."
R: "What do you mean?"
Me: "Does your lead (I point) use one of our types listed on that poster?"
R: "What poster?"
Me: I go point and begin reading some of them.
R: "What am I supposed to do?"
Me: "You need to read the lead types and figure out which you want to use. How about dialogue??" (I give example specifically for his paper.)
R: "Where am I supposed to write it?"
Me: "Right here between the lines. We leave these lines to have space for changes later."
R: "But I can't write there, I have to write on every other line."
Me: "I know, but that space is there so we can use it when we need it...like right now."
R: "What?"
Me: "Go sit down and ask a friend what you're supposed to do!"

Just get on the frog bus!!!

The two students I'm writing about today have both been the focus of previous blogs.

I was so worn out yesterday, I didn't get a chance to write about my conversation with Victor. This week he's been obsessing over glasses and why people wear them. A few days ago, we walked by a teacher who he knew from last year. She no longer wears glasses and he noticed. He questioned her about her glasses and why she no longer wears them. He found out that she had lasik on July 25th (a date she made up because he needed to know a date). Well...I wear glasses also. I don't need to wear them all day, but it makes my life easier and I don't have to strain to see children across the classroom. He informed me yesterday that I need eye surgery so that I won't have to wear glasses anymore. I said that I don't need surgery...
V: "Yes you do!"
Me: "No, I don't have to wear my glasses. I could go all day without them."
V: "You need to get eye surgery. It's just your eyes. You go to the doctor and get surgery."
Me: "I don't like surgery."
V: "It's okay. It's just your eyes, no where else."
Me: "I don't want to."
V: "You should!!!"
Me: "Okay, Victor...I'll ask my doctor about getting lasik."
V: "Good!" And he immediately returned to work. By the way, I'm not looking into getting lasik.
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My next encounter was with the student I was referring to in yesterday's blog. He is a child that seems to have difficulty with processing information. I know he is capable of completely his work successfully, but I don't know if he's capable of doing it without asking me, "Is this good?"
I digress and move onto today's bus situation. Today was the first day that Richard rode the bus to school and was riding it home. I asked him what bus he needed to get on and he told me the frog bus (each of our buses is labeled with an animal). This is the conversation that ensued (and yes he does start every sentences with 'so'):
R: "How do I know which bus is the frog bus?"
Me: "The one with the frog picture in the window."
R: "Is the picture in the front window?"
Me: "No, it's in the window next to the doors."
R: "So, like the front window?"
Me: "No, the window to the left of the doors that open up."
R: "So, when the doors open up in the front?"
Me: "No. When the doors open up, the picture will be to the left of the doors in the first window."
R: "How do I know it's the frog bus?"
Me: "It has the picture in the window! Who else rides the frog bus that can be sure Richard makes it on the bus today?" (I find him a partner at this point knowing that there is a chance he could get lost.)
R: "Do I get on the bus?"
Me: "Yes, if you stand outside the bus, you will be standing there when it leaves."
R: "But where do I wait for my little brother?"
Me: "On the bus!"
R: "But how will he find the frog bus?"
Me: "The same way you are going to find it...with a friend and looking at the picture."
R: "So, where do I go for the bus?"
Me: "You follow the bus line and your buddy."
R: "Okay, so I find the bus with the frog?"
Me: "Yes. Caitlyn, can you please make sure Richard makes it on the bus? Ms. L (another teacher), can you please make sure this student who might look lost and ask a zillion questions finds the FROG BUS! Just make sure he gets on the FROG BUS! Don't let him wait around. Just make sure whatever you do, he's on the FROG bus when they leave."

I, in no way, exaggerated this conversation. Unfortunately, almost every conversation with Richard is similar to this. I might run out of blog space if I continue to write our entire conversations. Hopefully this is just part of his being new to our school, but I have an uneasy feeling that it's not going to wear off any time soon!

No, your name is...

Today was quite entertaining in the world of teaching...well, in my classroom at least. I have quite the entertaining class and today they really came out of their shells. They were very interested in asking me questions to learn about my life and also more questions about everything else they might need to know.

As a student was returning to his area from presenting his Me Box (a box with at least 5 items that describe his life), he needed another child to move out of his way. He said, "Move James!" The child said, "My name is not James, it's Jamie." "No, Jamie is a girl's name. Your name is James....James!" I am for sure that this child will continue to call his classmate by the wrong name, because he was adamant that the name given to this child wasn't the right one.

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly with a few more entertaining moments, but I'm too tired to write about more.

A bit tired, but content...

Today was the second day of school and I got to know my kiddos even more. I talked about procedures I missed yesterday and those I need to reinforce daily. I managed a difficult day with my child with autism. He told me that he went to sleep late and woke up late this morning. If I've learned anything about children and especially children with disabilities, it is that they need structure and routine! When he went to sleep late and woke up late, his routine and structure were shot for the day. This meant that everything was difficult for him, including the daily things that shouldn't affect him very much (making a lunch choice or putting his backpack away). This is definitely a learning experience for me and we just work day to day.

If you've read my blog at the end of last year, you will know what I mean when I say, "My mama said..." Well, she's back! Yesterday I mentioned that I have her sister in my class this year. I was hoping that the sister I currently have would be different and not deliver messages from her mom by way of "My mama said...", but my hoping didn't come true. So here's the first of the year. "My mama said...she is going to send medicine for my hand. She said she would send it with my sister so that it would be in the nurse when I need it. Well, I don't know if she's going to send it today, tomorrow, or the next day. But she said she's going to send it."

What I look forward to most is the year continuing on in the manner in which it started, which is very polite, hard-working kiddos with great attitudes about school!

GREAT BOOK FIND:
This book is for a bit older kids (3rd-5th) because of the humor and play on words, but they love it! It's a fun way to talk about manners and at my school, Life Skills. We joined neighboring classes for this activity because in the book, the neighbors are otters. We read the book aloud and then divided the kids up to brainstorm ideas of how the manners that the neighbors would like to see in "otters" could be displayed in our classroom and school.
The kids worked COOPERATIVELY in order to draw or write how you should treat "otters". They did a great job letting everyone contribute with their ideas and drawing/writing abilities. They presented them at the end of the day and did a fantastic job. The kids also liked getting to work with our neighbor class so early in the year. Developing the community in our portable is almost as important as just in our classroom. It was definitely at least a 4 out of 5 star lesson!

My Mama Said...

If there is something that bothers me more than most other things, it would have to be when a kid comes to be and says, "My mama said..." REALLY NOW? If your mama really wanted me to know that, wouldn't she call or send me a note? I hope you have sympathy while reading these and not the sense that I'm harsh. Of course I never said these comments to the student, but it just got to me after I heard a "My mama said..." multiple times only beginning when you started in my class.

I hope while reading these, you fully understood that I have never once spoken to this parent. When she registered and dropped her child in my classroom, she was on her cell phone the entire time and didn't even want to speak to me and barely made eye contact. I tried introducing myself but it seemed worthless. It only figures that she has so much to say, but doesn't want to actually tell me...or, all of the comments aren't true and they were made up to get attention? It wouldn't surprise me...

"My mama said...that she wants a note home about my behavior everyday."
I'm sorry honey...I have too many kids in my class to write a note home everyday. I can e-mail a quick note, but a hand-written note every day? I already send home a weekly note...if she wants more than that, she needs to let me know.

"My mama said...if you don't let me go to the bathroom when I ask, I can just go."
Really now? Is your mom the one who has 20 kids asking to use the bathroom every 5 minutes? Is your mom the one who hears kids ask to use the bathroom because they "can't hold it anymore" and after I say no, they never ask again? Apparently you didn't have to go that badly. And how do I know when you really have to go if you do this? Isn't that called crying wolf?

"My mama said...you need to call her."
Why doesn't she just call me? If it's something she needs to ask/tell me, she needs to call me. She knows my classroom number and that I'm there until at least 4:30 daily. And if she calls and I'm not there...I know how to check my messages and return phone calls. If she sends me a note saying this, I will call her.

"My mama said...that I need to keep my medicine in my bag and take it when I feel like I need to."
Okay and if you do that, I'll write you up for taking medicine at school without permission (or whatever the legal jargon is). You say your mom works at a school, but she doesn't know the rules about going to the nurse to get medicine?

"My mama said...that she checked my homework and everything is right."
Then why do you come to school if your mom can teach you everything? Oh, because she can't...you still have a lot of wrong answers. Please don't come to me and say your mama knows everything. I don't even pretend to know everything.

"My mama said...I need to call her at 2:30 to know if I ride the bus home."
Really? Is that why you are just mentioning this at 2:40? If it was so important, wouldn't you have told me earlier? Also, isn't it your mom's job to call the school and let you know how to get home from school...isn't that a parent's responsibility? And I just can't let a kid use the phone to call because then my whole class would need to call home for one reason or another.

"My mama said...you need to send work home so I can practice decimals and fractions."
If your mama knows that you need practice, she can help you from home. And, don't tell me at 2:00 that she wants these papers today. I already taught decimals and fractions in January and I'm sorry you weren't here, but it's impossible for me to teach it to you when I have 20 other kids who've already learned it and it's 2 days before TAKS. I'm not trying to set you up to fail, but I can't teach something to one new kid just because they weren't here when we did it as a class. If my whole class still needed it, of course I would teach it again, but we've moved on.

"My mama said...I need work to practice this summer. Can you send it home?"
School isn't even over yet, we still have 25 days left (yes, I'm counting). Also, I know that every child needs to practice their math and reading skills over the summer, but unfortunately the Copy Machine Master doesn't allot us enough copies to make each kid a summer packet. I also know that of all the students in my class, you are the one who has the most ability (financially and physically) to buy some workbooks at the store. You all know that teachers shop at Teacher's Heaven and parents are welcome there too. I'm not trying to deprive you of continuing your learning, but it doesn't seem reasonable to me being that you are one of the very fortunate in the school. I will give all my old worksheets out the last week of school and have prepared some packets for some kids, but not everyone.

"My mama said...if I don't understand something I need to ask you."
Okay, this comment doesn't sound as unreasonable as the others, but the way you said it and began using that ability was unreasonable. You said this as though you can't ask for help on your own...only because your "mama said" can you ask me to help. You then began asking me to help on every single question, even though you were capable of answering them. Saying, "I don't understand this one," doesn't tell me what you don't understand. Is it the directions? The words? How to solve the problem? There are many things you may not understand when reading a problem...please be specific.

"My mama said...that if I don't drink enough water, my asthma is going to start acting up."
Is this another one of those comments that you think holds more power if you say it came from your mama instead of just telling me. I hear this comment on a daily, almost hourly basis and I'm not sure of its merits because I hear it so much, I'm going to think you're crying wolf if your asthma really does act up. You are in 4th grade...you know what causes your asthma to act up and what you can do to prevent it (because "your mama tells me everyday"), so you should just avoid those things, bring a water bottle big enough for the entire day to school, and only tell me if it's an emergency. I already have so many students who cry wolf all day long, I don't know what to believe and what not to believe...so for right now...I don't believe anything until I speak to parents in person or over the phone.

"My mama said...I need a note in order to bring my scrapbook materials to school."
What? I already sent a note home...yesterday! Does she expect me to hand-write a note for each individual student? The note said that if you have materials to make your scrapbook, bring them to school. You can either keep these materials private or share them with the class. They need to be at school. I'm sorry that you said you've lied to your mom before and now she doesn't believe you when you ask for something, but I've already sent a note home.
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Here are some other "My mama saids..." from other students...

"My mama said...I better behave today or I'm going to be grounded."
YES! I like this mama.

"My mama said...if I don't turn in all my work, I'm not going to have fun this weekend."
Another that I really like!

"My mama said...that if I make a C, I won't get to watch TV."
And they keep coming...

"My mama said...to call her if you need help with anything."
Oh, I would LOVE some help!

"My mama said...to call her if I have a good day."
No problem...I would love to.

"My mama said...call her if I'm not on task today."
You actually told me this message? Wow...I'd be happy to. Whenever I call your mama, it reinforces the importance of parent-teacher communication on behavior and quality of work.