Excuses, Excuses, and more Excuses!

As a teacher, I understand that I will hear many excuses in my career and today, I heard more in one day that I usually do. By the time I finished collecting homework, I heard 6 different excuses for why they couldn't turn it in...only one of which was actually legitimate (and not listed below).
--"My mom went to the hospital last night and my backpack was in her truck." (I've heard this one before.)
--"I did it, but forgot it at home." (How do I know you really did it then?)
--"I forgot it in my desk when I left yesterday." (Well???? How are you supposed to do it then?)
--"I didn't know we had homework." (I only announced it 20 times and passed it out to each person individually.)
--"I only did some of it. I had other things to do." (Remember we're learning responsibility by finishing and bringing back your homework????)

I have also already heard many excuses for children's behavior when talking to their parents...now I know where the kids get is from.
--"I'm out of town right now and he always acts like this when I'm gone. I'll also be out of town next week for a few days." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She's out of town like 3 days EVERY week!
--"He told me he's being made fun of and I think his behavior is stemming from that." (I have not heard him being made fun of or anything close.)
--"His schedule was altered this week because we have family visiting. He acts like this every time his routine is messed up." (Learn to deal with it! Life is not always routine.)
--"I'm divorced and when she spends time with her mother, her family thinks its funny to act like that. When she's with them, she thinks that how you are supposed to act. I've tried, but can't do anything about it. That's why we aren't married anymore."

I've only been teaching for a few months...after one year, I imagine I could have an entire book of excuses!

She's Trippin'

Today was the first day back from Spring Break and while I enjoyed spending time with friends and family and relaxing, I was kind of glad to be back. The morning started off well and the kids seemed like they remembered how they SHOULD act in class. But, something happened at some point and the kids started acting like they did before break...non-stop talking, arguing, tattling, playing at inappropriate times, etc.

I did have three kiddos absent today and if I had chosen who was absent, I wouldn't have chosen those three. I can name you three others that I would be very excited to teach for a day without (all three at once would be a bonus, but impossible). Unfortunately, the three I would pick NEED to be at school. They NEED to be at school for the academics AND social skills.
I have one student who I have a very hard time liking. (see previous blog, "Back to work...") I strive to be a good teacher who is fair and nice to every student, but when he doesn't listen when I tell him something four times and then argues and says I'm trippin', it's hard. I know that it's important to give him a fair chance at everything, but I find it very difficult. This child does everything in his power (without even knowing it) to make me dislike him. He truly needs someone in his life who cares and gives him stability, but when he doesn't even try to respect others and myself, it makes it that much harder. This situation is probably the hardest I've faced so far as a teacher.

Baby Overload!

The past few days, I've been looking at more baby stuff than I ever have in my whole life. Today my sister and I went and walked a 5K for St. Paddy's Day and I'm happy to report that we were not last. Even my preggo sister finished before quite a few people. After that, she was in the mood to do a little shopping. For those of you who know her, this was surprising. We eyed many cute items at Target and found some cute maternity clothes (cause she has grown out of all her others).

We stopped at Burlington Coat Factory cause we knew they had a baby depot, but I had NO IDEA they had such a large department. It was rows and rows of baby clothes, bottles, safety products, nipple covers, breast pumps, and adorable little shoes. I kind of wish that she was having a girl so that I could buy her little dresses and PINK PINK PINK outfits and accessories, but she's having a boy. He will end up wearing CAMO CAMO CAMO in this family. That was definitely an overload of baby "equipment" today!

This evening was spent making wise cracks while cooking dinner (a family effort) and at Celebration Station. It was a little too cold to be playing mini golf and way too cold to be riding bumper boats and beyond too cold to be waiting in line for 30 minutes for go-carts...but, Dylan wanted to do those things and we already pay for them, so Preggo and I suffered through. It was an enjoying evening people watching as well. I spied lots of unsupervised kids, teenagers who didn't care about their job, and some others with fabulous earrings pants down to their knees. And best of all, it was time well spent with Preggo and nephew, because I won't be able to visit again for a while.

Too busy being fabulous...

Or not! It was just a song on the radio that I found humorous.

Today has been a lot of doing nothing. I dropped off my step-nephew at school after grabbing a yummy breakfast. I returned home to watch lame morning television and do nothing. I get bored easily and can't do nothing for long, so I cleaned my nephew's room (he better thank me for that later), and went to do some shopping--for the baby! Baby clothes are sooooooo cute and irresistible! After venturing into the Target baby section and Babies R Us, I bought lunch for my nephew so I could eat with him at school. I got lost and tried going to the wrong school (it was next door) and after finally making it to the right place, I find out that my nephew has left because his real mom is having her baby. Yes, both of his "moms" are pregnant...well, one still is.

With no need to pick him up after school today, I relax on the to channel surf and I find, Life in the Fab Lane with Kimora Lee Simmons. Man, she really thinks she's fabulous and spoils her children as well...but I guess if you've got it, flaunt it?

I guess the only thing to look forward to today is a pedicure. But I even have to wait for that. Wait is the theme of today. Wait for lunch, wait for after school, wait for sister to get off work. Good thing I don't wait everyday in my usual life or I might hurt myself. I know people like being bums, but I don't.

I had a wonderful pedicure at a place that needed to be twice as big as it was and a quiet night with the sister and her fiance. Tomorrow should be similarly relaxing starting off with a 5K walk for St. Patrick's Day in Dallas.

Boobie!

Today was more eventful than I expected and ended on a somewhat fun note (for old ladies).
I spent what seemed like days in my car driving to my sister's house outside of Dallas. I finally arrived to an empty house to wait for everyone to get home. I ventured out to Sonic because I knew exactly where it was and then needed to find a grocery store to buy food to cook dinner for my sister's fiance and kid. I decided I would just drive until I saw a grocery store...I found Old Navy. After a short detour inside to see their new cute summer clothes, I used my buddy TomTom to find my way back to my sister's. I somehow ended up on the opposite side of town, but thanks to GPS systems, getting lost is not a problem.
I navigated towards home and tried searching for a grocery store again...SUCCESS!
I prepared dinner before a bike ride and hop scotch in the park. My sister's fiance's son, Dylan (who is for all intents and purposes my nephew) began playing tag with Maurice. Maurice is a 4th grader as well who confessed that he should actually be in 5th grade. He didn't know me, but he felt the need to say that he shouldn't really be a 4th grader. Well, you should be if you didn't pass it the first time! While playing tag, I also came to realize that Maurice was wearing blue boxers. I found this out while he was playing tag and his pants fell down to his ankles. The teacher I am yelled at him to pull his pants up.
Another quick bike ride home, I began cooking dinner for fiance and nephew when sister called and said she NEEDED me to come play Bunco with her because they didn't have enough people. She warned me that it's a bunch of old ladies and all I would need to do was roll some dice. I went and rolled dice. I didn't roll dice very well because I won the Boobie prize. Some of you may know that I was the recipient of this award many years ago! This prize was given to the player who LOST the MOST games. I was quite proud of my accomplishment. After I lost a few more, I will admit that I wanted to lose more because I heard of this prize and knew it was the only prize that I had a chance of winning.

After returning home to a whining 9 year old asking, "Where were you? Why did you take so long?" I helped him put together a fun foam treasure chest. He made it just tacky enough to be cute. We then (as a family) tried to have our dogs make friends. Keep in mind that Tiva weighs 15 pounds and their dogs weigh 80 and 60 pounds. Their drool is enough to bathe Tiva in one lick. Tiva is definitely too much of a diva to be touched by those monsters! She even goes on the couch where she "isn't allowed!" She sits on her throne regardless of what anyone tells her!

Tomorrow I'm planning on taking Dylan to school, taking him lunch, visiting his Book Fair, and wasting time driving around. Maybe I'll get lost in another store tomorrow on my way to nowhere!

Is anyone out there?

This day was another adventurous day out and about with friends. Like I said yesterday: debauchery, Indian food, and kayaking were on the agenda for today. Mission Accomplished!

Jackie and I ventured to the lake to rent kayaks for exercise and to enjoy the beautiful Austin weather and scenery. Nothing exciting happened except that we did get lost. I looked on my GPS for the name of the place, but when you can't remember it, the GPS can't read your mind. It did however offer a visual of our location compared to the thick blue line. I drove towards it, and there it was, The Rowing Dock. We paddled upstream for half of our rental time and then "floated" back, but by floated, I mean paddled. Jackie is hardcore and wasn't about taking relaxing breaks. It was beautiful outside and I wanted to enjoy it.
We had a few hours to kill before we needed to get ready for dinner and sitting at the bar at Hula Hut was a good use of 30 minutes. ha. The food was good and so were our drinks, but we paid for alcohol and we didn't taste or feel any...disappointment. Again, it was nice to sit on the dock and enjoy the weather and watch a turtle swim aimlessly around begging for food.
As the afternoon grew old, I was growing anxious and nervous simultaneously about my first Indian meal that was soon to happen. This dinner was with a very good friend who has been asking me to eat Indian food for quite a while and the usual suspects from this week...except Wendy. Not sure what happened with her, she said she would go and then...well, I needn't say more.
Dinner was surprisingly GREAT! There was bread (always fantastic even though it did have fennel, or was it rye? either way, I don't like those seeds), delicious chicken, and sauces of all kinds, and did I mention bread? I was expecting the worst and things that I wouldn't even want to put in my mouth and what I got was the opposite. It was also wonderful discussion with friends about the obnoxious ladies sitting next to us and the fact that someone was having a bachelorette dinner at this Indian restaurant.

My agenda for today is almost complete, but still missing the debauchery. When I pulled into my parking lot, we noticed my neighbor was outside with someone else. I haven't mentioned this neighbor before, but we're not sure if he's Jesse's type or mine. *wink*wink* In order to discover which of us he is better suited for, we kind of stalk him. Jackie and Jesse were constantly looking out my window asking, "Is anyone out there?" They even insisted that we walk Tiva every 5 minutes to see if he was out there. If he was out and they saw him, they claim that they would invite him over to play a game, but they are too chicken for that. Needless to say, we played the game by ourselves, without Neighbor Boy (until I think of a better moniker for him).

Tomorrow I head to visit my sister and her family. Blogs probably won't be as event-filled, but I'll do my best with what happens.

Yay for AirTunes!

Today consisted of:
-- Waking up later than every other day this week - YAY!
-- Going to Best Buy to return a wireless router that I purchased yesterday.
-- Going to Apple to buy a new wireless router (cheaper than Best Buy).
-- Chips and Queso
-- Going back to Apple to exchange something I bought earlier in the day.
-- Setting up my new SECURE wireless network that includes AirTunes. If you don't know what AirTunes are, let me explain. With the Mac router, it has the capability to play your iTunes through your speaker system without actually being hooked to your iPod or computer. It's wonderfully amazing and I've listened to more music today than most months combined. It works with both Mac and PC operating systems...everyone should try it. And if you have multiple speaker systems throughout your house, you can have them all play the same music at the same time or all different. Apple is one innovative company. Oh, I forgot to mention that when I made my first purchase there today, they e-mailed me my receipt. I couldn't even show them the receipt to exchange because I hadn't been home. But that was okay because the very nice customer service man had me use their computer with a 30 inch monitor to check my e-mail for the receipt.
Christmas List: 30 inch Mac monitor.

It seems like this was enough for one day, but no, I'm just very descriptive and wordy...you all know how much I like to talk!

For the evening, I had an appointment at Shalinda's house (4th grade teacher also). We were having our first Book Club meeting, which, from what I understand, you don't actually have to read the book. Book Club is a synonym for Wine Club...bring a bottle and drink a bottle! Everything was going well and we were playing a fantastic game called Marry, Date, or Dump, which I was WINNING! This was interrupted by another co-worker who just got dumped by her boyfriend who she thought she was going to marry. I don't know her that well, so I just felt awkward and avoided the tears. The game obviously wasn't appropriate once she arrived. This ended most of the fun. Good thing I had a companion in avoiding awkwardness...Hopefully next Book Club meeting goes better. Tomorrow I'll go buy the book we decided on, What The Dead Know.

Tomorrow's Spring Break Agenda:
-- kayaking (Did you know kayak is spelled the same forwards and backwards?)
-- first experience with Indian Food (think Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly)
-- debauchery with friends

Special Edition

As I sit here watching "The Bachelor - Where are they now?" I realize how many hours of TV I've wasted in the last 6 years. At the time, it feels as though it's good TV...and watching the clips to refresh my memory reminds me that yes, it is still good TV.
Yes, there were some bachelors that were not attractive whatsoever (personality or looks), but I have still been a loyal Bachelor watcher since the beginning.
Seeing the previews for The Bachelor that starts next Monday, I remind myself how much I want a British man. Not because they are so fabulously good-looking with perfect teeth, but because that accent can make anyone cute. He's not the cutest bachelor ever, but when he speaks, I'd argue that he is.
Here goes more hours of my life spent in front of the TV watching "The Most Dramatic Rose Ceremony Ever!"

Rematch!

I woke up this morning to the pitter patter of rain on the asphalt of the parking lot outside my window. It was wonderful sleeping in listening to the rain. Needless to say, I was in no hurry to get out bed to sit around because I refuse to go out in rain when I don't have to.
When I did finally get out of bed (to move to the couch), I realized that my wireless router is breaking. I have had it for a while and it's just been getting slower and slower. I head to Best Buy in order to get back the high speed internet I once had, only to realize that I needed (wanted) the best router for my computer--an apple router. I spent a little too much money, but if I buy one now rather than a cheaper one every year, it levels out in my mind.
On my way home I decide that I need some milk. That's how it all started...I go into Whole Foods and start buying food to cook dinner. I give my friends a call (refer to last post) and demand they come over for dinner because I'm cooking. Of course they all quickly agree because as I later found out in the evening, none of them cook.
Dinner was delicious (as I heard over and over and over again) and so was dessert (thanks to Wendy). I will from here on out refer to this group of friends as the Games Group. Jackie brought her game of Cranium over and it was a good night because I was on the winning team. As my close friend pointed out, the only loser both nights in a row was Wendy. I hate to say this, but it was a close call and thanks to a disqualification, we pulled out the victory. YAY for people who don't follow the rules! haha
And in the middle of this fun evening, I had a friend volunteer to watch Tiva (my dog) while I'm on vacation this summer. She just about begged me...that's because my dog is simply irresistible. If you don't believe that, you should see a picture of her and you'll be convinced.
If anyone has any suggestions on games we can play in the future, let me know. We already enjoy Scrabble, Cranium, Pop 5, Scene It, etc...
At the end of all the useless trivia games, we all said goodbye so that we could update our blogs for each other to read. Keep in mind that we are reading what happened to all of us when we were together. It's actually quite funny to read everybody's take on the day's events! Also check out:
www.dustymiller83.blogspot.com
www.useinplaceof.blogspot.com

I'll try humdinger...

I spent the afternoon and night with a few close friends and had a wonderful time. We started our outing at an Austin Ice Bats game (hockey for those of you unfamiliar with the name). It was good fun...the Ice Bats came from behind in the last quarter to tie it up and then lost because of some bogus call giving the other team a penalty shot to win in sudden death overtime. It was definitely a good game though...kept us cheering and excited. They definitely enjoy throwing themselves around and the other team into the walls. Just one or two fights, but definitely a lost of thrashing about on the ice.
We topped off that fun with a trip to IHOP to eat some breakfast for dinner (my favorite meal)!
And then we traveled back to my apartment for some board games. My close friend is tired of beating me on computer scrabble, so he wanted to play a real game...a game in which I beat him! I didn't win the whole game, but I beat who mattered. He wanted a little revenge, so I opened a game I've never played, but had for over a year. It's a fun pop culture game made by Cranium, POP 5. My team lost, We Wu Hoko Wa and myself, because she couldn't guess my humdinger...I may not have been on key, but come on.
I laughed more tonight than I usually do at my 4th graders! I'm up for another game of POP 5 if anyone wants to challenge me...this time I'll kick your butt!

Freddy

No, that's not an alias for another of my students, but rather the name of the kite a friend and I tried flying today. We named him Freddy the Fish and well, he was definitely a floater. I am using the word floater to describe how he would float in his fishbowl if he were alive (or dead), not like he floated in the sky today (because that didn't happen).
I felt defeated today when my friend and I were unable to launch Freddy. We stood in the middle of the park seeing kites flying all around us and all we got were a few attempts when I ran completely across the field, only to have the kite be dragged across the grass. We even tried getting some help from a "professional" kite flier and well, he just broke Freddy's string hook. It was quite pathetic. And if this experience couldn't have gotten any worse, I was kneeling down to get something when I whacked my chin with Freddy's coffin (aka plastic storage container). My chin is visibly injured and quite sore. That's the last time I ever help fly a kite...well, until tomorrow!

It's finally here!!

SPRING BREAK! Thank goodness that it's here. It could not come soon enough! My kiddos were driving me INSANE! Trying to keep the class somewhat normal today was a lost cause. We even watched a movie this afternoon and I did not understand why they couldn't sit and watch the movie without causing problems. I know for a fact that many of them sit at home after school and wait for their parents while gluing their eyes to the TV. So, why can't they just watch a movie in class for an hour?

I counted down the minutes of today similar to the way I will count on the last day of school. 2:45 came a bit too slow for my liking. I thought I would get one thing ready for the Monday we return and I thought wrong. I was at the copy machine when my cell phone rang. It was one of my team mates warning me that I better walk out of the school right now or she would come drag me out. I was to meet them at a restaurant before I thought about touching one more thing. Of course I obeyed. She's my mentor and I'm supposed to listen to what she says. She's the one who fills out my paperwork discussing my progress and how I'm doing as a first year teacher. So I reminded myself that those papers and and everything else will still be sitting on my table in a week. HAPPY SPRING BREAK!

Back to work...

Today was a fairly uneventful day in 4th grade. It was our first, sort of, work day since we mentioned the word TAKS 2 weeks ago. The kids saw the morning note on the board that said, "Good morning! Your morning work is on the back table. You may quietly work with your group. Make your lunch choice," and immediately began their moaning and groaning. "We have to start working again?" I asked if they would prefer taking a test every day rather than working and that got an immediate "NO!!!!!" (Thank goodness! I don't think I could take another day of that for myself.)

Getting back to work did refresh my memory of how I have one kid makes me tense. I don't believe I've mentioned it before but I have one kid in my class that just stresses me out (and I'm not a stress-prone person). He tends to be absent quite a bit and is always tardy. I know it's bad, but I smile inside myself when he's absent and I smile at the thought of him being absent. It's not that I don't like the child, it's that I don't like how the rest of the class acts when he's there. This one kid changes the dynamic of my entire class and I don't like it. They forget how to behave and talk to each other appropriately when he's there. He is constantly narrating what others are doing wrong, but never evaluating his own actions. He stirs up trouble where there isn't any and creates arguing when it should only be talking. He tattles on others when he is not involved and tattles on his own situations, when he's the one to blame. Hypocrite!
I know this kid needs love and stability and while I try to supply that, it's hard when he's constantly at the root of problems. He could easily come in and do his work and take care of himself and worry about how his absences have affected him not learning the same things as everyone else, but he does not. He needs me. What I need is for him to be absent. I feel like I've made great progress with my class since their last teacher, but feel like we've regressed when he's in class.
It's hard...do I discipline and not supply the caring support that he needs because he's causing the class to change their behavior or do I ignore his behavior problems and just love him?
Either one of these options is difficult because once we make any progress, he's absent for no less than 2 days in a row.

I cannot answer that, do the best you can.

Today was our state standardized tests for 4th graders in writing (TAKS). The rules of this test are strict:

- The teacher is not allowed to do anything except watch the kids take the test (but not look at the test herself).
- The kids have to read or sleep when finished. They are not allowed to leave the room or talk.
- The teacher must carry around the tests at all times, from the time she receives them until the end of the day when testing is over.
- The teacher must not sleep!

This was my first time administering the test. I have only had experience as the test taker when I was in school. It's much different as the teacher than student. I hated these tests when I was in school, but after today, I would much rather take the test than be the administrator. After one hour, I was BORED OUT OF MY MIND. I am not a person that can just sit and not doing anything all day. I know there are things I can be doing, so I would rather be doing those things.

There are rules against looking at any kid's test and knowing what/how they did. There are specific lines we are allowed to say and we are NOT allowed to stray away from those lines. Too bad, I can't use the response in my classroom on a daily basis: "I cannot answer that, do the best you can." It's hard telling kids this when they truly seemed clueless to what they needed to do.

It's also hard when we've prepared for this test intensely for the past week and a half. We dedicated ALL of last week to Camp Write Along. We had camp shirts, a decorated classroom, camp songs, cabin awards, etc. We wrote, wrote, wrote all week. We talked about how the test would be and what to expect. I answered a gazillion questions regarding the test and making sure my kids were as prepared as I could make them. Then...today...the kid who was NOT at writing camp last week asked me a minimum of 30 questions. These ranged from, "What is a paragraph? What is a prompt? Where do I write? How much do we have to write? Can you spell something for me? Can I write about whatever I want?" I wanted to shout at the kid that if he had been at writing camp, he would know the answers to every one of these questions. Instead, I had to respond, "I cannot answer that, do the best you can."

Needless to say, it was quite frustrating. After all, I did become a teacher so that I could help children learn and leaving them to be eaten alive by a vicious standardized test today was hard. I know you have to regulate what kids are learning and making sure teachers are doing their jobs, but aren't there better ways besides locking down the school and making kids bubble and write their 4th grade life away (and every other grade above 3rd).

New Kid Tuesday

Maybe this is because of my lack of teaching experience, or because I just don't understand people, especially parents, but...
I don't know why parents move their kids with 8 weeks left in the school year. I mean, I'm not sure why parents move their kid to a new school the DAY BEFORE TAKS. That's actually the least of my worries...
The registrar knocks on my door to bring in a new kid. (She had warned me the day before that he would be coming.) He comes in, seems like a happy kid (which is a characteristic I like). A lot of my kiddos go up and shake his hand and introduce themselves. I told him that he wouldn't remember their names until he had heard them many times later, but my class was trying to be polite. (This is a HUGE HUGE HUGE step in the right direction!!!!!)
I got him situated and the rest of the class to work so I could figure out what we were going to do. We had a class meeting where the class wouldn't stop talking and asking David questions.
He seems like a good kid. He looks like a soccer player, so I ask him about that and tell him we are the kickball class. The class continues to talk about kickball and that I'm the best kickball player. (**SMILE**)
He automatically likes that I play kickball and one of their rewards is kickball, which is a great thing.
During specials, I find out that he wanted to request his class because he had a friend at this school. This friend is not such a good choice. He's been in trouble many times before...not good news.
As the day goes by, I have positive thoughts about this kid, but then.............
During car rider duty another teacher comes up to me, "So, I hear you have one of my previous students."
Me: "I do? Who?"
Teacher: "David. I just want to let you know what's up..."
She goes on to tell me how he was at the top of her list of concerns in many details. This got me thinking...At the end of the day, I can't decide if I wanted to know that he has had a bad past or if I wanted to think he was a good kid and then deal with it when he makes bad decisions.
Which is better...having previous information that will give you a preconceived idea or not knowing anything and dealing with things as they come?

DID I MENTION THAT I'M EXPECTING ANOTHER NEW KID (BOY) BY WEEK'S END??????

I love 4th grade!

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy teaching 4th grade? For starters, today we had a relaxing day (before TAKS) and so most kids were playing games, while others wanted to be my left and right hands (see previous post). Do you deny kids the right to help when they are trustworthy and truly offer help, not something you'll have to do over, I think not!
It was wonderful saying: Pick that up and take it over there! Can you clean that for me? Rearrange these! Make sure these are correct!
And so on while I sat in my chair like a dictator working on yearbook and having everything else done that I needed to, except, I didn't have to use my own hands. I know this couldn't have happened with 1st graders for sure. If this is the one reason I continue to teach 4th grade, is that a bad thing?

20 Questions

From Sophie and Coral:

1. Ms. Leining, do you like crafts?
2. Do you do crafts on the weekend?
3. What kinds of crafts do you like?
4. Would you rather do something yourself or with someone else?
5. Do you like things perfect?
6. Do you like crafts? (Yes, I know it's a repeat...I answered it twice.)
7. Are your shoes comfortable?
8. Why did you wear high heel type shoes on a rainy day?
9. Does Tiva bite?
10. Does Tiva ever get mad at you?
11. Can Tiva come visit us?
12. Do you know how cute Tiva is?
13. Do you need help with anything?
14. What can we do next?
15. Can we do that for you?
16. Do you need help with anything else?
17. What are you making?
18. Did you know we used that last year in 3rd grade?
19. Do we use that every year in EVERY grade?
20. What are we going to do now?

My feet are too big...

Amani: Can I try on your shoe and see if it fits?
Me: I guess if you really want to.
Amani puts the shoe on, the girls egg him on to make sure it's on all the way and he walks around in it shaking his hips showing it off. I mean supermodel hip shaking and even pulling up his pant leg to show it off.
Did I mention that these shoes were a type of high heel???

Same conversation...
Me: Do you iron your pants every day to get that crease?
Amani: No, my mom like 'em that way. She does it.
Me: Are the backs creased too?
Amani: No.
Sophie: YEAH they are!
Amani: Oh man, no way! Whatever, I just wear the pants.

Kickball Drama!

It was just another day of recess, except this time, we had a real game of kickball in action (on an actual field rather than the blacktop with children jump roping in the middle of the game). We had a dad playing on one team, while I played one inning on the other team. Our bases were make-shift (a kid's jacket, pile of existing dirt, water bottle, and the edge of the track) and sometimes hard to find, but everyone agreed. The teams were somewhat even (but of course my team had the advantage cause I was playing) and we were ready to go.

I took my turn kicking and because of the ridiculously strong wind, got out on a fly ball. I never get out. I always make at least a double play. I refused to embarrass myself anymore and lose the respect of my students, so I was done for the day. I would give it another chance on a less windy day. I was of course, the best kickball playing teacher. My kids brag about it, and I sort of do as well.

While "supervising" for the rest of the game, kids were having problems finding the bases. I would tell them where it was, but most of the time, they would get tagged out before they got near it. Here comes the drama...
One of the kids in my class is standing about 20 yards away from the water bottle base and has no idea he isn't even close. I yell, "Hey Brayden, the base is up there." He tries running towards it when another kid yells, "You're OUT!" Brayden immediately comes to me and says, "YOU RUINED MY RECESS!!!!!!!!!!!" And storms off crying.

Come on, did one silly out during kickball ruin the kid's entire recess? Probably not!

Exerpts from practice writing papers...

Prompt: Write about something special you've received.
-- Then it was St. Patrick's day and we had a small get together with friend and family the at 7pm my mom broke her water so we had to herry up and go to the hospital. My mom said that she has to have a sea sektion to get my brother out. So my dad had to wear this weird suit. so about 1 hour of waiting my dad finally got out and said, "He is out of the world."

Prompt: Write about a time you made a new friend.
-- We talk on the phone with each other. We stay on the phone for like 3 minutes.

Prompt: Write about a time you helped someone.
-- If I wake my mom up for a whole week, I get $10 every week. When I hit 10 weeks I'll be so excited I'll want to pee on myself but then my mom would whoop me.

Prompt: Write about a time you learned something new.
-- The time I learned something new is about my teacher! I found out sooooo many things about her. Her name is Ms. L. She's very, very, very cool. I found out that Ms. L. likes the longhorns, kids, and most of all being a teacher....
Ms. L made a class store for the class and she made a game where you put your tickets in a bag and she pulls out your name and you pick a prize. (also known as a raffle where I sucker them into giving me all their tickets for a prize so they can't spend them on other things)
Another thing I learned is that the reason she likes teaching is because she took a class about teaching and she likes kids.
(She did get extra points for writing about me of course!)

-- The intruder's aroma was the weirdest one I'd ever smelled. It smelled like a pit hole of wine. I thought, "Why'd I ever smell wine in the middle of the night?"
(I thought that too...especially a 4th grader! And what is a pit hole of wine?)

--Something new I have learned is how to make new friends. My mom would always say never be mean, give them alone time, tell them nice things. I always yelled "ok" and I always do that she told me to do. But sometimes I get to carried away here and I am too nice to a lot of people. Then they think since I'm so nice I'll give them whatever they want, but that doesn't happen. The easiest part to me of making friends is not getting mad very often. The hardest part is giving them compliments, especially if I have to. But to me, making friends is a piece of cake. Also, it's good to have good friends because if you lose some you can still have some, but it is so good to be nice to your friends so you won't have to lose them. But I will not ever lose my friends because I already have all their phone numbers and I bet if they get it changed, they'll call me and tell. Also, it's not good to lie to your best friends cause if you lie, they can't trust you anymore.
(Some wise advise!)

Tattling

I don't like tattling. Fourth graders should have figured out other ways to deal with each other without tattling by now...but no, they haven't. I'm not against teacher assistance in solving a problem, but that is completely different from, "Ms. L, she took my pencil." Just ask for the stupid pencil back! Now, if she's throwing it at your head...that's when you involve me.
So, to deal with the unnecessary tattling in my class, I started charging tickets for tattling. This is meant to have the kids think a bit before they tell me. And I love when the other kids say, "Ms. L, make sure they pay you 5 tickets for tattling!" OR "Ms. L, I tried talking to her, but she's not listening, so here's my 5 tickets.......She won't stop singing!!!"

The reasons I'm a teacher...

The kid who NEVER brings back his homework or anything else brought me a present for Valentine's Day (on time)!

Hearing kids brag about who their teacher is to their friends, which makes me an instant celebrity.

To hear a kid say, "Oh, I get it now!"

To get hugs, just because kids like to hug.

To have listeners for any story I want to tell.

To be a stable person in kids' lives.

To be involved in crazy school drama!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Valentine's

During our discussion today about tomorrow Valentine's Party...

Sasha: "Ms. L, do you know how to eat a chocolate rose?"
Me: "Why do you ask that? Why do I need to know how to do that?"
Sasha: "I'm just curious!"
--I received a chocolate rose for Valentine's...what a surprise that was!

Valerie: "Can I please tell you your Valentine's surprise?"
Me: "Why would you want to do that?"
Valerie: "Because I can't hold it in anymore."

I know why...

I was model writing a story when I was explaining that my dad said no to something and then demonstrated how I begged him PLLLLEEEAAASSSSSE!

Amani: "I know why he changed his mind...girls have that voice, that one you're doing right now, THAT voice!!! And dads just can't say no."

Couldn't stop laughing...still smiling when I think about it, because I know how right he was! At least he realizes it now so when he has daughters, he's aware!

Things Teachers Look Forward To...

...holiday parties.
...tests.
...parent conferences.
...working late (later than usual).
...principal drop-by observations.
...grading papers.
...field trip madness.
...lesson planning.
...spending your hard earned money on classroom stuff.
...receiving your pathetic paycheck ONCE A MONTH.
...staff development.

If you're a teacher, I hope this brings a smile to your face after you sense every bit of sarcasm that is included!

Ms. Jones

Why does it bother me so much to hear..."That's what Ms. Jones did!" OR "Ms. Jones tried that!"
I just want to shout, "Well, I'm not Ms. Jones and this is how I'm doing it. It will work this time!!!!!"
The teacher it didn't work for told the kids to shut up and harped on the negativity. She also refused to let a child use the bathroom, which resulted in her peeing herself.

After months of Ms. Jones rehab, it's nice to hear, "Who's Ms. Jones?"

Makes me smile!!

Don't...

...judge a kid by his/her handwriting...well, maybe sometimes!

...tell one kid a secret, the rest will find out.

...ask me how much longer recess is! You may get an extra 10 minutes if I don't look at my watch and realize we're late for the library.

...ask me a question after I've answered it 20 times already!

...ever feel bad for giving a consequence when a student makes a bad choice. They knew the rules and still made a bad decision. Hopefully, they'll learn from it and you'll never have to feel bad again.

...say you're going to do something and then forget to do it. You will be reminded 22 times that you forgot.

...forget to do something after you've said you'll do it TWICE!

...forget to use your teacher status for discounts. They come few and far between, but take advantage when you can!

...try teaching when holidays are approaching.

...ever ever try to do serious teaching the day of a holiday party!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Hoy...That's not today in Spanish, but how I feel after today...

Why do kids talk non-stop? Don't they talk at home? When I have kids, I will never tell my kids to stop talking, because if I do, I know they will just go to school and bother their teacher by talking all day.
But...being the teacher is so much fun on days like this...I am the teacher and can make them do whatever non-fun thing I want to get my point across (because I can't teach (or think) when they talk!)...like practice their multiplication facts repeatedly. I promise...they needed the practice and I was planning it all along!

A little laughter...another 4th grade teacher overheard two boys in her class talking...
"You're never supposed to tell a girl to shut up."
"And, you're never supposed to buy her a large when she's really a medium."

More from the Minds of First Graders

Flora: "Your first name is Katie? That's a cute name."

Flora: "Katie, I'm stuck in my chair, can you help me?"
(Remember that I'm her teacher and she has always called me Ms. L before this.)

Yasmine: "I don't like running. Can I do Kung-Fu instead?"

Cade: "I colored my goldfish and ate it...it was magic!"

Flora: "Are you a Cheetah girl?"
ME: "No, why would you ask that?"
Flora: "Because I was watching them on TV and you look like one of them."
(I guess that may be a compliment.)

ME: "What a cute haircut you got!"
Flora: "Yeah...my mom decided that I was going to get it cut so I wouldn't be late to school anymore. And you know what? Ever since I cut it, I haven't been late...AT ALL! I guess since I don't have hair to play with in the morning, I can't be late."

From the Minds of First Graders

Just a few of my favorites from student teaching!

During a class discussion...
ME: "Where do we get money from?"
Henry: "Trees!!"
ME: "So we just go pick it from the tree in our backyards?"
Henry: "YES!"

While I was sitting with the kids during lunch one day...
Lily: "How much fat are in those chips? I only eat healthy things."
Flora: "I don't know."
Anoush: "How many cavities are in those chips?"

At recess...
Mia: "Ms. L, you looked like a supermodel when you were walking towards us with the sun behind you and your sunglasses on?"
ME: "I guess I will have to walk with the sun behind me and wear my sunglasses ALL THE TIME!"