Deavah

They really were right!

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 03:38:00 GMT

Why do I think I should start keeping my journal again this year . . . ? At any rate, let me first apologize for the typos yesterday. I can only blame my exhaustion. Today's email may not be much better.

Let's see . . . today they were, of course, even more comfortable with me. They all want to talk to me at the same time about 31 different things, without raising their hands! They're out of their seats and all need my help. I gave them a quick glimpse into the classroom economy, telling them about their jobs and the "salaries" they'd be getting to spend at the Classroom Store. Well, they loved that. At any rate, we had to complete job applications for each job. They were to tell me what it is they thought they could do well for the classroom (whiteboard, plants, pencils, homework checker, table captain, etc.). Well, there were about five students who were able to complete the application on their own. Others were good attempts but definitely need some work. They did not use any of the information and resources I gave them in June, evidently! I will send out the survey to the parents about the packet just to see who was actually paying attention to it. There are quite a few students who could not get it together at all on the application . . . I have my work cut out for me for sure!

One girl said she wanted to be the bathroom monitor because "I flash the tolit." (Which would read: "I flush the toilet" if she could spell. However, I just thought that was cute and a great attempt.) A little boy didn't tell me which job he wanted. However, I have a question that reads: "Why do you want this job?" He answered, "I need to read book." Another question: "What jobs have you had in other classrooms?" His reply, "She read book to us." Yes, I will be working hard for my paycheck this year!

Another cute one was: "Do you know anyone who can tell me about what a great job you did in jobs you've had before?" Answer: Mommy! LOL! Another child wants to be my personal assistant. Question: Why do you think you'll be good at this job? Answer: Case I do it to my sistr and my mommy. (Because I do it to my sister and my mommy.) LOL! One has to wonder what she is actually doing to her sister and her mommy, huh?

At any rate, this morning, a mother comes to me and tells me how her daughter was crying yesterday. Yes, I know. I told her I tried to talk to her but she couldn't answer anything I asked, like, 'Why are you crying? How can I help you? What can I do for you?" Then she says how her daughter doesn't speak English. I told her I knew that, too. Well, the mom says, she only speaks Spanish. Really? Great! I mean, I've forgotten a lot, don’t get me wrong but I still remember a good bit, too. Before I get into the real story, let me just say that this little girl looks Asian of some sort. Not sure if she would be Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Korean, but definitely around there somewhere on the Pacific side. The mother has the same look. Sue me, I judged this book by the cover and thought the family was Asian, then with the name Feng . . . . well . . . So, today, little Fey Gunli starts the water works again. (SIGH!) So, I pull my chair over to her and I start talking to her in Spanish about the assignment. We were reading a book--First Day, Hooray! by Nancy Poydar--that talks about what different people do to get ready: custodian, principal, teachers, parents, students, bus drivers, etc. We had discussed it as a group, then I gave each group (six of them) a small half poster to write ideas on that we'd discussed detailing what these different people do to get ready for the first day of school. Some children had some great ideas. I mean, we had discussed it our first day and before we read today. FGF just sat there. I kept talking to her and she wasn't getting it, so I thought, "Hell, maybe I am rustier than I think I am!" I had another little girl who is fluent in Spanish talk to her but frankly, I think she may be Portuguese, which is another language entirely, but still, we tried. So, I am starting my pantomime--like I did with Klaudio from Albania that first year!--and she, too, laughed at me. Well, fine--as long as it's not crying. I can't stand the tears! So, the kids and I were all frustrated who were trying to help her, and the one little boy says, "She's Spanish? I thought she was Chinese." I said, "Yeah, me, too, but Mom says they speak Spanish." No one knew Chinese. The one girl asked, "What is that you kept speaking to her? Was that Chinese?" I told her no, it was Spanish. I don’t think she ever really got anything down but I did try.

This afternoon, FGF's grandmother comes to pick her up. Well, she looks like one of those nut-colored, weather-worn old Asian women you see in the market or that you see in movies. I ask Grandmom, does Fey speak Chinese or Spanish. Grandmom looks at me as I had lost MY mind. She says, "Chinese." So I just smiled. I mean . . . . what am I supposed to do with this? I looked at the information sheet I sent home to be filled out in case of emergencies. For a telephone number, the mother put "Puerto Rico." Excuse me? Am I reading this right? Then, she has what looks like Chinese characters at the bottom of the page where her signature should be, then it changes to a signature. So, I will talk to the mother again on Monday morning. Hopefully, she will be the one to drop her off again. Of course, I will be writing her up for IMMEDIATE ESOL assessment.

In other classroom news, Mr. Cool and Streetwise has asthma . . . no, pardon me, "asmia," according to his father who completed the information sheet. Great! So, anyway, he tells me how his chest is hurting, he has asthma and he forgot his pump--and he feels like he'll . . . I asked him what that meant. He said, "You know," then starts to do the sound/face thing again. I just gave him a look, trying to determine if I believe him or not because he'd been sitting down, talking and laughing with his table-mates just two minutes before he said he had these symptoms. He said, "For real!" when I wasn't immediately hauling him to the nurse. I told him, if he was really going to vomit, he could use the trashcan with the liner in it near the door because I wasn't in the mood to clean up vomit, thank you very much. I ask him how he could forget his pump if he had asthma. He said he doesn't know, he just did. I tell him, "You realize that having asthma but not taking your pump with you everywhere you go is a matter of life and death with every breath!" His eyes got wide and he just stared at me. I told him, I wasn't sure he really had asthma that badly if he hadn't thought to bring his pump with him.

So, this goes on for a bit, then I decide to take us to the bathroom. While we are at the bathroom, I figure I'll drop him at the nurse. Well, surprise, surprise, the nurse isn't there. I go to the office. The office tells me to check in the counselor's office. The counselor's office tells me to check back in the office to have the nurse paged. Well, good thing this boy isn't really having chest pains because he'd be SOL, wouldn't he? I told him, "See? There really doesn't seem too much for us to do for you here." Of course, he's still having the chest pains. He's feeling quite vomitous now. I told him to go down the hall to the trashcan that I see--because remember, I still have 30 other students who want/need to use the bathroom. So, he goes to the bathroom--I told him it might make him feel better. And, like a do-do bird, he falls for this. Like, Buddy, if you were truly having CHEST PAIN, taking a whiz or a dump certainly won't help you! At any rate, he comes out of the bathroom but doesn't say anything. I, of course, certainly don't want to bring it up. We get back to the room and he starts again. I ask him if there is anyone home. No. I ask him if there was anyone picking him up today with whom I can speak about this asthma of his. He thinks about it. I told him I'd have to call the office and tell someone to call home. He tells me, "I think I'm starting to feel better."

UGH! I am going to be bald from pulling my hair out all year long with this crew. I just know it! And, I don't think it'll be all the kids making me do it either. The parents are a little . . . OFF to say the least.

I sent home the information packet, as I said, and one parent answered the question "Is there any other information that you want to share with me?" this way: " tends to lose attention and sometimes is easily distracted." TENDS to? SOMETIMES easily DISTRACTED? HELLO? Reality check, Dad! Another response: "Yes,
is a very loving child. She sometimes needs a hug just to show her you care and she is sometimes a little chatterbox to (sic)." Really? Well, technically we're not allowed to touch the kids anymore-they actually have that written down somewhere now. And with this sudden tidal wave of women teachers being convicted of indecent behavior with their students, I am loathe to do it with this crew. I know not every class can be my first class but I am trying hard to like them all. Really! It would make my year so much easier if I did. Oh, and this "sometimes a little chatterbox" never SHUTS UP! From the time she comes in at the bell to the time she leaves, she is talking, talking, talking . . . TALKING! UGH! Another? "He can take regular food. When he do not have his lunch, Please give him from school Kosher!" Hello? You want a special Kosher lunch for a child on a moment's notice if he doesn't have his lunch? I'd make sure I sent his lunch every day, Mom. Another? "Please call parents before calling emergency contacts." Well . . . . No shit! DUH! Another? I like this one, though. Sounds as if she knows her child. " is adopted and he's a good child, but @ times he can be a pain in the neck with his ways." And, Lord have mercy, if she isn't so on the money with that one! Another one who comes in talking and won't keep quiet for a moment! Hell, not even long enough to take a breath! Another parent was short and sweet, saying only, "No, thank you." LOL! I thought that was funny as hell!

Oh, and those of you who remember from last year, she's back. Well, not officially. She missed yesterday and her entire family came down to tell us--all of them dressed as if they had just stepped off the plane from their summer vacation some place--that has strep throat (think she had it twice last year and missed many days) and won't be in for the first few days of school. Let the year begin! Her new second grade teacher will get all kinds of excuses, from lice to strep, to asthma to headaches to "Porta Rica." She is retainee from my class last year, going into Rolie Polie's room. Those two are meant for each other! They'll be comparing maladies every week. I think she may have learned a little in my room last year. Not sure what she'll learn in her new class. I feel for her but also I am glad I don't have to bend my life to that family anymore. There are new pressures in my life now, thank you very much.

So, that was day two. Nothing but fun and good times with this group, huh?

Mean and Nasty Strikes Again!

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:40:33 GMT

I had only 17 kids this morning. Today was our trip to the Keswick Theater to see Come Back, Amelia Bedelia! Well, because about half of my kids didn't pay or have a permission slip, I told the other teachers I'd stay behind rather than try to find classrooms for those kids or worse, cancel the trip. I think it's so unfair that the rest of the kids suffer when the other kids (and/or their parents) have neither the means nor the motivation to get sh*t done. Because the tickets were an advance purchase, they could not bring in the money today and expect to go.

Well, as a grade (and in our grade meeting weeks ago), we agreed that I'd do this and the other teachers seemed grateful that I was offering. I mean, I missed the last play because I was in PR. I actually did want to go but I felt bad because so many of my kids didn't go. Anyway, I get a call this morning from MA--the grade facilitator who is always so mean and nasty to the kids and actually tried to tell me that it wastes time to have children answering the phone. WITCH! So, she says that I was told about having so many children left behind before. I told her that not all the children were from my room but that enough were. I told her that we had discussed this weeks ago and that everyone was okay with it. So, then she says, "You didn't think you were getting a prep, did you?" Well, yes, I did. Why wouldn't I? So, because the entire second grade is gone, I don't get prep? They get to have pretty much all the freakin' day to chill out? I don't think so!

At any rate, Mrs. S, the assistant in my room, talked to the art teacher (the prep I have on Wednesdays) directly . . . let me say that again . . . DIRECTLY! . . . and she, Mrs. B (mean as her ass is) said that I could bring the children. I mean, WTF, MA? Again, going and putting her ass in sh*t that doesn't concern her! It makes me so angry I could just beat the crap out of her--repeatedly! She wanted to know if I had talked to Mrs. W. Why? It's been settled. There is no reason to call her into it if we've solved any potential issues. Moreover, as MC pointed out, even if we hadn't talked to Mrs. B directly, I should still get prep. That's just bullsh*t! Anyway, MA said she'd talk to the principal and get back to me. Of course, she didn't. ARGH!

If you remember, the week or so before, she kept calling the room but would hang up and leave my receptionist, M, looking bewildered and bemused. I’d have this expectant look on my face about who might be calling, and then he’d hang up the phone. He’d say, “She said she can’t take the kids answering the phone. She hung up.” This to me means that more than just A3 has that policy. So, after a couple of days and about six phone calls from her in that time, I finally get on the phone and tell her that she needs to understand that it is M’s job to answer the phone; that is how it’s done in my classroom. She said that it wastes time. I insisted that it doesn’t. She insisted just as much that it does. I told her that the waste of time was to keep hanging up on him and calling back when all she had to do was state who she was and he’d get me on the phone. Like, WTF! Why is she so damn unpleasant? At any rate, she kind of tried to dismiss what I was saying then stated her business. After that, I told her “Fine!” and I just hung up on her. Subsequent phone calls had the same result. I am NOT pleasant to her, I give her one-word answers, and then I hang up without even saying goodbye. Screw her!

I guess she realizes she’s not the only nasty bitch on the block and that she’d better very well be ready to take that bullsh*t if she’s going to be dishing it out because she's now a little more pleasant when she talks to me on the phone. However, it's just never that easy with me. I've still been a real nasty ass with her since her behavior with M—and just her attitude in general on any given issue that should arise. So, something positive has seemingly happened in her. Still, I feel as though I have to show her just how her ugly behavior is just so incredibly unattractive and uncalled for.

They're driving me bananas!

Sat, 07 May 2005 00:28:12 GMT

I’ve just about had it with my lovely second grade group. I’ve talked and talked and talked until I am blue in the face! They won’t shut the hell up! Because my fuse is short for patience, I thought it was just me. However, all the other teachers say they are experiencing the same phenomenon.

Is it the end of the year? Is it that Olympic Day is fast approaching? The gym teacher came up to me and told me how off the wall they were. Of course, I had to tell them how incredibly embarrassed I was. Especially since, it wasn’t just me but there were other teachers around who had to hear how my students didn’t know how to act. I was humiliated and mortified! Of course, I get quite dramatic as I tell the children this. I look and act thoroughly disgusted by their behavior.

Of course, I started giving out paper and they all looked at each other because they know what’s coming. They had to write letters of apology for their behavior in gym. They had to apologize to me for their behavior and how it represented me to another teacher. Then we did math all afternoon—three tests, and a booklet of math drills. I got that idea from another teacher. She makes them do the booklet when they’ve misbehaved. Well, I made my class do the entire booklet! Kept their asses calmed until it was time to go.

I tried to have them do a shared reading on the carpet with a big book but it got noisy and I told the ones who were still talking to go back to their seats. I told them that they could thank certain students for having to do more drill books come Monday. I was very tired of talking to them and I wasn’t going to put up with it anymore. I was going to turn into Viola Swamp and that was that! They weren’t very happy to hear that news but let them sweat! I am beyond worrying about that right now!

Twenty-eight days and counting!

Happy New Year!

Tue, 18 Jan 2005 22:45:16 GMT

I know it’s been excessively long since my last journal update. I’ve just been too busy, I guess. Procrastinating about so much more than just my journal.

Just to let you know, December was pretty much cool. The children loved the room change and seem to work so much better with it the way it is now. Of course, now I just keep thinking of all the little touches I want to do with the room. I was reading a website on Feng Shui for the classroom and even though I have already incorporated some things from the practice, I’d like to do a little more. I was trying to find some chimes that weren’t expensive but that’s like finding a needle in a haystack. The cheapest I found were at a dollar store but they looked like just that . . . dollar store chimes. Then I found some very nice ones for $30 but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy them . . . . at least, not at that moment. I am sure I’ll break down eventually and buy them but I just didn’t feel like it at the time and not only because I didn’t want to hear my friend tell me what a fool I was to be parting with yet more of my money for the sake of my new profession.

The site I read said to have chimes in a few places around the room. I figure two pair of chimes will be quite enough . . . I’ll see what I can do to make that happen one of these days. It also said to have a pebble garden or something to that effect for element of the earth. Also, having live things in the room just created a feeling of peace and vitality. I agree. So, I’ve got that covered with the plants. The chimes will come. I am also supposed to get posters of movement. That’s supposed to stimulate the brain or something. Yeah, as cocky as it may sound, I do agree with some of the tenants of this practice and figure it can’t hurt to have these elements incorporated into my room.

Oh, I am also looking for a nice, low coffee table so the games center can have their little section on the floor but have somewhere to lean. I figure they can use pillows just to chill on if they want or seat on the carpet. Make it look like a real little library over there in that corner.

Alright, that’s about it for that . . . .

I did have students in a single row because these children couldn’t handle being in a group. But then, I figured, new year, I’d give them a chance. Well, three days back into the school year and I had to put them back where they were. OY! So, I get a note from a mom of one of these kids—the one whose father hates black people—and he has to be moved to a group because he can’t see. Alright, fine. So, today I made the move. But, I told the little boy and his mother that if I find myself talking to him too often, he’d just have to go back to the other arrangement and we’d have to make arrangements for him to copy his board-work at a separate time when he wouldn’t be so distracted. I mean, it’s constant with this kid!

Then I had to tell the mom that we wrote about Dr. King on Thursday. While my aid read the book, the children stayed in their seats and took notes from the book. So, their notes, were basically their writings and then they were to rewrite them legibly and then do a final copy on nice paper so that I can post it in the hall. I figure this is good for the month of February if I don’t take it down before then. I am sure I will but you know . . . . In any case, Friday, the children were able to edit their work, after a conference with me or my aid. We made some corrections but spellings and words that I put on the board or put on their word lists I made them go back and change themselves. They need to get to a point where they can self edit. At any rate, this kid had three sentences! THREE SENTENCES! The lowest child in my room, reading at a beginning first grade level (E) wrote two paragraphs and actually had some great ideas and facts for her biography of Dr. King. This borderline ADD kid (yeah, I am convinced that’s his problem) reads at a third grade level (N). HELLO?! I just had to tell his mother that today when she came to pick him up. I mean, don’t make it seem that I am riding him hard when he is part of the problem here.

Is it me? Just tell me; is it me?!

Maroon 5

Tue, 30 Nov 2004 01:39:23 GMT

Alright, I usually play music in the room. I can’t stand that it’s so quiet sometimes. And I know it’s a residual from being in an office, where I was allowed to listen to music while I worked. It’s been researched that music makes people more productive. I was playing the classics like Mrs. J used to but the children asked me why I was doing that. I told them that experts said that it helped children think and work better. The one girl said, “Ms. S, it’s not working.” Is that the most hilarious thing you’ve ever heard? These children really do not care what they say . . . well, I shouldn’t say that. I’ll just say that they are brutally honest without even realizing it.

So, today was the first day after our holiday break. We had four luxurious days in which I had to finish report cards and my university work. Fun! Fun! Fun! As we were starting to copy homework, I turned on the CD player. I allow the children to usually choose the music we hear since I have a small collection in the listening center. I bring in the CDs for the Rhythm and Rhyme lesson (analyzing songs and interpreting what the singer/songwriter meant) and often forget them. But I do have some that I definitely keep there, like the world music. So many of their cultures are represented on this one CD. It has Arabic music, Chinese music, Latin music, African music. You get the drift.

Well, today, I wanted to play MY music. I hadn’t heard the Maroon 5 CD in over a week! I brought it home to play but I totally forgot until this morning when I was listening to it before the kids came in. Since that was the one in there and I love the CD so much, I just hit play as I let the children copy homework. Well, we’re listening to the songs and I am about to write the third homework item on the board, the room is pretty much quiet, and it seemed as if the entire class just broke out on the chorus of “This Love.” All of a sudden, I just heard:

This love has taken its toll on me; she said goodbye too many times before. Her heart is breaking in front of me and I have no choice ‘cuz I won’t say goodbye anymore. Whoah . . . .

My intern and I, Ms. D, were just incredibly tickled! I looked over at her and asked, “Hmmm, think I play this CD a little too much?” The children assured me that they liked the music and that I should turn it up. I mean, is that so funny or what?!

Just thought I’d share. It was nice to come back to work to that rather than sour faces and attitudes.

“My dad hates black people!”

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 03:33:51 GMT

So, how does one even address this pronouncement? I was in class today, reading a picture book about Sacagawea and discussing how Captain Clark’s slave York was the first Black man that many of the Native Americans on their trip had seen. Well, the little boy who is given to classroom outbursts, blurted out, “My dad hates Black people!” I am sure the look on my face was one of dazed confusion. Moreover, the total silence in the room after this proclamation must have made him feel as if he had to defend himself because he quickly added, “I don’t know why he doesn’t like Black people. I like Black people.” Well, after that first outburst, it’s pretty hard to recover from the aftershocks.

I had just had a conversation in my EL (English Linguistics) class last night about how African-American parents can sometimes defer to White teachers simply because they are White. These parents feel that White teachers receive a better education and therefore are better equipped to educate their child. Let’s not mention that a Black teacher may have eons more experience than their paler counterparts. However, I’ve been told on many occasions by African-American teachers about this phenomenon. Luckily, I’ve not encountered it myself (yet). Nevertheless, I don’t believe it’s because they feel that I may be just as educated as a White teacher but more because these parents can’t figure out what nationality I am. I’ve discussed before in my journals how the students have asked me if I am White or Black or Hispanic or whatever. I am generally amused by the question. However, I am often taken off-guard when a Black person asks me because I feel that they should “know better.” The same goes when a Hispanic person asks me if I am Latina. Presumptuous, perhaps; however, my immediate reaction is often, “Are you seriously asking me that question?”

So, in EL class I could see the surprised looks on the faces of my peers. I think they, too, had some questions about my nationality. Keep in mind that I am the only African-American student in that class. Sometimes I hate having to be “the Black voice” in class—especially since I’ve not had the experiences to be “THE Black voice.” I can only discuss my experience as I’ve lived it.

Because of the area I’d chosen for my career—a very culturally diverse but mostly White neighborhood in the Northeast—I made special pains to write my welcome letter to parents and students. In that letter, I made sure to be as eloquent as possible while also mentioning my degrees and the institutions that granted them to me. When I wrote the letter initially, I told myself I was adding that bit of information more because this is my first year teaching solo in a classroom, without a partner teacher. I was a Literacy Intern for three years and it was now time to spread those wings and see if I could indeed fly. However, when that conversation came up last night in EL class, I had to ask myself if there was some underlying, subconscious reason for making sure my educational background was written in the letter. Realistically, I guess I was just killing two birds with the one stone. I was letting parents know, I am qualified to teach your child. There is no need to question me about every little thing. Which is what I feared would happen if they found out that I was a first-year teacher.

At any rate, after the little boy blurted out his father’s position on racial issues on the Black standpoint, I didn’t know what to do. Do I just overlook the comment? Do I talk to the little boy about it? Do I tell the kid that I am sure his father isn’t a racist, certainly that can’t be so . . . can it? Besides, I had about 26 shocked and amazed faces in front of me. Much to my amazement, the students’ reactions varied but were still quite vehement in whatever they expressed. “How can you say that?” “My sister is Black.” “My father doesn’t like Black people because they steal.” “My grandmother doesn’t like Black people because they have guns.” “What’s wrong with Black people?” “My mom says Black people smell funny.” I was quite flabbergasted that the comments seemed overwhelmingly negative toward African-Americans. It would have been so interesting to talk to each one of the students about the comments being thrown out on the carpet but I truly didn’t feel it was the time or place. Already, poor Sacagawea’s story was being dismissed because of this unplanned outburst. And, let’s not mention how the Black students in my class may have been feeling. I mean, if I felt lambasted, certainly they must be feeling “some type of way.”

I had to decide if I was “the teacher” who is supposed to be objective and just a guide for their young minds or the African-American person reacting to this propaganda. I decided for the former, simply because my mind wasn’t prepared to handle that at the moment. I so wanted to ask him, “Do you realize I am Black?” Out of the mouths of babes, alright, but . . . . Surely, he’d have to know that a comment so bold, aggressive, and controversial would be met with disdain and disapproval. I’ve talked to this child’s mother several times about her son’s outbursts. Yes, this is the child whose mother wanted to know why there was “such an enormous amount of homework.” He’s often made inappropriate comments in the room but none so contentious. Again, I have to question myself: do I talk to the mom? the dad? the child? WHO? WHAT?! Who the hell is to know?

While this all happened in just a few short moments—three minutes at the most—it seemed like it took forever to have those myriad thoughts ricochet through my mind. Finally, I asked the boy, “Why does your father hate Black people?” He said that he didn’t know. I gave him an assignment, “Go ask your father why he made that statement. Ask him why he hates Black people. I’d be interested to know the answer.”

Of course, I’ve noticed that this father is one parent who stays in the back of the line in the mornings. He doesn’t really speak to me too much—whereas all the other parents seem to want to be the teachers’ best friend. I mean, treat the teacher well, they’ll treat your child well. I understand the logic; don’t get me wrong. I’d probably do the same thing. However, not this parent. He made a comment about me sending a virus to his home computer. Being the computer geekette that I am, I was totally mortified. The man may as well have told me I gave him the AIDS virus, I was so upset. I ran home and checked my computer, ran virus checks and then asked other parents who had received email from me as this family did and no one reported anything amiss. He assured me that he had virus protection on his computer also and still I managed to infiltrate his system. Once I checked my computer and consulted with others who had received the same email from me and been told they had not been affected at all, I went back to this father (a couple of days at most) and told him that he needed to check another source because I didn’t believe the virus came from me. He made me feel like such an ass—on top of the aloofness I’d felt from him since the beginning of the year—that I am sure I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. However, he did say that he had spoken more to his wife about what happened and it seems that the computer is just old and shut down. I was not to blame for the obvious malfunction. Hoo-freakin’-ray!

So, to make the story even more out there, I discussed the issue with some of my coworkers. I had to ask how they would have handled it and what should I have done, if anything. One (White) teacher said that she would have just told the boy to “shhh!” and moved on. Another assured me that I did the right thing, to briefly address the comment but to not make a big deal out of it. Then it comes out that this child’s family has a Confederate flag hanging outside of their house. One teacher’s intern told me that. Then my aid told me that—in separate discussions—so I am thinking that there must be some kind of truth to the “rumor.” Still, I am thinking that if the father truly hated Black folks, he would have asked that his child be removed from my room, right? Even if he didn’t think I was Black, he certainly can tell I am not White. Someone waving the confederate flag is usually against all non-Caucasian ethnicities, right?

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I am dreading going in there. I am sure that the parents will either be incredibly mortified and feel they have to address the issue with me or they will be so embarrassed they won’t say anything. I can just imagine this kid going home saying, “Dad, my teacher wants to know why you hate Black people.” Can you just picture this scene at the dinner table? Of course, he’d have to ask why I would ask such a question. I wonder if the child will tell him, “Because I had another outburst and said that you hated Black people. She just wants to know why.”

EEK!

The Field Trip

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 03:15:57 GMT

Yes, I’ve been remiss, I know. The field trip was last month and I haven’t gotten a chance to write yet. Yeah, yeah, so busy, busy, busy. Needless to say—well, not so needless—the trip went off without too much of a hitch. I had some parents show up the day of the trip wanting to go which was rather rude of them, I thought. There was the father of the little girl who’s been vying for my attention since the beginning of the school year when his daughter cajoled him into coming to visit her class. He’s been to the school a few times—telling me it’s his daughter who is insisting he visit but am I stupid? In any case, I had seven parents show up, which turned out to be very good. I was able to divide my class so much that I had only two students with me—although, I could have given one of those away and had my hands full with the Albanian student. He was excited about every little thing! He was so loud! My goodness! But how could you not be enthusiastic about his zest for everything at the Academy of Natural Science?

Well, the parents were scattered around the Academy but the interested father stayed close by practically the entire day. He even tried to save me a seat on the bus. All the other parents drove in a different bus because there weren’t too many seats available on the bus I was on with my class. He insisted on riding with us and the other class. Then on the way back, this father tried to save a seat for me next to him and his daughter—sweetest, tiniest little girl, by the way. Just looking at her, you’d think she was in Kindergarten, such a teensy little thing. At any rate, it would have been a tight fit to be sure and I totally didn’t let that happen. There was another parent—Hispanic—saying, “Sit with us; sit with us!” She wanted me to sit across the aisle from her and her son. I mean, it’s nice to feel so popular but geez!

I shared my concerns with the other second grade teacher, Ms. C—she’s a little younger than I am but pretty much in that same age demographic, so I figured she’d understand the dilemma. After the day was over, she said she noticed what I meant about thinking the dad was coming on to me. I mean, I was sure he was trying to flirt and make a pass but then I figured he is Latino. I could just be reading him wrong, you know? They do seem to put the come on on without even realizing it sometimes. Ms. C assured me that she felt the vibe, too. Luckily, he hasn’t been as forward as the first dad to put the make on. That would definitely be uncomfortable. Although, at the Academy he made sure we were seated together during lunch and then talked about how old he was and blah, blah, blah. I don’t know if he’s married to the mom or not—I am thinking not. I mean, would he be so obvious? I am sure he’ll want to go on the next trip . . . . Oye mi grito!

At any rate, during the trip, one student walked away from a parent. I had my doubts about that pairing when the little asked me to be in this parent’s group. The parent assured me that it would be fine. I should have trusted my instincts and said no. I mean, I know how this little girl is. However, you know how kids are when they’re comfortable with you. You think they’ll act a little differently with someone new, trying to be impressive. That Eddie Haskell syndrome. Well, this child walked away from the parent. I asked the parent where she was when she came into the theater at the Academy; they were showing a film about Lewis and Clark. The parent looked at me and said, “She’s not in here with you?” I told her that she wasn’t. She panicked and went looking for the child and couldn’t find her. I told them to stay in the place and I went and looked for the girl. Still couldn’t find her. Then finally, she reappeared.

Of course, I read her the riot act. Then I asked her, “I guess you know what this means, right?” She didn’t answer but her look told me that she knew exactly what I meant. I wrote a very fiery note—as fiery as you can be with parents—to her mother. I told the mom that we’d have to seriously discuss if her child would be able to attend another trip with me. I wrote about the dangers of her child just walking away from the group. She put herself in jeopardy, the parent, and me. Luckily, this parent understands her child and what a handful she can be. She agreed with me—which wouldn’t have been a problem because I don’t care. I am not taking her with me—unless Mom or Dad wants to go to keep an eye on her.

So, a few days later I sent home thank you notes to the parents who came. I wanted to send them in the mail to the home address because I thought that would just be nicer, more personal for the parents. However, I didn’t have stamps and then it got further away from being a nice gesture and blah, blah, blah, so I eventually decided to send the notes home with the children. With the one family, I knew that they didn’t have a firm grasp of English so I attempted to write my thank you note in Spanish. Yes, my Spanish is very rusty after not having used it regularly. However, I pulled out my dictionary for the tough translations.

I told the little girl to tell her dad that I tried to write my thank you in Spanish but that I apologized in advance for any errors. The children are always saying to me, “I can only try my best, right? That’s all you can expect.” I mean, who was their first grade teacher?! LOL! I think that’s just so amusing. So sophisticated and mature these children up here . . .

I just hope I don’t have a second year like I did at the first school where I interned. I mean, I was put through the ringer that second year—the first year giving me a total false sense of the classroom in terms of the students. I mean, the first group was chatty but they were all pretty good kids and didn’t need too much discipline. KNOCK WOOD!

PT—yes, the Classroom Captain—said she’d tell her father. The next day, her dad approached me in the schoolyard and stretched out his hand. I thought it was very strange at first because I see him every day in the school yard and we wave to each other, he came to Back-to-School Night, he was on the trip . . . Literally, I see this man more than I see my mother! So, when he stretched out his hand, I thought, oh no . . . what’d I do? He had a smile on his face and he kind of did that two handed shake where his hand enveloped mine and made a sandwich of my hand. He thanked me for the thank you note. So, I took the gesture as his appreciation that I’d taken the time to try to communicate in his native language rather than trying to force him to communicate in mine.

It was just so curious; he was evidently grateful that I’d written the note in Spanish and told me in a thick accent, “Your Spanish is very good.” I asked him if he were able to understand the note alright—that was my worst fear, that’d I’d sound illiterate. I don’t want to be that in any language! But I, apparently, did a good job. He told me, “Hardly any errors at all! It is very good!” All the while, he had my hand. I was very pleased that he was very pleased. It’s all about that parent/teacher connection, right?

The gifts!

Fri, 22 Oct 2004 23:25:12 GMT

Earlier this week, a friend was able to procure four slightly outdated computers for me. Free? I’ll take them! Besides, the children need just the basics where the computer is concerned. Most of them have access to computers at home so it wasn’t a huge deal but they did like the idea of having the computers in the room. I think they realize that they are a lucky class to have that many computers. My friend, KAB, cajoled the powers that be and told me Monday night that they were mine. After much hemming and hawing, I got my butt down there before minds could be changed. They were set up in the class Tuesday!

The next couple of days, I had teachers come by saying they just wanted to see the new computers. I assured them they were castoffs but that I was grateful and lucky to have them. They wanted to know how I could possibly have gotten four great computers that fast. I told them that I had a long history of begging and my friends and family were more concerned about shutting me up than hearing me for the next century complain about the lack of this or that for my students. Of course, they said if I could get my hands on more, they’d gladly accept them. Yeah, sure. But I told them I put the hard beg on for myself, I wasn’t making any promises for anyone else. I mean, let’s be real about things, you know?

So, why--after the very bountiful computer gift--did Tony come up to the school today finally to deliver my refrigerator? One teacher, MC, was out in the schoolyard ready to go home when he came and actually came back into the building to see what it was I was getting. They (the teachers in my hallway) all came out "en masse" to see the delivery. "What are you getting now?!" Hmmm, do I feel some "hatin'" comin’ on? I mean, why am I singled out when the other teachers have all this crap, too? Granted, they don't have the computers but the fridge and microwave are practically a given in all the classrooms. Why should I be any different? Yes, the microwave will probably happen this weekend--I mean, it is getting cold and I will tend to have warm lunches now in the winter. And, I’ll need warm water for my hot chocolate or tea. Guess I can get rid of the cooler Mrs. F so graciously let me borrow.

However, the funny thing is, I didn't even recognize Tony at first. I was thinking, "Wow, that dad looks like my brother." I was trying to find the child who would look like us. Then he actually waved his hand and smiled at me and it was like, "OH, SNAP! That's TONY!" You know how it is when you don't expect to see someone somewhere and they just show up, it takes your brain a minute to process. So, he came in and told me to let it sit for a bit, because the fridge was on his truck for three days and he wanted all the oils to settle or something . . . I have no clue what that means but it ain't like I was trying to set that up at 3:15 on a Friday afternoon. I figure I'll un-box the thing Monday and plug it in (he said it should be alright by then) and then I can start loading that puppy on Tuesday. Just think if he had delivered my TV and stuff. They'd have had a true cow! And, yes, I am still bucking for the audio/visual hookup. I want all the comforts of home. I had the one teacher say, “Soon, we won’t even have to go home.” Guess I shouldn’t’ mention my intent to get some kind of bench/cot/bed thing happening in there. I could put it in the cloakroom or something. It’s for those days when one of the kids are feeling bad but the nurse—and we already know about her sorry ass—can’t or won’t take them so they can lay down. I can set it up as a bench any other time, with a nice pad or get one of those chairs that fold out to a little single bed. You’ve seen them . . . . You really do need to be as comfortable as you can in these rooms. Make it so the children (and you) want to be there.

At any rate, the teachers all said, "Wow! You have a really nice family!" As I said, I told them that my family just wanted to shut me up rather than hear me bitch. And, yes, I am quite okay with that!

As I was leaving the building, feeling quite high about my new fridge, I ran into a teacher who asked about a student coming from second grade to first grade. I assumed that it was my KG who certainly did not belong in second grade. I just had a meeting with his father and the resource teacher, Mrs. L. We convinced Dad that it was in his son’s best interest to repeat first grade now than try to sit in the second grade room all year and never catch up. Because, even in the resource room, he is doing first grade work and “just getting it” but feeling much more confident. At any rate, I told the teacher who stopped me that KG was definitely a character and the new teacher would at least be entertained. I assured the dad, though, that when his son was ready, I’d certainly accept KG back into my room. Next year, if he requested me as KG’s teacher—to give some level of comfort and confidence—I am sure they’d honor the request. So, the word is not official but I am sure that it will probably happen within the next week. That will bring me down to 28 students. I should get rid of CP (who really needs Special Ed) and CS (who should also return to first grade). One child said she’s moving. One student already moved. Slowly but surely, I will make myself a 22-student classroom, damn it! LOL!

One of my grade partners did something today. She called me up to ask me if my aide could run some copies off for her. Hello?! I mean, that's being rather bold, don't you think? I mean, it wasn't asking her to come watch the kids while she went to the bathroom or anything. It was doing something for her. Well, no, I am sorry, but she's checking my homework and then she works with my ESL child and she helps me run Centers. She’s working down here. You can't be serious, can you? Apparently, she was. NOT! Of course, I never even asked my aide to do it. I am sure she would have but that's not even right. Is it? I used to hate when other teachers would call to ask me to do something because I was "just the intern." As if I wasn’t doing anything. Would you ask a teacher to “go run some copies?” Hell, no! Hello! I hope that she won't do that again because that puts me in a very awkward position. I wonder if she asked any of the other teachers and, if she didn’t, did she think she would get over because I was new? Again, I think that was a bit over the line. But that’s just me. I wouldn’t even think to ask teachers to ask their aide to do something for me.

Alright, I think that’s enough for now . . . .

Reptiles and Grammar

Sun, 17 Oct 2004 14:35:59 GMT

I went to buy things on reptiles yesterday. Our trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences is fast approaching and I don't want us to sound like scrubs when we have our special lesson. Mrs. R gave me the choice of dinosaurs or reptiles. I thought reptiles would be the easier of the two. Well, turns out I should have chosen the former topic because there was a plethora of information on that. Not too many books on reptiles. I did get some, of course, but none that broke it down specifically. I did get one on snakes but the kids all seemed to like the turtles so much that I wanted to get a book on that. I'd seen a book at Borders a while back on Galápagos tortoises. Of course, I couldn't find that one at Barnes and Noble. They were having 25% off this week, too! Darn!

At any rate, I am attempting my first week of centers and guided reading. I am way behind! So, last night in bed I had to create my reading groups and my center groups; both are different. The reading groups were fairly easy since I had to go by their reading levels. However, it made me realize that there are two people I should test because I don't have a true reading on them. The levels look entirely too low for what I know their reading to be. And, since these levels were taken in June, it's entirely possible and highly probable that those levels have changed. So, for now I just put them in the group in which I think they belong and I'll test them later. They are awesome readers and writers so I know those levels are bogus.

The center groups are different because they are cooperative groups. I was completely flummoxed. If I had had Mrs. J's phone number handy, I would have called her to ask how she did it. The groups she put the children in seemed to work so well. There must be some kind of formula. Of course, you have to make sure there is at least one person in the group who can read the directions and lead the group. Then you have to make sure that that person isn't so put upon by the challenged learners that they aren't learning anything themselves but doing more teaching. I hate when my professors do that to me so I didn't want to do it to another student. Then, of course, you have to think of the personalities in the group so that there isn't every minute, "Ms. S, So-and-So did this!" So, at first I just went down the list, writing numbers to seven (so all the ones were in a group and all the twos were in a group, etc.) and tried it that way but it didn't work. I had an all-girl group and then one of the groups turned out to be all challenged students. A no-no even I recognize. So, then I made my seven groups again and started out with all the advanced children, one in each group. Then I had to go back and write in the at-level children. So, this should totally fill in that multi-level, cooperative peer grouping. Then I had to be aware of the boy:girl ratio. So, There are seven groups with two boys and two girls each. Except, one has an extra girl because I have 29 students now, not 30. I'll have to come up with seven centers every two weeks! YIKES! I don't know that I'd be doing centers every day. I may just do them Wednesday-Friday. And then leave time for actual lessons and whatnot. Because it's really time consuming.

Oh, and I've decided that I will ask for the little books again and have the children write notes on grammar. Like, the definitions for the different parts of speech and whatnot. That way, I can have them writing the notes and then tell them to go home and study them. That way when the test comes, they can't say they didn't go over the material with me and don't know what I am talking about. I will check to see if they have the books in the back for it because I think a larger notebook would be better--some of the kids have huge handwriting! But then the notes shouldn't be that extensive . . . . we'll see. I'll figure it out by tomorrow because we certainly will be doing that. I don't want the next teacher to say, "What did Ms. S do with you? You don't know anything!" And I certainly don't want the parents to think I am a slacker. I have this fear that they will smell my "newness" and think I don't know what I am doing. And, sure, there are times when I don't know what the hell I am doing but at the same time, I am following the book. The book and curriculum tell us we have to teach this certain concept and I think, "Wow, did I learn that in second grade? I don't think so but I must have learned it somewhere along the way. I guess I did learn it in second grade." My friend and I were both commenting about that yesterday. Some of this stuff she thinks she didn't get until fourth grade! So, I don't know. The concepts don’t necessarily seem that difficult for them, mind you. They just seem sophisticated to me: parts of speech, the four rules for syllables. At one point I must have known there were rules but by now it's just . . . syllables! What is there to know? Clap on the beat/stress and be done with it. And the way they write some of the rules is like, HUH?! "Whadchu say?"

I gave them a test on different types of sentences. We just learned three of them: command, exclamatory, and declarative. I added the declarative in myself because when we were doing the lessons in class the students kept telling me that the command sentences were command sentences because they had periods at the end. Of course, the reason the command sentence is a command sentence is because it tells someone what to do. We went over and over that. Still, they failed the test I gave them. I thought we had worked on it "all week" but in retrospect, when I thought about it, they only had two days to work with the material. So, I told them (and the parents) that this test wouldn't count because I certainly hadn't given them enough time--especially since the scores weren't that great. The lowest score was a 13! Then again, the highest score was a 98. It would have been 100 but the little girl forgot to put the comma in the sentence. My friend said I should have given it to her but I don't look at the names when I grade (until after) so that I can be fair across the board. I can't give DG full credit when the answer is not fully there if I don't give that same credit to EW, even though I know she's 100% there and paying attention. It’s not fair.

My reasoning for some of the testing I'll be giving is that the Terra Nova is coming. In first grade, I don't think the test is necessarily scored for permanent record but in the second grade the test "counts." The way they word some of the questions is just horrible. I figure, I have until March to get the children comfortable with the way some of the questions will be worded because you know you can't say "boo!" to them if it's not in the Terra Nova script. So, the test was just to identify the different types of sentences by using C (command), D (declarative), E (exclamatory). I have those directions at the top. Most were alright with that. However, when we talk about declarative sentences they call it a "destructive sentence" or "The D-one." Then, there was "at least three of the sentences above can be written a different way. Rewrite the sentence using the new and correct punctuation." We had gone over that the day before the test and just before I gave out the test. They knew it! But, they bombed it! Then they had to correct five sentences by rewriting them using the correct capitalization and punctuation. The one sentence was: the lady dropped her bag (no period) One student wrote: the lady dropped her bag on the floor (no period) HELLO! Again, I went over that. Ouch. I hurt my toe? I would have accepted a couple of variations on this one. Ouch, I hurt my toe! or Ouch! I hurt my toe! or Ouch! I hurt my toe. The one student wrote: Ouch, I hurt myself! Clever but not what I was looking for. Oh, and the most insulting was the fill in the blank section. They had to use their spelling words. I didn't create a word bank because I honestly didn't think they needed it with the simple sentences I wrote. Sam's dog (blanked) at the neighbor. One of their spelling words was barked. Alright, fine. When one of the smarter children was having a problem, I told them I'd create the word bank on the board. So, I did: barked, checked, same, picked, finished. I got Sam's dog picked at the neighbor. Ms. S finished our homework. While grammatically correct, was it right? They are supposed to choose the most logical and reasonable answer. Again, I went over this. Finally, they were supposed to make a list of -ame and -ake words, five each in the spaces provided. Most of those were alright. But there were some doozies on that, too (slam and wamed). The most hurtful part of that was, I have a list of -ame and -ake words hanging in the room that we created together as a group. Some of the students even pointed it out to me. HELLO! But again, I will make sure to give them more time. I guess it just seemed like a long week to me when it was not. Yes, they talk about dog years, they should talk about teacher years.

I don't know. It's all so much to take in. And, I have to remember that if I feel overwhelmed and I'm supposed to KNOW this stuff, then the children are feeling overwhelmed, too. I will do my best to remember that in the future.

Prince in the Classroom

Sat, 16 Oct 2004 03:23:50 GMT

Alright. I admit it. I couldn’t wait to be able to do some things in the classroom that may or may not have gone over with my partner teachers. I understand some reticence, of course, but sometimes you just don’t know how your ideas will be received and if you’re just being self-indulgent. I confess I think this was a bit of the latter for me. Not that Prince has very many songs that can be used in a classroom, mind you. Still, I found at least one so far. I will be combing my catalog again to see what else I have. Which reminds me, I can’t seem to find my Sign O’ the Times CD set and that’s disturbing.

At any rate, I printed the lyrics to Paisley Park, from the Around the World in a Day set from 1985. I guess I used it today because I had a dream the other night that Prince said to me, “Are you really comfortable at that weight?” I mean, if that ain’t a sign that I need to take Weight Watchers’ more seriously, I don’t know what is! LOL!

I asked the children if they remembered me showing them the program from the concert I went to earlier this year. They didn’t remember. I cajoled their memories and said, “he’s the guy that I liked! The musician?” So, the girls all remembered and started giggling. The boys all remembered and started making these “yuck” noises. I told them it didn’t matter, I still loved Prince and I was happy I had the opportunity to share my favorite artist with them. I also told them that the song came out a very long time ago but that I thought they’d like it. I gave out the lyrics and we read it as a group, each child taking a turn reading a stanza. We discussed the lyrics and what Prince might have meant by some of them. This falls under the curriculum as interpreting and analyzing literature (1.3 B, C, D, and E). So, that was cool.

The comments I received about some of lyrics were funny. We talked about what we expected to hear about in this song. What did the title imply to us? What things do we usually expect to see at a park? Why did Prince call it Paisley Park? I had to explain to them that paisley was a type of pattern. Hmmm . . . Maybe I’ll find a paisley and we can draw them and put them up on our student work board. Yeah . . . . that would be nice. Then we move our discussion to the lyrics, reading them (no music yet). They told me about the colorful people. The people liked to smile a lot. The people were peaceful. They weren’t going anywhere. The girl was playing on the seesaw and was having fun. I asked them where Paisley Park was and they said it was in your heart. I asked them what it meant if something was in your heart. They had some vague ideas and we discussed that. I asked them why they thought Paisley Park was in their hearts. And they told me that the girl just wanted to go someplace fun. We talked about the “there aren’t any rules in Paisley Park” line and I asked them what they thought of that. They liked that, of course. I told them that Paisley Park obviously was not in classroom A-3 because we certainly had rules in our room!

The lyrics about the woman sitting all alone by the pier crying because her husband was naughty. We discussed the word naughty and I asked them why they thought she was crying. I got some really interesting answers. They thought he might have just left her. He may have died. He may have gotten lost. The one little French Creole girl WL said, “Maybe she’s said because he left her to be with another girl.” WHAT?! Wow! I mean, is this little girl talking from experience or what?! So sophisticated at eight years old! My goodness! All the other children had the same reaction I did. Like, did she really just say that?! We did discuss the line about forgiveness and being able to come to Paisley Park.

Finally, we played the song and they loved it. It was catchy and slow enough for them to follow along. They didn’t get to read/sing along too much with the stanzas but they certainly were able to join in on the chorus and after only two play-throughs, they were singing, “Paisley Park is in your heart!” I was so proud! Yes, if you see my man, tell him I am raising yet another generation of Prince lovers! I just hope I can find some more of his music to introduce to them. I had a few students ask me to borrow my CD. You know I told them they must be smokin’ crack! LOL! No, I didn’t say that but my look was, “Oh, no way, José!” PT really liked the song and seemed tickled that I was bobbing along with them to it and that I didn’t need to look at the lyric sheet to sing with the CD. Hey, I’ve only been singing this tune for about 19 years now! LOL! I told them that we’d play it again because we didn’t get to the hands-on grammars and phonics lesson with the tune. So, that will give me a reason to play it again.

I told one of the other teachers about it and she loves Prince, too. Well, not as much as I because she kept saying one of her favorite songs was “When Doves Fly.” HELLO? Are you serious? Still, I gave her the lyric sheet and the CD and told her to let me know how it went for her. My class performed the play “Columbus’ Mistake” for this teacher. Her class liked it and it went well. I had some students get a little vocal in the audience but I curbed them. I always tell them not to embarrass me because they would just be all kinds of sorry. I told them that we were guests and should act accordingly because when they came to our room, we’d expect them to act as if they had some sense, too. They asked me again, when we returned to the room, “Did we embarrass you?” I think that’s just hysterical that they ask me that after the fact. I guess I get really intense and they truly believe me when I say that because that is the first thing they ask when we are alone together. Hey, better they keep it together and do things right so that we all can keep our heads up high, right?

But in the meantime, let me go find a paisley print so that I can make a little bulletin board.

The Nurse is Useless!

Sat, 16 Oct 2004 02:03:44 GMT

I would really like to know how some of these folks get these jobs. It’s so entirely frustrating to see people in these gigs who just lay back and do nothing. Fine, you got the gig. Great for you! However, that is someone else’s fault if you continue to keep your gig and you aren’t reprimanded or just fired for not doing your job!

From the very beginning of the year—as if this isn’t the very beginning of the year—this nurse hasn’t been any help to me at all. You’ll remember the Baby Huey incident. (By the way, he moved last week with all of six hours notice! I mean, do these parents think it would be prudent to write a note telling the teacher their student won’t be returning?) I called her and didn’t get any satisfaction. The boy threw up! Granted, he was making himself sick but what did she want me to do with him when I was alone in the classroom? She had access to the phone. She could make the call and I couldn’t. She was by herself. I had twenty-nine other students to look after. I mean, am I wrong to have expected a little help from her?

The second incident just happened this week. A little boy, SP, threw up after lunch. He had been moaning and groaning but I figured he was just kidding around and didn’t want to copy his homework. Well, finally, I allow him to go to the nurse and he vomits in the hall before he can even make it around the bend. Of course, the class was right behind him wanting to go to our “rest stop” and I had to caution the children not to look at the puke and be all grossed out and act like babies. Luckily, the custodial staff had it cleaned up in like three minutes. Well, the nurse sent the little boy back and said that he was just “running around too much at recess after eating lunch.” Yeah, right. So, what would make him not throw up every other day since that is what happens every other day? He eats lunch, then goes directly to recess, and runs around like a maniac just as all the other children do. Well, she sent him back to class and as we were coming back from the rest stop (as a class), he vomited again. I tried to take him back in there but she had locked the door and gone to lunch. Alright, fine.

So, I go and make the call for the little boy because he was obviously not feeling well. The people in the office tell me how the nurse is supposed to handle that. Really? No shit! Get outta town! I told them what happened and I made the call myself. Of course, when I got the family on the phone they acted as if I was in freakin’ Siberia. There was no way to get the little boy and the mom wasn’t there and blah, blah, blah. Okay, I understand not having a car and whatnot but if someone calls about your child and says that he or she is really sick and vomiting in the halls and crying, you find a way to freakin’ get there! Why the hell else do you even give an emergency contact number if you can’t get there or the emergency contact person can’t get there?

So, I take SP back to the room with me and just feeling all kinds of bad for the boy. Of course, I am thinking of my idea to have a little cot/bench in the room for occasions just like this one. He couldn’t go to the nurse—and if he could, she wouldn’t have let him lay in there for an open-ended amount of time. I all had were desks and hard floors. No soft surfaces at all. Well, I let him sit in the read-aloud rocking chair, gave him a pillow, and shared my water with him. I mean, I couldn’t even offer the boy a ginger ale since my brother hadn’t delivered the refrigerator as promised.

Finally, the little boy’s parents came. As they were waiting to leave the office, signing them out and whatnot, he upchucked yet again! Not that I wanted him to suffer but I almost felt like saying, “So, do you think this weak-ass diagnosis of him running too hard is still the case?”

So, today, I have another issue. A little girl with the most severe body odor. I am surprised the other children haven’t started to tease and mock her because it’s really quite ripe, to put it mildly. In all other schools, this is considered the nurse’s domain. And, apparently, it’s considered the same at Moore. I talked to three people who all told me to go to the nurse. Well, I go to her—after Dr. Y pretty much led me by the hand in search of her—and before I could even get it out of my mouth good she said she was on her way to lunch. Settle down, wench! No one is telling you to drop everything this second. Then I explain the situation and she said that she does not handle that and “it’s up to you to establish that rapport with the parents and tell them the problem.” HELLO?! This is part of your job because apparently that falls under neglect and the teachers aren’t supposed to be involved in anything but academics. Of course, we know that is some bullshit they tell the new people but technically speaking . . .

So, I pretty much just walked away from her. I wasn’t sure what I’d say if I stayed. I wanted to tell her how ineffective she was and how I had come to her three times and three times she’s pretty much given me her ass to kiss. I went to discuss it with other teachers and what their experiences were and was I just being sensitive and to get some advice on where to go from there. I mean, I feel uncomfortable telling these parents that their child is a funk-dumpling and is lightin’ up my classroom with her funk. I really do think it’s someone else’s job to tell them that. I was told pretty much the same thing by the other staff members. I spoke to my aide, too. She said that the school was almost sued over some bullshit that the nurse did a year or so ago. Apparently, a little boy was hurt in the schoolyard. The nurse called home and assured the parent he was fine. Later that night he was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. HELLO!

So, I don’t know what to do now. I went back to Dr. Y but she was in a meeting. I told her that I followed her suggestion but that I didn’t get “the expected guidance. Is there another way we can handle this problem?” Mrs. S said I was “kind to put it that way.” I mean, do I tell her, “That wench didn’t do crap yet again?” I didn’t get to talk to her before I left school today but I am sure I’ll talk to her on Monday. I had to write a note to the mom and told her to call me Monday, if I didn’t get to her over the weekend. I am hoping that I’ll have another solution before I have to talk to her. EEK!

But I really do want to know how some people get off in the positions they have. The nurse not wanting to do her job CONSISTENTLY just peeves me to no end. And I realize it’s not all school nurses. The one at my first school handled that quickly as far as I was concerned. I told the one boy who was making me sick to my stomach. I was literally getting dry heaves being around him. This little girl is bordering on that. I will give Mom a chance to call me but if there isn’t an immediate difference, I’ll have to ask the little girl directly if she bathes or at least do an impromptu lesson about basic hygiene. Hell, in fact, I may do that anyway! Luckily, last year we didn’t have that problem.

I am sure I’ll be writing more about this issue . . .

Christopher Columbus

Sat, 09 Oct 2004 23:24:20 GMT

Alright. I totally forgot that the reason we had off Monday was that it was Columbus Day. It just seems bizarre to me that we have off for this day. Not that I am looking a gift-horse in the mouth by any means. Other teachers have said the same thing and one justified the holiday by saying it was pretty much the only holiday the Italians had. We had St. Patrick’s Day, Martin Luther King Day—, which frankly doesn’t really celebrate Blacks to me but celebrates a man who happened to be black who fought for peace among races. At any rate, she said that Columbus was the only blip on the map for the Italians. Yeah, alright. I guess so. A day off? I’ll take it! I have a test in Second Language Acquisition and I need the study time!

So, I wasn’t going to really do anything just because, as I said, I forgot. Then I hear the other teachers talking about how they are going to do this, that, and the other. I figured I’d better at least address the holiday so the children would know why we had the day off. It was bad enough I didn’t get to talk to them about Rosh Hashanah, as I’d wanted. Luckily, a professor at St. Joe’s made us get this book called Encounter, by Jane Yolen, as one of required “texts.” So I already had it in my class library. Then Thursday night I am scrambling around the Internet trying to find lessons on Columbus that I could easily do with my second grade class. All the ones I encountered were either too dry or seemed to take longer than a day. Since I’d been neglectful all week about it I didn’t want something that would linger into next week, I just wanted to be done with it. (Later, I found out that some of my colleagues would extend into next week even though the actual day is over. I guess I need to get out of that thinking.) At any rate, I finally found this play (called Columbus’ Mistake) on some education site that I browsed and in my desperation, I just printed out. I didn’t even read it, just printed it thinking I may be able to read it to them or send it home or something.

So, I get to school Friday and we have our spelling test, as usual. (This reminds me, I must give back last week’s test because they’ve been asking me about it.) I tell the children about being off on Monday and ask them if they knew why we were off Monday. Some had no clue and others knew it was because of Columbus. So, I told them I wanted to share with them the “author’s note” in the back of the book before I read the actual book. So, I read it and give them real examples of what the author was saying about what might have happened based on Columbus’ journals of the voyage. I told them it would be like JG having a toy and then AA coming over to just snatch it out of her hand and saying, “Mine!” They seemed to get that. I asked them if that was a good thing. They said it wasn’t. So I go on and discuss the other notes and then we read the book. They are getting all restless and while I understand it, I wanted to impress upon them how horrible this was. There is one picture of Columbus in this book when he is looking at the Taino gold on the natives and he just looks ugly! So, when I told them that this was the illustrator’s interpretation of how the little boy in the story would see Columbus they got very interested and a little scared. Yes, the picture was that distorted. So, they kind of settled down and I took the discussion to the carpet rather than continue with the book. We stopped for our moments and it actually got up to gym time. I did manage to finish the story but I told them that they should think about what we read and then we’d come back and finish up in the afternoon.

The afternoon came and I ditched the math plans. If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it, of course. I looked at the play I printed out and decided we’d do that. Why not?! I hurriedly ran off copies and chose students to be the actors. I wanted them to remember the morning reading and having the play that afternoon reinforced what they’d heard, especially since the Tainos were mentioned in the play. So, we read the play and I had them read with expression and whatnot. The children got into it. The prompt was: “We read the book Encounter this morning and then saw a play about the same event. What are your feelings about what you saw and read?” So, they wrote in their journals first and then I underwrote their writing. I received some great responses. Many of them said how they didn’t think Columbus was a “nice guy because he stole those people’s land.” There was another writing about how “Christopher Columbus was greedy and not a good person.” Even the children who don’t normally get involved got into it—except one. He didn’t do anything because he was still shell-shocked about not being chosen to play a part in the production. I’ve told that boy countless times that when he can’t do the standard work, he can’t expect to get special treatment and get to the “fun stuff” all the time. Get a grip! I’ll write about him later.

A few got the play confused with their friends. They wrote about how they liked their classmates in the play rather than the actual events that happened. My intern said how they were really getting into it and actually went to get that expensive-ass journalist camera of hers to take pictures. When I talked to the other teachers about it later, they were impressed, too. I am just glad it worked out since it was so impromptu. I really need to get myself a tickler of some sort for these lessons since I have to do them in advance. You really don’t think of it when you’re doing that because you’re just following the curriculum and the school calendar for Trophies and Every Day Math. They don’t say anything about the holidays so you’re just feeling “out of sight/out of mind.”

At any rate, they copied the writing onto nice white paper (not what I wanted so I went to the teacher’s store to get some for the future) after it was corrected and then drew a picture to match their writing. I’ll hang up the finished product on Tuesday when I get into school. We have in-service so I should have a few free minutes to do something—and cleaning up my desk and surrounding areas won’t hurt either!

Back-to-School Night and more

Sat, 09 Oct 2004 23:21:30 GMT

Well, tonight I had about ten parents show up. I thought that wasn’t too many but then when I heard the other teachers’ numbers, I got a little complex. They each had about 20-22 parents show up. I mean, what’s that about? Why did I have so few parents come to see me? Not that I really could have handled that many, they all seemed to want to talk to me privately after I did my schpiel about the classroom stuff. I was so nervous the one parent came in and I totally forgot to tell her that I think her kid needs to go back to first grade. Yeah, that nervous and he is that bad!

The parents I expected to show did show, only a few didn’t. I did have my one parent who always emails me and talks to me in the yard come—though she’s one I told didn’t need to come because I talked to her ALL THE TIME—literally. And, she had been up there that day giving her son a birthday party in the room. That was her first time in the room and she thought it looked nice. She sent me an email later with some feedback and said it was a good night and I was informative. I told her it helped having a friendly face in the “audience.”

One parent showed up and when I told him his child was so sweet and mannerable and tried hard to impress me, he couldn’t believe it. Apparently, this is a total turn-around from last year. I told the parent that I was sure it was because he was probably just naturally maturing and he was in such a diverse classroom with so many different cultures around him he may just be feeling a bit flummoxed—which is good for me. He is trying to be like his classmates. Could have been he was badly influenced by the students he had been around before and now that he sees how the children in this class are acting, he’s adjusting his attitude. I told Dad I’d keep an eye out for his son and would definitely report any untoward behavior or slacking off.

As for the child who kept giving me her little “attitude,” her parents came. As far as attitudes go, she is a total lightweight. She could totally take a lesson from WR from first grade, if you remember her. Geez Louise! At any rate, she doesn’t give you her ass to kiss when you tell her something but she does have that passive-aggressive behavior about “Yes, I heard you. I will do as you say.” But then is doing whatever she wants to do when you turn around. Well, I told her a couple of times I was going to call her house. She asked me not to. That happened like three times. I told her three strikes, you’re out. I call. TONIGHT! And I did. Then she apparently got into it with the intern and when they came in from lunch one day, she was in tears! I mean, eyes red, swollen! My goodness! I figured Ms. D had some power I didn’t. She could totally take her on, I did not mind one bit! Well, the mom called me that afternoon while they were in the room. So, this child’s mom and I talked and she told me how she was having that problem with her daughter at home, not wanting to really listen and doing things her own way. I told Mom that the daughter wasn’t belligerent with me but she was doing what she wanted. The mom said that she was belligerent if she wasn’t listening. I mean, what can I say to that? Just because she’s not nasty about it doesn’t mean she’s not being defiant and belligerent, right? Right. I mean, I was trying to cut the woman some slack, it’s just barely October, you know?

Well, we’re talking and she says how she’s having the troubles and whatnot and how she tries to reprimand the child and the last time she beat her so good “they called the people” on her. You know I was looking like Freddy! My eyes got big and thank goodness, I was facing the wall! I felt bad for my student. But then again, it was like, well . . . just listen! Do as you’re told! Why make it hard on yourself?! At the Back-to-School Night, Dad came and he was Mr. Cool. (How these two parents hooked up, I just do not know. He looked like Mr. Saturday Night and she looked like Ms. Church Sunday.) At any rate, he comes up to me, in this swagger, suckin’ on a toothpick kinda vibe—I don’t know if he had one or I just imagined it, he was just so smooth and old-school cool—and says, “Next time she starts actin’ up in class, you just tell her, ‘I’m gonna call your daddy.’ That should do something for her.” Dayum! I guess it would! He had that “Mister” vibe to him—and if you’ve read The Color Purple, you know what I am talking about—and he wasn’t saving it all for Celie!

Another little boy’s father came and he looked . . . just plain weird! I’d never, in a million years, match them up as father and son—EVER! But he was nice and courteous, just like his son. They didn’t want this little boy to have a pen pal. I got a note in his homework book last week from mom saying, “Ms. S, I am just not feeling B having a pen pal at this time.” She went on to say how bad things were in the world and yadda, yadda, yadda. I wrote back that I totally understood but that they’d have to understand that when we do our letters, their son would be reading independently or something. Well, after the schpiel, the dad comes up to me and says that now that I explained the pen pal program to him, he was sure it would be fine if B had a pen pal. I was very happy to hear that. So, I will get him to write a letter on Wednesday to the pen pal the one boy had who moved away.

This is Baby Huey—the one who just carried on so badly that first day. At any rate, he comes in and says how he’s moving. Well, most teachers know that when a child says they’re moving they could mean anything from that afternoon to like ten years from now because mom and dad are telling them their dreams. He wanted to take his stuff (crayons, markers, etc.). I told him that when he brought a note in from home saying they were moving, I’d gladly send his stuff home. Well, he hasn’t been back. I guess he was correct in that his family moved. His desk was cleaned out of EVERYTHING! He did leave the textbook, though. Is that bizarre?! That brings my numbers down to 29—I just need to get rid of about five more and I’d be in business.

In better news, before we had to meet the parents, we had like four hours to kill! They scheduled our night to start at 7:00! As an Intern, I don’t think I ever went to a Back-to-School Night. Maybe once. I don’t remember it being so long. Maybe 5:00-7:00 but 7:00-9:00 seemed extreme. But then I had to remember that there are a lot of working parents in the school and they’d need time to actually come from work and all that good stuff. Some of the teachers went out to Chickie and Pete’s—the original one. I finally got there! The one teacher told me, after I told her I tried to eat at the one on the Boulevard but it’s always like over an hour wait to be seated, that it was well worth the wait and I’d not be disappointed. The soup was pretty good and they let me taste these “amazing fries!” Fries with Old Bay. Good but not like the freakin’ second coming! LOL! The bread was nice, thick, and crusty. I’d have gotten the hot and spicy shrimp but you had to peel them yourself. I didn’t want to meet the parents smelling like a hot and spicy shrimp.

So far, I am happy in this placement. I can’t complain too much. Although, I do need tables still, and my storage cabinet so I can clean up that back “closet.” I am tired of looking at that mess back there! Still waiting on my fridge from Dear Brother but I guess that’ll happen when it happens and not before . . . . Why did I have a dream that Prince was donating books to my classroom?! Think I should write and beg him? It’s not as if I haven’t funded his ass for the last 20 plus years, right?!

Mr. Albania

Mon, 27 Sep 2004 20:26:48 GMT

Well, after buying all that stuff this weekend at the teachers' store, I was able to put some things into practice. I had my aide work with the picture cards this morning and they seemed to work. She said that he did indeed know more than he was letting on. Some of the pictures he identified (in English) before she could even say anything. So, he knows a little. Then he came back into the classroom and said quite clearly, "I don't have any paper." It was the first full sentence (I think) I've heard from him since he came a few weeks ago. Usually there is a lot of pointing and childlike one or two-word utterances. I was quite surprised and even said, "Listen to you! Speaking just like an American!" He smiled and the class laughed. He seemed quite pleased with himself. I am sure the surprised look on my face was telling. I didn't have to challenge myself with the Albanian-English dictionary yet but I am sure that is coming.

I was able to send away for some free books for my classroom but unfortunately, they were for K and 1. However, I figured, when I sent away for them, I could use them for low children. Now I realize I can use that same repetitive text for ELL students. So, I told my aid that after a bit she could work with him on reading. I'll put together a packet of books and whatnot for them to use. I'll have to copy some worksheets, too. I'll go online for those because I really didn't see any good ESL books with worksheets in them. If anyone knows how to handle this situation, this is a goldmine waiting to happen! Trust me!

Oh, and I did a Net search and they said to teach with music a lot. Which I should have known instinctively since I am actually writing a paper on it. I just hadn't started my research yet. So, that searched helped me in two ways. I will be reading a few articles tonight about it. I bought a CD player over the weekend and expect to use it in class for everyone and then take the little boy aside and do some reinforcement activities. My aide will be taking him out for about 20-30 minutes each morning. I'd love to use her in the room but at this point, I think he is the greater priority.

I played some music today and one little boy got so excited. The CD was a "World Groove" CD that has many different styles of music, one of them being Arabic music. He jumps out of his seat and he says, "Hey! You're playing my music!" I thought that was so funny! He wanted me to turn it up and all that. Then later he wanted me to play it again. I told them that I'd love to be able to work with music but I sincerely hoped they didn't make me regret putting out the CD player. We'll see how that goes down . . .

At the end of the day, Mr. Albania was able to tell me what this awful looking leftover lunch of his was. It looked quite unappetizing. However, I guess he eats it. He brought it to school, in a plastic container, which was then wrapped up in newspaper. Go figure! At any rate, I asked what it was. He just looked at me as if he couldn't figure out what I was saying. So I kept pointing to what looked like cheese, saying "Cheese?" And then pointing to these large circular things that look like meat. I wasn't sure, so I asked, "Meat?" Finally he seemed to understand he said, "Yes, cheese." We are totally at the beginning here with him, aren't we? YIKES!

In the yard, I had a parent--the same one who talks to me all the time, who told me to "take a chill pill and relax." Easy for her to say. At any rate, she bought some balls for recess. One of the rewards we get at the end of the day is an extra recess for the winning group. So I will take those students out tomorrow for about 15 minutes and let the other students see what they're missing if they don't behave. They are just so loud and talkative. It's starting to really irk me.

Well, I have work to do. I should have gone to the library today but I just didn't feel like it. I'll read the articles I found online last night and then I'll start to research the second project I have to do for the other class. Is it ever done?!

No she didn't say that!

Fri, 24 Sep 2004 02:30:37 GMT

Well, today I had a fairly good day. I don’t how to get the children to stop chatting so much. It’s just incessant talking, talking, and talking! My goodness! I mean, they’re only seven! What the hell do they have to talk about?! At any rate, I had to tell them a few times how I’d be that screaming teacher if they wanted me to. I had no problem with that; however, I feel very uncomfortable when I hear teachers screaming. It makes me feel bad and they aren’t even yelling at me so I can only imagine how it makes them feel. But if they wanted me to do that, I certainly would. I asked them if they thought I was being fair to them as students and they assured me I was—what student would say I wasn’t, though, come to think of it. Still, I think I have been fair with the noise level and all the antics they have going on. Oh, and yes, I did tell them that I’d have to see about sending those few students who were consistently listening and following directions and paying attention to classes on the trips we have scheduled. That got their eyes big and bulgy. So, for the rest of the afternoon, they were calm. Let’s hope that this will be the end of it. Like I told them, I don’t mind that they talk when they work—I was a chatterbox, too, at their age—but they had to learn to whisper!

So, later this afternoon, Ms. D took some of the class to the bathroom—there were others who just wanted to stay. I mean, there are three of us in the room in the afternoon, so why take them all? For the children who were left yesterday I quizzed them on their spelling words or I just talked to them. So, today the children who hadn’t gone to the bathroom yesterday wanted to play a game as they did yesterday. Lest the children think we were having high times in the class while they went to the bathroom and wouldn’t want to go anymore, I told them that we had just studied our spelling words. I told them that they could do that at home. Then they wanted to think of all these things they could do while they waited for the others to return. I had been practically falling asleep when I was doing the DIBELS testing. I mean, how many freakin’ times can I hear those nutty nonsense words or hear a child read about Mom’s New Job?!

I went to see Phil Collins last night so I said, “I know what I could show you!” I hadn’t gotten around to looking at the program so I pulled that out. I wanted to look at it during my lunch break but, of course, there were other things I had to do. So, I took it out and the children wanted to see it and touch it and read it. They wanted to know who this person was. So I told them I really liked Phil. So the one girl thought I meant I LIKED Phil. HELLO?! I told her I like his MUSIC not him! I didn’t even know him! I mean, did she think she was looking at a photo album or a program? I tried to explain to them what it was. I let her know that I did have a program of the musician I really LIKED! I mean, he was so handsome and cute. I asked if any of them knew who Prince was and they, sadly, did not. Of course, I have to recruit the New Power Generation—how apropos is that?!

So, anyway, PT started reading the list of songs in the program and asked what she was reading. I told her and then she said that was cool. When she’d get to a tune I really liked, I’d say, “Oh, I love that song!” So I’d start singing and she had the nerve to say, “Oh, okay, okay, you don’t have to go on!” LOL! I mean, was I hysterical or what?! I laughed even harder when RQ (the little girl who helped me with the Velcro raindrop project before school started) said, “Leave her alone. If she wants to sing, she can. She likes it!” Like, “Ms. S is jammin’! Let her jam!” I was beside myself.

When PT read songs like, Don’t Lose My Number she’d ask me, “So what’s his number?” Is that just too cute? So I had to sing it and then she asked, “Who’s Billie?” I don’t know!! In the Air was a hit, too. I mean, the little girl was basically telling me that I couldn’t sing so could I just keep it quiet?! I told her that I really should have been a singer but that my voice was shot from screaming at the concert last night. The children wanted to know why I was screaming at the concert if I liked him. I told them that when you go to a concert you generally like every song the person is singing so it’s like they are playing your favorite songs all night long and you just want to dance and sing and to let the person singing know you love it and want more you just scream and dance at your seat and pretty much just act like a fool. I am sure they had a hard time conceptualizing Ms. S “pretty much just actin’ like a fool!” Or, maybe not. LOL!

I think it was quite funny that they were so tickled about my excitement. So I told them that I would bring in a CD of Phil Collins’ work when we got a CD player. THEY LOVED THAT IDEA! I told them I’d bring in some Prince stuff, too. I mean, I can’t introduce them to Phil before my man gets all up in there, can I? So, I have to remember to bring my Prince program to school tomorrow.

Second Grade Homework

Fri, 24 Sep 2004 02:27:15 GMT

I had a parent write me a note in her son's homework book: "This is an enormous amount of homework. Is it really necessary?" HELLO?! So, of course, I am thinking, well, maybe I am giving too much homework. Let me ask around. So I ask around and the other teachers are pretty much giving the same homework that I am giving. Granted, they aren't asking their students to write down specific responses to the reading homework as I do but it's the same. Meaning, the other teachers may say "read a story." I say, "Read a story. Explain your favorite part of the story. Why was this your favorite part?" or I may have them do something on the characters. Who was your favorite character and why? Describe the setting of the story. How would the story have changed if the setting had been different? You know, critical thinking questions that they will need for the testing they will be doing later on. So, then I asked a parent out in the yard if she thought I gave too much homework. She said no but rather reluctantly, I thought. I told her to be honest. She said that it really wasn't too much homework but it just made you think. Well, DUH! The shit is supposed to make you think, right?

So I had to explain to her--the mother--how this is second grade and the homework they do now will make it much easier for them in the long run when the Terra Nova testing starts and the other exams Vallas has rolling down the pike. I told her I had polled the other teachers and they are doing the same thing. (She said, "I know they are!" DUH! So, why make me think I am going overboard with the homework if you know everyone is giving the same homework?) Besides, which, I found out today that this particular boy repeated first grade! Well, here we go! This little boy plays in class, won't shut up, always talking to his neighbors . . . It's like, if his ass won't sit still long enough in class to learn it, perhaps you'll have to do it at home, Mom! This is the same mom who brought me a piece of cake the other day. Was the cake poison or what?! LOL!

Oh, so then I explain it to her and she says, "Oh, I know there is a purpose for it." Well, why the freakin' note, you maniac?! But I told her to please feel free to come to me with any concerns she may have because I did want to address them if at all possible. Luckily, this was something easy.

Guess that answers the question of whether I should give homework on Fridays, huh?

Some Positive Vibes

Tue, 21 Sep 2004 22:25:21 GMT

Well, my Literacy Coach was there today. This time she let me know she was coming, which was nice. However, I guess I just don’t know what they are for. I thought they'd help me with the curriculum in terms of Trophies but apparently they will do more than that for you. My Coach, AE, actually helped me test some of my students in the DIBELS. Had I known she was going to do that, I'd have totally gotten the DRA's completed, you know? As far as I'm concerned, they are the more important assessments. No one even knows what we're doing with the DIBELS data yet--other than sending it off into cyberspace and getting meaningless printouts about the results. Do we need a test to let us know that Johnny can't really read that fluently? I think we know that already!

At any rate, AE helped me with that and then told me how nice my room looked. I told her I had help with the room and that many people seem to like it. Of course, I feel like I haven't finished it to my liking yet but apparently it's making an impression. I am not sure if I mentioned in the last journal update that the principal stopped in Monday and commented about my room. She asked the students if they liked being in second grade and if they liked their teacher. They said they did. (Good answer!) Then, she told them how lucky they were to have a teacher like me. (Ain't she sweet?) So, then she starts looking around the room and pretty much talking to herself, saying "look how bright and engaging this room is." She made other very positive comments, too, as she looked around. You could tell she was just lost in looking at everything because she wasn't even paying attention to me or the children. So I don’t know if that counted as an informal observation or not. I want to get a rubric up but we don't have a poster machine. I do have the math stuff up. But we'll see what I can do. I may just do one of those sheet protector sleeves and copy the Core Curriculum and a rubric or something so that it is posted in the room, even if it isn't gigantic. It's not as if I don't have this blank space covered in nasty welts that I could happily cover up! At any rate, I was pleased by the principal's pleased visit.

We got to talking about education and making money and all that and she was talking about her two masters' degrees. I told her I know what she meant and that I, too, had the two masters'. So I asked her about the plus sixty. She confirmed what Ms. P told me about having to get a second certification within those sixty credits to earn the higher salary. I told her that I was working on the ESL program specialist "certification" at St. Joe's. It's really not a certification because Pennsylvania is one of the few states, apparently, who don't subscribe to it. So, how can I get the money for it if we don't even have it? So, I will try to get that but still work on another certification while I am at it. She told me to try for a middle school cert or special education. We'll see. It's not as if I don't need to take special ed classes for those cases that come up. I'd rather go for the reading specialist certification, though. I may just apply to take that test so I can get that in. Another intern I know took the test and passed it. She said it was rather difficult but it must have been some common sense questions. I'll have to call her and ask again. I mean, if it's just going to be about taking a test and passing it with no more schooling, I am very open to that action!

We are planning our trips. We have one scheduled for October 28 (Academy of Natural Sciences), November 24 (Fox Chase Animal Farm), and I am trying to set up the Shark Tale flick. It comes out Friday, October 1. I am going to write up a proposal tonight about it so that the principal would more quickly okay it. One of the teachers--who just came onboard but is a seasoned teacher--said that her principal made you tie any field trips to the curriculum. I guess that's understandable. So, I thought it would be a good lesson in character development--which our children get during a special prep time each week--and conflict resolution (and who can't be big on that?) and teamwork. Yes, it's a lot to try to fit into a proposal but I just want to cover all bases and hey, after three strikes, if I am out, I guess I am out. At least I tried, right? The other teachers seemed to like the idea--well, the ones I spoke to. And, three out of five ain't bad!

Well, speaking of trips, my car is on the last leg of life. I swear, I don't think that baby will make it to March. That is when I was supposed to try to trade it in toward a newer model with some help from Mom. The muffler dropped out of the bottom today as I was driving home. I can only thank God that it did it before I got onto the Boulevard and the Expressway because that would have just been nasty. I find it funny that the guy who fixed the shaky thing that was happening with the car a couple weeks ago didn't say anything about the muffler. He did say something about "mounts" or something but what the hell are they? As if I know! My uncle didn't say anything either so I figured I had a minute to decide about that. I mean, the guy at Midas wanted me to put in about $600 (when you add the tax) to get stuff fixed but everyone around me said not to bother if I was trading the car in. Remember, Blue Book value of the damn car is only $415! I pay more in insuring the car than it's freakin' worth! So, now I have to wonder how the heck I will be getting to work. I can't rent a car. I don't know anyone going in that direction. This is just a bad situation. I need a freakin' husband--or at least a boyfriend who can drop me off and come get me. Geez, Louise!

I tried to tell my mom I am just ready to break down and get a $5000 jobbie and then just wait on the Rav4 or "newer pre-owned vehicle." She told me not to get alarmed and that if it can hold out longer, just hold on. March is not that far away. No, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't that far away. However, I don't want to wonder if every time I put the key in the ignition the bottom is going to drop out of the damn car. If I had any kind of money at all, I'd just go for it. Hell, at this point, I'll go for the Hyundai Accent at the base price with no extras--$9000!

Back to the issues at hand. I got a new student today--the one they brought to me yesterday. Well, she is a nice little girl. However, I think they should have kept her in first grade. It took her an hour to copy her homework! Very messy looking to me. She was very distracted and unfocused. Her writing this morning for the "friendly letter" was about love. "I love mom. I love you Dad. Love Aunt. I love uncle. I love them all." WHAT?! Is she serious?! I asked the group if they thought that was a good letter. (I did it with other examples, too.) I received a chorus of yeses and just one no. When I asked the naysayer why he said "no," he couldn't give me a reason why. I questioned him further because I think he was afraid I'd be angry that he said no. I even asked one of those leading questions, "You don't know why it's not a good letter but something is telling you it just doesn't sound right?" So, I did another poll, "who thinks it's a good letter?" Every hand went up, except that little boy. Then I asked, "Who thinks it's not such a good letter?" I raised my hand. I told them why it wasn't a good letter. I mean, all that love is great but that’s not something you'd really write in a "friendly letter." A love letter, maybe. A valentine, for sure. A postcard or a greeting card. But a friendly letter? I reminded them of the examples we'd heard. The book we'd read. So, I asked the little boy again about the letter. This child is very timid and rarely speaks and never asks to share out so I thought it would be a little boost for him to have agreed with the teacher. Oh well . . . one-on-one he's great. More open while still a bit shy. We'll see how we can draw him out a little bit more.

I know I told you about one of the dads in the schoolyard but this morning another came. I wish he had been around when my car went dead! ARGH! At any rate, he said that his daughter JR made him come to school. She, by the way, had the perfect letter. It was a perfect example of all the letters we had read--and it even had a PS. An awesome letter that I asked her specifically to share out. We will definitely revisit that topic again as I do still want to try to find a pen pal group. At any rate, back to the point of this story. JR was in the line and grinning and pointing. I looked over and there he was. I asked, "Dad?" He said he was and that JR had made him come to the school. I asked if she had forced him into meeting the teacher. When I tested her yesterday she was very chatty and talked about Puerto Rico and you know I told her I'd been there and loved it. So, he said that she hadn't wanted him to meet the teacher but was concerned that she'd be late for school. I told him that his daughter was a pleasure in the classroom, very sweet and smart and inquisitive. Just what you want in a student. I mean, he wasn't my type so it wasn't like I was putting my flirting skills into it at all, just stating facts, as far as I was concerned. So, then he says how he'd have come to meet the teacher sooner if he'd realized how gorgeous she was. "She said you were pretty but she didn’t say you were gorgeous." Well, pardon me and do go on!! LOL! Still, he's got like a million children, short, and this funny looking hairstyle. So, would I even be tempted? NOT! Where is that decoy ring?!

At the end of the day I had given a group some candy for being the best table. But I am going to adopt another teacher's reward system. They go all week on their behavior chart and the winning table at the end of the week gets free time or they may be able to go out in the school yard for an extra recess at the end of the day (15 minutes). Computer time; library time; chill out time, lunch with the teacher. Whatever, you know? I am liking that idea better than the treats. But anyway, I was telling one of the parents that--the one who corners me all the time. She said that she'd definitely contribute and asked me what I wanted her to buy. I told her any games that she thought the children could play outside--balls, jump ropes, paddle games, etc. I told her she'd know better what the boys would like because she has a son. She said she'd talk to the other parents, too. I told her that would be great because I'd hate to beg. This way, coming from another parent it would seem a little better. So, we'll see what happens with that. Of course, I will plan to buy some things of my own, too, just to be on the safe side.

Alright, I think that's enough. I have to go see if dear brother is home to pester about my car. Wish me luck!

Another One?!

Mon, 20 Sep 2004 22:26:33 GMT

You know, this really pisses me off! Just when you think you have things worked out in your room, they send you another student. I mean, what the hell?! I got irritated when I was an Intern and they did this so I am doubly irritated now that I am the teacher.

Apparently, this little girl I received today was sitting in a first grade classroom for the last two weeks. Didn't anyone think to say anything? DUH! What about her parents?! HELLO?! Of course, this makes me think that perhaps I won't be getting too much support from them. Doesn't that just scream something to you? "Ah, Principal? My daughter tells me she is in a first grade classroom. She was supposed to be in second grade. Is there a problem or something you want to share with me?" Would it be so difficult to say that to someone?! Damn!

So, before the office could even give me the news completely, the first grade teacher brought the child to my room. I am sorry, maybe it's just me but you know as a teacher how limited your time is. All the things expected of you. I was on my lunch hour! You couldn't bring her down later? That may sound harsh but if you start that crap now, when does it end? Can I get a minute?! I've been in the joint since about 7:00 AM! Cleaning out my "closet" so that I can make room for all the supplies I received (from the students). I had to tell that lady who had the room before me to come get her crap so I can make room. I mean, I am the new girl, not the dumb girl! But anyway, the other teacher should have known better. But then am I the bitch if I say, "come see me after 12:30?" WTF?!

Alright, so maybe I am in a bad mood. My menses; it's Monday; I am tired; and, I do believe I am getting a cold. I feel headachy and sore and stuffed up for real! I don't have time to be sick! I have too much to freakin' do! I tried to find my welcome packet but couldn't put my hand on one. I wanted to send it with the new little girl. I've had so many children leave my room that don't bring my packet back that I am running out of them. I thought I was being generous running off 35 of everything. I guess I was wrong!

The one little boy who was having trouble copying his homework last week is still having trouble. I think he copied it on time and neatly only once last week. Well, today he was doing that distracted, baby crap again. I hate that! I honestly hate that! So I was giving him the rough, tough-love treatment. I told him I wasn't copying homework for second graders. I refused to do that. We're talking about responsibility here. I wrote a note home to his parents. The SSA in the room told me, "Good luck!" Again, I hate to feed into a stereotype but this little boy is Jewish! Don’t they come out wanting to be ultra serious about their school work? Aren't all the Jewish parents concerned about their children's learning? I can just see the writing on the wall with this one. I honestly don't see how this boy was passed on because he so does not do any of the work and can't seem to stay focused. He thinks it's his job to entertain the students around him while they're working. He's pulled out for resource teaching. I mean, will I be allowed to leave him behind at the end of the school year and the recommendations go in for summer school? I hate to have that already in my head when it's only freakin' Day Eight but let's be honest here! He's not even trying and it's just September!

The other one--the new student I got on Wednesday--is the same way. My Intern and I have discussed the possibility that "something just ain't right with this one." We both asked him separately and as a team, "Are you close enough to see?" Yes. Yes. Yes. A hundred times, yes. Well, 40 minutes later, is that kid still writing the first freakin' item on the homework list? Give me a break! So, again, with the roughness, I told him to get up and move himself so he could see the board and copy his homework. After an hour for both of them, I said enough. I wrote a note to his parents, too. Can you say, "yo, has this kid been tested?!" or even better, "Are you kiddin' me with this shit?!" Sure, they send the best they’ve got and they "aren't keeping the best ones at home," but damn! I will refer him for SOMETHING because just the way he talks, is distracted, unfocused, the way his eyes are always traveling and look out of whack when he looks at you sometimes may be cause for some attention. I know he speaks English but I don't believe he's American. That may be the first issue. But come on, even Mr. Albanian Jester Boy is copying the homework now. OY!

I know every teacher says this and even means it when they say it but I am not going to do back flips here. I am going to work hard, don't get me wrong, but come on! If these students can't even copy stuff from a board or give you basic information, how do they make it to second grade? Just because they've reached some age level deemed appropriate by the state? That's utterly ridiculous! And then you add in the ESL situation and it's even more ludicrous. But we'll see. I'll withhold judgment for a bit. No sense in getting up in arms about things until it's absolutely time to do it.

The principal stopped in today to give me back "my lesson plans." The other second grade teacher did them this week. We are on a rotating schedule--at least three of us are. I think we're going to do them in two-week rotations or something. They were very kind to me and said not to worry about mine for a minute because I had classes at night. How nice was that?! But then, I am the copy queen for stuff that needs to be run off for us when we can't get the copy center to do it in a timely way. So, I guess it balances out. Still, I want to do my part. I'd hate to be thought of as a slacker when I am so totally not that way. Overextended, perhaps, but never a slacker.

Speaking of slacking, I have university homework to do. I'll go start on that as I wind down from the day. I can totally see me in bed by 9:00 tonight. I want to get to school early (yes, again) tomorrow so that I can finish cleaning that "closet" and then get a look at the DRA materials to see what I actually have and don't have. I want to start Centers by next week if at all possible and I need to get cracking. I managed to complete five DIBELS tests today, at least. Progress, right? So far, I have some good readers. Second grade is rather new to me so I don't know if they are good readers as compared to first and kindergarten or just good readers. I think it's the latter, though. Again time will tell . . .

I must be a teacher

Thu, 16 Sep 2004 03:59:18 GMT

I think it will take some real getting used to being the one they mean when they say "teacher." I think I mentioned that when they were doing the training in the first days of school, I felt rather strange when they'd say "teachers only" and seem to look right at me when they said it. Of course, it was when they'd be giving out supplies and whatnot and saying that the Interns would get theirs if there was enough left over. I mean, how far do I feel I've come just because I can get some freakin' book or something in the first round of give-outs? LOL!

Then, the ELL (English Language Learners) children are calling out, "Teacher, teacher!" It takes me a second to realize, "Oh, snap! They mean me!!!" I keep trying to get them to call me Ms. S but they seem to just revert back to "teacher, teacher." Oh well, I guess that will take time.

The biggest problem seems to be the mailbox in the office. I have to remind myself every morning to go look or during the day, and/or at the end of the day. I mean, geez! If they gave me a computer and could send all this crap by email, I'd get it for sure! No, I don't have a computer in my room yet and I am nearly having a conniption every day. I mean, what do they expect me to do here?! I could be doing stuff at school that I have to save for home. That 90 minutes I have for the prep/lunch periods would be great for getting that kind of work done. One or two of the teachers brought a computer from home . . . . Now you know I am getting ideas. I may need to see what I can do about this, especially if I can get an IBM instead of a MAC. YUCK!

Emergency lesson plans were due today. When I heard about it, I had in the back of my mind that, "Oh, Mrs. J or Mrs. F will do that." NOT! I am the "teacher of record" now. I am still reeling from my name being on the roll sheets every day. They really want me to sign it? And, they need to question that because I kept forgetting to add this one child and kept forgetting to cross out the one kid . . . . Hey, it takes time and it seems to come up on you so quick. They have fifth graders come around and collect the attendance sheets. Then, they supply you with the folder to tape outside of your door. Not only do they supply it, but they put it up and it's all nicely done with computer type with clipart and whatnot. Then, we have our names outside the door. Had I known they were going to do that, I'd have kept my $5 in my pocket (including lamination) for the welcome posters on the door. But they are bright yellow and glossy with lamination and have my name at the top in big letters. Then beneath my name are these slots to add more names, like whomever may be working in the room with me. Well, it has my classroom aide's name there and it says that she is the "Something Staff Assistant." I'll have to look at it closely. I am still enamored with my name being there as the teacher. Yeah, I know. I had three years to prepare for this so what is the big freakin' deal? It's just weird, I guess. I wonder if they'll put the Interns on there . . . Maybe the next round.

I have the parents wanting to come talk to me. The one parent came up to me yesterday and told me how much her son "loved me." She put her hands on her heart and rolled her eyes heavenward and did that swoon you do when you're being dramatic. The little boy in question got all red and hid behind his mother. He is a sweet kid. Very talkative but very sweet. He's always "thinking about it" before he writes stuff down. I keep telling him that "thinking about it won't get graded but actual writing will." Sometimes it works. Then I had a mother come up to me and tell me that whenever her son gets out of hand at home (which doesn't happen too much), she just mentions my name and he straightens up. WOW! "I got the power!" LMAO! I was just really shocked that this particular boy would even "get out of hand at home." He's so mild-mannered in class.

Oh, this same mother also wanted me to offer suggestions on how to help her eldest son with his writing. He is having difficulty in spelling and writing sentences. Like I freakin' know?! HELLO! I teach second grade--he is in seventh! What the hell do I know? I told her to use flash cards and just practice sentences. Tell him to think about what it is he wants to say, add one more detail to each sentence he writes. It takes practice. I told her that if they didn't work, I'd think of some other strategies for him. She said that the other teacher just doesn't seem to care. Damn, it's only Day Seven! WTH?! Give the woman a chance. Not to say that the mom can't read a teacher, especially if she's had exposure to her before, but come on. It's only been a week of non-classes. Give it a chance to progress . . . She may be one of those parents I will love and hate. Like, when she's good she's great but when she's on my nerves I have to get away. She is always talking to me at the end of the day. But she is concerned, trying to do the best for her kids. Who can argue with that, right? This is the parent who loves the homework I give, as well as the reading/writing assignments. She thought I was Hispanic, like her. I told her I wasn't but she seemed skeptical.

So, it will take some getting used to but I guess I am up to the challenge. If not, I'd better be, right? I will settle into it soon, I am sure. If not this year, then next year . . . . I have plenty of time!

Two Days' Respite

Thu, 16 Sep 2004 03:28:31 GMT

We've only been in school for seven days but damn if I don't need this break already! It's not the kids so much but the fact that I am trying to do the two graduate classes at St. Joe's. I can just see me begging and pleading for people to help me with the homework and just not doing some of it. I mean, I can't do it all, you know? I cannot wait until the Language and Culture course next semester. There is also a methodology class offered that's part of the core I must take. That includes a lab. I am so not into that it's not even funny! Geez! But, we are working on the light at the end of the tunnel. I can do this! I can do this! I CAN DO THIS!

I feel so isolated in my little corner of the world. However, the second grade teachers on my same side of the hall all seem to work well together. We drove to the Dutch Farmer's Market during our prep today. It was strange to be out of the building in the middle of the day. They make you feel like you can't or shouldn't leave the school once you get there. However, my prep was in the room today and I hate staying in the room when the prep teacher is there. I hate even more that I have to leave when the prep teacher is there. Not HAVE TO but it's better for everyone if the teacher does leave. I mean, you need a break, right?

At any rate, every day all the second grades have common prep, which goes right into lunch so we have about 90 minutes to do whatever it is we want to do basically. It's nice. MC, in the neighboring room, is doing the lesson plans for us up until November. Linda will do the lesson plans for November and December. I said I'd do them for January and February. The principal said she doesn’t care if they are the same lesson plans, she just needs to see a set for everyone. She knows that the second grade plans together and encourages it, in fact, and actually expects all the lesson plans to be the same. If she expects that, my question is: why not just let us turn in one set of plans and put "Second Grade Lesson Plans: names of all teachers?" You know?

As far as the children go, I was given another kid today. He speaks English, at least. CP. Have no idea what his nationality is yet. No pocket or anything. I didn't get too much of a chance to talk to him either. The one who is from Albania is the simplest boy I've met in a while. Always laughing and playing with the other students (when they should be working) or just laughing by himself while the other children look on in utter puzzlement. I did refer him to the ESOL program--for which I am studying now but haven't learned diddly to help him or myself--so we'll what happens in that respect. Moore seems to be on point with so many things that I am thinking this will be no different. There are two full-time ESOL teachers there and one who comes in part-time. I've gotten most of the things I've asked for. I am still waiting for my storage closet (which I desperately need), a table, and an easel. However, I was told about a second-hand easel on the second floor but it just didn't look like anything. I mean, if I wanted a slab with legs, I could have made that myself, you know? However, I do hear that there will be $250 in a future check from Vallas. Apparently all new teachers get this check. I'll have to ask about this when my literacy coach comes next Tuesday. I know an intern who received this but I didn't hear about it from any one at Cramp last year . . . or anyone else for that matter . . . we'll see.

I've been using my partner teachers' ideas all around my room. From Mrs. F, I put a white poster board up (underneath the weather chart sun) and that is where we are counting the days of school. I cut my little squares so that we can make a patter just like 13-A. Hey, why reinvent the wheel, right? I have their crayons in baskets and sorted by table, too. I also have the markers the same way, but in a crate until I can get baskets for them. I put them in plastic baggies (supplied by the parents). I can't seem to find the containers big enough for the markers. I've been to two different dollar stores and one supermarket. My mom said she'd check her supermarket tomorrow. I may have to check to see if the smaller case will hold the markers and just call it a day. Hell! I have my little crate/portfolio system being set up now. My aide is doing that. (Don't hate me! LOL!)

The children seemed to be upset that I actually gave homework today. They thought I should treat today as a Friday. I keep telling them they are in second grade now. They are big kids! I also told them, "Remember, I told you: 'be careful what you wish for!'" All the first week they had been asking me to assign homework. Well, get happy! LOL! I did have a parent come up to me and tell me she loves the reading homework I give. (She was even happier that I gave homework over the holiday, too.) It's the usual "read a story" and then I have a follow up assignment with it. I want to just do the reading sheet I created for kindergarten last year but because this is second grade, they need to write more and they can just copy the homework. We are getting better with it, too. It took about 40 minutes today to copy it--it was taking an HOUR before. The one little boy, did anyway. So, I had to go back to Mrs. J days and just write a little bit at a time. When I did it that way, this little boy was finished on time like everyone else. I gave him a high five! LOL! I want to get that down to 30 minutes.

They were really talkative and loud today, too--and copying homework is the quietest time of day by far! Can we copy homework all day?! (I hate to see when Centers start!) I told them that as long as they kept talking, I'd add more homework. I generally stop at four items but I could certainly go on . . . . I use the flip chart paper. No, I can't write straight to save my life yet! I am hoping that comes with time. I had to cover up the board with contact paper. Not as smooth a job as I'd like but it's much better than that paint. I think I'll just do the one board and leave the other black since it will most likely always be covered with a pocket chart. (Oh, I definitely have to do the table points. I will be getting the thick, double-sided chips if I can find them. I told them I can't take it anymore. I'll have to get my treats, too.)

Well, it's after 11:00 PM. I'd better get to bed so I can sleep in long and hard tomorrow. LOL!

My First Bonafide ESL student!

Fri, 10 Sep 2004 02:38:16 GMT

Well, it happened today. They gave me his admit slip yesterday afternoon and I didn’t get too alarmed at the name because most of the children in my class have names that vex me. There is one little girl whom I’ve promised I will practice her last name and say it soon. LOL! At any rate, the ESL student came today and he speaks very little English. When I say “very little,” I mean . . . . Not much at all! He could tell me “good morning.” He could tell me, “My friend is from Albania.” He could tell me, “yes.” That was about it!

So, I welcomed him to class. We read the book, “Mean Soup.” It is about a little boy who has a bad day at school and then he gives his mother attitude when he gets home by growling at her and falling to the floor. She, then, fills a pot with water, adds salt, and when the water starts to boil, she screams into it. She encourages her little boy to do the same. He feels better, of course. Getting rid of all those “mean” and angry feelings. Hence, “mean soup.” Fine. We discussed the book, made predictions beforehand about what the title of the book could mean. The “responsive task” was writing, “What I do to calm myself when I feel mean or angry.”

This little boy just looked around, took the paper but really didn’t understand what to do. He wrote his name. I had to actually repeat on paper (like his) what was on the board so that he could copy the paper heading—which is a little more extensive in second grade than it was in Kindergarten or first. (I make them put their name, the date, their Grade, the subject, and then the title. I think it’s good practice.) So, we did that together. After that, he didn’t understand what to write. So, I proceeded to act out the book again . . . growling, making mean faces, then smiling and acting happy. He just laughed at me! LAUGHED AT ME! He still didn’t get it. I thought that maybe he acted as if he didn’t get it because he wanted to see me act like a nut again. Maybe so. After he still didn’t get it, I got the book and went through it again even more exaggerated than the first time! (While on the carpet, I had the children act the book out with me, growling and screaming in the soup.) Still, he laughed at me. Great!

Finally, I told him to draw a picture. He looked stumped. I pointed to all the pictures in the book. I pointed to all the students’ papers around him. I singled out the picture on their pages and said “picture” each time. He still just kind of looked at me. The children in his group looked at me and said, quite resignedly, “I don’t think he understands.” Well, damn!

Not knowing what else to do, I sent an SOS to my students. I asked if any of them were from Albania. No one was. I asked if anyone spoke Albanian . . . Hands shot up all over the room:

“I speak Spanish!”

“I speak Russian!”

“I speak Chinese!”

“I speak English!”

“I speak Armenian!”

“I speak Arabic!”

Not an Albanian in the freakin’ bunch! WTF?! Obviously, this boy will have to be pulled out and given ESL instruction. Thank God, I am taking these courses right now. I just hope that I will be able to take something from the courses at St. Joe’s and apply them.

In the end, the boy managed to draw a picture. It didn’t SEEM to be about the subject at hand but it was work product.

At the end of the day, he was making these noises to the little Asian child, who had his back to him. He was watching me put the Velcro dots on the leaves that went on the Job Helper Chart. So, I looked up and saw the ESL kid doing this and I said to JC, “I think KM is trying to get your attention.” JC said, “I know but I don’t know what he’s saying. I won’t be able to understand him.” I feel ya kid! I really do! Still, I told him, “I don’t understand him either but I think it would be really rude to just ignore him that way. Just give it a try.” I mean, like I want to be the only one who looked like a nut today trying to talk to this kid! LOL! So, JC did turn and finally acknowledge that KM was speaking to him but he pretty much just looked at him and didn’t say anything. Seems that KM just wanted to make faces and noises at him.

In the schoolyard, I was able to briefly talk with his parents. His father told me that his son spoke “a little bit of English.” I wanted to tell him, “No, what you speak is a ‘little bit of English.’ What he speaks is NO ENGLISH!” But it was like a mini hurricane this afternoon and we couldn’t speak for long. Tomorrow I will have to think of some things to do . . . I am going online now to see if I can get some quick Albanian phrases to help our day along.

I didn’t get to write about my crier yesterday. He vomited first thing in the morning because he was crying so hard about having to come to school. After he made this huge scene about being in school and wanting to go home, I just called the office and said that someone had to come get him. He was out of control. I’d’ve taken him myself but I was alone in the classroom. I mean, he was sobbing! Making those hiccupy-gaspy sounds. I was at my wits end after a long while and finally just asked him how old he was. Like, what the hell are you doing crying this way? And he’s a big mutha, too! I couldn’t have pulled him out of the room if I tried—and, yes, I did try! But he would not budge! Damn was he strong!

After the counselor, the nurse, and this NTA woman talked to him, it turns out that his father told him he was to walk home alone if no one came for him. WHAT?! This Baby Huey?! It’s obvious he’s been very coddled and spoiled and needs to just get the hell right but what can you do? It won’t happen in five minutes in Ms. S’s class. So, I just left him there. What could I do? I was hoping he’d eventually wind down. But after we called the dad and he talked to Huey and said that someone would be there to pick him up, he was like a completely different person. He can’t do crap—write, count, sit still . . . nothing! But he was at least quiet in terms of crying. Like, that’s all I freakin’ need! Thanks a lot!

I told the children, when they led him away that I had to make a new rule for our list on the shade. “NO CRYING!” I told them that I couldn’t stand crying. “It upsets me very much. I don’t know what to do for you when you cry. I don’t know how to soothe you. I don’t know how to comfort you. Please, do not cry! It will just make us very happy.” I went on to tell them that if they cried I’d just have to let them make a spectacle of themselves as Baby Huey did. I mean, what could I do? He wouldn’t talk to me. He wouldn’t say what was bothering him. He was completely unreachable at the time and I couldn’t very well talk to him alone when I have 31 other students in a class with JUST ME! I told them that, too. There was ONE OF ME and THIRTY-TWO OF YOU! “I am only one person but if we work together, we can do this! Therefore, NO CRYING!” They encouraged me to add it to the rules. All day yesterday, they said, “You didn’t add it yet!” “When are you going to add it?!” So, I added it!

Other than that, things have been going amazingly well. I am still getting good feedback from people about the room and some of my ideas. I keep hearing how this one couldn’t stop talking about the room and that one couldn’t stop talking about how impressed they were with me. So, I guess my first impressions are good ones. We’ll see later on what they’ll say about me! LOL! And, you can make what you want of that statement!

I have to go research this Albanian thing . . . . I wonder if there is an Albanian-English dictionary. You know I am totally at the bookstore this weekend!

On My Own . . .

Tue, 07 Sep 2004 21:32:08 GMT

Well, I wasn’t sure what this day would bring, so I made it to work early. Of course, I still have many things I wanted to do to put finishing touches on the room. I still don’t have a CD player or nails for my pocket charts. DAMN IT! But, I did manage to put up my “grass” for the attendance chart and the calendar. .. and the number line, and some rules . . . There were various other things but it’s not terribly important.

There were about 28 students in my class today. I had 31 on roll. However, two of the 28 were not supposed to be in my room. One was supposed to report to third grade and the other was supposed to report to special education. The former student had a morning of it! He was sick, he needed his inhaler, he had to see the nurse, his stomach hurt, he poked himself in the eye with the pencil, he was crying, he needed his inhaler; he needed to go to the bathroom. Well, he just walked out of the room when I told him that we couldn’t go to the bathroom right then. I turned around and he had left the room. What the hell is up with that?! Luckily, the new teacher coach was there and could watch the class while I went after the student. If she had not been there, I’d have just called the office and let them deal with it. But hell, wouldn’t that have been a nice impression to make on the first freakin’ day?! At lunch, though, we called his mom (no answer at home or on cell), then we had a little talk, and I hoped I stressed to him the importance of listening to rules and whatnot. Thankfully, it’s not an issue for me anymore. He is to report to the third grade line tomorrow AM! Daz wazzup! LOL!

My aide couldn’t be with me in the morning because she was helping with last minute registration. That was fine. As I said, the new teacher coach was there. I thought it a bit odd for her to come in that way but thought it was just me. Then the principal commented on it, as did other teachers. So, apparently that is not the way it should be done and also she should have told me she was coming. Whatever at this point, you know? I was glad she was there to keep them entertained while I set up their books to be distributed. The aide did come to the room at the end of the day. She is supposed to come to me at 8:45-11:00 AM, then again from 2:00-2:50, when she has to get the bus children ready.

The intern comes in the afternoon from 12:30 to 2:50. She has to help with the kindergarten dismissal. Fine. I think I told you, I am pretty much giving her the afternoon duty most of the time so she can get her teaching in. She seems very eager to have that and that works fine with me. I am in the room, of course, but it ain’t like there ain’t a million other things for me to be doing, while she’s doing math. And, I am not sure if she has her student teaching next semester or if she’s doing three years. I thought the program was cut to just two years now, so we’ll see. At any rate, if she has her student teaching, then for about two weeks, she should take over the room and I am told I should have her do lesson plans. I don’t think that will be my plan. I’d like to know what it is I am doing. However, I’d totally allow her to take over that math portion. 

The children were sweet for the most part. There was one who wanted to do what it is she wanted to do but I quickly but gently let her know that I wasn’t having it this year. I told her about the two odd desks in the corner of the room being for children who couldn’t handle being in the group. She seemed to settle down after that. Another little boy whose name I love to say was very talkative. He acted shy with adults, babyish, but was totally having a good time with his neighbor. I can see me moving those folks away from each other. The one little boy acted as if he knew me forever! Just chatted away like a magpie. Adorable. There were only two Hispanic little girls in my room. One Asian girl and one Asian boy. The boy was quite animated and chatty, which surprised me. I kept hearing how quiet and in control Asian children were. The girl was but the boy was on his own agenda. There is a Brandon in my room and isn’t he just the sweetest little thing? I made him a door holder. Very quiet, well-mannered, cool. He has a chubby little face, brown skin. He is one of about 10 African-American children in the room. There is one I am not sure about—the little boy whose name I love to say. He may be African but maybe not.

They came in and out all day—students, parents, staff . . . just go the hell away already! About two or three children didn’t even show up. I hope they don’t. If that happens, then I’ll be down to like 25 children, which may actually be manageable. So, we’ll see. More people came in and said how much they liked the room and how organized I seemed. Yeah, I didn’t feel that way. I didn’t have a roll sheet. I hadn’t filled out this one paper they needed right away. I don’t have a roll book. I mean, do I talk to someone about these things or what? Am I supposed to make my own roll book? I mean, I certainly will if I must but just let me know. What happened to those green sheets for the small black book?

All in all, a very nice day. Productive but LONG! We were all dying of thirst by the end of the day and I even took them to the water fountain, which was like a million miles away in the main building. I mean, we needed it. I truly might just tell the parents to send a water bottle with the children. It’s just ludicrous that we aren’t with any running water or plumbing. God forbid there be an accident! Oh, I did have to give the little magpie boy a bandage this morning. He had fallen off his skateboard and needed a bandage. He wanted to go to the nurse. HAH! I told him I’d take care of him and gave him a Band-Aide.

At the end of the day I got some hugs and “you’re a nice teacher.” That was nice to hear. The one little boy said that he didn’t want to go home and that he was going to spend the night in the school. I told him he was certainly welcomed to do that but that I’d see him tomorrow because I was going home to take a nap and get my homework finished!

I can totally see me bringing in a little juice or water when I get the fridge so that they can have some sip of something. It’s stifling in that annex! My goodness!

Well, I am sure there will be more as the week progresses. I just have to stop now because my St. Joe’s homework is calling me! E-gads!

As it Stands . . .

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 23:17:18 GMT

Okay,

I was at a funeral Thursday but went in Friday for the professional development. It was very strange to have to report to the meetings when they announced "teachers are asked to meet in the IMC." I felt like asking, "Do they mean me, too?" LOL! Just extremely strange. Then, I had to remember to check my inbox in the office. I mean, I used to do it for my partner teachers but I'd just pretty much take the stuff out of the box and hand it over. I didn't have to worry about it! I have to do what?! I got my class list and started looking at all the names and whatnot and didn't really pay attention. I looked up at the "teacher" column and it had my name! WOW! Am I trippin' or what?! I mean, yeah, I knew the day would come but it seemed so far away and now it's here. That means I am actually the "teacher of record." When the S.H.I.T. hits the fan it's my name on the line. OUCH!

So, as it stands I have an intern in the afternoon. They are doing the split model. She is not that kosher in math either. But as my mother keeps saying, "You should be able to handle second grade math!" And while that is certainly true, I think my phobia is just getting out of control. I need to reel it back in. I thought I could pawn that afternoon math block to her. She's failed her exam twice so far. Not as bad as my attempts but can you just imagine?! LOL! Of course, I gave her all my books I studied with and I have to go find her email address so that I can send her to the site I went to that I believe helped me to finally pass the thing. I'll do that now before it gets out of my head. Oh, my intern is also a picture freak. She used to work as a photojournalist for a community paper. So that really makes me happy. I'll have to do a "We ought to be in pictures" board again. Where to put it is the question now, right?

She seemed impressed with my room design and the ideas I had. She said that some teachers who had been teaching for years didn’t seem as organized as I was and had gone "stale." I told her that I may have a great design and appear to know what I am doing but I was totally a fraud. I am scared as hell and not sure I can do this. It's all a front to make the time, money, and effort seem worth while. I did tell her that my partner teachers had totally taught me what I needed to know. Like, some things were straight from my first partner teacher and other things were straight from the second one. Some of their ideas I had just taken and expanded on because it is second grade. So, we'll see. My intern, JD, seemed very comfortable with me--probably because she knows I am a former intern and know the program--and also probably because I am younger. Even if she can't do math, I'll give her an hour in the afternoon to do some projects with the children. We can make it social studies or science and some math but I will let her know that at least for an hour each day she will have total control of the room--pull a Mrs. J on her. "This is what you want to do? This is what it's all about, gurl. Just jump right in there and run with it if you can." I can pull small groups or pairs or individual children as needed while she does her thing--or at least go to the bathroom because the closest one is like a half a mile away, near the front office. My bladder may burst before I get there!

I also have an aide/SSA in the mornings from 9:00-11:00 AM. The principal said she doesn't expect it to change but don't be surprised if it does. Everyone is saying how lucky I am to have the people assigned to me so far, so I am so hoping that things remain the same. I hear things like, "She's awesome" and "I can't believe you got her" and "How'd you manage that?" when they hear Mrs. S was assigned to me. The same goes for the intern. So, seems like that St. Joe's/second grade teacher connection is working for me so far. We'll see if my luck holds. I can ask the SSA to check the homework in the morning for me, which I was going to try to do on my own--having them open it on their desks and then I'd check it while we did other things (journal writing or reading or the morning problem). However, this way, the aide can do it for thirty minutes to 45 minutes and then work with a small group or one-on-one, if I have low children. Am I allowed to ask them to copy stuff and all that? When she comes in on Tuesday, I'll have to ask her and then ask what she's comfortable with. But from what I hear she's the greatest thing since sliced bread so that's cool.

Well, that's about it so far. The room is pretty much complete except for some minor stuff. I had to go back and re-buy the calendar but that was easy enough. (I never did find the first one I thought I bought.) I was going to laminate the first two months (September/October) but figured the laminating person can do that for me next week if I get it in immediately. I just have to put it in a bag with my name on it and leave it in the office and miraculously it appears at my door. If I can figure out what I'll need laminated in advance, I'll be cool. But stuff I know I can't wait on, I'll just have to remember that I'll have to do it myself at the store. There is a copier center that is open all day. We leave things to be copied and then it's returned to us. Again, we must give the copy person advance notice. Like, he won't have it done the same day and I should probably allow for about a day or two. E-gads! Luckily, Mom bought me my own copier. I will be working that baby this weekend for sure, when I get some paper. There is, however, a copier in the teacher's lounge on the second floor that I am allowed to use myself. No copy cards, thank goodness! So, if I do need something immediately, it can happen.

Oh, I did meet one of my students yesterday, RQ. She was so incredibly cute, I couldn't stand it. Hispanic little girl. Her mother actually works in the school, which is how I got to meet her. She had introduced herself to me Wednesday and one of the resource teachers told me I'd have my coworker's daughter. I think she's the Home and School president or representative or something. So, I introduced myself to the little girl and shook her hand. She was very mature and pleasant. She came to help me in the room. She made tape backings for me so that I could put the name tags on the cloakroom hooks. Then she put the Velcro dots on my attendance board and kind of went to town. She was so quiet over there I forgot to check on her! Luckily I only had to remove about five of them to make the board work. But she was very diligent and serious.

Karen got to meet a lot of people, which is good. She'll know who I mean when I talk about folks. Mrs. F knew a lot of folks too. So many former Crampettes (as they call themselves) are at the new school. So, they'll feel my pain as I go throughout the year, re-acclimating myself to a decent principal.

Oh, I did tell you about the "atmosphere" with the teacher who was the former teacher in my room. Well, another teacher (a Crampette) came up to me and told me that she'd heard that the former inhabitant of my room had given me "the business." It's like, how'd that get around? I was trying to remember who I had even told. I think I may have told my next door neighbor. I don't even know her last name. At any rate, I was just so aghast at the woman's behavior I had to tell someone who might be able to shed some light on the situation for me. I'll be more discrete in the future. In any case, the teacher who approached me (who knows me only because my former partner teacher introduced us last week) said that the same thing happened to her with this teacher and she told her not to come at her that way and she eventually apologized and that she'd probably do the same to me. She hasn’t yet and frankly I don't care. I just don't want to be bothered with her at all. The manic wench tried to talk to me at the meeting in the IMC about the Core Curriculum I had in my hands (yes, I finally got a set) and I just nodded my head and kept moving. Poof! Be gone!

There apparently is a community (second grade only) TV/VCR combo available to me. The one teacher came around to collect for a new DVD player they are getting. It costs $40 so they are collecting from the teachers to get it so that we can have that available to us, too. Of course, me being me, I want my own so I can use it as I want and not have to request but we'll see how this works out and if I can beg my own visual equipment from family. I did give my portion of the new DVD player.

I can't think of anything else right now. But that's pretty much what's going on so far. I am sure I'll check in after next week and tell my trials, tribulations, and rewards. I am positive there will be some!

First Day Back--2004

Thu, 02 Sep 2004 03:26:40 GMT

I am exhausted! I was on my feet practically the entire day! There was a meet and greet in our lobby and we had bagels and juice and coffee and then there was a very brief "meeting"--an hour. But it was more about welcoming new staff and congratulating former staff and just a basic catch up with folks after the long summer. I received a gift bag because I was a new teacher--all of the newbies did. I thought that was cute. It had crayons, markers, rulers, chalk, scissors, etc. The teachers who helped make AYP received dollar-store "gold" medals, Olympic style. Some teachers received roses--I think it was the Fast Forward team (reading program) who helped "make the numbers." So, then we had a meeting with the principal--the new teachers--in her office. There were about five or six of us. We went over some things lightening quick because she's a fast talker. She repeated a lot of things over and over but she was trying to be thorough, I guess. I gave some requests for things and she said she'd see what she could do for me.

I need that table for my writing center and then I'd like an easel and a listening center. If I don't get one soon, I'll just buy one myself. I mean, I want to be able to do the things I want to do, you know? K finished the painting and re-staining the desk. It looks amazing! I had two teachers come in and tell me how gorgeous the room looked. They joked that I was trying to "show them up." I just told them that I was used to having things a certain way and that I operated better when I was in an environment I enjoyed. You know? Besides, I was finally in my own room and I wanted to do with it what I wanted. Not to say that Mrs. J or Mrs. F didn't make me feel welcome--quite the contrary. I felt very accepted and welcomed. But you know how it is when you get your own space. You just want to put your stamp all over it, you know? I am like a cat, pissing on my territory! LOL! Yeah, vulgar, I know. Forgive me; I am tired!

I had my brother deliver all my crap I've been hording since I started the intern program three years ago. I have so many books! I mean, I didn't even realize how many books I had because I just kept stuffing them in boxes and putting them in the second floor vacant apartment. They delivered the two bookcases I may have told you about--the principal offered them to me from the IMC (the library, to you and me). They actually fit in very nicely. I was going to use one of them for my math manipulatives but I may have to change that game plan. Oh, and I haven't even put up my resource books! I'll have to buy a little bookcase and put those behind my desk or a low bench for the side of my desk and hope for a bookshelf in that . . .

But listen, the big story of the day was the teacher who was in the room before I got there. She was a real WENCH! She approached me at the meet and greet and told me she had to get some things out of the room. Okay, fine. She starts naming the stuff that she wanted. Well, Karen had painted this black bookshelf of hers--the teacher had actually paid for it. I told her that I hope she liked the fresh coat of paint. But, what could I do? She paid for it. Fine. Come take it. So, then she started talking about another bookcase--I am not sure it was done when you saw it. We painted it yellow. She thought that was hers but it wasn't. Thank God! I'd have been SO HOT! At any rate, she starts going through the room and telling me how she left the one board for me with the lines in it--if you remember, that board was near the door, near the phone. I made it my job chart board. She gave me this look when she said she left it for me and I just said I had seen it but I decided to do something else with it. As if I had done something wrong. Then she tells me how I should move my desk over to where the phone is. I told her I was probably never going to be at my desk so it didn't matter where it was but I preferred it where I put it--obviously, right? She kept insisting, so I just looked at her and shut down when she continued to talk. I was going to get really nasty but I figured I'd hold my tongue. I didn't want to start out on the wrong foot with these new people but I wanted to cuss her out so bad! Like, is this your freakin' room still? I could have sworn I was assigned to this room now.

Then she starts saying how she is very upset and that she had been forced out of the annex after five years and now she'll be in a trailer and was "really screwed" and just really crying the blues to me right? She even said how she couldn't talk about it because she would cry. Well, shut the fuck up about it then! Excuse my French! I mean, I am sorry that she felt she was forced out of her room but what does she want me to do about it? The principal gave me the room and that is where I am and what I straightened up to be my room. It's MY ROOM NOW! Be gone! K said that I was really cool but polite about it--since she's knows my personality is to be more directly hostile if I don't like a person. You know? I mean, it would have been worse than the computer teacher or the lunch aid from the old school. At any rate, she had a friend with her and when she started talking about crying, he came and took her by the shoulder and lead her out of the room. As he pushed her out, he looked back at me and gave me an apologetic look. I mean, WTF?! He realized she was going a bit over the top with her personal story but I guess he was used to it. She came a little later and had people take away her stuff.

OH! And to add insult to injury, the principal had her son helping out today because he came along for the ride. So, he came to ask me if I needed help and I had him put the Velcro dots on my raindrops. Well, this manic teacher (the previous inhabitant of MY ROOM) just came in and basically usurped him from me. I mean, it's a good thing I really didn't have much for him to do or I would have insisted he finish the job he was doing with me first. Already I feel hostility toward this woman and don't want to speak to her and that's not a good way to start the year. But I will try to be civil if she just watches what she says to me. The principal told me she was a "pain in the ass." At the time, Karen and I both thought it was a little unprofessional of her to do that but now I am thanking her because I was able to be on my guard.

Oh, AND THEN! She tells me how she may have the Core Curriculum at home but that until she gets hers for third grade she's not giving me the one for second grade. HELLO?! What the hell does she need for?! She has third grade! If I don’t have it by Friday afternoon, I will talk to the principal again and let her deal with it. I am not in the mood and I am not the one to deal with that woman. I don't even know her name! Begins with an S, though . . .

Well, I had class tonight. English Linguistics--part of the ESL Program. OY! I don't know why I did this! I was so tired and pretty much giving the professor attitude most of the night. I even started reading my homework assignment already that's due next week. LOL! I mean, when am I going to have time for this?! What was I thinking?! (SIGH!) But if I can do this I will finish the classes and get the certification (I hope) and then I think I will just take four courses with the Gratz program. I'd only need four more courses (at three credits each) to get my master's plus 60--if that will even still apply given the new contract. They don’t have a master's plus 60 in the contract book but the teachers certainly all talk about it, so I do believe there is more money involved in that. The Gratz courses are only $700 per class, so I could pay cash for those. The lady down the hall, Mrs. R (also a new teacher who has taken a liking to me), is also working on her plus 60. I told her I was doing the same. It's funny the looks I get when I say that. I mean, do I look to young or do they just think I don't know what I am talking about and are too polite to tell me so? LOL!

I have my aunt's funeral tomorrow. I wish I could have finished in my room but she was a close aunt. I have to go. I have family coming in from NY and DC to see her off so I must make an appearance if I am in the same city. I may even call my professor tomorrow and tell him that I won't be there. Yes, I am in class two nights per week on top of getting my feet wet in second grade. Yeah, again . . . . WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

And I will have the after pictures Friday. I will make sure I take my camera. I wanted to wait until everything was completely finished!

Second Grade at Moore Elementary

Tue, 24 Aug 2004 23:53:42 GMT

Well, after trying to reach the principal for the better part of two days, I finally got some answers. I called many times today and finally got a live voice. I think the woman I spoke to must have been the secretary. I explained to her who I was and, while the principal was in a meeting, she did go get the information about my grade assignment for me. I will be placed in a second grade classroom. That is just blowing my mind because that was like my first choice. Second, first, third, then Kindergarten . . . I figured that second would be more independent than first but not so much that they'd have attitude problems and I couldn't do the math. LOL!

The woman, M, goes on to ask me questions about my background and I tell her my experience as an intern for the past three years and the grades I've taught so far. She was much friendlier than the woman I spoke to yesterday but I have a feeling she is probably the same woman but just had a chance to shake off the Monday blues. We'll see. She tells me how I'll be teaching in the "portable classroom." Of course, I am thinking trailer. She said that it wouldn't be the trailer but down in the hallway. I had heard that they had teachers teaching in a hallway but I couldn't believe it. I mean, can you just imagine? When someone says hallway, there is no way you don't think of a . . . well, a hallway! My mom tells a story about how when we lived on Germantown Avenue the apartment had this huge hallway--so huge that it was my room as a child. Yeah, sure . . . but we're talking about a HALLWAY!

Eventually the woman takes my number and name and tells me the principal will return my call. I wait and wait and wait all afternoon because now that I have what I think will be a dream assignment, now I am worried about this hallway business. She finally calls me back (after 6:00 PM) and we talk for a minute. She said that she knew my name and address from a website the principals must be able to access but there was no phone number or she would have called me sooner. I told her I'd been trying to get in touch with her since yesterday. At any rate, she talks to me about the second grade position as if she were apologetic. I told her that I was hoping for second grade so that was fine. Then I asked her about this hallway crapola. She said it was an annex. I asked her to explain to me what she meant. It's basically one of those metal structures attached to the main school building. They have commercials about them now. http://www.vanguardmodular.com/lgeducation.html or http://www.mobilemodularrents.com/modular/floorplanMTS.asp?tContactId=&MMContactGuid=&MMContactName=&MMCustomerName=&pic=44 So I think it should be fine. She said it was an actual classroom and I actually have a cloakroom that locks! WOW! LOL!

The principal went on to say that the school gives a lot of supplies and that she would look for a Core Curriculum for me so I can get it tomorrow when I go visit the room. I told her I was a little anxious and eager to get started on plans and whatnot. She said she understood. The grade group leader hadn't been in yet so she must have the key where the stuff is locked up. But she would try to get her hands on some things for me. They use the Trophies series and Every Day Mathematics. But I'll probably have to wait for that until next week when we're officially in school.

She sounded young and pleasant. I've heard this principal is fair but firm and that is all I can ask. She said that the school was a true melting pot and "no one retires from here." So, apparently, this is a great school that no teacher wants to leave. That sounds good to me. What could be the chances that I'd luck out with a plum assignment after the trauma an drama of the last couple of weeks?!

The principal from the other school I visited last Thursday called me, too. I wasn't sure how sincere she was when she told me she "liked my style" but apparently she was very sincere. The way she explained it to me was that I was to pick her school if there was a listing down there for grade teacher. It didn't say that. It said grade teacher/middle year math. So, I, of course, steered clear of that! Besides, I did try to call her and she wasn’t available to talk to me about. In any case, she called me and gave me her home phone number and everything so that I could call and tell her how I made out. I did call her back and told her how her listing was still for the math and that I didn't want to take the chance, although I really did very much want to be at her school. She said she had gotten the bad news online that I'd chosen another school. She hadn't heard of Moore so I told her a few things about it. She told me to keep her school in mind in case I wanted to transfer because she seemed quite confident that from now on all the schools would be site-select. Hmmm, I guess that's rather telling for the new contract, huh?

So, that's my news. I am charging my camera so that I can take pictures of the classroom tomorrow. I want to be able to envision certain things when I go out shopping this weekend for posters and storage bins and all that good stuff. Good thing I get paid Friday, huh?

I'll keep you posted!