Full moon?

I'm pretty sure there is a full moon in the next few days...or a storm coming in

My day was completely insane. Some days I walk out of my class feeling like a success, but today I felt like somewhere, I messed up. Maybe I wasn't tough even on them, maybe they don't respect my authority.  

Those days are few and far between, but they leave me feeling drained. 

Today my students would not get quiet. I waited, and waited. I counted. I assigned extra work. I didn't yell.  

I'm not really a yeller. I especially make it a point not to yell in my class. I like my students to notice when something is really important to me. I feel like if I yell all the time, it all seems the same. I like to save raising my voice for when it really matters. So today, I didn't yell. 

Maybe I should have yelled, or kept them in from recess. I don't know. I guess that's part of being a second year teacher. I wonder if it changes after you've been teaching 20 years. 

1sts and everys

Things that happened today, for the first time ever:

1. I mopped poop off the floor

2. I rode to KS and back in the same day

3. I went Geocaching with Samson

Things that happen every weekend:

1. I wake up before 7 am

2. I fail to grade papers

3. My kitchen starts the week in a mess

New Students...a reflection

Yesterday I got a new student. New students are common after breaks, and near semesters, but fairly uncommon this time of year.

I have been blessed in my two years of teaching, with the exception of one student who stayed for three days before he pulled a pocket knife, I've got great kids. 

I've had a total 3 "new kids" in my two years. Two of them have been transfered from a difference 6th grade class, and one moved back from fifth grade.  All of them have fit into my class seamlessly. I feel thankful for them being placed in my class, even though the day I get them is always hectic and stressful. 

It's the small things. Really. 

HL, HP, and CW -Welcome, glad you're here, you make our class whole.

At the end of my rope

I once told my kids that you know you are maturing when you are at the end of your rope, and you display self-control. 

Today I was at the end of my rope...

Hanging on their tight at the end of the day, trying to display self-control but my kids were making it difficult!

- asking tons of repeat questions

-not following directions

- having to redo the same thing 5 times

- saying dumb things, loudly

But I was clinging on....

THEN I came tumbling down.

E, my constant challenge to make sure behavior and language is appropriate, mouths off using racial slurs to one of my sweetest girls in the class.

over a wrinkled up piece of paper. yep. paper.

I got rope-burn on the way down. 

P....

While looking at a practice problem on a test. 

5 + 6 - (4 x 4) 

I asked O,

Mrs. H -What should you do first?  

O- I dunno

Mrs. H- Do you know what phrase we use to remember what goes first?

O- Nope

Mrs. H- There's a word..it's kinda made up..ring any bells?

*blank stares*

Mrs. H- PEMDAS? Please excuse my dear aunt Sally?

O- oh YEAH!

Mrs. H- What comes first?

 O- I don't know.

Mrs. H- Do you know what the P stands for?

No

Mrs. H- what are these? (pointing to the parenthesis)

O- Parenthesis? 

Mrs. H- yep. What does parenthesis start with?

O- P

Mrs. H- so what do you think the P in PEMDAS stands for?

O- ....Prime?

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH !!!! 

What I learned at Professional Development

Things I learned at Autism Training...by observing my fellow educators:

1. All teachers have ADD 

2. Sitting still for 90 minutes is killer

3. Drawing and Listening can happen, but it's not likely

4. Powerpoint packets double as game boards

5. We'd rather grade papers then be trained

6. When you get teachers together, the back rows fill first

7. Teachers stick in packs

8. I can sleep sitting up

9. A lot of purses get cleaned out

10. If it starts at 8:00, we arrive at 8:30

11. Parents aren't always the problem

12. It's the little things in life that bring happiness, like Sonic

13. We are everything we try to avoid in our students: tardy, inattentive, exclusive, distracting, and we talk during the class.

Mrs. Howard, are you sick?

Mrs. H are you sick? 

That's what one of my students asked me yesterday.  

---What makes you think I'm sick? Is it the fact that I can't speak more then 4 sentences without coughing, or I have to blow my nose during the spelling pre-test?  Did I tip you off that I lost my voice during the read aloud?  I can't talk loud enough to talk over you, so I sit by the clock and count seconds until you notice that I'm trying to get your attention.  I guess you noticed because I have been squeezing my head, because of a headache, more than normal.  

---So why don't we have a sub, you ask.  Because dear 6th grader, If I were to get a sub, I would have to plan out many more lessons, make many more copies, grade many more papers then usual. I would also have to deal with more behavior and respect problems, other teachers giving me looks for skipping out on my duties, and a sub that leaves a report telling me you're all hyper, disrespectful, and can't stay on task. Does that sound like something you want to do when you're not feeling well? 

--So I'm here at school today, don't worry you won't catch my cold. You probably gave it to me. I know how to cover my cough, wash my hands, and not share food. I can keep my germs to myself. So please talk a little less, listen a little more, and grab a tissue for me. 

Thanks

Mrs. H