chuckle.

a silly memory from college

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thanksgiving? what?

is it seriously already thanksgiving? the insanity of work, class, and life causes time to fly. i hardly have a clue what's going on anymore and that kinda bothers me.
but. here is a photo of my crazy fourth grade class. they truly are insane. oh no, do not be fooled by their cute poses, smiles, and occasional 'gangsta' signs. sometimes i wonder if the teachers of my school are here to tame wild beasts or teach small children. the line bordering the purpose of this career seems to blur wayyy too much.

my classroom smells like doo doo.

ahhh yes. hand sanitizer, air freshener, clorox wipes and febreze are all my best friends these days.
but nothing tops a first grader poo-ing her pants in my class.
at first, as they all filed in i thought i smelled something rather odd. I pushed the thought aside and continued teaching our new songs for this week. About five minutes passed and i realized the odor was becoming even worse. so i had the children stand up and i walked around the classroom pretending to observe but really, i was sniffing for the culprit. i finally realized it was a girl standing right in front and looking rather uncomfortable.
so i approached the girl and whispered "Faith, do you need to go to the bathroom?"
she looked confused at first until finally, a look of overwhelming realization spread across her face. she nodded ferociously, and i told her to go immediately.
she was literally gone for 20 minutes.
i was beginning to worry by the end of class. i realize these nuisances can be messy for a 6 year old to clean up, but 20 minutes? i thought maybe she went to te nurse.
she finally appeared and i asked her "Is everything alright?"
she grinned and said a little too loudly "Yep! I just had to wipe my butt!"

and thus, my air freshener's dying breath was used simply to kill the leftover doo doo odor wafting through the classroom.
lovely.

of frustrations and small triumphs.

i've had nothing of any substance to say, lately. the number of fistfights i have had to break up in the past three days alone are beginning to trouble me. i know these kids have rough lives at home, but how do i get through to them?

my fourth graders thought the capital of the united states was capital heights. DC happens to be right next door, and they had no idea.

i spent class with my sixth graders discussing 9/11 because they had no idea that it happened. why is no one telling them these things?

meanwhile, i've been working twelve hour days running on coffee and diet coke. not a good combination, but i don't know how to stop.

but the highlight of my day yesterday:

we talked about latin music in my fifth grade class yesterday.

they had no idea who gloria estefan was (yes, i totally went off track from the original lesson plan, as usual).

I decided to not play the pathetic demonstration of latin music the curriclum chose, and played the original video of gloria singing the song "Reach" while showing the 1996 olympics.

[they had no idea what the olympics are, by the way]

we then talked about music in spain, cuba, portugal. i taught a little salsa step and they danced themselves out the door.

their classroom teacher asked them:

what is wrong with you? why are you dancing?

one serious fifth grader: because we learned to follow our dreams.



HAHAHAHA. where do they get this stuff? we talked about gloria and latin music and this is what they took from it?

alright, i'm not going to argue that one.








yesterday. was absolutely horrifying. i had my fourth grade class, and several of them apparently not only have ADHD, but ODD. Oppositional Defiance Disorder? what a load of crap equalling bad parenting and disrespect for everyone including themselves. How exactly am i to prevent three fights breaking out at the same time? How do you control 30 kids when all they do is scream at each other. about six of them could not care less, and that turns my class into "recess time".

UUUUGH.

i realize that these kids require constant positive reinforcement, particularly since they never respond to yelling or negativity. HOWEVER, i don't have TIME to do that in only 30 minutes, only once per week. that time goes by feeling like a second. and now i've nearly lost my voice

unbelievable. i've never seen kids this bad. not in a single other class.

now how in the world do i win them over? clearly fun and activities do not work.

sigh.

you win some and you lose some.

but i am so grateful to have a day off. i need a breather.

serenity now.

these munchkins look how i feel.

disturbing news of the day = receiving an email from the future principal at the school i've already committed myself to teaching at for the next year. the email reads as follows:

Greetings New John Eager Howard Elementary Family:

I have been notified that I will be transferring out of John E. Howard Elementary as Principal, and moving to the Office of Professional Development.

uhhhh... vague much? maybe i wouldn't freak out so much had i been teaching for several years and already knew the ins and outs of such random transitions. HOWEVER, i have not been teaching for several years and therefore know nothing about this.. i was JUST hired by this lady and now she's leaving??? what the eff?

i hate how everything has been thrown at me for the past five weeks, and i'm supposed to just.. adjust. i've been complying with hardly a complaint, but at this point i'm about ready to tear my hair out. perhaps it's the eleven hour days.. or perhaps it's the fact that my brain is on overload and definitely leaking out bits of educational terms and acronyms. but seriously!! i'm tired of being in the dark in this situation. and YET, there really is no backing out now. i've signed a contract. i've made my commitment. so where is their end of the bargain?!?

sigh. oh sorry, long week and it's only wednesday and i'm ranting. are you still reading? if so, i commend you.
and oh. one of my mentors for an evening class quit last night with only 3 classes left to go because of obnoxious classmates exaggerating her lack of worth as a teacher. i admit, she wasn't great, but the chaotic class and complete tangents lengthening the two and half hour class to three or so hours was not ENTIRELY her fault. now we are teacherless, and my classmates are still idiots.
and oh. just received an email saying while i'm teaching for the next year i'll be continuing to be taking classes. not just twice a month as i was originally told, but every week.
what have i gotten myself into now?

serenity now, please.

oh joy.

remember the praxis II? the one i thought i had failed miserably? oh wait. you wouldn't because i didn't write about it. but anyway, i seriously thought i failed. and i PASSED. passed. as in not failing. YAAAYYYYY.
:::dances gleefully:::

yes, i am alive.

a new song.
well sort of. wrote a lot of it awhile ago, but the tune finally entered my brain.
meanwhile, life has been insane. i'm going to be a teacher. what? yes, a music teacher. a music elementary teacher. it's going to be a difficult year, but i'm definitely up to the challenge. i cannot wait to be doing music as my JOB. i was just assigned to school in Capital Heights, Maryland. It's just over the border from DC. The area is completely poverty stricken and the kids have probably been through some horrible times already in their short lives, and may be dying for attention. it's crazy to think i'm going to be teaching these kids next MONTH. i guess blessings like this just happen that quickly sometimes.