The Craziness of Miss C's Room

Today was a day that would make any teacher proud. I am exhausted but a very good exhausted feeling. I do not thing I sat down more than twice today at my desk and it shows. My desk is covered with papers and supplies but that can all be cleaned up later. The kids were so excited to be at school today and were showing their personalities all the time. One girl could not resist the urge to sing so we now have a rendition of the Black Eyed Peas song Boom Boom Pow that tells all of the 6 and 7 multiplication facts. It's actually quite good. Then in my afternoon class we listened to beat-boxing while learning how to graph and reviewing rounding. I got just about everything in that I had planned to do today which was great. We are crazily trying to get the students ready for their 2nd round of testing next week. All of the teachers here are somewhat in panic mode. In my opinion, it is my responsibility to teach the students and I have been doing my best in that. Therefore, I have no reason to worry. It is up to the students to take the test and there is nothing more I can do except teach again to the best of my ability after the test. I am off to go run now, take care!

The Dog Ate My Homewok

As veteran teachers read this I am sure that they have a closet full of excuses about students not turning in homework over the years. I have officially started my closet. Now let me first begin by saying that I have a pretty strong opinion on homework. I do not believe in assigning busywork to go home just to have students doing homework. When I assign homework, it is for a very good reason and is meaningful practice. Therefore, I only assign it two or three days a week and I fully expect the students to return it completed. Today I only had two students turn it in. And one girl in particular almost made me laugh out loud. She came to me very seriously and started to tell me her excuse. It went something like this, "See Miss Christenberry I did it but I can't find it. I thought I put it in my folder in my bookbag but it's not there. I do have a dog at home.....and my bookbag was open.....soooo........" I am sure I had the greatest look on my face because she started to smile and said, "It's true!" Was I seriously hearing this? That was the oldest excuse in the book! It was an excuse that even if that had really happened you would make something else up to your teacher because you know she would never believe you. I stood dumbfounded and replied, "You've got to be kidding me. Are you serious? You really are sure that is the card you want to play?" Needless to say she was amoung the ten other kids in my room for recess doing their homework.

The Weather Has Changed!

Whew! What a day! I do not know if it is like this where you are, but there must have been something in the air today. Today it has gotten increasingly cold and starting to rain. This school today is drama central as we teachers seems to be handling one incident after another. Right now as I am writing this there are two 6/7 year old boys with tears streaming down their cheeks because they got in trouble for fighting with each other and we are attempting the "Ok, who started it?" approach. This afternoon, I had a totally different personality of kids and had to talk to several of them individually to calm everyone down. Everyone seemed upset with themselves and each other. This morning I had my morning group for the first time and learned that most students in this group are dealing with very tough and adult issues. The counselor seems to have had someone in her office all day and I have had to deny sending a student who asked to go to the principal because she was too busy. The good news? I didn't loose one kids today at carpool duty! However, deep down, I feel excited and filled with joy. I love being in the chaos with things always happening. I feel that I am where I am supposed to be and that the students need whatever I am supposed to be able to give.

In other news....it's cold here! And cloudy and rainy! It is very dreary and makes you want to just stay inside and read. Stay warm and may God bless you!

What can I do better?

Some days work out great. Others you scratch your head at the end of the day and wonder what went wrong. Today I sat in my room after my afternoon kiddos went back scratching my head and asking myself, "What went wrong?" Now, today was not an outrageously bad day and I wasn't about to scream and pull my hair out. My frustration level was more confused than angry. I had a great, interactive, and engaging lesson planned out and all of my materials were ready to go. I had been in a great mood all day and was not even tired by the afternoon. But when those students walked in today, everything fell apart. Most of the afternoon was spent waiting for my students to "get it together" and "settle down". I had more than one talk with them about behavior and was saddened when I had to throw out my creative lesson idea because of their lack of respect. As I sat still scrating my head in the quiet room, my first thought was, "I've got to do better." My students need better. I did not even smile or laugh once this afternoon. Tomorrow morning I will walk back in my room with my coffee and lesson plans altered and I will try again, better this time. I'm a first year teacher and I know I make mistakes all the time, but something else is missing. My lesson plans are fine and yes I can always add something more engaging or interactive to them but now I think it's time to build the community. A community of trust and interest in learning. This all takes time and I do not want any of you to worry about me because really, I'm fine. :) I just wanted to share my day with you. This is what all teachers go through the majority of days, wondering....what can I do better? They are constantly evolving, improving, and making changes. When they stop, they stop teaching. Oh in case you were wondering, those same students gave me a hug at the end of the day.