Finally Home

It was with a huge sigh of relief that I exited the school building this afternoon. I am done. I spent 65 days in the classroom. Countless hours of my nights and weekends at home were also dedicated to school work. Now I can relax and focus on my family, my home and homeschool. Maybe even myself. The rest of this week I plan on:

• Sleeping late
  
• Cleaning my room. There is a shameful pile of summer and winter clothes needing my attention, clutter and dust.
• Organizing coupons
• Planning for Thanksgiving
• Shopping
• Spending time with my family
• Visiting some bloggy friends

What's on your to do list?

Counting Down

Many have asked the question and the answer is , yes, I am counting down the days. I can now count them on one hand! I only have five more days as board substitute in kindergarten. There are some things that I will miss. Getting ready in the morning without any interruption. (my entire family is still asleep at that hour.) The pay check. Some of the students.

Each week I have a different duty at dismissal time - bus riders, car riders, day care or second loaders. Car riders is the most difficult. All I have to do is keep 50 kindergarteners reasonably quiet for 30 minutes while they sit on the floor waiting for someone to pick them up. It's a bit like nailing jell-o to a tree but not as much fun. Today was a bit more interesting. Two of the people who usually do car rider duty on a daily basis were not there. So I was asked to be the one to call the kids names using the megaphone. I thought that would be fun. I had to hold the megaphone with one hand and a walkie talkie with the other. There was a teacher outside and she would call the names of the students to me on the walkie and then I would use the megaphone to call the student. I wasn't familiar with many of the names, especially the last names. Hearing them for the first time via a walkie talkie was difficult. And do you know how heavy a megaphone is? If I did that every day and switched arms from time to time I would consider it weight training. Perhaps this experience just pointed out a need. . .

Yes, just five more school days. Then I can think about organizing my bedroom, Thanksgiving and going to the gym!

Hannah has been nominated for Best Teen Gal Blog! Vote for her today at The Homeschool Post. Vote for An American Girl. Thanks!

A Broken Heart

I have kids in my class who cry over every little thing. They forgot their lunch box, someone took "their" crayon, someone looked at them funny or hurt their feelings. Jay is not a crier. In his five years, he's already acquainted with some of the difficult things in life. He was on the streets with his mom. Grandmother now has custody but mom is still homeless. I don't know all the details. He has some problems with one of his eyes. Apparently, the left eye is weaker and in an effort to strengthen it, he has to wear an eye patch on his right eye all day long. This had made his already rocky academic career go topsy-turvy. The poor little guy just can't see. Today, I passed out the school t-shirts that the parents ordered for their kids at the beginning of the year. It was a school fund raiser. Not everyone participated. Some kids were left out. Jay was among them and he cried. It was not the "my feelings are hurt" kind of tears. They were tears of real sorrow and my heart was broken all over again for this little guy. I only have 10 days left in this class. Mostly, I'll be glad to be home. I'm really going to miss Jay.

Back to our regular scheduled program . . .

I have 13 days left in kindergarten. After a long child study meeting with school psychologist, Dr. Turkey and other staff members, it was decided that Wonder will only go to school for 1/2 days. Today was the first half day and she did fine. We shall see if it works.

Jane asked if John's new job is close by or will we have to move. It's about 5 hours from here. So, yes, we will be moving. We are all looking forward to getting out of this apartment even if that does mean packing. I'll think about that more when I'm done with kindergarten.

Kindergarten Testing

The past two weeks of kindergarten were filled with testing. I don't know who the brainiac was who decided to do the PALS (Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening) testing back to back with the nine weeks testing. The students and I were very weary of it all by the end. Both tests require an enormous amount of individual testing time. And just what do we do with the 16 other students while working with one? Lots of seat work for starters. We also teamed up with the other K teachers. One teacher would put in a movie and the other teachers would pull students out to test.

There were some funny moments during it all. One of the questions on the nine weeks test is who is the leader of our country. Some students said George Washington. Most replied with George W. Bush. One little boy excitedly exclaimed, "Obock Arama!" I simply told him, "No, he's not." We also asked them what were the 5 senses. Jay said, "Looking . . . hearing . . . touching . . . . . . Those are mine!" Jay made me laugh again when we talked about the seasons. I had four pictures of the different seasons and they had to point to the one depicting fall. He quickly chose the right one. Then he pointed at the winter picture and said, "That tree doesn't have any leaves." When I asked him what season that was he said, "Tornado season!!"

Tomorrow is a half day for the students but a very long day for me. We have parent-teacher conferences and my last one is at 6:00 PM. I need to get to bed! Don't forget to vote in my poll if you haven't already. Thanks!

Kindergarten Week in Review

Weary, tired, exhausted and thankful to be able to come home to a wonderful family. Hannah is cooking dinner. John told me not to do anything. Just to relax and watch some TV. Here are a few highlights of my week:

• On Monday Eddie peed on the bathroom door making a mess of the bathroom and a puddle on the floor. His mom and dad got a phone call. Thank goodness for janitors!
• Wednesday we had another fire drill. We have one a week for the first month. I knew about Niki's fear. I read a book about fire drills. We talked about it. I told her she could hold my hand. But she still screamed louder than the fire drill siren and noise of all the students.
• Last night was open house. I was on my feet for the most part of 13 hours.
• Dee-Dee brought in $20 and said it was for lunch. I knew she had already brought in money and I had to figure out what it was for. After calling her mom, I found out that it was for a $15 school t-shirt.
  
• Wonder was acting up in art class and I had to go get her. I had her go with me while I was dealing with Dee-Dee's money. I didn't get a restroom break until lunch.
• The secretary brought $5 change and a receipt for Dee-Dee.
  
• Jimmy, who still likes to cut, decided to try to cut Phoebe's finger. He pinched it good and I put a band-aid on it.
• After lunch, I noticed the receipt but the money was missing. I don't remember putting it down but that was right around the time Jimmy tried cutting Phoebe's finger.
• I told the kids we weren't going to recess until we found the money. Ron ratted on his best friend Eddie. "I saw Eddie with a dollar and it had a 5 on it." Eddie said that he didn't know whose it was so he used it to buy lunch. Once the money is in the lunch account, it can't be taken out.
• After nap time, Phoebe came up to me and told me that her finger was purple. I looked at it and she had re-wrapped the band-aid tightly around her finger.
• During math, Quiet Jimmy Who Loves to Cut, cut the front hem of his t-shirt off.
• This classroom is beginning to feel like a battlefield. While I don't like time to slip away so quickly, I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving!
  

More Kindergarten Highlights

Yesterday morning I walked into my classroom and wondered how in the world I would make through the morning. I could barely croak out a whisper. If we were further into the school year, I would have called for a substitute. (A sub for the sub. Pretty sorry!) During the first week of kindergarten, it is critical to establish routines. They have to learn the simple things like how to unpack their backpacks and how to walk in line. I did not want to have someone else come in and confuse the poor kids. So it was with a very hoarse voice that I greeted the students yesterday morning. It seems I've suffered from laryngitis every single year that I've taught. (Maybe I'm allergic to school!) Along the way, I've learned how to manage the classroom with a weak voice. I stretched out things like the morning coloring time, song time (on a CD) and nap time. That helped some. The students are fairly well behaved and listen attentively when I do have to speak. My voice improved somewhat during the day but again, by 2 PM, it was almost gone. I wrote my plans out clearly and had all the materials laid out just in case. I knew if my voice worsened, I would have no choice but to request a substitute. Last night, I rested my voice again and wrote notes to my family instead of speaking. I was also desperate enough to gargle with peroxide.

I still had my croaking voice this morning. It was enough. And after being awake for a few hours, it sounded even better. Not good but better. Here are a few more notes about my class:

• Ray is a well dressed little boy but a slob.
  
• I got a new student today. Jimmy is quiet and loves to cut. I didn't know that you could get so many tiny pieces out of one sheet of paper.
• Dee-Dee wants to bring her school supplies home each day.
  
• We had our first fire drill today. I discussed it beforehand with the children and told them that it was just practice. Most seemed OK with that. Some knew about drills from daycare. Some were concerned about their backpacks and other belongings. What if there was a real fire? Could they bring their backpacks then? Niki was the first one in line when the fire drill bell rang. She did a good job leading the line outside but when I got to her, she was sobbing. All the discussion time and she was still frightened. Perhaps she didn't expect the bell to be so loud or to discover so many students in the hallway at one time. She told me that she didn't want to do any more fire drills. I told her that we had to. She was fine with that as long as I promised to hold her hand.
• When we went back in, I realized that I left my key on my desk and we were locked out of the room. Thankfully, we are just across the hall from the janitors' office.
• I love where my classroom is located. It is close to everything - except the special ed class that I subbed for last year!

The improvement in my voice is gradual. I did spend some time talking to my family this afternoon. I will resort to writing notes again so that I can rest my voice. I'm looking forward to tomorrow - blue jeans and a tee-shirt day! Not to mention the beginning of the weekend. How was your day?

The First Day of Kindergarten

I was a bit anxious about my first day of kindergarten today. Coming down with a cold that threatened laryngitis did not help. The day went well in spite of my fears. Twelve out of thirteen students showed up. They all seemed fairly well behaved on the first day. I am sure that some of them will show their true colors before the week is out. Here are a few highlights:

• "Jay," a potential challenge, has already won my heart. He comes from a sad situation and is now living with grandma. He didn't even know how to sit "Indian style", or "criss-cross applesauce" to use the more politically correct term.
  
• "Jin" is another sweetie. She doesn't know English at all. Her parents did teach her the important words like "teacher" and "pee". I know how she feels to be surrounded by a sea of words that she cannot understand.
  
• "Dee-Dee" comes first when going by last name alphabetically. She's completely lost on how to be a line leader. She was overly concerned about going home and asked several times. Her mom did not send any supplies and that made rest time difficult without a mat. She cried when she didn't have a mat and cried more when I suggested that she just lay her head down on the table. I found her something soft and she was actually one of the few to fall asleep.
• Lunch needs to be rethought. I will have a different plan of action tomorrow. Going through the line, making choices, punching in a lunch code and finding the right tables at the other end of the cafeteria were a few of the challenges. "Jin" ended up with only milk but was able to communicate easily enough that she needed a lunch. "Jay" had a bag lunch and a school lunch. John wondered that I only packed myself a half of a sandwich. I wondered why I thought I would have time to eat so much.
• The worst part of the day occurred after all the students had left. An older child came in and asked if I was "Dee-Dee's" teacher. She informed me that "Dee-Dee" wasn't on the bus. Panic time, internally anyway. I went out searching the buses that were still at the school. Discussed the situation with the vice principal and lead kindergarten teacher. The child had a wrist band and a huge piece of tape that clearly stated she was to be put on bus #ABC. Instead she was put on bus #DEF by the Kg. teacher on duty. More panic ensued when the driver of DEF said she wasn't on there. Meanwhile, the mother of the child is on the phone with one secretary. The other secretary is on the phone with transportation. The principal is on the walkie talkie with the vice principal and I'm thinking all kinds of things that might have happened to this poor little girl who so desperately wanted to go home. Thankfully she was on DEF and that driver brought her back to school where her sister and grandfather were waiting. She had a smile hiding behind her tear stained face and a hug for anyone willing to receive one.

All in all, it was a good day. Sorry for such a long entry. I wanted to share my day with my mom and dad and my family here but in the interest of saving my voice, I thought I'd better write it all down. Pray for my voice to make it through the week. "Phoebe" told me at the end of the school day, "Mrs. Woodworm," (her way of pronouncing my name - we are working on that one!) "It sounds like your voice is going away." Yes it certainly was almost gone by 2 PM.