Finally Friday

I have never been so scared of a day of school in my life.

On Monday, I warned the 5th graders their memory work was long; they needed to start studying it right away.  Wednesday came: no one said their memory.  Thursday: nothing.  All four of them had to say it before the bell rang.

They had a math test yesterday.  Since one particular student likes to dawdle, I told the class their test had to be finished before we could open presents. 

Ms. J. was gone today getting a head start on Christmas travels.  So I was going it solo, trying to get our poky student to say memory and finish the math test.

It was torture.  I felt like such a mean, crabby teacher having to lay the smack down.  No one got their entire memory work said before the bell rang.  We barely had enough time to work on the math test, so they had to stay in from recess to get it done.  Two of them still didn't finish so the rest of the class quickly wrapped their parent presents while the others tried to finish their test. 

The 7th and 8th graders wanted to watch Facing the Giants as our class movie.  Since it's two hours long, we'd have to eliminate most of our recess and have a really short class party, not giving us much time to finish up those math tests.  When there was ten minutes to go (before we were supposed to start the movie), there was still one student testing.  I told the rest of the class to gather up their presents and head to the reading corner.  The student began to cry. 

The class told me I should open my presents first so the testing student would still get to see the rest of the class open their presents.  So I opened all my presents.  And this student still wasn't done.  So I had the other three open my gift to them.  (I made mini-Joe's at my pottery class.  They loved them!)  Still crying, still not done.  So we took a break from presents to speed-clean the classroom.  At that point, it was time to start the movie.  I called down to Mr. E's room and told them they could start without us.  And FINALLY the test was finished.  Everyone opened their presents, everyone loved them, everyone was happy.  And then we watched the movie.  Whew!

Le Tired

Since I'm super tired, let's keep this brief ...

The parent presents are nearly finished.  Two of my kids have theirs wrapped already.  The rest only need a few finishing touches and they'll be good to go too. 

I had just enough gingersnaps for everyone.  Most of the 5th graders hadn't had gingersnaps before, but they were glad to get extra dessert!  The 7th and 8th graders were also excited to get theirs (some even cheered!).  Since it was right after lunch, a few of them weren't hungry.  One girl gave part of her cookie to Mr. D.  He said they were very good.  The lady who bought my cookies on the silent auction picked hers up after school today.  She ran into Mr. D on his way out and he ended up with two of them.  She said she'd have to put them in the freezer when she got home or she'd eat them all before her company came! 

Our bookmarks are finally mailed!  I still have to email their teacher back...  We plan to start our Valentine's Day cards in January when we get back from break so they'll be done in time for February.

There were/are 4 basketball games after school.  They're on game number three in the gym right now.  I watched the B squad boys and girls play.  Though we weren't officially cheering, there were a few cheerleaders who wanted to cheer at the games.  They were going strong for about the first five minutes.  Then they ate some pizza and drank some pop and played around in the equipment room.  And then they ran off into the halls to play tag.  And then we didn't see them again.  Since it wasn't officially a cheering game, Mrs. E and I couldn't/didn't do a whole lot.  Seeing them in action gave us lots of things to think about for our meeting tomorrow. 

Don't cry over spilled paint...

Instead of English today, we worked on our parent Christmas present (mostly because there's no other time for us to do it during the day).  We were painting our pine cones white so they'd look more like a snowman... and mine slipped out of my hands and landed on my pants.  White paint down the front.  I was wearing khakis today, so it wasn't as bad as black pants, but it was still pretty noticeable.  Surprisingly, only one person said something about it: one of the 7th grade boys. 

Ms. J wasn't in school today; her grandma is in the hospital and she needed to be with her family.  The 5th graders made her a card and stuck it on her desk.  Hopefully she is back tomorrow.

We still haven't sent the bookmarks to our pen pals.  Oh I feel so bad they won't arrive before Christmas!  Today she sent their latest letters and asked when we sent ours.  How do I tell her they're still in an envelope on my desk???  I should just do it.  But I really don't want to.  Sigh.  And once again their letters outshine ours.  Neat handwriting, cool pictures... I feel like a failure of a teacher. 

Our first cheerleading practice was today.  Nine girls in K-2nd grade are on the squad.  And they are SUPER excited to be cheerleaders.  We learned a ton of cheers and then we performed them in the gym for the basketball team that was practicing.  And then Mrs. E's son stopped by school and all the girls mobbed him and told him he had to watch them do their cheers.  And a mom came early to pick up her daughter and they all wanted to show her their cheers.  So we did.  They picked up a lot of stuff at our first practice.  I think it's kind of funny that I am a cheer coach. 

When I was in 5th or 6th grade, I tried to quit cheerleading.  My teacher wouldn't let me.  And now here I am, head coach of the cheering squad at our school.

Scent of Freshly Baked Cookies

Gingersnaps have been haunting me all day.

I made a batch last night to give to the 7th and 8th graders as a "Christmas present" and also for a lady at church who bought some at the Silent Auction.  She was supposed to pick them up today but forgot, so they've been tucked into a desk drawer teasing me with their delicious smell every time I sit in my desk.

There were just enough cookies so everyone in my class can have two (plus the ones for the lady from church).  But there aren't any leftovers.  So that means I have to resist the temptation until Thursday when she can come pick them up.  Sigh.  It's going to be a long week.

We have our first cheerleading practice tomorrow.  A bunch of little girls have been coming up to me all day saying, "Miss H. I get to stay after school tomorrow!  I can't wait to be a cheerleader!"  Mrs. E and I came up with a game plan after school today for our first practice.  I hope everything goes well!

It was super windy today, so we drove the whole school over to church for our program practice.  That was an adventure.  Everyone made it there and back safely!

Judging by the sounds in the gym, I think the basketball game is about to start, so I better hustle out there so I can watch. 

Caution: Falling Coconuts!

At lunch today the conversation was all about coconuts.  No idea how we got on that topic, but we did. 

Someone mentioned that in Hawaii more people die from falling coconuts than they do from shark attacks.  Then another kid jumped in, "Yeah!  That's why they have signs that say 'Beware: Falling Coconuts!  Look out or you will die!' okay, I made that last part up, but I think they do have signs there."  That prompted the discussion of whether it would be better to die from a coconut falling on your head or to have a shark kill you.  The general consensus was that a coconut would be better.

Our first program practice was at church today.  As expected, everyone was super loud and keyed up.  I could practically feel the energy bouncing around the room.  Mrs. M asked for two "strapping young men, big and strong ones" to carry the manger to the center of the church.  Of course the smallest kid in my class (one who is the same height/size as some of the 1st graders) had his hand waving around in the air.  He didn't get picked. 

While doing research on the solar system, one of the boys found an article announcing that China was going to launch its first lunar mission.  And they did.  On Saturday.  We found a video of the Chinese people talking about the launch and how people in China felt about it.  That was pretty cool. 

Another interesting conversation we had today was about the treatment of Christians in China.  I am a little fuzzy on details, so I told my kids I'd email a friend who is teaching English there and see what the scoop is.  Thankfully I wrote a note, or I would've forgotten many times.  Speaking of which... I should do that now before I forget...

Day Made

First of all... it's Friday!!!  Last night I kept thinking that the next day was Saturday and it made me feel sad every time I remembered we still had one more day of school.

We didn't get our bookmarks for our pen pals finished.  A few more were completed, but not all of them.  I don't think they'll make it there by Christmas.

The 2nd graders had a super hard time focusing today.  I had to get after them so much!  They did get their quota of math worksheets done for today (or at least, they're all on the same page).

Once again, the awesome picture books I got at the library this week were passed around and read, this time with the 1st grade reading buddies.  I have a ton of books to add to my books-to-buy list.

Joe isn't dug down quite as far as before.  He was out momentarily to eat his food, but then he went back to his corner.

I'm in a conundrum: what to teach the 7th and 8th graders next week?  I really want to keep going with our units, but with Christmas break coming up it would be nice to do something different the last few days before break.  I don't want them to forget all we've learned before the test, so I think I might do a take home test before/over the break.  I'm such a mean teacher.

Well, whatever I decide to do, I think I'm going to figure it out at home.  My goal is to leave before 4:30pm, so I should have just enough time to clear off my desk and grab my books and go.

Notes

Last night I left school before basketball practice was over.  This morning I saw a note written on the whiteboard next to door (where they write their names when they have to use the bathroom).  It said, "Good morning! I wrote this after practice. Love L."  It made me smile.

The 2nd graders got all 20 of their tally marks, so we did a fun day today.  They did reading buddies with the 5th graders.  After reading a few books, they played hangman with words/phrases from the books. 

One of the 5th graders' brothers has a birthday today.  All this 5th grader could talk about was getting to go snowmobiling after school.  In religion, we were discussing the word aroma (how we're clothed with the aroma of Christ).  The 5th graders didn't know what it meant, so I gave them some examples of good aromas.  Of course they all wanted to name some: brownies, Mom's enchiladas... snowmobiles.  I'll give you one guess on which 5th grader said that.

We got a special delivery today.  Our Slovakian pen pals' package of Christmas presents arrived!  Woohoo!  I had to sign for it and everything.  All the things they send us are beautiful: neat handwriting, creatively drawn pictures, other cool pictures... It makes the stuff we send seem shabby.  And their Christmas presents are no different.  They sent a lot of stuff.  Some of it is glittery (and now it's coating my desk).  They sent some stickers and some little candies and some pretty bookmarks.  Each kid in our class got at least two cards.  One of the girls got four plus the stickers and some other random gifty things.  There were two cards for the boy who moved.  Ms. J got a card.  I got a card.  Even Joe got a card addressed to him! :)  Now we have to think of something really cool to send them.  Ahh! So much pressure!

I'm trying to decide whether I should pass them out tomorrow or wait until our Christmas party.  I think I'm going to wait.  But... maybe if I show them what the pen pals sent, the 5th graders will be more careful with the bookmarks they're making.  Hmm...

A Day Without a Para- aka- banging my head against the wall

Our lovely para was sick today.  Everyone in our classroom was bummed. 

Yesterday, the special ed teacher at Nicollet emailed the two of us a resource that provided examples of things to say/do with students who have reactive attachment disorder (RAD).  I read it this morning over breakfast.  It was GREAT!  I had so many great ideas after reading it; I felt confident and ready to face the day.  And throughout the school day all those ideas disappeared.  I think I might need to read it every morning before school until I have it memorized.  Sure I remembered some of the stuff, but I definitely made a lot of mistakes today.

Trying to stay one step ahead of this student completely wore me out.  I was trying different tactics I thought might work to get this student to do the assigned homework... and it seemed like this student didn't get anything done the whole day.  Maybe it's not true.  I don't know.  This kid was bummed the para wasn't there and was therefore more emotional, which led to more arguments over stupid stuff and more tears.  Just what every teacher wants to deal with.

On the plus side, we did get the majority of our art projects finished up.  Most of the 5th graders have a good start on their powerpoints.  The memory work is coming along slowly but surely.  The 2nd graders are cruising on their math!  They seem to be making less mistakes on their math packets.

I just remembered something funny that happened right before lunch.  One of the tactics in the RAD paper I read said that if a student isn't completing the work, the teacher can say, "How sad for you that you did not do your reading work.  You are so lucky that you have an awesome teacher who will give you the chance to practice reading during computer time!"  This student didn't finish the English assignment, dawdling around for 99% of the work time.  This student had just told me that I was an awesome teacher (probably because we were going to play the State Smacking Game instead of Spanish vocab today).  Since the work wasn't done, this kid wouldn't get to play.  I think I said something like, "Since I'm such a great teacher, I'm going to give you more time to work on that assignment.  When you finish five more problems, feel free to join us!"  The other 5th graders thought that was hilarious.  One of the boys even brought it up during computer time that afternoon.

On somewhat of a side-note, this student did 6 English problems and then played the game with us until lunch.  

Yep... still cold

Last night, the way the wind was howling I thought there was a chance school would be late.  Nope. 

I did have some trouble getting out of my house this morning.  A big drift grew in front of my porch door so I had to shove a couple times to get out.  Not that easy when I was loaded down with my teacher bag, etc.  It makes me wonder what I would do if the drift were even bigger and firmer.  Will I be able to get out of my house?  I might have to buy a shovel, just in case.  Although if I can't even get the door open, will a shovel help at all?

Highlights today: The littlest 5th grader made a basket in our recess game of SNAKE today.  Almost all our art projects for church are finished.  (Still need to figure out what they'll make for their parents' present).  Joe is sunning himself a little more- he's no longer buried under the bedding in his terrarium.  We had a lot of good discussions in history today (both 5th and 7/8th grade).  The 5th graders wanted me to keep back a few of the library books I had checked out last week so they could read them longer (the books are about colonial life/whaling, which was our topic today).

On the down side, it's still really cold out and only going to get colder!  I hear it will be -30 wind chill tomorrow morning.  Yikes!

9 school days 'til Christmas

The weekends just aren't long enough!  (for me and my students)

It was hard for them to settle in and focus on their work.  One student in particular was a roller coaster of emotion all day.  First she'd be happy, then she'd be mad saying she wasn't going to say anything else the rest of the day, then she'd ignore me, then she'd be happily chatting away (still dawdling on her work).

They had to take a test in math today, so I told them they had to finish their math test before working on their science solar system powerpoint presentation.  The same dawdling student groaned and couldn't believe I would be so cruel.  Too bad!  She ended up getting it done just in time for music practice.  The two boys got theirs done right away.  One had his story to finish (he had been on vacation when we finished them in class).  To help him go faster, I typed while he dictated his story.  Now he just has to do spell check and he'll be good to go!  Woohoo!  They're already thinking about revising them, but I told them we're waiting until January so they can look at their story with fresh eyes. 

So much to do before Christmas!  I can't believe we only have 9 days of school left.  And one of them will be our class party/program practice.  Yikes!

Speaking of a party... we always watch a movie with the 7th and 8th graders as part of our party, so we've been brainstorming good movies to watch.  In English, our lesson was on capitalizing titles of works.  One of the exercises was about The Sound of Music.  They had no clue what it was.  At all.  Nothing jogged their memories.  I was speechless for a few minutes and then I gave them a synopsis.  One girl said, "I know Miss H! We can watch that movie for our party!"  I actually wouldn't mind, but I'm thinking there's too much singing for the 7th and 8th graders.  I told her we could ask them what they thought.   

Jump Roping Around the Gym

Today marks the halfway point of the second quarter.  I looked at my curriculum map of the year and discovered that I'm right on schedule with 7/8th history, I'm ahead in 7/8th science, and I'm a little behind in 5th grade science and history.  I've been trying to do more projects for history lately, maybe I need to introduce some science projects too.  We're going to start an oceanography unit on Monday.

Other than that, our day has been pretty standard.

I suppose I could mention the argument between the two female 5th graders during read to someone.  They each wanted to read a different book and couldn't compromise.  We switched rounds and then while the rest of the class played the Circular Story Game for English, they had to read for another 6 minutes with each other using the compromise they came up with.  Our topic for Circular Stories was: John Deere and International.  My only stipulation was that no one/thing could die in the stories.  Oh man, poor International tractors got slaughtered in the stories.  I did my best to make them come out ahead, but the Deere power is too strong in our classroom.  We didn't get to read the stories aloud yet (we ran out of time), so we'll do that on Monday. 

At recess, I promised one of the girls that I would play jump rope with her (instead of SNAKE like the rest of the class plays).  Since Ms. J and I twirled the rope and didn't do SNAKE, the rest of the class decided to join us jump roping.  One of the boys asked if we could walk around the gym while he jumped.  So we did.  And everyone wanted to try it that way.  The teachers twirled the ropes and walked while the kids jumped.  At the end of recess, we tried with all 4 students jumping.  They tripped up before we could start to walk.  I think we're going to have to try it again some time.

The cold weather is doing nothing for my car.  Even in the garage the temperature got down to 17 degrees.  On my way to school my car was creaking because it was so cold!  I wonder if my hatch is shut all the way.  I'd try to shut it again, but there is ice and snow blocking it.  It never melted from the last time it snowed.

This weekend is shaping up to have some complications.  Sunday is caroling, Christmas at Bethany, and an education alumni dinner.  And we're supposed to get 2-3 inches of snow Sunday afternoon.  Hmm.  Lovely driving weather.  Sigh.  Hopefully we don't get much and the roads stay clear. 

Two Hours Late

Last night, I peeked out the window and didn't see much snow.  I figured school would be business as usual.  The alarm went off this morning and I saw that I had a voicemail on my phone from last night.  New Ulm was already two hours late, but since Nicollet was still on time, I had to go in at the normal time.

All but one of my students ride the New Ulm bus.  So I had one student in my classroom for an hour or so, and then another showed up (her mom dropped her off) and then another (his dad dropped him off), and finally the bus arrived and we had all 4 students.

It was crazy! Everyone had so much trouble focusing.  One girl did buckle down and get everything done.  She said her memory work (all 4 verses plus the commandment and meaning), finished an art project, started another art project, and shoveled the sidewalk.  On the other hand, I had another student who only finished two things in the two hours she was at school.  Sigh.

At our staff meeting, one of the teachers who has a child at MVL said her daughter texted her that school at MVL is already two hours late.  And where MVL goes, the rest of New Ulm Public is bound to follow.  Will we have a repeat of today? 

Early Out!

The phone rang.

The 5th graders scrambled shouting, "I'll get it!"

The teacher got there first and saw the number: New Ulm Public Schools.

Well, there goes the school day.  15 minutes later, Mr. E comes to let us know school is out for the day at 1:00pm.  Just enough time for the 7th and 8th graders to take their science test.  A little while later, Nicollet called school off, so we didn't need to call parents to come pick their kids up.

Yeah, other than that, not much has happened today.

Joe is still hibernating.  The helper of the day was really annoyed; she wanted to dig him out so we could give him his weekly bath.  I told her we could give him a bath when he comes out.  He stayed buried. 

So, I guess I'm going to finish up a few things and then head for home.  Maybe I'll decorate my apartment for Christmas.

As expected...

Today was a much better day, as expected. 

We had a game day in 2nd grade math. Don't worry, they were educational games.  They finally got to their 15 tallies and earned a reward.  We split into two groups and played the story dice game and the Neverending Story game.  Both games are played the same way; each person gets a pile of cards/dice and players take turn making up a story by looking at the pictures.  The two kids I was playing with were really into it.  They ended up staying a little longer in my room than they were supposed to.  But that's okay.

We also did reading buddies with the kindergartners.  They start out so enthusiastic, but they don't have much staying power.  One of the 5th grade boys complained that his two buddies stopped paying attention to him.  I think I need to keep a better eye on them and send them back once they start getting distracted.  It would also help for them to sit in a better spot.  So next time, I'm going to choose their seats for them.

This afternoon, we decorated the classroom for Christmas.  We got the tree out and plugged it in, strewing it with tinsel galore.  I don't think we even need more ornaments.  The tinsel blows in the breeze whenever anyone walks by and it reflects the lights.  It makes our room look so cozy when the lights are off!

Someone donated a nativity scene to school and no one else has room for it, so it ended up in my room.  There were tons of little pieces to unwrap and hang on a mini-tree that sticks up from behind the main scene. The tree is covered in angels and the rest of the figurines surround Mary and baby Jesus in the center.  We couldn't figure out which guy was supposed to be Joseph, so we just guessed.  And there wasn't a map of where to put the other figures, so we guessed on those ones too.  Lots of guessing going on.  But it turned out really cool!

One of the boys took charge of an even tinier tree.  He found the smallest ornaments and hung them on the branches.  Then he proudly found a spot for it at the front of the room.  It reminds me a bit of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  :)  I might have to take a picture to put on here.

Well, the first boy's basketball game is going on in the gym.  I should probably stop in and watch my kids play.  There's a storm coming tonight, so I'm debating whether I want to go to New Ulm tonight or tomorrow night for groceries/library.  Hmm... Advent service tomorrow night, but potential snowstorm.  Decisions, decisions.

Another one of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to go home and do nothing? 

Joe had the same feeling, except he actually got to do it.  I got to school early this morning to fix up the new bedding in his tank.  It needed more water so I let him walk around the room while I got everything situated.  By the time all the bedding was broken up, the 5th graders were here and they helped mix the sand into the bedding.  We plopped him in the corner where the bedding was mounded up and he dug himself down deep.  We haven't seen him since.  It's crazy how much this bothers the 5th graders.  They want to dig him out and check if he's okay.  I told them they had to leave him alone.  He's probably just grumpy from all the traveling he did this weekend.  And he probably wants to hibernate too; they normally hibernate for most of the year.

The 5th graders were also concerned about his food (I forgot it in my fridge at home).  And they were mega concerned about the Christmas decorations.  That's on the agenda for tomorrow.  Which reminds me, I need to pull out the rest of the decorations.  And figure out what we're making for a parent gift this year.  Yikes!  Christmas is coming fast!  And I need to decorate my apartment too.  And do some Christmas baking...

I had some technical difficulties this morning as well.  My computer screen wouldn't turn on at first.  I tried turning on/off the computer multiple times, then I tried unplugging the main cord.  That turned off my computer and the phone.  Oops.  I tried wiggling the cords.  Nothing.  Then I remembered I had one of the power strips turned off since most of what was plugged in was Joe's lights (and with him out of the building, I didn't think it needed to be on).  And once I had that flip switched, my computer screen worked fine.

But then my email didn't work.  And then the email worked, but the password was set back to the original.  We figured out how to make it work after school though, so I could catch up on all my emails.  Now I just need to figure out what I'm doing with the 7th and 8th graders tomorrow and I can finally go home and do nothing! (or, more likely, read a book and correct papers).