The Storm is Coming!

Who needs weathermen??!!!

Boy, oh boy... the monsters, I mean munchkins...heehee were wild creatures today!! ~Sheesh!!! The weather is changing right??...~Yup, as I look out...it's raining! When I first started teaching I never believed it but boy were they right when they said these munchkins were like walking barometers!! They either sense it or watch the weather channel and decide to make teachers lives miserable right before a storm or change in weather. Right before the weather changes, for some reason, the munchkins turn into some other type of creatures! When talking to my other coworkers, they too were pulling their hair out today ...munchkins gone wild!!!! Imagine that on DVD! heehee The pressure in the classroom, whether it was atmospheric or not was intense! Not only were the munchkins little monsters, the teacher was about to blow her top!!!! I felt it coming up just like molten lava starts to oooooze up...I tried counting to 1000!!!...I tried to stop it... then... AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ~Ok...I'm not a fibber, so...YES, I blew my top!! ~Holy Moly Guacamole! Think the earth shook too!! There was absolute silence in the class!!!

The pressure of getting all this testing done is CRAZY!!!! They need to hire someone just to test students! Getting through this 1st Grade test take approx 30-40 minutes each child. This is when I wish I was back in Kinder or 2nd Grade. It didn't take that long to do but for some reason 1st Grade has extra components to this test! Even the Spanish version is shorter!!! ~Can I say BOO!!!!! My munchkins would probably pass the Spanish version! haha! Based on this test, our munchkins are classified as AT RISK if they don't pass all components. ~Ummmm...HELLO...none of them can pass all components!! So yes my entire class will be labeled AT RISK...might as well label the teacher too!! I'm AT RISK of pouting, kicking, punching, and screaming!!! It's the same story every year and it's ok, because if it kills me, which this year might!!...most, if not all my munchkins will be leaving ready for 2nd Grade on the level they need to be or better!!! Or else!... ~Hmmm...or else what smarty pants?? I'll...I'll..I'll kick my own booty! heehee

The less a child knows the worse the test is!!! You would think if a munchkin fails the early components of the test like knowing letters/sounds and reading vocabulary words, blending sounds together to form words, the test would stop there, but NO...why on earth would they think they'd be able to go through a billion other components AND be asked to read 2 reading passages and answer comprehension questions with a passing score??????? ~Oh but we can use this data to know our students...blah, blah, blah!! I just smile and TRIED to let the pressure go. I know my munchkins better than any test, that's for sure! I think the gasket blew, the volcano erupted, the poop hit the fan when I was testing and someone, I'm not going to say who...haha...came into my class, looked at me testing and asked ~Have you given the Math test yet?? ~No, we're still trying to finish this test because they had tons of problems with the website and they're still having problems with it. Instead of this person getting what they needed and leaving, I was then asked ~Didn't the testing window start on Monday for the Math test? ~Umm...probably...this is when I thought I was talking in another language because she looked at me with such bewilderment!! ~Now why would I start one test without finishing another, is what I wanted to answer but didn't. Then it was like a light switch and she said, ~Oh I feel your pain! ~Wow, thanks, but she doesn't have to test a regular class!!! I mentioned we haven't been given the Math test and I wasn't going to go asking for it either. Well....!!!!!...when checking our school email at the end of the day, guess what was there? Yes, she sent a reminder on the Math testing window and that we could make our own copies of the test for our class!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! On top of this, munchkins talking back, not doing their work, etc...well, it all lead to the eruption of the Mt.Buddé Volcano. When the walls shook and the lava started to cool off, is when I realized how silly this was!! I let it beat me!!! Frickity frack! I almost made my eyeballs pop out plus a close call for a heart attack!!! It's SO not worth it!! The munchkins are but not the craziness that comes with testing!!

Who remembers the old show the Electric Company with Morgan Freeman?? Now that was some good TV! heehee Well, one part that they did on that show is a big part of this silly test!!! Parents sit with your child and pretend your Morgan Freeman and break up words and have your child figure out what the word is. Click here to watch what I mean, or go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg6zfiydTkc
or hear Morgan sing the /sh/ sound..heehee at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kuKcX8QrOM

Tomorrow will be a crazy long day only because I was asked to dress up for our feeder pattern High School Homecoming parade!! I tried finding every excuse to get out of it but was given the guilt trip and fell for it! haha! The theme is Disney so sure enough they came to me because stupid me dressed up as Belle from Beauty and The Beast a few years ago!! I actually made my own costume and should have lied and said I got rid of it! ~Nope, couldn't lie! So, tomorrow I'll be dressed in gold and doing the parade wave next to Chip the Teapot, Snow White, and Cinderella. I actually wanted to go and take pictures because my first class of Kinder munchkins are seniors this year but instead I'll be riding the back of a trailer! haha The weatherman and my munchkins predicted 50% of rain showers so this Belle will probably end up soaked and looking like the beast when it's all over! haha I can't get over the fact that my first babies ever will be graduating seniors!!! Wow! Many of them still come and see me from time to time and boy do I feel old and SHORT! Two are taller than me, they're all so smart, and turned out to be beautiful munchkins inside and out! So proud of them and I know I'll be bawling when they cross that stage at the end of the year!!

The great thing about all this craziness was, today after work, we had a two hour training for our NEW laptop! No, sorry the two hour training wasn't that exciting, getting the NEW Mac laptop and playing with it was the fun part! I'm a Mac girl...~Once you go Mac, you never go back!! heehee I love saying that! haha My own personal laptop is a Mac too!! Even before my technology master's I loved tinkering with technology and getting anything new is always fun! The not so fun part is transferring info from the old to the new before turning in the old laptop in two weeks. A weekend project ahead of me for sure!


Well, I hope the weather and the little barometers start to predict brighter days so Mt. Buddé Volcano never erupts again! heehee!
Stay tuned for more adventures...
XOXO's