New Beginnings...Refeshing!

The week of heartache is over! Two close friends passing within two months of each other is too much! A new beginning lies ahead!

Starting off the week with a new sense of being was and is so refreshing to say the least! My munchkins have been such sweet little boogers this week and I'm not sure why. I've also felt a sense of calmness and an appreciation for the smallest things. Is that what death does to you? Is it the calm before the storm or is it that we're all getting comfy and finding our groove in life and with each other?

The stress will begin to set in within the next few weeks if I allow it. Here we go again with testing our munchkins. One window of testing overlaps with another and another and by the time it's all over with, it'll be mid October. When will we teach??!! Well, we somehow work magic trying to juggle everything. For some strange reason I'm really not worried about the deadlines. It's not that I don't care but why create unnecessary stress. I can't explain why but after the emotional week I had last week, my perspective on things has been retweaked (is that even a word) haha!

Last week I forgot to mention we had parent information night. So sad to see the turnout for Kinder and 1st. The parents that did show up (6 only...boo!) I was glad to see. They were shocked with the information they received in reference to their children receiving actual grades now and how high their child needs to be reading when they leave 1st Grade. I think it was an eye opener for them as to where they child is at to where their child needs to be. One parent asked, almost in a way that came across a bit harsh~How do YOU plan on getting my child to such a high reading level? I have to admit I did giggle a little as I responded...~I plan on pushing your child because every child is capable of achieving that goal and it is possible but I'm also having YOU as the parent work with your own child at home. As parents you are your child's first teacher and this is a team effort between you, your child, and myself. Her ruffled feathers weren't so ruffled anymore. Heehee! Too bad I couldn't say...~So there! Nani nani boo boo! Yes, I'm picking up my munchkins habits or are they learning them from me?! J/K heehee Looping up with my munchkins from Kinder to 1st made some of my old parents think they didn't need to attend but once they receive their first progress report showing their child's grades they'll probably be the first ones to call in a panic. ~Can't wait! ;) I did have a call after the fact from an old parent and also new parent questioning ~Did I miss much? ~ UHHHHHH...yeah! is how I wanted to respond! One said they had football practice, the other cheerleading! ~HELLO!...school is a little more important! Now why can't they do No Pass, No Play for little leagues!! I'm completely for munchkins being in extra curricular activities but parents need to also make school a focus too.

The munchkins had a fun time using my digital camera on Monday. ~Yes, I let them use my own personal little camera! Yikes! The vocabulary word observe was introduced to them last week and I wanted to see (observe..heehee) what these little munchkins saw through a lens. Yes, photography my hidden passion. Whether I'm taking the pictures or viewing, I love to see special moments captured through the heart of a lens. I know... crazy to let 5 and 6 year old's take off with my camera! Their perspective on things and their height level is soooooo different than any adult and knew we'd all have fun with this. It worked out perfect that day because I had a few out so there were 5 groups of 3. I was going to send out one group at a time while the others completed their work. As we reviewed our word one little munchkin asked ~Is observing like our five senses when we use our eyes to see things? ~Kiss your brain! Good job! This got them all talking about their five senses which they covered some time back. ~Yay! They do remember something! haha! They wanted to take their pictures and tie them into their five senses...how could I say no. It actually worked out having 5 groups & 5 senses! I made one person from each group the photographer, one the timer, and one the tally person. I gave the little photographers a quick lesson on my camera and the rules! Main rule...~DON'T DROP MY CAMERA or you're fried chicken!!! haha They were instructed to wear it around their wrist at all times. I also taped it around their wrist so the strap wouldn't slip off! haha! I gave them a timer too because if I didn't...they'd be cruising the halls all day. They had to be back before the numbers hit zero and before it beeped. It was funny to see two groups make it into the class right as it went off! They practically slide into class as if it was home base. haha ~SAFE! One little boy, Mr. Blue Shoes, actually threw his team members under the bus as he slid into the class, alone, holding the timer as it went off. ~Hey where is the rest of your team? ~Ummm...They're somewhere, I wanted to make it in time. ~You can't leave your team out there! Go find them! Haha! The tally person was in charge to keep track of taking 5 pictures and practicing how to do tally marks. They didn't realize it was also a lesson too and not just having fun using my camera! heehee When all the groups were done I looked through the pictures and had to laugh at some. The group who was looking for things that they could hear...well...one of their pictures was taken of a urinal being flushed! Haha! One little one took a great picture of water from the water fountain and told me she ~Observed the water come out like the shape of a rainbow and she could see it, taste it, hear it, and touch it, but it smelled like nothing. ~Yay she used her new word and tied in her 5 senses. One group went to the cafeteria and took pictures of the foods they could taste. I was impressed with where some of them went to take pictures. They were told they could go anywhere in the school that wouldn't get them into trouble and outside in the back play area. They were so cute when they set out on their adventures I wish I had a picture of them but they had my camera! haha...one guarding the camera with their life, one focusing on the timer, and the other looking oh so important with their little clip board. Too cute! They were told that with the pictures I'll be showing them how we're going to add their voices as to what they observed on their adventure and turn it into a movie. They got so excited! I have to admit I was a slacker last year in Kinder and hardly made any movies with them. The years prior we always were making some type of movie.


Tomorrow will be 16th of September and our school always celebrates it and ties it into culture and traditions, which we do have to teach. We're all dressing up in our little senorita and senor outfits. Too bad Pancho's isn't still open, I could pick up an evening shift in my outfit and earn some tips on the Mexican plate or those ugly orange chile rellenos they made. haha! Those who do not wnat to dress up come in their uniform. When they dress up they always look so cute! I wanted to make sure they understood what it was and why we were letting them dress up. I had to explain living on the border, what a border was, where Mexico was, what the "grito" was, who Father Hidalgo was and his role. ~whew!!! These little monolinguals left probably knowing more Mexican history than I ever did at that age! I know it may have been a bit much but they actually understood it and enjoyed talking about it. One child also made the connection to our 4th of July! ~Yay! We made Papel Picado, which is just like making paper snowflakes but using colored tissue paper. As they were listening to me explain to the new munchkins how to fold the paper, one of my munchkins from last year, Mr. Blue Shoes, made me laugh when he said ~I remember that from the old days! If anyone knows my bark (my burst of laughter that comes out randomly)...I barked when I heard him. ~The "old days," how old are you? You're not THAT old silly! haha! I couldn't stop laughing and of course the munchkins started laughing too. Not because they understood why I was laughing but because I barked and laughter can be contagious! Tomorrow we'll be doing some other fun stuff as well. Then Friday is Constitution Day...did you know there was a Constitution Day?! haha! There is!
The week is flying by! ~Yup, Time flies when you're having fun! Next week is early release and professional development...uh oh...heehee Stay tuned for more of our adventures...
XOXO's

Earth Day...Go Hug a Tree!

This week was a short but long week!


Behavior in the classroom has been...hmmm....how do I say this without being censored and bleeped out! HORRIBLE!! I could blame it on the changing weather, but I won't. I so wanted to request at my last Superintendent meeting for a velcro wall! I refrained, kept quiet, and just accepted the fact that it may be Spring Fever!

Earth Day was around the corner and so was our field trip to see Disney's Oceans. I really thought that would make them behave like perfect little angels...Bahaha! ~Yes, that's a huge laugh out loud! Some of these kids just don't care about any form of consequences. When is the paddle coming back to schools? I bet that would straighten them out! I got my booty smacked a few times or a chancla thrown and I turned out ok. Heehee! To my surprise I had 5, yes 5 parents request their child not attend our field trip because of their poor behavior at school and at home. Wow! Yay parents! Deep down I did feel bad because in the 12ish years I've been teaching I've never left that many behind for behavior. I was and still am very appreciative of the parents showing support with the behavior issues! ~Thank goodness! Let's hope this Earth Day is the start of a new day for my munchkins and not only did they learn about keeping their Earth clean but consequences suck if they don't behave!

The munchkins had a great Earth Day and we all went out to hug a tree! Our field trip turned out to be a great time too. The movie was great and they loved it.


This week is going to be a very long week! TAKS testing!! My munchkins don't get a TAKS test but our end of the year testing will be in a few weeks. ~Ugh! TAKS testing will be for 3 days which means total lockup for us! Most schools ship out the lower grades during TAKS just so they won't make noise. Well, we don't get that luxury and we stay in our classroom all day. No PE and no recess time after lunch for 3 days! ~Can you imagine! Oh Lord! I try to keep them with a normal schedule and during our PE time I either let them play some fun games or I pop in a movie. This year though, my student intern will be locked up with them! ~Poor girl! I've been asked to administer the TAKS test to 3 Dyslexia students! YIKES! ~I don't want to!!!!! The pressure I feel just to administer the test is crazy...can you imagine the pressure these poor babies go through when they take this awful test?!! ~Lord help them! The only reason I said yes was...well, not to piss off administration...haha! Actually, I said yes because two of the babies that I'll be administering the test to are two that I had for my K-2 loop and qualified as Dyslexic. I would do anything for those kids! Instead of having a stranger test them they asked me so they would feel comfortable. I have to swallow my selfishness of not wanting to do it and do it for them. I pray they pass!! Third grade gets only one shot this year!!! Pray all munchkins do well!
Stick around for more to come....
XOXO's
Oopsie....they're upside down! haha

What a day!!! Punk'd? Twilight Zone??

What a day indeed!!! Was I punk'd? Was I in the Twilight Zone???

Now to my rant...what a day, what a day, what a day!!!

Who created some of these parents??? In order to keep my professionalism I'll keep it brief...
if I can! haha! I really felt like today was an episode of Punk'd or the Twilight Zone. I waited for Ashton Kutcher or Rod Serling to pop out. Ok, maybe the music from Twilight Zone since Rod Serling is not around anymore. Eek creepy! Anywho...I had a call from our office that a parent wanted to see me...~hmmm??? who could it be?? Then she said the parent didn't want to wait for my conference time and would only take 5 minutes. It was "Jimmy Boy's" mom. He was actually absent so I figured she wanted to talk to me about his absence??? Who knows? I told our clerk I was ok with it because my little leader had control of our Calendar Time and I could spare 5 minutes.

Wow...what a bizarre 5 minutes that was!!! Met her in the hallway and the counselor happened to be down the hall near her office. Mom came to turn in his Mini Me project because he was sick. I'll post a couple of my munchkins projects...too cute! Wow, how nice was that of her to come down and drop it off even when he didn't come to school?!...Wait...eeekkk..~scratch sound on a record~...the niceness stops there!


Everything is such a blur....the counselor was closer to us and that's when it got worse. Mom was going off that she didn't like being told what to do and other stuff. While she spoke I think I drifted off to some far, far, away land...because I just looked at her and thought...~HUH?? Where in the bejeebers is this coming from?? Well, she didn't like that the office told her she needed to speak to me during my conference time, that she needed to go through the office, and some other rules all parents need to follow. I told her ~I'm sorry, but yes...we all have to follow those rule. At that time the counselor jumped in and said the same thing...yikes...mom did not like that one bit! After she was rude to the counselor that's when she felt she needed to start on me. I'm not a fighter but for one brief moment...when I was in lala land...I thought of a perfect move from the Kung Fu San Soo's Women's Self Defense Class that I so wanted to use but I didn't...I just let her vent. She was shooting out nails...Yikes!! I can't say I was getting mad...I was more in shock than anything. She went off on the fact that we assign a family project once a month. ~Heaven forbid you sit with your child to work on a fun craft project once a month!!! (By the way...they did it WRONG because they didn't follow instruction..ay!!) Then she went off on Homework...why should she sit and work with him she asked...then she said it..."what do you do with him all day?? Don't you teach him anything? Don't you teach the curriculum?" ~Oh NO You Didn't!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Pow! Kabam!! Smack!! Heighhhh Ya!!! Ok that's just my pretend Kung Fu Panda take down scene in my head...heehee! I kind of giggled when she said that and surprisingly kept my cool. In my professional voice and manner I told her what I needed to say then told her she could make an appointment during my conference time because I needed to get back to my kids and TEACH! She kept on and on, truthfully I stopped listening...lalalala... I couldn't get over the shock that a parent doesn't want to spend time with their own child. He's in Kindergarten not High School!!! (Not that High School parents don't spend time with their kids, just can't think of any other reference..haha) Then the counselor stepped in again and told me I wasted enough of my time and to go ahead and go back to my munchkins and asked mom to follow her. Sheesh!!! Thank God the counselor was there and witnessed it all!!!~insert Twilight Zone music and Rod Serling voice~

Later, the Principal came by but I was working with the kids..wait...what? I actually work with kids...heehee At lunch the Principal told me she went by to check on me...awwww sweet! Probably to see if I was still alive...haha!! I found out mom started a scene in the office and that's why the counselor followed her to my room...and here I thought God sent her...well he did! Then I found out mom cussed out the counselor and as she was escorted out a male companion got out of the car and also cursed at the counselor...YIKES!!! Ashton Kutcher still nowhere in sight to tell us we got Punk'd!!! Well, Central Office was made aware of the situation, and if it happens again, mom will be banned from the school! We'll see what happens tomorrow morning when she drops him off....

On a better note...I do have to say Friday, September 11 was a beautiful day! My munchkins didn't win the Chains of Hope for the school but we did have the most for Kindergarten $49...yay!! The kids were such great sports when they heard they didn't win the pizza party for 1st place. They held their breath to hear if they won 2nd place and the ice cream party...nope. They kept looking at me...do we still have a chance for 3rd and the popcorn party?? Nope, we missed that by $10.00!! Darn...I should have put in my own money, but I didn't think that would be fair..who knows those other teachers probably put in their own money...heehee! Either way the school had a very nice outdoor ceremony and collected a nice amount for the scholarship foundation! Thanks to some great munchkins, parents, and their donations!!


Ready for a better day tomorrow...it's Western Day! Yeeeeehaw!!!

XOXO's

I'm a Real Teacher Again... I think?!

Today was the first day that I actually felt like a I was a real teacher again!! Whew!

I was beginning to get a little nervous that I wouldn't adapt back into Kinder life. It's been sink or swim the past week. I felt like I was sinking lower and lower and the light I saw as I looked up was too far to swim to and breathe. Today...I think my head hit the surface and I was able to gasp for air and float!!!

I need to remember NOT to keep bringing work home. I did so much stuff that it almost consumed my entire weekend! I told myself I'm not going to do that anymore because it stresses me out too much, I have no life, and I'm exhausted!! I may just babysit my bag and let it ride with me in the car so I won't feel too guilty not doing any work. Lower grade teachers are queen's of teacher bags!! A bag for this, a bag for that...guess I'm a bag lady! Haha! I'm going to start looking like one if I continue at the pace I'm going. Heehee! Work will always be there and there will always be something for me to "find" to do. NO MORE I say...ok, I talk a big talk as I sit here looking at my bag of things I should do. Haha!

Yay! All my munchkins came back after the weekend off. I had one little silent crier but she was ok once we started our day. They're such brave little souls!

I had to start a routine with them for my own sanity!! I couldn't do too many whole group activities all day anymore because I wanted and needed to see if they could start following instructions and work with some independence in some areas. We continued our Rug Activities/Calendar whole group because they're still very dependent and need my guidance. Pretty soon I'll have one munchkin who will rise to the top to take over my role and soon there after they'll all get a chance to lead the class. I can't wait for that day!!! That's the fun part to see my little mini me's...they start to sound like me. :) Immediately after we did our letters/sounds, chants, songs, poem, and we learned two new words...I...am...from our poem. We were able to put them together with our first word...me...and formed our first sentence...I am me! Yay!! The majority of them got this concept which totally shocked me. Some may not hold a crayon if their life depended on it but they learned I am me! I know I'm still a little in 1st and 2nd grade mode but they got it!!! That'll be it for now because I really have to go back and make sure we all know that these letters make words and words make sentences. This will take a looooong time because 4 call the letters~ numbers! Ay dios mio!!!

My munchkins did actually very well sitting on the rug during their rug time. Their squirm factor is easing up! They can sit a little longer now! Sit...roll over! Heehee J/k I decided today to introduce part of their Workstations (Centers). I learned once from an awesome presenter to call them workstations versus centers because they will hear the word work and associate it as a job that they need to do. Even though it may be fun, they're still doing "work." I tell them if they went to PreK they did "centers" now they're bigger and smarter and their doing "workstations."

My workstations are different areas of the room where they do different activities in that specific area. Each teacher manages their own workstations/centers differently. I don't do the more traditional way of letting the students go anywhere in the room if there is an open spot at that workstation/center and then rotate every 15 min or so. Ahhhhh...that's too crazy for me and kids will be all over the place. My workstations/centers are designed into 5 main areas of the room with plenty of back up activities once they are done with the main activity. Actually that's how their little desks are grouped...into the 5 areas. My groups or tables are color coded and the munchkins rotate their little bodies daily. I have a Red (Poetry Station), Yellow (ABC), Blue (Writing), Purple (Reading), and Green (Book Making) group. For example, the first day of workstations/centers they would stay at their "home" group. Today during our Literacy Workstation time, whomever sat at the Blue group stayed there and poof!...it is now the "Writing" Station. I only introduced two things they could do in each area for now. That group would practice writing their name, then their 2nd activity would be to use the playdoh to spell their names. Each group has different activities and they learn to stay within that area and then the following day each group rotates. They each get a chance to go through all the workstations/centers within a weeks time. Eventually I will add more things to do at their workstations for them to use once I see they understand the rules of what they are using. There can be up to 20 activities going on at once so I have to make sure I'm structured or I'll run out pulling my hair. Keeping them a little more structured helps me know where each child is and not racing from one end of the room to another. I may just have confused whomever is reading this or not..heehee! Workstations/centers help my munchkins with their independence and when it gets to be smooth sailing for them this is when I can start calling smaller groups up to work on Reading.

I explained each group to my munchkins and what they were allowed to do in their group and how they would switch tomorrow to the next station. I had to do a lot of modeling for them and put on my floaties as I watched them in their workstations. I knew I was going to sink if this didn't work. I could hear the music from Jaws in my head! I thought I might be rushing things and they may not be ready for this...I was ready to go down in two bites!! Which munchkin was going to chew me up and spit me out first?...Then that's when it hit me...they were doing it!! They were working in their groups, having fun, AND they were whispering!!! (you know how hard it is to teach whispering?!..haha!) Yay!!! No floaties any more for me! I had to run for my camera and take pictures of them working! It started to come back to me...I do know what I'm doing!! I'm a Kinder teacher again!!! I felt like Rocky running up the stairs...!!! ~ummm teacher why are you're arms up like that?...oops! Haha!! I may still push them because of the 1st and 2nd grade expectations but it won't hurt them, I'll just slap myself a few times and get back into Kinder mode! :)

Tonight I had to go back to work in the evening for Parent Information night. It's so hard to go back in the evening but I knew I had to because this is the first time that I'll have all my parents with me and I have to lay the law down! haha! I was pleased to see that I had a very good turn out, all but 2 showed up. I ranted about my expectations and stressed how they need to do their share in helping their munchkin this year. It looks like they are a good group of parents and very supportive. Whew...I was nervous!

Tomorrow is another day in another week in munchkinville and I hope it continues on the same path as today so I can bury the floaties! Is it bad that I'm counting down for the long weekend ahead?...heehee! Stay tuned for new adventures...

XOXO's