Catching Up

I've been busy--grading and planning and seeing my daughter married (yesterday), so I've not kept my resolution to make timely posts to this blog. Sorry.

What's going on in my school life? Let's see--still enjoying working with Ms. Rabbit, Ms. Kitten, and Ms. Ducky. There actually is a fifth 4th grade teacher--let's call her Ms. Ewe. (As in "Ewe didn't say that" because she tends to unconsciously push my buttons. And you can emphasize any of those words as you say it, (i.e. Ewe didn't say that!, Ewe didn't say that!, Ewe didn't say that!, or Ewe didn't say that!) and I've pretty much felt that about her sometime or other.) Ms. Ewe just moved to our grade level, and her classroom is still on the 5th grade hall; consequently, I usually only see her for our grade level meetings. One example of what she's said to push my buttons: We were at a meeting together with our principal. We three were the first to arrive for the meeting, and Mrs. Ewe turned to me and said, "I was really happy to hear you screaming at your kids at the restroom yesterday. Everyone tells me I scream too much--it's nice to know that you do, too." What? I will honestly say that I have gotten loud (and, regrettably, angry) with my class before, but I hadn't done it the day before. I had said, "Come on, guys. Hurry it up!" or something similar. I know this because it's what I always say. What on earth is there to scream about at the restroom? This is quite different from Ms. Ewe's style--she does scream, in fact she begins with screams and "Shut up!" is one of the things she screams. Anyone who has ever been in elementary school knows that "shut up" is the elementary school equivalent of dropping the "F-bomb"--kids gasp to hear anyone say it. And, you know what--it's just not respectful to students to tell them that, not when there are 500 euphemisms you could use instead. How about "Quiet, everyone." or even "Shut your mouths, please."

Anyway, after she said that, IN FRONT OF OUR PRINCIPAL, I said, "I don't believe I did that. I don't know what you're talking about." I thought this was a better option than, "You're an idiot. You do not accuse a teacher of doing such a thing in front of her boss. I will pay you back some day, some how." And now she's on my list.

Have you ever had to mediate between to students who don't like each other and make each others' lives miserable? It seems to be a constant theme in fourth grade. One of the things I tell these students is this: "I'm just asking you to leave each other alone. You don't have to be best friends or like each other, but you do have to respect each other. If you can't be friends, just agree to not be enemies. You will not like everyone you meet in life, but you don't have to let them know it."

Ms. Ewe is on my "I Don't Like You, but I Will be Polite to You" list. Unfortunately, or perhaps NATURALLY, there are several people I work with that have made my list. I'll save the complete list for another rainy Sunday, but suffice it to say, there are several. However, I'm happy to say that my "I Like You and Enjoy Working with You" list is longer. I think I'll end this here, on the only positive note I've found, and go make that meatloaf we're having for dinner. Bon Appetite!

Nine-Nine-Oh-Nine

I couldn't let this date go by without making a post--I've ever been draw to dates, even though there is no significance except for the neat-o numbers. So, here's to 9-9-09--I surely won't live to see the next one!

School is, well, disappointingly not shaping up the way I had hoped. I had a horrendous class last year. This year, they're not horrendous, but they are apathetic and disengaged. I can't get the attention of more than a handful at a time, and I am a good teacher. Really. But they just sit there, waiting for the next worksheet, and then they want to be told what to write and how to spell all of the words. (NOTE: I do use the provided workbooks, but not for everything. However, my class doesn't seem to care about doing other fun things. They just want opportunities to goof off and brainless work. No doubt that they've had plenty of the latter--what did they do last year?)

Another, continual frustration is the constant humming and soft-voiced singing that goes on. It's torture to me--please, make the noise stop! It begins so softly that I don't notice yet. As it continues, I soon find myself reacting subliminally. I tense up and get snappish--that's when I figure out that that darned humming is going on again!

So, I've got hummers, apathetic students, and a few behavior problems. I moved some desks today, but it seems that I'm back where I was last year--too many problems among the students (talkers, trash-talkers, gossipers, etc.) and not enough "good" students to tamp down the proclivities of the others. Like the Bridges of Konigsberg, it becomes a puzzle with no solution.

Colleagues

I work with a great team--I love working with Ms. Rabbit, Ms. Kitten, and Ms. Ducky. We work together well and genuinely care about each other. And we're all happy that Ms. Squirrel is now has left our team to be the computer lab teacher. Unfortunately, we have to attend this lab--for our students' sakes as much as any other reason--and now we know why our grade level scores were always negatively affected by Ms. Squirrel. Geesh and Louise! Today she had our students type the following: "Today, I learned how to copy and paste. I, also, learned how to save my Journal." What's with the commas surrounding the "also"? And the capital J on journal? Did I miss some grammar rules back in the 70s (when grammar wasn't taught)? My aide and I were rushing from computer to computer because:

• Our kids can't type.
• They get frustrated to the point of tears because THEY CAN'T TYPE.
  
• She slows down for no student!

So I had to type the above sentences 10 times (no lie--okay, not much of one), and I wondered about them each time. I should have edited as I typed, but I was afraid a student would point out that I had left the commas out, and I didn't want to go there. Not my job.