so today . . . i went back to work.
it started off pretty good. i didn't have too much trouble waking up--i only hit the snooze button once! I had everything ready to go, so i was up and out the door in about half an hour. but before i could even get out of our neighborhood, i had to turn around. i had my computer bag, my books, and my lunch... but i forgot to grab something for my breakfast. i would have loved to just swing by 7-11 and snag a brownie, but i am trying to eat better now that i am getting back to work. so i turned around, went back home, and found a hard boiled egg and a cheese stick in the refrigerator and headed back out, confident that now i wouldn't starve...
it took me longer than i anticipated to get to work. even though i still live just a mile and a half away, now i have to go through four stop lights instead of two... and one of those is a left turn... and i am driving on much busier streets, which means more cars sitting at those lights, which means there is a risk that i won't get through on the first green. and then there was construction (although, it was going the opposite way i was going, but still...)
i got to school and went to clock in, but i couldn't find my time card. which was really unfortunate, because for the first time in a long time, i wasn't late. in fact, i was about 7 minutes early, and i wanted it documented!! but my time card was not at the bottom of the rack where it usually is.
my time card position is a bit of an issue for me. i have worked at this particular school for 8 years, but my time card is always at the bottom! other people have been hired since me, but my time card is still always at the bottom. my time card never seems to be able to work it's way up the ladder, because i don't work in the summer. occasionally during the school year, it will manage to go up one or two spaces, only to lose that coveted ground in july when i don't show up for work for two months. then in september, there i am, back at the bottom. this seems so unfair, but i have finally resigned myself to the situation and have tried to embrace it with the thought that at least it is always quick and easy for me to find my time card. which is especially important on those days when i am playing "beat the clock." but since my card wasn't there in it's usual spot at the bottom, i just thought maybe they had forgotten i was coming back today. after all, i am three weeks late starting school, and we have someone new working in the office, so maybe she forgot...
as it turns out, she didn't forget. she promoted me! because there i was, in time card slot #3! yes, i am now #3!!! i cannot even tell you how awesome this is... and i know, you are all sitting there thinking, "this girl needs to get a life! who cares what slot their time card resides in?!?" well, clearly i do! AND not only was my time card now in slot #3, but i clocked in EARLY.
and no, the world didn't end at 7:56 this morning.
my day was off to a pretty good start. then i walked into my classroom...
let me just say here, that i had an awesome substitute while i was gone. really. there are only a couple of people that i would have felt comfortable leaving with my brand new class for the first three weeks of school, and i got one of them. but she hadn't been in the classroom since friday afternoon, and i think gremlins had gotten in...
the tables were moved. there were work papers everywhere. i am pretty sure that on friday afternoon, those work papers were organized, but by this morning, let's just say they were somewhat more randomly arranged. i started trying to make sense of it all and find the things i needed to get through the day. but i also had a room full of preschoolers that hadn't had play time in my room yet, so they were somewhat exuberant in their explorations and needed some supervision.
i continued to move furniture and plow through papers. and then i realized it was time for music...
i love music. i hate leading music time at school. ms. martha and i have finally figured out a schedule that makes us both hate it just a little bit less, but that schedule has me doing music on mondays. and today was monday. which meant i was going to be leading music today. ok, i thought, this won't be so bad. i haven't led music all summer. maybe it will even be fun to do some of the songs i like. so i put a cd in the player and got started. but all of these children are new to our classes. they don't know our songs yet. and as much as i hate leading music, try leading a bunch of kids who don't know the songs yet, while one of them continually runs around swinging his arms, hitting as many kids as he can. yes, my day was going downhill fast...
--the new table arrangement for the pre-k kids was not working out.
--the bathroom light was burned out, and the janitor doesn't come in on mondays.
--we had wheat thins for snack. (i love wheat thins. four and five year olds do not.)
and then it was time for language class. this is one of my schedule changes this year. the kindergarteners go to the same language class as the pre-k kids, which means that on monday, wednesday, and friday i have a 45 minute planning time. YIPPEE!!! i sure needed it today! i spent 15 minutes at the copy machine, 20 minutes moving tables in and out of the room (because something HAD to be done with those pre-k kids,) and ten more minutes looking for the top of my desk under all those papers. but at least i was alone in my room, and it was quiet. briefly.
actually, it was quiet longer than i expected. because usually the kids come back from their language classes at 11:15. but today they didn't come back. and i didn't go looking for them! i just said, "thank you Jesus," and kept shuffling papers. and then suddenly, there they were, all lined up in the hallway and ready to go outside.
some things had apparently changed in the last three weeks...
it was cloudy today, which made for a nice time outside. until i saw a little girl take a nosedive over the front of her scooter and plant her face on the sidewalk. she cried. and bled. and bled and bled and bled. thankfully none of her teeth fell out, but i couldn't tell that immediately because of all the blood! i don't do well when kids are bleeding from their heads. i was the first teacher to reach her, but i quickly handed her off to ms. jessica (my friend who bumped me up to time card slot #3.) ms. jessica is fearless and can handle anything! she saved my bacon more than once today. because later in the day, our toilet (in the bathroom with no light) clogged and overflowed. i don't do well with bathroom incidents either. (i know what you are thinking--why do i teach in a preschool when i can't handle blood and bathroom issues. my answer is, usually i teach kindergarten where we have very few of those issues. but add four year olds to the mix and things are quite different...)
the day did have a few bright spots.
--my lunch time was changed to 12:00-1:00. not only did i get a whole hour (instead of my usual half hour,) but i got it during the kid's lunch time! which means i didn't have to serve lunch. or try to convince them to eat their veggies. or put them down for their naps. ms. jessica got to do all of that :)
--i didn't call anyone by the wrong name. of course, sometimes i avoided using a name if i wasn't sure... but the point is, i didn't call anyone by the wrong name!!
--i got the homework out on time and only had to ask one parent to wait for it. and that only happened because they were early.
--i found the top of my desk. it took me until 5:15, but i found it.
--i have a class full of cute kids. they aren't going to be easy, but they are going to be fun. i think.
and let's not forget that no matter what happened today, or what happens tomorrow, my time card is in slot #3!
i am now just two slots away from being #1...
hehehe...
Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work i go...
so today . . . is my last day of summer "vacation."
i say "vacation," because it hasn't been all that restful. i've spent my summer packing, moving, unpacking, trying to get rid of stuff, trying to get someone to take the stuff i want to get rid of, finding places for everything i have left, deciding i need to get rid of some more stuff, and packing and unpacking for business trips. i've spent hours in airports waiting for connecting flights. i've eaten more meals than i care to admit at the burger king which is close to my new house. i've also spent more time than i care to admit at ross, t.j. maxx, and marshall's trying to track down cool and inexpensive and useful things for the new house. which seems contradictory, i know, considering how i have been trying to get rid of stuff. but sometimes new spaces require different things...
i am still in love with my new house (even after some neighbor anonymously complained about our dogs barking "incessantly" during the night, which maybe they did, but 'man up' and sign the note so i can come talk to you!!) and the way it is coming together. i just wish i had been able to spend more days on the porch swing with my book instead of wandering around thinking, "where am i going to put this?!?" but it had to be done. my "to do" list is still a mile long, but most of the big things have been accomplished. and now, it is time to go back to work...
i am starting three weeks late this year, because we had to be out of town for a couple of weeks, and then my mom and dad were able to visit during the week in between :-) so tomorrow is my first day of the new school year with my new students. but i am sort of feeling like the new kid...
usually before school starts, i have spent many, many hours preparing my classroom and materials, and when the kids come in on the first day, they are coming into my space. this year, i only had a few hours to prepare things in august, and now the kids have been there for three weeks without me, so i am sort of coming into their space. it is going to be interesting...
my class is different this year. i have a split class like i've had the last couple of years, but this year i have more pre-k children than kindergarten. since i've been out of town, i haven't been in the classroom since august. usually i plan ahead so that on monday morning, all my materials are prepped for the week. but i wasn't there last week. so i am going in tomorrow armed with only my lesson plan from last year and my teacher voice.
while i don't really feel ready to go back tomorrow, i think it will be good for me. i think i need to get back into a routine. i know that when my alarm goes off in the morning, i am going to smack it a time or two before i actually get up. i know i will wish i had cinnamon melts for breakfast instead of my usual hard boiled egg. i know i am probably going to be playing "race the clock" as i head out the door and discover what kind of traffic perils lie in wait on my new route to school. i know i will mix up the names of some of my new little dumplings. i know my lunch break will seem too short. and i am pretty sure that when it is finally time to go home, i will probably turn the wrong direction out of the parking lot and head to my old house...
but i also know i will get to bed at a more reasonable hour (i hope,) i will drink more water, i will make someone laugh, i will roll my eyes at least once, and i will get a natural dose of vitamin D during recess. and i will help tiny children to learn something new, to get along with each other, and to make good choices. i hope. because that is what gets me out of bed in the morning...
... well, that, and the promise of a paycheck ;-)
i say "vacation," because it hasn't been all that restful. i've spent my summer packing, moving, unpacking, trying to get rid of stuff, trying to get someone to take the stuff i want to get rid of, finding places for everything i have left, deciding i need to get rid of some more stuff, and packing and unpacking for business trips. i've spent hours in airports waiting for connecting flights. i've eaten more meals than i care to admit at the burger king which is close to my new house. i've also spent more time than i care to admit at ross, t.j. maxx, and marshall's trying to track down cool and inexpensive and useful things for the new house. which seems contradictory, i know, considering how i have been trying to get rid of stuff. but sometimes new spaces require different things...
i am still in love with my new house (even after some neighbor anonymously complained about our dogs barking "incessantly" during the night, which maybe they did, but 'man up' and sign the note so i can come talk to you!!) and the way it is coming together. i just wish i had been able to spend more days on the porch swing with my book instead of wandering around thinking, "where am i going to put this?!?" but it had to be done. my "to do" list is still a mile long, but most of the big things have been accomplished. and now, it is time to go back to work...
i am starting three weeks late this year, because we had to be out of town for a couple of weeks, and then my mom and dad were able to visit during the week in between :-) so tomorrow is my first day of the new school year with my new students. but i am sort of feeling like the new kid...
usually before school starts, i have spent many, many hours preparing my classroom and materials, and when the kids come in on the first day, they are coming into my space. this year, i only had a few hours to prepare things in august, and now the kids have been there for three weeks without me, so i am sort of coming into their space. it is going to be interesting...
my class is different this year. i have a split class like i've had the last couple of years, but this year i have more pre-k children than kindergarten. since i've been out of town, i haven't been in the classroom since august. usually i plan ahead so that on monday morning, all my materials are prepped for the week. but i wasn't there last week. so i am going in tomorrow armed with only my lesson plan from last year and my teacher voice.
while i don't really feel ready to go back tomorrow, i think it will be good for me. i think i need to get back into a routine. i know that when my alarm goes off in the morning, i am going to smack it a time or two before i actually get up. i know i will wish i had cinnamon melts for breakfast instead of my usual hard boiled egg. i know i am probably going to be playing "race the clock" as i head out the door and discover what kind of traffic perils lie in wait on my new route to school. i know i will mix up the names of some of my new little dumplings. i know my lunch break will seem too short. and i am pretty sure that when it is finally time to go home, i will probably turn the wrong direction out of the parking lot and head to my old house...
but i also know i will get to bed at a more reasonable hour (i hope,) i will drink more water, i will make someone laugh, i will roll my eyes at least once, and i will get a natural dose of vitamin D during recess. and i will help tiny children to learn something new, to get along with each other, and to make good choices. i hope. because that is what gets me out of bed in the morning...
... well, that, and the promise of a paycheck ;-)
Friday, September 2, 2011
let the wild rumpus begin!
so today . . . i am alone in my new house, all by myself, for three whole days :-)
i love my family. they are my favorite people on the planet. so i'm not quite sure why, but i occasionally need some extended solitude in my own house.
when we lived in oregon, rollie used to leave me fairly regularly. he would make short out-of-town trips every few months. but since we have moved to southern california, it almost never happens. because all of his meetings are now less than an hour away. unless traffic is bad. but traffic is never bad enough that he has to stay overnight somewhere...
this has been a craaaazy summer. between packing and moving and unpacking and going on vacation and starting school three weeks later than i normally do, i have completely lost track of time. which is how i find myself sitting here tonight all by myself...
...because several weeks ago, rollie was asked to speak at a retreat this weekend. he said yes. the retreat is for the church where my school is, so i thought it would be fun to go for at least part of it. but we are leaving on tuesday for a business trip and won't be back until saturday. which isn't a big deal, except my mom and dad are coming to visit NEXT FRIDAY. before we get home. so i have a lot to do...
and then, as i mentioned, i am not going to start working until the end of september. a perfectly capable substitute will be teaching my class. my wonderful assistant will be there to assist her. so i decided i was not going to even try to whip my classroom into shape. i decided i would just leave it alone and deal with it at the end of the month, and instead use the time to finish unpacking. and then, i got the class list...
for the first time, i will have more pre-k kids than kindergarteners. i am not thrilled about this, but that's the way it goes. at least i still have a job! but this change in enrollment is going to be a problem unless i make some changes in the classroom. so i spent almost five hours cleaning and rearranging furniture this afternoon. and i'm still not done. i'll be going back for a short (i hope!) time tomorrow morning. because i am almost done. i think.
and then, rollie asked me if i wanted to teach one of the sessions at the retreat. he asked me this about a month ago, and since it would help him and it's easy for me, i said, "sure!" i said this a month ago when i thought i was almost done unpacking (which clearly i wasn't!) so now i have to make some notes about what i am going to say tomorrow night. i know what i am going to say, and i don't get nervous about speaking, but if i don't have notes i tend to get off track--which can be entertaining, but sometimes i forget to say what i had planned to say...
...which is exactly what is happening on my blog tonight!! this was supposed to be about being home alone, and look what i've written so far! sheesh...
ok, so i'm home alone. i worked at school until almost 8:00 tonight, and then went to target. at 8:00 at night!! probably not a good idea. but i knew since i would be home alone, i was going to need snacks. and new nail polish. and while i was there, of course i wandered about. i found a perfect lamp to put on my piano, and it was on sale for only $13! but then as i looked at it, i realized that i was going to need to buy a shade. so i looked at shades, but the shades cost more than the base! the base!! the part with all the electrical parts (and a bonus free light bulb,) was cheaper than the part consisting of a wire and a bit of fabric. which was bad enough, but then i couldn't figure out how to attach the shade to the lamp. i thought maybe that was why it was on sale, but there were lots of lamps with no visible way to attach a shade, so i don't know...
and then i saw these.
pillow pets of the anaheim angels rally monkey!! (ok, i know they are now the los angeles angels, but really, i don't know how anyone who calls themselves a fan can refer to them that way! los angeles has a team--the dodgers. angels stadium is in anaheim. they are, and always will be, the anaheim angels. it isn't rocket science, people. it's marketing.) i love pillow pets! i have loved them since i went on a hunt to find one for my nephew at christmas. they are cute and soft and cushy. the main reason i don't already have one, is that i haven't been able choose just one. but i think now i have--this is the pillow pet for me. sadly, it didn't get to come home with me today, because i was already carrying nail polish, cheetos, a shade-less lamp, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. (oh, did i forget to mention the cookies? they weren't my first choice, but i couldn't find the devil donuts.)
i wandered back to the lawn and garden section by way of the school supplies. thankfully my hands were too full to pick up any pens or markers, but there was a giant CLEARANCE sign above the outdoor stuff. i don't know what there is about clearance signs that make me suddenly feel the need to purchase something. i was looking at gardening tools (even though we have a gardener who takes care of our yard,) decorative pots in all sizes and colors (even though we have all these empty plant beds around the edges of our yard just screaming for me to plant something in them,) and grilling accessories (even though we don't have a bar-be-que yet.) i managed to talk some sense into myself and headed for the cash registers. without any clearance merchandise.
and then a miracle happened (other than making it out of the store without buying any clearance merchandise)...
...because i have a track record at target. it doesn't matter what line i get into, the people ahead of me in line inevitably have problems with their transactions. my line is always, ALWAYS the slowest line in the store. always. but tonight i found a cash register with no line at all! the cashier was just standing there, probably counting the minutes until the store would close and she could go home.
it was pretty exciting for me.
i got home, pillow petless, but with snacks and new nail polish. i let the dogs out, watched some tivo and ate my sourdough jack. i was home alone. in my new house. and feeling pretty good.
and then i needed to go upstairs...
i don't normally get weird about being home alone. but i started up the stairs, and then realized that the back door was open. the back door was open, because we don't have a doggie door installed yet. so when we are home, we just leave the back door open so the pups can go in and out whenever they want. but it suddenly occurred to me that if i went upstairs, and the dogs followed me, then someone could come in the back door unnoticed. and i watch enough tv to know that when someone sneaks in your back door, it never ends well.
i turned around and closed and locked the door. i started to set the alarm, but then remembered that i can't set the alarm if the upstairs windows are open. since we have a big covered patio, our upstairs windows are apparently vulnerable to intrusions. although, it seems to me that by the time a crazed criminal could scramble up onto our tiled roof and get through a window, the dogs would have alerted the whole neighborhood and mia would be waiting to eat him. or her. but who am i to argue with the security company...
so here i sit. all alone. by myself in my new house.
for three more days :-)
i love my family. they are my favorite people on the planet. so i'm not quite sure why, but i occasionally need some extended solitude in my own house.
when we lived in oregon, rollie used to leave me fairly regularly. he would make short out-of-town trips every few months. but since we have moved to southern california, it almost never happens. because all of his meetings are now less than an hour away. unless traffic is bad. but traffic is never bad enough that he has to stay overnight somewhere...
this has been a craaaazy summer. between packing and moving and unpacking and going on vacation and starting school three weeks later than i normally do, i have completely lost track of time. which is how i find myself sitting here tonight all by myself...
...because several weeks ago, rollie was asked to speak at a retreat this weekend. he said yes. the retreat is for the church where my school is, so i thought it would be fun to go for at least part of it. but we are leaving on tuesday for a business trip and won't be back until saturday. which isn't a big deal, except my mom and dad are coming to visit NEXT FRIDAY. before we get home. so i have a lot to do...
and then, as i mentioned, i am not going to start working until the end of september. a perfectly capable substitute will be teaching my class. my wonderful assistant will be there to assist her. so i decided i was not going to even try to whip my classroom into shape. i decided i would just leave it alone and deal with it at the end of the month, and instead use the time to finish unpacking. and then, i got the class list...
for the first time, i will have more pre-k kids than kindergarteners. i am not thrilled about this, but that's the way it goes. at least i still have a job! but this change in enrollment is going to be a problem unless i make some changes in the classroom. so i spent almost five hours cleaning and rearranging furniture this afternoon. and i'm still not done. i'll be going back for a short (i hope!) time tomorrow morning. because i am almost done. i think.
and then, rollie asked me if i wanted to teach one of the sessions at the retreat. he asked me this about a month ago, and since it would help him and it's easy for me, i said, "sure!" i said this a month ago when i thought i was almost done unpacking (which clearly i wasn't!) so now i have to make some notes about what i am going to say tomorrow night. i know what i am going to say, and i don't get nervous about speaking, but if i don't have notes i tend to get off track--which can be entertaining, but sometimes i forget to say what i had planned to say...
...which is exactly what is happening on my blog tonight!! this was supposed to be about being home alone, and look what i've written so far! sheesh...
ok, so i'm home alone. i worked at school until almost 8:00 tonight, and then went to target. at 8:00 at night!! probably not a good idea. but i knew since i would be home alone, i was going to need snacks. and new nail polish. and while i was there, of course i wandered about. i found a perfect lamp to put on my piano, and it was on sale for only $13! but then as i looked at it, i realized that i was going to need to buy a shade. so i looked at shades, but the shades cost more than the base! the base!! the part with all the electrical parts (and a bonus free light bulb,) was cheaper than the part consisting of a wire and a bit of fabric. which was bad enough, but then i couldn't figure out how to attach the shade to the lamp. i thought maybe that was why it was on sale, but there were lots of lamps with no visible way to attach a shade, so i don't know...
and then i saw these.
pillow pets of the anaheim angels rally monkey!! (ok, i know they are now the los angeles angels, but really, i don't know how anyone who calls themselves a fan can refer to them that way! los angeles has a team--the dodgers. angels stadium is in anaheim. they are, and always will be, the anaheim angels. it isn't rocket science, people. it's marketing.) i love pillow pets! i have loved them since i went on a hunt to find one for my nephew at christmas. they are cute and soft and cushy. the main reason i don't already have one, is that i haven't been able choose just one. but i think now i have--this is the pillow pet for me. sadly, it didn't get to come home with me today, because i was already carrying nail polish, cheetos, a shade-less lamp, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. (oh, did i forget to mention the cookies? they weren't my first choice, but i couldn't find the devil donuts.)
i wandered back to the lawn and garden section by way of the school supplies. thankfully my hands were too full to pick up any pens or markers, but there was a giant CLEARANCE sign above the outdoor stuff. i don't know what there is about clearance signs that make me suddenly feel the need to purchase something. i was looking at gardening tools (even though we have a gardener who takes care of our yard,) decorative pots in all sizes and colors (even though we have all these empty plant beds around the edges of our yard just screaming for me to plant something in them,) and grilling accessories (even though we don't have a bar-be-que yet.) i managed to talk some sense into myself and headed for the cash registers. without any clearance merchandise.
and then a miracle happened (other than making it out of the store without buying any clearance merchandise)...
...because i have a track record at target. it doesn't matter what line i get into, the people ahead of me in line inevitably have problems with their transactions. my line is always, ALWAYS the slowest line in the store. always. but tonight i found a cash register with no line at all! the cashier was just standing there, probably counting the minutes until the store would close and she could go home.
it was pretty exciting for me.
i got home, pillow petless, but with snacks and new nail polish. i let the dogs out, watched some tivo and ate my sourdough jack. i was home alone. in my new house. and feeling pretty good.
and then i needed to go upstairs...
i don't normally get weird about being home alone. but i started up the stairs, and then realized that the back door was open. the back door was open, because we don't have a doggie door installed yet. so when we are home, we just leave the back door open so the pups can go in and out whenever they want. but it suddenly occurred to me that if i went upstairs, and the dogs followed me, then someone could come in the back door unnoticed. and i watch enough tv to know that when someone sneaks in your back door, it never ends well.
i turned around and closed and locked the door. i started to set the alarm, but then remembered that i can't set the alarm if the upstairs windows are open. since we have a big covered patio, our upstairs windows are apparently vulnerable to intrusions. although, it seems to me that by the time a crazed criminal could scramble up onto our tiled roof and get through a window, the dogs would have alerted the whole neighborhood and mia would be waiting to eat him. or her. but who am i to argue with the security company...
so here i sit. all alone. by myself in my new house.
for three more days :-)
Monday, September 6, 2010
did i teach last september?!?!?!
so today . . . there were no new adventures--consequently no chuckles. i've been writing lesson plans...
last year, because of enrollment considerations, i taught a combined pre-k/kindergarten class for the first time. this meant two small groups of students who had to be taught two different curriculums, and two different schedules which had to be adjusted into one. oh, and all this had to happen in a different room (because the kindergarten room is not rated for pre-k.) and the only available room was tiny--like smaller-than-a-one-car-garage tiny!
i was not a happy camper.
at least i still had a job, so i did my best to make it work. it was hard, but i got through the year, the kids learned the things they needed to learn, and i looked forward to going back to kindergarten this fall...
but here is the problem with working for a private school--enrollment can fluctuate wildly from year to year. a few years ago i had a class of 16! all by myself!! the next year i had 2. yes, 2. needless to say, adjustments had to be made... and then last year i had the combined class. so when you work for a private school, you have to be somewhat flexible if you want to keep your job. which i do. because my school is just a mile from my house, which allows me to sleep longer in the morning...
this year i thought i might get to go back to all kindergarten again, but enrollment issues continued to force flexibility. so last week i spent long days moving to yet another classroom and trying to find a place for everything. which i did. and as i was leaving friday night, i looked around and felt pretty good about what i had managed to accomplish in one week...
...until i realized that not one lesson plan had been written.
yeah, lesson plans are kind of important. i usually keep the ones i have written and reuse them as i can. but last year in september i was trying to figure out how i was going to make this whole two curriculum thing work when i was the only teacher in the classroom. this required some trial and error, but by october i had it under control. unfortunately, i didn't write down what i did in september. so on friday when i pulled out the old lesson plans from last year...there weren't any.
so here i am, surrounded by papers and files and books, trying to decide what to do next week...
but you may notice i took a little break to write this blog. and post it. before 11:00.
one goal down, three to go...
last year, because of enrollment considerations, i taught a combined pre-k/kindergarten class for the first time. this meant two small groups of students who had to be taught two different curriculums, and two different schedules which had to be adjusted into one. oh, and all this had to happen in a different room (because the kindergarten room is not rated for pre-k.) and the only available room was tiny--like smaller-than-a-one-car-garage tiny!
i was not a happy camper.
at least i still had a job, so i did my best to make it work. it was hard, but i got through the year, the kids learned the things they needed to learn, and i looked forward to going back to kindergarten this fall...
but here is the problem with working for a private school--enrollment can fluctuate wildly from year to year. a few years ago i had a class of 16! all by myself!! the next year i had 2. yes, 2. needless to say, adjustments had to be made... and then last year i had the combined class. so when you work for a private school, you have to be somewhat flexible if you want to keep your job. which i do. because my school is just a mile from my house, which allows me to sleep longer in the morning...
this year i thought i might get to go back to all kindergarten again, but enrollment issues continued to force flexibility. so last week i spent long days moving to yet another classroom and trying to find a place for everything. which i did. and as i was leaving friday night, i looked around and felt pretty good about what i had managed to accomplish in one week...
...until i realized that not one lesson plan had been written.
yeah, lesson plans are kind of important. i usually keep the ones i have written and reuse them as i can. but last year in september i was trying to figure out how i was going to make this whole two curriculum thing work when i was the only teacher in the classroom. this required some trial and error, but by october i had it under control. unfortunately, i didn't write down what i did in september. so on friday when i pulled out the old lesson plans from last year...there weren't any.
so here i am, surrounded by papers and files and books, trying to decide what to do next week...
but you may notice i took a little break to write this blog. and post it. before 11:00.
one goal down, three to go...
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
another new beginning
so today . . . is my last day of summer vacation. i am sad.
usually by the time school starts in the fall, i am feeling ready to go back to work. usually i have spent my summer doing projects. usually i've spent a lot of time alone, recharging.
this summer, none of those things have happened. i am not ready to go back.
but tomorrow i go back to work anyway. in a different classroom. for the third year in a row. i haven't been able to get into the new classroom yet, so it is not ready. i have never started a school year in this state of chaos! but it is what it is, and it will be ok. i just have relax and do what i can do, and then not worry about it. the kids in my class will be fine. and in a couple of weeks we will be up to speed.
BUT...
now that school is starting again, i do need to make some changes to my summer lifestyle. none of these are earth-shattering, and if you have read my blog for very long, you have heard me mention these things before. because i talk big, but when it comes to actually making lifestyle changes, i am a wimp. and yet, if i am going to survive the next nine months until summer vacation 2011, these things have to happen.
1--i HAVE to go to bed earlier! i am a night owl. i can easily stay up until 2 a.m. and then wake up at 10 a.m. the next morning and feel pretty good. but if i go to bed at 11 p.m. and get up at 7 a.m. i feel tired. it is still 8 hours of sleep, but it is a different 8 hours. the problem isn't the amount of sleep i get, it is having to get up at 7 a.m.! i am just a zombie at that time of the morning. ask rollie, my morning person husband. he has learned to pretty much ignore me until i come downstairs on my way out the door. but when i am working, i can't sleep until 10:00! so, whether i am tired or not, i am going to have to go to bed by 11:00. which means i am going to have to plan to go to bed by 10:00--because once i head that direction, i always seem to find a hundred little things i have to do...
2--i HAVE to walk the dogs. i am going to start doing this again. really. i am! (rollie is rolling his eyes as he reads this. he has heard me say this so many times before, that he never really believes it--even if he sees me walk out the door with a dog on a leash. i think he thinks i just walk around the corner, sit on the curb for 45 minutes, and then come back.) i am going to do this because i need the exercise, and i failed at being a gym rat. i am going to do this because the dogs need the exercise--milo is an 18 pound roly-poly, even though i now feed him diet dog food! and while mia is still her sleek and beautiful self, she has enough energy to power several four year olds. so we need to get out there. next week. really.
3--i HAVE to drink more water, less soda. i know, you have heard me say this so many times, but i just like soda and i get tired of water. i was going to work on this during the summer, but it didn't happen. i did make sun tea, so that i would have an alternative to soda. but once again, i left it outside for a few days, and then on the kitchen counter for several more, until it got moldy... but i think i will be more successful when i am spending most of my day at school. i have water in my classroom, but not soda--unless i bring some from home. so i expect that in a few months, i will have this one under control :) of course, i have thought that before, so we will see...
4--i HAVE to read more. i am busy during the day at school. and when i have a few free moments, i have kind of fallen into the trap of spending them on facebook. but i love to read! and now that i have a kindle, there is no excuse--i will always have several books with me!! i love my computer, and facebook, and the internet, but books engage my mind. and my poor mind needs something...
today, i didn't read, i didn't walk the dogs, and i drank soda all day--no water. BUT it is only 10:30, so if i stop writing right now and head to bed and don't get sidetracked by more than a couple of things, i think i might at least be able to accomplish one of my goals.
i'll keep you posted on the rest of them...
usually by the time school starts in the fall, i am feeling ready to go back to work. usually i have spent my summer doing projects. usually i've spent a lot of time alone, recharging.
this summer, none of those things have happened. i am not ready to go back.
but tomorrow i go back to work anyway. in a different classroom. for the third year in a row. i haven't been able to get into the new classroom yet, so it is not ready. i have never started a school year in this state of chaos! but it is what it is, and it will be ok. i just have relax and do what i can do, and then not worry about it. the kids in my class will be fine. and in a couple of weeks we will be up to speed.
BUT...
now that school is starting again, i do need to make some changes to my summer lifestyle. none of these are earth-shattering, and if you have read my blog for very long, you have heard me mention these things before. because i talk big, but when it comes to actually making lifestyle changes, i am a wimp. and yet, if i am going to survive the next nine months until summer vacation 2011, these things have to happen.
1--i HAVE to go to bed earlier! i am a night owl. i can easily stay up until 2 a.m. and then wake up at 10 a.m. the next morning and feel pretty good. but if i go to bed at 11 p.m. and get up at 7 a.m. i feel tired. it is still 8 hours of sleep, but it is a different 8 hours. the problem isn't the amount of sleep i get, it is having to get up at 7 a.m.! i am just a zombie at that time of the morning. ask rollie, my morning person husband. he has learned to pretty much ignore me until i come downstairs on my way out the door. but when i am working, i can't sleep until 10:00! so, whether i am tired or not, i am going to have to go to bed by 11:00. which means i am going to have to plan to go to bed by 10:00--because once i head that direction, i always seem to find a hundred little things i have to do...
2--i HAVE to walk the dogs. i am going to start doing this again. really. i am! (rollie is rolling his eyes as he reads this. he has heard me say this so many times before, that he never really believes it--even if he sees me walk out the door with a dog on a leash. i think he thinks i just walk around the corner, sit on the curb for 45 minutes, and then come back.) i am going to do this because i need the exercise, and i failed at being a gym rat. i am going to do this because the dogs need the exercise--milo is an 18 pound roly-poly, even though i now feed him diet dog food! and while mia is still her sleek and beautiful self, she has enough energy to power several four year olds. so we need to get out there. next week. really.
3--i HAVE to drink more water, less soda. i know, you have heard me say this so many times, but i just like soda and i get tired of water. i was going to work on this during the summer, but it didn't happen. i did make sun tea, so that i would have an alternative to soda. but once again, i left it outside for a few days, and then on the kitchen counter for several more, until it got moldy... but i think i will be more successful when i am spending most of my day at school. i have water in my classroom, but not soda--unless i bring some from home. so i expect that in a few months, i will have this one under control :) of course, i have thought that before, so we will see...
4--i HAVE to read more. i am busy during the day at school. and when i have a few free moments, i have kind of fallen into the trap of spending them on facebook. but i love to read! and now that i have a kindle, there is no excuse--i will always have several books with me!! i love my computer, and facebook, and the internet, but books engage my mind. and my poor mind needs something...
today, i didn't read, i didn't walk the dogs, and i drank soda all day--no water. BUT it is only 10:30, so if i stop writing right now and head to bed and don't get sidetracked by more than a couple of things, i think i might at least be able to accomplish one of my goals.
i'll keep you posted on the rest of them...
Thursday, May 13, 2010
maybe the boy has a dog . . .
so today . . . i handed out the seatwork to my kindergarten students, and then went back to my desk to give them time to do a little bit of work before we started reading groups. soon eugene was standing in front of me with one of his papers. "yes?" i asked him. "can i help you?"
"this is weird," he said. "why is he wearing shoes in the house?"
huh? "i don't understand. what do you mean? who?"
"look! he is wearing shoes in the house!" so i looked at the paper he was holding, and sure enough, the little boy was wearing shoes. in the house.
this is the seventh year i have taught kindergarten at my current school using this particular curriculum, and this is the first time anyone has noticed that the boy is wearing shoes in the house--probably because that really isn't the focus of the picture. we have had discussions about his choice of toys, we have had discussions about him smiling while picking up his toys, we have even had discussions about if they should use crayons or markers to color it. but no one has ever noticed the shoe thing before.
"yes he is," i said. "some people do."
eugene persisted--"but why?" so i replied with the only logical answer i could think of. "to keep their feet warm," i said. eugene thought for a minute and then told me, "we don't--do you?"
now i am not quite sure what to say. because we do wear our shoes in the house, but clearly at eugene's house they don't, and that seems normal to him. if i tell him that i keep my shoes on when i am inside, will it be the beginning of a rebellion in his five year old mind? will he go home and refuse to remove his shoes, because "teacher ms. julie wears her shoes in the house."
(you may think i have a somewhat inflated view of my importance, but trust me, i don't. it is almost scary how these kids remember things that i have said, and then act on them. i try to use my powers only for good--like telling them that i don't watch scary movies and that peas are delicious and that i always feel better after i take a nap--implying that they should avoid scary movies, eat their peas, and sleep during naptime. but they seem to be more influenced by the fact that my favorite color changes every day, and that i like taylor swift songs, and that i wear skechers.)
so i sort of hedge my bets--"yes, i wear shoes in my house, but i have dogs."
eugene has fish, not dogs, so he accepts that explanation and heads back to his seat.
the truth is, we tried the shoes off thing after we had our carpets cleaned last time. we have really light cream colored carpeting in our house, and when they were done cleaning it, it looked so good! so we decided that if we would just take off our shoes in the house, it would stay nice looking longer. which may be true, but we didn't find out. because it wasn't long until we were back to wearing our shoes again. for us, it was just too much of a hassle. it seemed like usually when we came into the house, we were carrying books or computers or food. and that made it hard to stop and take off our shoes. and if we did, then we had to carry them upstairs to put them away, and then carry them back downstairs to put them on. and then we realized that the dogs weren't wiping their feet before they came in. and while their feet are small, between the two of them they have eight--and yes, there are more dog feet than people feet here!! so eventually we just stopped doing it.
i think if you have dogs, you have to wear your shoes in the house--especially if you also have a doggie door--because you never know what surprises may be lurking just around the corner. and there are some things you just don't want to find with your bare foot--even if it is wearing a sock! there are sticks. and leaves. and the water splashes from their water bowl. and milk bone crumbs. and bits of chewed up toilet paper tube. and plastic eyeballs they have removed from their stuffed animals. and the stuffing from the stuffed animals. and the occasional, but inevitable result of eating grass. and sometimes, when milo is really stressed, we will even find a dirty sock that he has liberated through the mesh of the laundry basket.
and then, of course, there is the dog hair.
times two!!
i am guessing that if you have fish, you do not have these issues. and so at eugene's house, they don't wear their shoes inside.
but i do. because unexpectedly stepping on a soggy chewed up toilet paper tube in your bare feet is not something you want to experience more than once. or ever!
trust me.
"this is weird," he said. "why is he wearing shoes in the house?"
huh? "i don't understand. what do you mean? who?"
"look! he is wearing shoes in the house!" so i looked at the paper he was holding, and sure enough, the little boy was wearing shoes. in the house.
this is the seventh year i have taught kindergarten at my current school using this particular curriculum, and this is the first time anyone has noticed that the boy is wearing shoes in the house--probably because that really isn't the focus of the picture. we have had discussions about his choice of toys, we have had discussions about him smiling while picking up his toys, we have even had discussions about if they should use crayons or markers to color it. but no one has ever noticed the shoe thing before.
"yes he is," i said. "some people do."
eugene persisted--"but why?" so i replied with the only logical answer i could think of. "to keep their feet warm," i said. eugene thought for a minute and then told me, "we don't--do you?"
now i am not quite sure what to say. because we do wear our shoes in the house, but clearly at eugene's house they don't, and that seems normal to him. if i tell him that i keep my shoes on when i am inside, will it be the beginning of a rebellion in his five year old mind? will he go home and refuse to remove his shoes, because "teacher ms. julie wears her shoes in the house."
(you may think i have a somewhat inflated view of my importance, but trust me, i don't. it is almost scary how these kids remember things that i have said, and then act on them. i try to use my powers only for good--like telling them that i don't watch scary movies and that peas are delicious and that i always feel better after i take a nap--implying that they should avoid scary movies, eat their peas, and sleep during naptime. but they seem to be more influenced by the fact that my favorite color changes every day, and that i like taylor swift songs, and that i wear skechers.)
so i sort of hedge my bets--"yes, i wear shoes in my house, but i have dogs."
eugene has fish, not dogs, so he accepts that explanation and heads back to his seat.
the truth is, we tried the shoes off thing after we had our carpets cleaned last time. we have really light cream colored carpeting in our house, and when they were done cleaning it, it looked so good! so we decided that if we would just take off our shoes in the house, it would stay nice looking longer. which may be true, but we didn't find out. because it wasn't long until we were back to wearing our shoes again. for us, it was just too much of a hassle. it seemed like usually when we came into the house, we were carrying books or computers or food. and that made it hard to stop and take off our shoes. and if we did, then we had to carry them upstairs to put them away, and then carry them back downstairs to put them on. and then we realized that the dogs weren't wiping their feet before they came in. and while their feet are small, between the two of them they have eight--and yes, there are more dog feet than people feet here!! so eventually we just stopped doing it.
i think if you have dogs, you have to wear your shoes in the house--especially if you also have a doggie door--because you never know what surprises may be lurking just around the corner. and there are some things you just don't want to find with your bare foot--even if it is wearing a sock! there are sticks. and leaves. and the water splashes from their water bowl. and milk bone crumbs. and bits of chewed up toilet paper tube. and plastic eyeballs they have removed from their stuffed animals. and the stuffing from the stuffed animals. and the occasional, but inevitable result of eating grass. and sometimes, when milo is really stressed, we will even find a dirty sock that he has liberated through the mesh of the laundry basket.
and then, of course, there is the dog hair.
times two!!
i am guessing that if you have fish, you do not have these issues. and so at eugene's house, they don't wear their shoes inside.
but i do. because unexpectedly stepping on a soggy chewed up toilet paper tube in your bare feet is not something you want to experience more than once. or ever!
trust me.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
surprises
so today . . . i was greeted with a lovely surprise when i walked back into the germ incubator everyone else calls my classroom.
a gift from a student--for no particular reason . . .
the kids i start out with in the early morning are not the kids in my class, and so they had not seen it yet either, and they were enthralled! thank goodness there were only four of them to begin with, because otherwise i'm afraid a fight might have broken out. they all wanted the best view of the fish, and the fish kept moving! it was funny to listen to them. because the fish lives in a curved vase full of water, it looks bigger when it is further away, and they kept saying, "oh look! it got bigger! no, now it is small again!!" i thought about explaining the science of it, but decided to go with the magic . . .
a gift from a student--for no particular reason . . .i'm not really a fan of surprises, because i like to be prepared. when diandra was a baby, rollie decided to surprise me for my birthday. he had arranged for my parents to come (which required a seven hour drive) to watch diandra while we had a weekend away. he packed for me and did a great job, but he didn't tell me any of this. he just said, "don't plan anything for this weekend." (he didn't actually need to tell me that, because we lived in a very small town, and i had a tiny baby to take care of--what kind of plans was i going to make?!?!) my parents arrived, and i was so excited! and then he said, "come on, let's go!" and i said, "what?!?!?!?!" and off we went.
i would like to say we had a great time, but we didn't. and even now when i think about it, it makes me sad. because my wonderful husband was trying to do something nice for me, to give me a break, and i couldn't relax and enjoy it. because i was mentally unprepared. (ok, i was also young and a new mom leaving my baby for the first time, so there were extenuating circumstances . . . )
i admit it--i am not the most spontaneous flower in the bunch. i'm not crazy about being surprised. i like to be prepared.
but surprise presents are a whole different story! i love presents, especially surprise presents that aren't "required" by any special holiday. so when i walked in today after spending yesterday dealing with second-hand germs and saw this lovely gift, i smiled.
the kids i start out with in the early morning are not the kids in my class, and so they had not seen it yet either, and they were enthralled! thank goodness there were only four of them to begin with, because otherwise i'm afraid a fight might have broken out. they all wanted the best view of the fish, and the fish kept moving! it was funny to listen to them. because the fish lives in a curved vase full of water, it looks bigger when it is further away, and they kept saying, "oh look! it got bigger! no, now it is small again!!" i thought about explaining the science of it, but decided to go with the magic . . . then we had this conversation:
"are you going to take him home?"
"i'll take him home for the summer."
"why?"
"well, i don't come to school in the summer, so who would take care of him?"
"Jesus will take care of him."
"no he won't," said another child.
"yes. Jesus is real, but you can't see his body--only his face."
and as for my thoughtful husband . . . he has never again attempted to whisk me off without giving me time to mentally prepare. i think i would handle it better now--being older and no longer responsible for our precious only child--but it is still probably better that i know . . .
he has, however, become a master at the surprise, for no reason at all gift. :)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
the influence of a guinea pig spy
so today . . . my school kids were on a roll. some days their conversation centers on toys and characters that i have no idea how to spell--bakugon? i'm sure that isn't right, but whatever it is, their tiny little lives seem to revolve around it and it's exploits. maybe i need cable tv.
but today they seemed to have guinea pigs on their mind--super spy guinea pigs.
if you haven't seen "g-force," go to your nearest video store and rent it some night when you just want some cute, fun entertainment. we saw it in 3-d, which is what i recommend (although i don't know if the dvd comes in 3-d.)
anyway, at one point in the movie one of the guinea pigs says, "we may be small, but we're mighty!" and my kindergarteners find this line fascinating. they will sit around their table repeating it over and over to each other in tiny little guinea pig voices. it drives me crazy!
but today there was a new twist. i don't know who started it, but this is what i heard . . .
"we may be teachers, but we're kids!"
"we may be carrots, but we burp a lot!"
"we may be small, but we're elvis!" (ok, i know i said i was going to change the names of the kids when i blogged this year, but i can't change this one. this name belongs to one of the nicest, happiest, most pleasant little boys i have ever had in any of my classes. i love him!!)
"we may be green broccoli, but we're polka dots!" (this is starting to remind me of when diandra's sense of humor was developing at this very same age. her humor form of choice was knock knock jokes. they would go something like this--knock knock-who's there?-car-car who?-our car is in the garage! and then she would laugh hysterically. we, of course, would laugh too, because even though the joke was totally meaningless, she was so funny laughing at her own joke!)
"we may be groundhogs, but we are groundhog kids."
"we may be princesses, but we are kings."
does any of this make sense to any of you? does it make you laugh?? me either. but let me tell you, they were cracking each other up!
and then in the midst of all the laughter, one of the boys said, "we may be carrots, but we're mighty carrots." and all the kids laughed except for one little girl, who stopped, looked at him and said, "no, that doesn't make sense."
are you kidding me?!? that doesn't make sense?!?!?!? this is where she draws the line????? none of it made any sense! and she happened to be the one whose contribution to the conversation was "we may be princesses, but we're kings!" tell me that makes sense! sheesh!
while the kindergarteners were having this riveting conversation, the pre-k kids were talking about their dads. since i was busy listening and writing down what the kindergarteners were saying, (on the back of this paper i found . . .
i'm sure this isn't a picture of me!) i wasn't paying that much attention to the other conversation. until i heard one little boy say, "yeah? well, my dad can take off his head and juggle it!"
after i got done laughing, i thought, "yesss! i have my blog for today!"
and then at the end of the day as we were cleaning up our last activity, i was making sure their names were on the three-cornered hats we had made. michelle said, "can i put my last name on mine? because there are two michelles in after school care, and the other one might take my hat."
i said, "sure, put your last name on it, because someone might take it--it is pretty cool."
"yeah, and she might kiss it." michelle said.
"oh, i don't think she will kiss it," i said.
"she might," michelle insisted. "i saw her kiss a book once."
but today they seemed to have guinea pigs on their mind--super spy guinea pigs.
if you haven't seen "g-force," go to your nearest video store and rent it some night when you just want some cute, fun entertainment. we saw it in 3-d, which is what i recommend (although i don't know if the dvd comes in 3-d.)
anyway, at one point in the movie one of the guinea pigs says, "we may be small, but we're mighty!" and my kindergarteners find this line fascinating. they will sit around their table repeating it over and over to each other in tiny little guinea pig voices. it drives me crazy!
but today there was a new twist. i don't know who started it, but this is what i heard . . .
"we may be teachers, but we're kids!"
"we may be carrots, but we burp a lot!"
"we may be small, but we're elvis!" (ok, i know i said i was going to change the names of the kids when i blogged this year, but i can't change this one. this name belongs to one of the nicest, happiest, most pleasant little boys i have ever had in any of my classes. i love him!!)
"we may be green broccoli, but we're polka dots!" (this is starting to remind me of when diandra's sense of humor was developing at this very same age. her humor form of choice was knock knock jokes. they would go something like this--knock knock-who's there?-car-car who?-our car is in the garage! and then she would laugh hysterically. we, of course, would laugh too, because even though the joke was totally meaningless, she was so funny laughing at her own joke!)
"we may be groundhogs, but we are groundhog kids."
"we may be princesses, but we are kings."
does any of this make sense to any of you? does it make you laugh?? me either. but let me tell you, they were cracking each other up!
and then in the midst of all the laughter, one of the boys said, "we may be carrots, but we're mighty carrots." and all the kids laughed except for one little girl, who stopped, looked at him and said, "no, that doesn't make sense."
are you kidding me?!? that doesn't make sense?!?!?!? this is where she draws the line????? none of it made any sense! and she happened to be the one whose contribution to the conversation was "we may be princesses, but we're kings!" tell me that makes sense! sheesh!
while the kindergarteners were having this riveting conversation, the pre-k kids were talking about their dads. since i was busy listening and writing down what the kindergarteners were saying, (on the back of this paper i found . . .
i'm sure this isn't a picture of me!) i wasn't paying that much attention to the other conversation. until i heard one little boy say, "yeah? well, my dad can take off his head and juggle it!"after i got done laughing, i thought, "yesss! i have my blog for today!"
and then at the end of the day as we were cleaning up our last activity, i was making sure their names were on the three-cornered hats we had made. michelle said, "can i put my last name on mine? because there are two michelles in after school care, and the other one might take my hat."
i said, "sure, put your last name on it, because someone might take it--it is pretty cool."
"yeah, and she might kiss it." michelle said.
"oh, i don't think she will kiss it," i said.
"she might," michelle insisted. "i saw her kiss a book once."
Monday, February 1, 2010
"but that's not what i meant . . . "
so today . . . finally one of the kids at school learned the lesson i was trying to teach him. of course, he applied it in a totally inappropriate way, but still . . .
this year we have quite a crop of rowdy, unruly little boys. generally i am drawn to the difficult children, but these boys are about to drive me to drink!! thankfully, most of them are not in my class. but during music and recess, those combinations that we worked so hard to separate when making classroom assignments are drawn to each other like magnets! they hit. they shove. they wrestle. they tattle. they retaliate. they drive me crazy!!!!!
but, part of my job is to try to teach them social skills, so i can't just hide in the corner hoping a wine cooler will fall out of the sky (not that i would drink it, i'm just saying . . . )
today was a typical monday, and by 8:40 i had a room full of children who are not my students. these are the early arrivals and today this included four of the rowdy boys. my room is small, which makes it hard to hit, shove, wrestle, or retaliate without being seen and consequently, ending up in trouble. so they are pretty well behaved when they are in my room. but then at 9:00 we go next door for music, which is where things started going south . . .
for some reason, when we go into that room those boys seem to think they have to immediately jump on each other and roll around on the rug. almost every day! and today was no exception. i walked in just in time to see adam shove mitchell. of course i went over to sort it out, and this is what ensued--
me: "what is going on here?"
silence. i looked at adam and said, "adam, i saw you shove mitchell."
you all know what adam said. "well, he shoved me first!"
yes, that is their answer for everything. it isn't my fault. he started it. but he (fill in the blank.) for some unexplainable reason they seem to think that the no hitting, shoving, wrestling rule applies only if they are the first one to do it. actually, i don't think any of them actually think the rule applies to them at all! i don't even think they think about the rule. it is like their bodies are not even connected to their brains. or else their brains are already thinking about lunch while their bodies are getting them into trouble . . .
so i gave adam my standard speech. "so, does that make it ok for you to shove him back?" and they always reply with a no, but i think that is just because they know that is what i want to hear. even while their mouth is saying no, their brain is screaming, "YES, OF COURSE IT DOES!! WHAT DO YOU THINK?? I AM JUST GOING TO STAND HERE AND LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THAT?!?! NO WAY! HE IS GOING TO PAY!! OH YES, WHEN I GET DONE HE IS NEVER EVEN GOING TO THINK ABOUT SHOVING ME AGAIN!!!"
but he said no, and so i continued, "when someone is mean to you, just walk away."
(this is my standard response this year, because the tattling is getting out of control! so we are trying to teach them that instead of engaging and escalating a situation, they can just turn around, walk away, and play with someone else.)
i sent adam to the other side of the room turned to mitchell. mitchell had already heard my interaction with adam. sadly, this is not the first time mitchell has heard my little speech--he is often on one side or the other of the hitting, shoving, wrestling continuum. so when i turned to him to address his role in the scuffle, he didn't get the "just walk away" speech, because he had apparently started it. he got the "shoving is not ok. ever. no matter what" speech.
i was hoping this would be the end of it. after all, i had stopped them, talked to them, and sent them to opposite sides of the room. surely peace would ensue.
yeah. not in the middle east, and not during music time either. i walked to the back of the room and turned around just in time to see mitchell shove john. i couldn't believe it! it hadn't even been 30 seconds!! hadn't he heard anything i had said?!?!
i started toward the boys when i saw mitchell put both his hands on john's shoulders, look him straight in the eyes, and in his high pitched four year old voice say, "just walk away. just walk away."
i guess he had heard me--at least when i was talking to adam . . .
this year we have quite a crop of rowdy, unruly little boys. generally i am drawn to the difficult children, but these boys are about to drive me to drink!! thankfully, most of them are not in my class. but during music and recess, those combinations that we worked so hard to separate when making classroom assignments are drawn to each other like magnets! they hit. they shove. they wrestle. they tattle. they retaliate. they drive me crazy!!!!!
but, part of my job is to try to teach them social skills, so i can't just hide in the corner hoping a wine cooler will fall out of the sky (not that i would drink it, i'm just saying . . . )
today was a typical monday, and by 8:40 i had a room full of children who are not my students. these are the early arrivals and today this included four of the rowdy boys. my room is small, which makes it hard to hit, shove, wrestle, or retaliate without being seen and consequently, ending up in trouble. so they are pretty well behaved when they are in my room. but then at 9:00 we go next door for music, which is where things started going south . . .
for some reason, when we go into that room those boys seem to think they have to immediately jump on each other and roll around on the rug. almost every day! and today was no exception. i walked in just in time to see adam shove mitchell. of course i went over to sort it out, and this is what ensued--
me: "what is going on here?"
silence. i looked at adam and said, "adam, i saw you shove mitchell."
you all know what adam said. "well, he shoved me first!"
yes, that is their answer for everything. it isn't my fault. he started it. but he (fill in the blank.) for some unexplainable reason they seem to think that the no hitting, shoving, wrestling rule applies only if they are the first one to do it. actually, i don't think any of them actually think the rule applies to them at all! i don't even think they think about the rule. it is like their bodies are not even connected to their brains. or else their brains are already thinking about lunch while their bodies are getting them into trouble . . .
so i gave adam my standard speech. "so, does that make it ok for you to shove him back?" and they always reply with a no, but i think that is just because they know that is what i want to hear. even while their mouth is saying no, their brain is screaming, "YES, OF COURSE IT DOES!! WHAT DO YOU THINK?? I AM JUST GOING TO STAND HERE AND LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THAT?!?! NO WAY! HE IS GOING TO PAY!! OH YES, WHEN I GET DONE HE IS NEVER EVEN GOING TO THINK ABOUT SHOVING ME AGAIN!!!"
but he said no, and so i continued, "when someone is mean to you, just walk away."
(this is my standard response this year, because the tattling is getting out of control! so we are trying to teach them that instead of engaging and escalating a situation, they can just turn around, walk away, and play with someone else.)
i sent adam to the other side of the room turned to mitchell. mitchell had already heard my interaction with adam. sadly, this is not the first time mitchell has heard my little speech--he is often on one side or the other of the hitting, shoving, wrestling continuum. so when i turned to him to address his role in the scuffle, he didn't get the "just walk away" speech, because he had apparently started it. he got the "shoving is not ok. ever. no matter what" speech.
i was hoping this would be the end of it. after all, i had stopped them, talked to them, and sent them to opposite sides of the room. surely peace would ensue.
yeah. not in the middle east, and not during music time either. i walked to the back of the room and turned around just in time to see mitchell shove john. i couldn't believe it! it hadn't even been 30 seconds!! hadn't he heard anything i had said?!?!
i started toward the boys when i saw mitchell put both his hands on john's shoulders, look him straight in the eyes, and in his high pitched four year old voice say, "just walk away. just walk away."
i guess he had heard me--at least when i was talking to adam . . .
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
what goes around . . .
so today . . . i had to eat my words. i hate it when that happens.
today was a busy day. i woke up feeling yukky--i don't know yet it if i am having allergy issues or if a bug is trying to get me again, but i really, really didn't want to get out of bed.
i made it to work and crashed behind my desk. i am fortunate that most of the kids i deal with at school are pretty well behaved and responsive to my words. most of the time. this morning they did a good job of keeping busy without much intervention from me. which is good, because i didn't have much intervention in me. in fact, we started reading groups today, but just barely . . . because i was sitting there thinking, "i can't do reading groups today. i just can't--i'm just too much of a vegetable." so i had to have a conversation with myself summoning up the energy to grab the basket of books, relocate across the room, and listen to kids read. yeah, i know--it sounds exhausting doesn't it?!?
the afternoon went well, and then i had a couple of parent conferences.
i usually enjoy parent conferences. and today was no exception. i talked with parents about their darling dumplings for over an hour. i was animated. i was wise. i was understanding. i was amazing, considering i just wanted to put my head down on the table and sleep . . .
but the conferences took longer than i had planned, so i had to go straight to the church for band rehearsal without stopping at home. thankfully, my music notebook was in the trunk of my car. and then i pulled into the church parking lot and realized that my church keys were still at home, sitting on the keyboard . . .
not good. not good at all. here's why . . .
last week was the first full band rehearsal we had had since thanksgiving--mostly because i had been sick, but then we also had a couple of weeks off. so i was kind of excited to be back. i got there early and got everything set up, and then waited for the rest of the band to show up. and waited and waited and waited. and as i was waiting, a series of text messages came to my phone explaining why each one was going to be late . . .
finally everyone got there, but then we lost one. the guitar player got to rehearsal and realized he didn't have his guitar.
are you kidding me?!?!?! what did he think he was going to do??? i mean, he was coming to rehearsal with the sole purpose of playing the guitar, but he didn't bring it??!?!?!
teenage boys--sometimes they make me laugh right out loud, but sometimes they make me want to bang my head against the wall . . .
finally he made it back with the guitar and was able to rehearse with us--for about 10 minutes.
which brings me back to today. i knew as i sat there in my car, keyless, that i was going to have to endure some payback. i could just imagine it . . . "what?!? you forgot your keys???? where did you think we were going to rehearse?? i mean, you were coming for rehearsal and you didn't bring the keys that would let us into the building?!?!?!"
yeah, it wasn't going to be pretty . . .
i had a few minutes before anyone showed up, so i rummaged through my purse again thinking maybe i had just missed the keys the first time. of course, i hadn't. and then the boys drove up . . . 15 minutes early! this was an unprecedented action--they were there early AND they had their guitars. shoot! the one time i was hoping for tardiness, there they were. early. and prepared.
i was toast.
i got out of my car, collected my stuff and headed for the sidewalk where they were unloading their equipment. my strategy was simple--go on the offensive. "you are never going to believe what i did," i started. and then told my story. their faces registered mock looks of horror, and i had to endure a few words of ridicule, and then it was over.
as much as i would like to throttle them some days, really they are nice kids. considering they are teenagers. and boys . . .
today was a busy day. i woke up feeling yukky--i don't know yet it if i am having allergy issues or if a bug is trying to get me again, but i really, really didn't want to get out of bed.
i made it to work and crashed behind my desk. i am fortunate that most of the kids i deal with at school are pretty well behaved and responsive to my words. most of the time. this morning they did a good job of keeping busy without much intervention from me. which is good, because i didn't have much intervention in me. in fact, we started reading groups today, but just barely . . . because i was sitting there thinking, "i can't do reading groups today. i just can't--i'm just too much of a vegetable." so i had to have a conversation with myself summoning up the energy to grab the basket of books, relocate across the room, and listen to kids read. yeah, i know--it sounds exhausting doesn't it?!?
the afternoon went well, and then i had a couple of parent conferences.
i usually enjoy parent conferences. and today was no exception. i talked with parents about their darling dumplings for over an hour. i was animated. i was wise. i was understanding. i was amazing, considering i just wanted to put my head down on the table and sleep . . .
but the conferences took longer than i had planned, so i had to go straight to the church for band rehearsal without stopping at home. thankfully, my music notebook was in the trunk of my car. and then i pulled into the church parking lot and realized that my church keys were still at home, sitting on the keyboard . . .
not good. not good at all. here's why . . .
last week was the first full band rehearsal we had had since thanksgiving--mostly because i had been sick, but then we also had a couple of weeks off. so i was kind of excited to be back. i got there early and got everything set up, and then waited for the rest of the band to show up. and waited and waited and waited. and as i was waiting, a series of text messages came to my phone explaining why each one was going to be late . . .
finally everyone got there, but then we lost one. the guitar player got to rehearsal and realized he didn't have his guitar.
are you kidding me?!?!?! what did he think he was going to do??? i mean, he was coming to rehearsal with the sole purpose of playing the guitar, but he didn't bring it??!?!?!
teenage boys--sometimes they make me laugh right out loud, but sometimes they make me want to bang my head against the wall . . .
finally he made it back with the guitar and was able to rehearse with us--for about 10 minutes.
which brings me back to today. i knew as i sat there in my car, keyless, that i was going to have to endure some payback. i could just imagine it . . . "what?!? you forgot your keys???? where did you think we were going to rehearse?? i mean, you were coming for rehearsal and you didn't bring the keys that would let us into the building?!?!?!"
yeah, it wasn't going to be pretty . . .
i had a few minutes before anyone showed up, so i rummaged through my purse again thinking maybe i had just missed the keys the first time. of course, i hadn't. and then the boys drove up . . . 15 minutes early! this was an unprecedented action--they were there early AND they had their guitars. shoot! the one time i was hoping for tardiness, there they were. early. and prepared.
i was toast.
i got out of my car, collected my stuff and headed for the sidewalk where they were unloading their equipment. my strategy was simple--go on the offensive. "you are never going to believe what i did," i started. and then told my story. their faces registered mock looks of horror, and i had to endure a few words of ridicule, and then it was over.
as much as i would like to throttle them some days, really they are nice kids. considering they are teenagers. and boys . . .
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
sometimes ignorance is NOT bliss--sometimes it is just the lack of knowledge.
so today . . . something funny happened in my classroom, and i have no idea what it was.
after my kids "nap" (and i use quotes, because the kindergarteners don't really nap. they put their heads down on their tables and wish it was time to play. sometimes they do fall asleep, but before long i have to wake them up, so it isn't really long enough to be called a nap. and yet, we do . . . ) i let them play for a little while before we dive back into our work. i do this, because if they have slept, they need a little transition time before their brains are fully functioning again. and i need a little transition time before i am ready to deal with social studies or art.
as i looked around the room, i saw that two children were playing on the floor with legos, and three were at a table playing with little rubbery dinosaurs. and then i heard the laughter. not just giggling, but the full-on, laugh-out-loud kind. it was coming from the table.
(to my knowledge, the dinosaurs aren't that funny. in fact, what usually happens when the dinosaurs are out is something like this--
"i want the red ones."
"no! i'm playing with them."
"but i WANT them!!!"
"no! i had them first!"
"TEEEAAAACHERRRRR! he won't share the dinosaurs!!!"
and then we have the discussion about how sharing doesn't mean you get what you want when you want it--sharing means taking a turn.)
so i was curious, because while they get the giggles sometimes, i can usually hear it coming. as the five-year-old conversation swirls in the background of my brain, i will hear the beginnings of a joke or the smile in a voice that tells me mild hilarity is right around the corner. but that didn't happen today.
because they were speaking in chinese.
i don't speak chinese, so it was a little hard to catch the punchline. and the students aren't really supposed to speak chinese at school (because most of them speak chinese at home, so school is where they are supposed to be working on their english skills) but they were laughing so hard! so i tuned into the conversation. and even though i couldn't understand a word they were saying, i could tell they were laughing about words--i think they were making puns! in chinese!!
i am constantly amazed at the language skills of people who have only been alive for four or five years. they can't even tie their own shoe laces, but they are fluent in two languages! not only that, but they can apparently be funny in two languages! you have to really understand a language to be able to pull off a play on words. of course, chinese is the language they were born to speak, but they are also able to be funny in english.
the difference is, i understand it when they are funny in english.
after my kids "nap" (and i use quotes, because the kindergarteners don't really nap. they put their heads down on their tables and wish it was time to play. sometimes they do fall asleep, but before long i have to wake them up, so it isn't really long enough to be called a nap. and yet, we do . . . ) i let them play for a little while before we dive back into our work. i do this, because if they have slept, they need a little transition time before their brains are fully functioning again. and i need a little transition time before i am ready to deal with social studies or art.
as i looked around the room, i saw that two children were playing on the floor with legos, and three were at a table playing with little rubbery dinosaurs. and then i heard the laughter. not just giggling, but the full-on, laugh-out-loud kind. it was coming from the table.
(to my knowledge, the dinosaurs aren't that funny. in fact, what usually happens when the dinosaurs are out is something like this--
"i want the red ones."
"no! i'm playing with them."
"but i WANT them!!!"
"no! i had them first!"
"TEEEAAAACHERRRRR! he won't share the dinosaurs!!!"
and then we have the discussion about how sharing doesn't mean you get what you want when you want it--sharing means taking a turn.)
so i was curious, because while they get the giggles sometimes, i can usually hear it coming. as the five-year-old conversation swirls in the background of my brain, i will hear the beginnings of a joke or the smile in a voice that tells me mild hilarity is right around the corner. but that didn't happen today.
because they were speaking in chinese.
i don't speak chinese, so it was a little hard to catch the punchline. and the students aren't really supposed to speak chinese at school (because most of them speak chinese at home, so school is where they are supposed to be working on their english skills) but they were laughing so hard! so i tuned into the conversation. and even though i couldn't understand a word they were saying, i could tell they were laughing about words--i think they were making puns! in chinese!!
i am constantly amazed at the language skills of people who have only been alive for four or five years. they can't even tie their own shoe laces, but they are fluent in two languages! not only that, but they can apparently be funny in two languages! you have to really understand a language to be able to pull off a play on words. of course, chinese is the language they were born to speak, but they are also able to be funny in english.
the difference is, i understand it when they are funny in english.
Friday, October 9, 2009
but isn't indigo blue?
so today . . . my fuse was short. luckily i have good self control . . .
when you work with small children, some days you either laugh or scream. or put your head down on your desk and picture white, sandy beaches . . . i try to choose to laugh when i can, but today, screaming almost won out.
four year old brains do not function like adult brains. duh! but when you spend way more of your time with four year olds than you do with adults, it is easy to forget that. you kind of start to think that they think like you do. they do not.
it is sad to say that my "peeps" are mostly four or five years old! and most days i enjoy being with them, but i admit there are some days when i just want to throw paperwork at them, and sit at my desk until they bring it to me all neatly and correctly completed. because there are days when it is really hard to embrace all that being a four year old means. like choosing just the right crayon. even if it takes FOREVER!
today i was working with the pre-k kids on number concepts--you know, how much is the number "two," really . . . and what does the number "three" look like, in terms of quantity . . . and why is "one" a lonely number . . . ? these are the burning questions four year olds need the answers to. my solution, before handing them the requisite paper to complete, was to work with their crayons.
crayons seemed like such a good choice. they use them all the time, so it wouldn't be like a new toy that they would want to explore. they each already had crayons within arm's reach. and they had more than three--perfect, i naively thought . . .
so i said, "ok, today we are going to use our crayons to show how many," and then proceeded with the lesson. they seemed to be with me. they were listening (at least, they were looking at me which i took to mean that they were listening--but maybe they were thinking about white, sandy beaches . . . or legos) and then i said, "show me two crayons."
you would think i had asked them to build a nuclear reactor.
two crayons! that is all i was asking for. take two crayons out of your pencil box and lay them on the table so i know that you know how many two is. but apparently they couldn't pick up just any two crayons. apparently there were two crayons that would result in the right answer, while all others would be wrong. ok, i can wait. and wait. and wait.
finally the chosen crayons are presented, and thankfully they have all chosen the right number. i would love to just call it a day right here, but i still have the numbers one and three left. it's a toss up, but i ask for one crayon. that goes pretty quickly--they put their little hands in and pull out a crayon. now THAT's what i am looking for! ok, let's move on to the number three. and let's do it quickly, because it is almost snack time . . .
"quickly" is not even in the building. they paw through their crayons. they make as much noise as possible pawing through their crayons. they choose one. but that isn't enough, so they look some more. "is this crayon blue?"
WHO CARES!!! JUST PICK THREE CRAYONS AND LAY THEM ON THE TABLE!!!!!!!! THE COLOR IS IRRELEVANT!! I JUST NEED TO SEE THREE! THREE!!! ANY COLOR WILL DO!!! JUST PICK THREE!!!
i don't actually scream these words. oh yes, they are careening around in my head, but i have enough self control to keep them in there. all that escapes my lips is, "no, that is indigo. did you want the blue crayon?"
no wonder some days my head feels like it is going to explode. all those upper case letters and exclamation points are trapped inside . . .
when you work with small children, some days you either laugh or scream. or put your head down on your desk and picture white, sandy beaches . . . i try to choose to laugh when i can, but today, screaming almost won out.
four year old brains do not function like adult brains. duh! but when you spend way more of your time with four year olds than you do with adults, it is easy to forget that. you kind of start to think that they think like you do. they do not.
it is sad to say that my "peeps" are mostly four or five years old! and most days i enjoy being with them, but i admit there are some days when i just want to throw paperwork at them, and sit at my desk until they bring it to me all neatly and correctly completed. because there are days when it is really hard to embrace all that being a four year old means. like choosing just the right crayon. even if it takes FOREVER!
today i was working with the pre-k kids on number concepts--you know, how much is the number "two," really . . . and what does the number "three" look like, in terms of quantity . . . and why is "one" a lonely number . . . ? these are the burning questions four year olds need the answers to. my solution, before handing them the requisite paper to complete, was to work with their crayons.
crayons seemed like such a good choice. they use them all the time, so it wouldn't be like a new toy that they would want to explore. they each already had crayons within arm's reach. and they had more than three--perfect, i naively thought . . .
so i said, "ok, today we are going to use our crayons to show how many," and then proceeded with the lesson. they seemed to be with me. they were listening (at least, they were looking at me which i took to mean that they were listening--but maybe they were thinking about white, sandy beaches . . . or legos) and then i said, "show me two crayons."
you would think i had asked them to build a nuclear reactor.
two crayons! that is all i was asking for. take two crayons out of your pencil box and lay them on the table so i know that you know how many two is. but apparently they couldn't pick up just any two crayons. apparently there were two crayons that would result in the right answer, while all others would be wrong. ok, i can wait. and wait. and wait.
finally the chosen crayons are presented, and thankfully they have all chosen the right number. i would love to just call it a day right here, but i still have the numbers one and three left. it's a toss up, but i ask for one crayon. that goes pretty quickly--they put their little hands in and pull out a crayon. now THAT's what i am looking for! ok, let's move on to the number three. and let's do it quickly, because it is almost snack time . . .
"quickly" is not even in the building. they paw through their crayons. they make as much noise as possible pawing through their crayons. they choose one. but that isn't enough, so they look some more. "is this crayon blue?"
WHO CARES!!! JUST PICK THREE CRAYONS AND LAY THEM ON THE TABLE!!!!!!!! THE COLOR IS IRRELEVANT!! I JUST NEED TO SEE THREE! THREE!!! ANY COLOR WILL DO!!! JUST PICK THREE!!!
i don't actually scream these words. oh yes, they are careening around in my head, but i have enough self control to keep them in there. all that escapes my lips is, "no, that is indigo. did you want the blue crayon?"
no wonder some days my head feels like it is going to explode. all those upper case letters and exclamation points are trapped inside . . .
Monday, September 7, 2009
to sleep? or not to sleep?
so today . . . i woke up at 9:00.
i know that is not earth shattering information--probably most of you wake up much earlier than that on a regular basis. but the problem is, i thought it was 10:30.
when i am on summer vacation, i stay up late--really late, like 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. late. or would that be early . . . ? i don't know. and then i sleep until about 10:30 the next morning. that is just my summer schedule. so when school starts in the fall, adjustments must be made.
my plan is always to start creeping my bedtime forward in august so that i am back to a normal schedule by september. this never happens. ever. and then the week before school, i think, "YIKES! i have to start going to bed earlier!" but at the same time, i realize it is my last week of summer vacation, and so either i spend it doing all the fun things i didn't get done earlier, or all the work i didn't get done earlier, or recovering from all the work and fun i did do earlier. which means i stay up even later!
this year was unique, because i had to start school before labor day--this has never happened to me before. so i spent the last couple of weeks of august in denial (meaning staying up late and pretending the summer wasn't ending,) and started my new school year tired. and spent the whole first week in that state. which is ok, because i had a long weekend coming up . . . and my plan for that weekend included lots and lots of sleeping.
saturday i had stuff to do, some of it outside, and it was getting HOT. so i knew i couldn't spend the whole morning sleeping. sunday morning i had band rehearsal early, and then church. that left this morning for my last opportunity to decrease my sleep deficit.
the stage was set. my alarm was off (oh, did i forget to tell you that yesterday i left my school alarm on? it went off 30 minutes earlier than i needed to get up on sunday morning. but it took me a long time to shut it off, because on sunday morning i use my phone alarm. and i kept punching and poking the screen on my phone and the stupid alarm would not shut off!! because it was not my phone alarm--it was my clock--a half hour early. sigh.) ok, BOTH my alarms were off. rollie was up and out. he had taken the dogs with him so they wouldn't bother me. i should have been in blissful slumber until nearly noon.
and then, i turned over toward the clock. my brain was slightly awake, but my eyes were still shut. my brain thought, "you should look at the clock." my eyes said no. my eyes are smarter than my brain. they knew that if i looked at the time, that would be it--i would not be able to go back to sleep. my brain said, "but diandra is out of town and you turned off your cell phone, and what if she tries to call or text?" my eyes said she could just leave a message--i needed to sleep. my brain was horrified at that, and forced my eyes open.
my clock said 10:28.
ok, but remember what i said about the time on my clock? it is not the right time. and i wasn't awake enough to do the math to find the correct time. but i figured it was still probably 10:00, and i should probably get up. my eyes were not happy with my brain! so i laid there for a while longer, until the dogs discovered i was not sleeping (i don't know how they can tell that--my eyes were still closed!) it soon became pointless to stay in bed--there was too much commotion. so i got up, got dressed and headed downstairs wondering whether i should eat breakfast or lunch. it was, after all nearly noon by then . . .
only it wasn't. it was 9:30. i'm not kidding you!! i'm not quite sure how it happened. i must have read the time wrong on my clock. or maybe my brain tricked my eyes. but there i was. up. and dressed. and thinking i should choose breakfast over lunch, since it was only 9:30 in the morning!!!!
it was strange--my whole day was skewed. every time i looked at the clock it was 2 hours earlier than i felt like it should be. i got quite a bit done before we ate lunch at 2:00. but after lunch i was feeling my early morning. and since my plan for the weekend was sleep, i took a nap. it must have compensated for my early rising, because when i woke up, it felt like the planets were all in alignment once again.
now, if i can just get to bed early tonight. but first i have to pack my gym bag (yes, my plan is to hit the gym tomorrow,) get my school stuff ready to go, and go pick diandra up from the airport. her plane lands at 9:48. somehow, i don't think "early" is in my future. maybe i should shoot for "before midnight."
i know that is not earth shattering information--probably most of you wake up much earlier than that on a regular basis. but the problem is, i thought it was 10:30.
when i am on summer vacation, i stay up late--really late, like 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. late. or would that be early . . . ? i don't know. and then i sleep until about 10:30 the next morning. that is just my summer schedule. so when school starts in the fall, adjustments must be made.
my plan is always to start creeping my bedtime forward in august so that i am back to a normal schedule by september. this never happens. ever. and then the week before school, i think, "YIKES! i have to start going to bed earlier!" but at the same time, i realize it is my last week of summer vacation, and so either i spend it doing all the fun things i didn't get done earlier, or all the work i didn't get done earlier, or recovering from all the work and fun i did do earlier. which means i stay up even later!
this year was unique, because i had to start school before labor day--this has never happened to me before. so i spent the last couple of weeks of august in denial (meaning staying up late and pretending the summer wasn't ending,) and started my new school year tired. and spent the whole first week in that state. which is ok, because i had a long weekend coming up . . . and my plan for that weekend included lots and lots of sleeping.
saturday i had stuff to do, some of it outside, and it was getting HOT. so i knew i couldn't spend the whole morning sleeping. sunday morning i had band rehearsal early, and then church. that left this morning for my last opportunity to decrease my sleep deficit.
the stage was set. my alarm was off (oh, did i forget to tell you that yesterday i left my school alarm on? it went off 30 minutes earlier than i needed to get up on sunday morning. but it took me a long time to shut it off, because on sunday morning i use my phone alarm. and i kept punching and poking the screen on my phone and the stupid alarm would not shut off!! because it was not my phone alarm--it was my clock--a half hour early. sigh.) ok, BOTH my alarms were off. rollie was up and out. he had taken the dogs with him so they wouldn't bother me. i should have been in blissful slumber until nearly noon.
and then, i turned over toward the clock. my brain was slightly awake, but my eyes were still shut. my brain thought, "you should look at the clock." my eyes said no. my eyes are smarter than my brain. they knew that if i looked at the time, that would be it--i would not be able to go back to sleep. my brain said, "but diandra is out of town and you turned off your cell phone, and what if she tries to call or text?" my eyes said she could just leave a message--i needed to sleep. my brain was horrified at that, and forced my eyes open.
my clock said 10:28.
ok, but remember what i said about the time on my clock? it is not the right time. and i wasn't awake enough to do the math to find the correct time. but i figured it was still probably 10:00, and i should probably get up. my eyes were not happy with my brain! so i laid there for a while longer, until the dogs discovered i was not sleeping (i don't know how they can tell that--my eyes were still closed!) it soon became pointless to stay in bed--there was too much commotion. so i got up, got dressed and headed downstairs wondering whether i should eat breakfast or lunch. it was, after all nearly noon by then . . .
only it wasn't. it was 9:30. i'm not kidding you!! i'm not quite sure how it happened. i must have read the time wrong on my clock. or maybe my brain tricked my eyes. but there i was. up. and dressed. and thinking i should choose breakfast over lunch, since it was only 9:30 in the morning!!!!
it was strange--my whole day was skewed. every time i looked at the clock it was 2 hours earlier than i felt like it should be. i got quite a bit done before we ate lunch at 2:00. but after lunch i was feeling my early morning. and since my plan for the weekend was sleep, i took a nap. it must have compensated for my early rising, because when i woke up, it felt like the planets were all in alignment once again.
now, if i can just get to bed early tonight. but first i have to pack my gym bag (yes, my plan is to hit the gym tomorrow,) get my school stuff ready to go, and go pick diandra up from the airport. her plane lands at 9:48. somehow, i don't think "early" is in my future. maybe i should shoot for "before midnight."
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