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 ;-)

back to school--and it's still june!

so today . . . i am sitting here, wishing i had engaged my brain last week when i was asked to substitute this week. because if i had, i am sure i would have said no . . .

friday was my last day of teaching my class for the summer. i had a busy weekend, and then got up early and went in to sub on monday morning. it was fine.

and then i spent the next three days on summer vacation.

usually the beginning of my summer vacation is busy. i start out doing all the stuff around the house that i don't have time to do during the school year. this year there is a lot to do, because i was sick so much last year. so i have been scrubbing bathroom fixtures with a pumice stone, organizing and putting away my school stuff, and vacuuming nooks and crannies that i don't always take the time to do.

but most importantly, i have been staying up really late :)

yes, that is what i do in the summer. i stay up late. whether i am working on a project, or watching tv, or reading a book, i almost always see midnight come and go. which has been the case the last three days.

but last week, while i was still teaching, i was asked to substitute monday and friday of this week, and next monday. it seemed like a good idea at the time--it would help out my friends at school, and although i would have to get up early, i would be home before 2:00 each day. so i thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

i was wrong.

monday wasn't too bad. but now that i have had three days off, the thought of getting up early and going in tomorrow is not very appealing. i want to stay up late tonight. i want to keep working on my projects. i want to VACUUM!

i just want to stay home.

but they are expecting me at school. the early birds will be all alone if i stay in bed. twelve kindergarteners will run amok if there is not someone there to corral them. i have to go. just two more days.

and then i will be done. really. finally.

WOOHOO!!

a baseball cap

so today . . . is the first day of my last week of school for this year.

i cannot even tell you how ready i am for summer vacation! because our school also provides daycare services, it is open all year. i am the only teacher on staff who gets the summers off--yes, i am special. the other day the kids were questioning me as to why i don't work in the summer. i told them it is so i don't get grouchy. i said if i had to work through the summer, i might be mean teacher ms. julie all the time instead of just once in a while. they smiled and said, "nuh uh!"

but it is true.

i honestly don't know how all the other teachers do it! i don't know how they come to school day after day after day and deal with a whole classroom full of other people's children with only a two week vacation! i need a beginning and an end to my school year, and a weekend is not enough! i get cranky just thinking about it!!

so in celebration of my upcoming summer vacation, i thought it would be fun to post funny kid stories all week. the only problem is, i don't have a funny kid story for today! we spent most of today in dress rehearsal for our graduation program. you know how i feel about preschool and kindergarten graduation, and yet still i am forced to participate every year. so the day of dress rehearsal is one of my least favorite days--let's just say i have the expression of a teen-aged girl most of the day. seriously, my eyes get tired of rolling . . .

but, lucky for you, i still have a few blogs from my days on myspace that i haven't shared yet. this one is from last year. it was originally posted on monday, december 15, 2008.

i am sharing a classroom with another teacher this year, which has it's challenges. one of those is that i can hear her when she is teaching (i'm sure she can hear me too.) sometimes the things i hear from the other side of the divider make me laugh out loud!

a few days ago she was teaching a lesson to her four year olds, and part of it required the children to identify some pictures. there was a picture of a baseball cap, but try as she might, she could not get anyone to say the word "cap." they just kept saying "hat," even though she had repeatedly said, "well, it is a hat, but it is a special kind of hat and has it's own name." most of our children speak a different language at home, so it is completely possible that they have never heard the word cap. finally, in desperation, she said, (in a somewhat commanding voice) "this is called a what!?!?" hoping they would say "a cap." one little girl, looking puzzled, said, "i didn't know that was called a what!!!"

dealing with language issues is one of the things i find both frustrating and fascinating about my current job. most of the children in my classroom speak mandarin chinese, tagalog, korean, vietnamese, or spanish at home. it always sort of jolts me when they speak to me in english and their parents in another language at the same time! i am stunned at their ability to process and think in two different languages at once. i occasionally have to correct their vocabulary or grammar, but they have amazing skills for bilingual five year olds!

one day i was talking to a parent, and he gave me some valuable information. he said that in mandarin, they do not have words for she or her--it is always he or his regardless of whether they are referring to a girl or a boy. this explains a lot to me. now instead of just correcting their vocabulary, i teach them the words she and her and when to use them. there are also no chinese words for turning something on or off--they say open or closed. so they don't turn the lights on, they open them. they don't turn the lights off, they close them. i no longer find it odd to hear someone say, "open the lights!" and yet, i have to be aware of it so i can teach them on and off.

but for this year, i am pretty much done teaching. we have graduation tomorrow night, our end of the year field trip on wednesday, and classroom clean-up for summer on thursday and friday. it is going to be a busy week. so now, i am going to "close" my brain and go to bed, because it isn't summer vacation yet. and i need to keep mean teacher ms. julie at bay for four more days . . .