Sadness

Today was the last day of school.  I have completed five years of teaching.  Most years, when this day arrives I am full of excitement.  While I'm a bit excited, I am more sad.  I am really going to miss this group.

I have spent two years with many of these children.  And while the days and weeks may have been rough, I have never stopped loving or believing in them.  I have taught my babies how to read and write, how to add and subtract.  Now it is time for them to move on and learn more, but I am like a Mama who doesn't want to let go. 

Not only is it hard to let go, but I also worry about my kids this summer.  I worry that they won't read enough and will lose what they've learned.  I worry they won't have enough food to eat.  I worry that they won't get the love they need.  I worry about how they will be treated at home.  During the school year, I am able to show them that I care and make sure they get breakfast and lunch, but when they are home, I cannot.  This has always been what I have found most difficult about being a teacher.  It doesn't matter how great a teacher is, she can not change the home life of her students.

At the end of the day, I was getting particulary sad about having to say goodbye.  The little boy that I've mentioned before that hated my clouds and couldn't talk to me because I was a stranger came up to my table.  He said "That's why you are a special teacher."  Unsure of what made me special, I asked.  "You are special because you let us do stuff."  Hearing a student tell me I was a special teacher made my day and my year.  It made every difficult day worth it. 

Renewed

The past two days have been so much better than Monday.  I still had similar problems with the same student, but I've just let them go.  I have made up my mind to not let any student ruin the last week of school!  The past two days have been fun and I have came home energized instead of exhausted.  How did I work 8 and 10 hour days and feel energized?

~I played with my kids at recess.  I couldn't completely keep up with them, but I did do the monkey bars!
~We had a pizza party to celebrate the end of the year.
~I took time to color with my class.
~But most importantly, I remembered to take time to visit with colleagues and LAUGH!

Yup, that's it.  I've managed to get my room almost completely ready for the summer and keep my kids busy.  But I still feel great when I get home! 

And, to top it all of, a teacher of an older grade was asking if I had a better day yesterday and I said yes.  She then said she couldn't believe what a tough year I had (she had seen my struggles on Monday).  But what I loved was that she said that she couldn't never tell that I had it bad because I always had a smile on the face.  That was a compliment I really needed.  I was glad to know that even though some days I am completely stressed, others don't see it. 

Only 1 more day to go!  Tomorrow we will be watching Finding Nemo, having popsicles and saying farewell!  I can't believe the year is over, but I can't wait to see what summer holds! 

Field Trips

I may have said this before, but I am terrified of field trips.  The classroom is a safe place where it is unlikely that you will lose a child.  The zoo or the farm or the park, not so much.  Those places have no structure, no lines you have to walk in, no being quite, lots of wide open space to be kids.  If you follow the news, you may have heard of the first grader that climbed over the fence and was malled on a first grade field trip.  That's my worst nightmare!

Today was our big zoo field trip.  I was dealing with anxiety all morning.  Finally, we loaded the bus and set out for the zoo around 9.  We got into the zoo and I sent a few kids with parents and kept 8 boys.  The first thing you see inside the zoo is an alligator and then the flamingos.  As we stood and stared at the flamigos all of my anxiety melted away.  The students loved just watching the animals.  We only saw a handful of animals due to the bus not arriving on time and bad weather, but not one student complained.  They were so happy to have spent 30 minutes inside the zoo. 

Since we didn't spend much time there, I didn't get many pictures.  However, I was able to capture a few of my favorite moments.

Not sure what happened, but these guys all started squaking and then they fluffed up their feathers and started fighting.  So funny!

We stood and watched this guy for over 5 minutes.  He would strut around his little area, let out a loud noise to get your attention and then spread his feathers and strut around like he was a model.  The kids were just amazed.

These nice tall fences made me feel much better about my children staying safe!

It was this guy's first trip to the zoo.  He was so amazed by everything.  I hated that he didn't get to spend more time there and see more animals.

This was my favorite part of the field trip.  All of the students up against the glass in awe.  It's such a special gift to share the wonders of the zoo with these children.  Have I mentioned how much I love my job?

What I Couldn't Live Without (in the Classroom)

I only have 17 more days of school with the kids.  I can't believe it.  I also only have 3 more days left with a student teacher in my room.  When I student taught, both of my mentor teachers gave me graduation gifts and that was always special to me.  For that reason, when I have a student teacher, I always strive to show her that I appreciated her with a graduation gift.  I've been working on putting together a basket of things for her to use when she has a classroom, mostly a lot of things I could not live without.  I thought about sharing my favorite classroom things, but I am sure you know that I love post it notes and Sharpie markers.  Instead, I thought I'd share a few of my nontraditional favorite things in my classroom that I couldn't live without.

1.   A digital timer.  This is the first year I've used one and this guy is my new best friend.  I have one student (who also hated my clouds and couldn't speak to me because I was a stranger) who will get angry and sit in the corner.  I've found I can set the timer for 2 minutes and when it beeps, he is good to go as if nothing has happened.



2. Cheez-Its and Dr. Pepper.  This is my every day snack at 10:00.  This is something I've done for years and I still haven't gotten tired of it.  I don't know what it is, but every day at 10 I am starving and shaky and this does the trick!

3.  Scotch Packing Tape.  This tape will hold anything together.  It holds papers on the wall, even with 30 mph winds.  It repairs books.  Holds up bulletin boards.  It's great. 





4.  Scentsy Warmer and bars.  This thing is wonderful at covering up the smell of sweaty children and soured milk that was left in a cubby over the weekend.  I like to stick with lighter, fresh scents. 

What are some unusual things that you couldn't live without at work?

Shwoo, I'm Still Alive

I wasn't sure I'd make it.  What happened you ask?  Twenty 6-7 year olds who haven't had more than a 2 day weekend since the beginning of September and a teacher who needs a break.  That's what happened.

This year, our district decided they wanted to get us done with school before June (very rare in Texas with the new rules that started a few years ago).  In order to do that, they took away almost any extra day off.  We still have the big ones, but no little 3 day weekends.  It has resulted in some exhausted and antsy students, as well as teacher. 

My students wouldn't listen unless I yelled.  Then, I think they were just too scared to speak.  (I don't yell on a regular basis, I blame it on my exhaustion.)  There was not a day this week that didn't bring tears (not mine).  Tears because they were in trouble.  Tears because they didn't do what they wanted.  And today, tears because I caught him trying to steal from my treasure chest and took away both the earned prize and stollen one.  And not little tears.  Big sobbing, screaming tears.  Wednesday, I really wanted to throw a fit too.

I have never been so tired in my life.  I'd come home and just collapse and do nothing.  I was so pleased that Anthony wanted to go enjoy free dinner last night because I wasn't sure if I'd have the energy to cook. 

And I am so thrilled that it is the weekend.  The only thing I have to do is attend a birthday party tomorrow, which I am looking forward to.  The rest of the weekend, I plan to just rest and lounge.  No house work.  No errands.  Heck, I don't think I'll even do laundry. 

And after today, I only have 7 more work days until Thanksgiving break.  I can't wait!!

My Firefighter

This past week in first grade we had been spending time discussing fire safety (yeah, we're two weeks behind, but better late than never).  Who's the best person to talk fire safety?  A firefighter, of course.  And I just so happen to know one.  With some begging and a bargain, he finally agreed to come Friday afternoon. 

When I told my students he was coming, the room was filled with excitement.  You would have thought that I had just told them Santa was coming to visit our room.

Part of the bargaining was that I had to put on his gear to see what it was like.  And I agreed.  It was heavy.  It took forever to get me dressed.  And it was HOT!  These guys have 60 seconds to get their gear on.  They wear all of that gear into a  fire (which is way hotter than my classroom).  And he had to do all of that in Iraq, during the summer.  I was sweating and my thermostat was  on 74.  I can't imagine it being 115 and then going into a fire.  It gave me even more respect for what he does.  I know I couldn't do it.

Here's some pictures from his visit.

I'm so proud of my firefighter and all that he does.

First Grade Fun

We are finally really into the swing of things in first grade and I'm loving it!  The kids have matured so much from last year which makes them even more lovable.  Honestly, there is not child that I do not love.  There's not even really one big problem child.  I can't pick a favorite.  It is great.  They are a great group of kids.  They've learned so much already and I love that feeling.  I love knowing that I've already taught them something.

That being said, I thought I'd share some of our funnies.

-One student tells me "He told me he was going to kill me."  So, I asked that student if he said that.  His response, "Yes, but I said I was sorry."  (I love how they think sorry should fix every problem.)
-We are standing outside for dismissal, it's 85 degrees outside, one student has on his heavy winter jacket, complete with fur lined hood.  It took 5 minutes to convince him to take it off so he didn't have a heat stroke.
-Yesterday I wore a short beaded necklace.  One little boy raised his hand and said, "Mrs. J, can you take that necklace off?  It is going to choke you."
-During lunch, one of the students gets in trouble for running.  Then another student tattles that the student in trouble is saying bad words.  Well, if you get in trouble at lunch, you sit out at recess for 10 minutes.  He did his time for running and we were visiting.  I was just going to leave the bad word offense out of it, as I've learned bad words to a first grader are not always really bad words.  But, he told on him self.  What was he saying?  "Penis."
-The students are sitting at their desks doing an assignment.  One of them raises his hand so I go to see what he wants.  He says, "Well....can I sing."  (So totally random)

Oh, how I love what I do.  I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world. 

First Grade Fun-Days 1 & 2

My brain is too tired to put together a cohesive post, but I wanted to post about my first two days of school, so bullet points it is.

*I have 20 kids.  Eleven are students  from last year.  They are a very chatty bunch, but I'm so happy to spend another year with them.
*Since I was a kindergarten teacher last year and a first grade teacher this year, one student asked if I'm going to 2nd grade next year.
*I don't think I'm going to have one student that I am able to write lots about like last year.  There's really not any real behavior problems.  Thank goodness!
*Today I went to sit down in my chair at the front of the class and I totally missed the chair.  I'm really not sure what happened.  It was funny and a great chance to explain how to be a good friend when someone gets hurt.  But, did it really have to be on the day I was wearing a dress?  I never wear dresses to work. 
*I may have walked out of the bathroom today with the back of my dress all tucked up.  Perhaps I should not wear a dress to work again.
*I forgot that one thing I don't like about the first weeks of school is that I have to be really strict to set my expectations for the year.
*I am thrilled to be teaching first grade and not kindergarten.  There haven't been any screaming or fit throwing kids during the first week of school!

It is now time for bed.  I am exhausted, both physically and mentally. 

TaDa!

Tonight was Meet the Teacher.  It was so funny watching the kids' reactions as they realized that I was their teacher again.  I'm not sure if they were more confused about being in my class again or the fact that I was in another room.  I hope they don't expect to see me again next year in 2nd grade.  I am done moving!

I am very pleased with how my room turned out and finally have pictures to share.  I had intented to take pictures as I progressed, but I forget things. 

View from the door.

View from our bathroom/sink area.

My work area/meeting area.  I love the pollka dots on the black shelves!

Another one of my polka dotted shelves

Our class meeting area and promethean board.

Library nook

I absolutely love it.  I switched from desks to the hexagon tables and it really opened up the room.  I like the colors and the lack of clutter.  Once school gets started I will fill the two bulletin boards with our "Class Promise" and pictures of the kids.  I am looking forward to a great school year!