Lately after lunch I go and change my clothes so I can do PE with my kids. This usually consists of a long sleeved t-shirt, tennis shoes and running tights of some kind. I had come back from changing my clothes which prompted my students to all ask me if I had changed. It's questions like that which drive me insane especially when my students know the answer. They just like to talk.  I walked over to my desk and took out my inhaler. My asthma is getting the best of me at the moment with the cold air we've been having here so I took a couple of pre-emptive puffs to keep from having a full blown attack after running in the cold. My kids were all fascinated by this and I had to explain what I was doing and what it was for. Somehow without even thinking, I mentioned that asthma is serious enough to make people die if they don't take care of themselves. Isaiah sat there thinking for a moment and then piped up with, "Miss. B. . . . if you die, can we get a new teacher"? I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "Yes... the next one will be bigger and meaner".

 

 

            Today we had another sighting of my famous or rather infamous school ghost that I created as a running gag three years ago. My students this year fully believe in it's existence which amuses me to no end. I'm quite sure this gag has permanently sealed my spot in teacher purgatory when I die. My kids were being just awful today. Fortunately for me, the custodian was outside our building cleaning the AC/Heating filters. He was making some noise which the kids heard. Their eyes got big as saucers and I piped up, "Hmmm...the school ghost is back. He's heard you guys were not behaving this morning". Everyone started to get a little nervous once I made that proclamation. The custodian heard me say that and played along. He made up a spooky voice and said through the airshaft, "I hear someone is being bad". This sent several of my kids shrieking. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Then he went to clean out the airshaft with some compressed air. This sent all of my boys diving under the table in a panic. Kim, my only girl, sat there looking at all of them with a look on her face which could only be intrepreted as 'Boys are so dumb'. I walked over to her and said, "So much for them being 'mas macho' eh. Tu eres mas macho". She laughed.  I had to coax the rest them out from under the table.

 

 

 

             January 29th will always be a day burned into my memory for it is the day I first started teaching six years ago. As those of you who have read my blog over the past two years know, it has been quite a rollercoaster ride with a lot craziness in between. I never wanted to be a teacher. In fact, I did everything I possibly could do to avoid teaching. Somehow though, I'm right where I'm supposed to be and after I finally surrendered to the idea of teaching, I've never regretted it. Yes, there have been times I wanted to quit. (Usually every four months or so) That has always been because of administration and not the kids. I'm sure that will never change especially now that I've been labelled as a non-team player in my latest evaluation. Gee ya think? I'm sorry but I don't play on a team where the people are idiots. Besides that , the team stabbed me in the back with an illegal suspension. The team is lucky I didn't sue their ass which I pointed out during my evaluation. When asked if I thought the district I worked for could ever make me happy I replied, "I'm still waiting". It could be I'll be looking for a new job by summer. Sometimes my forthright nature does not help me :)

             As for my students, they are the reason I'm still getting up before dawn to teach. Most days they infuse me with their sense of humor and the funny things they do. It is an addiction really because I cannot seem to get enough of this. Some days I do leave class with a massive headache from banging my head against my desk in frustration or I drive home in silence due to hearing my name said a thousand times. However, I always find great joy with their achievements and look upon each one of them as my own children.

           This year has been a year of expansion for me in now I am teaching in all areas. I've taught regular Kindergarten in our migrant program. I'm currently tutoring Gen Ed kids from grades 3-12 in the evenings, teaching migrant Kindergarten classes again on Saturday and also teaching ESL classes out at one of our local community college too. I've been a bit busy to say the least. However, I think this experience has made me a better teacher overall and it always confirms how much I love my special needs students in the end. So here is to the start of a seventh year in the classroom. May it be less turbulent than last year and may the funny stories keep on coming. Maybe I might be a team player eventually. Nah.

 

 

              This story is brought to you courtesy of another teacher who I work with. Yesterday, all of the Kindergarten classes along with my kids were lining up to do PE. I mainstream with my kids three days a week for this. My collegue had asked me how I was and I replied that I was good. She, however, looked a little frazzled. She started telling me about her class. Apparently she has been trying to teach them the song, "My County Tis of Thee" for their performance coming up in February. As she is teaching the words and the way to sing the song, she comes upon this line:

                                  

        My country tis of thee,

        Sweet land of Liberty,

        Of thee I sing;

 

        Land where my fathers died.....

 

 All of a sudden, she hears one of her kids pipe up and say in a horrified voice, " My father died"? This set off a chain reaction with a few other students and suddenly they all became hysterical. She quickly tried to explain that it wasn't their own fathers that died in the song but it was to no avail. She had three students in tears. My collegue at the point decided to give up and go bang her head against the wall. Me, I had a good laugh about the whole thing. My students are looking less special every day !

 

                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                 For all of you out there wondering, we played Bingo today. And, as I predicted (and bet my paycheck on), Isaiah went for the winning card every time after someone got a bingo. I suppose in a way it is how it should be within the whole scope of the universe because if one of my students actually picked up what I've been trying to tell them on the first go, I'd be the first one to wonder if hell froze over. At least now I can go to sleep tonight knowing tomorrow is another day I'll be banging my head against the wall :)

 

 

              I have to blog this story before I forget it. Isaiah A. has had a loose tooth now for a week and it finally came out yesterday. He proudly came to school to show me that it was gone. I suddenly felt old. I said to Mrs. Jackie, "Our baby has grown up". Isaiah then proceeded to tell me that the tooth fairy came and left him 5 dollars. Geesh, inflation has hit the poor the tooth fairy!

              Now I don't know if this loss of a tooth has enpowered Isaiah but he certainly felt courageous today in class. We were playing a game I made up to the teach my kids the signs and sounds I wanted them to learn for the alphabet. I take my class and divide them into two teams. I then have all the letters in a bag. I pull out a letter and the team whose turn it is has to give the sign and sound for the letter if they want to earn a bean bag to toss for their team to earn points. The team with the most points in the end is the winner. My students have become very competitive over this which has led to them trash talking  with my aides. Today Isaiah took up those reigns and was telling Mrs. Jackie that his team was going to win. Mrs. Jackie asked Isaiah how he knew that. He pointed to the whiteboard where the score was as if to say to her, "Scoreboard baby". Mrs Jackie was not expecting this and without missing a beat blurted out, " Boy Isaiah...lose a tooth, grow some cajones (balls)". I could not stop myself from laughing out loud and then thought to myself that my warped sense of humor has now rubbed off on my aides.

 

 

 

          I have asked these questions every year since I started teaching and this year's edition does not disappoint. It is interesting this year with the male point of view in class since I have 10 boys and one girl.

 

 

" Because you become cool", said Samuel, age 6

 

" You feel silly", said Isaiah A. , age 6

 

""Cause you want to tie her up", said Issac, age 5 (To which Isaiah A. replied, "That's bad love".)

 

"I want to chase him around the playground", said Kim, age 8

 

"Cupid comes and shoots you with an arrow. Then you fall in love", said Ricky, age 8

 

 

"I want a big girl and she'd be a doctor", said Samuel, age 6

 

" I want a girl like my mom", said Kebyn, age 5

 

"My guy would cook, be thin, like running and be a dentist", said Kim, age 8

 

"She'd be tall and like to go to the movies on Valentine's day. She'd work in a grocery store", said Ricky, age 8

 

"I'm staying single", said Kalep, age 6

 

"I'd take her to a dance", said Ricky age 8

 

"I'd take him to Disneyland to ride the rides", said Kim, age 8

 

" I'd take her to my house to play with my dinosaurs", said Isaac, age 5

 

" I'd take my date to Chucky Cheese and eats lots of pizza", said Samuel, age 6

 

"I'd go on a double date with Samuel" said Pedro, age 9

 

"I'd take my date to the park to play. She's the one with all the money", said Kebyn, age 5

 

 

"I'd leave her at the dance", said Ricky, age 8

 

" I'd take her home and tell her I ain't comin back no more", said Isaiah A. , age 6

 

"I'd call the police to come get him", said Kim, age 8

 

"I'd tell my mommy my date was being bad. Then I chop up her bike and push her out of my house", said Isaac, age 5 (Isaac has anger management issues)

 

 

"No...I'd run away", said Ricky, age 8

 

" Yes, because girls have juicy lips", said Isaac, age 5

 

"No...because girls are mean", said Kalep, age 6

 

"No, because I'd get into trouble with my mom", said Kim, age 8

 

 

"Chocolate hearts", said Ricky, age 8

 

"A green or blue Power Ranger", said Pedro, age 9

 

"A bike", said Isaac, age 5

 

" A flower" , said Samuel, age 6

 

"A new Playstation", said Kalep, age 6

 

 

"I'm going to be 8 and married to Janie (my student from last year's class...apparently the love between these two has not fizzled out). I want 8 girls", said Ricky, age 8

 

 "I'm going to be 40. I want to work first. I want 10 kids", said Kim, age 8

 

"I'm going to stay single and have no kids", said Kalep, age 6

 

 

 

 

 

                  My favorite holiday is coming up which is Valentine's Day. I have no idea why I like this holiday so much because normally it always turns out to be such a bust. I can't ever really remember anything remotely romantic happening on that day for me so who knows why I remain such an optimist about it. I suppose it is that same optimism that believes it could snow here for Christmas (and never has). I was discussing the fact that this holiday is coming up with the kids and what the day was about. All of a sudden, Kalep pipes up and says, "I hate love" very matter-of-fact. Apparently he's been burn by enough girls at the age of six that love stinks. I can only imagine how he'll be when hits forty.

 

 

                       As some of my readers know, my class is addicted to Bingo. I'm sure I've graduated a number of 12 step members of Gambler's Anonymous from this game. My class takes their Bingo seriously. This year's bunch has started to play two cards at the same time. Next thing I know I'm going to look over and see little troll dolls and good luck charms surounding each one. They get down right hostile when someone yells out Bingo some days. We've been trying to teach Isaiah A. that when a card hits Bingo that card will most unlikely hit Bingo a second time in row. How do I know this? I start off the next game with the cards I haven't called yet plus then I mix the rest of them up. After a card hits Bingo and we check it for the win, I have the students trade cards if they would like. Isaiah A. always goes for the card that just won every time. We've been trying to tell him that card will not get Bingo but he refuses to listen. He wonders why he never wins. He did the same thing today and Mrs. Patty said the same thing to him. Isaiah then decided to be haughty towards Mrs. Patty and said, "How you do know" in a very rude tone of voice. She showed amazing restraint and just smiled at him and said, "Ok Isaiah, if you don't want to believe me then fine". Meanwhile he had traded with Ricky for the winning card and Ricky took Isaiah's. We started the game. I swear I did not rig this but it ended up that Ricky got Bingo with Isaiah's card. Mrs. Patty had to look away because she was cracking up and I had to bite my lip. I then said, "Um Isaiah, do you now understand what we have been trying to tell you"? He said, "yes" slightly dejected. I'm quite sure when we play again next Tuesday that he'll go right back to trading for the winnng card and wondering why he never wins. In fact, I'd bet my paycheck on it. I know the probability of those odds.

 

 

          Today here in Room 1 it has been "Disgusting Day". Between the vomiting after lunch right on my freshly cleaned carpet, the wetting of pants or the copious amounts of green mucus projectiled into the air from a sneeze, it's just been joyful. I do believe I should get combat pay for this. I'm the go to girl if there is a bloody nose or any kind of grizzly accident involving blood but I don't handle other bodily issues so well. I had left my lunch at home by accident and was starving. However, after the vomit, I think I'm no longer hungry. To add the disgust, half of my students wanted to go over and look at the vomit. Such is the day in the life of a Special Ed teacher.

 

 

               Room 1 is now back from their month long hiatus just in time to freeze out behinds off at school. It was a mere 28F this morning when we started. I feared that vacation would wreak havoc on what I had been trying to teach my students as they tend to not have the world's greatest retention. I must say I was pleasantly shocked when everyone remembered what they were supposed to and then some. Adrian surprised me the most when he drew and an entire person today complete with detail. This is the same kid before Christmas could not even hold his pencil correctly. Last vacation, Ricky came back from not knowing his letters or sounds to reading. This is all very puzzling to me but I'm grateful just the same. I said to my class, "Hey guys, I think we should take more vacations". Maybe time away from me gives my students a chance for it to all sink in :)