Elbow, knees, dreams

Count Basie helps us clean up every day

2012-10-05T11:26:56Z

A few years ago, clean up time was starting to bug me. It was getting harder to get the kids to finish cleaning their stuff to come sit down. I thought about using some clean up song on a kids’ music cd, but decided that would be too irritating to listen...(read more)

snot and saliva

2012-10-03T00:43:43Z

How’s that for an appetizing post title? But that was my day, in a nutshell. I figured out why this year has been so hard, and is going to be hard for a while longer: my students are the least-prepared group I have taught in years. They are not traumatized,...(read more)

my brain is overloaded

2012-09-25T23:30:04Z

On the one hand, spending a morning with preschoolers can be lovely and simple. Read stories, play, follow routines, talk, play outside, learn about interesting things. On the other hand, spending a morning with preschoolers can be made frustrating and...(read more)

test, test, test

2012-09-25T00:39:14Z

I was out sick on Friday (with, naturally, a migraine). This morning when I greeted the kids at the door, one little boy looked at me with interest and a little relief. “I see you’re feeling better,” he said, sagely. ********** At the art table today...(read more)

teachers and school culture

2012-09-21T19:57:25Z

I work in a pretty great school. We have a warm, supportive environment, and our school is welcoming to adults and children. I don’t have any plans to leave, and that wasn’t true of the first three schools I worked in. On the other hand, we have our flaws....(read more)

My New Cast of Characters

2012-09-18T18:35:01Z

This has been, as I’ve mentioned, a slightly more difficult start to the school year than I’ve had in recent years. However, it feels like it’s about me rather than the kids. This class is very sweet, with no major behavior problems, unlike last year....(read more)

Very Weird Comments

2012-09-17T11:59:32Z

Check out the comments on this post , and tell me what the heck they mean! I’m flummoxed. Read More......(read more)

What’s really happening in Chicago?

2012-09-14T01:13:57Z

Everyone is aware of the teacher’s strike taking place in Chicago, but I wonder if I am alone in feeling frustrated by the media coverage. Everything I read about it contradicts something else I read , and not one article has given me the whole story....(read more)

Pete the Cat (and a Prep Period) Save the Day

2012-09-10T19:37:34Z

Today was better. The weather was perfect — cool in the morning, sunny and not too hot later — and I had a prep period while the children were at gym, so that helped a lot. I only have preps Monday and Wednesday this quarter, so last week with no school...(read more)

My Annual Amnesia

2012-09-07T01:22:37Z

The beginning of the year is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you differently; starting off a school year is hard work . I might even dare to suggest that it is particularly hard for early childhood teachers, since we are often the child’s first teacher ever....(read more)

The Second Day is So Much Better

2012-08-31T00:28:43Z

I did wake up with another migraine, but it went away and hasn’t come back. My morning crier came back, and true to his word, wasn’t scared, and didn’t cry at all. He even rode the bus to school with no troubles. My end-of-the-morning crier, on the other...(read more)

The First Day Report

2012-08-30T01:26:03Z

It’s funny teaching with other adults in the room; they are watching you! This rarely bothers me, but today I feel like my new assistant teacher and my new Americorps volunteer got to see me starting to lose my cool. Which is embarrassing. It was a good...(read more)

Thoughts on the Morning of the First Day of School

2012-08-29T11:38:25Z

I need to be at work in 25 minutes, but I am still on my couch, in my pajamas. I’m foggy, tired, and full of random thoughts. Do I still remember how to do this? Did I plan enough things to fill the morning? I wish we hadn’t had a homework/organization...(read more)

sprucing up my classroom

2012-08-26T16:24:39Z

I had four wooden bookshelves that are old and beaten-up, that someone passed down to me my first year at this school. I’ve used them ever since, but it didn’t occur to me until this summer that I could paint them to make them look better. (Here is one...(read more)

Open House night

2012-08-24T01:25:19Z

I am in pajamas as I type this, and while I am exhausted, it’s more of a good/content tired than a frantic/despairing tired. The room was, after all, ready in time, and it looked great. A few colleagues, including one I hadn’t seen since May, came by...(read more)