I haven’t posted much lately.  I think it’s because usually my posts about my year and my class tell a story, and this year, the narrative keeps getting botched up. Three years in a row I had an awesome class.  Last year’s bunch mostly had two parents at home, even the ones who were in poverty, and it really showed.  This year I have a lot of ...

I haven’t named any of my students so far this year, with the exception of Little One with her large personality, so it is high time.  I will start telling tales about this year’s class, and will name them all after colors. When I arrived this morning, late, I looked through my classroom window and saw a meeting taking place.  Oh yes, I was ...

Yesterday was even more difficult than I had expected. I got to work early, but it still wasn’t early enough to get everything done before the big meeting.  The meeting was actually quite productive; Mom showed up, with Little One in tow, and Mom was very helpful.  (Little one came over and collapsed on my lap, not long after I had mentioned that ...

Having two other adults in the room is wonderful.  A full fifteen minutes before I was due to open my doors, Miss Dickens and and my new assistant and I had nothing to do.  I don’t think that has ever happened to me, in 15 years of teaching.  We sat and chatted calmly in our small, sweet, clean room. Then I opened the doors.  And while it was ...

Today a student in my class suddenly went completely out of control. She was late to class from breakfast, and I had already marked her absent.  I told her she’d need to go to the office for a late pass (that’s how they know who is late, not absent, and can mark the attendance accordingly).  She shook her head no, so I thought maybe she was too ...

Tuesday:  Chutney got off the bus and told me, “M___ said a bad word to me!”  She was almost in tears.  (M___ is the fifth grader she has a crush on.)  Turns out the bad word was the “b” word.  Who calls a four year old girl a “b”?!!  I tracked down our behavior specialist, and told her what happened.  She talked to M___ and called his mother.  ...

Cherry is my other problem.  (It’s funny; in any other year, neither Cherry nor Pumpkin would really count as a behavior problem, but this year, everyone is such an angel that these two do stand out.) She keeps testing me.  She doesn’t listen, doesn’t follow directions, keeps interrupting.  It feels deliberate and ...

Every year, a few days before the last day of school, I take my class to a nearby park for our end of the year celebration.  (Last year I called it our end of the year party, and one of my girls showed up in a gorgeous party dress — we had to find park playclothes for her to borrow at the nurse’s office — so this year I was ...

This morning I had yet another meeting, so only had about five minutes in the room before the kids came.  Right before I had to open the door to let them in the phone rang.  It was the same mother who called me a few months ago worried about the boys in my class sexually touching her child.  Same story; she was all up in arms because her ...