By far...

8:49 PM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
the best part about teaching at a year-round school is the three-week break I get every nine weeks.

I'm officially on my spring break and loving being a lady of leisure for the next three weeks...if I get into anything fun I'll be sure to let you know!!!

Y is for Yawn.

2:22 PM Posted In , , Edit This 1 Comment »
All of my students seemed to be dragging today so I offered up an idea. I put on some relaxing "soundscapes" type music and told them they could put their heads on their tables or read a book. After the initial whispers, they really settled down. I even had one student fall asleep. It was about the last 20 minutes of our afternoon before my planning periods, so I figured, what the heck, they need a little rest and relaxation. Some chose to read but I just sat in my chair watching them all with envy. See, I am exhausted. Actually, I'm not really sure if that even defines what I feel-- all I want in the world is a nap.

Well -- I did it.

I think I sunk to a new level.

I took a nap at school. After I escorted my students to their related arts class, I came back up the three flights of stairs even more tired than when I went down...found a blanket they I have kept in a closet...laid it on the floor...set a cute timer that I have to check their reading fluency...and fell asleep on my floor. It was only about 13 minutes and if anybody needed me they could have buzzed my room...but I think it was the most relaxing 13 minutes I have had in for-ev-er. Now I am feeling refreshed and ready to tutor my kids after school...

THEN I'm getting a massage...saaaaaaa-weet.

U is for Unprepared

2:31 PM Posted In , Edit This 2 Comments »
And THAT could be the understatement of the century.

Our county had a two hour delay today which is always a delight! My principal has been getting on the staff about being there on time; unfortunately, just because students have a 2-hour delay doesn't mean teachers do too. We are supposed to be there on regular time, or at least by 8:00, which is most of the time fine because normal time is 7:20. Maybe to prove a point or maybe because it had to be done, he called a staff meeting at 8:45. A surprise staff meeting? On a two-hour delay? He had already revealed the fact that he was leaving effecting March 1, so what could this meeting be about?

You guessed it (but you probably didn’t guess it unless you know me IRL)—staffing.

Staffing is based on the number of students in your school and the projected enrollment. Our school is very small and about to consolidate with another school with very similar demographics, so it is always a fear that we will lose teachers. This year I could breathe a sigh of relief because I was no longer the lowest on the totem pole. There were two other teachers that had less seniority in the county than I did. Bad news for them -- good news for me. Our school had to let two teachers go! This is TERRIBLE news, but I also received some startling news. As matter-of-fact-ly as humanly possible, my principal said, “ We have to lose two teachers, second grade teacher Ms. Red and first grade teacher Ms. Blue. Amy E. will be teaching first grade”.

::::awkward silence::::

Then he goes on to tell everyone in the building the insane amount of students each teacher will have in their classes because of the cut teachers. The students will all be back to regular classes (no more split gender and no more split grade level) and there will only be one class of each grade level, except kindergarten and first grade.

While this is HUGE in my little world, I am very, very, VERY terrified excited to try something new. I was planning to look for new jobs at the year if I had to stay in a fourth-fifth all girls’ class. They have really worn me out this year. Of course I love them, but my patience is running thin and I can’t subject myself to this year after year. So, as of now, I only have roughly 65 more days as an all-girls, fourth/fifth grade split teacher. I better live it up while I can!

G is for Girls

11:46 PM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »
As some of you know, I am a teacher. I love my job even though it is far out of my comfort zone.
I teach at an inner-city school where I share the title of "token white girl" with only one other student. It is a year-round school that utilizes split-gender teaching in the upper elementary grades, I teach 10-12 year old girls.
I also tutor some of my girls after school. Today when they were getting ready to go home, one of my students bundled up in a white scarf, toboggan (that's what we call beanies here...), and gloves. This is the conversation between the students; Initials used to protect anonymity.

S: You look white.
N: What's that supposed to mean?
Me: Yeah, what IS that supposed to mean? Are you racist? (jokingly, of course)
S: No, I just mean cuz she wearin all white stuff.
Me: Good, I was hoping you wouldn't say things like that.
Z: (S's twin sister) Nah, Mrs. E, you black.
Me: do what???
Z: I mean, you're one of us. you black.

Sometimes these girls make me crazier than I don't know what, sometimes they make me laugh so hard I wanna pee my pants, but all the time I love em!!!

We have a program we get on in school that is like a mini-myspace. It's private and only my classroom can chat with each-other and nobody can see their profile unless they have a login from me. One of my students once posted the words, "I gotta donk" on her page...not quite sure what she meant by "donk" I asked her about it...
Here is a convo from earlier in the year;

Me: Uhem, what does that page say?
Student: 'I gotta donk'
Me: Yes, I can read that, I mean, what do you mean by that?
Student: Oh, ya know, badonkadonk, liiiiike, a bootie.
Me: Oh, I see.
Student: You could put that on your page ya know
Me: I could what?
Student: You gotta donk too, you gotta a black girl bootie.
Me: Um, am I supposed to say thanks?
Student: Well, it is a compliment for a white girl to have a black girl's bootie.
Me: Thanks, then.

Like I said, they may not always be the most appropriate, but I love those crazy ladies!!!

A is for At Work

2:55 PM Posted In , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Well, since I am becoming a dedicated blogger...AND because I can already think of letters A-D; I am going to try yet another 26 days/26 letters type of postings. Now, I don't want you to get all excited and check in on me everyday, because fact of the matter is, I'm probably not going to be able to post every single day. But my loyal 2 or 3 readers out there will certainly understand.

Ok.

A is for AT work....
yes, I am back at work. As a school teacher there are a few breaks that I look forward to throughout the year. However, I have an added bonus. I teach at a year-round school. For those of you not in the educational world, that means we go to school for nine weeks and then have a 3 week break in between nine week sessions. Yes, that means I work over the summer, gasp, but it really is NBD.

Anyhoo...I had the best break ever. I will probably post more about it later, ya know, as the letters in the alphabet come up...but needless to say, I wasn't ready for my break to be over. I love my students, most of the time, and they are, for the most part, good kids, but they are not my family. I had such a good time hanging out with my family over break. Especially my sister and her boys. She always looks forward to my breaks so we can run around together and I totally miss it! I also really miss the fact that her boys take naps in the afternoon. I am finding myself increasingly more jealous of my little nephews because I am seriously draaaaaaaaaagging right now! We hung out in the morning Christmas shopping and stuff, the boys fell asleep in the car on the way home, we carried them to their beds, then I would go to my own house and take a nap as well!

I am however happy to be back at work because I will start eating better again. I mostly pack a lunch at work but got pretty used to eating fast food everyday during break! Let's see...only 44 more school days until spring break . . .

I wonder if I could talk my principal into letting fifth graders take naps after lunch???

Homegirl's goin back to school. . .

9:57 PM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »
Well, it's true. I am going back to school. Yes, I have only just graduated, yes, I am AMAZED at the amount of work I already have, and yes, we are about to buy a home...but, the class is free and what I will learn will definitely benefit my students.

I must say, even though it is a small community college close to home, I still felt a slight buzz inside my belly as I walked the six flights of stairs to the education chair's office to be signed into a class. There were students walking all around trying to get signed into classes and waiting on their classes to begin. I guess it just proves that I love school. Sure, I will probably end up complaining about the class, I will probably dread going some weeks, but the fact of the matter is, I love learning. I love everything about learning. I love the excitement of going into something that you know nothing about only to come out on the other end full of great things to try in your very own classroom.

Thinking back to the beginning of summer, the last thing I wanted to do was even think about school. I didn't even want to go down the path of teaching. The last 5 years leading up to my master's degree was just overkill. I was basically over teaching for a while. It wasn't until I was working in my "summer job" (which I greatly loved) that I realized how much I missed teaching or being in school. Towards the end of August I realized I wasn't going to have my own classroom this year, I wasn't going to welcome students into a new year, and more poignant for me-- I wasn't going to have a first day of school. For the first time in over 15 years, I wasn't going to have a first day of school. Thus began the search for a new job.

I had some interviews set up, I had different leads taking me down different paths. I could have gone to kindergarten, pre-school, third grade...all of these jobs were open, but none of them really felt like they fit. I was just about to settle as a job in a kindergarten classroom as an extra teacher to accommodate an overage of students when I drove past the school. My only goal was to go inside and tell the principal that I had applied for his job, but I thought I should take a job elsewhere...Until I heard the story of what seemed like it could be titled, the little school that could. This school seemed like it was on the up and up; teachers that really cared, high expectations for the students, technology integrated into many aspects of the classroom. I left the school that day feeling so whole and complete- like I had finally found my home. I went straight to my dad's office to tell him about my interview experience. As I was second guessing my feelings he said the most important thing to me that I could have ever heard. He said, "Amy, can you imagine how you would feel if you had a part in one of those girls going to college?" and this really did it for me. These students are incredibly underprivileged, I can't imagine that we only live across the river from them because it seems as though we are worlds apart. My father's words have stuck with me after he told me a similar story from his beginning teaching job. He reminded me that although we may get frustrated with our students, we, as teachers may be all the students really have. I try to remember this every day when I get what seems like 10,000 stories about what's going on in their lives. I try to patiently listen and respond because I may be the only person these girls have to talk to.

I began working shortly there after and to say it was an tough road may be the understatement of the century. I was COMPLETELY out of my element. I didn't have a lot of experience in split classrooms, NO experience in split-gender classrooms, and NO experience in 4th grade. The only thing that I really knew was that they were students in need of a teacher and I would figure out a way to be the person they needed.

It would be easy to fall in love with kindergartners, little helpless things running around all day...but for me, it was just as easy to fall in love with my girls. Who would think I could love these 16 girls that are just on the edge of becoming sassy tweens? We have found common ground to stand on and I look forward to everyday I have with them. I worry about them when they aren't at school, I rejoice when they FINALLY understand something I have been telling them for the past 9 weeks, and I love when they come to me and let me know how much I mean to them. We are a little family on the third floor, and for this family, I can go back to school.
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