aftermath

     The day after I send home report cards is always interesting.
     In Shorty's report card, I wrote that while she is improving in explaining her thinking, she cannot put info from the text into her own words.
    Shorty glumly came up to me today and announced that last night she had to sit and read, then she was required to write down all the words she didn't know.  Then, mom required more quality time with a dictionary than most fifth-graders enjoy. She also reported that mom wanted to talk to me on the phone, either today or tomorrow. (I <3 parents like this. They read the report card and take action on their end to make sure extra practice/work gets done).
     Seattle pouted at his desk yesterday about his report card, saying he "didn't feel good." I told him that he could turn it around and make quarter 4 a great quarter. He came back today to say mom was really mad, but that she had promised not to show the report card to stepdad. I wonder whether the report card is the reason Seattle popped up outside the classroom at 6:55 a.m. today? I did remind students to show up early for the first day of testing, but 6:55 is a personal record for Seattle.
      Speaking of testing, really proud of my kids today ... I saw everyone trying so hard. I know even my kids who struggle were trying their very best. Gotta make sure to cheer them on as we go through the testing.

things I don't like to figure out at 10 p.m.

include the realization that tomorrow's art lesson called for 6-inch squares of paper, not 4-inch squares. Wrestled with the library's gargantuan and squeaky paper cutter late this afternoon, busily chopping out 3.5-inch squares.  Did 3.5 inches because I was trying to economize on the watercolor paper, which was a bit dear at Fisher.
     Gah.
     Options? Wake up earlier than usual : O and wrestle with the paper cutter again. (Not what I want to do the first morning we kick off testing.)
     Or, we can wing it and use the 3.5 inch squares. ...
     Oh, and did I mention that I think I'm starting to lose my voice?
     The excitement does not stop around here.

time is not my friend

     The clock was a poky but unoffensive 8 minutes slow when I left for break.
     It is now 35 minutes slow. It does not add to the joy of my day to have kids constantly asking me, "what time is it?" and "when's lunch?" (Answer to question 1: time to do your work. Answer to question 2: noon. Not sure why they always ask when we have always eaten at 12!)
     I have had the custodians come in several times to reset the clock. I even went so far last time as to suggest the battery be checked. No luck - the custodian came, fiddled with the hands, and left. And it always takes a while for the custodian to attend to our poky clock. (No complaints here -- we couldn't run the school without our custodians tending to all those much more urgent tasks).
     However, with testing starting next week, we NEED a clock that tells time accurately. The plan? Either jump up on the table, take the clock off the wall, and try to replace the battery myself, or get a cheap clock at Longs or Wal-Mart that I can prop up in the front of the room.

welcome back ... aaagh! (bloodcurdling scream)

• Started quarter 4 mildly panicked that I had lost the kids' spring picture-taking samples. I remembered picking them up from my box, but that was before spring break. That day seemed eons ago. I rifled through all the papers in my desk drawers. I knew I had put them somewhere safe, but where? Would I have thrown in into the gigantic pile of papers-to-grade (as yet ungraded) that were tumbling around my car trunk? Whew -- checked the car during lunch and found the pictures. Crisis averted.
• How can we have just started quarter 4, but I feel miles behind already? Grades due soon, and I got a paper to write for my required evaluation next week. The topic: routines. Let's just say we could use a few more in my class ... is that enough?  Aah, at least it's a reflection, not a scholarly paper bristling with citations and pompous wording.

my kids: kind of a poem, but not

On the same day,
one group tenderly
buried a caterpillar
they found squished
on the sidewalk
outside our room;
another group
gleefully stomped
and ground into
unexistence
a hapless centipede
hiding in the grass.

what bugs me

I think the students would mutiny if fed a steady diet of science and social studies lessons out of the textbook, so I've started doing the occasional language arts lesson in the morning. Yesterday we looked at list poems, using Bruce Lansky's "What bugs me" as a springboard. Here's my version:


What bugs me

When I wake up 30 minutes late and have to dash, splashing coffee in my wake
When I have to wrangle with a balky computer to print out today's work
When I realize the clock is 10 minutes slow because the bell rings, and I thought I had more time
When the students surge in, chattering and slapping down their chairs and books
When I realize I have a meeting for the second half of the day
                but no sub plan
                                      yet.

unbalanced

     I think the tsunami on Saturday threw everyone off.
     A bunch of kids showed up with homework undone and homework logs unsigned. Junior and Neo, surprisingly, were absent. It could have been a better day if I weren't quite so grumpy. After reading from "Blue Skin of the Sea," we slogged through a session with the Social Studies textbook (always a party!). I kept some of the boys in for recess for not doing any work. They sulked, but I took them through some of the questions, then freed them for 5 minutes of recess.
     After recess we had guided reading and I introduced the reader response chart to help students build comprehension. Slow going, but I have to remember this was their first time working with it, so confusion is natural.
     After lunch (surprise - it featured a chicken patty), we delved into figuring out the median of a set of numbers. Finally, finally, the bell rang and the students raced out.
     Thinking about the day, I realized that I was feeling a little rushed from the morning. My feeling uncentered throws the class off a little, too. I feel better when I can deal with the students with patience and balance.
    Nothing else to say but, try again tomorrow ...