Random Musings...

It's 9:00 pm in my Beloved South, it's still 85 degrees outside on my front porch and the heat index says it feels like 93 degrees. This is wrong on a lot of levels, the main one being that we're in school now so dadgummit, it should at least feel like fall.

I did see one tree today covered in yellow leaves. I don't know if it's because it thinks it is fall, or that it's so hot it just gave up.

Another heat advisory for tomorrow and Thank the Lord and Our Awesome Janitors that we Have Air Conditioning!!

We spent the first two hours of the past two days teaching the kids expectations and behaviors as part of our SWPBS. Fortunately the lessons were already done for us, we just had to roll them out. It went pretty well, although we really didn't need two hours...oh well, live and learn. Did a carousel activity where they wrote down expectations for behavior in seven main zones of the school (classroom, hallways, cafeteria, bus, etc.) which was interesting. It got them moving and talking (which they love) so that, and the class discussion as a wrap up, worked well. Today was skits on behaviors where they got to show how to do things the wrong way (hilarious) and the right way (not so funny but we still learned some stuff).

I'm having fun swooping down like some avenging angel of happiness and handing out PBS money for good deeds and behavior spotted - like the kid who picked up the milk carton off the cafeteria floor on her own accord - and looking at the kids' faces when they get their money. We're supposed to be very specific when we give them their money - "I really appreciate how you were responsible and took the initiative to keep our cafeteria clean," for example - and it kind of blows their mind when you say it that way. That part, at least, is fun.

Another random thought - having PowerSchool schedule the kids was not a really good idea. One kid went up to Mrs. LovelyLanguage and mentioned that it seemed a bit weird that he actually had three Language Reading classes, and didn't have any math classes. Sure enough he had been scheduled into her regular reading/language block of two classes and then had been scheduled again into the gifted reading/language block class, with, of course, no room for math. We got that fixed, he now has has a block of gifted reading/language, and advanced math.

And poor Mrs. LovelyLanguage, a veteran of 3rd grade teaching, had her past come up and haunt her when a seventh grader pulled the ultimate elementary experience - he threw up. On his desk, his agenda, his work, and, unfortunately, on her. He went home sick, she cleaned up best she could, and life went on.

My class of 36 is down to 32. I'm hoping it gets to 30, or better yet, 28. It's a noisy bunch with a lot of high maintenance kids in there.



My 4th period is scaring me. Seriously. Yesterday I had them all of 30 minutes and did the fastest introduction to my class I've ever done. Today I walk into the room from hall duty expecting complete chaos (this is another class of 32) and you could have heard a pin drop. I am not kidding. Each and every one of them had his or her agenda out, was rapidly filling it out, they weren't talking, they were seated, it was, well, kind of unnerving. I have had classes for an entire YEAR who could not (chose not to) get out their agenda and fill it out every day like they were supposed to. Jolly Ranchers all around for this bunch.

Why am I so freaking tired? I miss my naps.