The Shopping Spree

Historically, the class of kids we take to lunch is the Absolute Worst Class of the Day. Part of it stems, I am sure, from the fact that we're moving them from one point to another - always a reason for behavior issues. Then again, we're also bringing them back from a thirty minute block where they've been talking, socializing, and generally creating some sort of mild mayhem in the lunch room.

When I first started at The School, my fifth period was actually broken into two parts. I'd start the class and teach a bit, we'd stop, go to lunch, then I'd bring the kids back and we'd finish up our class. This was hell on Earth. Trying to get the kids focused on what we were doing for the last twenty minutes of class was a challenge, to put it mildly. It's a bit better now as the kids come in, sit down and get quiet, we line them up, walk them down, and then when we get back we start class. Still, trying to get them calmed down has always been a bit difficult.

And for some reason, nearly every year, the kids they put in my lunch class are the kids that aren't all that academically oriented or well-behaved to start with. Were talking the low achievers, the low readers, the kids who live in the principal's office. A few years ago, three of the kids in my lunch class were responsible for 50% of The Team's discipline referrals. Every day when I go to pick up my kids from the cafeteria, I'd have one of the lunchroom aides stop me to tell me what crazy little bits of misbehavior my darlings did on that particular day.

So this year, after eight years of absolutely dreading the lunch class, I have an absolutely awesome fifth period class to take to lunch. We're talking kids that line up and get quiet without having to be told a dozen times to do so. And then when they walk to lunch they stay in line and stay quiet. And when I pick them up, they walk back in a quiet line, a fact that still astounds me. The lunchroom aides can't tell me enough how nice and sweet and well-behaved they are. In fact, I haven't had a single kid in one of the "time-out" seats along the front wall of the cafeteria (I've had kids there all year in the past).

So, the other day I emailed The Principals and told them what a wonderful class I had and asked if it were possible to have them open the School Store the last twenty minutes of class so I could take them shopping. Currently the School Store is only open in the mornings before classes start and in the afternoons after buses roll, so aside from special appointments for entire classes (like I asked for) the kids don't get a whole lot of opportunity to shop. Mrs. Sparrow agreed to open it up and I told my kids the day before so they'd be prepared and bring their School Bucks to spend.

So, instead of going over our workbook assignment in class we went shopping. What a blast! I had to help Mrs. Sparrow a bit with the actual selling aspect, but that was a lot of fun. We sold a lot of candy, chips, and drinks, but also some stuffed animals, a fuzzy blanket, and some other big tickets items. The kids were excited, and loved the fact that it was their own "private" shopping time and they didn't have to share the room with 30 other kids.

I love the fact that my Admins have something like this I can use to reward my kids. And I hope my Fifth Period tells all their friends so I can do this with all my other classes when they start behaving as well as Fifth Period.

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.