Miss Barnes, Is Santa Real?

Happily (for me) I got a job for the first day back after Thanksgiving - and I got it on Sunday night! It was a return trip to my to my frequented school of the year, in one of the classrooms I know well. The kids were pretty good. They were surprised not to see their teacher, but they always seem happy to see me.

When we were walking back from the cafeteria after dumping lunch trays I overhead a few kids discussing whether or not Santa was real. A few were just adamant that he WAS real and were telling everyone who would listen that is was so. A few others were just as convinced that he was NOT real, and we shaking their heads in a "we know so much more than you" manner. The believers then retorted with, "Well, if he's not real than where do all the presents come from?!" To which the non-believers replied, "DUH! Your mom and dad!!" Then, oh dang it then, they turned to me and asked "Miss Barnes, is Santa real?" To which I gave the very real and not at all a cop-out answer of "I don't know... maybe!" (but I said it all mysterious-like). Then we walked past the principal and they asked her. (She said, "Yes of course he is!") The believers were happy and the non-believers were still shaking their heads and arguing about it. I eventually said to them, "Hey, ya know, it doesn't hurt anybody if they believe in Santa and you don't. It's not a big deal. Just let them believe it and leave them alone." I wish parents who told their kids there is no Santa would also tell them to keep it to themselves!

Miss Girl

Today I subbed in a fifth grade class for the first time this year. It was a good day - the kids were pretty good and we had some fun.

It was not without adventures though!

First off, there was a new student in class. He was legally blind and the teacher hadn't yet received any special large texts or magnifying glasses for him yet. The LRC teacher photocopied (enlarged) a few things for me in the morning and we kind of just had to make due for the rest of the day. He was a nice kid though, and wasn't afraid to tell me when he needed help. Once I wrote something down that was on the overhead larger for him to copy. A few times I had to read the questions in a book or on a worksheet for him. It really didn't end up being that big of a deal.

Secondly, we had a surprise fire drill! I couldn't find the fire drill class list when the alarm went off, so I was just thinking I'd have to count the kids. However, once we got out there I saw no one else had theirs either and some adult was bringing the attendance folders around to all the classes. It was cold and windy but at least it wasn't raining! And I didn't lose anyone. That's always good.

I guess the funniest moment though was during the literacy block. They switch classes for this time so I had some kids in my room that I'd not met yet. I'd introduced myself when they came in, but later in the class one kid needed to ask me a question but couldn't remember my name. He started out saying, "Excuse me, Miss...." but then couldn't remember, so he just finished with "....girl." It sounded so funny to me that I just laughed and said, "Miss Girl?!" The rest of the class of course was very quick to inform him that my name was Miss Barnes, as students will invariably do when someone makes a mistake. We had a good laugh though...and I suppose it's better to be "Miss Girl" than "Miss Old Lady!" :)

Mini Teacher

Today was a mostly okay day. The kids nice (and had incredible memories! I'd subbed in kindergarten ONE time last year and a bunch of them from that class remembered me and my name!), but were terrible at interrupting me. I gave the "raise your hand", "don't yell at me, I don't yell at you", and "sometimes things are different and that's ok" speeches frequently today. They did get a little better, but for one day with a class it's basically a keep-your-head-above-water battle with behaviors.

One girl in particular I'm pretty sure had decided in her mind that she was going to be in charge. She was frequently coming up to me and telling me what we needed to do and when (despite the fact that I assured them I knew all of their schedule for the day.) She also felt the need to tell her classmates what to do. This did not go over well. "Stop telling people what to do!!" was a common response to her. I said it myself a few times. As well as the ever popular, "Don't worry about him/her. You worry about you, I'll worry about everybody else."

Would You Just Shut...

Oh, how I had to hold the end of that phrase in today! The class I was subbing for was REALLY chatty. The would not stop talking for anything. They also were terrible listeners! I would explain something, and then 2 minutes later some kids would be asking how to do it. It was very frustrating. It just drives me crazy when kids ignore you when you're talking to them!

So it wasn't the most terrible day ever, but it wasn't very enjoyable. I'm kind of hoping I don't get called for that class again.

Sweet Pea?

Another easy day today!

I had 17 second graders and I pretty much taught nothing. First thing in the morning they had an assembly. After that they did their spelling test. I guess I did read that out loud and wrote the correct sentences on the overhead. After that they had library and then silent reading. I listened to a few kids read. Last for me, they had lunch. While they were still eating their teacher arrived.

On my way out the door lots of kids were saying goodbye to me. As I walked past one student I said, "Bye!". He then looked up and said, "See ya sweet pea!" Yeah, I told him that wasn't really appropriate and got out of there! He was an interesting kid. Seemed like he's been watching too much America's Next Top Model and was emulating Miss Jay all day long. Kinda freaky.

Staple, Cut, Repeat

Most of my day today was actually spent cutting and stapling as opposed to teaching. I was in a kindergarten class, and the aide did all of the teaching in the morning. I spent the time stapling turkey puppets together, cutting out hand shapes, sorting through papers and putting books back together.

In the afternoon I guided the class through the process of making their turkey puppets. (I also, for some unknown reason kept calling it a penguin when I was giving instructions! The kids thought this was very funny and would point it out to me every time!) I also read a story. Pretty much that was it! It was a pretty easy day and the kids were cute. The aide seemed to think they were a little loud, but I guess I'm just used to it.