Scolded Again

Today would have been a perfectly pleasant day. And if I'm just talking about the time in the classroom it was. However....

I got reamed by a parent/guardian (I think she may have been a grandma) today! I'm taking the little darlings from the morning kindergarten out front to get picked up, and the last one is on her way, when granny comes up to me with her child and something to say. She launches into this one big complaint about how her child's backpack was stolen, and that "this is unacceptable". She also tells me that when her older granddaughter (?) was in third grade a few years ago, her coat was stolen and she never got it back. Then she tells me that when her children were in school they went to a "proper school" and this sort of thing would never happen and that this isn't a "proper school"! I standing there thinking, 'and what the heck do you want me to do about it?!' I told her that her child hadn't told me her backpack was missing until we were out the door, and it was nowhere in the room, so there was really nothing I could do but let the teacher know. She was irritated, but she did leave.

Seriously, what is wrong with these people in the world that think that it is EVER ok to talk to someone that way?! If you want to get respect in life then you should treat others with it! Just because I have to bite my tongue and listen to you doesn't mean everyone in life will. The world would be so much better if we all used a little tact and common sense when interacting with each other. Think about what you're going to say before you let it out of your mouth.

And....end rant!

Otherwise, the day was great. The kids were excited to see me, and they were eager to know if I would be coming back.

The only other downside to the day was that the afternoon girls got Justin Beiber's "Baby" stuck in head! I guess his singing voice is in the right key for them!

Lunchtime is Joke Time

Got called really late today - around 10.

I arrived at the school to find that the class was at PE, and when I went to pick them up I found out they had no idea their teacher was leaving. But they were really good, and it was actually a pretty fun day. We told jokes at lunch. They worked on unfinished work and read and went to the computer lab. I finished my book. And, I only worked 5 or so hours but I'll get paid for a full day! All in all, a pretty good day.

Some of the kids even remembered me from last year! I subbed in a second grade at this school last year for a half day - way back on October 16, 2008. They even remembered that I read them a dinosaur book that day! I never cease to be amazed at the random things kids will remember!

(Oh, and blog readers - go back to yesterday's post and read the end - I just remembered to add an important story that I'd forgotten yesterday!)

Earthquake!

So today was eventful!

I was subbing in kindergarten all day, but not the all day kindergarten - so I had 2 classes. They were very different! Not so much the behaviors of the kids, but more what we did - which is odd.

To start, both classes had a different IA. In the morning, the IA and I set up the morning stations, which included Legos, blocks, drawing, stringing beads, and something else I can't remember. During the day we did writing and recess and sharing and math centers. Then they went home and I had lunch.

In the afternoon, the new IA set out different stations. There was a drawing station, a writing station, a reading game station, and a station where they made words with magnetic letters. Eventually I ended up reading books to a few kids who couldn't seem to occupy themselves with the stations. Later we did writing, recess and sharing. The sharing took really long with this group and then I learned we were about to have an earthquake drill! The principal came on the intercom to the whole building and explained the procedure, as well as what an earthquake was, (something along the lines of "the ground shakes and moves and that makes building shake and move around too.") I look out onto the faces of the class and see one girl with a wide-eyed look of terror on her face. She then starts to cry/hyperventilate. The "mother hens" of the class immediately swarmed around her and started patting her and cooing "it's gonna be ok!". I pretty much have no patience for the mothering and tell them all to sit down and listen. I told the girl it was just pretend and to calm down. Anyway, we then get under the tables, wait a few, then line up and go outside to the designated place. A few children ran over to get their backpacks - apparently they thought we were going home...or they still thought it was real and they wanted their stuff! I had to tell them to leave it and get going! We eventually made it outside all in one piece. That pretty much took up the end of the day so we didn't do math stations like the morning class did. We came back to the room for about 5 minutes and tried to explain why we got under the tables and that an earthquake didn't usually mean a giant crack opens in the ground to swallow you up.

In other news:

--One girl in the morning class misheard or misremembered my name and kept calling me "Mrs. Barney"

--While reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to a group of kiddos, and reaching the page where the book proclaims the Caterpillar to be a "big, fat Caterpillar", one boy proclaimed, "My mom's fat!" His fellow listener shushed him and said, "Don't say that! My mom's the same size as yours!"

--I ALMOST FORGOT THIS!! Upon meeting a little girl in the afternoon class, she told me, "I like your lips." Finally a student who doesn't comment on their oddness!!

Runaway Pancake, 2.0

I think this is the first time I've done this - but today I read the same book to the class I read it to yesterday. Apparently they really enjoyed The Runaway Pancake because they practically begged me to read it again today.

There's not much else interesting for me to tell today. It was pretty regular, and all things went smoothly. The principal came in when they were having snack today (Big Cheez-its). He commented that he'd never had a Big Cheez-it before. One of the girls then gave him one of hers. :)

Perforations

This afternoon I subbed in first grade and I did a lot of tearing. I tore sheets of paper from one of those huge reams of paper that are all connected in a back and forth fashion. You know what I mean I hope. It was the only drawing paper I could find.

I also tore apart and sorted hundreds of health handouts. The front-and-back handouts come attached in groups of four. I had to rip them all apart and put them in piles. This took a little over an hour and was what I did during the entire prep period and for a few minutes after school as well!

In other events, the kids were good. They remembered me from kindergarten last year even! One girl was funny in informing me that she had a skirt kinda like the one I was wearing. I said, "Wouldn't that have been funny if you'd worn it today? We would have matched!" To which she replied, "Well, it's not exactly like that, but kinda!" At the end of the day she told me we was going to wear a skirt tomorrow. Guess I inspired her. I suppose I should wear one too so I don't disappoint. :) Oh yeah, I'm going to the same class tomorrow in case you missed it!

One last tid-bit. One of the fourth-grade teachers stopped in after school to tell me her class had had a sub on Friday (thankfully, I was already at the school in another class I enjoyed so I did not have to be jealous!) and apparently the sub did not love them, nor they the sub. This morning they beseeched their teacher: "Next time you're gone, can we PLEASE have Miss Barnes for our sub?!!" I really wish students hired new teachers. :)

Happy 200th!

This is, drum roll please.......my 200th post to this blog!

I believe some celebration is in order!

Anyways, I am happy to report that today was an overwhelmingly pleasant day in 3rd grade! The kids were polite, they listened, and to top it off - they were fun! One of them was quite the jokester, but he actually knew when to cut it out. It was nice. I liked them so much that I let them play head-up 7-up for a while and I gave them an extra 10 minutes of recess at the end of the day. We'd run out of things to do, and it was so nice out, and they had been so good that we just went out and enjoyed it! Now I'm really hoping I can go back there again before the years over, because they surely love me now! :)

One of the activities we did today was watch a Bill Nye science video (on the solar system - made when Pluto was still a full-grown planet!) Thankfully 3rd graders are still young enough to think Bill Nye is funny and not stupid and outdated. At one point when Bill Nye was talking about the moon phases he spoke of a new moon - which solicited a few little gasps and giggles from the girls who marveled that, "It's just like Twilight: New Moon!"

Yes, even in 3rd grade.

*Ding* Miss Barnes?

That is the sound I heard over and over today! (The *ding* being the sound of the intercom buzzing into the room, and the "Miss Barnes?" being the secretary or office manager asking for me.) I think they called my room at least 10 times! After a while a started to feel like I was being Punk'd or was on Candid Camera or something! Seriously, for a while it happened like every five minutes. Funny.

Less drama today, just lots of bouncy kids who have spring fever and are eager for their field trip tomorrow. It wasn't too terrible. A couple in the morning really frustrated me with their complete inability to work independently, but otherwise it was fine.

I ran into "my" kinders when dropping off this class in the library. They were all surprised and excited to see me. I got lots of hugs. So cute! I really miss them. Anyways, but I also got many, many exclamations of, "Miss Barnes! You cut your hair!" or, "Miss Barnes, you dyed your hair!"or, "Why's your hair a different color?" Apparently a few blond streaks, for a kindergartener constitute a complete change of hair color. :)