On Tuesday, K came up to me, holding one of those "4 chocolates in a box" Valentine hearts. It had a cat on the front that said, "You are so cool!" Well, K smiled and said, "This is for you, Miss F! My sister ate the other 3, but I left you one." I opened it to see a grimy milk chocolate in the middle. I smiled all big and thanked him. Cutest thing. Ever. (Disclaimer-- I did not eat the lone chocolate. Sorry to disappoint. ;) )
Well, that Tuesday was the worst day ever, and I was really dreading going to work for the rest of the week. I had to deal with bad attitudes and general whininess all because they couldn't go out to recess (even though Kindergarten and 1st grade could). It was sucky for all of us. I did not have one break all week, and the kids had no "real" break either. The morale of our pod was like opening up your favorite peanut butter jar and finding it empty and scraped clean of all peanuts. My love for my kids and my legally-binding work contract were sadly the only two things keeping me from walking out the door.
I had a bad dream that night, and upon waking to my alarm clock on Wednesday, I wanted to curl up under my comforter and forget my place in the world. After a moment of prayer for a significantly better day, I dragged my feet out of bed and managed to follow through with my morning routines.
Miraculously, the end of the dreariness happened the moment 9am struck. A came running into the room (as he always does) and whipped his backpack off, unzipping it. He pulled a little teddy bear figurine with a heart on his lap that said "I love you" (cutely ironic, it had beady eyes just like him.).
If I had a love language, mine would certainly be words and acts of affirmation. I almost started crying right there when I asked him who the bear was for. "It's for you, Miss F!" Talk about really needing a visible sign of encouragement and getting it. All morning, A was asking if I showed it to the other teachers and what they thought of the bear. The figurine has now taken residence on my desk and has been the talk of C-1.
As for the talk of Valentine's Day, I heard some students talking about wanting to go to China to bring back a panda for me, but they don't know "how to get it over." I've got my kids trained and thinking. ;)
So, moving onto the quote of the week... this one comes from G as he was looking through one of his library books.
"Last weekend, I drove for 6 hours in Virginia Beach, and I saw the Statue of Liberty!"
There are so many things wrong with that statement, and so it made me laugh pretty hard.
Today, I've been making awards on Scholastic's Printables website for the students who made 1) above a 90% score, 2) most improved score from last time, or 3) improved score to an 80% or better on their Benchmarks. I wanted to do something for everyone, but I really need to be better about not praising "fake mediocrity." They say teachers fall into that trap too much and therefore indirectly encourage weaker work ethics and put up a rose-colored curtain of dishonesty. I agree with it to an extent, especially in regards to the lazy students. But for those who have a low self-esteem/confidence (like S), I feel very strongly about giving encouragement, even if it's for "below mediocre" work. It's just necessary.
- Miss Chelsea :)
3 comments:
Just skipping around Virginia Beach people, but just wanted to say. I used to attend a private school in VB and I remember in like 4rth grade going to public school and the recess time was cut in like half. It was like 30-45 minute recess to 5 minute recess. It's funny I don't remember adjusting to new people, teaches, area the only thing I remember is my recess getting cut short.
Oh, the things we remember, huh? It's detrimental! :D
lol, nice. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Chelsea, you've definitely found the perfect career for you. :) And that's awesome.
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