What helps me get through the day.

Since this was Black History Month, we had our students create different types of projects either about Martin Luther King, Jr. or Jackie Robinson (our SOL-related historical people). I added the option of a PowerPoint and was so glad that three of my students chose to do that type of slideshow. AJ even made his into a movie on a DVD! He took it to the next level which was pretty cool (even if he did get help from his parents). This past Thursday, the kids marched in an around-the-school parade to show off their projects. At the last minute, I decided to get a cart for my techie kids to show off their smarts (which they were so thrilled about pushing). My class got so many compliments because of it!

If nothing else perspires educationally for me this year, I'm glad that all of the problems I have had forced me into finding solutions to make my days easier. And it's helping set me up for hopefully becoming a TRT. Gosh, I really hope I get that type of position... I try not to think about it too much because I don't want to disappoint myself, but I would be so much happier and useful...


In other news, all of our butterflies have hatched and are loving on the oranges I put in our butterfly net.

I'm such a nerd because I definitely went into all the scientific parts about the butterflies with my kids. They totally make me do it though... and it is really cute when they totally repeat me.

D: The butterfly's proboscis is in the orange!
W: Why is the meconium still on the net??

:)

Random Excitement-- People have been buying a lot of the materials I've created on TeachersPayTeachers.com. Yay for idea validation! :) Hey, it's not a lot of extra money, but it's something!

All right, I need to go finish some errands before Ms. L's birthday laser tag tonight. Fun fun!

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Better weeks.

I've had better weeks, but it seems January and February came in a stormy load. It's been very overwhelming avec my first minor anxiety attack. I say avoid those at all costs; they are downright scary if you've never experienced one before.

It was one of those days where everyone seemed to be complaining. The kids, the teachers, everyone. This week has been a headache and a half and so I've been mentally exhausted. To bring on the nagging and nitpicking onto that stack meant migraine.

Mrs. MS had a talk with the principal two days ago, and apparently in that discussion, I was mentioned. Apparently, the principal asked her if I wanted to leave. Thankfully, Mrs. MS has a voice and her voice is candid, yet cautious. She told her she didn't know, but that I feel like I've been set up for failure from day 1. (It's true, and I'm glad she said it to Mrs. F.) Mrs. MS also talked about how we needed more support and guidance since we were all relatively new to teaching.

Well, the result of that informal meeting was that changes are being made to our grade level. We now have to do our own individual lesson plans so she can find where the breakdown in teaching/learning is. There is a disconnect, she said, and it needs to be found to be fixed. In other words, even though we all stay until about 7pm to 8pm every night, we're going to need to find more time to do things without a planning period.

We're rather discouraged since we seem to never do anything right. We are GOOD TEACHERS. We know what we're doing and we care about our students. We are new, and yes, we are learning ourselves about the politics of education. We know our content and curricula very well, though. That's hard to learn, but at least we have that!

I'm hoping this all results in a change in administrative support. We have had too many events that require their attention, but those events are neglected. Case in point--- today, a student brought in an adult magazine (with oh-so-wonderful fully colored photographs of compromising subjects). What happened to him (a student who just had a parent-teacher conference the day prior)? Nothing. The administration said he is on an ST5 (a behavior management plan).

This bothered me so much because the boy already knows he has no consequences!! And so he jeopardizes other students' emotional innocence. Ugh. It disgusts me to think how he even had access to the material and then his showing it around to other eight year-old kids. The principal wants nothing to do with it. My sense of ethical justice was rearing its ugly head.

To cheer this post up, a cute quote was mentioned today. We were talking about scarcity and limited resources, so we made a list of things we wanted to buy. My students were talking about Xboxes, candy, ice cream, WWF tickets, etc. My little Napoleon Dynamite raised his hand and definitely said he wanted to buy a violin. :) Gosh, I love that kid. He's so awkwardly adorable.

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Occupational Stimulus Plan?

It's strange that I just don't update as frequently as I intended when I opened up the blog. It's quite possible I just don't want to recall or reflect upon the events of this school year. Does that sound pessimistic and depressing? It may, but I'm being honest! I do have moments where I really love my students, but those moments get buried by the frustrations and dishearten-ments. I still teach, I still care. However, I do find the need to detach myself from the educational world a lot more this year.

It's caused me to question a lot of whos and whats of my teaching professional life. Am I meant to be a teacher in this capacity? Am I capable of performing to overwhelming modern standards? What happens if I cannot find a job elsewhere? What happens if I feel stuck? How will my students be affected?

Over the past few months, I've heard more and more of people losing their jobs. The sheer reality of that petrifies me (and fully grateful of even having a job). The TRT job (that I desperately want) is unfortunately from one of those departments that will always be in jeopardy of being cut from budgets. Technology is an integral and effective part of education, but it is an extra. It's like the thumb on the hand of schools. Schools would still function without, but it is so useful and powerful when utilized!

Well, because of these recent budget/job cuts and erratically declining economy, the likelihood of my switching jobs next year is becoming dimmer. I have job security now and probably always will as long as I stay in education. Classroom teachers will always be needed. But when do those classroom teachers decide to step out of the comfort box and take the risk of unemployment to improve their mental/emotional health, peace of mind, or long-term goals? Is it worth it? Or should those classroom teachers remain with the security of knowing they will have bi-monthly paychecks to deposit into their bank accounts?

So many questions. So much risk, caution, and practicality are at play. I don't know which to decide. Ultimately, my planning my own life will be trumped by the Ultimate Planner's... but I can't help but think about these things. I have about 5 more months to go. Hopefully some answers are discovered.

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Secrets, string, and shotdown.

(As promised, here is a picture from our field trip to the Children's Museum.)

Q came into this morning, excited for life. Granted, he normally is this way and normally it drives me crazy, but today, he was a controlled excited for life (as opposed to spazztastic).

Q: "Miss F, I have a secret. But I can't tell you until tomorrow. Do you want to know the secret?"
M: "Then it wouldn't be a secret anymore, now would it?"
Q: [smiles and wide eyes] "Mmm hmm. But do you like chocolate?"
M: "Oh yes, definitely dark chocolate."
Q: "I know! I got you some chocolate."
M: "Are you telling me hints, Q??"
Q: [big eyes and covers mouth with both hands]

All day it was about this secret. All day he pretty much told me what the secret was. Tomorrow is our class' holiday party before Christmas break. It makes sense.

---
Mrs. MS has a boy in her class who tends to be a very antsy person. DM has a lot of low spectrum autistic tendencies (i.e., he's intellectually brilliant), so she decided to give him a piece of yarn. Well, this proved to be very successful. TOO successful. More successful to the point where DM talked to this string, sang to this string, wrote letters to the string, and read to the string. I didn't believe her at first, but then I watched him. DM was still going to town with this string! It's REALLY comical to think about the extent DM was taking this yarn. I suggested that she give him other colors of string to see what he did. I was fascinated watching him because it wasn't some fancy shiny toy; it was a piece of yarn! Well, he was given a piece of red string. He seriously FREAKED OUT in glee!

Wow is all I had to say. Very interesting. Very amusing.

---
We had our staff holiday party this evening. It wasn't a normal holiday party. At the beginning to set the mood and tone, the principal chewed us out for this week's 4 1/2 benchmark test scores. The whole school didn't do so well. So we got shot in the leg with "Enjoy your break because when you come back, you're going to have to work harder. Get your remediation plans in order. Come January 5th, get ready to start teaching in other grades. Etc. You suck as teachers."

Okay, so maybe the last phrase wasn't really said, but still. It was a kill to the good ole festive morale!

After that, we started playing White Elephant/Pollyanna/Ain't it a Shame. Apparently we weren't peppy enough, and we got chastised for it! The principal chewed us out for not being excited! Ummm, reality check. We just were yelled at for doing a sucky job? And now we were expected to perform joyfully in a game? Ummm, reality check. Hot cold, hot cold. Crikey cheese!

---
Just two more days, and it's CHRISTMAS BREAK! I'm down to 19 children (from 24!!), and I'm pretty much guaranteed more after the break... BUT at least I'll have some time to recup. Let's just pray I get some more girls.

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Soon-to-be published!

Nothing much has changed in the realm of classroom agendas. Students are still students. Days go by days.

However, I did receive some exciting news today in the mail from my favorite teacher magazine ever, The Mailbox. I'm getting one of my classroom ideas published! I'm not at liberty to explain the idea at the moment since now it's property of Mailbox... but I was rewarded a $20 gift certificate for their publications (and a complimentary issue of the magazine with my idea in it!). That's pretty exciting for me since a) my dream-but-not-realistic job of designing reproducibles all day at Mailbox is a link closer and b) my name will be in print! One step closer to becoming a published writer (okay, so it's not like a Newbery-worthy idea, but still!). Who knows what's in my authorial future? :)

Since it is past 10pm right now, I will leave a few photos of some recent second grade excitement in closing. Last Friday, we had our "magnetic" Repel Races. The students were instructed to make a car by securely attaching a teacher-given magnet somewhere on the vehicle. They then had to race them by using the principle of "repel" to move their cars. Needless to say, the kids loved it.



Next time, I will post photos from today's field trip to the Children's Museum.

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Quarter-life Crisis?

Mr. R took me spelunking for my birthday, and before I left for the weekend, I gave three boys the task of finding out what "spelunking" meant. They were told if they brought back their research on Tuesday, then I'd give them a treat. Well, J, OF COURSE, brought it back with a website print-out of what spelunking was (his mom is a fellow educator). He was so estatic about it that I called his mom to thank her for letting him look it up. She thanked me for challenging him. :)

Currently, I am going through what I call my quarter-life crisis. It's no secret that this year has been very, very taxing on my sanity and mental health. I signed up to be a teacher-- not a babysitter or a nanny. If I wanted the latter, then I would have just applied at the local daycare center or put up an ad on Craigslist.

My passion is for teaching. Teaching knowledge and life skills. My number one priority should be academic success, not behavior management. On my first-of-the-year evaluation, the administration decided to dock me for behavior management without an footnote saying that, "She does have 17 ADHD-like boys and 4 girls in a classroom with no walls where students and teachers alike walk through/by all day." There was no docking last year on any evaluation. Hmm, so I didn't have an issue last year, but I do now? Explain the logic how you pedal backwards with experience, please. Where's my footnote? Give me my dang footnote!!!

It's only year two, and I feel like I have been teaching for 30 years. I just don't feel as pumped as I do during the summer when I teach gifted kids. At camp, I TEACH for hours on end because I am ABLE to. I don't have to worry about students getting up or talking during my lesson or shouting out inappropriate comments. It's hard to see the ah-ha moments when five students at a time can't remain seated to tell me a non-emergency (i.e., "He knocked my pencil off my desk.")

Well, we know that I'm stubborn enough to not announce to the world my doubts unless I have a potential solution to the problem. And this week that potential solution made an appearance.

Our school has now converted to an online gradebook this year. To make a unnecessary long story shorter, I found an error in the grade calculation formula. I don't know what exact formula it is, but students' Reading grades were showing up much lower than deserved (e.g., an N(eeds Improvement) turned into a U(nsatisfactory).). I talked to our TRT, Ms. B, and she took down a work order for it. Well, we got to talking and she asked me, "Why did you go into teaching?" I said, "Huh?" in response because at first, I was like why WOULDN'T I go into teaching.

"No, why didn't you go into technology? With all your tech background and you're quick with everything... it doesn't make sense."

I was honest and said that I didn't always like that most people that I had worked with in the past (especially grad school) were emotionally 2-D and it made it awkward to work with. I just don't know what to do. I know I have many skills and ideas, but I don't know how to execute any of them.

Well, she laughed and then gave me some epiphany-provoking advice. I could be a trainer for software and fly to different places to teach people. I could become a TRT.

A TRT (technology resource teacher). BAM! Epiphany struck. Why wouldn't I?? I would still be in the educational world. I would still indirectly help the students. I wouldn't have to worry about behavior management since I wouldn't have my own classroom. I would get to utilize my experience in another way. I would still get paid as a teacher, and quite possibly still get my Perkins loans forgiven for being in a low-income district. I would be a better wife when I get married next year because I wouldn't have all the stress and anxiety my students tend to rise up in me (it would be a different kind of stress). And last but not least, I would still get my summers off so I could still teach at gifted camp.

The timing was right. And out of the conversation with Ms. B (to whom I am indebted for such encouragement), I got a projector and laptop for my classroom (to build up my digital portfolio by having more technology use in the classroom). I've been trying to get those since last year!!

I'm praying that this is the solution to my quarter-life crisis because then at least I would have a destination/end in mind, and I could work towards that.

To end with a funny quote from R (who seems to be my random funny kid this year despite his slight speech impediment)... "I just know God can change my behavior!!" (This was probably the first time he didn't mention Storm Troopers or anything Star Wars-related. haha)

-- Miss Chelsea :)

The darnedest things.

Like a blossom in spring beckoned from its winter dormancy, the funny remarks are finally spilling out into my classroom.

J: Miss F, where do you get your earrings?
M: At the store.
J: Oh, my mom goes to the mall.
M: Oh, that's nice.
J: And it's a place called Secret. It has the word Secret in it.
M: [mental laughter] That's where she gets her jewelry?
J: Oh no! She gets her stockings and leggings there.

Well, you *and* I both know which store in the mall J was talking about. The randomness and completely innocent remark made me smile. I know his mom, so it makes it even funnier. I'll have to mention it to her when I speak with her next.

Kids are the World's Best Repeaters of All Things Spoken. You mention, say, reprimand, teach, or explain anything, and you can guarantee that you will hear it again from another pair of lips.

Over the past two weeks, I have heard more things that I have said from my second graders than I have actually spoken myself. Thank goodness that I don't worry at all what I say. I may say some quirky things (i.e., "We're going to breeze through this worksheet like a tornado!" or "NJ, put on your make-pretend seatbelt! Click click!"), but never any thing that would be deemed mean or inappropriate.

When Ms. R told me that I had the "nicest" kids last year, that had me thinking about the underlying lessons I'm teaching. I indirectly push character education; I know I do. I could teach them how to estimate sums, but that won't mean anything when they're in the real world. I did my own math and calculated that I see my students more than they see their parents during the school year. 8 hours out of the day, my second graders are under my influence. (The other 16 hours? About 2 hours spent at home with family unit. About 1 hour for dinner. About another 9 hours are all about sleep (we hope). About 1 hour for getting ready and eating breakfast. And the additional time... at a daycare or a before-school program.)

So, I'm bound and determined that for year two, my students will know how to treat other people. They will know how to apologize. They will know how to work together. And I'm really excited to see that it's already been happening.

Kids cheer themselves on when they work together. They are picking up random litter on the playground. They check to see if their fallen classmate is okay. They help each other clean up spilled crayons.

Yes, my students still drive me crazy with the spurts of misbehavior, but it does me proud and brightens my stressful day.

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Over 200 papers to grade.

Before the weekend even begins, there will have been about 200 papers that either had been graded or will need grading by Monday. The thought is a bit exhausting. Thankfully, I have wonderful "You better not stress, Chelsea" supporters, and they have selflessly donated their time to help me. (Thank you, Miss EB, Mr. R, and Mrs. MS, for your time and love through Crayola markers and grading scales!)

It all started when we were told we couldn't give O's to students on their report cards even though our online gradebook program says otherwise. We presented our case about why we should, and so Mrs. F said, "Well, why aren't your gradebooks consistent with each other?"

So in attempt to plead and strengthen our case, we need to have everything tick-tock and updated by (was) Friday (now Tuesday). If this is what we need to do to be able to give our kids deserved O's, I don't mind. I've just been overcome with fatigue all week. I was at school for 11 hours today... I didn't leave until 8pm. Oof.

I write now because 1) to help me unwind and 2) I'll be in Richmond this weekend, visiting C.

We had a meeting with Mrs. F today as well. It ended on a positive note (with a few confidence-building compliments... why I got higher-leveled kids because I'm really creative to make it work... yay, but yikes! Pressure!). I told her about Psycho Parent Episode #7 that happened this morning. She got really defensive and was like, "I'm going to give her a call. It won't happen again." It felt nice to be defended like that because Psycho Parent definitely crossed the line.

Now let's fade to PP Episode #7...

Ten minutes before it was time to officially start the day, Psycho Parent came storming into the room, uninvited and unprepared. With her glittering politically-biased pin on her lapel, she meant business. Business that I did not have time or patience for. She demanded to know why her son frequently does not come home prepared to do his homework. He never had his work or his folder. I explained to her that I personally hand each student their homework folders every afternoon, but what happens in transit to home is not my responsibility. Well, she then went onto say that it needed to stop and something needed to be done. She stormed over to W's desk and started ranting about how untidy it was and "how often do they get to clean out their desks?!"

She whirled over to the mailboxes and started criticizing my organization, that *obviously* this was the problem. She was left speechless after her own son put his folder in the CORRECT mailbox. (Insert rubber brick to the head here.) At this time, the other children were chaotic because of this mother. I tried to push her along and said she needed to leave. She handed me a letter to be "at my leisure."

Ms. R came in by that point and was on a mission to get rid of the parent since it's one of her hot buttons. It bubbled down to my going to find Mrs. E to come down to exterminate her presence in my classroom.

When I returned, I tried to be as firm as possible with "I need to start the day. Now." She finally left. However, unfortunately, she left annoyance and frazzled structure.

To make sense of why she was walking around with the principal yesterday, this confirms why. From what Mrs. F insinuated, Psycho Parent has questioned my teaching abilities. Clearly, the principal threw it back in her face when she gave her a walk-through and showed her we are teaching, not just hanging out with seven year olds. :P

The moral of the story: I will not invite her again to sort the students' Saddlebags, and I need to be more blunt about her son's bad behavior. That's the main cause of his grades/etc.

To end on an amusing note...
This was a response I read on one of our reading quizzes. Always an interesting time.

The story was about a girl making a paper airplane.

The question was: "Retell the story using the words first, next, and last."

KH's response was: "listen to me waeds do you waet to listen to me yes yes yes !?"
[Translation: "Listen to me, words. Do you want to listen to me? Yes yes yes !?"

-- Miss Chelsea :)

The Year of Parents.

As of this coming Monday, I will have 22 students. And this is not due to moving for once. According to one parent, it is because I am quote, too timid, unquote. When the principal told me that I was losing a student due to my "timidity," I almost bursted out with an "are you kidding me?!" laugh. Thankfully, common sense and professionalism killed that desire on the spot.

On Friday, Mrs. F came into the computer lab as I was setting up my students and told me LS was going to be going to Ms. R's room on Monday. This was the first time I heard of this, so naturally I was confused. She explained that she met with the parent that morning, and the parent had concerns that I was too timid to tell her "like it is." She apparently didn't think looking and perusing through LS's work (clear and straightforward evidence) at conference day was bold enough.

Well, to tell this parent "like it is" would be to say, "You need to motivate your child at home because I am here to teach not to stand over her shoulder to make sure she does her work."

The principal went on to explain that I need to not be bullied by parents which I appreciated her acknowledging that. While I didn't directly feel bullied this time, I did feel overwhelmed by this parent's constant "concerns" (refer to Parent #3) over and over about her daughter. Yes, I would have concerns about my daughter, too, if she were struggling to adjust to second grade. But when it's a home problem, the teacher can't enter that arena. It's not her place.

To sum it up all nice and tidy, Mrs. F then said she told the parent that if she wanted a firmer hand, then she was going to get it. And this will be the first and last time to honor her request. With Ms. R as LS's teacher, she will get firmer all right. I hope overall this will be an enlightening experience for LS and the mother. I mean no illwill towards the two. The mom is nice and concerned, but she needs to realize that she has a major part in her daughter's education. It's not just up to the teacher to perform "miracles." And screaming at her daughter hasn't really been working obviously, so she needs to find another way.

I certainly appreciated Mrs. F sticking up for me, too. She said, "My teachers aren't mean and won't scream at the children. That is something you work with at home. You have a responsibility to motivate your child to do their work; my teachers are here to teach, not babysit."

So, yay, point for the principal!

I won't lie and say I'm not thrilled that I have one less (needy) student. Now I have an even number and that sooo works better for group activities. Unfortunately, the numbers fare lesser for my girls though. 5 girls. 17 boys.

------------

On a related note about parents, my dad's wife (CJ) has been really concerned over my brother's (CE) kindergarten progress and the parent-teacher relationship. First off, CE's teacher seems like an inconsiderate space cadet.

As a teacher, if you don't put down any grades on a progress report and solely put "Conference Needed" on the comments line, that insinuates that the student is not doing well. That's what this teacher did. It worked CJ into an emotional frenzy and thought it was due to her outspoken concern about the teacher losing CE's homework folder. I reassured her she wasn't turning into one of my Psycho Parents; she had every right to express concern over the teacher's lack of communication. There are other tidbits that aren't really necessary to this story, but it bubbled up all the same.

They had the conference and CE is doing fine, but needs some extra assistance with typical kindergarten stuff (which all kids need). The real thing they (unfortunately) got out of the conference was confirmation moreso that the teacher is a space cadet times two by leaving Dad and CJ waiting for 45 minutes OUTSIDE. She forgot them.

Dad has a temper, too, so whoa, I wouldn't want to be the teacher of those parents. And from all the other stories of this teacher, I wouldn't want my child in her classroom. (Side note-- I fear I will one day be one of those picky moms because I already know toooooo much about the education world and what happens. :P However, I know I will never reach the ranks of Psycho Parent. Thank Heavens! Whew.)

It's just really interesting to be an observer to both sides of the educational world. Parent-to-teacher and teacher-to-parent. At least I'll know how I would like to be when I become a parent someday.

All right, enough musings for now, but I will leave you with two adorable stories that made my heart all fuzzy.
1. Mr. R sent me flowers to school the other week, and all the kids were excited about it when I explained to them what a fiance was. After, M shouted out that he had a fiance, too. Then Z replied, "A chicken strip is my fiance!" I don't think they understood what a fiance was. :P

2. D's Army dad was coming home. She lives with her grandma and doesn't know her mom, so she was sooo excited all week and kept telling me about his coming home. She saw him last at the beginning of the year. Well, he came to school on Thursday to see her, and she was so happy to see her daddy. It warmed all my little heartstrings. :)

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Bring it on, Sparkle.

It's still a trial in progress with behavior in my class. We did have an excellent day earlier in the week, so I KNOW it can happen. I just wish they would do it more. Even though I despise Mondays, the children are relatively calm on those days. Not sure why...

As of yesterday morning, I had 24 students. As of yesterday afternoon, I had 23. One has moved to Chesapeake... which is kind of sad since she was 1) a girl and 2) a good student. Now I have 6 girls and 17 boys. Yikes.

It's official, GM is in love with me. The second day of school he drew a picture of me and him at the beach. He parrots a lot of what I say. And now I am the subject of his spelling homework sentences:
- I am hugging Miss F.
- I hugged Miss F.
- I am smiling at Miss F.
- I smiled at Miss F.

Mr. R is going to get jealous now that he has competition against a seven year old. ;)

Now, last year, we all know I had some problems with specific parents. It wouldn't be a thrilling school year without a Part Deux. I have just those parents.

Parent #1 - Concerned, but Not Concerned Enough to Do Anything About It
- This parent writes about a note per week, detailing their concern over their child's grades or behavior. They make requests for seat changes, minute-by-minute information regarding schedules, etc. Because the parent doesn't want to deal with educational matters, the concern is then placed unto a grandparent to be the point of contact... who comes to find out later had been writing the notes all along.

Parent #2 - Always on the Defensive, then Turns Offensive
- This parent is notified about their child's progress and the teacher's concern over the low grades. They make excuses for the lack of accountability on their child (i.e., working too much, not home all the time, etc.). Just when you thought the phone conversation was over, they accuse the teacher of not doing her job and not giving their child more opportunities for a third/fourth/fifth retest in any given subject. When the teacher explains that lessons have been taught at least four different time and evidence of this is in the weekly Saddlebag of their student's work, this parent finds more reasons why they are not the ones to blame. This parent is a teacher's worst headache.

Parent #3 - Passive Activist
- This parent is all verbally gungho about having their student succeed and demands to be notified of misbehavior and poor grades at the beginning of the year. When the teacher notifies them of either of the aforementioned, this parent agrees and thanks for the call. Over the next few days, the behavior still hasn't changed and it is back to square one to the cyclic procedure.

Parent #4 - A Child's First and Foremost Teacher
- This parent is a teacher's favorite. This parent sometimes comes into the classroom to help out with organizing, filing, or even bringing in treats. They may struggle to make ends meet, but they put the emphasis on education first. They do what they need to do to help their child reach their potential. If the means are available, they get a tutor. They also study their child's sent-home work with their child, even if it is for five minutes a day. They check their student's homework every night to keep their student accountable. They build a partnership with the teacher and know it is not a one-person show.

Well, that's about it. Miss EB and I are going to look for bridesmaid dresses today, I think. We'll see, we'll see... if I can get out of my pj's and motivate myself to get dressed. :P

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Year 2 began.

After my summer-long hiatus, I return, not really refreshed, but I suppose a little wiser.

School started last week, and naturally, when I found out that I had 24 children AND V's brother in my class, I freaked out. Week 2 is now ending, and while I feel slightly more control over my classroom than I did before, I'm just tired all the time. Medically, I need to get that checked eventually. Mentally, I hope I don't continue to stay at school until 7pm much longer.

I have 7 girls in my class. The rest are boys. High energy. Busy everything. Right now, the big dilemma is that they won't follow directions. We're crammed like a sardine can in the classroom. I had to rearrange desks a few times to try to maximize space, but yikes. Small space.

This year, my kids aren't that funny! I haven't had any truly memorable quotes. The only one just happened today.
"My fingers taste like marshmallows!" - Q, after I told him to take his hand out of his mouth.

Also, I had my first really awkward situation of the school year. JO (who happens to be V's brother... oh joy, right?) sat in his chair, and I walked over to his desk to check his work. Well, he scrambled his hands away from his "private area" and tried to zip up his fly. In my head, it was "What the in my classroom!?" Out of my mouth was "JO, go wash your hands." He looked up at me and stumbled over his words... I had to have a moment and go over to Mrs. MS or I was going to burst out laughing over the sheer inanity of the whole thing. Just AWKWARD in the CLASSROOM! Sure, Kindergarten boys, sure-- it's a part of development; they don't know any better. Not second graders (and JO clearly knew what was going on). Then again... JO's sister did eat a black crayon last year.

All right, getting close to my bedtime. I'm pooped.

-- Miss Chelsea :)

Top 5 Things.

Okay, I don't have much time to update... and there's been quite the time span between my last one... so I felt like I needed to put SOMETHING down on my little webspace.

Without further ado, here are the top 5 things to get you updated with the current happenings.

5. School has ended. YIPEE!! Mrs. A has found a job in another district and won't be rejoined the second grade next school year. :( It's sad... but it's a lot better for her, commute- and pay-wise.
4. I made at least one difference this past school year! B's dad came up to me and told me that this was the first year that B didn't hate school. :) :)
3. I am in the process of drafting out a plotline of a fiction story based on all my experiences in my first year of teaching. That will take who knows how long... years maybe... BUT! It is in the works, and I've already fleshed out some characters and two chapters. I'm quite pleased my muse visited me.
2. I will be going to California tomorrow morning for vacation... and then two days after I return, I go to Texas to teach for the gifted camp again (where there will certainly be more entries here at that time) for a month. Yeah! I get to see C, too, so that'll be really fun.

And last but not least...

1. In a little more than a year's time, I will no longer carry the "SFT" (Single Female Teacher) stigma!! Mr. R asked me to marry him! As a friend just told me, I will have earned my MRS degree. ;) Woo, next year is going to be a whirlwind... we'll see how I survive that balancing act...

But for now, I will bask in my free time without migraines, colds, and certainly, attitude. Cheers for reading, relaxing, and everything else that enhances a 3-month long recuperation!

- Miss Chelsea :)

It's not an issue. It's a subscription.

When the school district announced that we would be getting an additional day off for Memorial Day Weekend, of course, I was in fits of excitement. Little did I know, it would definitely be for my sanity's benefit.

This past 4-day week was the longest, most arduous week of the year. I had moments where I felt like just running around the pod, screaming just to throw the students into a shock of abnormalcy. Let me count the ways.

1. In C-1, T and J thought it'd be a good idea to keep throwing up in my classroom. Not just in a trash can, but on the carpet, on the desks, and on the bathroom floor. This has happened over 8 times in the past 2 weeks. The nurse won't let me send them down because they're "not sick." Which is true. BUT SEND THE MISFITS HOME!!! I got so frustrated because I knew J was doing it on purpose. Some fierce tone came out, and I ended up yelling at J that if he makes himself throw up again, I was going to send him home myself. His eyes bugged out and his head nodded frequently like a dashboard bobblehead. I called his parents that day, and so far, there has been no more throwing up. T, on the other hand, we think is lactose intolerant. He's not allowed to have any milk the rest of the year. So far so good in that category. T pops up later this week in another incident, don't worry.

2. After a first stern warning of appropriate language the week before, DS decided to call A the "n" word again.
I have absolutely ZERO tolerance for such a repulsive word. I called his grandmother (who is a volunteer in our class) and told her about it. She said she won't tolerate it either, but whether it helped that DS spoke to his grandma on the phone when I was there, I don't know.

3. That didn't end with DS there either. He decided to splash water in another kid's face and flick the bathroom lights on and off. Mrs. A caught him and when I told him to move his name to red, he snarled and flung folders and pencils to the ground. He calmed down for a moment, but then as we were taking our spelling pretest (remember, it is a PREtest... one that is not even graded), I find a cheating list in his desk. He cheated on a pretest. (My motto: If you're going to be stupid, be smart about it. Make it worthwhile on a REAL test, please!!) He got upset again and threw the pencil again. I called the office, and Mrs. E came to pick him up. Was he suspended? No. And that's what ticks me off... especially after a school-wide announcement was made to all students that now SOLs are over, there is zero tolerance for bad behavior. Umm, last time I checked, consistency and following through are the best disciplinary rules.

3a. So not only did DS cheat on the pretest, he did it on the REAL spelling test the day after. I'm not even going to expound upon this because I'm mentally through with the lack of integrity.

4. Also, R made the "smart" choice of hitting TJ and then calling her an "a**," after going on and on that she "doesn't understand my feelings about being separated from my parents." Yes, R is a foster child, but she has used this excuse many times over the year for things she has done wrong. I told her I was separated from my mom too, but that is NO EXCUSE for hitting people. You just do NOT do it; you will get in trouble. Maybe it's my own jaded heart, but you cannot let something like that rule your decisions. You'll be miserable for the rest of your life.
And when it physically affects another student, it is unacceptable. I also wrote her up (and of course, nothing was done about it), and I called her foster mom who was very remorseful for the other student and said she'd talk to her.

5. When we were trying to finish our Reading test, K decided to take his lovely time to clean up (after he won't let an argument go about M's chair being near his chair)... when the entire class was waiting on him. I said to pick up his test and go to Mrs. G's office to finish his test because we were not going to wait for him anymore. He went into his role of Moaning Cow and wouldn't stop for a long while.

6. And to wrap the week up since it's just been fabulous already, as we were walking INTO the building from recess, T pulled down his pants IN LINE and shows not only his rear, but also his private parts. His two bad influence friends egged him on. AND V saw all of it. WHAT THE!! IN LINE! FROM RECESS!! Mrs. G-H and I chastised him out, then I wrote him a referral just to cover my tail and to avoid any other further conflicts since this has been an issue all year (boys vs. girls, touching, hitting, playing together, etc.). I'm so tired of calling parents to let them know of their children's inappropriate behavior. And I'm so tired of having to repeat myself at least 50 times a week about not touching. THIS IS NOT NORMAL! PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT AT HOME! Mrs. E set up an ST-5 meeting with T's mom next week which could lead into possible suspension. When I called T's mom, she was so livid. So livid she was quiet. I felt somewhat bad, but it needs to dealt with before it escalates into something wrong years down the road. (P.S. Yeah, I'm still ticked that a flashing incident could get suspension but not hitting?! WTheck?!)

Sigh. The true highlight of the week was my conversation with S at recess. She is just so adorable. She reminds me of Winnie the Pooh because she has a round tummy that sticks out. So anyway, here is the gist of our convo:

S: Miss F, do you wonder what it would be like if you and me-- we met the Egypts?
Me: Like going back to Ancient Egypt and seeing the Egyptians?
S: Yeah!
Me: That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?
S: The Egypts invented the clock.
Me: You mean Egyptians? That is true. We could write to them since we know some hieroglyphics, huh?
S: Yeah, I want to write them a letter!
Me: When you do, I'd love to read it.
S: Okay! [beams] And then they get put into boxes and fold their arms like this. [folds her arms across her chest like a mummy] The booby traps are everywhere. So they don't steal the gold.
Me: They have to protect their treasure!
S: Yeah, or the mommies will eat you.
Me: [thinking about lethal mothers going after someone] [tries to repress a laugh]
S: [acts like a mummy walking]
S: I had a dream last night and it was at a place where old Egypts stayed [[museum]]. And the mommy was there.
Me: Wow, you have some vivid dreams there, girlie.
S: Mm hmm. [bobblehead nod, though has no idea what 'vivid' means]

Best conversation ever. She's just full of randomness. I'll miss her. :)

And now, I will thoroughly enjoy my 4-day weekend. WOO HOO! No school today or MONDAY! I bought a new hybrid bike the other day and have been riding about 4 miles each day (only 30 minutes) around the neighborhood... I feel really good, and this is a healthy commitment I can make since the gym really was a nail puller for me... :) I hate exercising, but I LOVE biking. Mr. R and I are going over to NN Park tomorrow on the trails... super fun!

Miss F has taken a break and now she can be Chelsea again for awhile.

- Miss Chelsea :)

Attack of the 18-Germ-Factories Bug.

I've been slightly out of commission the past week due to a nasty cold, sinus infection, and pseudo-bronchitis. It knocked me out completely last weekend, and I was miserable. Thankfully, I'm almost all better now. Still remnants of my cough lingers, but I am heartily up in energy.

This past week was Teacher Appreciation Week. Each day had a theme. Monday was Flower Day. Tuesday was Sweet Day. Wednesday was Card Day. Thursday was Letter Day. And last but not least, Friday was Surprise Day.

I was so bombarded with gifts and thank yous that my little teacher heart surely must have swelled into an apple shape. The kids were so thoughtful and caring. The best part was that they really know my general interests. Children are quite the observant ones. I received teacher paraphernalia, pandas, bears, dark chocolate, cookies, letters, balloons, gift card to Subway, etc... overwhelming response. :)

Other than that, it's been an okay time. Kids are wired and crazy (due to only having 28 days left in the school year), so I'm having to be creative in my classroom management. You'd be surprised to what a gobstopper can do to an 8-year old.

At recess, the latest thing is finding ladybugs. S came up to me and told me the names of her ladybugs. One is Christine and the other was Chelsea. That girl is hilarious; I love hearing her just ramble on.

A (You-Know-What Boy... who went ALL out for Teacher Week) also came up to me during recess one day and said a quite profound statement.

A: Hey. Miss F.
Me: Yes, A?
A: You know what the best present for someone's birthday is?
Me: What is that?
A: [matter of fact expression with one eyebrow raised] Just being their friend.

I had to prevent some laughter there... because it seriously came out of nowhere. Oh, second grade.

It's SOL (no no, it's not a dirty acronym. It stands for Standards of Learning) testing this week, and I am NOT looking forward to it. Somehow I have to keep my kids absolutely silent during testing time. I'll have some of Ms. T's kids in my room, too... but the school is dead serious about not hearing a peep out of the younger grades who don't test. We won't be allowed to go outside either... absolute torture. You might as well strap me to a wall with duct tape. And don't forget to bind my frazzled hands into place. They have a mind of their own when chaos strikes.

- Miss Chelsea :)

Tears of Hysteria.

Well, I didn't think I'd have the chance to update this weekend since Miss K was supposed to visit. Unfortunately her car died 60 miles into her trip down here... so she's had to postpone her visit. :( Thankfully she got her car towed and everything's okay.

This week was too much of a week. K put on his moaning cow attitude THREE MAJOR TIMES.

Imagine this. It is Picture Day and all the children are lined up, tallest to shortest. The children start to get antsy as they await to be placed on the risers. One little boy decides to start touching another student, even after his teacher told him not to put his hands on another student. The teacher chastised his behavior. The boy starts crying. The crying escalates into wailing. You would think you were in a preschool classroom. The wailing worsens into sobbing-moaning. Finally, the class is corralled onto the risers and the boy falls behind, still crying. The photographer gives a look to the teacher like, "Oh geez. How could you be so mean!?" The "cruel" teacher then tells the boy to get into his spot in the picture because there are four classes waiting to be photographed. The boy still sobs his eyes out and continues to do so through the entire photographic process. The class only has two tries for a good picture, and so you will see a tear-ridden, "My world has ended" boy in the third row to the right. Watch for him. He will be forever known as the Boy Who Cried in Miss F's Class Picture, 2008.

So the third time this hysterical sobbing happened, I told him VERY FIRMLY that it was NOT acceptable second grade behavior, and that I would expect it from a preschooler. What? What were those magical words? Yes. Apparently being compared to a preschooler could halt all waterworks and sour faces. That's all it took!?!?!?! Needless to say, I called his Dad and told him about these incidents. I'm not surprised; the same behavior happens at home as well.

T also decided to rear her bully-head. She put glue all over her chair and tried to blame it on K (the reason of his third hysterical episode of the week). Three other students AND I saw her do it. Well, add another kid to the list of bawling hysterically because she was at it. When I called T's mom to report the incident, I got her voicemail... and normally I really don't like leaving those kinds of messages, but it was necessary. It was Friday. And I wanted to go home.

Summarily to say, I am glad this week is over. I can't believe it's May next week. It's CRAZY! Less than one-and-a-half months of school left. Yikes!

- Miss Chelsea :)

A bit o' quote.

It's getting to be a pretty busy month. May will be busier once it starts the "end of year" bustle.

GREAT NEWS!!
Since we never used our two snow days, the School Board approved a four-day Memorial Day weekend ANDDDDDD the last day of school will now be Friday, June 13th (instead of Monday, the 16th). YAYAY! We were pretty stoked.

Now here are some quotes for your reading pleasure...

T: Miss F, you're pretty.
Me: Thank you.
J: OF COURSE, Miss F is pretty. She's a lady.

****

V: M is being shellfish! She is being shellfish!
[V has a bit of a speech problem, and this one really amused me. I didn't know that I had sea creatures in my classroom.]

****

G: [This rose] is for you, Miss F! It was over the fence so we had to work together to get it.
[I love it when my "life lessons" make it into their everyday play. :) :) Working together has been a theme all year for us. :)]

****

Mrs. M sends me Snapple Caps via TXT message a few times a week (which, by the way, I want to get on a license plate as soon as I can figure out my titling number on my car registration: SNPLCAP). The best one this past week was "A goldfish has the attention span of 3 seconds." Her attached message was, "That's probably longer than your students!" ... it's funny because it's truuuuuuuuuue.

We've started growing our flower seeds inside the classroom now... we should be able to go outside to plant them in a few weeks.

- Miss Chelsea :)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ridiculous.

Wow, definitely time for an update. A lot has happened in the past month. Some good, some bad... some ridiculous.

I'll start with the bad as to end on a more positive note.

The Bad
Over Spring Break, one of our second graders passed away due to a fatal asthma attack. Our school has unfortunately seen a lot of death this year. It's eerie. First, a teacher passed, then parents, and now a student. He was such a sweet little boy who always listened and paid attention when he came to my class on Fridays. Mrs. A, Ms. T, and I went to his funeral this past Tuesday. It was the first funeral I've ever been to. The thought that kept going through my head was that "he's never going to wake up." I wanted to avoid seeing his body, but it was an open casket when we first walked in and there he was. Thankfully, the initial shock is now over. I didn't know him well... so the shock didn't last for too long. It's just heartbreaking that a young child was taken back home so early in his life. I'm praying that his family is doing all right.

The Good
We made a huge purchase order right before Spring Break. Second grade is FINALLY going to get magnets, liquid measurement matierals, life cycle tools, butterfly kits, and etc... I made my case to the principal, and she gave us an extra $500 to get science supplies. How cool is that? I'm ALSO getting maps. Like real maps on a roll. To hang up. I can adequately teach these subjects now!

I've been dubbed the "science person" in second grade for some reason. Every time I talk to the principal, she mentions science in relation to me. She was in a VERY good mood this past week. I am bummed that I couldn't go to the Science Conference in July since I'm working at SIG again this year. Mrs. P said I was the one she wanted to send.

I just found out my Perkins loan could get forgiven in 5 years. 100%. BUT. I have to stay in a low-income school for that long. I'm getting 15% forgiven just for this year... and another 15% next year. As much as I have complained about CPI, I'm questioning whether I should stay next year.

However, I do not want to be one of those people who complains... AND had the chance to change the situation... and decided not to do anything about it. So as of now, I'm divided.

The Ridiculous
Here are some quotes to really remember.

IK: "Did you go to college, Miss F?!"
Me: "I had to... AND I went to another school after college, too."
IK: "Did you go to Mom school?!"
Me: "No, but if they had one I'd love to go! Did you go to Mom school, IK?"
IK: "I went to Mom AND Dad school."

Me: "Can you find a musical instrument at a grocery store?"
K: "Yeah!"
Me: "Umm, not really, sweetie..."
K: "Yeah huh, you can buy a flute there! And a flute is a musical instrument!"

DS was given a writing assignment about something "you and a friend do... and how you help each other."
Well, I went around looking at papers... and I saw DS'. It is as follows:

"DS and Miss F like to wickle are [sic] fingers.
DS and Miss F like to go on a picnic."

This was accompanied by a picture of DS and me wiggling our fingers (we do this when we find a vocab word in our reading). My face was clearly colored over with a white crayon. The picture of DS and me on a picnic apparently happens during the summer because my face was clearly colored in with a brown crayon. So apparently, I've gone on a picnic with DS before. haha I somehow missed that invitation.

T: "Miss F, I looove you. [hug] You're my best friend."
[Why don't these kids have best friends their own age?!?! haha]

My kids are on this kick of recycling right now. I couldn't be more proud since that's one little glimpse at being socially aware. We now have a recycling box for paper and everything that was initiated by A. So proud!

G: "I'm recycling this spoon into a shovel!"
S: "Someone's mouth was on that!"
G: "[peeved] I'm not using the mouth!!"

Well, there was probably more, but it's all blurry. Maybe I'll do an addendum when I find the paper I wrote stuff down on...

- Miss Chelsea :)

Row, row, row your boat.

The strangest of things always seem to happen to me right before I take a mental health day.

To start things off though, I would like to post a picture of my new portrait (the paper on top) drawn by G. I think it just adds a certain je ne sais quoi about me. Don't you think?

... at least I'm in my make-believe Butterfly Garden! :) I do think it's funny even when my skin color is different, my hair and pants are still the same. Awww, they know me well. :D

Thursday was such a day where anything and everything seemed to occur. Let's start off with the morning...

In Reading Remediation group, J and T kept playing around and not being serious at all; there's a time to play and a time to work hard (especially since these are the main two who are at risk of not passing second grade). I told them sternly that they needed to get their student faces on. So they said, "Yeah, we're going to get our student faces on!" And then they motion as if they were washing their faces...

And then T burst out with... "Yeah, my student face! I need to get some lotion on!"

Right after this incident, I asked them questions about "So what do you need to see?" They called out, "Eyes! Glasses!" Right. Then I asked them, "What do you need to speak?" J replied, "SPEECH BUBBLES!"

And then the day continued.

Now, I have started a collection of confiscated items. These items range from little papers, scissors used to cut up crayons and erasers, toys, etc. The best item thus far is apparently a "love potion." According to one student, G created this "potion" to "get girls to like him." Well, ladies and gentlemen, get your pencils ready because I'm about to divulge the secrets of a true 21st-century aphrodisiac.

• A small hand sanitizer bottle
• Three broken crayons (can be of any color, preferably pink and purple)
• Questionable water
• A little plant from outside

That's it! You will attract the masses in no time. People will flock at your feet and swoon immeasurably.

The day carried on and was interrupted by a serenade of "Row, row, row your boat" emanating from the boy's bathroom. A very LOUD crooning. Mrs. A and I looked at each other and went "What the?!" as we went to explore.

"Who's in there?!" I called.
No answer.
"Get out here right now!" I called out again.
K peeked his head out and I literally want to smack my and his forehead.
"What are you doing?! Do you realize the entire pod can hear you?? When you get out, just go change your name to red!"

[Note: Our behavior system is a stoplight. Red, yellow, green. You can infer what red is.]

K stomped out of the bathroom and started wailing, putting on another Moaning Cow show.

I pulled him aside and again asked (with the greatest self-control possible... since I was on the verge of laughter from the ridiculousness of the situation), "What were you thinking?? The entire pod was disrupted!"

"I didn't do it!" K wailed.
"Who else was in there?! You were the only one, K!"
"I..." he quieted.

So it wasn't until the end of the day when another situation occurred. At this point, I was apparently on a roll with making children cry. Since a little before this at lunch, I made one of Mrs. A's students sit by himself at lunch because he kept getting up, talking to other tables, and walking around. He had the most unattractive crying face I've ever seen. I'm becoming the recipient of "Death Stares" a little too numerously. :P

Anyway, so at the end of the day, I was finishing up typing something on the computer while the kids finished our Cheez-It area activity. (Find the area of some squares with Cheez-Its! They loved it.)

I just happened to turn around and in slo-mo, DS, T, and T stared at me, frozen. DS held his hand over his mouth. T had the guilty look as she openly clutched three Hot Fries in her fist. T was in mid-reach of taking one. I was SHOCKED. We stared at each other for a moment until I got up and asked what in the world was going on.

Their blatant defiance/sneakiness of the "no snacks unless I provide them and there is enough for everyone" rule was just so SHOCKING to me. I was sitting RIGHT there!

Well, I told them to throw them away. T got up and threw her three away. DS stared at me, wondering if I were serious.

"Throw them away NOW."

He got up and walked to his Spongebob backpack (which was clearly past the trashcan), shoving them inside.

"NO. I said THROW them away in the trashcan!"

He stared at me as if he didn't understand English and were weighing the consequences if he didn't follow instructions.

"Throw them away NOW. You KNOW the rules."

I said this about ten times. Quickly, his face transfigured into one of anger as he took his Hot Fries out of his backpack and slammed them into the trashcan. DS stomped his feet in a circle and then the grand finale was when he threw his body to the ground and started wailing. Mrs. W came in and swooped him up to talk to him in another room.

It's like a drama in my classroom. There's always something.

The weirdest ending was when some boys were trying to go into the trashcan to retrieve these Hot Fries, even after I pushed my foot down in the trashcan because it was overflowing with paper. And the Hot Fries were clearly not theirs to even take.

And thus, this ends my week. I've probably traumatized some kids for life... but at least now I know that broken crayons in a hand sanitizer bottle is the key to a romantically successful life.

- Miss Chelsea :)

Spring has almost sprung.

Just in case you didn't already know, I really don't like losing an hour of my sleep to save energy for the next 6 months. Sure, it's a grand idea and all... but one hour!! Sleep!! Okay, so I'm not completely an energy hog... but tomorrow is going to be a roooough morning.

The kids have been wired for the past two weeks, and it's exhausting. I waste about 45 minutes to an hour every day refocusing and dealing with behavior issues. It's getting ridiculous. I think we all need Spring Break like now.

Some adorable quotes kept me smiling though.

"What does a seed do or need, S?"
"All it needs is, uh, a little water, soil, and a little love."

"So, K, do you feel older and bigger today?"
"Uh huh. [sage nod]"
"That's great! Do you still have the same amount of eyes?"
"Yep, 4. Just like you!"
"How about ears?
"[sage nod] And I can smell real well! Like a gorilla!"

I'm going to Miss P's home state of Iowa for Spring Break! I'm pretty excited about it since I've never been. The flight was really affordable, and I may get to go on some random factory tours. Wooooo hoo. Watch out, corn fields!

I haven't been staying late at school much lately. Neither are the other teachers really... we're just too tired to want to think about the next day. So on a good healthy note, I've been balancing life a lot better than before. It helps that I have my own place to come home too... there's more incentive to flop into my own bed, lounge on my own (well, Miss EB's) couch, bake in my own (well, landlady's) oven. It's wonderful.

C's coming out for my Easter party, too, and so I may be taking a Mental Health Day on Friday... just so I can A) get ready for the party and B) relax a little bit.

Once Spring Break passes, I know I'm going to be counting down the days until summer... there are a lot of things being planned... and Mr. R and I may be doing a California Road Trip and then attend T's brother's wedding (we all never would have thought he'd ever get married.. he's surprised himself! haha). I have to be in Texas by July 10th for SIG. I believe Miss J is working there this year too, so at least I'll know someone.

Anyway, I want to go bum around and fiddle with gadgets...

Until next time,
Miss Chelsea :)

Memorable quotes.

For your reading pleasures, I have collected some pretty great quotes from the past few weeks.

(Side note- It's been a hectic few weeks... lots of school stuff and then the VEA weekend thing was awesome (I did learn how to ski, and it only took about 3 fallings!)! If you have access to Facebook as well as my profile, then you can check out my pictures from there.)

(Another EXCITING side note- our Painted Lady butterflies finally hatched today! When I left school, we were still waiting for the sixth one to hatch. The sixth's chrysalis was getting darker and darker though, so it's bound to be out by tomorrow. We're hoping! We will be releasing the 'flies out into its natural environment on Friday. They need to make babies so the life cycle can happen over all again! ;) )

"All right, it's time for the butterfly video!"
[Magic School Bus theme song begins]
... from the corner of my eye, J (from Ms. T's) rose his arms and started grooving to the song, pumping his fists in the air. This kid NEVER talks or moves much... but here he was just rockin' it up to MSB. I love him and I want to adopt him.

"This is for you, Miss F! I told you I'd bring it!"
- A, gave me a Valentine's heart with a fake rose and bear. Two weeks after the famous heart holiday.

"Miss F, can I go home with you? I wanna be a white person! They have more fun and they laugh more."
- T

"What else can you use a measuring tape for?"
"My mom uses it when she works out!"
- M

"[hand on my arm] Miss F, your monarch butterflies are just so beautiful."
- B, from Ms. R's class
[One-- she randomly came up to me at lunch to say this. Two-- They are Painted Ladies, not Monarchs. lol Sooo adorable!]


So that's it for now until the weekend. I needed to appease the M's on the west coast with an update. I can't have completely ruined her week!! I must repent and ask forgiveness for such negligence. ;)

Miss Chelsea :)