Why Mrs. Nurse sucks!
So I got her the precious doctor's note clearing me to return to work. When I went to turn it in on Friday she wasn't there and the sub nurse (a sane and lovely person who normally works in a different building) wasn't sure what to do with it, so I gave it to one of the secretaries and went on my merry, itchy-eyed, way.
Guess what I found in my staff mailbox this morning? Go ahead, GUESS! That f'ing DOCTOR'S NOTE without which I was forbidden to return to school, a note in Mrs. Nurse's handwriting scrawled across the top "I don't need this." WHAT? I immediately stormed her office, note in hand, and thumped it on her desk, right on top of whatever she was working on. When she looked up, blinking in mild amazement, I said "What do you mean you don't need this? You SAID I couldn't come back without a doctor's note! I waited an extra 10 minutes at the office for this note!" She smiled a fake smile and said "Oh, I just had to see it, I don't need to keep it. You put it in your files, ok?" I wanted to file it up her nose!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Just don't touch my eye
Thursday morning I woke up with sore eyes. I staggered to the mirror and blinked at myself in disbelief, peering at the scarlet red hue of my sclera. After a quick check in the corners - no discharge of any color - and a semi-lengthy internal debate about calling for a sub, I decided to tough it out and see the doc after school.
When I arrived I sought out Mrs. Pop, knowing that if this was one of the mornings that Queen Mum dropped off Princess that she would have kittens at the sight of my ruby-red peepers. Mrs. Pop recoiled at the very sight of me and asked me to go see Mrs. Nurse.
Sidebar - Mrs. Nurse and I have a long, unhappy history with one another. She feels I send too many kids to see her, I feel it's her damn job to see them when they complain for more than an hour about a headache, stomach ache, or general "I feel yucky". In addition, one of my sons has a chronic condition that requires daily trips to Mrs. Nurse for evaluation and possible intervention and we butt heads over his care frequently.
Mrs. Nurse immediately and loudly declared "That's pinkeye! You cannot stay here today!" Trying to control my frustration I rebutted "It's not pinkeye. I've had this before. It's a viral infection, not contagious, I'll be fine until the end of the day. When I have pinkeye I weep green and yellow snot out of my eyes. No snot, no pinkeye!" Mrs. Nurse clinched her mouth like a cat's arse, and called into the office for Mrs. Pop. When Mrs. Pop arrived she once again declared I was contagious (in a tone that would have been appropriate for a plague carrier) and I must leave. Mrs. Pop hastily agreed and I decided to shut up - why argue with a bonus day off?
I had to go sit uselessly in my classroom for an hour until an emergency sub was rounded up, forbidden to touch anything or anyone. Eager Beaver, the reading director, was kind enough to step in and teach for me during morning circle, reading time, and the beginning of journals until Mrs. Yeller arrived. Mrs. Yeller - the most dreaded and always last choice sub, a sure sign that we were scraping the bottom of the sub barrel. I cornered her by my desk and gave her a quick blunt soliloquy about NOT engaging Van Gogh in a power struggle, then toddled off to rest my poor sore eyes. As I passed her office Mrs. Nurse popped out and said "You may not return without a doctor's note." I looked at her and half smiled, thinking she was surely teasing. Stonefaced she repeated "I mean it, you will not come back without a doctor's note stating that you are not contagious." What am I, five? I can't be trusted to actually go to the doctor and make sure that whatever is infecting my eyes isn't going to wreck what little sight I have left? Tinpot dictator!
I did make it to the doctor that afternoon, where he declared I have a viral infection and the only way I could pass it on to someone else was to rub my eye against their eye - not something I'm prone to doing! When I told him I needed a note clearing me to go back to work he laughed, sure I was kidding, then stared at me in disbelief. After a second the nurse interjected "Let me guess? Mrs. Nurse told you that." When I confirmed it Dr. Eye and his nurse both laughed, in that "it isn't really funny" way and after Dr. Eye left to write my note his nurse leaned over and said "Mrs. Nurse used to work for us. Let's just say she didn't leave under the best of circumstances. She's being vindictive." So I left Dr. Eye's office, clutching a letter, rx'es for 2 different kinds of eye drops, and the knowledge that I'm not the only one who finds Mrs. Nurse a PITA.
When I came into school Friday morning there was a fairly positive note from Mrs. Yeller on my desk and no cards flipped - to me, a sure sign the sub was either not paying attention or a pushover. Within minutes of my arrival Eager Beaver came in, bursting to tell me that she had stopped by my room during end-of-the-day centers to discover Mrs. Yeller sitting calmly in my rocking chair reading a mystery novel while my class ran wildly around the room, throwing things at each other and screaming. FABULOUS! Eager Beaver, knowing that I maintain a fairly tight ship, assured me she stepped in, made them clean up the mess and calm the f*ck down, all while Mrs. Yeller continued to read her book, completely ignoring everyone else in the room.
Usually if a sub leaves a good note for the class I will reward them with a point towards an extra recess. This time - I told them the good note was cancelled out by Eager Beaver's report and that I was soooooo disappointed in them. They will have an end of the day sub on Thurs. so I can take Will to the dentist - if it goes poorly there will be repercussions! I might just have to rub them with my eye!
When I arrived I sought out Mrs. Pop, knowing that if this was one of the mornings that Queen Mum dropped off Princess that she would have kittens at the sight of my ruby-red peepers. Mrs. Pop recoiled at the very sight of me and asked me to go see Mrs. Nurse.
Sidebar - Mrs. Nurse and I have a long, unhappy history with one another. She feels I send too many kids to see her, I feel it's her damn job to see them when they complain for more than an hour about a headache, stomach ache, or general "I feel yucky". In addition, one of my sons has a chronic condition that requires daily trips to Mrs. Nurse for evaluation and possible intervention and we butt heads over his care frequently.
Mrs. Nurse immediately and loudly declared "That's pinkeye! You cannot stay here today!" Trying to control my frustration I rebutted "It's not pinkeye. I've had this before. It's a viral infection, not contagious, I'll be fine until the end of the day. When I have pinkeye I weep green and yellow snot out of my eyes. No snot, no pinkeye!" Mrs. Nurse clinched her mouth like a cat's arse, and called into the office for Mrs. Pop. When Mrs. Pop arrived she once again declared I was contagious (in a tone that would have been appropriate for a plague carrier) and I must leave. Mrs. Pop hastily agreed and I decided to shut up - why argue with a bonus day off?
I had to go sit uselessly in my classroom for an hour until an emergency sub was rounded up, forbidden to touch anything or anyone. Eager Beaver, the reading director, was kind enough to step in and teach for me during morning circle, reading time, and the beginning of journals until Mrs. Yeller arrived. Mrs. Yeller - the most dreaded and always last choice sub, a sure sign that we were scraping the bottom of the sub barrel. I cornered her by my desk and gave her a quick blunt soliloquy about NOT engaging Van Gogh in a power struggle, then toddled off to rest my poor sore eyes. As I passed her office Mrs. Nurse popped out and said "You may not return without a doctor's note." I looked at her and half smiled, thinking she was surely teasing. Stonefaced she repeated "I mean it, you will not come back without a doctor's note stating that you are not contagious." What am I, five? I can't be trusted to actually go to the doctor and make sure that whatever is infecting my eyes isn't going to wreck what little sight I have left? Tinpot dictator!
I did make it to the doctor that afternoon, where he declared I have a viral infection and the only way I could pass it on to someone else was to rub my eye against their eye - not something I'm prone to doing! When I told him I needed a note clearing me to go back to work he laughed, sure I was kidding, then stared at me in disbelief. After a second the nurse interjected "Let me guess? Mrs. Nurse told you that." When I confirmed it Dr. Eye and his nurse both laughed, in that "it isn't really funny" way and after Dr. Eye left to write my note his nurse leaned over and said "Mrs. Nurse used to work for us. Let's just say she didn't leave under the best of circumstances. She's being vindictive." So I left Dr. Eye's office, clutching a letter, rx'es for 2 different kinds of eye drops, and the knowledge that I'm not the only one who finds Mrs. Nurse a PITA.
When I came into school Friday morning there was a fairly positive note from Mrs. Yeller on my desk and no cards flipped - to me, a sure sign the sub was either not paying attention or a pushover. Within minutes of my arrival Eager Beaver came in, bursting to tell me that she had stopped by my room during end-of-the-day centers to discover Mrs. Yeller sitting calmly in my rocking chair reading a mystery novel while my class ran wildly around the room, throwing things at each other and screaming. FABULOUS! Eager Beaver, knowing that I maintain a fairly tight ship, assured me she stepped in, made them clean up the mess and calm the f*ck down, all while Mrs. Yeller continued to read her book, completely ignoring everyone else in the room.
Usually if a sub leaves a good note for the class I will reward them with a point towards an extra recess. This time - I told them the good note was cancelled out by Eager Beaver's report and that I was soooooo disappointed in them. They will have an end of the day sub on Thurs. so I can take Will to the dentist - if it goes poorly there will be repercussions! I might just have to rub them with my eye!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Two For One ISS Special
Ugh, yesterday was quite possibly the worst Friday of my teaching career, EVER! Ok, that is, barring the horrid field trip earlier this year - so maybe second worst Friday evah!
Van Gogh has had a horrible week, full of screams, tears, thrown objects, and bad choices. He has flipped cards, visited the counselor, taken home unhappy notes from me (because his mother does not answer her phone EVER) - nothing stopped him. It kills me because I know some issue is eating him alive and he will not, or cannot, tell me what is wrong. He's just angry at the world and lashing out at everyone within 10 feet of him, verbally and physically. I want to help him, not punish him, but he won't let me in or possibly he doesn't even actually know what is bothering him - either way, he is drowning in his own emotions. Yesterday was the straw that finally broke the proverbial camel's back.
It all started when Tattlin' Queen came in and said "Look Mrs. Kindergarten, somehow Van Gogh's math paper got into my folder yesterday. My mom said to bring it back to him." I praised her for bringing it back and asked her to give it to him. Van Gogh took one look at it and began screaming at Tattlin' Queen for "stealing" his worksheet. She immediately welled up in tears and came running to bury her head in my waist, Van Gogh following behind scarlet faced, waving the worksheet, and ranting about how stealers go to jail. I gave Tattlin' Queen a quick hug, moved her behind me and got literally 2 inches from Van Gogh's face. Once we were eye to eye and practically nose to nose I snapped "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW! She did you a FAVOR! She did not STEAL your paper, it somehow got into the wrong folder and instead of throwing it away she brought it back to you. You should be THANKING HER, not making her cry!" Van Gogh paused briefly, then began to mutter about how yes, she did steal his paper, and he wasn't going to thank her for stealing it, blah, blah, blah. Completely frustrated I marched over to the intercom button, snapped it on, and asked for either Mrs. Pop or Mrs. Counselor to come to my room immediately. Van Gogh panicked and started wailing "Why do you need them? I'm sorry, I'll stop, don't call Mrs. Pop!" and then collapsed into his chair into a sobbing screaming ball. Within seconds Mrs. Counselor appeared at my door. I quickly filled her in, she shook her head, and escorted Van Gogh from the room. He was gone about 10 minutes and came back tear stained but subdued. He gave stilted apologies to Tattlin' Queen and me, then hurried to finish his morning paper before it was time for reading groups to begin.
Hoping that was it for the day, I bravely forged through the rest of the morning. Toddler Girl rejoined us just before morning recess, as always. She was proudly waving a small bag of fruit snacks that Mrs. SPED had given her for some good behavior. I told her to put them on her table and get her coat on, that she could eat them during snack later in the day. The class tumbled out the door to recess and I breathed a sigh, so grateful it was my 1 day a week off of recess duty and that I had 15 minutes of peace and quiet. When the class returned Toddler Girl came rushing up to me, frantically demanding "Where my candy?" Distracted, because I was setting out the pieces for the math game, I murmured "on your table honey, go put your coat away." Toddler Girl began to dance in agitation next to me and said insistently "No! Where my candy?!?" I looked over at her table and noticed that sure enough, the bag was gone. I said "Hmmm... did it fall on the floor? Is it under someone else's coat?" and as I started to walk over to the table to investigate one of my little girls rushed over, pulled on my arm, and then whispered in my ear "Tattlin' Queen took it. I saw her eating it at recess."
I glanced immediately over at Tattlin' Queen, to see her watching me cautiously, rather like a wild animal about to bolt from danger. "Tattlin' Queen, please come here" I said in a no nonsense tone of voice. Reluctantly, ever so slowly, she made her way over to me and stared at the ground. In my best teacher voice I said "Tattlin' Queen? Did you take Toddler Girl's candy and eat it?" "No!" she insisted, looking at the ground, in a breath that smelled strongly of fruit snacks. "Tattlin' MiddleName Queen! If you lie to me, you are in even bigger trouble! You SMELL like candy. Did you take Toddler Girl's candy and eat it?" Tattlin' Queen looked at me and slowly nodded yes, then rushed out "But she said I could have it." At that Toddler Girl began to wail "NO! You not have it! It MY candy! I good girl, I get candy!" I looked back at Tattlin' Queen and said in my most dramatically sad tone of voice "I am so disappointed in you. You stole Toddler Girl's candy and made her so sad. You will need to go talk to Mrs. Pop about this."
Side bar - this is far from the first time Tattlin' Queen has stolen in our class. As a matter of fact, Sticky Fingers would be an equally valid blog name for her. Chapstick, pencils, stickers, artwork - it's all fair game to her. I have had her flip cards, talked to her mother - the petty thievery continues. Which is probably why Van Gogh made such a big deal about her "stealing" his math paper. Except Tattlin' Queen does not willingly return that which she has taken, so I'm 99% sure it actually was a mistake. Ironically, I had her big sister in class 3 years ago. If I had been blogging then she would have been the original Sticky Fingers! That year whenever anything turned up missing I would pat her down and/or search her backpack before I even bothered looking around the room. 9 times out of 10 it would be in her possession and she would look at me with those huge baby blues and claim to have NO IDEA how that got into her pocket. As if other people's chapsticks (her favorite target) or treasure box items just magically appeared in her pocket and she couldn't stop them. Can't help but wondering what adult behavior has been modeled for these girls that both sisters see stealing as a perfectly valid way to get what you want in life...
So off Tattlin' Queen went, office pass in her hand, and tears rolling down her face. About this time the aide from Mrs. SPED's room appeared to pick up Toddler Girl. I filled her in on the incident and asked her if she could please ask Mrs. SPED to replace the candy, or if she couldn't replace it, email me so I could replace it with something from my stash.
We made it through our math lesson with relatively few incidents or outbursts - Van Gogh started to tantrum once, but I loudly cleared my throat and looked pointedly at the intercom button and he pulled his shit back together. Toddler Girl reappared, triumphantly waving a new pack of fruit snacks in her hand. I told her to put them on my desk, where they would be safe, until snack time. Then I had to giggle because she didn't just put them on my desk, she shoved them under a stack of worksheets and then announced "There! No one find now! SAFE!" I breathed a sigh of relief on the way to lunch - the most academic part of our day was over, it's fairly easy coasting from there until the dismissal bell. I should have known I was jinxing myself!
At the end of lunch I heard screams coming from my class' table. Leaving the table where the teachers eat, I rushed over to find a scuffle going on between Van Gogh and Mr. Perfect. Seems that Mr. Perfect had accidentally spit on Van Gogh's glasses - you know, when you talk and suddenly a little spit flies out by accident - and Van Gogh took this as a personal insult and a reason to wrap his hands around Mr. Perfect's neck and shake him like a rag doll. Mr. Perfect was screaming and crying in terror and pain, Van Gogh was screaming and crying in blind fury, and the rest of the lunch room was dead quiet, staring at our table in disbelief. Of course, not a principal in sight, even though there is ALWAYS supposed to be one of the in the lunchroom at all times! I separated the boys, with the help of Mrs. Counselor - she took Mr. Perfect off to the nurse to have the red marks on his neck examined, I frog-marched Van Gogh to the office. As it happened Mrs. Pop was standing right there by the secretary's desk, so when we tumbled in the door with Van Gogh screeching "I'm sorry, I SAID I'm sorry, I don't WANT to see Mrs. Pop, why can't I just be SORRY?" she looked up in shocked disbelief and was able to quickly take over. I ground out the story between clenched teeth and she turned and stared at Van Gogh as if he were a bug. "Ok, Mrs. Kinder, I'll take it from here" she said, then added "Please send his things up to the office, you will not see him again until Monday." Which meant Van Gogh was headed for a very unpleasant afternoon of a phone call home followed by ISS and I was anticipating a lovely, quiet, scream free rest of my Friday.
When we returned to the room and the class realized that both Van Gogh and Tattlin' Queen were in ISS for the remainder of the day (I refer to it as School Time Out) they were a very subdued bunch of kids. We wound up having yet another class meeting about treating others the way you want to be treated and making good choices and I'm sure many of them had fabulous stories to tell their parents last night!
Then, just to make sure the day sucked as much as possible, Farm Boy's mom, who also teaches at our school, stopped by my room yet AGAIN to ask me if I thought he needed to be retained. She's made it clear that's what she wants to do, I don't know how to tell her that retaining him is not going to fix his particular set of issues. He's a great kid, sweet, cheerful, always happy to help or share with anyone - and has one of the worst undiagnosed cases of ADD I've ever seen! Poor Farm Boy can't focus on anything for any length of time, it's not that he's being naughty, he simply cannot do it. Mom doesn't want to hear this isn't something he will grow out of, she wants it all to be immaturity, and I have to tread very carefully because she's a mom/coworker.
62 days left in this school year and quite frankly, the end of May cannot come soon enough! This will not be one of those classes that I mourn giving to First Grade, this one be one of those classes I all but push out the door on the last day, merrily chirping "Bye! Have a great summer! Good luck in first grade!" while eyeing the First Grade teachers and evilly thinking "just wait!"
Van Gogh has had a horrible week, full of screams, tears, thrown objects, and bad choices. He has flipped cards, visited the counselor, taken home unhappy notes from me (because his mother does not answer her phone EVER) - nothing stopped him. It kills me because I know some issue is eating him alive and he will not, or cannot, tell me what is wrong. He's just angry at the world and lashing out at everyone within 10 feet of him, verbally and physically. I want to help him, not punish him, but he won't let me in or possibly he doesn't even actually know what is bothering him - either way, he is drowning in his own emotions. Yesterday was the straw that finally broke the proverbial camel's back.
It all started when Tattlin' Queen came in and said "Look Mrs. Kindergarten, somehow Van Gogh's math paper got into my folder yesterday. My mom said to bring it back to him." I praised her for bringing it back and asked her to give it to him. Van Gogh took one look at it and began screaming at Tattlin' Queen for "stealing" his worksheet. She immediately welled up in tears and came running to bury her head in my waist, Van Gogh following behind scarlet faced, waving the worksheet, and ranting about how stealers go to jail. I gave Tattlin' Queen a quick hug, moved her behind me and got literally 2 inches from Van Gogh's face. Once we were eye to eye and practically nose to nose I snapped "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW! She did you a FAVOR! She did not STEAL your paper, it somehow got into the wrong folder and instead of throwing it away she brought it back to you. You should be THANKING HER, not making her cry!" Van Gogh paused briefly, then began to mutter about how yes, she did steal his paper, and he wasn't going to thank her for stealing it, blah, blah, blah. Completely frustrated I marched over to the intercom button, snapped it on, and asked for either Mrs. Pop or Mrs. Counselor to come to my room immediately. Van Gogh panicked and started wailing "Why do you need them? I'm sorry, I'll stop, don't call Mrs. Pop!" and then collapsed into his chair into a sobbing screaming ball. Within seconds Mrs. Counselor appeared at my door. I quickly filled her in, she shook her head, and escorted Van Gogh from the room. He was gone about 10 minutes and came back tear stained but subdued. He gave stilted apologies to Tattlin' Queen and me, then hurried to finish his morning paper before it was time for reading groups to begin.
Hoping that was it for the day, I bravely forged through the rest of the morning. Toddler Girl rejoined us just before morning recess, as always. She was proudly waving a small bag of fruit snacks that Mrs. SPED had given her for some good behavior. I told her to put them on her table and get her coat on, that she could eat them during snack later in the day. The class tumbled out the door to recess and I breathed a sigh, so grateful it was my 1 day a week off of recess duty and that I had 15 minutes of peace and quiet. When the class returned Toddler Girl came rushing up to me, frantically demanding "Where my candy?" Distracted, because I was setting out the pieces for the math game, I murmured "on your table honey, go put your coat away." Toddler Girl began to dance in agitation next to me and said insistently "No! Where my candy?!?" I looked over at her table and noticed that sure enough, the bag was gone. I said "Hmmm... did it fall on the floor? Is it under someone else's coat?" and as I started to walk over to the table to investigate one of my little girls rushed over, pulled on my arm, and then whispered in my ear "Tattlin' Queen took it. I saw her eating it at recess."
I glanced immediately over at Tattlin' Queen, to see her watching me cautiously, rather like a wild animal about to bolt from danger. "Tattlin' Queen, please come here" I said in a no nonsense tone of voice. Reluctantly, ever so slowly, she made her way over to me and stared at the ground. In my best teacher voice I said "Tattlin' Queen? Did you take Toddler Girl's candy and eat it?" "No!" she insisted, looking at the ground, in a breath that smelled strongly of fruit snacks. "Tattlin' MiddleName Queen! If you lie to me, you are in even bigger trouble! You SMELL like candy. Did you take Toddler Girl's candy and eat it?" Tattlin' Queen looked at me and slowly nodded yes, then rushed out "But she said I could have it." At that Toddler Girl began to wail "NO! You not have it! It MY candy! I good girl, I get candy!" I looked back at Tattlin' Queen and said in my most dramatically sad tone of voice "I am so disappointed in you. You stole Toddler Girl's candy and made her so sad. You will need to go talk to Mrs. Pop about this."
Side bar - this is far from the first time Tattlin' Queen has stolen in our class. As a matter of fact, Sticky Fingers would be an equally valid blog name for her. Chapstick, pencils, stickers, artwork - it's all fair game to her. I have had her flip cards, talked to her mother - the petty thievery continues. Which is probably why Van Gogh made such a big deal about her "stealing" his math paper. Except Tattlin' Queen does not willingly return that which she has taken, so I'm 99% sure it actually was a mistake. Ironically, I had her big sister in class 3 years ago. If I had been blogging then she would have been the original Sticky Fingers! That year whenever anything turned up missing I would pat her down and/or search her backpack before I even bothered looking around the room. 9 times out of 10 it would be in her possession and she would look at me with those huge baby blues and claim to have NO IDEA how that got into her pocket. As if other people's chapsticks (her favorite target) or treasure box items just magically appeared in her pocket and she couldn't stop them. Can't help but wondering what adult behavior has been modeled for these girls that both sisters see stealing as a perfectly valid way to get what you want in life...
So off Tattlin' Queen went, office pass in her hand, and tears rolling down her face. About this time the aide from Mrs. SPED's room appeared to pick up Toddler Girl. I filled her in on the incident and asked her if she could please ask Mrs. SPED to replace the candy, or if she couldn't replace it, email me so I could replace it with something from my stash.
We made it through our math lesson with relatively few incidents or outbursts - Van Gogh started to tantrum once, but I loudly cleared my throat and looked pointedly at the intercom button and he pulled his shit back together. Toddler Girl reappared, triumphantly waving a new pack of fruit snacks in her hand. I told her to put them on my desk, where they would be safe, until snack time. Then I had to giggle because she didn't just put them on my desk, she shoved them under a stack of worksheets and then announced "There! No one find now! SAFE!" I breathed a sigh of relief on the way to lunch - the most academic part of our day was over, it's fairly easy coasting from there until the dismissal bell. I should have known I was jinxing myself!
At the end of lunch I heard screams coming from my class' table. Leaving the table where the teachers eat, I rushed over to find a scuffle going on between Van Gogh and Mr. Perfect. Seems that Mr. Perfect had accidentally spit on Van Gogh's glasses - you know, when you talk and suddenly a little spit flies out by accident - and Van Gogh took this as a personal insult and a reason to wrap his hands around Mr. Perfect's neck and shake him like a rag doll. Mr. Perfect was screaming and crying in terror and pain, Van Gogh was screaming and crying in blind fury, and the rest of the lunch room was dead quiet, staring at our table in disbelief. Of course, not a principal in sight, even though there is ALWAYS supposed to be one of the in the lunchroom at all times! I separated the boys, with the help of Mrs. Counselor - she took Mr. Perfect off to the nurse to have the red marks on his neck examined, I frog-marched Van Gogh to the office. As it happened Mrs. Pop was standing right there by the secretary's desk, so when we tumbled in the door with Van Gogh screeching "I'm sorry, I SAID I'm sorry, I don't WANT to see Mrs. Pop, why can't I just be SORRY?" she looked up in shocked disbelief and was able to quickly take over. I ground out the story between clenched teeth and she turned and stared at Van Gogh as if he were a bug. "Ok, Mrs. Kinder, I'll take it from here" she said, then added "Please send his things up to the office, you will not see him again until Monday." Which meant Van Gogh was headed for a very unpleasant afternoon of a phone call home followed by ISS and I was anticipating a lovely, quiet, scream free rest of my Friday.
When we returned to the room and the class realized that both Van Gogh and Tattlin' Queen were in ISS for the remainder of the day (I refer to it as School Time Out) they were a very subdued bunch of kids. We wound up having yet another class meeting about treating others the way you want to be treated and making good choices and I'm sure many of them had fabulous stories to tell their parents last night!
Then, just to make sure the day sucked as much as possible, Farm Boy's mom, who also teaches at our school, stopped by my room yet AGAIN to ask me if I thought he needed to be retained. She's made it clear that's what she wants to do, I don't know how to tell her that retaining him is not going to fix his particular set of issues. He's a great kid, sweet, cheerful, always happy to help or share with anyone - and has one of the worst undiagnosed cases of ADD I've ever seen! Poor Farm Boy can't focus on anything for any length of time, it's not that he's being naughty, he simply cannot do it. Mom doesn't want to hear this isn't something he will grow out of, she wants it all to be immaturity, and I have to tread very carefully because she's a mom/coworker.
62 days left in this school year and quite frankly, the end of May cannot come soon enough! This will not be one of those classes that I mourn giving to First Grade, this one be one of those classes I all but push out the door on the last day, merrily chirping "Bye! Have a great summer! Good luck in first grade!" while eyeing the First Grade teachers and evilly thinking "just wait!"
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Updates
I can't believe I haven't written in over a month! The end of December and all of January were a horrid blur of stress, family problems, monetary issues, and the feeling that I was running as fast as I could on a sheet of solid ice to try to keep up with everything. Blah! Here's hoping February is better!
I've lost two friends in the last 4 weeks, both moving to the same neighboring district. That makes me the smallest K class in my building by 3, so guess who's in line for the next several new friends who move in? I have to go in to school this afternoon and rearrange the seating chart, both at their tables and on the gathering carpet, to account for the holes left by our departed friends. I worry about the one who was moving this weekend - he's a sweet quiet kid, the youngest in a notoriously bad family and the white sheep among black. He's also a struggling reader with absolutely no home support. He has come SO FAR in the last couple of weeks, finally mastering all of his letter sounds and beginning to understand how to put them together into words, I hate losing him just when it's starting to click!
Since it has been so long, I thought I would do an update post, and hopefully be able to introduce a new friend next week.
Princess - King Daddy make it home from the war, safe and sound, just before Winter Break. Princess has been buddying up with Thing One, a bad choice on her part. Late last week they were both whispering, giggling, and tickling each other on the carpet during story time. After a couple of reminders I made them both go flip cards and sit apart from each other. I got an email from Queen Mum before I left that afternoon, protesting that Princess had NOT been talking, it was all Thing One (because she was there in the classroom, you know, not 5 miles away taking care of Crown Prince) and it was unfair that Princess had flipped a card when another child was bothering her. I was at the end of a very long day, and she was my third uptight parent contact of the day, so my response was a fairly terse "yes, she WAS talking, she deserved to flip that card, have a good day" sort of message. I forwarded her email and my response to my admin. team, in case she decided to escalate her complaint and promptly left for the day. Nothing more has come from Queen Mum, so I guess she decided perhaps I might possibly be more aware of the events in my classroom that she is.
Van Gogh - I'm actually starting to enjoy this little man! I never EVER thought that would happen, but we've managed to move from daily, sometimes hourly, tantrums to maybe 1 or 2 a week. In the meantime I have found a reward that he really wants - if we can make it through the day with no tantrums I will play a game or two of checkers with him during centers time. He asked me several weeks ago if I would teach him how to play, after spotting an old checkerboard on the games shelf in my closet. I was hesitant at first, fearing that he would not be able to handle having his checkers jumped and taken off the board. We had a long talk about how the game works and that if he threw a fit over being jumped I would immediately walk away from the game. Much to my surprise his standard response to being jumped is to say "Hmmmm..... you are a TRICKY one Mrs. K......." and then study the board intently to try to keep it from happening again. I think the orderly rules of checkers appeal to Van Gogh's OCD tendencies and for a six year old he is very good at the strategy of the game. The first few games I held back, wanting him to win some and lose some. Now, I have to pay attention to the board or he dominates!
Thing One - my half of Double Trouble has settled down and improved his behavior so much that I have been able to discontinue his daily behavior report! He still has his moments of immaturity and/or teasing Van Gogh, but day in and day out I'm able to enjoy him. As I suspected, when Eager Beaver, our reading facilitator, tested everyone to be placed in ability based reading groups in Jan. Thing One tested out near the top of the crop and is in the high group. From what I understand from Thing Two's teacher he is still struggling with behavior issues and still taking home a daily report, usually with lots of cards flipped, so I maintain my feeling that I'm happy to have gotten the half of Double Trouble that I got!
Southern Belle - Bless her heart, she just almost can't stand these subzero temps and told me wistfully that she misses wearing shorts and going to the beach every weekend. She has finally found her place in the pecking order of the classroom and is no longer standing on the sidelines every recess, sadly watching the others play. I did wind up buying her a stocking cap and gloves to keep at school because she never had them and was always complaining that her ears and hands were "sooooo cawld!" I usually keep a basket of stretchy gloves in the room for children to borrow if they don't have gloves of their own, but I bought her a special pink flowered set to keep in her cubby. I will let her take them home in April, once I'm sure we won't need them at school anymore.
Toddler Girl - Once she got past the shock of being back with us, I think Toddler Girl is thrilled to be in our class again. She is talking so much more than she ever did before, to the delight of everyone, and actually trying to play with the other children instead of just parallel play. Spending her mornings with Mrs. SPED has done wonders for her - she can now write the first 3 letters of her 10 letter long name and is starting to understand better how to behave at school. Poor Toddler Girl got extremely sick with the flu and missed nearly a week of school recently. Now that she's back I have to monitor her carefully for any signs of fever, cough, or lethargy and she has a special nutritional supplement she has to drink at snack time instead of milk because she lost 7 lbs off of her already tiny frame.
I'll try to get back to posting at least once a week! I still want to introduce Pukey, Tattlin' Queen, and Farm Boy sooner or later!
I've lost two friends in the last 4 weeks, both moving to the same neighboring district. That makes me the smallest K class in my building by 3, so guess who's in line for the next several new friends who move in? I have to go in to school this afternoon and rearrange the seating chart, both at their tables and on the gathering carpet, to account for the holes left by our departed friends. I worry about the one who was moving this weekend - he's a sweet quiet kid, the youngest in a notoriously bad family and the white sheep among black. He's also a struggling reader with absolutely no home support. He has come SO FAR in the last couple of weeks, finally mastering all of his letter sounds and beginning to understand how to put them together into words, I hate losing him just when it's starting to click!
Since it has been so long, I thought I would do an update post, and hopefully be able to introduce a new friend next week.
Princess - King Daddy make it home from the war, safe and sound, just before Winter Break. Princess has been buddying up with Thing One, a bad choice on her part. Late last week they were both whispering, giggling, and tickling each other on the carpet during story time. After a couple of reminders I made them both go flip cards and sit apart from each other. I got an email from Queen Mum before I left that afternoon, protesting that Princess had NOT been talking, it was all Thing One (because she was there in the classroom, you know, not 5 miles away taking care of Crown Prince) and it was unfair that Princess had flipped a card when another child was bothering her. I was at the end of a very long day, and she was my third uptight parent contact of the day, so my response was a fairly terse "yes, she WAS talking, she deserved to flip that card, have a good day" sort of message. I forwarded her email and my response to my admin. team, in case she decided to escalate her complaint and promptly left for the day. Nothing more has come from Queen Mum, so I guess she decided perhaps I might possibly be more aware of the events in my classroom that she is.
Van Gogh - I'm actually starting to enjoy this little man! I never EVER thought that would happen, but we've managed to move from daily, sometimes hourly, tantrums to maybe 1 or 2 a week. In the meantime I have found a reward that he really wants - if we can make it through the day with no tantrums I will play a game or two of checkers with him during centers time. He asked me several weeks ago if I would teach him how to play, after spotting an old checkerboard on the games shelf in my closet. I was hesitant at first, fearing that he would not be able to handle having his checkers jumped and taken off the board. We had a long talk about how the game works and that if he threw a fit over being jumped I would immediately walk away from the game. Much to my surprise his standard response to being jumped is to say "Hmmmm..... you are a TRICKY one Mrs. K......." and then study the board intently to try to keep it from happening again. I think the orderly rules of checkers appeal to Van Gogh's OCD tendencies and for a six year old he is very good at the strategy of the game. The first few games I held back, wanting him to win some and lose some. Now, I have to pay attention to the board or he dominates!
Thing One - my half of Double Trouble has settled down and improved his behavior so much that I have been able to discontinue his daily behavior report! He still has his moments of immaturity and/or teasing Van Gogh, but day in and day out I'm able to enjoy him. As I suspected, when Eager Beaver, our reading facilitator, tested everyone to be placed in ability based reading groups in Jan. Thing One tested out near the top of the crop and is in the high group. From what I understand from Thing Two's teacher he is still struggling with behavior issues and still taking home a daily report, usually with lots of cards flipped, so I maintain my feeling that I'm happy to have gotten the half of Double Trouble that I got!
Southern Belle - Bless her heart, she just almost can't stand these subzero temps and told me wistfully that she misses wearing shorts and going to the beach every weekend. She has finally found her place in the pecking order of the classroom and is no longer standing on the sidelines every recess, sadly watching the others play. I did wind up buying her a stocking cap and gloves to keep at school because she never had them and was always complaining that her ears and hands were "sooooo cawld!" I usually keep a basket of stretchy gloves in the room for children to borrow if they don't have gloves of their own, but I bought her a special pink flowered set to keep in her cubby. I will let her take them home in April, once I'm sure we won't need them at school anymore.
Toddler Girl - Once she got past the shock of being back with us, I think Toddler Girl is thrilled to be in our class again. She is talking so much more than she ever did before, to the delight of everyone, and actually trying to play with the other children instead of just parallel play. Spending her mornings with Mrs. SPED has done wonders for her - she can now write the first 3 letters of her 10 letter long name and is starting to understand better how to behave at school. Poor Toddler Girl got extremely sick with the flu and missed nearly a week of school recently. Now that she's back I have to monitor her carefully for any signs of fever, cough, or lethargy and she has a special nutritional supplement she has to drink at snack time instead of milk because she lost 7 lbs off of her already tiny frame.
I'll try to get back to posting at least once a week! I still want to introduce Pukey, Tattlin' Queen, and Farm Boy sooner or later!
Monday, December 29, 2008
No, tell me what you REALLY think!
Right before Christmas the family and I went to a large department store so I could buy 2 more of those blasted Webkinz to put in Will and Robby's stockings. I don't actually dislike the Webkinz, I think they are cute and the games are great, I dislike the $15 a pop price tag! But, I digress from the point of my story.
Hubs distracted the boys by dragging off to look at shoes with him, while I quietly slipped to the opposite side of the store where the Webkinz could be found. I looked over the rather sparse selections, picked 2 I thought they would like, and got in line to pay. There was 1 person in front of me, an average looking woman, and I thought to myself "Score! I'll be in and out before the boys even notice I'm missing!"
While we were waiting for the cashier to return from helping a customer on the floor the woman's tweenage daughter came out of the dressing room. She was wearing a white button up long sleeved blouse, a gray high waisted skirt with a skinny belt, and black flats. A conservative look for today's tweens, but still very cute and fashionable. The mother wrinkled her nose and said "Absolutely NOT, you look like a school teacher! Go take it off!" I know, no comment was required of me at this point, but the imp on my shoulder prompted me to say mildly "There's nothing wrong with being a school teacher." The woman whipped around, laughed, and said in a scornful tone "Well, I CERTAINLY hope she does more than THAT with her life!" Now, where I come from, them's fightin' words! I fixed her with my best teacher glare and said "Gee, THANKS!' She looked at me uncertainly, then with dawning dismay as I continued "I've only been a public school teacher for 13 years. Nice to know that my contribution to society is so valued!" The woman had the grace to blush and then stammered "Um.... well..... I mean..... it just isn't a job that pays very well, that's all I meant." Holding her in my icy stare I snapped "You don't do it for the PAY. You do it for the KIDS. I've taught over 150 children to read, what have you accomplished in your life?" Face absolutely scarlet, the woman whipped around to face the counter, completely disengaging from my confrontation. A moment later two cashiers came over and one waved me around to the other side of the counter. Where, as I completed my transaction, I have to admit I continued to glare at Mrs. Foot-in-Mouth on the opposite side, who was desperately looking anywhere but at me.
I related this story to Hubs as we went back out of the store and he was absolutely livid with me. He HATES it when I call people on their ignorance in public and tells me routinely that my mouth is going to get my ass kicked one of these days. My standard retort is that some people clearly don't understand exactly how offensive and narrow minded they sound and they need a wake up call.
So, the morale of today's story - never insult a profession unless you know who you are talking to!
Hubs distracted the boys by dragging off to look at shoes with him, while I quietly slipped to the opposite side of the store where the Webkinz could be found. I looked over the rather sparse selections, picked 2 I thought they would like, and got in line to pay. There was 1 person in front of me, an average looking woman, and I thought to myself "Score! I'll be in and out before the boys even notice I'm missing!"
While we were waiting for the cashier to return from helping a customer on the floor the woman's tweenage daughter came out of the dressing room. She was wearing a white button up long sleeved blouse, a gray high waisted skirt with a skinny belt, and black flats. A conservative look for today's tweens, but still very cute and fashionable. The mother wrinkled her nose and said "Absolutely NOT, you look like a school teacher! Go take it off!" I know, no comment was required of me at this point, but the imp on my shoulder prompted me to say mildly "There's nothing wrong with being a school teacher." The woman whipped around, laughed, and said in a scornful tone "Well, I CERTAINLY hope she does more than THAT with her life!" Now, where I come from, them's fightin' words! I fixed her with my best teacher glare and said "Gee, THANKS!' She looked at me uncertainly, then with dawning dismay as I continued "I've only been a public school teacher for 13 years. Nice to know that my contribution to society is so valued!" The woman had the grace to blush and then stammered "Um.... well..... I mean..... it just isn't a job that pays very well, that's all I meant." Holding her in my icy stare I snapped "You don't do it for the PAY. You do it for the KIDS. I've taught over 150 children to read, what have you accomplished in your life?" Face absolutely scarlet, the woman whipped around to face the counter, completely disengaging from my confrontation. A moment later two cashiers came over and one waved me around to the other side of the counter. Where, as I completed my transaction, I have to admit I continued to glare at Mrs. Foot-in-Mouth on the opposite side, who was desperately looking anywhere but at me.
I related this story to Hubs as we went back out of the store and he was absolutely livid with me. He HATES it when I call people on their ignorance in public and tells me routinely that my mouth is going to get my ass kicked one of these days. My standard retort is that some people clearly don't understand exactly how offensive and narrow minded they sound and they need a wake up call.
So, the morale of today's story - never insult a profession unless you know who you are talking to!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The Return of Toddler Girl
Due to a sudden blast of winter weather, we actually missed school on Monday and Tuesday this week. When we arrived on Wednesday the class was chomping at the bit to see Toddler Girl. Unfortunately, for unexplained reasons, she missed school that day. But Thursday morning she was shepherded into my room by our guidance counselor, wide eyed and stone faced - clearly overwhelmed by the squeals of joy to greeted her appearance in our doorway.
Luckily for her, I am very much a set-in-my-ways, dependable as clockwork, orderly sort of teacher so very little in our room or routine had changed in her month away from us. That first morning was spent in a state of shocked disbelief, but by lunchtime I noticed some signs of thawing and by afternoon it was almost like she had never been gone. She slipped right back into our classroom, filling that Toddler Girl sized hole we had in our midst. We were all delighted to have her back, even Thing One and Van Gogh.
Thursday afternoon the head of the SPED dept. came down to visit with me. She wanted to assure me that Toddler Girl's SPED paperwork was all signed and in order and to fill me in on a few comments Toddler Mom had made while they were going over the papers. In the interest of not totally violating her right to privacy, suffice it to say that there is good cause to believe many of Toddler Girl's issues are directly related to her home environment and the sort of care she got as a baby and toddler. It was heartbreaking to hear all that she has been through in her 5 short years and I have a whole new level of patience with her. I may be the only person in the world who actually gives a damn about her and her development, if everything Mom said to SPED Head is true! I thought I had finally developed that crusty shell that older teachers have, that allows you to love the kids without breaking your heart over them. Toddler Girl has found a crack in my crust and is quickly worming her way in next to my heart.
I can't wait to see what the new year brings for my little classroom family!
Luckily for her, I am very much a set-in-my-ways, dependable as clockwork, orderly sort of teacher so very little in our room or routine had changed in her month away from us. That first morning was spent in a state of shocked disbelief, but by lunchtime I noticed some signs of thawing and by afternoon it was almost like she had never been gone. She slipped right back into our classroom, filling that Toddler Girl sized hole we had in our midst. We were all delighted to have her back, even Thing One and Van Gogh.
Thursday afternoon the head of the SPED dept. came down to visit with me. She wanted to assure me that Toddler Girl's SPED paperwork was all signed and in order and to fill me in on a few comments Toddler Mom had made while they were going over the papers. In the interest of not totally violating her right to privacy, suffice it to say that there is good cause to believe many of Toddler Girl's issues are directly related to her home environment and the sort of care she got as a baby and toddler. It was heartbreaking to hear all that she has been through in her 5 short years and I have a whole new level of patience with her. I may be the only person in the world who actually gives a damn about her and her development, if everything Mom said to SPED Head is true! I thought I had finally developed that crusty shell that older teachers have, that allows you to love the kids without breaking your heart over them. Toddler Girl has found a crack in my crust and is quickly worming her way in next to my heart.
I can't wait to see what the new year brings for my little classroom family!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
And the cycle spins
I haven't felt like writing recently. There has been a lot of stress in my life the last couple of weeks, most of it related to a huge financial snafu that totally wasn't my fault. Without going into the entire story, suffice it to say Discover SUCKS and their customer service line couldn't be less interested in helping when the huge whopping mistake is undeniably THEIR FAULT! *deep cleansing breath*
Anyway, on Friday, as I was helping my kiddos do a really fun measuring worksheet that involves running madly around the classroom and measuring various objects with your hands or feet - what? I have to teach nonstandard measurement, I might was well make it fun! - one of the speech pathologists slipped quietly into my room. She walked over and whispered in my ear "Guess who is up in the office RIGHT NOW?" I thought for a second, then a bubble of glee spread through me as I breathed "Toddler Girl?" with great hope. The speech path nodded and grinned and I burst into a spontaneous ear to ear smile of utter delight. I know, I complained about her when she was here before, but I have worried and thought about her every day that she was gone and honestly, I am tickled pink to have her back. It was nearly lunchtime, so I hustled my class through tidying up and getting hands washed, in the hopes I would be able to catch Toddler Girl in the office while Toddler Mom was still filling out paperwork and give her a welcome back hug. No luck, I missed them by minutes. But the secretary assured me that Toddler Girl will be rejoining my class on Monday!
I tracked down Mrs. SPED to let her know that Toddler Girl was back, and unfortunately she wasn't nearly as thrilled by that news as I was. Her response was an eye roll, a huge sigh, and "GREAT!" in a sarcastic tone. She cheered up a bit when we discovered that the other school had indeed succeeded in getting Toddler Mom to sign the SPED paperwork, so Toddler Girl is ready to start SPED after winter break. Yes, I agreed to keep her in the regular classroom for this last week before winter break - we aren't doing anything THAT academic that she will be too much of a pain in the neck and the kids will be so thrilled to see her that I don't want to take her away from them immediately. I told the class right before we left on Friday that Toddler Girl would be back on Monday and the overwhelming reaction was joy, which was heart warming to say the least. I worked so hard to get them to love and accept her for who she was and what she could do and the fact that they greeted the news of her return with clapping and yells of happiness made me feel like I had succeeded.
So my little classroom family will be complete again. This has been an unusually stable year - Toddler Girl is the only one who has moved out and she is back, we've only had 1 other student move in (Southern Belle) and she has been with us long enough that she no longer feels like "the new girl". I love stable years, they really let the class build tight bonds of friendship and give me a chance to utterly fall in love with my kids!
Anyway, on Friday, as I was helping my kiddos do a really fun measuring worksheet that involves running madly around the classroom and measuring various objects with your hands or feet - what? I have to teach nonstandard measurement, I might was well make it fun! - one of the speech pathologists slipped quietly into my room. She walked over and whispered in my ear "Guess who is up in the office RIGHT NOW?" I thought for a second, then a bubble of glee spread through me as I breathed "Toddler Girl?" with great hope. The speech path nodded and grinned and I burst into a spontaneous ear to ear smile of utter delight. I know, I complained about her when she was here before, but I have worried and thought about her every day that she was gone and honestly, I am tickled pink to have her back. It was nearly lunchtime, so I hustled my class through tidying up and getting hands washed, in the hopes I would be able to catch Toddler Girl in the office while Toddler Mom was still filling out paperwork and give her a welcome back hug. No luck, I missed them by minutes. But the secretary assured me that Toddler Girl will be rejoining my class on Monday!
I tracked down Mrs. SPED to let her know that Toddler Girl was back, and unfortunately she wasn't nearly as thrilled by that news as I was. Her response was an eye roll, a huge sigh, and "GREAT!" in a sarcastic tone. She cheered up a bit when we discovered that the other school had indeed succeeded in getting Toddler Mom to sign the SPED paperwork, so Toddler Girl is ready to start SPED after winter break. Yes, I agreed to keep her in the regular classroom for this last week before winter break - we aren't doing anything THAT academic that she will be too much of a pain in the neck and the kids will be so thrilled to see her that I don't want to take her away from them immediately. I told the class right before we left on Friday that Toddler Girl would be back on Monday and the overwhelming reaction was joy, which was heart warming to say the least. I worked so hard to get them to love and accept her for who she was and what she could do and the fact that they greeted the news of her return with clapping and yells of happiness made me feel like I had succeeded.
So my little classroom family will be complete again. This has been an unusually stable year - Toddler Girl is the only one who has moved out and she is back, we've only had 1 other student move in (Southern Belle) and she has been with us long enough that she no longer feels like "the new girl". I love stable years, they really let the class build tight bonds of friendship and give me a chance to utterly fall in love with my kids!
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