By lunch time, it felt like I had run a marathon, and it was only 11:20.
The morning started by arriving at work around 6:30, and I started to clean out my mailbox and prep for the day. The weekly parent letter needed to be written, copies made for reading lesson. Then a coworker stops in to ask for advice about possibly transferring to another building. I hope she receives the job, but I will absolutely miss working with her. During that, a substitute walks in and asks if I'm Ledgerwood. Then proceeds to tell me she is the one who will be observing, then co-teaching, and finally teaching for five hours in my classroom.
Um, okay.
When this person was brought up in the staff meeting, I asked a question to clarify and in my mind was interested but because of my class, I wasn't going to pursue the mentoring opportunity. And I definitely didn't talk to the principal about taking the opportunity.
But I guess, I'm having someone complete observation hours in my classroom in a couple of weeks who will co-teach with me, and then teach five lessons of her own!
Once that was done, I finished up the parent letter, and the students came rolling in. Letters to the office, planners to sign, phones to collect, attendance and lunch count to enter, writing up a student for swearing before 8:15 AM, and of course students to warn about talking after the 8:00 bell and who hadn't started their work yet. Morning shares, then discussing the schedule for the day, and then the academics start for the day.
It is Dr. Seuss' birthday today, so we had to read some of his books. Maybe starting with Wacky Wednesday wasn't the smartest decision I've made, but we had a lot of fun looking through it and discovering all the wacky happenings. Then, we moved into Oh, the Thinks You Can Think. By that point, I had lost them, and they wouldn't settle down and read. So on Read Across America day, we only read for about 15 minutes independently.
Following a restroom and drink break, they all had to put their heads down for 10 minutes, and I kicked a student out of the classroom because he wouldn't control himself at all. They couldn't sit for thirty seconds without giggling or making noises or shouting across the room at each other. We finally get into the lesson and no student will talk and share how to solve a problem--absolute silence. Pulling answers from students was as painful as getting teeth pulled. Certain students were disrespecting the learning, so a mental note to write the parents about their child's goofiness.
Plans were adjusted for students to work with partners during math instead of independent work as that was not going to work. I pulled a group of students to a table. I moved from one student to the next to make sure they were on-task and understanding how to problem solve with fractions. We wrapped up math with a reading of Green Eggs and Ham, then I sent my kids to science and Young's kids came in for social studies.
As Young's hadn't enjoyed any Dr. Seuss today, we had to enjoy Wacky Wednesday and Oh, the Thinks You Can Think. The students moved into their research groups, and I ran around the room for the next 30 minutes, guiding and instructing how to best research and how to divide the research material within the groups. Social studies wrapped up with a discussion on script writing.
Lunch. Time to breathe and get myself ready for the afternoon which should have been an easy afternoon. Physical education, D.A.R.E., class, and then 45 minutes which I have to teach. Let it be known to all who are interested, that lunch and recess does not get the energy out of the students, it only increases their hyperness.
Journal writing follows lunch and is always right before we head to our special. Journal writing was a disaster. The students came in incredibly disrespectful and would not be quiet to complete the 10 minutes of writing which was expected of them. Two boys were yelling across the room at each other about hashtags, then a third one entered into the conversation and made some inappropriate remarks to get the other boys to be quiet.
All three boys were removed from the classroom which started my next two hours of walking around school monitoring them, conferencing with them about their behaviors, how they were going to change, and making sure they completed the schoolwork. During that time, the phy. ed teacher talked to my students about their lack of respect. D.A.R.E. class started, and the D.A.R.E. officer threatened to permanently remove three other students from the D.A.R.E. program if they could not turn it around plus he sternly addressed the whole class about listening respectfully. Yet, they still didn't heed the warnings, and continued to disrespect the teaching and the learning.
For the last 45 minutes, the students had to finish their writing, practice their spelling words, and get typing in for the week. Again, I was on my toes nonstop as I checked in with students, checked homework, and had some students clean their areas. End of the day pack up, passing back electronics, making sure students had everything they needed, and finally walking them out to the bus and pick up.
I can't describe the utter exhaustion at the end of the day and the need for the blissful silence.
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