Soap Box

 Yesterday was a very challanging day. It was open house, where your classroom is turned into a sardine can with half your parents there, I got some, hmm how to say it, undesirable feedback, had a fire drill mid-nap and lastly I got bit, scratched, pinched and called names by a nugget. And it was only Wednesday, excuse me? 

 You know this is only my second year teaching, I am still learning so many things. But one this is certain, I love my nuggets. Every last one of them, I might not love the choices they make or they way they do somethings but I love them. Loving a nugget does not mean giving into their every request. I make an effort EVERYDAY to make EACH child feel important, I say "I love you" more times than I can count, I hug 400 times while they leave snot on my shirt, I put on band aids on 12 of the tiniest paper cuts that ever existed. But I simply can't do it all. Every shoe won't get tied, someone's sore toe won't get tended to and every bruise won't get a kiss. I don't have enough time in the day, I still have to go to PLC's and call back a parent, document on this, and turn in that..not to mention teach! 

 By no means am I asking for a pity party, I'm just asking that you give your teachers a break. Think of the effort and attention it takes to tend to your children, and multiply it by 20 or so. I'm not a parent, nor do I wish to be right now, because I have 24 kids already. And I give them everything I have 5 days a week. I'm amazed by the teachers that do have families of their owns, and by parents in general, it's an unimaginable task in my mind. 

 I chose this profession for the nuggets. They are who I am focused on, and they are the ones who I go to work for. The rest of my job (meetings, lesson plans, documentation, conferences, ect) is a requirement, but the kids are the reason. The day the reason changes is the day I won't be a teacher anymore. 

Two words

CALM DOWN. 

That's basically all I can say about today. Everyone needs to calm down, high blood pressure is for the birds 

Today's pockets: 

gilittery stars

Marker

Eraser

Pen

Cube 

JTTW

I Oh my, Monday, you have shown me no mercy! (I didn't even do that alliteration on purpose, but I'm glad it happened.) 

 Apparently today was keep your kids home from common core day, well all my parents must love common core because my nuggets were there. I had a few out but that was broken legs and sickness. I'm not well versed enough in common core to start a hoopla about it, so I'll stick to what I know: Jesus take the wheel moments. 

Number 1: when a nugget answered every question on a assessment wrong even though I was stressssssing everrrry worddddddd. 

Number 2: when a nugget refused to stand in line and then hystercaily cried/screamed the whole way to lunch, whilst swinging a jacket about. 

Number 3: Math...just my entire math lesson was one giant Jesus take the wheel moment. Addition with this new series might kill me. 

Number 4: naptime...once again just the entire naptime. 

Those were the big ones, trust me, there were plenty other little moments. 

I am a winner! Today I started a whole brain teaching strategy: the mighty score board (not a legit name). When the nuggets do as they are told they get a point, when they don't, I get a point. Welllllllll, the score was 15-3. My extra sip of water at the end of the day was so refreshing! I'm trying to motivate the nuggets for this last week, but I know they know a break is coming. Boy do they need it! Hey, I need it too!

 I have decided to make my break productive though, I want to get a jump start on lessons plans. So I'm gonna devote a day to getting as much done as possible. Now that's my plan, the day will come and I'll likely end up drinking wine and sending random snapchats. 

Today's pockets:

Talking Buttons: hahahaha

Markers: it's weird that thru are both green. 

P.s. My KK is on point!! I got a magic feather/colored hair clip in! Loves!

Hamburger Wednesday

 Midway through the week, but Friday still seems far away! 

 Today was eventful. I had to bring my car to the shop for making a noise similar to an old fire engine siren (wannnnnnnnnnnnnn). Fingers crossed that it's not te alternator. Ain't nobody got time for that!  I had a dress fitting for my best friend's wedding, exciting! An after school meeting caused another "after school meeting" at a co-worker's house. And finally I had Hamburger Wednesday with the Delaune's (the greatest group of people that exist)!  

 The cold did nothing to calm my nuggets. Everyone has cabin fever around school. They know the break is so close and it's causing insanity! Is it May yet? 

 Seriously, this year is flying by. I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Let's hope this speed keeps up the second half of the year! 

Pockets:

Highlighter

Bobby pin 

Block

Button

Baby it's cold outside...

 Did I just Christmas song lyric my title? Someone slap me! I'm no Grinch, but it's too early for the eggnog. 

 I had a mild heart attack a second ago when I thought today was only Monday. At least it's Tuesday. If you can find one positive thing about your day then it doesn't seem that bad. 

 The nuggets and I had an okay day. We NEED Thanksgiving break, but we're in it to win it. I had two friends absent and then two friends leave during the day. There is a cold going around the room slowly taking down everyone. I'm loading up on the vitamin c! 

 Tomorrow is suppose to be freezing, so I'm sure the nuggets will be crazy because they have on hats and gloves. Because seriously, who can keep their good wits about them when their hands are covered in fuzzy fabric. 

 No word back on my observation yet, I'm thinking that won't be until Friday, which is fine with me. No matter the results I'll either have a reason to party or forget with the help of Rhianna and my best friend! 

 My pockets just had the talking buttons in them, which are not scatterd on the floor. I'm a hot mess, always. 

And this is how it went.

 This next sentence really needs to be read in Truvy's (Dolly Parton's character in Steel Magnolias) voice. YOU'RE JOKING RIGHT?! 

 That's how I feel about my children's behavior today during my observation. They were acting like it was their first day of kindergarten and that they had never been asked to sit down, ever in their five years of life. 

 I wanted to just fake pass out so I could be done with it already. That would have probably lead to an entirely different observation occurring though. 

 It's leaps and bounds from my lesson last year but it just had higher expectations of my nuggets. They are capable of so much, they are brilliant, but they made poor choices. It more disappointing than anything. There is nothing that can be done now though so I should probably go back to sleep since it's 4:25 on a Saturday. 

Observation Jesus take the wheel

 I woke up today with ease which is surprising since last night I had a headache that was equivilent having Mount Rushmore fall on your head. I was extremely glad to be rid of the constant pounding inside my skull. 

 Upon arriving at school I grabbed the bull by the horns and asked to have my observation moved up. I won't have planning tomorrow so I figured why not just teach through that hour. The only thing is that our supervisor will be there for a meeting in the morning and my principle isn't sure how long that will last. So we're going to play it by ear and see how it goes. I'm hoping to get it done before lunch, just get it out the way! 

 My children were atricious yet again. All but five of my boys had to move their clothespin. What is up with them? Is it the weather, are they getting fed pure energy, is it the moon's gravitational pull on the Earth, and alien abduction? Whatever it is, I'm gonna need them to get it together for an hour tomorrow. 

 Thanksgiving definitely cannot get here fast enough! I'll be thankful for silence!

 Say your prayers to observation Jesus that none of the nuggets catch fire or stab me tomorrow, or my worse fear, they all begin speaking in Spanish.  

Today's pockets:

Talking buttons: only nuggets in possession of these buttons could share a word problem. 

Counters: picked up by one of the many garbage men that are in my class

Bobby pins: gravity always wins, always. 

Tuesday

 Today was better than yesterday but that really isn't saying much. I had three nuggets out sick, one waited until school to throw up so I could fully enjoy it! 

 The closer my observation gets the more tempted I am to join the circus. I could most certainly rock a sequined leotard; in fact I dream of such things often! Why oh why did I pick a Friday? Pish posh that was silly! It's taking forever to get here and the anticipation of it all is slowly stealing my soul.  

 Have you ever heard someone say something and comprehend absolutely nothing?! That happens to me hourly. Seriously five year olds and come up with some stuff! "If you didn't have a yard, bears would get in your house" or "can I feel one of those (referring to a chip)". 

 My pockets are empty again. 

One light.

 Is it bad that I actually perfer that only one out of four bulbs is currently emitting light from my bathroom fixture? Somedays just aren't meant to be illuminated I guess. 

 Today was pretty much terrible. Yeah, terrible is an accurate adjective. My nuggets were off the wall! Half, literally (11 out of 23) moved their clothespin. 3 of them to red. It was infurrating. 

 I'm the kind of tired that keeps you awake, you know the kind that seeps into your bones and finds it's way to your brain, preventing any rest. It's a strange, overwhelming feeling. 

 I wore some new pants today that had the strangest pockets, big enough to fit 3 paper clips and smurf, and they zipped. Weird. 

Anyone still there?

 Have you forgotten about me yet? It's likely, and totally understandable. I can't believe how long it's been since I documented my kindergarten life. I apologize for my carelessness.  

 Things got super crazy for a while, they kinda still are. Here is the rundown: I got famous, one of our kindergarten team members got a new job, one of my nuggets said he was gonna stab me, my wisdom tooth is starting to make an appearance and my formal observation was rescheduled three times. I think that about covers it. 

 My nuggets are starting to get a little antsy. It's time for Thanksgiving break! 3 more weeks. I'll feel a or better after Friday though! My observation is scheduled for noon, so start praying to observation Jesus. I'm trying not to think too much about it, because that's usually when I screw everything up. I am already having dreams about it though. So here's to a quick week that ends well! 

 On a side note, my wisdom tooth is coming out and it is awful. I now have a new respect for babies who are cutting teeth. Like, I don know what to do with myself it hurts so bad. I'm hoping that it quits soon because I don't have time to have surgery until the summer. Because everytime I have something done and they say oh you'll be back on your feet in a week, it's more like a half a month for me. So pray to gum pain Jesus too!