Sabbatical of Sorts

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted. Now that I'm back to work, I just realized that this whole blogging business began when I was in MN, aka, unemployed. During the past two weeks, I've been so busy preparing the classroom and preparing myself mentally that I simply did not have the time nor the desire to write out my thoughts. Man...how do you people find the time?! LOL! Or, it could be that this whole dial-up thang at my parents is such a hassle that if I don't have to be online, I'd rather not be unless it's to check mail. But in case ya'll were wondering, I'm still alive. =)

Back to School

Yesterday was the first day of school. Yesterday marked THE return of MnM in the classroom after a two-year absence. Yesterday was THE day when I had to remind myself what it was like to be in front of 27 pairs of eyes that belong to 27 little busybodies who have 27 little mouths that, for the life of me, could not stop talking! Yes, yes, excitement was in the air...it WAS the first day of school after a nice long 3 month or so vacation after all. These rugrats haven't seen their friends, they're meeting a new teacher, being in a new classroom, adjusting to so many things that of course, it's natural for their attention spans to slowly come back to fully working order. I always feel sorry for the kids on the first day of school because teachers are trying to establish routines, have them learn procedures, and ram so much information down their throats that they obviously will not remember after the first five minutes. All they want to do is play. But then again, I always feel sorry for the teachers, too, because they are antsy to get into a good routine and get going with school. I believe that there is always a part of the teacher that half dreads the first day of school and half looks forward to it. They love to teach and be with children and yet, first days are always a headache. Mine was a headache.

While I would rather not go into details about how the day went, I will share that after school and running errands, I lay down for a nap...and didn't wake up until 2am this morning! Blame it on the first day of school nerves and all the anxiety that comes with going from waking up whenever I wanted because I ain't got a job to what, I have to be there at what time?! (7am). On the first day of school, I was running on adrenaline, two hours of restless sleep, and lots and lots of prayer. When I lay my head on that pillow at 5:30pm yesterday afternoon, my body basically yelled "Why the heck did you put me through that hell for?!" It was pure exhaustion...no joke. I forget what it feels like to be constantly on your feet. Man, what I would do for a good foot rub and massage! Over all, I have to say that it was a rough day...not a terrible day, just a rough day.

Today, on the other hand, went much better...thank God! Fortunately, I have a knack for remembering kids' names quickly so that was one less thing to worry about. I had to quietly laugh to myself yesterday because I "figured out" who my "special kids" were not even five minutes into the school day. Special, as in, the names that other teachers will definitely hear about...OFTEN! There was this one particular boy who was constantly yapping a mile a minute. I remember thinking, "Oh, THIS is that kid." But then today, although he was just as talkative, I saw him in a different light. He's actually a cute kid, smart, friendly, and nice. If he was a punk, it would definitely be a whole different ballgame. But he's not. He just likes to talk and needs to learn when it's okay to talk and when it's not. I have a funny feeling that he may turn out to be one of my favorites! (ssshhhh...don't tell the other kids!)

Can I just dispel one myth about boys and girls? I've always heard that having more girls in the class is a good sign that there will be less behavioral and/or talking problems. NOT! While I have thought that at one time, this is definitely not the case. I have this one lil' (not so little!) girl who raises her hand for EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY THING. She's an only child, which btw, may explain a lot about her personality...I'll leave it at that. My biggest irk is when kids call out without raising her hand. But it's an even bigger irk when kids ARE raising their hands, but call out before being called on. I hate that! Then when I reprimand and correct them, I get a sassy remark like, "But I WAS raising my hand." But ooohhhhh....don't even try to be like that with me, little girl! Yes it was the first day of school and I had to adjust to being in the classroom environment, but today, it all came back. After talking about respecting yourself and others, and after reviewing HOW to listen in class, I had to let them know what the word "irritate" meant...

As talkative as these chitlins are, they somehow find it fascinating to open and close their desks. They have one of those desktops that open up, but if you're not careful, they will slam. When I am talking, I EXPECT everyone to have their eyes on me...NOT fidgeting with pencils, nametags, or desks! As I was explaining something, there were about 7 kids who were constantly opening and closing their desks...so each and every word that I spoke ended with some sort of "clunk" or slam. I had to stop what I was saying, went to the nearest desk and asked the class, "Do you hear this? *clunk!* Do you hear this? *clunk!*" and I did that about five times at different kids' desks. I said that the sound of desks opening and closing WHILE I TALK is irritating, stressing the word slowly, loudly while stretching out the word. IRRR-IT-AAAAT-INNNNNNGGG. Then I said, "Class, please do not irritate me. Thank you." Wow...you should've seen their faces. I would've loved to have gotten a picture of that. Talk about Kodak moment. LOL!

Okay, I'll stop. I'm making me sound like a mean teacher. ;-)

In any case, the day went much better than yesterday. Just had a parent complain about a boy talking to their daughter about "bananas and peaches"....and I don't mean fruit. While trying to contain my laughter, all I could think about was, "Is THAT what kids are calling their thingys and yoohoos nowadays???" LOL!

Oh and not to forget the beautiful tulips that hubby had delivered to the school....so so sweet! They were actually delivered yesterday, but arrived after I left school in the afternoon. Even so, hubby kept up with the "tradition" of surprising me with flowers on the first day of school. Thanks babe!

TGIF...I can't believe I'm already looking forward to the weekend starting already....now if I could only get through tomorrow...