"Dear Diary..."

a very full week

I will be subbing in a different classroom every day this week, filling in for teachers who will be testing/evaluating students.

assessments are done twice per year in this district, and during the next two weeks, I will have lots of different assignments.

today was a return engagement, however, back to the 4th grade class I worked with last Thursday.

I had the opportunity to touch base with the regular teacher last Friday, so I had a clue about what my day would be like.

and I had managed to retain a fair number of names, always a problem for me, it seems.

but I was not exactly prepared for the way we started our day.

the other two 4th grade teachers have been quite disturbed by the amount of talking in the hallways (it's a modified open-concept layout) and also by the rough and unfair play practices on the playground.

so, they decided they would start the day by hauling all the 4th graders into the multi-purpose room, and give them a what-for-talking-to.

I made sure my little ducks were all accounted for and attentive.

they were told, among other things, that they could no longer talk quietly while waiting in lines (bathroom, bubbler, lunch, etc.) in the hallways, and if there was not significant improvement, they would no longer be allowed to play football at recess, recesses would be shortened or eliminated altogether, and of course, detentions would be dished out.

man, you could have heard a pin drop!

they were reminded that when in the halls, and others are talking, they should not TELL them to be quiet, as that just adds to the noise.

a hand in the air is the universal signal for all to stop talking.

later that morning, as I frantically lined them up for art class, I remembered the signal, and calmly raised my hand to get them quiet.

nothing.

I stood there, hand in the air, for what seemed an eternity.

the schedule was already mucked up by this meeting, and now I couldn't get their attention.

with a deep sigh, my forearm slowly lowered across the top of my head, with my right had dangling helplessly near my left ear. this drew some attention, and soon my entire row of ducks had were standing quietly, with arms resting across their heads, hands dangling, exactly the same.

it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud, but hey, whatever works, right?

one of the other 4th grade teachers came past, clipboard in hand, ready to dish out those detentions, and did a slight double-take.

I immediately gave my line leader the signal to go ahead, and we were off to art, silent as the grave.

I think I like 4th grade.

later,

Mrs. O'R

new grade, new category

today I was scheduled for a class/grade I had not subbed for before - 4th grade.

again, I am amazed at the scheduling for kids, so much crammed into one day.

and thank goodness they are pretty much on automatic pilot when they come in - they all know (well, almost all) where they should be, what they should be doing, and what comes next.

but the teacher had warned me that this was a very talkative bunch, and that I would have to sit on them a bit.

we had a good day, in spite of a missing milk count clipboard - hey, this is important stuff! - and the ability of one young lady to find something to "tattle" about every half hour or so.

drove me crazy!

but she's just one of those needy kids, and this is her way of getting the attention she craves.

to keep from losing my cool over it, I gave her jobs throughout the day - passing out papers, collecting homework, picking up scraps for the recycle bin after a cut-and-paste assignment, etc.

she was too buy to notice that Alecia was chewing gum - AGAIN.

tiny victories.

later,

Mrs. O'R