"Dear Diary..."

thank goodness for dictionaries

a half day in middle school, 6th grade.

nice way to end the week.

and it was the afternoon, too, which always seems to me to go faster than the mornings.

this was a nice group of kids, too, very anxious to share with me when asked, and I was able to generate a couple of interesting discussions while going through their weekly reader newsletter.

remember those?

I occasionally will use a word or phrase that I'm fairly certain they do not know, just to see if anyone is curious enough to ask.

this group wants to know, and I had directed them several times to the row of dictionaries on the back shelf.

no, I'm not going to just tell them what it means, they have to work for it!

(yes, I admit it, I just like messing with their heads.)

anyway, during a half hour of SSR (silent sustained reading), I noticed a bit of whispering going on between a young lady and the guy next to her.

I had noticed her right away when they entered class after lunch, because she was having difficulty walking in the platform heels that were obviously new.

she had on a nice dress, quite different from the usual jeans & tops of all the other girls, and I detected a hint of make-up.

she was also on my list of students that would be taken from the classroom at various times for special help.

so when I saw this young man get up and go get a dictionary, look something up, and share it with her, I was tickled pink.

she didn't know a word, and rather than just tell her, he helped her find it in the dictionary.

I had made a difference!  yippee!

he caught me watching them, and was immediately concerned that I would reprimand him for talking during this time deemed silent.

I tried to assure him with a smile that it was ok, and life went on.

at the end of the day, the two of them hung back and approached.

he explained that he was helping her with a word that she didn't know, and I told him that was great.

and by the way, what was the word?

oh, I had to ask.

he blushed, and whispered to me "whore."

I tried not to flinch, turned to her, and asked her where she had heard it.

apparently, she had been called this at lunchtime, on the playground, and she didn't know what it meant.

her sweet helper added that he knew what it meant, but didn't know how to explain it, and thought maybe the dictionary could help him get the meaning across to her.

he knew it was bad, and felt she should know.

what a trooper.

I thanked him for his help, and told him to hurry along for the bus.

I then told this young lady that if anyone ever called her that again, she should tell the nearest teacher, and she promised she would.

she didn't seem phased by it at all, which left me feeling relieved and then concerned.

I left a long note for the teacher, explaining it all, and headed for home.

tgif.

later,

Mrs. O'R

challenged

today I was back in familar territory, a 6th grade classroom I had been in last spring, and with students I had subbed for last year as 5th graders.
but there was one young man I had not met before.
and on the top of the pile of worksheets and books left for me by the teacher, was a note regarding this one student.
apparently, he has quite a few "issues," and the 6th grade teachers had a conference with the parents, and come up with a long list of ways to deal with this kid, how to reinforce good behavior, when it's ok to just let him walk around in the back of the room, when to call the police, etc.
oh my, not really the kind of thing you want to read at 7:45 am.
but, I read it carefully, made sure I knew where the phone was, and put the office extension number in my pocket.
as they filed in, I watched for this seat up front and center to be filled.
but he did not arrive before the bell.
I took attendance, and the kids told me that he often comes late.
we proceded with our assigned tasks, and after about an hour, I thought that maybe I had dodged a bullet today, and he would be absent.
but shortly before lunch, he walked in, excuse in hand, and said, "Who the hell are you?"
although we had moments of understanding, tiny lights at the end of very long, dark tunnels, it was pretty much downhill from there, and I felt as if I was spending most of my time keeping him in check, and could never really focus on anything or anyone else.
about two o'clock he threatened to pound another student, a young woman who had no fear, was sick of his interruptions to class, and probably would have come out pretty well, had it come to blows.
so I sent him to the office, and called to tell them he was on his way.
he arrived back in class shortly before day's end, and I made surre he had all the homework that had been assigned.
at the bell, he was gone, to detention, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
it was a challenging day, and I guess I should be glad that no one was injured, and the police did not have to be called.
but it was not the way I want to "teach."
later,
Mrs. O'R

last day

I was rather surprised when they called me Friday afternoon, asking if I was available on Monday.
as it turns out, Monday is my day off from my summer job, which I just started this week, so I said yes.
I was really looking forward to the time off, but I couldn't really turn down the opportunity to make some money, and it was for a different 6th grade teacher.
now I know that the last three days of school are bound to be a bit...different.
but I don't remember kids being so wound up and wild!
the morning was taken up by an incentive auction, where they could spend the good behavior bucks they had earned this year for, well, junk, in my opinion.
little stuffed animals, plastic figures, coupons for pizza, etc.
I felt bad for the kids with little money to bid, and thought they should have had some stuff at the end that they could buy, so everyone would get something.
I've been to real auctions when we didn't have two nickels to rub together, and then find something that would have been "perfect for..."
after the auction, most of them went on a little trip to the local youth center, to play basketball, volleyball, goof off for two hours.
I, unfortunately, had to stay behind with the nine students who had forfeited this trip by having too many infractions, negative points, whatever.
longest two hours of my day!
with only two days left of school, these kids certainly feel no need to "work," had "nothing" to do, and were not interested in reading quietly, as instructed.
Mr. Regularteacher had left some weekly readers and worksheets, and I did entice a few into doing the one with the big crossword puzzle, and I helped them find answers in various ways.
but it was a struggle, and by 11:00 I was so tired of hearing how everything was someone else's fault, I could have screamed.
when the rest returned, I was able to get them settled down a bit, and had them tell me what activities they enjoyed on their little adventure.
lunch, at last.
dry chicken pattie sandwiches and salty seasoned tries.
but there was fruit and milk, and I was glad to escape for a half hour.
the majority of the afternoon was spent outside, on the playground, doing various activities in a substitution of the Jump Rope for Heart they had done last year.
they set up four stations, divided all the 3rd through 6th graders into groups, and rotated them with a whistle every 20 minutes through basketball, football, kickball and rope jumping.
by 2:30, most of them were pretty tired, and I wondered what I would do with them for the remainder of the day.
I was saved by the gym teacher, who had remembered she had not collected gym locks from my class, so we lined up and marched to the gym.
when they got back to the classroom, I had come up with a few questions that I asked them to answer, and yes, they had to put their name on it, and yes, they had to turn it in.
I basically asked them to think about this past school year, tell me what they improved on the most, what they would need to work on more in 7th grade, what was their favorite project, etc.
ten questions, ten minutes, and then they were gone.
fairly certain that this would be my last day of the year, I sought out the principal and the secretary, and thanked them both for all their help, wished them a good summer, and made sure they knew I was looking forward to next fall.
and I am.
later,
Mrs. O'R

who are you?

and what have you done with those lovely children I worked with two weeks ago?
it's amazing, the transformation, as we count down the days left in this school year.
many of those sweet, quiet yet enthusiastic students I met a while ago have evolved, and no longer listen to instructions or care about consequences.
a certain amount of this I was prepared for.
but some of them were wild!
and, to my disappointment, I had to send one young man to the office.
I expected he would have a meeting with the principal, and be back in a little while, hat in hand.
but apparently his behavior has so deteriorated in the last week or so, that he spent the entire day in the office, contemplating his fate.
I felt horrible, but you really can't let one student disrupt a class like that, no one gets anything done.
I'm scheduled at the high school tomorrow, and I'm almost afraid what things will be like there...
later,
Mrs. O'R

bubbling

today's assignment was a 5th and 6th grade science and math room at the elementary school.
I was always quite good in math, but a lot of the terms have changed since I was this age, so I arrived very early, to go over the lessons, and make sure I could present them with some confidence.
I can think pretty fast on my feet, and I'm pretty good at faking, when I need to.
but I'd rather understand what's going on, and sound like a "real" teacher.
science, on the other hand - never liked it, never did well, was glad to never have to take it again after that awful conservation class I had in college - I'll tell you about that some other time.
and this was a science room - like the kind we never saw until high school.
lab tables, counters covered with various experiments-in-progress, and several big tanks and aquariums with fish and other creatures.
lots of bubbling sounds all day long, making me a bit uncomfortable (ok, it made me want to pee!).
and lots of bubbling children.
I found myself immediately drawn to the sixth graders - these were children much closer to the age of the students I'd taught for years in junior high, so I felt a bit more at ease, I think.
and with the exception of one young man, who was straightened out by the other 6th grade teacher early in the day, they all seemed quite eager to listen to the new strange sub, and show her what they knew.
a quick homeroom session (they are, like the little ones, on automatic pilot, each knowing what tasks they are to perform), was followed by the first of two math classes.
their lesson was a review, so I confided to them that I had never taught math in my entire life (there was an audible gasp), and asked them to teach me.
they gladly obliged, making sure I knew every term and exception to the rules, with regard to mean, median, mode, and outlier.
these kids left, followed by the other 6th grade class, and we did it all over again.
the first group returned, after going to gym or music or art or something, and it was science.
luckily, it was a test, and they were to read quietly when they were finished with it.
unfortunately, there seemed to be major confusion about question #25, a comparison of two terms, so I quickly peeked at the answer in the teacher manual, looked up the definitions in their text, and assured them that this had, in fact, been covered in their reading.
but none of them seemed quite sure it had ever been discussed in class.
so I told them to do their best, write down what they did know about either or both terms, and not leave it blank.
I also assured them that I would leave Ms. Regularteacher a note about this, so that she would be aware of their confusion.
panic averted.
when the second class came back, I was prepared for the uproar over #25.
again, panic averted.
lunch was pleasant, several teachers now recognize me, and we chat about this and that.
after lunch, it was a science class of 5th graders.
a big class, and surprisingly much noisier and harder to contain than the older ones.
they change so much in that one year.
the teacher had left us a comic book about water pollution and conservation, and they were to read it in class.
rather than leave them to their own devices, and probably struggle to keep them on task, I decided it would be more fun to read it aloud, and we spent the class taking turns page by page, and reading it "like a play."
funny, just making it a bit more special that way, they seemed to take more interest in "their lines," and we had a nice discussion about the things they can do to save water.
after going to gym or music or or art or something, my 6th graders returned to work on their "math facts."
sounded like flashcards, to me.
but there was a glitch - they had just had a test, turned in their sheets, and didn't have new ones to work on, whatever that all meant.
I searched quickly, but couldn't find anything on the desk to confirm or deny, so I made the executive decision to go right to study hall/silent sustained reading/find something to do quietly for the last half hour of the day.
unfortunately, the end of the day is not when they want to be quiet and calm.
and I was ready for a long nap.
but we made it through, many were disappointed that I would not be returning tomorrow, and I felt as though I had really earned that jar of dafodils Ms. Regularteacher had left on the desk for me.
that, and the glass of wine that was waiting for me at home.
later,
Mrs. O'R