Nicknames

Hello friends!
God, please keep Basil the cat in the place you have reserved for the Heer's in Heaven; you created a great cat when you made Mr. Basil; thank you for the time we had with him. And as for the rest of us still here on Earth, watch over us and guide us, as always. A special intention for any one who works with children on a regular basis; please grant us love, patience, humility, thankfulness, and most especially, a sense of humor. Thank you always for the many, many blessings you bestow on each and every one of us, every day. In Jesus' name. Amen.
This year has gotten off to a fun start. Some of the students have come up with nicknames for themselves: "Scorpian," "Noble 4," "Situation," "Mr. Amazing," "Moraky (Mora (if you can roll your r's)-Ky)," "Aray," "Ay-girl (A girl)," "Mini-Shark," "Kinkle," "Lulu," and "M & M." I am "teach," or "Ms. Teach."
The student I am most concerned with is "Scorpian." It's been rumored he has slept through most of third grade and for parts of fourth grade. He fell asleep in my room, probably two days. The second day it happened, I took him to the nurse with these words, "You've slept through my time, you will now sleep through your time," which meant he was to sleep during recess. He was able to get 15 minutes of sleep, and this enabled him to stay awake the rest of the day. But this can't continue.
I do feel bad for him, b/c he's been telling me he is really trying to go to bed early; I believe him, but this is also unacceptable behavior.
This year fifth grade has made a concerted effort to create a feeling of community: complete with a Mayor (M), Deputy Mayor (DM), Hallway police, activities coordinators (playground equipment), and many others. Well the DM and M 'happen' to sit on either side of Scorpian and did an excellent job of helping him stay on task. This is no small undertaking. Scorpian is probably 5'6" and about 200 lbs, but gentle as a panda. But this probably won't solve the problem either.
I am doing my best to think "outside of the box,"with regard to Scorpian. I will be contacting mom, since the nurse told me Scorpian has a low-hemoglobin, which explains the low-energy, and see if she can add more 'greens' to his diet. I am also implementing a three-day 'Let's help Scorpian,' community-wide project. M and DM have already helped Scorpian one day; they will help him two more days, and then I'll have another two students help him. We'll talk about what's appropriate to say and do when encouraging Scorpian, so things don't turn negative. I know that the students will get tired of helping Scorpian, and that's part of my point. Once all the students have had a chance to sit next to him; I'm going to pull the class back together and we'll discuss how everyone feels, including Scorpian, about being helped all the time. Should be interesting and I'm hoping Scorpian will say he's tired of all the help/focus, and will want to be left alone, to do what he's supposed to do.
Yes, good luck to me.
But this won't be the last of interventions, either, I know.
This child has the possibility of becoming a drop out statistic, but that's not going to happen; not on my watch.
"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." Mother Theresa

Grumpiness

Hey friends,
God bless all the eyes reading this blog; give us what we need, Lord. Not what we want, but what we need, as only You know best, Jesus. Oh, and can we please have more rain? Thanks. In Jesus' name, Amen.
I find myself in a bad mood today. I'll explain why in a moment.
When I'm at work, I want to work.
But I wish I knew the etiquette for some work interactions (I'm sure there are tips on-line, but I'm too lazy to look for them).
Like last week, when I went in to set up my classroom, the new guy, Skype, was in his room, also getting his room ready for the year.
Now, Skype and I share a door between our classrooms. Unfortunately for me, that door was open.
I really wanted to run over and close it, but I knew that would seem rude. But I also knew that if I started talking to Skype, I'd lose valuable time working in my room! Oh the dilemma!
I was noisely removing paper from the wall as I was asking myself, "Am I being rude for not saying hello to Skype? He could just as easily come in and say hello to me." Eventually of course, Skype and I spoke. Not a lengthy conversation *smile* only a few sentences exchanged. Whew. Time wasted kept to a minimum. (I'm a talker, so I was esp proud of myself for not gabbing away.)
Since I'm also new to the team, I keep in mind that my co-workers don't know me! Gone are all the mistakes I've made on other teams. Now's my chance to shine, to be professional, friendly, and my usual hard-working self.
But this is what has me grumpy: why am I even concerning myself with my teammates?!
Then I came across this article, about grumpiness: b/c, according to this website, Grumpiness 'is good for you'
Forgas''s explanation is that happy people focus more on their own desires. "Positive mood is in a sense an evolutionary signal, subconsciously informing people that the situation they face is safe and non-threatening," he says.
This encourages people to rely more on their own thoughts and preferences, with selfishness the result, the expert added.
On the other hand, grumpiness or sadness produces more vigilant, outward-looking thinkers.
"A negative mood produces a thinking style that is more detailed and attentive, and pays more attention to the demands of the external environment," says Forgas.
The study has been published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Yay, grumpiness is a good thing!

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." Mother Theresa

Summer is over, teacher, now what? ; )

Hello friends,
Special prayer of complete healing for a good friend's mom who is in ER; many endless prayers for the termination of this awful drought; for all teachers everywhere, may they be blessed in abundance with patience, compassion, empathy, and humor; and Lord, please guide our political leaders to do right by the American people in their policies. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Last week I had the privilege, along with two out of five of my fellow fifth grade colleagues, to do some interviews for a suddenly open position in fifth grade. In-between interviews, I had time to go to my classroom and see how I want to arrange twenty-five student desks, and I do my best to imagine how the room will look to an eleven-year-old, determined to make the room seem 'homey' and 'comfy.' I wonder if the students even realize how much their teachers think of them before they step foot in our classrooms. Reminds me of Jeremiah 1:15, "Before you were in your mother's womb, I knew you."
I took out many of the tables in the room, and left myself two: one where reading and math groups will take place, and the other for student's completed work.
I joke to my co-workers, "The classroom would have so much more room if it weren't for the students!" But of course that's why I do my job, this labor of love, for the students.
This year is different for me in several areas: I'll be finishing my MA in school counseling; in fact, my pre-practicum and practicum will all be done this year; I'll be teaching an all English class, which I haven't ever done in my 16 years in this career. I know I will have Latin children in my room, but absolutely no Spanish will be spoken, unless I'm talking to a parent who speaks only Spanish. and lastly, all the students, teachers, principal, asst principal, and parents will go camping in December. I'm looking forward to it. The camping is pretty easy - we stay in cabins instead of tents - there will be hiking, archery, canoeing. Fun!
I went over budget on buying for my classroom, which teacher doesn't do that?!, but I did get some pretty good bargains. A small, cute, lamp and clock from Goodwill. A $7 tower lamp from Target. All to create a nice ambiance and offer a different sort of lighting to the students than the usual bright lights above their heads; fabric for the bulletin boards, borders for said bulletin boards, lysol..just 'incidentals' that add to the classroom running smoothly.
I will dust off furniture, put textbooks on desks, build a tree on the column in the  middle of my room...I usually take the week before all our trainings and massive staff meeting, Convocation, as it is called, to get ready for the beginning of the year. Teachers are given a day to prepare, but that's just not enough time for me.
And so another year will begin.
"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." Mother Theresa