its midterm season somewhere

But here, it feels like finals. I have a laundry list of things due next week: unit plans for November, assessments for the end of November, lesson plans for the week after next, and first quarter grades.

Not to mention I'm trying to get my literacy centers up and running in a more rigorous way.

And then we just got an email that we need to revise all of our lessons for next week by Sunday night.

It's 7:48, the kids are about to arrive, and I just want to hang my head for the day.

Some days, one half of me wants to split away from the other and just shout, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE."

Even on a day when K pulls a chair out for a friend and S tells me he loves to read.

Bruins v. Hawks

Hockey is like kindergarten - if you hit each other, you get a time out.

a hell of a day at school, sir

Fifty kindergartners were left more or less unattended at lunch.

Poor N threw up in the bathroom like it was the most normal thing in the world and then when right back to playing. Literally not a single complaint. It made me wonder how often it happens.

Somebody slapped a teacher.

Oh, and a student brought a box-cutter to school.

It's Friday.

field trips

Taking a field trip is something I would love to do with my kids - their behavior is excellent and I know they could handle it.

First, I was told that we could only take free field trips. Then, I was asked why on earth kindergarten didn't have any field trips planned. I pointed out that free field trips appropriate for kinder might be challenging to find. Money was found. Life goes on. But today was the kicker.

"We would love to take them to LegoLand! They have such a great program for field trips."

"Can you explain how that relates to the reading curriculum?"

... hmm, ok.

wisdom from kindergarten cop

Kindergarten is kind of like the ocean -- you should never turn your back on it.

2011

Is the year of the thefts for me, apparently. Someone came into the building last week and took two teacher's wallets and two laptops.

I walked back upstairs after dismissal and noticed my (work) laptop wasn't where I usually leave it. We quickly inventoried our personal belongings and realized we all missing something on the second floor.

They literally went room to room while we were outside with the kids.

I am so thankful that my wallet wasn't taken (in what would be the second time this year), but I am really upset about the data and information that was on my laptop. I lost all of the assessments that I have done over the past couple of weeks, and trust me, testing children's understanding of the alphabet is no small task.

Alas, I now have a paper binder with all my assessment info. Apparently doing a thesis taught me nothing about saving copies of my files.