56 days to go

It was a rough day for uniforms. Eli came in with his button down inside out. Baby Face had his sweater under his button down.

The low point of my day? Eli's mom agreed to come in for a meeting but I wasn't going to be able to go because we were short-staffed and no one could cover my class. Then, she cancelled.

The highlight of my day? I heard someone talking too loudly during centers and I looked up to see that it was Kyle.

Back story: Too much time passed before I realized that Kyle was going to need speech services because he talked so little in school. He never raised his hand and never talked spontaneously with others. On the other hand, I'm not guilt free. I couldn't understand him pronouncing his own name when I first met him. Anyway, his needs were beyond what I was capable of so I started pushing to get him evaluated. I pushed. His mom pushed. Nothing happened. Finally, I started emailing weekly and serendipitously our special ed coordinator left. I immediately started harassing her replacement. He was evaluated and immediately approved for services. The speech pathologist came in for his first session today. I heard him talk more today than I have ever heard him talk in a week.

61 days to go

Today was one of those days where nothing crazy happened except me. By the end of the day, I was shouting at a child because he was crying and wouldn't tell me what was wrong, "I'm frustrated because I'm trying to help you and you won't tell me what you need!". A very effective and socially appropriate way to respond to a problem. Turns out he had left an illegal toy in his locker and wanted to get it. This was X, aka Crocodile Tears because that's what he responds to everything with.

In other news, Eli smothered a blue dry erase marker all over his mouth today in math. Then, he started tugging on the marker tip harder and harder until it bled all over his hands and shirt. He couldn't tell me what he was doing or why.

The last straw was at dismissal. Two days ago N was sent home for smacking Jay (Puzzles) to the floor. Another teacher saw it and wrote a referral. When N's mom arrived she asked if she could talk to the little girl. I assumed that she wanted N to apologize. Instead it went like this:

[N's mom]: "Did N hit you?"

"No."

"So N didn't hit you. Ms. Haley..."

[me]: "Not today Jay, earlier this week."

"Ohhh, yes. He did."

"Do you think he did it on purpose or by accident?"

--------

I realize that his mom handles a lot of stuff. And she should stick up for her baby. BUT are you kidding me?!

Oh, wait. There was one more straw. Today at our "professional development" I was scolded for being on my computer (even though I was participating) while the rest of the room graded papers and had side conversations with their team members. Perfect.

adults, round II

Yesterday I was interrupted at the end of my grade level meeting by a frantic administrative assistant. It was 11:15am and my class was still upstairs in the room! They need to be taken to lunch! They're already five minutes late!

I went dashing up to my classroom to find utter chaos. The computer teacher apparently decided that she should move some children from blue to red (rather than incrementally, one color at a time). Children were crying and several had been hit by either Eli or N. Or both.

We transitioned fairly quickly to lunch and I was able to stop most of the tears by about 11:20.

Here's the kicker: guess where the computer teacher was headed, that she was so busy she couldn't take my class down to the cafeteria?

Lunch Duty. That's right. She kept my kids and made them almost 10 minutes late to their 20 minute lunch because she didn't want to walk them down. Then, she followed.us.down.to.the.cafeteria. Not to mention that when I am in a grade-level meeting she is supposed to take them down.

adults

As you may have gathered from reading my blog, the adults who work in my building are not exactly what I would categorize as "effective." Somehow, they never cease to amaze me with their lack of proficiency in the care and handling of young children.

For example, on Friday I returned to my classroom after their 45-minute gym period to find that the room was in emotional disarray. My behavior stick (a simple, six color stick that tracks student behavior with clothes pins which can be placed from red to blue) was on a table. The clothespins were in a heap surrounding it. Two were snapped in half. Children were crying and pushing and grabbing.

When I asked the teacher what happened, she told me that during the play time the stick had been knocked on the floor and some clips had fallen off so she just took all of them off since she didn't know where to put the ones that had fallen. Then, she made a quick exit.

After she was gone, I instituted a whole-class time-out so that I could get to the bottom of what happened. As I called up one student at a time to my desk, they began to verify the truth: the teacher had thrown the stick on the ground in frustration and many clips came flying off. Some children tried to put their friends back on the stick in the correct spot and in retaliation she took all of the clips off. At this point, Eli got a hold of them and started snapping the clothespins in half. And that's about when I walked in.

How does a 50 year-old-woman think that it is appropriate to have a temper tantrum in front of my class? And why on earth did she think that my kids wouldn't tell me the truth?

More frustrating than anything else is the fact that there is no avenue for me to seek retribution for my class. Mediocrity (or less) reigns.

eli the enigma

Everyone I work with knows Eli. He's smart, articulate, and a damn fool. He can already read a level D book with ease, knows more sight words than any Kindergartner I have ever met, and can order numbers like nobody's business.

But.he.is.so.awful. When someone mistakenly says a wrong answer, he makes fun of them. When someone gets in trouble he laughs behind their back. Last week, he scratched Sweet T on the face during recess and then proceeded to pummel him with his fists until another teacher pulled him off. He hits other children and shows no remorse. And frankly, it's that lack of remorse that really worries me. How do you, dear six-year-old, make another person bleed and not at least take pause? To say that he has ADHD would be an understatement, but of course I wouldn't say that because I am not professionally qualified to say such things.

He also has a lot of trouble with personal care. He is clumsy, constantly falling all over himself. For the first three months of school his fly was open more than it was closed, and he often comes out of the bathroom with his clothes in complete disarray. He has that a Pig-Pen air about him, exuding dirt that I can't quite see.

He's gotten in a lot of trouble with me, but the only time I have ever seen him cry was when I forgot to give him his personal note from his Third Grade Buddy. Even though his big, sad, innocent eyes humanized him, it was short-lived.

Well, today sweet Eli was a jerk, which caused a very wonderful thing to happen.

N was on red and really struggling in the morning, just two hours into our day. I was seriously concerned about the next four hours. Eli raised his hand and it went something like this:

N: I didn't do nothin... I didn't do nothin... I didn't do nothin... I didn't do nothin... I didn't do nothin...

ELI: N just pushed Texas.

MS HALEY: N, we do not push our friends. And you are talking in the hallway. You are already on red. I'm going to have to send you to the office.

[N hangs head]

TEXAS: Ms. Haley? N didn't push me. I think Eli might just be trying to get him in trouble.

MS HALEY: [visibly losing temper] Are you KIDDING me? We are all trying to help N be successful. We are family. Why on earth would you try to get him in trouble?! No, no, just go sit in the time out. I don't even want to talk to you.... [turn to N] N, I'm sorry. If that happens again and he's bothering you, please don't shout. Instead, ignore him and raise your hand. I will come and help you.
-------

Do you know where this is going yet?

In the afternoon, I was covertly watching the boys during bathroom break. I watched as Eli taunted N (clearly not his best day). But N, sweet boy, IGNORED HIM AND RAISED HIS HAND. I literally ran over to him to help because I was so afraid that he would just give up and push Eli.

Our Dean was nearby and when I brought N over to tell him what had happened, N cracked into the biggest smile I have ever seen from him. It changed his face -- it made him look like a little boy.

nuh-uh

Yesterday Eli and TK were in a big ol' tiff during centers. I looked over and they were doing the "nuh-uh." "yah-huh." routine back and forth. I figured that I would let them exhaust themselves, so I kept an eye on them from a distance. They began to grow louder. Finally, I was forced to intervene.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Eli said that its called plonics. I told him that it's not. It's phonics. That's how you say---"

"Nuh-uh. The word starts with 'p.' It's plonics!"

How could I be mad at them when their arguement is over letter sound knowledge and phonemic awarness?

day 57

I feel a little bit like I've already checked out for Thanksgiving -- not academically with my kids, they are still working hard -- but in terms of energy and innovation. I am coasting into that four day weekend like its the biggest vacation of my life. The one upside is that I'm very calm.

I saw my two high groups in buddy reading today. Eli, who has been a terror since his twin siblings were born, is sharp as a tack. On the trick page, he sounded out "but" and "best" without any prompting. I was so proud of him! I have been working so hard with the lower groups that I forgot how far the higher groups have come. I can't wait to test them again after Thanksgiving. Sometimes guided reading is harder than whole group because they are a little harder to control, but it makes me feel like we are headed somewhere. A teacher who has one of my old students, the floor sweeper, complimented me on his reading skills -- something stuck!

During lunch five or six of my girls from last year told me that they want to come back to my class. When I told them they were too smart for me, they told me that they were learning take-aways.

In other news, N hit another girl. In the face. He had a rough morning with me and then apparently reccess didn't go so well either.

Have you ever read The Bear Snores On? If not, read it. It's such a lovely book about a bear sleeping through a party in his lair. My students told me where their lairs were (DuckDuck: behind his dresser). Then, I told them mine is the library, but what I really meant was the Art Library at Wellesley.

racing

The best part of my day today came during dismissal. Eli (pseudonym) was the last child to be picked up. He's a wiggler but his mom is about to have twins and in the wake of her contractions he has simmered a little.

While we waited, we raced. Back and forth down the parking lot until he was out of breath. Then, he sat down - tired - for two whole minutes.