Mouse Drama

Why does having one teeny, tiny mouse in a classroom create tons of drama?

She's very small (though also strangely fat, considering we do not feed her any snacks, only mouse food).

She's inconspicious, since she generally sleeps through the entire school day.

She's very, very quiet. I almost never hear anything from her, except on the rare occasion her wheel squeaks, or when I hold her, sometimes you hear a little squeak.

But if she dares to get up, the kids go crazy.

"Ms. Language Arts Lady! Ms. Language Arts Lady! The mouse is AWAKE! She's eating her food, Ms. Language Arts Lady! She's DRINKING! Oh, my gosh she's so cuuuuuuute!"

This, while really, really funny, is very distracting.

I am going to have to get a cover for her cage, because when they're already a little silly, the sight of any part of her makes them crazy.

Oh, well. I am planning on making them write journal entries and poems based on her.

Maybe then they'll just ignore her when she appears.

And it really is my own fault, since I chose to have her here... but she's still lots of fun to have around the kids. They are so funny with her.

Plus, she's a calming influence on some of them.

But mostly it's just because it's fun to have a classroom pet.

Open House is Coming!

In the next week, my school will be having Open House, which is a time for parents to come and meet their child's teachers, if they didn't come during Meet Your Teacher. Of course, it's also a chance for some parents to attack the teacher, if their child received a grade they feel was in error on the progress report that went home last week.

I am honestly afraid to check my school email, knowing there will be at least some emails from parents, complaining that I "gave" their child a bad grade.

Grrrr... It really bothers me when they ask why I gave their child a bad grade. I don't give grades! I only reflect what was earned. And in our school district, they really have no excuse for not knowing a bad grade is coming, because we have an online grade system that allows them to check their child's grade 24/7.

But I digress.

Anyway, some parents expect different things from Open House than we plan (or even are able) to give them, including the chance to dialogue one-on-one about their child. With 100+ students, this is just not possible. I guess in elementary school, it might work that way, giving each parent a chance to have a brief chat with the teacher, while the other parents view the classroom and the stuff posted around the room. But if I spent just one minute with each set of parents, that's coming up on 2 hours, and that's how long the entire thing lasts.

What Open House essentially is supposed to be is a chance for the parents to see the classrooms now that the kids are in them and hear the teacher go through what the students do on a daily basis. They can see where their child sits, check out the textbooks, and see the teacher that their child has been praising or condemning for the past 5 weeks.

Previous years have seen crazy things done by parents (and their children as they watch).

Examples:

• Last year, a mom brought all of her children to Open House. There were many of them. (Which is fine; I understand you don't want to get a babysitter for this time, and big families are fun, and I'm not complaining about the size). Most noticeable, however, was the smallest one, who was right around 1 year old. She was bored, so she screamed and cried through my entire presentation. I am not talking little baby-noises; I'm talking five-alarm fire-type noises. The other parents were glaring at her something fierce, but she just smiled indulgently at the baby.
• A parent told me that I was not helping her child with his writing, and I needed to be working harder. Then she told me she was checking over everything I grade and hand back, so I need to be careful. Then she told me that she doesn't see how my reading logs (the homework my kids do every single night) are helping with his writing. I told her that reading logs are to help improve reading, not writing. At this point, I was supposed to have started my presentation. I was feeling quite freaked out, when one of the dads (not her husband, either) made the woman sit down and be quiet. On his way out, he apologized for her behavior. I was so grateful.
• One parent sat through my entire presentation, then asked if I was the math teacher. To make it worse, they then tell me their child is on a different team. Were you not listening to anything I said?? I also have our team name posted everywhere.
• One of my students apparently forgot that I have rules, and climbed on top of my of my desks. I usually don't like to correct students in front of their parents, because I feel when they're with them, it's their job, and I don't want to overstep my boundaries. Not this time.

It is fun, though, now that I am no longer completely freaked out at the thought of meeting parents. I get to see the kids in a different setting, usually as they're being proud to be the ones who know what's going on, since they are the ones who know where their classes are, and how the school day works, etc.

Well, here's hoping it all goes well!

Signs of the Time

There are always signs that appear to warn teachers that summer is coming to an end. Some we look for are meet with anticipation, but others just cause us to sigh and try to adjust our summer sleep schedules to make sure we can get up early again.

Here are some signs to look for as a sure way to know that the new school year is coming...

• Parents you see in public places are looking really frazzled.
• Their kids look rested and full of energy and mischief.
• Stores stock massive amounts of pencils, paper, glue sticks, and markers. Massive and scary amounts.
• Those same stores place those massive stocks directly in the aisles so you cannot possibly miss them.
• Some stores, however, after placing the items directly in the aisles still place cute little "foot prints" and signs on the ground so you can follow them to the supplies.
• You still hear parents asking where the school supplies are.
• You pay your bills and notice you have lesson than you expected to have, and work sums in your head to see if you'll make it (you should, as long as you've planned well, but still...)
• You start getting more emails at your school email address, with "updates" from administration.
• You get a letter at home from your principal reminding you that they expect to see you bright and early on the first day of pre-planning. Don't forget to bring your winning attitudes and good ideas.
• You also start getting emails from the parents of your students from the previous year, asking you to "use your influence" to get their child placed on a good team. (I think to myself, what influence?)
• The school supply areas in stores begin to get mobbed, by large amounts of bickering children and parents, all trying to "just get what we need!"
• You notice that everything school-related is once again tax-free for a limited time.
• Every place, everywhere you go has "Back to School" specials, even when they have nothing to do with school. At all. Even at a stretch.
• Teachers start trying to get into their classroom so they can get ready (it's hard to do it in only 2 days allotted in pre-planning!). This is tricky, as administration doesn't want to spend their day opening the door for teachers. (I have found some hiding in strange places, hoping you can't find them.)
• You wake up in the morning, thinking of the perfect way to drive a point home on a lesson you taught last year, and wishing you had thought of it at the time.
• You know you will never remember that point when you're teaching the same concept again.

And all these signs tell me school is coming swiftly.

Yay?

Middle School Trends

What on earth goes on inside the heads of middle school kids? The things they wear! The things they enjoy!


I can't say too much against them, of course, because if I happen to take a peek at the photographic evidence of my middle school years, I am sporting no less than FOUR necklaces... at the same time, no less.

But still! This past year I noticed:

-Girls using shoelaces (I'm hoping they were clean... yeah, they were, I'm sure of it) as hair accessories. Not in the way you'd expect, either, as a ribbon, but more like a scarf...

-Boys wearing anything and everything to do with Naruto, regardless of whether or not they actually watch that particular show.

-Leggings (on girls, thankfully) under the smallest skirts I have ever had the misfortune to see. Honestly, do their mothers even see them as they go out the door?

-Anything that can be stuck to the face. i.e., fake moles that are actually stickers in the shape of hearts, initials, etc.

-Fake eyelashes were big this year... BIG and SPARKLY mostly... like neon purple... I think I'd get a headache looking through those things...

-Boys wearing under-armor (is that how it is phrased? One boy explained it to me... am still slightly bemused) as real clothes... apparently it's something you wear in baseball. Not sure why the little darlings wear it to school.

-White gel pens used as eyeliner in girls... it makes them look a little creepy, honestly. (And since they are regular ink pens, I can't think they'd be good on skin. Especially right near your eyes...)

-One of the boys this year dyed his hair pink. Not sure why...

-Another boy (heretofore adorable and sweet) cut off all his hair but left a healthy hank of hair in the middle as a make-shift mohawk, and it turned him into a punk overnight.

And many other ways I can't think of right now. Every year features something completely new and crazy, something everyone must do or must have.

I guess it has to do with their growing need to "find themselves" and make individuals out of themselves.

Still.

Honestly, sometimes I'm scared to go to work, after just picturing how my cute little 6th graders can change themselves overnight. It's scary.

Heaven Help Us!

Sometimes, the kids do things so sweet, you love them. Sometimes they tell you heart-breaking things, and you'd take them home with you to raise as your own in an instant. Sometimes they do things just to make you mad, and you have to practice your "counting to ten to keep your cool" philosophy.

And othertimes, they are so strange, you can't analyze your feelings for them.

One of these type kids was one of my boys. A very tall boy, he was sweet-natured, but also very wild in the halls. Even the 8th grade Dean knew him, which tells you a lot. He likes to run in the halls, get big mouths full of water, and spit them on the girls. Ahhhhh... young love.

But what was so strange was what he would do while he was sitting in class.

He wasn't a very bright child. He tried sometimes, but he could only read on a 2nd grade level, and he just didn't care about school much. When he had decided he had enough listening or working, he would take his pencil, and stare at it, turning it over and over in his hand.

For. The. Entire. Class. Period. Staring, all the while turning it over and over.

Other students would stare at him as if he were nuts. I wondered if I agreed with them or not... but mostly I laughed at the expressions on the watcher's faces'. There is nothing more amusing than students calling other students out for crazy behavior.

Sometimes, I wondered if it was simply that he was a simple person who could be happy just looking at the unique colors on his pencil.

But then I realized it was just a normal #2 yellow pencil.

Strange Things They Do, Part 1

6th graders really are a strange bunch. I know it has to do somewhat with where they are in their life's journey. They are trying so hard to be adult, but they really are still children, and many of the little things they do highlight the war between the adult they want to be and the kid they still are. Sometimes it makes for misbehavior. Sometimes for humor. Many times it just results in stuff that makes the real adults around them go, "huh?"

One such event happens whenever it rains. Now, maybe I could understand this if I lived somewhere it doesn't rain very often. Somewhere nice and dry, where rain is more of a phenomenon. It's not here. It's rained here every day for the past two weeks in fact. So these kids know rain.

The second it starts to rain, the students must walk through the rain to get to their class. Even though there is a lovely overhang to protect them. Even though they are going to freeze when they get to class, because of the lovely air conditioner, which I cannot, and would not, anyway, turn off because they are cold.

If you're thinking this is limited to the boys, you'd be wrong. The girls do it too, even the prissy ones. What takes over their brains in the rain?

We may never know.