I am siiiick. All of the coughing, sneezing teachers and kids finally caught up to me. I was so tired this week and went to bed early every night. Then Thursday I came down with it. Of course, being a first year teacher, I pushed through the day with a terrible sore throat and feeling dizzy for the majority of reading time. Strangely, it was one of the best days of teaching that I've ever had. I was so patient and the kids were really clicking with me. I realized I was being insane to teach like this, and didn't want to get the kids sick so I called in for a sub on Friday. My first day being gone. I was nervous, but when I went in to set things up for the sub that morning, all of the other teachers kept saying: "You look like death. You need to go home". I am spending the weekend on the couch. It really is perfect timing to be sick, because it's the weekend before a huge test for my husband. So he is studying constantly, and our friends loaned me the first season of Modern Family...so I'm good. :)
*We really did have a great week in my class. I never knew if I would really make Santa a big deal in my house when my kids are growing up. But I have had so much fun with my class-how their eyes light up just at the thought of magic. It is so sweet. One of the highlights of the week was when I read the book Elf on the Shelf. For those who don't know, it's a letter to the class from an elf who watches over you for Santa everyday and then at night, when the kids go home, he flies to the North Pole to report on how the kids are doing-(Whether they were naughty or nice). Then he comes back to school in the morning and lands on another place in the classroom. The rules are serious: You can't touch him or his magic will go away and he won't be able to go see Santa, he is not allowed to talk about to you but you can tell him what you want for Christmas, and you have to name him. I asked for several ideas...I got everything from Beethoven to Baby to GeeGee to Glen. I told the kids we were going to vote on his name, so he could tell Santa his name. Apparently my Elf doll looked a lot like an elf on TV named "Chippy". One of my kids raised his hand and with frustration in his voice, said: "Mrs., his name is Chippy. We don't have to vote. He ALREADY has a name." :) We voted on the name "Glen". Who knows where the name came from.
Glen watched the kids all day. During centers, I saw several kids walk up to him and whisper what they wanted for Christmas. But don't worry-they were SO careful not to touch him. :) The next day, I "registered" our Elf, Glen on the "Elf on the Shelf" website so that I could print off a personalized note from Santa. I gave it to the secretaries. At about 9:10, when we were doing morning calendar, the secretary came on the intercom and said: "Mrs...There is a special delivery for you in the office. Will you please send a student down?" I pretended to look really suprised and sent my Teacher Assistant down. When the student came back, his face was bright: "Mrs...it's from SANTA!!!" The kids were so excited. I read them the letter. Then they asked me to read it again. I hung it up so they could see it all day-they pointed it out to EVERYONE who came in the room. :) That should make for some good behavior for the next few weeks. ha
*One of my girls was pretty "weepy" one day. Usually she is perfectly behaved, but keeps to herself, so I was kind of concerned. We were working on a sort of short "e" and long "e" words. She was frustrated and put her head in her hands and started to cry. I pulled her aside and asked her why she was crying. She would barely look at me. I asked her if something happened at home that morning. She started to cry even harder, and hugged me. I finally got it out of her: "My mom cussed me out. I didn't mean to be bad." My heart sank. I went on to ask her: "Have I ever hurt you?" No. "Have I ever cussed or yelled at you or anyone in here?" She shook her head. "You are safe here. I'm not going to yell at you-if you feel frustrated or sad, I want you to raise your hand and talk to me, ok?" She nodded and gave me a big hug. This is the worst part of my job. It's hard to leave things like that at school.
*My hubby and I are praying about some big decisions. The sermon at church is still sticking with me and I've been reading my Bible every night this week trying to get some direction of what else the Lord is calling of us. I feel like He is slowly breaking me of my selfishness and is helping me to listen. A lot of times school, life and things are moving so fast that it's hard to sit back and reflect or listen. That's partly why I don't mind being sick this weekend. My house is a mess, I have no groceries, etc. but I have time to sit back and think...and pray. Which is good. I want to be sure any "good" we're doing isn't just because I feel so bad about how some kids have to live. I want it to be a call from the Lord.
*The VERY best thing that happened this week is that I am testing students in order to put grades in. (Now you might think, you are insane. Testing is so time-consuming, all the teachers hate it, it takes so much time away from teaching, etc....but read on!!) First, I tested them on their "Letter ID" (Whether they are able to tell me the name of the uppercase/lowercase letters without pausing or having to think). I was SHOCKED. My students had improved SO much! I looked back through the previous scores...at the beginning of the year, most of the scores were "0, 1, or 5", at the end of 1st Quarter...the scores had improved to "20, 15...and some were still 5 or less", this time, kids who had VERY low scores confidently knew EVERY letter. EVERY single kid improved a LOT. Even my lowest students improved a lot. I was so excited....
And THEN I tested Sentence Dictation. I tell the students 2 sentences and then say 1 word at a time. The student tries to write every sound they hear in the word. The sentences this time were: "Mom has gone up to the shop. She will get milk and bread." I watched as my students used all of the actions for letter sounds I had taught them. I watched them clap out sight words "W-i-ll says 'Will!" Several of my students got all of the sounds except for 2. ALL of my students doubled or tripled their scores from the first test I gave 1 1/2 months ago. I know this may not seem so exciting, but to me, it was affirmation that these little sponges are learning!!!!!
One student stood out in particular. She was in my lowest reading group. At the end of 1st Quarter she only knew 5 letter names, and on the sentence dictation test, she wrote random letters. On Thursday, I tested her. She got ALL of the letters, and scored a 20/37 on the sentence dictation. I started to tear up. I told her she was going to make me cry. She looked at me very confused and said: "Why?!" :) I told her I was SO proud of her, and that I was going to write a note home to tell her parents how hard she is trying and how much she is learning. There's no way I would forget to write that letter...she reminded me ALL day. :)
*After school, I told her mom how impressed I was. Her mom said: "I know. She gets up at 6 A.M. everyday to practice writing words and draw pictures and read books. She don't want to watch T.V. no more and it's hard to get her to eat dinner. All she wants to do is read and write." See why it's hard to call in sick? These kids are the sweetest things ever.
*In our staff development we were talking about "effort"...trying to get kids to not give up or act out when they are frustrated. I remember when I Student Taught 5th grade-I saw that a LOT, but my students this year are so different. I honestly can't think of a kid who is not super eager to learn. They are trying to sound out words in the hallways, always so eager to sing songs with me, etc.
There is so much to do in the next few school days before break. SO many tests to get-so many more things to teach, and I'm squeezing in as many holiday and winter activities as I can. I really want them to make a present for their parents too....I am SO excited for my husband. His next test is on Thursday, and then he is DONE for 3 weeks. We will get to have a life for 3 weeks. I still have school for a few days after he gets off, so for the first time, he will get to come help in my classroom. I have the BEST volunteer who comes in every Thursday to help with centers--she is also a counselor so I always have her work with students who need someone else to talk to. :) But...other than that, I don't really let other people come in the classroom. I am so excited to have my husband come fall in love with these sweet faces. I think he will see why I come home smiling almost everyday. It's hard not to have perspective when you are hugged and loved all day by kids who really need you.
*My students are especially huggy recently. I try to not promote a lot of "touching"...they used to try to touch my hair and stroke my boots when we would sit down for carpet time...I was always saying "Hands off, please.", touch my wedding ring or bracelets when I hold their hands in the hallways, but recently they are so huggy. On Wednesday, as the girls' line was walking into the bathroom, every single girl stopped and hugged me on their way in. The boys are hugging more too. I know it's not super professional, but they say kids need several "good touches" a day. They can hug me all they want.
*I am so excited for Christmas break to spend time with my husband, have some friends up, go to Christmas parties, spend time with family, celebrate our 1st Anniversary, have a clean house, bake a little, etc.
:)
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