Yes, yes. I am still alive. I have been wiped out at the end of each day with little desire to sit in front of a computer. Having said that, a lot has been going on!
School is going well. I changed my seating arrangement, and that seems to be working fairly well. Instead of groups, which I love, I turned the class around and put them in rows. The students are more spread out and less likely to sit and have conversations, which is a good thing. I have incorporated as many reward systems and classroom management techniques as one teacher could possibly do. Any more would just be a complete circus. It might already be. Heh.
As I read back on some of my entries, it seems that all I am doing is complaining about my job, my students, etc. However, that isn’t what I am trying to do. I am venting, that’s all. I love what I do otherwise I wouldn’t keep doing it! My students really are little charmers, and I adore each and every one of them – even the little possessed one. Okay, he’s not really possessed, he just acts like it every now and again – eyes rolling back and around, his head seemingly having a life of it’s own. They really are good kids. I can’t wait to see how each of them grows this year, in whatever way they grow – academically, emotionally, mentally, etc. That’s one of the most exciting things about being a teacher. I get to see growth.
Tonight we had ladies’ night at Barbara’s house. It came at a very good time. We hadn’t had one yet this year, so it was nice. It’s just a time for all of us girls to get together, drink some wine, have something to eat, and just talk. There were about ten of us there, having a good time. Imagine ten women going at it verbally . . . about everything from politics to school to school politics to entertainment to shopping to how we are going to pull a really good prank on the boys at school (boys, meaning the men with whom we work).
While we were all socializing – laughing, talking, more laughing – the lights suddenly went out. We all just kind of stopped and looked out the big picture window in the front room of Barbara’s house. Then we heard the siren. We all jumped up and ran to the window. From the midst of the gasping and gazing, we heard Margo exclaim, “It’s Keith and Kent!” Well, who else would it be? Heh. Her husband, Keith, and Kent both work with us and are the school pranksters. Why wouldn’t they have pulled something on us girls? Of course they would!
Keith had gone to the back of the house to shut off the electricity while Kent parked his car outside of the house with some kind of flashing light and siren doohickey. We went outside, all laughing and talking at once. They had brought the kids with them (Margo’s and Keith’s son is in my class), and as we all said goodbye to them I heard Jimmy say to Keith, “Watch out, Dad! Miss H. will write you a blue slip!” Heh. That’s what we write the kids when they lose a recess and must sit on the bench. That was funny!
When we went back inside the house, we discussed for the next thirty minutes or so about how we were going to get them back. We all agreed that we’d have to wait a couple of weeks so that it would really come as a surprise to them. They’d be expecting something next week, so we mustn’t rush ahead too quickly. We decided that we were going to . . . Wait. No, I’ll talk about it when we do it. One never knows who sees this journal!
It was a nice Friday night. We really should do that more often!
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