Oy ve!

Have you ever had a friend who always seems to have disastrous illnesses? That’s me! One year it was a hysterectomy that had complications: Spent 15 days in the hospital and almost died and scared everyone I knew. But I got over it and life went on. Yay!

Three days ago, I went to the eye doctor (a good friend who gently insisted I come in) because I was having floaters and she wanted to check it out.  It turns out I have a torn retina. She whisked me off to a retinal specialist, who did a gas injection (ew!) in my eye to help seal it. The next day, I came back to him and he did a freezing procedure to finish up the seal. I have to say, not fun, but I was a good patient. No tears, no complaining about pain, no nothing. You’d have been proud of me!

It’s serious, folks. If I don’t follow the rules, I could lose my vision in that eye, so believe me, I’m following the rules! I have to stay in the position the doctor tells me. The first night, it was on my right side, with my head cocked upward at a truly awkward angle. Now, it’s easier: I have to sit and sleep on my back, in a chair with a slight angle. Good news: I can use the computer! It’s the perfect angle for ny head angle and the good doctor said I could use the computer.  I have to sit like this – no exercising, no cooking or cleaning or anything (darn!) for seven days – until next Wednesday. My back is killing me – I’m not used to just sitting, you know? I have a lovely patch on my eye.

If I’m good and follow the rules – which believe me, I’m doing! -  the retinal tear should be better and I should be okay. Please put your collective selves together and think good thoughts, everyone. I go back to the doctor on Friday to have it checked.

Currently

I can't believe it's time for the May "Currently" - wow, the time is flying by! I had such fun over the weekend blog hopping at the Teacher Appreciation Sunday - wow! I found a lot of new blogs to follow, which is very exciting! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Once again, I’ve been missing in action – with an explanation! My apologies – sometimes it’s hard to keep all the balls in the air!

The entire first grade classes are collaborating on a cute musical called, “Lighten Up!” It’s a kind of primary take on the old television shows that would have songs and jokes throughout it. The kids are having a great time – and so are the teachers! The performance is on May 30^th – right at the end of the school year!

We have costumes planned (my class is wearing top hats and bow ties) and have been practicing “on the stage” (Our cafeteria is called a multipurpose room – not only is its primary job to be the cafeteria, but it also has a stage in the front so we can do assemblies and plays!)

The songs are running through my mind even in my sleep! I grade papers humming the songs. I cook dinner with the soundtrack running as a backwards rhythm section. If you’ve ever done a musical or play before, you know how it is!

Thank heavens for Lettering Delights, though! They have a huge clearance sale going on right now (you can click on their icon on my blog and it will take you there). One of the sets I picked up will make perfect backdrops pictures – it has musical notes and instruments and cute kids – I can’t wait to send them to the district office to be made into posters!

The entire school (except K and 1^st grade, thankfully) is taking the STAR test this next 2 weeks – I have 8 extra students in my classroom the whole morning. We have a combination class (first grade/second grade). The second graders are taking the test with their teacher so the first graders in that class have been split up among the rest of the first grades and they spend the morning with us. In addition, I also have 2 4^th graders who have IEP’s that specify that they take the test with the Resource Teacher – at a different time then the rest of their peers. So, they come to me while the others are taking their tests. Yikes! Talk about a dramatic increase – my class increased by a third overnight! It’s been a challenge logistically, but it’s working out.

Do you do plays or musicals with your class? We’re a public school (not a magnet) with an emphasis on the visual and performing arts so every teacher has to do some kind of performance during the year.

Tag! You're It!

Barb at It’s About Time For Teachers and SweetP at Sweet P’sClass Notes tagged me to play Blog Recess! Sounds like fun! Rather than answer 20 questions (that’s another game, folks!), I decided to answer 10 questions – a combination of each of their questions. So here goes…

1.      What would you be doing if you weren’t teaching?

     Most likely, I’d be a photographer. I did that before I became a teacher and enjoyed it – I had a good ‘eye’ too. However, there’s nothing like teaching!

2.      What enrichment classes are available at your school?

     We rotate each trimester between P.E., Music, and Art. Every trimester someone new comes in and our kids get a “taste” of enrichment classes.

3.      How many students do you have?

     I have 25 students this year.

4.      Do you have an assistant?

    No! Never have, and likely, never will. California (where I teach) barely has a budget to pay TEACHERS, let alone an aide.

5.      What is the most useful staff development you’ve taken?

    Without a doubt, it’s the Thinking Map Training. We’re in year 2 and I just love it.

6.      What is the one thing you won’t eat – ever?

  Liver – I can’t stand it – I can’t even stand the smell. Oatmeal runs a close second, though. I’m a picky eater…

7.      Do you still have a landline?

     Yes –I have a cell phone, but I barely use it. (Isn’t that just awful?)

8.      What is the location of your best vacation ever?

    Hawaii was so beautiful! I’d love to go back there someday.

9.      Have you taught more or less than 20 years? How long have you been at your school?

    I’ve taught 26 years, all at the same school, mostly in First Grade, with some kindergarten, second grade, and lots of combination classes (k-1 and 1-2).

1.   How old is your car?

                         I have a 2 year old Camaro that is my pride and joy. Probably a mid-life crisis…ha ha!

So here are my questions. The rules are answer the 10 questions. Tag 10 people and come up with 10 new questions to ask them.  Tag!

1.      What book are you reading right now?

2.      Do you have a Kindle or Nook or do you still read “real” books?

3.      What t.v. shows do you just “have” to watch every week?

4.      What part of the country do you live in?

5.      Do you garden – or are you a Plant Killer?

6.      What is your favorite forbidden treat?

7.      What is your favorite color?

8.      Are you a cake person or a frosting person?

9.      Do you like to cook or would you prefer eating out?

10.   Do you have a school webpage in addition to your blog?

I’ve tagged:

1.      Finally in First

2.      First Grade a la Carte

3.      Ladybug’s Teaching Files

4.      The Bubbly Blonde

5.      Set This Circus Down

6.      The Science Diva

7.      Mrs. Vento’s Kindergarten

8.      First Grade Garden

9.      Mrs. T’s First Grade

10.   Good Morning, Miss Rubie

Task Cards

Do you use task cards in the classroom? I discovered them last year when I taught a combination class – they were invaluable! This year, teaching a straight first grade class, they STILL are invaluable. They really differentiate the curriculum in a huge way and it also offers the benefit of collaborative learning. My children were thrilled when I added a recording sheet to my task cards. They all write the name of the set they’re working on at the top and then they go to it. Card # 1’s answer is written in box 1, etc.

I’ve found a LOT of task cards on the internet but I’ve also designed some of my own to help my children learn or improve on a specific concept. For example, we’re (still) working hard on ten more/ten less/one more/ one less – I designed some cards and they’re a huge hit! (Nothing fancy – no cute graphics but BOY, do they love them!)

The best thing is, they all ASK if they can do task cards “when they’re finished” with their work or centers! I love it! I’m so pleased, because when we first started the year, it was like pulling teeth to get them to expand their learning beyond just the basics – this is a huge step! In fact, one of my kiddos found a set on less than-greater than and he went through the entire set! He is one of my low readers, and some of the cards required reading the words “less than” and “greater than”. He came up to me and said, “I know what this says!” Success!

We’ve been working hard on ten frames. I created a very small set (only 6 cards) on ten frame addition. I’m uploading with the hope that, as always, you’ll find them helpful. You’re actually getting these before my kiddos are: I’m taking them to my class tomorrow! Please let me know if they work for you! (Click on the link below the image. This is the first time I've figured out how to use Google Docs so I hope it's right!) 

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bws-SHqZMCzld3VwM3cwb1NoTFk

Look! No Hands!

Oh, my gosh, I am STILL laughing! I have this little girl in my class who is majorly ADHD and has a huge personality to match her energy. She’s on medication, but honestly, it doesn’t make much of a difference at all. However, she’s a sweet little girl and I adore her – even though some days I feel like I’m pulling her down from the ceiling (kind of like a helium balloon!)

So, today, the children earned an extra recess. I’m using Kristen’s Angry Birds incentive and BOY! Does it work with this group! They earned this extra recess in less than a week – which got me thinking, “Hmmm….so you CAN do it if you choose!” Anyways, my girlfriend from the above paragraph was just BESIDE herself with glee at the prospect of another recess.

She came running up to me on the playground, grabbed my hands, and panted, “I just HAVE to show you something that I JUST DISCOVERED!”  I go with her, somewhat concerned, because our school has been known to have the occasional wildlife – like skunks – and with my little friend, she’d as like to go grab one and try to corner it!

OH, NO! She throws herself onto her head and does a headstand, her little legs pumping as hard as she can to keep upright. I applaud and she says, “Wait! There’s MORE!” She takes her hands down from the ground, extends them in the air and now, all four limbs are gyrating like a windmill and she’s giggling. She says to me delightedly, “Look, Mrs. M! No Hands!” The whole schoolyard just burst into laughter, enjoying her! Call her Helicopter Kid!

Currently...

It's time for Farley's April Currently! Hard to believe it's April already! Where's the time going? 

Thanks to everyone who gave me good advice on how to turn this into a picture file! It worked! 

Exciting News!

Dear friends, I’m so excited! Our school was just told that we won the California Distinguished School award for academic excellence! This is quite an honor and we’re all thrilled!

I wish I could tell you that this award means we’ll get extra money for our school, but no – it’s just an award! However, we’ll get a cool flag to fly at our school and we can paint a graphic that tells everyone we’re a California Distinguished School. Seriously, we all worked hard – both the teachers and our families- so it’s a nice acknowledgement, especially because it seems like teachers are being ill-treated all over our country.   

Friday we present our Children’s Literature Festival presentation to our parents and the school at Flag Ceremony. They were unable to come to the Literature Festival and everyone wants to see it so – Take Two! We also have an Easter Egg Hunt just before that and a party to NOT celebrate Easter. I’m hoping (fingers crossed everyone!) that my kiddos can keep it together after the party in order to do the presentation. It should be an interesting afternoon…. Wish us luck! 

Also, be sure to stop by Finally in First! Jenn is having a 5 days - 5 giveaways to celebrate her (almost) spring break! :)

Tug of WAR!!!!

My principal went out and bought brand new jump ropes for the playground. They’re nice ones – long enough to play double-dutch and nice and sturdy. The children were delighted and they got lots of use the first day they were put out. Lots of jump roping and happy children.

And then….the “big boys” (2^nd and 3^rd graders, ha!) got a hold of them and decided they would make a good tug of war implement. Twenty “big boys” started tugging – and 5 (yes, you read that right) of my little firsties decided that it looked fun and they joined in.

Predictably, yard duty busted every one of them – EXCEPT the two of mine that ran away. The recess bell rang and I walk to the line-up spot to pick them up and I can hear YELLING and angry voices as I walk around the corner. I suppressed a sigh and brought my lovelies into the classroom to hear the whole sad story.  (I won’t bore you with repetition – just read the above paragraph with lots of first grade angst and you’ve got the jist of the conversation…) MY contribution to the conversation went something like this: “Dudes, weren’t you supposed to be playing JUMPROPE with the jumpropes? You joined a group of 20 big kids to pull the rope? What were you thinking?????” Etc, etc, etc. Nobody’s listening, I don’t know why I bother….they’re not mad they got busted – they’re made because 2 of them DIDN’T get busted.

 It is a fair comment to say that I grew tired of the conversation WAY before they did.

And because it was the same 5 kids (minus a  few others, which I was happy about) that I’m ALWAYS talking to about their playground behavior, I made them write a letter home regarding this and I changed their color card. The principal and yard duty had already told them to knock it off – And honestly, since I’m ALWAYS talking to my class about their behavior, YEAH, I was done…

So yesterday, after the entire class witnessed these 5 kids getting in trouble, I’m fairly confident that I no longer have to remind the children to use the jumpropes for their intended purpose – I mean, come on! If 5 kids got in trouble in your class, wouldn’t the rest of the class think, “WELL, I certainly won’t be trying tug of war anytime soon.”?

OH, NOOOOOOO!!!!! It’s lunch time, I’m eating my lunch – alone – without children – enjoying the quiet – when the door bursts open and in comes yesterday’s Famous Five to snitch-tell on-  REPORT that 5 more of my kids joined ANOTHER tug of war game! (And people, two of them were my GOOD KIDS! The other 3 were the kids that I was honestly surprised yesterday that they weren’t involved, so no surprise there.)

So, of COURSE the first Famous Five are breathlessly waiting to see what will happen to the next group that dared to play tug of war – and  HONESTLY, I’m so tired of this, I can hardly stand it. But you can’t tell that to first graders so….we had another conversation (see above…. Just add in a conversation over the intercom by our principal to underscore the point.

Oh, and add bored expressions by all 10 kids and them saying in their minds, “Mrs. M, BITE ME.” And you have the whole sordid tale.

Group 2’s notes home were WAY funnier than Group 1’s, though. One of them even drew a line and wrote next to it “Mom, Sine Here” (Okay, so “sign” wasn’t spelled correctly but he knew it was a long vowel! Hey, I’m looking for the positives as I can here!)

I am contemplating taking a sick day how to best remind my lovelies to use the jumpropes and plan on introducing some jump rope songs. I dug through my bookshelves and found a book with a bunch of them – I think this will be our P.E. lesson for the next few days.

One of the parents of the boys involved said to me, “You know you’ll miss them when school gets out.”  Yeah…………..maybe………………….

Scholastic Book Club Problems - Any Ideas????

Hi all! Scholastic has been having some real problems the last couple of years with billing in their book clubs. Last year, a couple of teachers in my school had problems – this year, it’s my turn.

Way back in August, I sent in a huge order (a hundred dollars) to their book clubs. The checks never got credited to my account, although my books arrived and the parents (thankfully) got their books. I’ve gotten all kinds of “dun letters” demanding payment – which has already been sent in!

I’ve made several phone calls – and some of their personnel were helpful; others were more like, “Go away and leave us alone.” To make things worse, their billing department closes at 2:30 – and guess what time my kiddos and parents are finally out the door???? Yup, you guessed it – 2:30. I’m NEVER able to get to the phone in time to call them! Very frustrating!

Yesterday, I called AGAIN and demanded to talk to a supervisor. Enough is enough! I’m not ordering books from Scholastic because of this and, as I told the supervisor, I don’t plan on ordering books until they get this situation resolved! I’m hopeful that THIS time, things will really get resolved… we’ll see! One thing is certain: I’m NOT repaying this money!

Has anyone else out there had this problem? How did you resolve it? I’m very frustrated right now! I’ve heard that this has become a common problem! I’ll let you know what happens – to me and to others. In the meantime, I’m checking with Amazon to see if they have a book club service that I can use until Scholastic gets their act together! Thanks for letting me vent!