It Feels Good!

I guess it's about time that I update this thing seeing how it's been a couple of weeks. Here are a couple of highlights from school since then:

1. My students are starting to see that I mean business so I can start to relax a bit more and I don't have to feel so mean. They know when they need to be working and what I expect of them, so I have more time to have a good time with them during those times when they don't need to be working too hard.

2. I was officially observed on my birthday and even though I never got my official scores, she had a lot of nice things to say to me! She even came in unofficially yesterday while my kids were taking a test and said that she had never seen a class so quiet before. They were taking a test and I told them if they talked, they would have to come in at recess and take it with me then, but still, it was a very nice compliment.

3. Derek got to come and meet my kids on his day off last week. They asked him a lot of funny questions, some of them a little embarrassing for me (What do you like most about Mrs. Lee? Why do these kids want to know that...) but it was fun for Derek to get to meet them. Then, we all went outside and spent about thirty minutes playing capture the flag. Boys against girls. The boys won the first two rounds and then when Derek got recruited to the girls' team and I went to the boys' team, Derek got a victory for the girls! It was really fun and I like that the kids have met him. It makes it a little more fun. And, now, when I talk about some of them, he actually knows who I'm talking about. Well, for the most part.

4. I completely lost control of my class for about fifteen minutes at the end of the day one day this week because a girl did something so sick and funny that I couldn't stop laughing. All the fourth graders at out school sell gummy worms to try and earn more money to go on field trips. (Sidenote: my kids have only been selling for about 2 weeks now, and we have already made $115.00 dollars. That's crazy, and that's just my class!) Some of my girls have thought it would be really good to put some of the sour gummy worms into their water bottles to make it sugar water. I have told them that it is really nasty so if they do that, they can't let me see it (the gummy worms get enlarged and it is just gross!). At the end of the day, this girl was swirling her water in her water bottle and I didn't notice it until it was too late. The gummy worms she had put in there had completely disinigrated and it looked like purple-brown throw-up. I had to completely stop my lesson mid-sentence because it was so gross. I turned and gagged and the kids were like, "what's going on? What is it?" and they were trying to see what had made me stop and turn around like that. I finally turned around and told the girl with a huge smile on my face that she had to put that away right now! It was sick! Everyone knew what I was talking about and I don't know who started it but all of a sudden, all my kids were chanting, "Drink it, drink it, drink it!" I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. I don't know why it was so funny, but I just couldn't help it. The other intern that shares the portable with me opened the door between our rooms and was like, "What's going on?" I couldn't even stop laughing to tell her. I finally got my kids under control again but it was time to go. It might not be that funny to anyone that reads it, but I swear, I was crying I was laughing so hard!

5. I said it briefly before, but I taught on my birthday. It was really fun because I brought cupcakes for my kids and I wouldn't let them forget that it was my birthday because I wrote "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. LEE!" on the board and everytime we had to do anything, I said,
"It would be a really good birthday present if you would..." The kids got a kick out of it because they knew that I was just having a good time with them so it was really fun.

Well, it's probably a good thing that I haven't updated this thing until now because I don't know if I could have come up with as many good things had I not waited. There have been a lot of times these first couple of weeks that I wondered if I chose the right profession. But, I'm learning that when people say "The first month is the hardest," they are absolutely right. I didn't even understand how hard it really was going to be, but I'm starting to get a hang of the routine and figure out what it is I'm supposed to be teaching, and really what I'm supposed to do. One thing that I think will be really hard this whole year is trying not to feel like I'm a bad teacher, because since my kids are so low, it's hard not to blame myself when they completely fail their tests. But, regardless of how they are doing now, I know that they will improve at least somewhat during this year and I just have to give it time. I also know that I chose the perfect profession for myself. I love being a teacher. It is what I was meant to do and I love going to school and seeing those kids everyday. It feels good being a teacher!