I pledge allegiance..

I don't know if all of my teacher friends feel the same about morning announcements as I do, but they are near the worst part of my day. By the time we recite three different things, have school announcements, and birthday announcements, it is almost a 6 minute ordeal. 6 minutes of total silence for 5 year old's is torture. Anyway, a lot of my kids have been learning the pledge of allegiance just from repetition. Sooo...today we are having circle time, and I have finally gotten everyone focused on letters and sounds. A little girl raises her hand and says she needs to tell me something. I normally don't allow this during teaching so I am not sure why I let her. I think she just started before I could stop her. She proceeds to put her hand over her heart and recite the entire pledge right there in the middle of carpet time. I tried so hard not to laugh, but all I could think about was the grandmother saying it in "Christmas Vacation".

Mice.

As if Monday's are not bad enough...
I was totally prepared. I made my lunch, put it in the fridge, and fell asleep at approx. 9:00 which gives me ample amount of sleep to conquer my Monday. However, my Monday had other plans. This morning I woke, showered, and began blow drying my hair. Might I mention that I have just enough time to do what has to be done in the mornings, and no time to spare. Especially this week because I have to be at school at 7:15 for A.M. Duty. So as I am drying my hair, my husband is taking his shower. I look out the bathroom door into the kitchen and there is a fairly large mouse running through my kitchen. I began screaming in a panic- of course my husband barely cares. After about 10 minutes he gets out of the shower. At this point, the mouse is back out in the yard telling all his friends about the stash he found. Great. I simply can not continue fixing my hair, so it looks awful. No way am I going out into the bonus room to iron my clothes. So my sweet husband irons my clothes while I sit on the bed yelling antics at him about why we have mice, how long has it been here, will it go back outside, is that the only one, how do I kill it...you can imagine. I quickly dress and frantically run through the kitchen- grab my bag and out the door. Already running late. Get to school and realize I have no lunch. I vow not to eat in the cafeteria because it is nasty. Which of course today I had to. It was some form of meat, cornbread, turnip greens, and sweet potatoes. UGH! So I was starving. Left school and went straight to Wal-Mart. Had to call the husband four times to get the right type of trap. Since he would not be home as soon as I arrived, my mother-in-law came over to lay out the traps for me. If the mouse is still here- he will be gone soon. So to say the least, my Monday was basically a failure..I hope for a better Tuesday.

Is it fall break yet?

The first of the year is crazy. If I had remembered how crazy it was, I might not have been interested in returning. However, I just keep thinking that in just a few weeks my kiddos will know what they are doing. I am sure that at every grade level the first of the year is a little challenging. The kids have to get used to you and your procedures. It could take some adjusting. With Kindergarten it is multiplied by thousands. These kids have to get adjusted to school, sitting still, writing with a pencil, working, staying in their chair, not talking whenever they want, walking in a line, walking period, doing things for themselves, and on top of all of that learning skills to read! By May of last year, I had those kids right where I wanted them. They knew how to do everything, and what I expected of them. I forgot they didn't at the beginning :). Today I had about nine little friends drop a slip. That is almost half. Bless their hearts- they cry and complain and ask all day to change it back. I do feel bad, but they have to learn. I have some super sweet kids this year. 11 boys and 9 girls, and they are super cute! I am ready to get them to the point they are able to learn..

A few funny things that have happened so far...
-A sweet little boy asked if he could go home with me, I said no that kids don't live at my house and I don't know that my husband would like that much..Another sweet little boy next to me said "What! You don't have kids, you know HAVE to HAVE kids right?!" Right. Thank you.
-Today a little girl came in a panic to me that the boy next to her had bitten her. Not something that should be funny really. However, she had such a scolding look on her face I automatically thought it was funny. So I tried to control myself and asked the little boy if he bit her. He said "well I didn't really bite her, I just did this..and he bit his shirt and made a little growling noise. I lost it right there- probably did not prevent biting in the future...

Hoping for good days the rest of the week!

The joys of K Testing...

We decided this year to test all of the Kindergartners before we put them into classes. We each tested four or five kids a day..whew. To say the least I am glad that I am done asking which picture begins with "p" and so on. We decided to test first to even place the students between classes. Last year, some of the classes were higher than others. So to be fair, we tested first. Today our principal spent the whole day making the class roles. I got 20 new little ones! Some of them I had tested. One in particular, was the precious, spunky, good ole country boy! His personality was adorable! I was hoping all day that I would get him, and I did! Last year, I had met my kids before them coming to school, so I am a little apprehensive about getting them on Tuesday!

I have changed a lot of things this year, and I am so excited to see what my kids are capable of! I am implementing some techniques from my Quantum Learning training, and I am excited to see how my kids will adjust to those routines. I feel better being a second year teacher, and knowing what to expect. I need to start praying for my school year, and my kids so next week we can have a great first week! Hope all of you other teachers out there are enjoying your new group!

Back to School!

Well that time as come. Summer is over in 3 days. Tuesday begins at 8:00am with meetings, schedules, papers, and open house. Luckily, my room is ready to go! I spent about two full days working, and it is ready! In my district, we stagger in our Kindergartners. The rest of the building will start school with a half day on the 4th. Since when did school start so early! I can remember going on vacations well into August, and not missing one day of school. Oh well. We spend the first about two weeks testing the children. After we test, we will place them evenly in classrooms. Starting the week of August 16th, half will come for two days and the other half will come for the next two days. And finally, by Monday the 23rd all of my kids will be there!

As I think about this year, I just keep thinking about great things that my kids from last year would love...I miss them! I am apprehensive about new kids. I had a rowdy bunch last year, but loved them! Hope this year goes well!

VBS

This week we have had VBS at church. It was a super heroes for God theme. Of course I wanted to be involved with the kiddos throughout the week. My sis-in-law and I taught the twos and threes class. They were so much fun! We talked about Esther, Noah, Abraham, David, and Samson. They had a great time making crafts, seeing puppet shows, and singing songs! It got me in the mood to start a new school year with my little ones in a few weeks!

As for school, my room is a disaster and I am pretty much not prepared. They are painting my classroom so everything has been moved away from the walls, and everything is off the walls! I am planning to spend several hours at school this weekend getting things back on the walls. I am getting excited to meet my new little group of learners and see how they will grow through the year!

Vacation Review

We had a wonderful vacation! It was so nice to get away for awhile. The hardest part is coming back to the reality, as you all know! We started our vacation by going to the Braves game. It was about 99 degrees with a heat index of 102! However, we moved out of our sunny seats to ones in the shade so it wasn't too bad. We did get a sunburn just from the brief time we were in the sun! On our way from Atlanta to Valdosta there was a horrible storm. It took about twice as long for us to get to the hotel. The next morning we went to Jacksonville to board our ship. We spent a day at sea just reading and laying out. Next day we were in Key West. It just so happened that some of our family was down there at the same time. We got to see them for a few minutes! While in Key West we just spent a few hours walking around. We walked down to the southernmost point in the US. It is 90 miles to Cuba from that spot, and you can kind of see a hazy Cuba. The next day we spent in Nassau. We went to the beach for the day and enjoyed the sand and ocean! Finally, the last day was spent at sea. We spent most of the day napping in a shady chair. It was wonderful! Now since I have been back, we have been in an 8 hour a day week long class- so not much fun!

Summer Vacation!

Well I guess you can add me to the list of people canceling their vacation due to the oil. The hubby and I were supposed to leave middle of June and enjoy a nice relaxing 5 days in Panama City Beach, Florida. I just could not handle the thought of paying all that money and smelling oil the whole time I was down there. So..I canceled that vacation. I feel like "my in place of vacation" is just much better anyway! We are starting our vacation with a Braves game on a Sunday afternoon. My husband just loves the Braves, and Atlanta happens to be on the way to our destination. After the game we are driving a little further to Valdosta, Georgia where we are staying for the night (I don't know anything about it other than it gets us closer to our destination). Monday morning, which happens to be our anniversary (6-21-08) we will be boarding a Carnival Cruise in Jacksonville Florida for five days! We went on a cruise for a our honeymoon two years ago so I think it is super special! Our cruise will be going to Key West and Nassau! I cant wait to get away for a week! Here is a picture of us on our wedding day......

5 year reunion

My husband was our high school class president, so guess what that leaves us in charge of? You got it- class reunions! We had some people express an interest in a reunion before 10 years so we are having a 5 year this summer. First of all, it is insane to me that we have been out of school for five years. So anyway, with him in charge, I also am. We have decided to have an informal event. It is at a local park, and we are having a potluck meal. I have spent the last few days addressing envelopes to the 95 people in my class. Yes, I know, that is somewhat small. My husband has typed up the invitation, and I have typed up cards telling people what they should bring. My hope that is at least 75% of the invitations make it to the appropriate people, and at least half of the class decides to come. The rest of my night will be spent stuffing envelopes for my classmates. Here are some pictures of high school for you to enjoy...

Summer Plans

Well now that my school year has ended, it is time to look ahead to my summer! I am taking three classes to finish up my Master's program so that takes up two days of each week. I have 5 different in-services that I have to go to for PD hours. My hubby and I are taking a vacation to Panama City Beach for a few days. Some of our best friends are getting married out of town- and hubs is the best man- so we are spending a few days there. In my spare time, I am working at a summer camp that I have been working at for the past 5 summers. I really just love the people that I work with, and could use the extra money. I am sure that I will have plenty of blog moments with a summer of children!

No longer a first year teacher..

Today I put my little ones on the bus for the last time this year! They are headed to first grade!!! I am so proud of how far they have come. We have spent this week just cleaning up and playing. They were so relieved and kept saying "so we really don't have to do any pages?!" Yesterday we had graduation. They sang some songs for the parents (Days of the Week, Months of the year, etc.) Each child got a diploma and I also gave out citizenship award, perfect attendence, and the most F.R.E.D. books read over the year. After that, we spent the day outside playing on the playground as well as playing on some rented inflatables. It was a great day!

Today...was an epic last day. To start the day, we spent about thirty minutes scrubbing stickers off of my tables that my kids thought were cool to put there. As I dropped them off at their special, the lights went off throughout the building. The way that my room is, I have no outside door or windows. It was so dark in my room it was difficult to see your hand in front of your face. I managed to locate my flashlight. I worked on some things with that until I went back to pick them up. We stayed outside until lunch because clearly 19 Kindergartners in a room with no lights is not a good idea. As we headed back in for lunch we had to all hold on to each other and navigate through the hallways by the dim light of my cell phone. As we were preparing for lunch the lights came back on! Hallelujah! As we were sitting down to eat our lunch, we were notified that we were on lock down..we couldn't leave the building until about 1:00 when it was cleared.

Since we were stuck in the room, and it was close to 95 degrees outside, I cleaned the room and the kids helped. I took down everything off one of my walls that needs to be painted. Let the kids get the staples out of it- they loved it because I let them stand in chairs- may not have been a safe option. They organized the toy shelf and cleaned the tables and chairs. I took down bulletin boards that need to be re-done, and stacked all tables and chairs. Tomorrow will be a total paperwork day- but no kids :)

I feel relieved to no longer be experiencing everything for the first time- well once I am done with end of the year things. I loved my sweet children, but some of them I will be glad to be done saying their names 100 times a day :) I know that they will do great in first grade!!

3 more days.

Today I heard a teacher compare the end of school to the 9th month of pregnancy- everyone has had enough and wants the end to come. That seems accurate. We have school until Wednesday, and my kids have been done since last week. They are just WILD. Today, I just let them play in fun centers for a lot of the day, because they are over any type of work I could make them do. The teachers are all a little on edge as well. I haven't decided if the beginning of the year or end of the year is more stressful!

I am glad that I have completed my end of the year gift for my kids. I have been having them draw things, I have been taking pictures, laminating, and then this week the aid binded them into books for me. They are precious! It is so amazing to see how much they have grown throughout the year.

Tuesday is graduation. We are signing five songs, giving special awards and diplomas. So far the practices have been painful. A lot of my kids just will not stand still and sing. I do have a particularly rowdy class, but I hope that they do not stand out over the other five classes.

At this point, it is survival to the end. I have faith my kids and I can make it!

Zoo

Today we went on our end of the year field trip to the Zoo. The weather people were calling for severe thunderstorms all day, but we were going rain or shine. It was about 100% humidity- about like a day in the middle of July- but no rain! It started raining as soon as we got on the buses, how great! We STRONGLY encourage all parents to come on the trip and that way we can split up. Those parents just sign out their kids as soon as we get there, and they are theirs for the day. Makes counting children and keeping up with them much easier. I had three kids that did not have a parent go. Another teachers teenage daughter and some friends decided to go with us so they kept two of my girls that didn't have a parent. My other one, is the one I constantly talk about on my blog that is just always doing something crazy. However, when he is alone- he is fine. He has a really bad home life, but is so smart! He knows something about everything. His vocabulary is on a 10 year old level probably. So anyway, I spent the day with him. Most people just slowly enjoyed their day at the zoo stopping whenever they needed to. Not us. We saw every single thing you could see at the zoo. Literally. And all in about 3 hours including lunch. He was so cute with his little map all day. We were on a schedule that had to be kept. I was glad that I could to spend some time with him alone where he wasn't in trouble, because he stays in trouble at school!

Enf of the year testing...and other things

Well, have not blogged in awhile because I have been bogged down with end of the year assessments. I have been testing all day, and then bring home test to average scores. My kids take 6 different assessments at the end of the year. It takes nearly forever to test 19 kids on 6 different tests. Not to mention, they lose interest about the first time I test them. Obviously I don't give all 6 at the same time, but none the less they really do not enjoy them. Everyday this week my head has just been pounding.

Friday we are going to the zoo! I cant wait! My kids have been counting down the days since the beginning of May when they could see it on the calendar. I am hoping any rain stays away so we can have a good day!

The flood waters took awhile to recede in Nashville. We missed two days of school, while some districts missed a week or more. So many peoples lives were changed. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

I blogged back in February about my college roommate who passed away from cystic fibrosis (www.leighallynsbreathingroom.blogspot.com)- if you want to check out her story- well Saturday we are walking at the zoo in her memory and to raise money for the cause. I am excited with a way to remember her each year.

2 more full weeks of school...I can make it- maybe.

Flood.

Lived in Nashville my entire life, and have never seen something like this. It has been raining since Friday night/early Saturday morning. Finally, as I look outside, I think it has stopped. Interstates are shut down, homes are gone, lives are lost, and all schools are shut down tomorrow. Downtown Nashville is completely under water due to the Cumberland River. I am thankful I live up on a ridge and away from a river. I do not have any water damage, but many many friends do. Pray for these people who are still trapped in their homes, lost their homes, or lost family members.

Oh the joys of personal days!

Well one of the wonderful joys of being a teacher means I get two personal days a year! This year has been so crazy, I have not found a chance to take them. So.. I took yesterday and today off! It has been so fantastic. Since I wasn't sick I had plenty of time to get plans together for my sub. I left plenty of things to do and hope that they are all done when I get back to school on Monday. Yesterday the husband stayed home with me, and we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, shopped, did some homework, and went to his baseball game. I even got a nap in! Today, I am getting a pedicure and seeing a movie with the sis-in-law. I mean who doesn't love a four day weekend!? The only thing that concerns me is how awful my kids are being to that poor sub...

what.a.day.

Started the day at 7:40 with a little girl telling me she didn't feel good. She then proceeded to throw up in my trash can until about 8:10 when her dad got there to get her. Awesome. Although she was quite the trooper. She got it all in the trashcan and even held her own hair out of the way! We then had Graduation pictures. They were so adorable in their little caps and gowns. However, it was not just a cap and a gown. The boys had to wear these little button down shirts with ties. Try putting that on several squirmy six year old boys. This took until about 10:00. Then another sweet little one got sick so I spent the next ten or so minutes calling his mom. And yes, I disinfected the entire room this afternoon. At this point its fifteen minutes until lunch. I managed to accomplish one page. Went to lunch. After lunch we watched Disney's Planet Earth with the rest of the Kindergarten. That lasted until 1:00. Which left enough time to color a page and send the Early Friends home. Exhausted.

Odd Drawing..

So when my kids finish something and we are waiting on everyone to finish I let them draw pictures on the back. Today my sweet little one came up for me to check his work and was telling me about his picture. He said it was a person who tamed lions- there was a man and some lions in the picture. But then he said "you know he has sausage tied to his belt, just like they used to"- Ok is that real??!!

Field Trip..

Well so far this year we have been on three field trips- not including the three plays we have seen at the high school. We went to the symphony first, then the pumpkin patch (but me and 6 of my students had a stomach virus, I was at the field trip they were at home), and today to the Children's Theater. We saw Charlotte's Web. On a field trip day, the kids come into the room bouncing off the walls. On the ride there, I sat my my little child who (from previous readings) you would know can not sit alone. He asked me questions like "Is that the Brooklyn Bridge??" (in reference to the shelby street bridge), "Why is there a short bus on the interstate?" And many more exciting and important questions. When we arrived at the theater, there was of course an overload of staff. They were telling us where on the pew we needed to sit. I had reached a point where I had to tell the lady that certain children have to sit near me- no matter what. While I was trying to explain this, I look up and my sweet child was rolling down the aisle as you would roll down a hill. I couldn't help but laugh and try to correct him. I am sure the lady thought I was a really great teacher. He talked to me the whole time. As we were being rushed out to the bus, seven children of course needed to use the bathroom. I didn't even worry about finding the boys bathroom- we all used the girls. We finally made it to the park to eat and play. And as always, I had a sleeping babies on the way back to school. I would have loved to join them if I didnt have to the responsible adult!

New Student

Poor little girl- she moved to a new school the last week of April. This morning I got a new student. So thankful she is a girl because my boys are too much already! She is a sweet little girl, but there were so many frustrations with a new student. I have already run all my pages- now one short. I made about 15 trips to the copier for various things for her today. Also, she is behind my students. I pretty much know what all of my students can do at this point, except her. So anyway all day I was complaining to myself about how I didn't want to go from 18 to 19 students, but when I finally stopped to think about her- how hard for her! She was attacked- literally- by students all day long! She is forced to adjust to my system, which is probably like none other. I just want her to enjoy her last five weeks of school in my class. I know that I can only bring her so far in that amount of time, and I am just going to help her the best that I can.

Also a little wisdom from one of my kids...first of all if you need a self esteem boost, go talk to Kindergartners. They will be glad to tell you how wonderful you are! This little girl tells me at least five times a day that I am the best teacher ever and that I look beautiful :) So the other day she said, your the best teacher because I never get in trouble- I just do what you say and I don't get in trouble- but some kids they don't listen and do what you say and they always get in trouble- why don't they just listen, its the way to go...I thought wow, your brilliant!

Writing

I think I have complained about this before but I do not enjoy teaching writing to my kiddos. For people who think in incomplete thoughts, writing a sentence or two is really not easy. When your hands are tiny, forming perfect letters on the lines- not easy. Regardless, the first grade teachers want us to work on writing. I have tried graphic organizers, having them copy from the board, doing letter by letter with them, writing a sentence on their own everyday, and making charts for them to have during writing with the letters on them...it is still the most painful part of the day. Any suggestions???

On a side note, I realized this week my kids love playing addition Around the World or Basketball- good stuff for review time in April and May!

Also, every morning since about November I have been praying for these two kids in my room who just do not make good choices. It seriously helps with my patience. God is good when we rely on Him. Everyone have a good Friday!

Sleeping

I sometimes forget that my little ones are just precious babies in the scheme of life. This week I have the responsibility of Early Friends. Early Friends are some friends who leave at 130 instead of 230. So I have to leave my class and go outside to do this. I normally just put a movie on while I am gone. About week two I realized that two of my boys could not be in the room without me. Chaos was happening. They are my two kids who everyday test the limits. They have both served several days in ISS, had numerous calls and notes home, and have missed countless hours of recess. Some days they do stuff that is so awful, I forget that they are six years old. So anyway, today when I had left one for EF with another teacher- when I came back he was sound asleep. He was sooooo peaceful :) I let him sleep for about 45 minutes until it was time to go home. He was so calm while sleeping. I thought, no wonder why parents stare at their sleeping children- because when they are awake you sometimes cant have positive thoughts- but when they are sleeping, they are perfect :)

Braggin on my Kidos

One of the greatest things about teaching such small kids is that I get to see them truly learn. I get to see the first time they get something, and how excited they get over that! Just this week, some of my kids have amazed me at how much they have learned. I have really not enjoyed teaching writing this year. It is extremely difficult for someone to write a sentence who does not think in complete thoughts. We introduced writing a sentence in October, and some of my little ones could just barely get one word on their paper. Well..yesterday..I put five vocabulary words from our story on the board (rescue, shimmering, pilot, yahct, mechanic). The students were to write five sentences using one word per sentence. Now, some of my kids were able to do just one sentence. But SEVERAL of my students wrote five different sentences using the words correctly. I was so proud of them, they have come so far!
Another thing..I have a precious little one who will more than likely be enjoying another year of Kindergarten. My kids have to type in their lunch number when they buy their lunch. This is major at the beginning of the year (as you can imagine)- however by now they all know them. Except this one, but today- before I could turn around and help him- he typed in his lunch number! I literally yelled out loud I was so happy for him!

It is things like this that make my job worthwhile. Amongst all that of course I still had a boy who through scissors at another, people on tables, tears, blood, and all the normal things- but these little things get you through the day.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all! I loved my Easter crafts we got to do this past week! I also loved my Easter egg hunt with my kiddos on Friday! Today I had a spectacular lunch with my in-laws, and mowed the grass! Hope everyone had a good Easter!

4 Day Weeks

Who doesn't love a 4 day week!! I love thinking that on this Wednesday night my alarm will only go off at 5:40 for one more day this week. Plus, with this fabulous weather we have been enjoying, my kids have checked out. They have no interest in letters/sounds, math pages, coloring pages, or writing in their journals. The only thing that keeps them going is 45 minutes of recess (yes, thats longer I should but it is just so nice), centers, and me trying to teach them a new sign to add to our sign language everyday.

I have talked a little bit about a sweet little boy in my room who just simply can not behave. I love him to death, and he is one of my more common sense intelligent children. He knows more random facts about things than I do. Just the other night Titanic was on TV, so of course we were watching it. The next morning he ran in and said "Mrs. Dickerson, last night on TV, this boat hit an iceberg and it sank, and this girl and boy that loved each other, their hair froze, their hair, can you believe that!" It was just so cute :) However, today, not so cute. He continued to stand on top of his table and jump off. While I was teaching. He constantly threw crayons across the room. And the final straw, he punched another boy in "his area". I want him to do the right thing and make good choices, but he does not. I know that God put him in my room for a reason, and maybe it is to strengthen my patience because that surely is happening.

Those of you who have a four day week and tomorrow is your Friday, Enjoy!

Sign Language

Does anyone know how to sign? I am in search for a good website with some easy signs. I have known the alphabet since I was about 10. I decided that my kids needed something new today so while we sang our letters and sounds song I introduced the sign language alphabet. They loved it! They wanted to keep doing it and doing it. I figured I could learn some more and just keep teaching them. At this point in the year, we are reviewing a lot of skills I have already taught so I think this will be a fun little add on for them. Any ideas?

TCAP

I must say, I am SO THANKFUL we do not give TCAP in Kindergarten. Last year when I was doing my student teaching it was right around TCAP. I could barely even do what I had to do to pass my student teaching. Everything was all about TCAP, and that is all we did. What happened to just being able to teach your students. Several months are spent worrying about TCAP. The students know that the teachers are stressed, and it makes them that way. Should third graders really be stressed? I am so glad that we do not give it in Kindergarten. It is one less thing I have to worry about. However, we do give a lot of assessments. I feel bad for my poor babies having to test over different things so much! I wish that Kindergarten was still Kindergarten and less First Grade. I know that the Lord is looking out for me, and will look out for my sweet babies as they get older and have to endure all of those tests!

Tired Friday.

Normally by Friday night I am ready for bed by about 8:00. I get up at 5:40 which may not seem too bad to some, but I really function much better with more sleep. So 5:40 is early to me. However, I do enjoy starting school a little earlier because it gives me more time in the afternoons. I am not looking forward to Monday. It will be my first day to get up with this crazy daylight savings time. This morning I got up at 6:00 to get some water and I thought it was 3:00 in the morning. It was pitch black dark outside. That will not be fun come Monday. I will not enjoy driving to work in the dark. But I guess I am happy with the longer days if I can just adjust to the mornings.

Now, I shouldn't be too tired this Friday because I have not worked this week. But I am. It was rainy and cold here earlier this week, so I ran some errands, cleaned the house, and did some homework. Yesterday and today were beautiful days! I have been outside running, doing yard work, walking my dog, shopping, and all kinds of things! Along with all of that...its March Madness! Vols had the late game last night so I was up watching that. All of that being said, I feel like a normal Friday, but so happy that God blessed us with such a great few days of weather for SB.

Monday I will head back to school. My kiddos have so much to learn before they head on to first grade! I am anxious about how they will do since they are my first bunch. I constantly pray that I can teach them all they need to know. God has blessed me with a good job, great teachers to work with, and some pretty good kids :)

Chattanooga.

We decided to travel to Chattanooga for a short little getaway for Spring Break. I lived here for one year of college, and did not enjoy the city. I do not enjoy this time either. However, it has been nice to just do something different. If I were at home, I would be doing responsible things and I don't want to do that. I am normally a very in control person. I don't really like a day if it is not planned out. I think the fact that my life is so much that way with teaching Kindergarten, I didn't want to do any planning. I just wanted to travel to Chattanooga and enjoy myself. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? We left Sunday right after church. I thought I knew where the hotel was. I figured if I didn't I would just look up directions on my phone. Wrong. There are approximately 30 Holiday Inn's in the Chattanooga area. When you don't know which one that you are staying at- you can't look up directions. So anyway, with me thinking I know where we are going, we drive all the way to Cleveland still looking for the exit I just knew we were staying at. As we got off the interstate in Cleveland, we were on fumes. We got gas. Pulled over in a McDonald's parking lot and used their Wi-Fi to attempt to find our hotel. I called my mom, but she gave me directions to the wrong Holiday Inn. Go figure. If you know my husband, imagine how mad he was at this point. We figure out where the hotel is, and go back to East Ridge. Now, East Ridge may be a nice place to live. Our hotel, compared to one on Trinity Lane. I was scared. We had already paid for the hotel but the sweet hubby knew I couldn't sleep peacefully there so we left. Hopefully we will get our money back. We then headed to Hixon to meet some friends. From Hixon, to Red Bank, to Soddy-Daisy, back to Chattanooga where we eventually found a nice hotel to stay the night. Today was better- we made a plan last night. Tomorrow we hope to enjoy the aquarium and then return home. Next time, I will print directions to everything- like I normally would.

The last day before Spring Break.

You remember the last day before Spring Break. Crazy. But what you don't remember is how terrible it was for your teacher. I generally do not schedule a lot of hard concepts and skills on Friday. They just can not do it. I especially feel that way about the Friday before SB. So today we read a book, sang several songs, did a money page, practiced writing our names correctly, read a chapter of Charlotte's Web, and enjoyed fun centers. You may be wondering why I am reading Charlotte's Web to Kindergarteners? We are seeing the play at Children's Theater, and they actually like the book. I sit on the floor and let them lay on the floor all around me, and they love it! But one thing just sent my class over the edge. One of their favorite classmates moved to Jackson at Christmas and they were just so upset. He happened to be back in town today so he came to visit today and brought cookies for my class. I didnt tell them until about an hour before he got there because I knew they would be crazy. They were uncontrollable while he was there and after he left. At one point there was someone crawling around on the floor while another child poked them in the rear with an oversized crayon, two people sitting under an open umbrella, people flicking pencils off tables, and I that point I realized I had lost total control of the classroom. The headache I developed through all of that was unbelievable.

So anyway, to say the least, SB was very much welcomed. It worked out nicely that my husband will also be enjoying SB with me! We will sleep late, watch TV, and take some naps. I need to try and fit in some graduate work so I dont fail out of the program, need to work on some lesson plans, need to work out so I can not be fat by summer, need to paint some rooms in the house, and need to clean the house- we shall see if any of those things get done :)

If your on SB- ENJOY!

Jackets.

I continue to be amazed by the jacket situation in my room. With the weather kind of cold in the mornings, and who knows in the afternoon the responsible parent puts a jacket on their child. Now, keep in mind, I tend to be cold. However, I keep the temperature in my room around 70. Also, when we go outside, I enjoy a nice bench while the children play. With all of that said, one would think that my room is set at 98 and its equally as hot outside. The moment that we get in line to go outside I have children asking if they can take their coat off. We are not even outside yet. The second they can see the door, they are begging to take it off. Boys want to strip all the way down to their undershirts. Do coats somehow inhibit children from playing? I do have vague memories of hating when my mother asked me to put on a coat, but come on people its March! When I have kids, I am going to dress them in multiple layers so maybe except on the coldest of days a jacket will not even be in our vocabulary.

Funny Moments.

Well the past few days my children have just been making me laugh constantly. I am not sure if I have been in better spirits than normal, or they are extra funny. Today I was a little puny. If you don't know me too well, here is an interesting fact for you. If I take any type of cold medicine, nighttime or not, I am basically unconscious. I hardly remember anything past 8:30 when I took the medicine last night. So..today I was still in recovery. But it helped that it was PJ day, and if you know me, well you know I too full advantage! So anyway, I was very happy for the humor they provided me today.

So here is some humor for you to enjoy as well.
- I don't know if this is a sign that I am old or what, but one of my kids was singing a pop song all day today (a white girl) and I had to come home and Google the song to make sure it was ok for her to sing it in my class...sign of old age?

- One of my sweet children was losing control of their lives at their seat today. I mean tears streaming, heaving, the whole nine yards. I walk over and ask what the issue might be. She answered but it was so out of control I could not understand. The girl next to her said- "she is just really upset about Hannah Montana" I said "Excuse me, she is upset about what?" She finally gathered herself and said "I am just really upset that Hannah Montana is not going to be on TV anymore" I just turned around and walked away- I just could not believe that

- My little child that was the alligator under the table always has exciting things for me..today he walked up to this little girl who never does anything or says anything..and he said "barf, barf, barf, barf" about an inch from her face. He then turned the boy next to her and said "HAHA I just barfed in her face!" Like what even makes someone do that?

Well maybe that made you smile :)

Media.

Well, my school made the news. And not in a good way. Why is it that the media loves to hound on teachers and celebrities. Has anyone else notice that? If a teacher does anything, and I mean anything, the media is right on it. When another civilian is arrested, they never say, oh yeah and he worked for Wal-Mart (and take their cameras out there to view his register). This is mind bogling to me, that if a teacher does something, they react the complete opposite way. I understand, we as teachers are held to a high standard. But we are not paid at a high standard, we are stressful jobs, and we make sure that 19 children learn and survive everyday. We have to be mom, janitor, conselor, doctor, mediator, police, judge, and teacher everyday. I just wish that teachers did not get such a bad rap.

I am just going to praying for the teacher at my school. Not really sure what went on, but I know that she must be going through a hard time. Also, the child involved. Unfortunately his name was on the news, and this puts spotlight on him. I will be praying for him and his family to figure something out in all of this.

As a teacher, it kind of slapped me in the face. Be careful. As careful as I may think I am being, be even more careful.

Why are the bad one's so cute!?

I have been trying to figure out why some of the kids who can't behave are some of the cutest ones! There is a sweet little six year old boy in my room who would send a saint over the edge some days. However, I absolutely love him.

These are a few of his antics:

-He spent today crawling under tables and all over the floor on my room pretending to be the class alligator and almost attacking other children in the room.
- He sometimes uses completely inappropriate language- words I didn't know until high school probably
- One day he yelled out in distress to me that another kid was antagonizing him
- He has started this new game, he sits his coat in his chair- arms on the table- and pencil box for the head- it seriously looks like a person. He hides under the table and I am often confused by it
- His favorite channel is Discovery Channel/Animal Planet and he knows more
than I do

These are just some of the things that describe a day in his life at school. However, he makes more noise while I am teaching than any other child, and he is always running around crazy. He easily finds himself in trouble, but he is just so cute! I fear I will have this trouble with my own children, they will be too darn cute to get in real serious trouble. Maybe I should teach older children, when they aren't so cute anymore...but then again, I do love those sweet little babies!

Saying goodbye.

On Tuesday night February 9th, Leigh Allyn lost her battle with Cystic Fibrosis. Leigh Allyn was a girl that I went to high school with and roomed with my freshmen year of college. If you want to read her full story you can check it out at leighallynsbreathingroom.blogspot.com. Over the past four years, since our time together, our friendship has faded. In about the past 4 months we have talked some and I got to see her for lunch over Christmas. I am so glad of that!

It takes true faith to know that people who go before you, you will see them again one day. Yesterday at her funeral, it was said best- you will miss her for the time that she is there and you are here, but think, you get to spend eternity together! It was so comforting at her funeral to know that she is healthy, happy, and we will meet again one day. This time when our paths cross, it will be in the presence of our Lord, worshiping for eternity. That is WAY better than anything on this Earth. Don't you think?!

I am so glad that I got to spend some time with Leigh Allyn a few weeks ago, and we could put our pasts behind us. I knew that things could never be the same, but I am so at peace to know that we were ok. Even though we were not best of friends any longer, we still had a love for each other that would go on for eternity. I hope that I can continue to mend old friendships.

Just pray for her family and close friends at this time. It will be a long healing process, but they are strong in their faith and they will see her again one day. It is always comforting to know that papa t and leigh allyn, and all others that have gone are doing what they loved to do on Earth- worship God.

In other news: More snow on the way! Will my children ever come to school five days in a row! Maybe in March?!

Work...ouch.

Well it has been a week since I was last up at 5:30am and working with my precious ones all day. To say the least, my head is pounding. Before Christmas, the children were right where I wanted them. I have totally lost all control. I fear how bad it could be by May.

Aside from the headache, today was pretty uneventful. Lots and lots of stories about how great the snow was. I thought to myself, this is probably the only snow (like that) their short little lives have ever seen. They were so excited.

In our Masters class, we are talking a lot about how to live God's purpose here on Earth. As most of you know, in the public school system religion is an off limits topic. This is very difficult because I have never been in a setting where you were not allowed to discuss it. I have been struggling all year to find ways to show God to my kids just by my actions. This week or month or school year is just simply listening to my students. They talk to me alllll day, and tell me soooo many stories. I tend to allow them to continue to talk and move on with my hectic day. I fear this probably happens at home, so I wont to avoid that. I have made it a "goal" to just listen to them as much as I can, and of course still get things done. Maybe small things can show them something.

Favorite phone call...Robertson county schools will be closed!

When the weatherman mentions snow, every teacher anxiously awaits that phone call that means sleeping past 5:30am, lounging on the couch, and doing whatever we want! Since the beginning of this semester, the month of January, I have not taught a 5 day week. I am ok with that, but oh how tired I will be when I actually have to again. It is looking like next week will bless me with another 4 day week since the snow will not be gone by Monday morning.

So..what have I done with my snow days? Started with about 7 loads of laundry. Yes, that is a lot for only two people. When you have to go to basketball games every night of the week, and you have TV shows to watch, laundry waits. I cleaned the house. Garrett actually looked disgusted at how dirty the water was after I moped. I might have been slacking on my wifely duties. I have lessons plans done for the next two weeks (more to come with that- I still have tomorrow and Sunday). I have completed all my graduate work that is due next week, and started on some for the next week. I took a nap, both days. Yesterday we watched our entire line-up of snow day shows. It is: Reba, Reba, Reba, Reba, Will and Grace, Will and Grace, Yes, Dear, Yes, Dear, Everybody loves Raymond, Full House, Full House, Everybody loves Raymond, King of Queens, King of Queens, and then on to night time TV. Yes, I agree that is a lot of TV. Last night, after much deliberation over what movie to watch- we finally agreed on Twilight. We may watch it again tonight.

Everyone deserves days like this. I don't have kids, or any real responsibility if I am not at work. So why not do all of these things I want to?

Enjoy your days of complete laziness. We do.

ISS

ISS, also known as In school suspension- is how one of my children has now spent a total of 4 1/2 days. In an earlier post, I think I mentioned the discipline system that we follow. It all evolves around apples- green the best, black the worst. So far this week, 3 kids have been on black- one of them twice. There have been 8 red apples pulled, 7 yellow apples, too many blues to count, and not very many stayed on green. To say the least- really not been the best last few days. My only hope for survival this week: the winter storm moving our way.

So back to ISS, my lovely little one was in there for a few different reasons. Here are some- he and another boy spent half of yesterday talking about and spelling a not so nice name for their male area. I shared with them that even when they spell it, I still know what it spells, and I know what they are talking about. I also said the word they had been enjoying several times- one response "uhhh Mrs. Dickerson, my momma dont let me say that at home!" . Please keep in mind- he had been saying basically all day. He also went to ISS for trying to trip a child. He was sitting in the corner- timeout- and as a child walked by, he stuck out his leg and attempted to trip him. Not good.

So...he got to go sit at a desk and do about 17 worksheets. My other students asked me alllll day where he was until one finally just said- "you know he is in ISS, he was bad"

So with the week I have been enjoying, I am looking forward to going to church tonight. I am looking forward to seeing my friends, relaxing, and listening to some good encouragement. Hope you all are going tonight- it will help your day- I promise!

Freedom...MLK....Kindergarten.

Last week in Kindergarten we studied citizenship, freedom, and the flag. This week we studied MLK Jr. Just think that over for a few minutes- I taught those things to 5 year olds. Let's start with freedom. Think about how you would explain that to 5 year olds. Here is how I did...
I started with "freedom means you can go to school where you want to go"...except wait, we bus students all over creation so that they can go to school where we want them to- to satisfy racial quota.

"Freedom means you can do what you want with your money"...except, the government takes about half of my paycheck to invest in Social Security that I will never see, and forces me to pay for insurance, and wants me to invest my 401K in government bonds

"Freedom means you can pray if you want"...except in school, even though they do everyday in the communist nation of Germany

Try to explain freedom, to someone who does not understand, or better an adult who forgot most of us like the freedom we used to have...

Next, MLK.
My class is 100% white children. The town they live in, probably 97% white. I understand that they need to know why we take the holiday, and how what he did was important for people of our country. But, it is extremely hard to relate this issue to their lives. So, I showed the movie "Our Friend, Martin". This movie showed real footage of the times (such as dogs attacking people), and horrified most of my children. I might come up with a better system of teaching this topic next year- any suggestions? Maybe wait till they are a little older to introduce such a topic? I think yes.

The Sub.

Well my fear became reality this morning at 7:23 when I walked in my room. In began when I went to my mailbox to find a note that the assistant principal would be doing a formal evaluation today at 9:10 and I needed to have paper work filled out prior to that (these evaluations are mandatory by state law). So of course, I immediately am panicking. My kids have not seen me in two days- they have been enjoying the freedom of a sub, and now they have to look like civilized people for an hour why the assistant principal was in my room- not good. I then walk into my room to find that none of the work I needed for my children to get done- actually got done. I actually have no clue what they did for two days...

So after a lot of complaining I began to dig through the piles of paperwork. If your not a teacher, its hard to imagine the amount of things that we fill out on a daily basis. My desk would scare a lot of people. So anyway, I missed two days of those things. By this time it was close to 7:30 and my kids come in my room at 7:35, that gave me five minutes to get control of my life, and not just cry before they arrived.

The behavior today- resembled our first few days in August. Not really an enjoyable thing. I got a note that said no one had to pull apples the two days I wasn't there...I laughed out loud. We have never had a day that no one pulled an apple- for any reason. Pulling apples is what they do for their behavior system. They start on green and it goes down blue, yellow, red, black- that tells what type of day they had. By the end of today- ten people had moved their apple, most past blue.

To say the least about the whole situation- I would just be better off to go to school sick.

Strep Throat...my death

Well I have now been on my couch since Sunday complaining, sleeping, and more complaining. Thus meaning, my students have been at school two days with a sub. I fear what it will be like when I return tomorrow. Here is some of the things that happened last time I had a sub, and it was just one day.

-SEVERAL things had fallen off the wall
-They didn't get to go to the treasure chest, which trust me I never heard the end of..until they finally got to go
-We had a reward party- one of very best students didn't get to go, and one of my worst did?
-There was the largest stack of papers awaiting me when I got back- I don't grade papers, send them home.
-There was trash all over the floor
-Someone went to the wrong dismissal spot

That is just a small list of what can happen in a day when I am not there to control things. So two days...it could be scary when I get back tomorrow. I hope that my students have behaved, things are in order, no one is hurt, and papers are not over-taking my desk (well unless I left them there)

I am ready to get back to my kiddos. Not so much excitement on my couch.

Read Luke...approx 3 hours.

On one of my last post, I mentioned that for grad school I was assigned to sit down and read the entire chapter of Luke in one sitting. Now let me go on and confess that my normal Bible study takes place in about 15 minutes before I leave for work at 6:30am. I know, not a real great lengthy study, but I have worked out a system that seems to be working for me. So taking on this reading, was a bit overwhelming. But..I did it! My teacher wanted us to do it to get some insight on what Jesus was like as a teacher, and apply it to our own teaching strategies. I have never really thought about Jesus as a teacher. Normally when I am reading his teachings, I am reading them to gain something for my life from them. This time, I looked at how he was teaching, how he was managing the people, managing his time, and getting his point across. It was crazy the things I learned about how Jesus taught, and how it correlated with what I had been taught about teaching in my undergraduate studies. For all you teachers out there, great read, I encourage it. It will allow you to look at your teaching and what you can take from it. Everyone else, pretty good story to read as a story all the way through. I read it from The Message (which if Donnie ever reads this he will die that I did that) which I don't normally read from. I don't really like the way it presents some things. However, if you plan to read Luke all the way through I encourage you to do it from a story like source because it is a story and it reads a little easier that way.

Mom...I mean Mrs. Dickerson!

Can't tell you how many times a day I hear that! I wonder when I have my own children if they will say my name as many times as my students do, and they will say it until you answer- there is no end. When I come home, I just can't answer any questions or talk to anyone hardly. I need about 20 minutes of silence to regroup. I sometimes feel bad for Garrett because I am quite unsocial when I first get home. Luckily since basketball started I normally am home first and have time to relax a bit.

Today didn't start out as the best day I have had at school. Our school's bookkeeper has been fighting cancer for awhile. I don't know much about the situation since it is my first year, and I do not know her, just of her. The faculty gathered this morning in the library for a few minutes before school. Throughout my undergraduate work, it was crammed in our heads that religion and education do not mix. I am so glad that I work in a small town. My faculty knew that it was important to pray for the family this morning- so that is what we did. I am so glad that we do not have to worry, we just pray as a faculty if we want.

A co-worker asked if any of us had not been directly affected by a death of a family member due to cancer. No one could answer that they couldn't. I feel like someone is constantly battling it at church as well. I guess the only thing that can make it any better is constant prayer. I am going to add this to my daily prayer- even if I am not directly affected.

For the bookkeeper and her family today- "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" II Timothy 4:7

Who were those kids?!

I told Garrett yesterday that if today started with any four letter words, any four letter words spelled, talk of sex, or any talk of the boy "area"- I was probably going to have to quit my job. Lucky for me, angels came back to school today. They were so cooperative, behaved, and quiet! I wont let it get me too excited though because I know that at some point my actual class will return- these angels will disappear. But as for my first day back after what felt like several months, I was very happy. Also, how do five year olds grow that much over a months time!? They left as babies really, and some of them returned so HUGE! I was almost in tears this morning when one of my kids wrote their name, and one knew every letter of the alphabet! I cant imagine how I will be when it is my own children. I got a new student today. It was a little sad because one of sweet loves moved to a couple of hours away. All of my kids were telling the new kid he was sitting in his seat. I am sure that made him feel welcomed. The good news is- this kid might have been my most functional student! I was so happy!

Have any of you ever read the chapter of Luke in one sitting? That is my masters homework this week, and I am just trying to get a feel for it. I am kind of looking forward to seeing how different it reads in one sitting as opposed to chapter studies. You might try and see what you think.

My first!

After 72 hours straight at home due to some snowy conditions, I have created my blog! I am excited about where this might take me. As I look ahead to my first day of my second semester tomorrow, I am excited. This first semester was spent simply trying to survive. Bless my kids parents, I know they think I might be a little crazy. There were several days I sent things home misspelled, or just wrong. They would come into my room, and I felt like I was always drowning in papers, runny noses, questions, or just stress. I hope to be less of those things this semester. My goal now- really engage with my children. Do everything I can to get them ready for first grade. I am past just survival, it is time to rock it out. I am looking forward to how much they will grow, or have grown over the break. I pray for my kids and for me everyday before I leave for school. If any parents are reading, I urge you to do the same for your kids. It truly could change the experience they have. So here are some "resolutions" I have for my classroom in 2010:

• Show God anyway I can- even if not out loud (because I like my job and want to keep it)- in my actions to my coworkers and through love and attention to my kids
• Talk and listen more with each child- sometimes I am too overwhelmed in the work we have to get done to stop and really listen to the things they are saying to me

• FUN- something fun every single day

"But just as he who called you holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, "Be holy, because I am holy." I Peter 1:15-16