Funnies

Testing on sight words, Arnulfo comes to the word "upon".
Arnulfo: "Upona"
Me: "What?"
Arnulfo: "Upona. You know, like 'once upona time'?"

Yesterday, while making math posters, I was making my 4x4 when Arnulfo came to me and said, "You forgot your pimples."
"Excuse me!? My WHAT?"
"You know, your pimples. Those black dots in the inside of your eye?"
"Oh! PUPils!"

Gaby: My family and I went to the park and a boy duck was attacking his girlfriend!
Me: Oh no! Did you call the police?
Gaby: No. I thought about it. I just threw bread at his head, instead, and he stopped.

Ebelyn: Look! A karate-chopping Indian! It would be like, "Ooh-oooh-oooh-hi-YA!"

Tragedy Strikes

I'm tired of the drama of teaching at this kind of school. So far this year: a car accident death, drugs found on students from fourth grade to eighth grade, and, today, news that one of our students was stabbed.

It's frustrating thinking that our students leave to be in that sort of neighborhood and community. And even school isn't a completely safe place.

Tell A Tale of Cockroaches

In the morning, during centers, Angelie came to me and said, "Miss Sells! I saw a cockroach as big as a dog."

"Where was it?" I said calmly. She pointed to the corner where she sits. I went over and searched for it, but found no cockroach. "Let me know if you see it again."

A few minutes later, Vanessa comes to me and says, "Miss Sells, I swear while I was sitting doing my work, I heard a noise under my desk that sounded like a big bug!" I assumed that Vanessa overheard Angelie's conversation and dramatized a cockroach sound.

"It's okay, Vanessa. It's probably just your imagination."

A few moments later, as I was on the floor with a small group, I see a HUGE COCKROACH scuttling across the floor toward my desk, about two feet from us. "Watch out!" I scream and throw the students aside (as if they were going to be attacked by this cockroach? I don't know). The cockroach runs under my desk. I get up and try to find it to trap it, but it's gone! Poof! I'm a little worried because Mitch told me once that cockroaches can climb walls, so I'm imagining the cockroach in my purse or hanging out in my drawers.

Toward the end of the day, while I was teaching Calendar Math, Angelie begins screaming. "Miss Sells! The cockroach!" I run over there, trying to keep some kind of order (and actually continuing to teach my lesson: "That's right. And why is 65 odd?), and call, "I need a cup!" Well, my students are more interested in seeing the stupid thing than helping me trap it, so I'm calling Daniel out from under his desk, telling Alex that, no, we can't have this cockroach as our class pet, and trying to rein the kids in, while dumping out my cup of dice to use. I put the cup over the cockroach, then, put a cup of beans (I have the strangest thing in my classroom- I know) over it so it couldn't knock the cup over. I was just going to leave it there, but Angelie was obviously a little concerned about having a cockroach so close, so I got a piece of paper and scraped the cup onto it, from underneath. I was going to just pick up the whole thing, but that mutant cockroach was too big, so I ended up having to push it across the floor to the door, on my hands and knees.

I put it right beside the door, where it was pretty hot. A little later, Ebelyn asked where the cockroach was. "Outside, baking" was my answer.

"You mean like muffins?"

Yes, Ebelyn, our cockroach is a muffin baker.

P.S. Rest in peace, giant cockroach. He died under the cup.

Remember When?

Way back during my student teaching, my final evaluation given by my master teacher rated my professionalism as my weakness. At the time, I was shocked and rather upset, but now I understand.

Here are some reasons why I am not always professional:

1) I think one of the reasons why I make a good teacher is because I still remember what it's like to be a child. Because of this, I often play on the playground with my students during recess.

2) I tend to shy away from professional clothing because a) it's not comfortable and b) it doesn't allow me to do the activity mentioned above.

3) My lessons are often dramatic, silly, and more than a little creative. My vice principal was in shock when he came into my room and saw me conversing with a white rabbit on my hand (Twinkie).

4) I believe in sarcasm (for the older kids, when appropriate) and humor. Some teachers cannot understand this teaching method.

5) I don't mind sitting on the floor, dressing up, dancing or singing for my students. Whatever keeps their attention!

Beatles Break

"And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me.
Shine until tomorrow.
Let it be."
- John Lennon

I got a new student last week: Joe. I'm still trying to figure him out. He's relatively intelligent, but also has a slight attitude. I had to send him out of the classroom on his second day. I know, however, that I am wooed him over to the Sells side, because he's been putting Swizzle sticks in my mailbox every day, and I made him laugh (of course, I did- what am I saying? I'm hilarious!).

Karla, my monolingual, has now advanced her vocabulary to "Oh my goodness," "Good morning," "Oh my gosh," "Sit down," "Stand up," "No, me," "No, Miss Sells," and "See you tomorrow". I'm talking with our CPT on Monday about what I should be expecting from her, since technically she's only been in the country for two months or so.

Also, I'm starting a book fair for our school at our local Barnes and Noble. Soooo, any purchases made with a voucher at those Barnes and Noble-s, 10% goes to my school. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that if anyone wants a gift from me for Christmas, it'd better be something purchasable at B&N and you better tell me what it is before December. Deal?

Things are getting annoying with a colleague. I had a dream where my principal, the colleague, and the colleague's mom was watching me teach a math lesson. Someone overheard me telling about the dream and told the colleague that "Erica had a dream about you and your mom" and now he won't let me live it down! Grrrrr... BOYS!