Actress / Teacher

Small, But Good Things

2010-11-21T17:11:00.000-08:00

* Disclaimer: This is unabashedly corny*

A lot has occurred since the last time I wrote here, though it only has been four months. Those that know me well know I live a full life that is relatively dramaless. Under a series of unfortunate circumstances, my life has suddenly been muddled with drama. At first, I was not handling it well, but I have reached a new perspective.

My life is not about what other people say of me, especially people who are speaking out of anger or perceived injustice. People who truly know me know who I am, and, more importantly, I know who I am. I have never been someone who struggled to realize her identity, nor have I lacked purpose or focus. I am here to be a positive influence, to help whoever I encounter in whichever way I can. Not to sound too cliche or fluffy, it's truly what I want. Whether it be in just providing a friendly face to a stranger, teaching children a new concept in a way that makes them truly learn it and be delighted in its application, or being an ear to hear what needs to be said, that's what I want to be.

I have become more and more aware of what a large impact small things can have on everyday life. Much like the butterfly effect (but a little less intense), one person's action, however small and meaningless it may seem, can have a great effect on another person. In 2006 (Wow! That's four whole years ago!), my friend challenged me to journal everyday something positive that happens, that brings joy. Looking back at this chronicle, I see that most of the things I list are small: an email from a friend, a nice cashier, a hug from an unexpected hugger, a child showing sudden understanding of a difficult vocabulary word, a hike with a visiting friend, a compliment, a shared joke, a truth revealed.

Here's my challenge for all of you out there in Blogworld:

First, don't be afraid to be the "small, good thing" giver to someone out there. Don't just pick one person! Make EVERYONE you encounter feel better because they encountered YOU! Or try. It won't always be possible...

Second, I challenge anyone to daily chronicle their "small, but good things." You might realize what really brings gladness into your life.

P.S. Found this written down for March 1st: Two first graders in the class I was subbing for were having a problem and asked to talk to me outside:
Kid: The problem with our relationship is that we really love each other and our names are written on each other's hearts, but we find it hard to show that..."

Edward Cullen Changed My Life

2010-07-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

For no real reason, I decided to reread the first couple of blog entries. My life has changed so much since then!

For those of you who are unaware, Edward Cullen changed my life. First of all, a little over a year ago, I met a new friend, Maryann, who told me I needed to read the "Twilight" books. Since it was my summer, I did so, reading the first three but not finding them that noteworthy. However, Maryann then told me that, because I had read the books, I was now allowed to watch the movie. A couple of ladies and I went over to another lady's house to watch the DVD. It was horribly bad and I did not hide my opinion. During one lame scene when the 100-something year-old vampire trapped in a teenager's body was playing classical piano, I turned to a friend and said rudely, "Of course he knows how to play the piano. He could learn whatever he wants to! He's been alive for 100 years!" Instead of allowing me to blow hot air, my friend turned back to me and said, "Erica. You will probably live to be a hundred. What are you waiting for?"

This struck me. That night I made my bucket list and got right on some of the things on the list that were not too expensive or impossible; I signed up for a knitting class at a nearby knitting store, an art class through Phoenix Parks and Rec, a book group through my favorite bookstore, and an American Sign Language class through Tempe Parks and Rec. The knitting class was a flop (I am not coordinated enough for it, but at least I tried!), but I stayed with the art class, book group, and ASL (joining a local group that meets biweekly for "silent coffee"). I've picked up some more of those bucket list items, too, since then: I'm currently getting my Masters in Education: Reading and Language Arts, I bought a bike (though it's too hot to ride right now), and recently signed up for a series of basic cooking classes that will start in September.

School's starting in two weeks, and I'm STOKED! Thank you, my friends, for sticking with me these last four years... what a trip!

And thank you, Edward Cullen, for inspiring me with your lame portrayal in a movie. Who would have known that a horrible vampire movie could change a life for the better.

Back in the Saddle Again

2009-08-02T05:30:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is, yet again, the first day of school! I have 17 boys and 7 girls on my class list, and even though that's a LOT of boys, it's my smallest class size EVER. I also have a monolingual Chinese student. I'm really worried about how she'll adjust/pick up the language!

The kids are cuter than ever (I met them Thursday during Meet the Teacher), and I feel like I finally have this ELD thing down. Now I just need God to grant me some more patience and a lot more energy.

I'm going in to school this morning (on a Sunday! bleh!) to do some last minute prep and finish sorting out math assessments for our new math standards.

By the way, teachers. I found this cool website: www.ixl.com Check it out!

Hope everyone's doing well!

2009-07-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

New Pastels

2009-07-07T21:21:00.001-07:00

On suede...

My sunflower for my mama...

Pastels

2009-06-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

I finished my first ever pastel painting. I hope I photographed it okay.

A Letter

2009-04-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

I found the following letter in my in-class mailbox:

3/28/09

Dear Miss Sells,
Hi Miss Sells it's ______. Did you know that you are a perfect teacher? Even you are pretty, cool, funny, and so so nice. I think that when you show us twinkie and when you read us books, also when you teach us is awsome. Even when you write me leters you fill my bucket. What is your favorite kinds of flowers? Do you like reading or math? Did you know third grade was awsome but more room 19? Do you like third grade?
Love,
_____

Isn't that precious?

Billy and Elton

2009-04-02T06:55:00.001-07:00

Billy Joel and Elton John take on Phoenix 2009--- it was AMAZING! (made the shirts myself)

Non-school related fun!!!

Crack?

2009-03-17T06:29:00.001-07:00

Here's a quote from yesterday.

Child: "Oh my gosh! Look at this picture! I can see his butt crap!"

I THINK he meant 'crack.' Only one child caught it, and I just said, "I think you meant 'crack'."

In the Ghetto

2009-03-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

An uncle of one of my students, who was just released from prison a few weeks ago, was shot nearby. I don't know the details, but it looks like he was involved in some shady dealings. When he was shot, he was climbing a wall, and he fell, dead, into someone's front yard. That yard belonged to another student of mine, and she was sitting by the window when the body fell into her yard.

I was not taught how to deal with such matters in my education classes. The neice of the killed man is very calm about the whole matter, saying she knows he's an angel, etc. However, I feel like I have some kind of duty as this child's teacher. Unfortunately, I don't know what that duty is.

Crazy...

2009-02-09T05:38:00.000-08:00

One of my students was listening to an upbeat Disney song before Saturday School and commented, "If I had whiskers, they would move to this song." Hmmmmm......

Potential Dog Mauling

2009-01-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

So, the neighborhood where my school is often has stray dogs running around. These people don't believe in spaying or neutering, leashes, or licenses. Anyway, every now and again a dog will wander on to campus. Usually we can either chase it off campus or our Jack-of-All-Trades, Armando, does this fabulous lassoing and we call the pound. In fact, last Monday, while on duty, a lab puppy was galloping around campus. Ms. Brooks and I tried to catch it and shoo it away, but it wouldn't heed our yelling. Some children told us the dog's name was Noodles. Imagine, if you will, two grown women running around trying to chase a playful puppy while screaming, "Noodles! Noodles! Noodles" repeatedly! The dog's name probably isn't even Noodles.

On Thursday, while at recess, a colleague and I saw two German shepherds on the other side of the fence. Before we could process this, they were on the interior of the fence, squeezing through a hole some escape artist fourth graders were working on. The dogs then decided to chase our third graders, I guess thinking it was playing time. I used my whistle, as the children screamed, and shouted for them not to move. Most of the kids were disobedient and just ran closer to the buildings. Now, only Luis Fernando, one of darlings, was out with the dogs. I told him to freeze, and he did so. The dogs sniffed him and walked away.

Now that our children were relatively safe, I went over to shoo them off campus. One ran away immediately, but the other couldn't seem to find the way out. He ended up next to the gate. I thought I would just open the gate and let the dog out, but the dog felt threatened by my approach and snarled at me. I backed away, but the dog was still angry and he lunged at me. I put my hands up in a gesture that I hope every species recognized as surrender, and plastered myself to the edge of the tree. In my mind I was thinking, "this is how I'm going to die. I will be eaten by a stray German Shepherd while my students watch". Luckily, our other Jack-of-All-Trades, Mitch, came and was able to successfuly get rid of the angry dog. I was really scared! So were my kids.... I got a lot of hugs and "I thought they were going to eat you, Miss Sells!"s when I went back to my class.

All in a day's work...?

Super Miss Sells!

2009-01-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

I received this from a student I had last year.... Isn't it perfect? It actually kind of looks like me. I LOVE the boots!

Anyway, Monday I go to back to school after a much-deserved, much-needed break. I'm a little excited (and a little overwhelmed) because of all the important standards addressed this quarter. I have been prepping in my classroom since 11 for my introduction lesson to fractions. It's going to be GREAT (Twinkie, of course, is involved).

Pray that I won't be burned out as quickly as I was last quarter!

Long December

2008-12-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

At about 2:30, after having specials at about noon....
Ricardo: Did we already have P.E.? We DID!? I didn't even feel it!

Four of my kids were tested proficient so will now be leaving my class. It's good news in the way that is means what I'm doing is working if these kids are already proficient by the second quarter, but I don't want them to leave! I know it's greedy and wrong, but my classroom is a little like my family. It's hard to see anyone go.

A little humor

2008-12-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

We were playing a centers game where I'm trying to get them to guess a particular word. This time it was, "A Frisbee".

Me: What often gets thrown over the fence?
Ricardo: A nerd!
Me: It sometimes gets on the roof.
Ricardo: Poop!

2008-11-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

Voting

2008-11-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

I got at my polling place at 5:15 (it opened at 6) and there was already a huge line, like it was the opening of a new Star Wars movie or the release of a Harry Potter book. I voted, and it was my first time voting a) in Arizona and 2) physically at the polls.

I also got my first sticker, but sadly, it doesn’t say, “I voted for your mom”, “Kiss me, I voted” or “Voters are sexy”. I’m really disappointed.

The kids at school are involved in this nationwide campaign called KidsVote, where kids, K-8, are given Voter ID cards and vote at simulated polls. The votes are tallied and compared to the real votes. Pretty awesome, really. (My kids are pro-Obama. One kid calls McCain "McCan't").

A Day Made Better

2008-10-06T13:15:00.001-07:00

To see real pictures of my surprise, follow these directions:
Go to:
http://www.adaymadebetter.com/a-day-made-better.htm

Click on Days Made Better at the top.
Click on Arizona, then Phoenix.
Click on floating picture that has caption of “Maurice C. Cash School” (there are yellow and black balloons).
There are two pictures…. The surprise was serious!

My newly christened throne:

Gift with the recipient:

What I now do in my new chair:

Just kidding!

Super Surprises!

2008-10-01T17:08:00.001-07:00

You won’t believe what happened today! Right after recess, Ms. Sandomir and a bunch of people in black shirts came into my classroom. I was a little scared, but one of the guys had roses for me (couldn’t be all bad) and a plaque. They said they were from Office Max and they had a surprise for me if I followed them. They led me and my students to the cafeteria where there was about four classes of kids and a huge poster that said, “We (heart) Miss Sells”. They said I won an award called “A Day Made Better” that is given to teachers who “make days better.” The office staff nominated me!--- and I WON! They gave me a NEW*** teacher chair (leather!) and two huge boxes (2.5’ cubes!) of supplies for my kids. Hole punches, label makers, pencil boxes for all of my kids--- honestly--- so much I couldn’t even list it right now. They took a million pictures of me and my students and me in my new chair (heehee)! I am SO grateful. During lunch, Shannin gave me a card and a gift, and Lessita made me spinach dip and brought an ice cream cake, plus made a picture frame where people have been writing flattering traits on. Can you believe this? I am so blessed!

Kiss-ups and Cuteness

2008-09-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Me: It's a good thing you're cute.
Jonathan: I know, right?

Brown-nosing child of the year: You may not have given me candy, Miss Sells, but I win any way. I have the best teacher in the world.

Student: Please forgive me, Miss Sells. A minute ago I spoke Spanish. I know we're not supposed to. Please forgive me.
Me: What did you say?
Student: I said, "please forgive me..."
Me: No, what did you say in Spanish?
Student: Gracias.
Me: I think I'll let you off the hook this time. Thanks for telling me.

Student: Miss Sells. Please forgive me. A minute ago, I played with my ruler right after you told us they were tools and not toys. I'm sorry.

Check out my school on the statewide news! You can't see it, but one of my kids made a sign that says, "I love my school because my teacher teach me English." http://media.myfoxphoenix.com/KSAZ/hilites/whirlybird.html First three videos (M.C. Cash School)

Thank you!

2008-08-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you to my friends who remind me that, though I'm a teacher, that's not all I am. I appreciate knowing that I am a friend, a sister, a daughter, and a teacher. My job is incredibly important to me, but it's not my entire identity.

Time is no friend of mine!

2008-08-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

Third year teacher. I should have my ducks in a row by now. I shouldn't be in the classroom on Sunday at 5:00 prepping for the week. I shouldn't be ready to strangle my students (CPS, I am far from the actual action).

I have no time for anything. I have to prioritize my necessary activities and choose only the ones who must be done, life or death. I am taking classes, trying (and not succeeding) in leading the PTO, TEACHING 29 students how to speak, write, and read English, do math, and become effective citizens. I am exhausted. It's only the fourth week of school.

Ugh.

First Week Finished!

2008-08-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have officially survived the first week of school, though it's been rough. I really miss my students from last year, and this batch needs a LOT of help- in in-class behavior, focusing, writing, spelling, math- pretty much everything but virtue. Does that make sense? They are all pretty good kids, but they don't know how to keep their hands out of their desk, pay attention to a lesson/story/speaker, raise their hand, stay quiet during independent work, etc.

I have thirty students, as of right now, but it may flop upwards of 35 by September! It's this new ELD structure the state of Arizona has applied this year- I am only allowed to take in ELD students, and the rest of the third grade teachers are teaching non-ELD, which means any new enrollments who are ELD get automatically placed in my class! YIKES!

Ughhhhhh!

2008-07-25T17:05:00.001-07:00

I officially hate teaching! Okay, I don't hate it, but I'm getting really frustrated. I go back to work next week and the following week is the first week of school. Although I worked at home to prepare and this will be my third year teaching, I'm completely overwhelmed and I forgot about all the crap that goes with this: new schedules, changing schedules, new staff members who don't care, new standards, new state mandates, huge class numbers (I'm already at thirty), shortages of supplies, broken promises.... The kids- the real reason I put up with this stuff- aren't here to remind me of my calling, so I'm just becoming embittered- after only one day working in the classroom.

Grrrrrrrrr!

Summer time, and the living's easy!

2008-06-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

Wow... this is the time that I really love being a teacher. Though finances are tight, and I still had to teach summer school and get another part-time job to make these distant ends meet, I am loving the lazy days of summer. I can read whatever I want, [technically] get up whenever I want (Karma actually makes sure I get up earlier for our morning walk, but then I just take a nap afterwards, so does it really count?), and basically just lounge around the house, thinking, watching mindless television, etc. Right now I'm in the classroom, just making sure that when I return in the end of July I won't have a million loose ends. My goals for today are: 1) organize all of my overhead paraphenelia (I can't believe how the overhead has changed since I was in school... such a simple piece of technology that can be manipulated in a trillion ways) and 2) file all the papers I decided did not need to be filed right away during the school year.

In educational news, a state mandate was passed that says that all ELD students need to have four hours of reading instruction, divided in specific segments depending on their ranking (Pre-emergent, Emergent, Basic, Intermediate). I don't have the numbers in front of me, but it makes lesson planning a little more difficult, with specific minutes for conversation, writing, reading, verbal, and grammar. Plus, all ELD students are supposed to be in the same class, so I will have only ELD students in my class (which isn't a far cry from my class last year).

Karma after hair-cut:

Non-school related

2008-05-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

Here's the newest addition to my household!

Meet Karma!

Summer School

2008-05-28T07:01:00.001-07:00

Day Two of Summer School:

Although I have the largest summer school class in the school (14 students enrolled), this has been my most positive experience yet. I'm finally organized, prepared, and armed for anything summer-school-related. Last year, when I foolishly expected given curriculum and/or general expectations on what I was to teach, I found myself scrambling for something to fill what seemed like an eternal four hours of school. Now, my students are saying, "We go home now?" as if we'd only been in class for an hour.

For those of you on a similar conflict, here is my schedule:
8:00- Attendance and Sonday System (phonics review program)
8:30- Computer
8:55- Journal writing with Mix-Pair-Share
9:30- Centers (while I pull them for reading fluency testing)
9:55- Reading of decodable book, copied so they can take home
10:30- Make Your Own (a time where we make our own flashcards)
10:50- Math (On a stroke of pure genius, I have purchased a set of playing cards for each student from the dollar store. Each day, I teach them a new review game they can play with the cards. Then, they can take it home and practice the games... So far, so good!)
11:30- Lunch
11:50- Review
12:00- Dismissal

P.S. I am picking up my dog at 2:30 today! News to come on that front, I suspect!

Letter

2008-05-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

May 16, 2008

Dear Miss Sells,

I will shure miss you. I want to stay with you. I don't want to go too fourth grade. I don't want the year to end. All of my other teachers were great but you're the best. You where soposed to get it on Wednesday, but I just want to give it to you early.

Love,

Macario

(with attached address and phone number, "in case you want to call")

Tangled Web We Weave

2008-04-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well, AIMS, our state testing, is over, after a lot of headache, heartache, blood, sweat, and tears. Therapy should be on our health insurance.

In order to motivate students to do well on AIMS prep we did the weeks before AIMS, we did this big plan where a certain goal met on math and reading AIMS prep, allowed for the student to receive one "vote" for a teacher to play in a teacher vs. student basketball game and another vote for a teacher to get a pie in the face during this game's half-time. I was the only one to sign up and possible player/pie-receiver for this Hoops for High Scores.

The game is on Monday and it will be absolutely crazy! I've been voted as both a basketball player for the younger game and a receiver of the pie during half-time (one of my students, Angelie, will be pieing me). I can't believe it's actually happening, but anything to get our students revved up for five days of exhaustive testing.

Also, we're having Wacky Wednesday, which is kept a secret from our students until the actual day. It's a professional development half-day, so the school day ends at 12. Our professional development is vertical alignment that will hopefully help grade levels communicate better. In order to help this take place, all teachers are switching grade levels. They're putting our big, bad junior high teachers in kindergarten and who knows what they'll do with the rest of us. We find out on Monday.

My school is crazy!

Amazing Things

2008-03-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

The students are working on research projects on incredible Americans in history. Teresa is studying Eleanor Roosevelt, and she told our librarian all about her life- her alcoholic father, the deaths of her parents and brother, etc.

Here is her wise-beyond-her-years wisdom: "It just goes to show you: You can still do amazing things even if your life is all messed up."

Cockroaches and Craziness

2008-03-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after recess, Diana suddenly raised her hand and said calmly, "I see a cockroach."

I replied with, "Is it alive or dead?" (We often have cockroaches come out to just die).

"It's alive."

Angelie jumps on her chair, but I go on over, asking Alex to bring me a cup. It's a LARGE cockroach... about four inches long. I ask Alex if he can put the cup on top of the cockroach. He tries twice, both times having the cockroach flip the cup off itself. I grab a nearby bowl and set it on top of the cup once it's in place, though the cockroach is still fighting. A couple of the kids are trying to get a better look, so I have to tell them to sit, etc. Finally, I ask, "Who would be willing to squash the cockroach?" Alex is right next to me, and says "I will, I will!" but after he realizes the idea of putting his foot on top of that giant monster, he says, "Never mind... I change my mind." Samantha then volunteers, and comes over smiling.

Me: "Samantha, are you sure about this? I don't want you to change your mind after we lift the cup."

Samantha: "No, I'm sure."

So, we lift the cup, and Samantha, true to her word, smashes that bastard cockroach with no mercy. The kids are cheering, and the cockroach's guts are splayed about. Before I could do anything, Samantha lifts her shoe and ... SNIFFS it. Gross.

After everything is back in place and we're back to our seats, Samantha gets a worried look on her face. "Miss Sells, am I going to get rabies now?"

Later in the day, Marck asks, "Miss Sells, why do you always get the crazy kids?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Marck: "Every year you get the weird kids."

Me: "I think the real question is, do I get the crazy kids, or do I just bring out the craziness in you?"

Teresa: "Yes! That has to be it! I was not crazy in second grade and NOW look at me!!"

I love my job.

Don't Underestimate the Coniving Eight-Year-Old

2008-03-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

So, I have this fabulous student named Samantha, who I absolutely adore. In fact, I had her brother last year.

Her brother had an attention problem and was a resource student. I remember one time when I took him outside to talk to him privately about listening and following directions. When I asked, "Do you understand what I'm telling you?" he looked at me and said, "Your hair looks funny in the wind."

Anyway, Samantha is MUCH brighter than her brother, but has similar tendencies toward distraction. She's constantly playing with her hair or looking closely at her shoes, etc. She's very bright, but I've also caught her several times being malicious. The first week of school, one of my students was reading in a chair and she walked over and simply pushed him off of it. I still have no idea why.

Yesterday, I was having problems with her during centers cheating at the games or laughing when other people only rolled a one, etc. I pulled her aside to talk to her about her behavior. Her eyes began welling up with tears and she took on this wounded puppy dog look. It was heartbreaking, but I get a special thrill when my talks result in an emotional response. As I was finishing, I saw her lips quiver and suddenly she BEGAN LAUGHING. She was FAKE crying. She had learned already how to fake cry. I could not believe it.

So- sweet little girl, or spawn of Satan? Hard to say.

(On a tangental note, this reminded me of my youth when I cried over everything [I still do]. My dad used to tell me I was "turning on the waterworks", but I honestly felt like my crying was justified every time-- him telling me I was faking just made me feel even more sorry for myself and cry harder. This child really does just turn it on.)

Run-In with the Cynical

2008-03-03T05:28:00.000-08:00

Sort-of funny story:

Yesterday, I was a perusing a new-find new and used bookstore, and I just happened to be in the education section, browsing. A woman walked by and said, "If you're considering a job in teaching, you should think again." Surprised, I just kind of looked at her, and she added, "Unless you're already in it..."

"Yes, I'm afraid it's too late for me!"

Woman: What do you teach?

Me: Third grade.

Woman: Me too. How long have you been teaching?

Me: This is my second year.

Woman: I've been teaching seven years.

Me: What makes you already advising others to stay away from the profession?

Woman: I love the kids. It's everything else that's driving me crazy. Especially the testing. I never thought I'd be like this, so early on in my career... And I have a hard time leaving things at home.

Me: I am having trouble with that, too.

Woman: No kidding! It's a Sunday, you're in a bookstore, and you're stuck in the Education section!

Anyway, it was interesting! Someone so against their OWN career that they would advise a complete stranger to stay away. I hope I didn't just see a future version of myself!

Solo surrounded by people

2008-02-23T16:06:00.000-08:00

It's incredibly difficult to be in this position: a job where you are surrounded by people (parents, colleagues, and, of course, students), yet your regular, outside-of-work life is incredibly lonely. I've had (rather nosey) colleagues ask me if I go out, why I don't have a boyfriend, what I do with my time. In all honesty, I don't go out. I know no one outside of work. I don't have a boyfriend for a trillion reasons, some of the most prominent being my unattractiveness, my lack of time, and simply not knowing anyone. Even if I was completely gorgeous, is it possible to meet anyone if the only time you're away from work is your monthly trips to the grocery store or your daily trips to the mailbox? Without my job, I'd be a hermit; a shut-in; a talentless Emily Dickinson; a "New York death" in Phoenix. I wish someone would just pick me up and set me down in an already created life of friends and family. As a student, school was a natural way to make friends, but now, as a teacher, it's the opposite. I have zero local friends apart from colleagues. What do I do? Honestly, what do I do?

Because they said so...

2008-02-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

"I don't play games with strangers, only strange people." - Diana

"Don't blame me, Miss Sells! You know me- I'm just lazy!" - Alex

Me: "Plug in the word into the sentence and tell me how it would sound."
Steven: "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"

In writing, comparing me to their last year's teacher:

Arnulfo: Miss Sells is not bore, but my last teacher man was she a bore.

Aranza: Miss Sells looked nice when I first saw her. Ms. ____ looked evil when I first saw her. Miss Sells is fun. Ms. ____ is annoying.

Luis: Last year's teacher was well I would said she was a little fat. Miss Sells is skinne.

Alexis: Now I have a teacher who dances all the time. I have never seen such a thing.

Valentine's Day: The Happiest Time of the Year for Eight-Year-Olds

2008-02-14T12:13:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since the beginning of the year, I've been stressing how much I LOVE fractions with my kids. They responded at first with, "Why don't you marry them?" and I, in the most serious of all voices, said, "I would if it asked."

At about 7:30 this morning, I got a call from the office. Linda (our secretary) told me that there was something waiting for me in the office. When I got there there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Linda said, “They’re from fractions. That was what I was told to say. I have no idea.”

Isn’t that hilarious!? One of my colleagues had bought me flowers, and knew that I had been telling my students, practically daily, of my love. Some of the kids still don’t believe me, but I’m actually not lying when I tell them that Linda had said they were from fractions.

Also, I've received more than I ever have from Christmas or my birthday. Chocolates, stuffed gorillas, bears, dogs, singing frogs, fake flowers, coffee mugs. I joked with, "Is this give Miss Sells presents day?" One of darlings responded with, "Yes. Yes, it is."

This morning, our journal topic was "What is love?" Joe read it and started singing: "What is love? Baby, don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more..." complete with head bobbing.

Alexis' response was "Love is when a boy gives a girl something with the word 'love' on it." Well, hopefully that's not all love is!

Spread the love, people!

Parades, pushing, pooped

2008-02-02T16:54:00.000-08:00

A couple of things:

First, the red half circle outside of classroom doors are NOT A SUGGESTION. One of my students split her head open on the doorknob when a child whipped the door open from the inside (she was also being pushed by someone behind her).

Second, when you think of a "brilliant idea" of how to teach letter writing, make sure the prep time and money doesn't outdo the acutal influence of the project. Our root beer float taste contest (writing to the company we thought had the best root beer) was fun, but it took me a total of an hour to prep, and I had to purchase cups, ice cream, and root beer.

Two of my students and I got to walk in a parade today! Our community, Laveen, had a parade where the principals of each school rode in classic cars and students handed out candy. It was really fun!

I'm exhausted, once again, and lonely again, too. I'm in my classroom and it's nearing 6 p.m. on a SATURDAY. I'm pretty sure there's another teacher here, though, because he promised he would call before he left... My life is sad.

Flying balls!

2008-01-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

Poor Jose!

Dropping my kids off at music for specials on Friday, we had to wait outside until the teacher finished with the last class. The bathroom is around the corner from the music classroom and it happened to be unlocked for Coach's kids. I let Jose go to the bathroom while we waited. A few moments later, Coach appears saying, "Miss Sells! I'll watch your class; one of your kids is hurt."

I run around the corner and Jose is against the wall next to the bathroom, crying his eyes out.

"Jose, what happened!?"

He just bluthered through his tears. Coach, who was standing at the corner so he could watch his kids and mine said, "Miss Sells, I keep tellin' those kids not to throw the balls against the wall..."

Apparently, the kids at recess were playing with small rubber balls against the wall. One student missed the wall and the ball went flying into the bathroom, hitting Jose in the head as he prepared to do his business.

I walked Jose to the nurse's office (the nurse was absent), tried to find him an ice pack in the adjoining teacher's lounge, but only found an Otter Pop. When I returned to him, the secretary had found him an ice pack, so I gave him the OtterPop to help calm him down. He sat there, and we looked at a book of rattlesnakes together as he told me all he knew about snakes.

Man, I love that kid. Hopefully, he's not scarred for the rest of his life against using the school bathroom. He has a welt to prove the trauma of the experience.

Some musings

2008-01-15T05:26:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we had a Pretzel Party in class to celebrate all of the students passing their Binky words (the first set of sight words they practice; they are categorized by Arthur characters- the lowest is Binky, the highest is Bionic Bunny)! It was a proud moment for me, since the last one to move from Binky to Prunella was my resource student. The other members of his group worked with him daily since the day he came (about two weeks ago) to help him pass. It warms my heart!

So, my life revolves around school, as you all know. But--- the date of my dog-getting is fast-approaching. I want to make sure I have enough time to bond with him/her, so I'm going to get her the day after the last day of the school year: mid-May! Thanks for asking, Melissa!

Super-embarassing moment: Before school yesterday, I was in the office and the secretary (a woman who's been working at the school for forever, and speaks very bluntly) asked me if I had a boyfriend. When I answered in the negative, she asked why. What am I supposed to say? I do nothing but work? I don't have a life? Guys don't find me attractive? Well, I forget what I mumbled out, but then she asked if I was interested in anyone "around here." At first I thought she meant the Phoenix-area, but she meant within the school! First of all, even if I was interested in someone, how unprofessional would it be to tell our school secretary that? She began to list through the men at our school (most who are either married or in some other form of relationship). Those few minutes seemed to last FOREVER. Why must it be so hard to be single in a life of people who look down on singlehood?

Frustrating

2008-01-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

The new law that forces employers to have correct papers on their employees is making our school dwindle. Unable to put up the needed paperwork, families are leaving for Mexico by the truckload. It's very upsetting to me, as I see my students (present and past) leave after making such growth in their English, only to know it will soon go to wayside after being immersed in the Spanish language daily. Right now, I only have twenty-four students, and a few other students are telling me their parents are planning on moving soon. Stupid rules and regulations.

This job is so frustrating! Unlike other jobs where it is actually possible to do everything right and be a complete success, teachers never really know how much of a success they are, or sometimes even what they may be doing wrong. There will always be room for improvement, especially since a lot of teaching is conjecture. Are cooperative learning groups better than the traditional school setting? Should 8-year-olds be taught completely differently than 9-year-olds should be taught, since they are technically at different developmental levels? More technology in the classroom or less?

And yet... I love it!

Back to School

2008-01-08T05:04:00.001-08:00

Though my sleep pattern is in shock from having no pattern at all over the last few weeks, coming back to school has been a relatively smooth transition. My kids were tired, but amiable yesterday, and even though it was a rainy day schedule (a rarity in Phoenix), they were on their best behavior.

Unfortunately, my monolingual (or should I call her my "quasi-monolingual" since she was picking up the language?) had her last day in my classroom yesterday. I'm very sad to see her leave, but it seems to be a positive move for her. She's moving from her cousin's trailer into a rental home with her parents. If she was moving to Mexico, I would probably would have torn my hair out- all of that work in vain! Anyway, I hate to call her my favorite, but she was close to being that. After losing Cipriano last year, in the middle-to-end of the year, I'm trying not to grow too attached with any of my students, knowing that this community is very mobile and the new laws are causing families to move back to Mexico. Now I'm down to a small 25 students, but I'm sure those two spots will fill up quickly; they always do!

Unprofessional Haircut

2007-12-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

I was teaching a lesson on the Tricks of the Nine, and we needed our scissors. I look over at Joe, who has his scissors very close to his head and see a small clump of hair, unattached, sitting on his forehead. I was beyond upset. This was the letter I received when I sent him to time-out.

"I did something bad and I don't know why I did this. I don't want to end up like a bad kid and I'm verey sorry that I cut my hair. I like school. Its somthing that you could learn from and have fun with people. You could learn reading, since, social studies, math, languge. But I think your the best teacher ever. But Im not happy and either are you."

That's right. I'm not happy, either, Joe.

Cheaters are Honest

2007-12-06T04:41:00.001-08:00

"Don't I need to go to the floor to take my test? Remember- I cheat." - Alex

Truth

2007-12-06T04:38:00.000-08:00

"What do you expect? We're just kids!" - Arnulfo

Funnies

2007-11-28T04:38:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-20T12:13:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-14T05:09:00.000-08:00

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?

2007-11-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-06T16:59:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

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!

Boobies

2007-10-24T05:57:00.001-07:00

A must-tell story:

I have invited my monolingual and her live-in cousin to my after-school tutoring. Yesterday was our first day all together, and they had to wait for their sister/cousin to come out of ninth hour so we had some time to ourselves. We were playing a made-up game, and I was very excited because Karla, the monolingual, was using self-initiated English: "Sit, Miss Sells. Come here, Miss Sells. No copy me, Miss Sells." Anyway, I was giving them some orders, like, "Walk fast. Walk SLOOOOOW, Stop!" and one of the orders was "Dance!" So, of course, we all started shaking what our mamas gave us! Karla was beside herself and yelled, "Shake your boobies!"

"What!?" I said, stopping mid-dance, hoping I misheard.

Her slightly slower cousin was quick to repeat, laughingly recalling: "She said, 'shake your boobies', Miss Sells."

Mouth agape, I covered my "boobies" protectively. "Karla!" I reprimanded.

Karla looked slightly confused, then pointed to her butt. "Boobies, no?"

I guess I've referred to the buttocks as "booty" too many times. And you know, "booby" does sound VERY close to "booty." Hmm... enunciation.

As a later note, she was also heard on the playground repeating my catchphrase: "Oh my goodness!"

Clowns and Mistold Jokes

2007-10-19T06:23:00.001-07:00

Well, I've survived through Friday after the week of break! I severely miss that ability to sleep in until whenever I decide to arise (somehow today I set my alarm for 4:00, but woke up at 4:30). Although my week was broken up by a trip to Oklahoma on Tuesday, I still feel exhausted.

Ronald McDonald came to our school yesterday for a "Book Time" Talk. Last year, Mr. McDonald presented on, of all things, physical activity. After the presentation, students were given a coupon for a hamburger. Does something seem wrong here? I can't believe we actually spent an hour of potential instruction time sitting in the cafeteria hearing lame book jokes from a clown. The kids loved it, though.

Last night I went to the board meeting (SnoozeFest), to be there for my friend as she accepted the Teacher of the Month award from our district. Before the presentation of the awards, the board showed a clip of a local news helicopter making a visit to another elementary school in the district. The enthusiastic pilot hopped out and was milling around the crowds. A couple of times, he had pulled students to tell jokes. Here are a couple of funny moments in the video:

Pilot: What's your joke, sweetie?
Little Girl: Why was six afraid of seven?
Pilot: I don't know. Why was six afraid of seven?
Little Girl: Because eight seven nine.

Pilot: And, sir, what's your joke?
Little Boy: Knock, knock.
Pilot: Who's there?
Little Boy: Squarel (that's what it sounded like)
Pilot: Square who?
Little Boy: No! Squarel!!!
Pilot: Oh. SQUARE who?
Little Boy: No! Squarel!!!
Pilot: What?
Little Boy: SQUAREL!
Pilot: SQU-ARE who?
Little Boy: No!!!!!! SQUAREL!!!!
Pilot: Let's move on...

Oh, live television. I THINK the child was trying to say "squirrel", but it's hard to say that word 1) when you're six and 2) when you have a lisp.

Free Falling

2007-10-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

Now that I have a week off (hallelujah chorus playing in the background), I have time to do things like... fill out a survey my sister tagged me to complete! Hurray!

4 Jobs I've Held:
1. data entry clerk at my college's admissions
2. tutor at HLC
3. total tool at La Petite Daycare/Preschool
4. test grader for McGraw-Hill

4 Films I Could Watch Again and Again:
1. "So I Married An Axe Murderer?
2. "Amelie"
3. "Bringing Up Baby"
4. "Newsies"

4 TV Shows I Watch:
1. "Beauty and the Geek"
2. "Dancing with the Stars"
3. "The Office"
4. "The Daily Show"/"Steven Colbert" (hey, it's an hour block; I can count it as one show)

4 Places I've Lived:
1. Santa Barbara, CA
2. Rescue, CA
3. Cameron Park, CA
4. Phoenix- Valley of the Sun!

4 Favorite Foods:
1. nachos!!!!! (no beans)
2. ice cream
3. potato pizza from Pizzaria Classico
4. In N Out (ooh, maybe I'll get some today!)

4 Websites I Visit Everyday (not anymore, because I had to cancel my Internet):
1. hungersite.com
2. webmail
3. Scholastic site for printables
4. this

4 Favorite Colors:
1. cranberry
2. midnight blue
3. light blue
4. brown

4 Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:
1. Bookman's, with a lot of cash
2. at home with my mama
3. in Santa Barbara with my amigos
4. touring Europe

4 Names I Like But Wouldn't or Couldn't Use Myself:
1. Graham
2. Samantha (but I have a student this year who has tainted the name)
3. Shabnam (from a friend from grade school, but she had to deal with a lot of mispronunciation)
4. Octavio

4 blogging friends that I'm tagging are:
Megan Haver/Phillips
Lunderwoo
anyone else

Conferencing with Yo Mama

2007-10-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

At my school, we have conferences twice a year: at the end of first quarter (this past Wednesday and Thursday) and at the end of third quarter (so we can say, "Sorry, Mrs. Doe, but Johnny needs to repeat third grade").

Out of my twenty-six students, twenty-four showed up for conferences. Though of course we shoot for 100%, I'm pretty proud of this near success. Last year, I was scared to death of conferences. With the child sitting right there next to their mother, looking nervous and frightened, I would have pity last minute and sweeten the sour news. I didn't LIE, per se, but I didn't exactly convey how poorly their child was doing.

I realize now what a disservice that was to both the child and the family. This year, I made a conscious effort to make sure I told the parents exactly where their child was. Here are some highlights from the last two nights:

Me, looking at a silent and somber Arnulfo: Arnulfo, are you okay? You are really quiet.
Arnulfo: I don't like talking in front of people. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Mother: Yeah, she's lazy. Lazy, lazy, lazy. Why do you have to be so lazy?

Mama: I know, she really is a space cadet, isn't she?

Mama2: Why do you have two tardies? I drop you off!
Kid: My teacher made me late.
Me: Excuse me. I'm your teacher, remember? I did NOT make you late.

Me: Make sure she reads every night. Do you read every night, Vanessa?
Vanessa: Welllllllllllllllll........
Me: That's what I thought.

One of my favorite students has only been in the country for a year and a half. Her older brother was translating for me, and the mom had said that she worried about her daughter had trouble listening. I responded and the older brother started translating, but stopped and said, "Wait, what?" I laughed- "Are you sure it's your sister that has trouble listening?" Then, the mother went off in Spanish, and she mentioned something about the brother's listening. She motioned to him to tell me what she had said. I said, "Come on, now. What did you mom just say?" He looked at me, smiled winningly, and said, "That's confidential."

Humor

2007-09-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

"That was so funny, I can't take off my smile!" - Arnulfo

"Don't call them armpits. We're ladies. Call them underarms. Once they start to get all stinky and nasty, then they're armpits." - Agilita

"Suck my balls!"

2007-09-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

A day to be reckoned with--- when I came out from my usual fifteen minute lunch, two of my usually well-behaved boys were sitting on the wall. Apparently, they had used their lunch time telling other people to "suck [their] balls!" After a little bit of interviewing (and A LOT of crying), two other boys were singled out as having said it, too. I was VERY disappointed, and wanted them all to call home. I would usually send them to the office so I wouldn't have to repeat such language in front of the rest of my students, but the office was too busy, so I had to do the calling with my cell phone as the rest of the class looked at book orders. Mr. D'Alessio, the vice principal, came by, and scared the boys by asking them, in their face, what they said. Of course, none of the students wanted to tell the vice principal, "suck my balls" so they all looked ashamed. Mr. D said, "I'm guessing, somethign not very nice." They all nodded their heads.

Later, after a lot of phone crying and "Mama! Mama!" I e-mailed Mr. D'Alessio to tell him what exactly had been said. This veteran junior high teacher replied with a "So?"

"Today was just the poisoning"/ "Imagine a semi..."

2007-09-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

This week has been incredible. Now, please, pause and think about what the word "incredible" implies. Unbelievable. Logically impossible. Almost frightening.

Let's begin with Wednesday, when I told the kids that the following day was International Talk Like A Pirate Day. They were very excited about the prospect and showed them how to make hooks with their hand and say, enthusiastically, "Arrrrggghh". Well, poor Arnulfo was making a hook and saying "Arrrgh" a little too enthusiastically while holding his pencil, stabbing himself in the eye, and following his "Arrrgh" with the cry of a wounded animal. He immediately began bauling. His shoulder partner, Angelie, has the seat in the far corner and has to move her chair up to let people pass behind her. She was so enthralled by Arnulfo's crying ("He's really crying Miss Sells") that I had to say, "Angelie! Please move up so Arnulfo can go to the nurse." The kids were saying, "Miss Sells, he's crying! He's really crying!" I had to say calmly, "Well, I would be crying, too, if I stabbed myself in the eye with my pencil while making a pirate hook." After school, he told a first grade teacher that he had stabbed himself in the eye while talking like a pirate. Oh, my!

On Tuesday, we had a serious incident on campus where a seventh grader put sleeping pills in another student's water bottle, causing him to pass out in the nurse's office. The police were, obviously, involved. Out to dinner that evening with my third grade teacher friend and the school librarian, the librarian asked, "Was there another fight today?" thinking he had seen some scuffle on the playground. "No," his wife answered, "Today was just the poisoning." What kind of place do we work at where that comment would be stated!?

Yesterday, two fourth graders picked up a dying pigeon from the playground and took it into my neighbor's classroom while she was teaching math. Any person reading this who really knows me, knows that I have an irrational fear of pigeons. While taking my kids out to computers, these two kids came toward me, grinning, with a scared looking pigeon in their hands saying, "Look what we brought you Miss Sells!" knowing I would freak out. I freaked out. I mean, I REALLY freaked. When one of the fourth graders saw me on my way back to my classroom, he started running toward me screaming "Rabies! Rabies!" (this is an unusual child). Anyway, when I had the chance to talk to him privately after school, our conversation went like this:

Me: "Colbie, what you did today really hurt my feelings. You know that I'm seriously afraid of pigeons, don't you?"
Colbie: "Yes, but why, Miss Sells?"
Me: "It doesn't matter why. People are afraid of things for very different reasons. But it's never okay to make what someone's afraid of into a joke. Are you afraid of anything, Colbie?"
Colbie thinks for a while and then says, "I'm afraid of semis, because once one ran over my arm." (I have no idea if this is true, but I'm guessing a truck did run over his arm once. This kid is just that strange and lives in that sort of neighborhood where something like that could happen.)
Me: "Well, Colbie, how would you feel if I thought that was really funny so I teased you about it. Imagine a semi.... Imagine if I brought a semi in front of your house and waited in front for you, just to scare you."
Colbie's eyes widened. "I wouldn't like that at all, Miss Sells."
Me: "All right. So what do you owe me?"
Colbie: "I'm sorry Miss Sells."

Empathy.

Musically Deranged

2007-09-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

We have a music teacher at our school with a great love for music, but what has been demonstrated as an incompetence with teaching. I happen to have music on Fridays. Well, last week, though the teacher mentioned nothing to me, my students told me that one of my students was playing "guns" with the rhythm sticks. Today, I decided I would stop by about ten minutes into the lesson to see exactly what kind of mayhem my students were causing. First of all, I immediately noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere when I opened the door. If you did not know this, the sight of a teacher (especially their own teacher) stops third graders in their tracks. Several students were looking at me from their seat, others were standing, and ONE was on the floor!

"Is it time already?" asked our obviously senile music teacher.
"No, I just decided to check on them." I stated in my best "I-am-very-upset-right-now" teacher voice.

Since it didn't seem like the teacher was actually in the middle of a lesson, I spoke to several students about sitting correctly in their chair, not touching their neighbors- basically correcting the majority of the misbehavior I was noticing. I pulled Arnulfo, the student who was on the floor when I opened the door, and spoke with him outside.

"What did I tell you before I let you in this classroom?"
"To behave."
"What are you doing now?"
"Not behaving."
"Do you think you'd be able to control yourself if I put you back in there?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure? - because I have no problem with having you set this one out."
"I'm sure."
"If I hear one more thing about your lack of self control, you will NOT want to know me."
"Okay, Miss Sells."
"Do you know what I mean by that?"
"Yes. You'll, well... you'll basically attack me."
(I had to suppress a smile) "That's right. Go back in there."

What do I do with a class of students who will behave with me and the other specials teachers, but not with one? And on a Friday afternoon?! Aaaah!!!

Curb the Cursing

2007-09-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not big on cussing. I'm not one of those people who drop f-bombs on frequent occassions or have a hard time controlling my language around children. However, yesterday, I found myself having to rein it in.

I have to keep reminding myself: These children are only eight years old. They have only been alive for eight years. What do you really expect out of them?

Here's a sample from my day yesterday:
Me: Get out your library book if you have it. If you don't have it, you don't have to tell me.
Several students: I forgot mine at home!
Me: Again, only get out your library book IF YOU HAVE IT. If you forgot it, I don't care.
Several students: I don't have mine!
Me: Listen. Get your library book out. If you don't have it, you don't have it. If you forgot it, okay. Just get it out, if you have it.
Students: I left mine at home!
Me: Library books out. If you don't have it, you don't need to say anything.
(Arnulfo raises his hand)
Me: Yes, Arnulfo
Arnulfo: I don't have mine.

Holy s&*@! In these sort of situations, you can't blame it on the language barrier. You can't say its their home life. They just AREN'T listening! I simply don't have the time or patience to say everything fifteen times.

New Student Headache/Blessing

2007-09-06T06:50:00.000-07:00

At about 8:30 yesterday morning, there was a slight knock on my door. Outside were two women and a little girl, one of the women holding a pink slip signifying an enrollment. I quickly learned that this particular student spoke no English. She stepped silently into my classroom and grasped my hand desperately as I guided her to her seat. Luckily, I had cleared the desk of a withdrawn student the night before so there was a place for her. Also, this space happened to be next to one of my Spanish-speaking sweethearts who was more than willing to help our new class/family member adjust.

I have forgotten over the summer how taxing it is to have a monolingual in the classroom. Last year, I had two: Jose, a student who was unmotivated and silent, unwilling to participate (he left a month after his enrollment) and Cipriano, one of my all-time favorites (yes, it's true: teachers have favorites). This little boy was set in learning English. He was focused and hardworking; refusing to let others help him by translating. He ended up being able to speak and read English pretty well before his family was forced to leave the area in February. I cried when he left.

This new student, Karla, is absolutely precious. She speaks to me in Spanish frequently: "Maestra! Maestra! Blah blah blah lots of Spanish!" I can understand a lot of what she says, but my personal Spanish word bank is very small. I know the Spanish for my numbers up to 10, party, beans, men, cheese, and a couple of colors. I am pleased she is comfortable enough to talk to me, even if it's not in my native language. Luckily, my kids are quick to come to her aid. It's almost heartbreaking to see her looking up at me with her huge brown eyes and a smile, pointing and asking, "Si, maestra? Si???"

Sure Are A Lot of Mexicans

2007-08-28T21:28:00.001-07:00

I received a new student last week from Arkansas. A child who would likely be a clone of the rest of the class at many schools, this caucasian, blond boy sticks out like a sore thumb in the sea of Hispanic boys and girls in Room 19. Not only that, but he's rather short for his age, and has a slight twangy accent.

On his first week of school, he made the following observations/vocal thoughts:

Me: How do you like it here in Phoenix?
Student: I dunno- There sure are a lot of Mexicans here!

Student: It's so hot here I think I'm sweatin' in places I never sweated at before!

Student: You better lock your doors 'cuz I hear this place has lots of thieves and murderers.

Student: I'm walking home, but I'll be careful because my mom told me that a few years ago a girl was raped and killed on her way home.

Student: In Arkansas, if you don't wear your shoes, you're called a hillbilly!

Potentially rich

2007-08-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

Today I've discovered that although I bemoan my financial plight quite often, I could potentially be rich. If I were not so magnetic toward used bookstores and book fairs, I think I might have enough money not to worry too much about whether my bank account could support another trip to the gas station. This weekend, I spent near $100 on children's books alone! Before you scoff at my weakness, let me at least brag about what I was able to purchase with the money:
Copies of:
"Say What?"
"Bodies in the Hotel"
"Andy Russell and the Flying Hamsters"
"The Story of Ferdinand"
"Skippyjon Jones"
"Stephanie's Ponytail" and "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch
one copy of every book in the Captain Underpants series (after my students begged me to get more)
"Orwell's Luck"
"Revolutionary War on Wednesday"
"The Giraffe, The Pelly, And Me"
"The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool"
"A True Taste for Scarlet and Miniver"
and possibly more
My colleague's birthday is on Thursday, so many of the above titles were purchased for the occasion as part of a read-aloud pack.

No P.S.

2007-08-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have to mention this short story:
Last week we were reading "Ruby the Copycat" from our reading series. In it, a girl gives Ruby a note with a P.S. telling her that she doesn't like her copycatting ways. Afterward, Ruby (rightfully) cries.
Me: Why do you think Ruby cries after reading the note?
Student: She called her a P.S.!

Also, I have one ornery little girl who cries and whines all the time. In a fit of frustration, I said, "Chantal, don't cry over that!" and she retorted in the whiniest of voices: "I'm not a crier; I'm a whiner!"

After showing a really cool trick with addition, a student cries out, "Damn! That's hot!" with obvious enthusiasm. "Please watch your language in the classroom," I say, in my most mature teacher voice. Surprised, the student replies with, "What? 'Hot?!'"

Here's another random bit of wisdom given by a third grader: "Life would be so much easier if I had a monkey." Amen. Amen.

Eight-year-old tour guides

2007-08-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Wow! I have to say I'm fairly happy about how Parent Night turned out. I had about half of my class show up with parents in tow. Honestly, I had nothing to worry about. The students who showed up immediately gave their parents the run around the room, pointing to every display, poster, area, and assignment with an explanation (most in Spanish, but I did have one or two English speakers this year!). They had their parents guess which one was their Mini-Me's (props to many parents for getting it right on the first try), then they moved around the room pointing to their word family flower, sight word star, our class spelling and math chart, even stopping to explain the behavior chart. My job was made incredibly easy. I answered about two questions, thanked them for coming, and that was that. I loved that the students felt that the room was THEIRS, such a contrast from Meet the Teacher when they shyly walked in and wouldn't make eye contact. Now they were dragging their parents around by the hand to point to their name in the name quilt or explain our class jobs and pillow people.

The prize goes to my student Cierra who pulled things from random places to describe to her mom how I used the dry erase markers, showed her how to use an atlas, and summarized the read aloud. She must have been in there for thirty minutes, going on and on about every little detail in the class: how I use the yardstick of power, how her job is to shush Arnulfo, why we have special numbers, and the importance of marshmallows to our read aloud. I didn't even realize how much we did until she reported it all in detail.

Adorable, yet Exhausting

2007-08-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it's technically only the seventh day of school, but, of course, I'm exhausted. These kids are absolutely ADORABLE... I have one child, who's not even in my class, but has adopted me as his recess buddy, who calls me his "mummy" because I do this little mummy bit where I chase him around the field. Today he accidentally called me "mama." That may not sound adorable to you, but believe me - it is!

Anyway, our Parent's Night (technically a Back-to-School) is this Thursday and I'm worried my classroom does not look good enough to receive parents. It doesn't look BAD, but it doesn't necessarily reflect all of the work we've done so far. After a Kagan workshop I took this summer, I've been incorporating a lot more cooperative learning, so a lot of what we do doesn't have hard "proof". We go into some amazing projects later in the year, but right now all I have up are our Mini-Mes, Wanted posters and a writing project for "Miss Nelson is Missing", fake newspaper reports about our first week of school, and their sight word charts. Will that be enough?

I think I may be getting good reports at home. I've had several teachers from lower grades tell me that their old students who are now in my class have reported that I am "sooo funny". It's true: I am. This group seems to appreciate my humor even more than last year. They love my reading selections (right now it's Shel Silverstein's "Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back"), Twinkie, and of course my undoubtable wit and charm!

Leave It Outside

2007-08-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think that a teacher is asked to be unhuman. She must be happy and excited 98% of the time, multi-tasking, concerned about everyone but herself, and, possibly hardest of all, she must learn to leave all personal (or sometimes professional) issues outside the door. Whether it's the death of a family member, the fact that she broke up with her boyfriend the night before, a rumor spreading denying her professional credability, nothing must effect her teaching.

Remembering when I was the age of my own students, I always thought that the teachers lived at school. I imagined Mr. Dickens putting the desks together to form a sort of bed, Mrs. Sulis tucking herself away into the cabinet for the night, etc. In a way, that's really who we are. I am Miss Sells, here for the twenty-five learners who grace my classroom with their presence five days a week. Since my personal struggles and dilemmas are not allowed to even enter my mind between 8:00 and 4:00, I might as well become the teacher who sleeps on her desk. It's often shocking when I realize there are people and situations outside of school. I spend so much energy on the school part, I forget that life is supposed to be more than that.

First Day

2007-08-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school! It started as crazily as always: students in the wrong classrooms, non-English speaking parents coming into the room to make sure their child- I don't know - knows they are at school? My students are pretty adorable: 25 eight to nine-year-olds eager to be at school and start a new chapter. They are at many different academic levels. Most seem to be pretty low, but I also have one girl who is reading "Chronicles of Narnia."

The day passed very quickly, but I was still completely exhausted afterwards. Being cheery for so long takes something out of you.

It was also the first day of our conversion from a K-6 to a K-8. I am not the biggest lover of the junior-high crew: they are pompous, egotistical, wanna-be-adults. It's strange having to walk my kids past a bunch of gossiping 13-year-olds. I've had to tell students taller than me to tuck in their shirts... I also hurt my feet by playing tag in fancy professional shoes. I think the blisters are worth the connections I made with my third graders!

What day is it?

2007-08-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

So, twenty five third graders will be showing up at my door in less than two days, and I am sitting in my classroom on a Saturday (or, more honestly, making frequent trips from the classroom to the teacher's lounge). For those of you numb to the pains of the teacher, this is not a rare occurence. I am not the only teacher here this Saturday: there are two sixth grade teachers, three second grade teachers, two first grade teachers, two fourth grade teachers, and possibly more locked inside their classrooms, plus our principal and vice principal. Also, if I were to compare the Saturdays I spent at school last year to the Saturdays I didn't spend at school, the former would greatly outweigh the latter. The sad thing is that if you were to ask me how I spent these Saturdays, the answer would be unsatisfactory: preparing. How can you spend THAT much time doing prep work? I would tell you it's because of my rather limited experience, but veteran teachers do the same.

Here's to your Saturday. May it be void of all work. Live it up so teachers can have something to experience vicariously.

When all else fails... it's time to throw a water balloon...

2007-07-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today, I sat in a room for eight hours straight (okay, so I got up to use the restroom and we went to an adjoining room for lunch, but you get the picture). The teachers in our district were given a full day of meetings at their school site. Although I love the people I work with, colleagues as well as adminstration, these meetings can be dry and boring even if you're sitting next to the most interesting people in the world. Just when I thought I was about to fall asleep in my pile of papers, our principal calls out, "Okay, get a partner, grab a water balloon and meet me outside." Well, being the mature and sophisticated adults that we are, we immediately do so, laughingly pushing each other aside as we scramble to get into the steamy outdoors. Forming two lines, we do that picnic classic of the water balloon toss (with the distance between your partner growing with every successful throw). You haven't lived until you see a 60-some year-old five-foot tall secretary dripping wet from a well-aimed throw of a water balloon or an army-veteran-turned-kindergarden-teacher heaving a water balloon to a laughing intructional assistant. Dripping and laughing, we went back inside to face more paperwork and AYP qualifications. However, those few tosses of a water balloon greatly increased the value of the day.

The Greatest Sacrifice

2007-07-27T07:40:00.001-07:00

According to Harry Potter, it's your soul. According to movies, it's your life. According to a teacher, however, the greatest sacrifice one can give is . . . I can barely confess I've done it! . . . giving away books.

Yesterday, I sat in the middle of my reading area surrounded by books. I had a problem. I had too many books. "Too many books!" you exclaim in authentic horror. "That's just not possible." Actually, it IS possible, and I was able to reach such a point. It happened because a) I am a children's book hoarder, b) I am a Scholastic whore, c) I cannot say no to a book. My classroom library has books from my own childhood, from warehouse sales, from used bookstores and Friends of the Library monthly sales, leftover from the teacher who had resided in my classroom before me, and from many helpful teachers in California who saw me as a beneficiary of all the books they no longer had want or need for.

Our school librarian (and the husband of another third grade teacher) came in and saw me panicking as I sat like a human island in a sea of books. "Help me!" I cried pathetically, and he allowed me to wail out my problem: basically that I had too many books and my classroom library was starting to swallow my classroom whole; a colleague joked that I could keep all my books, but a couple of students would have to sit outside. I picked up a book at random to demonstrate the problem. The book happened to be from an ancient series featuring a character named Calico Cat. "Calico Cat goes to the Zoo": a boring, story with bland pictures about a cat who sees animals at a zoo (what a creative idea!). "What about this?" I said, manically. "I would never recommend this book to someone; I hate this book! But it might have some significance to an ELL or someone just beginning to read."

"Have you ever seen a student reading one of these?" he asked, patiently.

"Ummm... I think I saw Bianca reading one once."

"Is it worth keeping a book you hate, that you wouldn't recommend, just because one student picked it up and read it ONCE?"

"I don't know! Am I hired to be a teacher or a book critic?" I asked, anger rising in my voice.

He told me quietly, slowly, and calmly (appropriate for a librarian, but it may have been fear that I would attack him for making such a suggestion), "Erica, why would you keep a book that lacks quality, when you have plenty of good books waiting to be picked up? Taking out some of the books that are disinteresting and boring will only increase the chance that a student will pick up a book that he actually will enjoy."

Of course he was right. I started going through my books and pulling out books that had no place in my classroom. I took out copies of "Leo and the Butterfly" (BOR-ING), a 70s book asking the question, "What Are Drugs?" (my kids can already tell you that), a couple of books from the series my grandmother bought us when we were growing up with titles like "The Truth About Tattling", "picture" books with no pictures and miniscule print, etc. Although it was possibly one of the hardest things I ever had to do, I ended up with a large box full of rejected books.

I can now look through my library and not find one book that I wouldn't be glad to recommend. There's a great feeling in that! Also, my classroom library now only takes up four bookshelves (still a lot, but about twelve cubic feet less of space than my books were taking up before). It looks good and I feel good about it. I am still struggling with the book critic within, but I get most of those needs out from my child_lit e-mail ring to which I belong. It comes down to this:
I hold my students to an expectation when they come into my class; my books should meet high standards as well.

The Plank

2007-07-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks before school starts again, we all are forced to walk the plank. This plank will tell us if our school year will be successful or not. We must set up new systems (academic and disciplinary), pray over our class lists (whether you're religious or not), and make our classroom the safe and creative environment we have been told time and time again by professors, colleagues, and superiors that our rooms must be. Each step will tell us what will meet us once we take that flying leap off the edge. The board we walk is sturdy, almost teasingly unrelenting, giving no hint of the conclusion that awaits. Our breath is tighter in our chest with each step. What kind of year will I have? What kind of students will I have? How will my colleagues treat me and how will my lack of sleep and strong teacher-esque will force me to treat them in return? I am only a few steps down the plank now, but it's too far to turn back. I only hope the waters are friendly.

Class lists will be given tomorrow, and I find out at least one of the projects my year will settle upon. Most of the names will be unfamiliar: a sibling here, a cousin there; but there will also be inevitably a name with a reputation. You pray there's only one . . . You have to decide how you will take this blow. Automatically sit him in the front? Girl-lock him? Read up on every discipline book in your professional library? Come up with a precursory behavior plan? Listen to the rumors or start fresh with a "new year, new teacher" attitude? Last year, it was the year of Nathaniel; I was lucky to have a child whose only real problem was intense ADHD. Who knows what kind of challenge the future holds for Room 19.

Actress/Teacher

2007-07-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

Who knew that taking a couple of drama classes in high school and developing a severe case of stage fright in front of my peers would lead me to being a teacher... or really, just an actress with a perpetual audience of eight- and nine-year-olds? So often that's what being a teacher seems to signify. Sure, I attend conferences, staff meetings, and other meetings with vague purposes; I spend too much time grading and entering grades, creating rubrics; I read more children's literature than a children's book editor; I plan lessons during every waking (and sometimes slumbering) moment; but when it comes to opening the door in the morning to a class of expectant third graders, the actress kicks in and takes over. I am replaced by a character called "Miss Sells" who has all the answers, a bottomless pit of energy and enthusiasm about everything from fire drills to fractions, and a great skill of improvisation. Through it all she has a smile on her face, except when the teacher-look is necessary.

I was inspired to create this blog because of my wonderfully eloquent elder sister's influence. Plus, I would like to have a place dedicated to thought and experiences dealing with my professional life (which, let's face it, is my life).

Of course, now it's the summer: that supposed "vacation time" that makes the occupation of teacher enviable to everyone with normal 9-to-5 jobs. Right now, however, I am in my classroom, trying to sort out all of the files, articles, magazines, both inconsequential and overbearing tasks that I decided to put off so I could check out early. I just sigh and look around thinking about everything that needs to be done: schedules to be made, lesson plans to be created, desks to be arranged, re-organizing and pre-organizing, phone calls and e-mails and letters to write- all of a sudden I seem very tired. Aren't I still on vacation?