Crazy...

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......

Tangled Web We Weave

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!

Cockroaches and Craziness

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.