Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Ups and Downs

I woke up with a cold this morning.

Remember the sign that Distractions McGee made me and then carelessly lost, and how it made me sad? It was sitting on my desk this morning, all colored in. I put it right up on the board behind my desk.

Half the Debaters were throwing paper across the room at each other every time I turned away from them.

Homework completion has jumped up this week. I have been giving out worksheets with historical summary passages and questions. I also FINALLY put up a homework star chart. The sad part is that a significant number of students got questions wrong. The passages are at a 4th to 5th grade reading level.

Apparently some of the Moles are sneaky sneaky--insulting me behind my back, calling me racist, threatening me. I alerted my administration and then later on in our second class together, I wrote a sample sentence about "The esteemed Ms. _____" and when asked what esteemed meant, I said lightly, "Well, it pretty much means really awesome. And I am pretty awesome. If you disagree....too bad, sorry."

Also, when asked how they would feel about living in a dictatorship, one student responded, "Well, I'd be afraid of the water."

In the afternoon, I asked the Moles to vote on how to read their example story and they wanted to read in pairs to each other. So they did--and they DID. Even the disruptive ones!

A bunch of kids--boys and girls--want to learn to knit. I want to start a club and told a few kids, and they're asking about when it will start.

5 comments:

abby - the geek girl said...

I just decided to sponsor a bowling club... so we are in the same club starting boat :O

Anonymous said...

The knitting club is great! A girl I used to babysit for tried to teach me a few years ago but I never understood it..hopefully your kids will do better. I think it is great that you are not afraid to show your kids who is boss. You ARE the teacher and your have earned that title. Children will accept that when someone finally shows them who is boss. Looks like you have done that! Way to go!

CaliforniaTeacherGuy said...

Yes, you are esteemed, J--by your colleagues, if not by your kids. Keep up the great work!

Dr. G said...

Okay it is too late for this cold, but get some ZICAM for your medicine cabinet and use it according to the directions the minute you think you are getting a cold. Your cold will go away overnight or sooner! Research backs this weird medicine. You can ditch those lousy kid's colds forever.

Unknown said...

I think it is a great idea to start a knitting club. That will be a good way to bond with the students and allow them to do something they are interested in. They may even pay more attention in class because they will respect you more for taking that time with them.