Ah, spring break has begun.

This is a strange break because I am not going anywhere, but so far I am managing to appreciate the time to do nothing and relax. I am filling my time by starting to pack up my belongings to move in two month (which will take approximately two hours because I don't have anything here to begin with), getting a two-week guest membership at a gym in town (which is a cool place), and I have become a secret shopper! So I get to go places and buy things and get paid for it. Fun.

I may not post much, with nothing going on and all.   ¶ 2:12 PM

  Every teacher knows that if you don't have control of the classroom it creates a vacuum. Children can't stand a vacuum, so they take the control from you. Every teacher knows that they should never let that happen.

But sometimes-- sometimes you are just so TIRED. Tired of the kids' noise. Tired of saying the same three sentences, ("Why are you out of your seat?", "I need your attention now!", and "What in God's name are you doing?") over and over. Today, I was so annoyed by my last period class that I just mentally checked out altogether. I mean, I really deliberately decided to leave the premises in my brain and go elsewhere. I went to really pleasant memory of going to Seattle one late night with Owen. I think I went there because it seemed like such a free time. And I was feeling very very shackled in that tiny trailer with seventeen screeching children.

I was pulled out of my reverie by an adult voice shouting, "What is happening in here?" It was my trailer-neighbor, another teacher. I suddenly looked around and literally every kid was out of their seat doing something weird. One kid was pulling the quotes I have up off the walls. Another student was gathering every pencil and pen he could find in my desk and putting them carefully around a picture of my neice. One student was gingerly taking off another student's shoe. I looked at my white-board and the words "Mrs. S is F'kn WACK yo!" were written (happily, I am not Mrs. S) in rainbow colors. And finally, my one very special young man was singing opera and doing high leg lifts by himself in the corner.

I couldn't have even been checked out for that long. It had to have been 8 minutes, tops, from the time I thought they were working in pairs on a reading comprehension worksheet to the graffitti and leg lifts. They are fast and wily. Amazing.

It really must be time for spring break. Heaven help me.  ¶ 6:10 PM

  Earlier today I was scaring one of my students by telling her that there was a spider near her foot. She is terrified of spiders. I thought it was pretty funny, making her jump around and scream on the porch outside my room (I am in an outdoor trailer).

Then a lady-bug flew in my eye and wouldn't come out. I screamed and thrashed about, very close to vomiting, until I finally abandoned my station watching the kids come in and ran into the staff bathroom looking very much possessed by the devil. I ended up crushing the disgusting insect (did I ever mention my severe bug phobia?) on my cheek and then dry-heaving as I scrubbed said cheek until it burned with grainy school soap. I can still feel its feet on my eyelashes.

Ah, karma is a bitch...  ¶ 4:11 PM

  You know, I think that sometimes groups that could really help each other don't band together enough.

For instance: education reformists and environmentalists.

This morning I made 17 packets of 20 double-sided sheets of paper. I did this because there is only one copy of the text that I need to use and I have to make sure that each child has one to look at. Not only are these packets going to be used, but since I actually have about 50 students and only 17 packets (class-set), each child will need to write their answers on a separate sheet of paper.

Not to mention the fact that, for some strange and disturbing reason, each of my students has a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder which prevents them from continuing to use any sheet of paper that they have accidentally made a stray mark on or have negected to use a ruler to ensure straightness upon. So, really, they will use several sheets of paper. (Teachers-- is this common? Or are my children...exceptional?)

So, all the environmentalists in the house: fight for money for schools! More materials means less paper waste!  ¶ 9:24 AM