The natives are restless

I'm too tired and worn out to say much (plus it's Results Night on American Idol!), so let's just say that the kids are chomping at the bit. They're ready for summer. We're ready for summer. It's getting ugly. In my classes alone, I wanted to strangle a good dozen of them (but instead, I took the Christain approach and took a deep breath and said a little prayer in my head). But at least that was the extent of my antics. Somewhere else on campus (I'm not sure where, as I heard it secondhand from the vice principal), a kid bit another student. Yeah, BIT them. You don't hear about that much in grade school, not to mention MIDDLE SCHOOL. Oh yeah, and two other students were hauled off to Juvie today. 5 more weeks...

...And now I can breathe a sigh of relief

The BIG FAT STANDARDIZED TESTS are over!! What a relief. We took them Tuesday through Friday and it felt like longer. The test schedule was broken down into 2 hour segments (the first day being the writing assessment and the other 3 days were an hour of reading comprehension and an hour of math), which isn't so bad. I tried to tell the kids that I remember when I was in school that the state tests were all day. You tested all day, with just lunch and recess as a break. Could you imagine this generation (ones with an attention span of a gnat), sitting in a desk all day long taking a test? Yikes! I think the 2 hour segment is long enough.

I tried to peek at some of their tests (especially the writing one), and check out how they were doing. Most seemed to do pretty well. That test is so hard to analyze as a teacher though, since some just want it to be over, so they just rush. And others get stressed out at the end (which was like me as a student) and kinda give up. You hope that most of them care enough about it to try their best. It at least looked like the majority did. I guess we'll see when the scores come back, right?

I'm also glad testing week is over so we can get back to our regular schedule. I guess because of lunches, the day was broken down by taking test with 8th period class from 9-11 and then going to 3rd period and continuing from there and having 1st and 2nd period at the end of the day. I don't know who was more out of whack by the switch: the students or the teachers! We had this same schedule about a month ago, when we did a little version of the state test, but it was only for the day. This was 4 days!! I'll be glad to have my 1st/2nd period kids back in the morning. When they're still half asleep. At the end of the day is apparently their prime. And it just about made me crazy.

Needless to say, we are all able to relax a little and pray that the next 6 weeks go by without much incident. Once the BIG TEST is over, some of the kids sort of check out. They figure the school year is over already. Not so. And how do you keep them motivated to keep working and keep caring? That's the magic question!!

Happy Easter

MySpace Graphic Codes

Hope everyone has a peaceful day with family and it is a happy, joyful day for all.

P.S. Eat lots of candy!!

God Rocks!!

I'm gonna make this short and sweet, since the last 2 days have been non-stop. Yesterday, we left home right after I got off work and hurried down to my parents' house. We gave a few last minute instructions, kissed Mason goodbye and headed off to the concert. What a show. Stellar Kart opened (think Green Day with Christian lyrics), which we weren't familiar with, but they were high energy and a lot fun, and then came Kutless (the band we knew best--medium hardrock) and the headliner was the Newsboys (kinda U2-esque). They put on a great show. My throat still hurts from singing so loud. We're really glad we went.

We returned home this afternoon. I took a nap, but Mason decided he didn't need one, so Daddy entertained him for awhile. Then, we went to church for Good Friday service. And now we're home. Tomorrow we're going to our friends' house to color eggs with Sesame Street and Star Wars decorations (which one do you think Daddy picked out?)

The Spirit is alive and well in us lately. And just in time for Easter. :)

Long weekend, here we come!!!

Today I was at an Inservice at the District, which was pretty interesting. I learned some new things and felt refreshed about some old concepts. It was pretty worthwhile. Tomorrow my classes will just be doing last minute review for the BIG FAT STANDARDIZED TESTS that are next week. They're going to take a Practice Test and we're gonna grade it. And that's it. Tuesday begins the testing and I figure if they don't know it by now, oh well. I'm not going to cram or stress. Some kids aren't going to try on it anyways...

Tomorrow right after school, we're heading down south to go see Kutless and Newsboys (Christian rock) in concert, while Nana and Papa watch Mason. We're really looking forward to it. We haven't been to a concert in awhile, and we really like Kutless.

And did I mention NO SCHOOL Friday? Yeah!! We get it off for Good Friday, but the school calendar labels it as "Spring Recess". Don't get me started...

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend and if you're Christian, keeps Christ in mind and remembers why He died and what that means to us. God Bless.

An early Easter...sort of

Our local community park puts on this big Easter "Eggstravaganza" every year around this time. It was today, and we were really looking forward to it. Mason's never met the Easter Bunny or hunted for eggs. And this "Eggstravaganza" promised both. I even managed to get to Target this morning to get Mason an Easter basket (which was really an Easter bucket), so he could carry around his prized eggs that he discovered.

When we arrived, it was really neat--tons of kids, lots of game booths, two jumping castles, a petting zoo and the infamous Easter bunny. We weren't exactly sure how Mason was going to react to a ginormous white bunny that doesn't talk and wants to hug him, but he did pretty well. He went up and got his picture taken with not much problem, as long as I was right there.

We knew the Easter egg hunt was soon approaching, so we made our way to the big playground and saw kids lined up all around the sand, getting ready. Then, we got word that the little guys were having their own hunt at the little playground. So, we started to walk over there, and noticed that there weren't any eggs, and kids were already leaving. Come to find out, some little kid ran out onto the playground for the eggs a little too early, and that caused the release of all the other little ones around. So, needless to say, Mason didn't get to find a single egg. He did, at least get to meet the Easter bunny, pet a sheep, watch other farm animals and climb around on the playground for a little bit.

Then, there was a scary moment, but not with our child, thank God. Mason was headed across the climbing structure on the playground, when I saw Mason's Daddy leap across the sand and there was some commotion. Apparently this kid of about 5 or 6 stepped off the edge of ladder part of the playground and took a nosedive for the sand, about 8 feet down. My hubby tried to catch him, but missed. Where was the mom, you ask? She was on her cell, I guess talking to the Dad. When her son fell, she ran over, and before she had even examined him, she yelled into the phone, "He fell! Oh my God, he fell!! Leave work right now and meet us at the ER!!" Now, granted, as a mom, I'm familiar with PANIC MODE. You're not sure how to react, so you let panic take over. But, I think I would at least check out my son before ordering my husband to meet us at the Emergency Room. Yeah, the kid fell, but he fell on sand, didn't hit anything on his way down, and nothing made a cracking noise and I didn't see any blood. I bet he just brusied his arm or head. It's amazing how Nonchalant Mom can turn into Hysterical Mom in a millisecond. And sadly, often Hysterical Mom morphs into I'm-Sueing-the-Pants-Off-You Mom. I should hope this lady didn't immediately phone her lawyer and hear a cash register in her head. The playground wasn't poorly maintained or dangerous. The kid just walked off an area that shouldn't be walked off. Too bad more and more people these days see every accident (or someone breathing on them the wrong way) as a payout. Sigh...

Getting off my soapbox, it ended up being a pleasant hour of our day and Mason seemed to enjoy himself. He didn't even comprehend the whole egg hunting thing, so no loss. Besides, we're gonna do our own hunt in our backyard next Sunday.

Mixed Messages

Our PTSO has been really great to us--they leave little goodies in our boxes from time to time, they come up with all kinds of FUN fundraisers for the kids, they organize and decorate our school dances, they coordinate the annual Jog-a-Thon that raises thousands of dollars for our classrooms, and the list goes on. The latest is that for Teacher Appreciation Week (I think in May?), they always leave little gifts in the teachers' boxes every day and on the actual Teacher Appreciation Day, they provide a catered lunch, often from places like Outback or a local Mexican restaurant. They aim to please. Most of the time.

Case in point. They run a little store during all 3 lunches everyday, to raise some extra money. The store has fun pencils and erasers, calculators, bookmarks, etc. Those are great and fun for all ages. What I don't like is the rest of the merchandise: bouncy balls, sticky hands (those irritating little hands that stick to crap when you throw them) and Whoopee Cushions. Who's idea was this? I guess Friday during 7th grade lunch, there were bouncy balls ricocheting all over Commons. The teachers on duty were losing their minds. And the Whoopee Cushions make me crazy. I know they're funny and reminiscent of our younger days, but they are a pain in a teacher's behind. I took 2 away during 8th grade lunch. I began talking with a couple of teachers after lunch, and I mentioned how I didn't think it was right that PTSO sold crap like that. It's just setting the kids up to get in trouble. One of the other teachers approached a couple of the PTSO ladies later and one of their responses was, "Everything we sell has been approved by administration, and the kids should be allowed to have a little fun!" I like fun. Fun is good. I am not against kids having fun. I am, however, against watching little bouncy balls fly across my classroom, hearing Whoopee Cushions farting in kids's seats and finding those stupid sticky hands everywhere.

The PTSO is helpful and well appreciated by the entire school staff, I am sure. They just don't see what we see.

...and it draws to a close

Spring Break is over. And in about another hour, I will be in bed, falling asleep and dreaming about the next break: SUMMER!!!

Here are a few pics from this past week.


Playing outside. Again. All the time. All week.



I think Max enjoyed me being home all day, too...



Mason and I walking, with Daddy ahead, towing Maxie.

More than you wanted to know

I saw this on someone's blog one time and have been meaning to do it on mine, but kept putting it off. And now, being Spring Break and Mason's asleep, I thought I'd get off my lazy bum and actually do it (even though I didn't have to actually get off my lazy bum, since I'm sitting at the computer...):

Here's just about anything and everything you didn't know, maybe already knew and didn't want to know about me:

I know that God has already planned out my life and I need to just let him have control.

I believe the children are our future…and that’s a little scary sometimes.

I fought for the right to paaartay…JK.

I am angered by people who sue for lame reasons. And win.

I love everyday miracles and blessings.

I need my hubby more than he needs me sometimes, I think.

I take vitamins everyday, and yet I get sick waaay more than the average person.

I hear the hum of the computer and the lovely silence of Mason napping.

I drink very rarely, so I’m a cheap date.

I hate cleaning the bathroom.

I use gel pens when I grade papers.

I want to be financially worry-free.

I decided to be a teacher and sometimes I still wonder if I made the right decision.

I like TV.

I am a Christian, wife, mother, friend, daughter, teacher.

I feel old sometimes.

I left home when I was 17. But I moved back in 3 months later.

I do the bare minimum when it comes to house cleaning.

I hope that I’ve impacted my students.

I dream of having another baby.

I drive only when my hubby’s not around.

I listen to a lot more Christian music than I used to.

I type fast but not the right way.

I think and it hurts my brain.

I wish weekends were longer.

I compensate for my insecurities by using humor.

I regret very little.

I care about my friends and family.

I should exercise more and drink more water.

I am not always able to see what God has planned for me.

I said “Don’t you just love the Terrible Two’s?” to the cashier at Target today.

I wonder what the future holds.

I changed 4 diapers already today.

I cry more than the average female.

I am indecisive.

I am not as open minded about things as some might think I should be.

I lose my phone when Mason’s been playing with it.

I leave dishes in the sink even though we have a dishwasher.

If you feel ambitious, feel free to use the template and let people know more than they ever wanted to know about you. And pass it back to me, so I can get a good laugh. Or cry. Or run away screaming. :)

Not my average Wednesday

I haven't really even thought about school today. Well, I know I still have seating charts to reconfigure, but I'm putting them off (big surprise!). Today's been nice. Mason didn't wake up until after 7, we had a relaxing morning of playing with his tractor and farm animals, playing outside, going to the mall (and finding loads of clearance clothes for him--3T, which is at least a year away, but heck, for $1.49 for sweaters, I couldn't resist!), eating grilled cheese for lunch, MASON POOPED IN THE POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!, Mason napping, watching "Muppet Treasure Island" and playing outside some more. No work. It's been joyous.

Tomorrow we have a playdate with a lady from work and her little girl who's Mason's age. Should be fun. I'm trying to expose Mason to as many kids his age as possible, as next year he will be in preschool. (which the preschool shopping was productive, by the way. We have one in mind, but it means he'd have to be fully potty trained and be able to drink out of a regular cup by August. We'll see)

The weather is beautiful. I have a half a week of Spring Break left. And I'm wasting the day typing a blog! I'm outta here!

All is well

I'm not sick anymore. I started feeling better around Wednesday or so, which helped me get through the last bit of the week. Things were just a tad bit crazy in the few days leading up to Spring Break. Grades were due Wednesday, which put me in a bit of a tizzy but very relieved when it was over. Friday was a strange day at school, being that it was the Jog-a-Thon (which is a huge school fundrasier led by the PTSO where the students get pledges and they run around in the gym) and an Early Release, AND we basically had our Homeroom kids all day. That was interesting. Luckily the day was broken down into small increments in the classroom: we did the jogging thing until after 10 and then went to our rooms where I had them read and color (amazingly, middle schoolers still like to do that). Then it was lunch. (No prep time Friday. I am so spoiled...) Then I had them for another hour and a half, in which I showed "Napoleon Dynamite". And then they left. It was a chaotic mess to figure out prior to Friday, but once the day came, it went off without much incident. I was glad to have a day free of some of my 8th grade boys, to be honest.

Yesterday I spent most of the day cleaning since my parents were coming. My standards are sadly higher when I know we're having visitors. Why do I feel the need to impress my parents? Who knows. It's just reality. Anyways, it needed to be done. Last night we went to a friend's house and watched "Flushed Away". They have a home theater room which was awesome (my hubby was salivating). Between the three families there last night, there were 10 kids!! That was a little noisy, a little crazy, but a lot of fun. Made watching the movie interesting, since the kids' age ranges are from 1 month to 10 years...

Today, we went to church and then not long after we got home, my parents and aunt and brother showed up. It was nice to visit (even though we had an argument about which color our house is: grey or blue? It's greyish blue, alright!!) and we went to lunch. My brother was heading back to the Yukon, so it was nice to chat with him for awhile even after my parents and aunt left. He's a good guy, but struggles with my dad and no one's getting any younger.

Anyhow, an overall nice weekend. And I am soooo glad it's not over. I've got the whole week ahead of me and not many plans. However, tomorrow we're going to check out preschools in the area for little Mason monkey for next year. Scary. I'm sure I'll let you know all about it after we run around town and feel overwhelmed by the choices.

Maybe it was worse than Spring Fever...

So my weekend was pretty rough. Friday during school, my back started hurting and I had a slight headache. Friday night, we are our friends' house and I started shivering like I was in a walk-in freezer. Saturday morning I woke up and was sure I had been in a car accident or someone had taken a baseball bat to my entire body (my hubby swears he didn't do it!). I could barely move. Then the congestion set in. And the fever spiked up and down. Lovely. Sunday, I didn't go to church but spent the morning in a snotty fog. I spent most of the weekend either in bed or on the couch, which in turn caused a crink in my neck. Nice. Yesterday around 4:30 in the morning, I decided that I wasn't going to drag my sick, pathetic self to work. But, I did drag my sick, pathetic self to work to prepare for the sub. I had planned something for the 7th graders that I happened to work on over the weekend, so I had to bring it in and set it up. And amazingly, no staff member looked at me twice, when I was drudging down the hallways in a sweatshirt and flannel pants looking like Death. Shouldn't someone wonder if I was alright? Whatever. After that, I went back home and took up residence on the couch for the majority of the day.

Today, I feel better. Not completely better, but better still the same. And I'm back to work. And there was a sub yesterday. That makes me happy. Hopefully the next 3 days of school go smooth sailing and then it's time for ("ahhhhh...") Spring Break.

Better check my temp, I think I've got Spring Fever...

I am sooooo ready for Spring Break. One more week (and a couple of days, but close enough!) A few of my kids are driving me up the wall and back down. For example, Hormone Boy has said some pretty moronic and thoughtless and tactless things lately. Let me see which ones I can recall...

1. "I hear all my teachers complaining and crying all the time 'cuz they've got headaches at school, and my thought is, they wanted to be teachers!"
Let's just say, it took all I had to take the High Road. He wanted me to banter and get flustered with him. I chose to glare at him (trying to send lasers out of my eyes, to be honest) and I didn't give him the satisfaction of stopping the class and putting the attention on him.

2. "Mrs. Lionhead, have you ever seen anyone have a seizure?"
"Yes I have."
"Did you laugh?"
"No, I was pretty scared, because it was my friend and I was alone with her."
"Did she look funny?"
"No Hormone Boy, she didn't. It was pretty serious. In fact, not long after, she actually died having a seizure."
He didn't say much to that, but didn't seem like he felt like his foot was in his mouth either, which is what I wanted.

3. "Mrs. Lionhead, did you know YOU have written ME up 8 times since I moved into your class?"
"Are you proud of that?"
"I don't know. I'm just saying you write me up a lot."
Well, duh!

4. While I was in the middle of teaching, Hormone Boy blurts out, "Hey Mrs. Lionhead, did you know I'm going to see Monster Trucks this weekend?"

5. "There's yogurt in the trash. Are you on a diet, Mrs. Lionhead?"

And these are just in the past week or so! And just the ones I can remember off hand! And he's just one of a handful of students with something smart to say. There are some of my kids I love to pieces and honestly wouldn't mind taking home to claim as mine; they are respectful, funny, good students and just generally good kids. But others make my life unbearable at times. I know every student that crosses my path is put there by God. I just have a hard time understanding why sometimes.

At least next Friday is an Early Release and then it's one whole week of reprieve. Maybe we'll all come back with a refreshed perspective on the last quarter of the school year. It's possible, right?

Maybe it's time to expand our little family...or not

So, Mason was talking to the babysitter the other day about babies (since they have the new baby in their house), and she asked him, "Mason, do you want a little baby sister or brother?", to which he replied, "Yeah...or a duck."

:)


That reminds me of something I heard on a comedian's routine recently. He and his 5 year old son were talking and his son said, "I want to be a doctor," and his dad was so proud. And then his son added, "or a dinosaur."


Isn't it funny how a child's mine works?

Just popping in

The weekend was really enjoyable with the In-Laws, except that Mason was down with the yucky, snotty, sinusy, coughy, sneezy junk. Daddy took him to the doctor today and it looks like the beginnings of a sinus and/or ear infection. It's so sad when he's miserable. Not to mention we don't get much sleep either. I'll drop by here again soon, when I am no longer employed by the Infirmary.

The dust has settled

Valentine's Day came and went without much evidence of dramatics. I was expecting tears, confused boys and girls whispering and conspiring. Nothing really to speak of. There were, however, lots of presents. Presents from friends to friends. Presents to kids from their parents (and they had the balloons and candy and flowers delivered to the school!). Presents from significant others to their love interest. So many flowers. Not to mention that student council sold Valentines with a carnation that were delivered around the school 8th hour. A lot of distraction, but not much drama. I guess that's good. But drama makes for a better story...

Tomorrow's an Early Release, so us teachers can conference with parents and tell them that little Jimmy or Susie will be a frequent flyer for 7th grade (or 8th grade)and apparently liked it so much that they want to do it again next year. Oh yippee. I'm really not sure which conferences I'm supposed to go to, since I technically have kids on 4 different teams (two teams for 7th and two for 8th). I guess I'll just see what happens.

And tomorrow night my hubby and I are going on a double date with a couple to a hockey game. We're really looking forward to that, as it is a surprise for the husband and we really enjoyed the other hockey game we went to.

Saturday we are headed to Mason's Grandma and Grandpa's who live four hours away. They need assistance with a new computer and my hubby knows a thing or two about them. And we haven't been down there in a long time. Should be restful and fun.

As the week winds down, let's just say I am SO ready for our date and to get out of town for the weekend.

Update on Confused Boy

Let's just say we could rename Confused Boy Oh-Crap-I-Got-Caught-Being-High-At-School Boy. My suspicions were right. He was high on something on Wednesday. He has been on Home Suspension since Thursday. And word's getting around with the students. And they seem to be laughing at him. That's a good thing. Not a smart move for a kid that was in Honors English. It just proves that booksmart and common sense don't always go hand in hand...

Never a boring moment

Wednesday was an interesting day. First off all, this was Spirit Week (each day they had different perks--like Pajama Day, Disco Day, etc.) and Wednesday was Hat Day. What a distraction. There weren't just baseball caps and cowboy hats. There were light-up hats, Dr. Suess hats, squishy hats, etc. I wasn't feeling very much "in the Spirit" of Spirit week by the time we had our little Assembly at the end of the day. Student Council had asked each team to elect 4 students to participate in little funny stunts. That was kinda fun. There was a relay race involving running to the end and blowing up a balloon, pouncing on it until it popped, and then crawling back with a little beanie baby in your mouth. Pretty funny. There were two other stunts and it was entertaining. As we are herding the students back to classes to get their stuff, I round the corner to my classroom and see one of my boys doubled over, with a beat-red face and looking like he was going to cry. I hear, "Ahhh!! She just kicked me in the balls!" Great. After much questioning and deducting, I come to the conclusion that a little princess from the class next door to mine got fed up with my student messing with her pink hat during the assembly and the walk back to class. I guess she got pissed and decided that kicking him hard in the groin would solve the problem. It certainly stopped him in his tracks. I let my students into my room to get their stuff and escorted the two students in question down to the office. As Mrs. Principal is jotting down their names and shaking her head, she mumbles to me, "This is what happens when we give them things like Hat Day. And they want Co-ed lunch!! I don't think so!" So true.

Oh, and earlier that day, during 7/8 hour, I notice something weird about one of my students. One of my students that had come to me from the Honors class just a month or so prior. He's looking really confused and disoriented. Apparently earlier in the day he even walked into the wrong class and sat down and swore it was his class. Twice. Also, when I saw him walking back from lunch, he was being teased because he swore his grandmother had walked into their class and handed him a paper. During my class, he's sitting in his desk while I'm reading aloud, when all of a sudden, he gets up out of his seat and goes to give me his copy of the book I'm reading to them. He mutters, "I'm done, I mean, no I'm not," and he sits back down. The class kind of chuckles and we go on reading. Later, he gets up again, and throws a perfectly good SHARPENED wooden pencil in the trash. Huh? Plus, when it's time to turn in the questions they were working on, he says loudly, "What should I do with this?" and holds up some worksheet. "I don't know what that is," I reply. He says, "Well, you gave it to me." I argued that no, I did not and I have no idea what it is. He says again that SOMEONE gave it to him. I tell him that it wasn't me, to which another student says, "Remember? That's the study guide for science! Remember being in class and I gave it to you?" Weird. After that, I walk around to see how students are progressing on the questions and Confused Boy says that he's done. I look down. There should be 4 questions and he only has 3. And one isn't even in English. Or any other language for that matter. It's complete garble. I try to tell him that, and he starts saying something under his breath. I don't know what the heck was going on with him, but it struck me as a little odd and sent up a red flag. When I was down at the Assembly, I spotted Mr. Police Officer and told him a few of the odd things that I knew about Confused Boy from that day. He said that he'd just pull him into his office and talk to him for a minute, and it wouldn't take but just a few minutes to determine if he was on something. The Assembly was 40 minutes long. Mr. Police Officer and Confused Boy never came back. And Confused Boy was absent yesterday. Coincidence? Who knows...

Last but not least, I go to pick up Mason at his babysitter's, and find out that they are getting a new baby. The mom of the two they recently adopted just gave birth to a baby boy and was in a lot of trouble for not reporting to CPS. So, the baby was removed and given to them, that night, right now for a temporary basis. Pretty surreal but definitely a blessing. We hope they are able to keep the baby, since that would keep 3 of the 4 siblings together and that baby would for sure be loved. And raised right. We'll see.

That was my Wednesday (not quite up to par with Mrs. Bluebird's "A Day in the Life of a Middle School", but close).

Oh, and yesterday I discovered that one of my 8th grade boys has been vandalizing one of my desks. He for sure wrote his phone number all the way across it (he admits to that), but other days it was found that someone had scribbled on the desk in pen, and the back of the chair in front of it has ghetto writing in permanent marker. Couldn't prove he did those two things, but the phone number was enough for an ASD, which as Mrs. Asst. Principal put it, "He won't show up, and I'll just suspend him." We considered having him scrub tables at lunch (I'm all for punishments that fit the crime), but knowing this boy, he would just swing the rag around and make his peers laugh and nothing would get cleaned. And I don't have time at lunch to get him to clean my room, since I have recess duty, and he'd never come after school. So, unfortunately this was our only choice.

I guess I can never say my life is boring.

What a pleasant young man

So, I was at Lunch Duty today, which has proved to be pretty uneventful. Until today. I am dismissing the boys one table at a time to go outside, when I notice a few tall boys hovering over a boy that is still seated at one of the tables. I walk over, thinking they're just waiting for him to finish so they can go outside, and I get a rude awakening. I ask one of the tall boys what's going on, and these are his words, "I'm telling this punk ass bitch that if he wants to pick fights with littler kids, then he can fight me right now." WHAT?!? I just stand there awestruck for a moment. I then decided that they should go to the office and explain to administration what's going on. I tell him this, and he says, "Screw that!" and walks away. I call him to come back, that I wasn't done talking to him, and he keeps walking. "I'm still talking to you!" I say, in a stern voice. Now, most kids eventually stop, even if they think they're rebellious. Not this kid. He just keeps walking, turns around and says, "So?" and heads outside. The other teacher on duty blows her whistle and shouts for him to stop right where he is. Nope. Keeps walking. Well, it just happens that Mrs. Assistant Principal is outside with the boys, getting ready to give them a talking-to about treating the equipments (sports balls, mainly) appropriately. Good timing. I walk out there, explain what just happened, and out comes our Mr. Police Officer that works on campus. He begins to escort Bully Boy back into the building, when his little cronies try to follow. Mrs. Asst. Principal tells them to stay put. One says, "I've got his back, though." Mrs. Asst. Principal says, "I don't really care! You aren't going anywhere!" What an ordeal. Good news is, I later found out that Bully Boy got suspended for 3 days, for disrespecting two teachers, inciting a fight and bullying the kid. Hallelujah! I just hope his little underlings got some sort of punishment too. Even if they weren't the ones actually bullying the poor kid, being a follower is almost as bad, right?

Arrrgh

So here's what happened Friday. I left school on Thursday very fed up with my last class. We had such a wonderfully terrific day on Wednesday (refer to my last entry), so you can imagine how flustered I was when things were back to normal on Thursday--rudeness and loud mouths and all. As soon as the last student walked out, I was in tears. I prayed that God would help me find the strength to come up with some surefire punishment. The last time they were this bad, I just had questions on the board for them to reflect on and we talked about how they were supposed to act. Too touchy-feely for this bunch, I think, looking back. So, after thinking about it, I stormed into the copy room and ran off a packet of worksheets on Character Counts--specifically on Respect and Accountability. I wrote about 10 directions the board before they came in to class on Friday, describing every last detail of their assignments and my expectations of them for the day. There was plenty to do, because not only did they have the Character Counts assignment, but also the assignment I had already planned. I had written on the top of the board "You talk: ASD". That got their attention. They sat in their desks and wrote. And wrote. And wrote. For two periods. Without so much as a peep. It was glorious. I got stuff done to prepare for this week. I organized my desk (as it often resembles a tornado disaster) and generally felt good about the whole Silent Block. At the end, I told them that I knew they were capable of being quiet and getting work done. I was pleased.

Today, it was like Friday never happened. In they walked with their mouths open and crap flowing out. With no restraint. I wanted to ram my head into the brick wall. Did Friday mean nothing to them? Perhaps I need to be the Classroom Nazi all the time. They seemed to respond better to that. How sad is that? I don't know what I'm going to do. Some don't care about ASD or being kicked out of class. My job shouldn't be this exhausting everyday...