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...

A pleasant (and unpleasant) surprise

I'll start with the pleasant surprise first. I took my 7th/8th period students to the library today, and expected that I would need to write a few kids Lunch Detentions or at least reprimand them for noise while there. They are infamous for acting like complete dinguses in the library and often causes me some frustration and embarassment towards the librarian. Today, however, was different. There was another class in there doing research on the other side of the library and they actually shocked my class. That class was so rowdy and noisy that I could barely hear a student I was speaking face-to-face with. My students mainly remained at the tables, looking at books and just sitting with their friends. When we returned to class, a few students made the observation that the other class was so rowdy. I took the time to thank my class for being well behaved and I appreciated their respect while in the library. I was proud of them. Maybe for an average class it's not that big of a deal that they are good in the library, but for this group of students, it was a very big deal. I even awarded them 7 stickers on the chart (normally a maximum of 5), because I was so impressed. It seemed to make them happy and proud...

The unpleasant surprise was when I walked outside after school. No snow. None. Not even remnants. Three hours earlier, it was coming down like some kind of mad snowstorm. I thought maybe I had hallucinated the whole thing, but others were disappointed at the lack of white fluffy stuff on the ground. So much for a Late Start tomorrow. But at least my rowdy kids were good. That's even better than having a Snow Day...

..and the snow snow snow came down down down

I'm ecstatic. It's snowing here. And it's been coming down in bucketsful for about an hour. It's beautiful. And it ups the chances that we might have a Late Start Day tomorrow or even (anxious gasp)...A SNOW DAY. Well, I won't bank on that, but a Late Start would be nice. That means the classes are all shortened and we don't come in until 10:45. How glorious. We haven't had a day like that yet this school year, but we had quite a few last year, and as I recall, a few in a row. But last year I didn't like it, because it meant the Spec. Ed. resource stuff was cancelled and I went directly into the 3rd grade class. This year, it means I have the same schedule, but less time with the little angels!

I have 8th grade boys Lunch and Recess duty today (I said that I would help them out 3 days a week, since they're short-handed and I get paid extra for it). Don't think we'll be going outside. And although it would be kinda fun to go out and build snowmen and make snowangels with 13 year old boys (sarcasm), it's probably best that we don't go. I could just see some kid tripping on a sheet of ice on the sidewalk or a couple of boys getting a hold of some snowballs and pelting them at the weakest of the pack. Not good. Plus, I didn't bring a snowjacket or even a real jacket for that matter today! I wore a sweater and assumed it would be fine by lunchtime. So, it's for the best.

I may let Mason frolick in it when we get home though. It takes a lot of work to get him stuffed into 80 layers of clothes (think: the movie A Christmas Story..."I can't put my arms down!"), but it's worth it when I see his eyes light up and he does a little joggy dance over the snow. His little nose and cheeks turn crimson and you can see his breath. It's hard to get him back inside after that, but oh, the fun he has...

Happy Birthday, Elmo!

I'm not sure how old he is, but his birthday is coming up and he's Mason's favorite!!

Hormone Boy's at it again

I'm starting to think "Hormone Boy" is not the most accurate name for him. For the first time I mentioned him, it was appropriate--kissing on a girl and getting caught for it. But, if I could go back, I would call him Complacent Boy. Case in point. Every time I've written him a Lunch Detention or After School Detention or sent him out of my room, he has just shrugged his shoulders and acted like I just told him to go read in the library for the rest of the period. Today was no exception. So, he's in the back of the class, talking away with a female student (big surprise) and the "s word" slips out. Oops. I could have written him a Lunch Detention right then and there, but I decided since it was an accident, I'd just warn him. Then, not but 20 or so minutes later, the same sneaky "s word" slips out of his mouth, yet again. This time, I can't let it go. Two of my boys hop up and see on the Discipline Matrix that the second time Profanity is used is an ASD. So, I begin to write out the form. Meanwhile, Hormone Boy hasn't changed his attitude or even turned his head. He just sits there, staring into space. I am still in the process of filling out the ASD form when I realize he's now not at all working. He doesn't even have the book open or a piece of paper on his desk (they were supposed to read over a story we read yesterday and then answer questions at the end). I calmly ask him what he's doing, to which he replies that he's doing nothing. I tell him to get to work, and I leave it at that for the time being, thinking that maybe he's just peeved that I wrote him up for cussing. I turn my attention to other students and hope Hormone Boy makes the right decision on his own. He doesn't. I tell him again that it would be a good choice if he would get his work started. He just shrugs and still sits there. I wait again, and tend to some other kids. A few minutes have passed and I tell Hormone Boy, "Look, you either start working or you can go sit in the office." And he asks why. Oh, how "why?" is such a pleasant question...I tell him that he's refusing to work and I'll have to write him up. He argues that he's just not working, he's not refusing to work. I choose not to ask him what he thinks the difference is and just suggest for the last time that he gets to work. He nonchalantly gets out of his seat to put a book away. So, I tell him to go to the office. I'm not going to beg an 8th grade boy to work. He says, "okay," and heads out the door. I write ANOTHER ASD for him (this one for being Insubordinate) and send the two forms down with a trusty student. The vice principal originally just assigns him 2 ASDS: one for each offense. But after school, I decided to speak with her. ASD doesn't phase Hormone Boy. He doesn't care, and in fact there's a common consensus among his teachers that he must enjoy being in there two days a week, because he's pretty much in ASD every day it's held. She wasn't aware of that, and asked for suggestions. I said that Hormone Boy's mom and I had discussed him helping around the school. The vice principal liked that idea. So, instead of sitting in ASD the two days she assigned, he will be working with the custodial staff, cleaning walls, scrubbing floors, whatever they want and need him to do. Maybe after two days of that, he'll realize that acting up will eventually have consequences that he doesn't like. And maybe the school will get clean along the way...

Gluttony always makes me feel better

After my encounter with Mouthy Boy 3/4 period, my day just kept getting better (read with sarcasm). My last block just about drove me up the wall. They had plenty to do and not a lot of time to do it in, but still felt entitled to be morons. I admit, about half a dozen of them do what they're supposed to do, when they are supposed to do it, and they don't complain or make smart remarks. But the others, well, that's a different story. It's like sitting in a room chock full of overrated stand-up comedians. I got so tired of their incessant laughing and lame anecdotes. I just sat at my desk and stared with an erupting loathesome feeling. The last 10 minutes of class, I made a blunt statement that I was going to write some ASDs for those who had been noisy the whole time. Amazingly, the whole room got shockingly silent. I said, "isn't it funny how you don't get quiet until you think I'm writing you up?" No response. So, away I went, writing 3 ASDs for the Top 3 Comedians (one being The Charmer). I kept them after class for a moment after everyone else left, and notified them of their write-up. They were of course surprised. I explained why I was writing them up and how I was tired of it. And then they left and I called home. I only got a hold of 1 out of 3 parents, but she was in agreeance that her son The Charmer was great without his friends, but with them, he was just about out of control. I left messages at the other two houses. We'll see if I get any calls from parents. Probably not.

So, when I got home from work, after taking a relaxing shower, I told my hubby that I wanted to eat greasy, bad-for-me food and we went to Jack-in-the-Box. And then Dairy Queen for dessert. I feel better...

Ah, the 8th grade mastermind...

So, I'm sitting in the front of my 3/4 hour class and I look back at Mouthy Boy (very disrespectful to his fellow peers and always has to have the last word with me) and I notice something sticking out of his ear--headphone buds. I open my hand and make eye contact with him. "What?" he asks. "Give it to me," I say, trying not to disrupt the whole class. But, since he's in the back, and everyone heard me, just about every student whips around to look at what he's got. "Why is everyone looking at me?" he asks, as he fiddles with the headphones. "Because you're disrupting class, and you have something you're not supposed to have," I say. He messes around in his pocket and walks over and hands me the headphones. "And I want what they were attached to," I say, glaring at him. Like I wouldn't know that they went to some sort of musical device! He fishes into his pocket, and Voila! out comes an IPod. Dumb. Like I wouldn't see him with the headphones. Did his other teachers not see this earlier? I just shake my head and inform him that his mommy will have to come to school to pick it up in the office. He grumbles back to his seat. Do they really think they're that slick? I mean, come on!

Oh, the weather outside was frightful...

This was our backyard last night. We woke up this morning, very excited at how white everything was!!











Mason took high steps through the front yard and kept saying, "no! no!(which means snow!!)"










Too bad it was all melted by this afternoon. It was fun while it lasted.

Jellyfish

I am at work (I just wrote the entry before this) and don't really feel like doing any actual work at the moment, so I started messing around with my blog. And I found this background template. It's called Jellyfish. I guess I feel like a Jellyfish at the moment. Blah.

Ouchie, Ouchie, Ouchie

My head hurts. It's pounding. It's like someone just kicked me really hard with a golf shoe, in the right side of my head. This is the third day. At the same time. And it's really getting aggravating!! I drink lots of water and I eat breakfast. Right as 4th period is ending and I'm getting ready for my lunch and prep. period, my head starts screaming at me. I don't know what to do, besides chugging aspirin or Tylenol. I haven't been doing anything different lately. No added stress or different perfume or a different schedule or eating something new. I don't get it. So, even though my hubby and I have banned soda (unless it's Diet and we're eating out), I got a Dr. Pepper from the coke machine in the lounge, hoping that will knock it out. We'll see.

In the meantime, let me tell you a little story about Hormone Boy. Grrrr...He's more than a little chatty at times (which is most of the time)and he's had so many warnings about it that it's getting ridiculous. I've moved his seat (twice), I've given him Lunch Detention, and yesterday was the second day that I've sent him to someone else's classroom, because he was disrupting our Anne Frank movie. So, I decided after I sent him on to another teacher yesterday, that it was darned time I wrote him an ASD. So, the protocol is to call home. Mom was very supportive and is seeing the same crap at home. I talked to her for 15 minutes and suggested that maybe it will need to come to him helping out around the school and helping out in his school community. Mom was all for it. And Hormone Boy's math teacher agrees. We'll see.

So, he passes my class today and says, "Hey Mrs. Lionhead, why'd you write me an ASD?" I promptly explain that it was because of his behavior and he had been warned many times. To this, he says, "Oh okay. And my mom wants me to tell you that it takes two to tango." Huh? He didn't seem to know why she said that or what she meant by it. Maybe her message got lost in translation. I don't know. I just hope that she's not supporting me on the phone one minute, and then turning around and siding with him afterwards. You never can tell with parents.

Oh, a little brilliant tidbit for your day: While watching "The Diary of Anne Frank" yesterday (after spending all last week reading half of the play and discussing the turmoil of the Jews in Germany during that time, mind you), one of my students asks, "Why are those people in hiding?" I look at him with a "are you serious?" look on my face and say, "Because of the Holocaust" and he says, "What's the Holocaust?" Oh dear. This worries me. I know it shouldn't surprise me, but sometimes I just want to bang my head against the wall...Hey, maybe that would help my headache!!

Procrastination

Would you believe that I am opting to mop the kitchen floor over grading papers? Well, not exactly. I can't get any grading done when Mason's asleep anyhow, but I could have graded these papers, say, Saturday or Sunday, but noooooo, it's Monday and they're still sitting patiently in my "To Be Graded" folder. But I have been productive, nevertheless today. I've started putting away laundry (Mason doesn't tolerate that for too long, and there's a lot to put away), ran the dishes and like I said, mopped the floor. I gotta do it again though, because Daddy is out changing the oil in his car and I failed to warn him that the floor was clean, so now there are dirty footprints all over it. That's okay, it could use an extra mopping. Well, enough wasting time. I have things to do!!

Thank you, Jesus, Lord in Heaven

So, my friend calls me up this morning and tells me to turn to the Discovery Channel--they are doing a story on a girl from our high school. That's kinda cool in itself. I went to a small town high school. Not a lot of celebrities or even people that make the newspaper from there. But there she was. We weren't friends with her, and in fact the friend that called me had to look her name up in the yearbook, but she for sure attended our high school. You wanna know what the story was about? She had QUINTUPLETS!!! Yes, 5 babies. Holy Mother of God!! That is just unfathomable! I know you hear of women giving birth to more babies than that, but when you see a face on TV that you actually know, having five, that's just crazy! And she had two before that!! That totals 7, ladies and gentlemen! No thank you. I know it's a blessing and you do what you gotta do, but if I (and my hubby) have anything to do with it, we will be done at two. Two's good. Then you're not outnumbered. There's two of us. And I have two hands. And you can find strollers to carry two children. And two kids can ride in the same grocery cart. It just makes sense. Five doesn't. So that was the exciting moment in my day...

Update on Kissy Girl

Her Daddy pulled her and her younger brother out of the school. I guess he wasn't satisfied with chasing Hormone Boy and scaring him into a fit of sobs in front of his peers...