Lead Week 2, Day 1

I made a promise to myself to be really diligent about posting each day of this lead week.  So, here I am!  I am coming off of an amazing weekend with family.  It did sort of hit me, though, that I am less than seven days away from unofficially ending my career as a Badger undergraduate.  I feel a combination of emotions; one part of me feels so excited to be a grown-up and make decisions for myself and the other part of me is thinking, "How is this possible?!"  It feels like just yesterday that I moved down to Madison and starting living out my dream of being a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  That being said, I really need to make it a priority to stay present in my classroom.  I have five weeks left with my kids and I don't want to waste any of it planning (stressing) about the future.

This morning, I arrived at school and did some quick preparations.  I planned on chatting with my CT about last week and what this week would look like, but she had some travel delays due to the crazy snowstorm that Minnesota and Wisconsin got Saturday night into Sunday.  I had plenty of time to get things prepared though and soon her sub walked in the door.  It's an awkward thing to navigate subs during a lead week.  They clearly need to be in the room with me (that's what they're paid for, after all) but I also want to make sure that I'm still taking the lead.  I've had the benefit of an extra adult in the room today (bathroom breaks, solving kid conflicts, extra help for those kids who need it) which has been wonderful.  It's nice to be the one with the answers and have the lay of the land.

The biggest thing that stands out about today was the sass coming from some of my students.  We are at that point in the school year where we are comfortable with each other.  We can predict what the others will say and how they will respond to certain situations.  Along with this comfort comes the loosening of respect.  So many of my students think that they're so clever and so funny (which they absolutely are, part of the time) but it gets to a point where it's disrespectful.  I called one of my 3rd graders for a chat in the hallway this afternoon because he shoots nothing but attitude all day long, until I call him on it, and then he apologizes.  I just said to him that I love his personality because it's clever and it makes me laugh, but sometimes it's disrespectful.  I mentioned a few times when he'd talked back or cracked a joke after I gave him a direction instead of doing what was asked of him.

I also had an argument (Yes, I know, I shouldn't argue with students- but what can I say?  I'm stubborn too.) with a student about wearing her snowpants and coat to lunch.  Unfortunately, because of the way that our lunch/recess is set up, the kids need to get fully dressed for winter recess play before they eat their lunch.  She said that she didn't want to spill food on her clothes and she couldn't possibly be expected to wear all of that to lunch.  I showed her class after class of students walking to lunch with their winter clothes on.  When she finally agreed and went to the lunch room, the lunch she chose was gone.  She was so upset about eating with the older kids that she chose not to eat at all.  Later that afternoon, she refused to move to a new spot when another student sat in the spot she'd chosen from across the room.  She chose to sit outside the circle and argue with the student who supposedly took her spot.  I gave her the option of moving to a different open spot in the circle or sitting at a table.  She sat there, frozen, staring at me.  The other kids got sick of waiting and one of them moved so she became part of the circle.  Argh!  At the end of the day, though, she left a little gift at my desk.  I gave her a hug after school and asked her about it.  I said, "Was that notebook for me?"  She said, "Yeah.  It was."  I said, "Are you sure that it's not yours?  I don't want you to give me something that someone gave to you."  She said, "No, it's for you.  I have a different one in my backpack."  I thanked her again, and asked, "What is it for?"  She said, "I just wanted to give it to you 'cause you is a good teacher to me.  When you go to a new school I want you to still know me."  Oh, sweet pea, I won't ever forget your cuteness or your sass!  I'm going to miss these kids more than words can say.

Peace, love,& Diet Mt. Dew,
Ms. T