What a blast

This past week was one of the funnest weeks I've had in awhile as a sub. The kids were pretty easygoing and the people I worked with were awesome. I was actually pretty bummed out when my time was up. Aside from hanging out with kids all week, I also go to go to the pool, and a couple neighborhood parks (one of the myriad benefits of subbing in the summertime). Yep, it was a lot of fun, and a nice change of pace, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

bizarre pregancy symptoms

Pregnancy is known to be a bizarre experience, but there's a lot of minor changes that nobody warns you about. In no particular order, here's a few things I've had to deal with. The only good thing about them is that for the most part, these symptoms are not a constant thing--they usually come and go. My theory is that pregnancy exacerbates any tendencies you already have, so most of these things aren't new to me, just more severe than usual.

1. Super-sensitive skin: I feel downright autistic in terms of how many sensory issues I'm having around clothing. I can't STAND how my clothes feel when I wear them. I'll go put something on, only to be consumed with the desire to rip it off after a few minutes. I can't stand the way some fabrics feel against my skin, and I'm always scratching at something. Tags are an absolute nightmare. Fortunately this comes and goes.

2. Hair in odd spots. You get these random sprouts of hair but in all the weirdest places. It's kind of freaky, but fortunately painless.

3. The inability to be comfortable in any position while sleeping. It's also hard to sleep because I get hot, then cold, and can't seem to maintain a consistently comfortable temperature. I can't seem to get comfortable at all some nights. Sleep can be very elusive as a result.

4. Weird rashes and dry skin. Sometimes it's like eczema almost. It's really itchy and red. I've always had a lot of allergies and dermatitis and such, but usually I'm able to go without daily moisturizing, but now I have to slather stuff on constantly or I'll itch like crazy.

5. Vivid dreams! Actually people do warn you about this. When you're pregnant, assuming you're getting any sleep, you have these vivid, out-there dreams where you wake up and wonder where the heck that came from! Most of mine are more like nightmares, but sometimes they're just *random*.

6. Acne: I'm suddenly breaking out all over. It looks a bit different from the acne I had as a teenager, but it's there. Fortunately this was more of an early pregnancy thing and it's starting to get better.

7. Sinus crud: It was hard to place this at first, but my sinuses are definitely worse than even my usual perma-allergy status would dictate. What's really weird is that my ears are congested too, so it's really hard to hear some days. It usually comes and goes, but it's very annoying.

Sauvie Island

I took my first trip to Sauvie Island since last fall today. Figured as long as I was 3/4 of the way there, why not pay them a visit.

The weather was nice, and I wanted to pick some strawberries. The trouble is, they were pretty "picked out", so I did get to pick that many. Most of the ones that were left were pretty small, and after working my way down an entire row, I didn't have much to show for my efforts (other than a John Wayne shuffle), but at least they'll taste good, and go nicely on top of ice cream. That's all I really need them to do anyway...

I was a few days too early for cherries, and raspberries aren't on out there, even though they are at home...so I guess I'll have to make another trip out there...sigh.

a week in Life Skills

School's out for summer, but I'm still working. There's a summer sub list and I'm on it. I'm guessing it's there to fill in for summer school, the year-round sites (there's a couple), and some ESY programs. Because it's summer, and there's way fewer jobs, it's no time to get choosy, so I'm doing absolutely whatever comes my way.

This week I'm working at a school that's about as far away from where I live as you can possibly get. I don't normally do a lot of elementary level Life Skills classes these days either, but again, works is work, and kids are kids. So for the next week, I'm going to be immersed in the world of Life Skills.

I got pretty lucky with this assignment, all things considered. Life Skills can be pretty extreme sometimes. For anyone reading this who's not familiar with Special Ed, at one end of the spectrum you have kids who spend most of their time in regular classes, and way on the other end, you have kids who are basically in institutional/ medical settings. Somewhere between the two you have students who receive intensive instruction in specialized classrooms (the classical model of Special Education). What makes Life Skills interesting/challenging/difficult/amazing sometimes is the extreme levels of needs you're likely to get. Most of the kids I've met in these settings have some sort of developmental delay combined with one or more of the following, traumatic brain injury (TBI), mental retardation, communication/speech disorders, emotional disturbance, autism, etc. Luckily in this particular group, there's no hitters, no biters, no grabbers, or runners, everyone's toileting on their own (not typical!), nobody's non-verbal, and no one has any feeding protocols. In other words, this bunch is pretty easy compared to some classrooms I've been in.

So it's a change of pace from my usual routine of secondary schools, but it's a pretty easygoing group, and I'm enjoying myself. It's really nice that I'll be at the same place all week, so I get to know names, and what to expect. As a sub, you don't get to count on that happening very often.

Oh, and I always pick up really good ideas when I'm working in Life Skills classrooms...

Friday stuff

Name one person who made you smile today: Margo who called me and told me that her job situation cleared up a bit next year. Now it looks like I'll still be subbing at Jefferson, but for her and Loral.

What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Trying my hardest to wake up without the benefits of caffeine.

What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Slacking!

What is your favorite candy bar? Not eating candy...or other nutritionally void substances at the moment.

What is your favorite ice cream? It hasn't been warm enough to eat ice cream in awhile.

What was the last thing you had to drink? Water, which I should definitely have more of.

What was the last thing you ate? Cottage cheese and pineapple.

Have you bought any new clothing items lately? I went to Goodwill the other day and found some pretty nice stuff there. I was wearing the new threads yesterday and got tons of compliments.

The last sporting event you watched? The NBA Finals. Probably won't watch anything again until football season starts.

What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Homemade! In lieu of that, Trader's Joe's makes a nice low key salted popcorn that is downright addictive.

Do you take vitamins daily? Whether I want to or not, I must.

Do you have a tan? I've got a bit of a farmer tan from the Grateful Dead show last month.

What are you doing tomorrow? I have no idea...

Any plans today? Not really. It's summer time and I'm not working, and I did a bunch of stuff yesterday, so I'm gonna just see what happens.

Biggest annoyance right now? Randy Leonard and the whole City of Portland layoff debacle. If he got hit by a bus, or a piano fell on him, I wouldn't mind a bit.

Last song listened to? something by Susheela Raman

Can you say the alphabet backwards? Sure.

Do you have a maid service clean your house? No, but that's what it would take for it to be clean and tidy.

Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? Flipflops!

Are you jealous of anyone? Not really.

Is anyone jealous of you? I hope not, there's no reason to be.

Do any of your friends have children? A few.

What do you usually do during the day? During the school year, teach. During the summer, more or less anything I want!

How did you get your worst scar? A skateboarding accident.

Berry Time

So I planted a few strawberries this year in a bed by the front of the house, and even though I put them in the ground only about a month ago, they're going like gangbusters and I've been getting a pretty good harvest off of them. Surprisingly they're even a pretty good size...not teeny-tiny. So far, I've been lucky, and the birds haven't found them, but the slugs have (eww). One of the plants appears to be diseased though, and is producing berries with a brown rot...guess I better pull that one up and try again.

I've also picked a few raspberries, and currants already. I noticed that the berries on the amelanchier are nearly ripe, and it won't be too much longer before the salmonberries and thimbleberries do their thing. Since it's nearly time for solstice, I guess it makes sense that all this fruit is starting to happen now.

It's time to go on the neighborhood cherry tree walk...love me some cherries! And pretty soon, it'll be blueberry season as well.

Jobs???

I wasn't really planning on applying for any jobs for the 2009-2010 school year. For one, there really aren't any ESL or Language Arts positions open, and as a sub, I don't have any special privileges to take advantage of internal postings.

Frankly, unless you teach SPED, math, or happen to be a speech pathologist, there's not much out there. I think a lot of districts must be having a hiring freeze, and Portland actually laid a bunch of people off, why would they be hiring? So I haven't seen but maybe one certified position that I'd be eligible to apply for, so I hadn't put much thought into it.

I was totally fine with being a sub again next year, but now I'm in a position where I need to up the ante a bit. I did see a couple of jobs that might be worth applying for, though. They're not necessarily my area, but I could do them, and be fine with it. I'm also sure that hundreds of other people are also applying for them, so there's really not much of a chance of me getting any of them, but oh well. It's worth a try...

summer school

I didn't think I'd be working much this summer, but who knew? Even though I dutifully signed up for the summer sub list, I figured that I'd only get called a few times at the most. After all, how many people really need a sub during the summer, right? What I didn't know is that Portland has at least one year-round school, so that, in addition to whoever does summer school classes, ensures that I'll be working at least some days this summer. Fantastic! I've already got all of next week lined up. The catch is it's an elementary school gig (not my personal preference, but now is no time to get choosy). I NEED the money and to work some more days to count towards insurance eligibility.

Guess I better not put away all my school-stuff. Might be using it more than I think...

The flooring odyssey continues...

So after putting it off for quite awhile (mostly at my request), we finally are heading towards the finish line with the bamboo flooring project. Today we got about half the living room done, and just have the other half to do, then we're done! Yay! I was a bit less involved in the actual labor this time (for some obvious reasons), but did most of the packing and moving of furniture and belongings. The living room was beastly because all the books on the bookshelves had to be moved, and the bookshelves had to be disassembled (that's what I spent most of Friday working on). The other half should be easier...I just have to move my school stuff out of the way, and a few chairs.

Things I have learned from this project:

1. Tools are your friend. One of the best tools for this project was the simple unassuming rubber mallet. The saw of course, was also very necessary. A crowbar is a surprisingly handy thing to have as well.

2. It always takes way longer than you think to install flooring because you obsess about getting the pieces to fit together, and some of them just WON'T cooperate. Then you have to learn to get over it and move on with your life.

3. Our walls are not straight! Nothing reveals that quite like a flooring project. The living room is real bad and we had to shim everything. Oh lordy, what a pain in the butt! At least the floor itself is somewhat level.

4. I love the way wood smells. Bamboo smells even better!

5. Vents and grates are a pain in the rear to work around.

6. Trim is totally annoying.

Things I never knew would happen

While I am by no means any kind of expert on pregnancy, I had watched enough people go through it that I figured I'd kind of know what to expect. But life is full of surprises, and there are so many things that nobody tells you about, probably because pregnancy, like many other things in life, is an individual experience. Here's the things that I personally didn't see coming:

1. That there would be times when I would feel great. A lot of people mention how much they dislike being pregnant, and I do have my moments, but sometimes I actually feel pretty good...or at least pretty normal. Granted that's due in large part to the fact that I don't look like Santa Claus carrying a watermelon strapped around my belly yet.

2. That pregnancy would totally ruin the cooking and eating experience. Forget food cravings! I've never been less inclined to eat in my whole life. I am one of those types who generally enjoys cooking elaborate meals from scratch--but not anymore! Everything about cooking and eating totally currently grosses me out.

3. That I won't necessarily get all "emo". Thank God! I'm not an emotional person regularly, and I certainly haven't become more "weepy" or emotional as a result of being pregnant...just a bit crabbier. I don't feel depressed or euphoric, or anything like that--just a bit crankier than usual. It's kind of a relief, really. I was afraid I'd turn into a basket case, and didn't want to do that while teaching!

4. I didn't know how utterly TIRED I'd be. I've never been this tired in my life. I've never needed naps as much as I do right now. Only one person ever hinted at how extreme the fatigue would be in the beginning (thanks M!). Even if I'm not downright sleepy, it generally means that I'm totally unmotivated to do anything and am basically just going through the motions of dragging myself through the day in a state of mindless exhaustion.

5. That I would have insomnia. Maybe it's related to #4, or even #1 (fun with the digestive system). At the beginning, I could not sleep at all (which made it very hard to get up at 5am for callout, so I missed a lot of work at first). Sometimes I still can't sleep, although these days I can often blame it on the antics of my digestive tract.

6. That when I did get enough sleep, I would have almost constant nightmares. I have a horrifically bad dream almost every night. (Usually I just sleep and don't remember my dreams, so this is unusual for me).

7. That I would become a much slower, clumsier, more forgetful version of myself.
I dread working at schools like Jefferson where there's lots of stairs because I can barely climb them now. It takes forever, and I'm all out of breath for several minutes. When I go somewhere with my husband, I'm the one 20 feet back, struggling to keep up. And forget running after some kid that's decided to cut loose at school...if I end up with a "runner" in the classroom, they're just going to have to get someone else to bring that kid back.

I'm already completely lacking in any form of short-term memory, so losing what little bit I had going for me is a bit of a nightmare. It's a good thing I don't have any other kids because I would probably leave them places. You would not believe how many times I try to leave the house and have to go back to get some totally critical thing that I've forgotten. It's like executive dysfunction X 100.

Coupled with all of the above, I'm having a really hard time concentrating, kind of like having a reduced attention span. I feel like a total space cadet sometimes, and have a hard time reading books, watching movies, or anything that requires extended attention spans. I forget what I'm doing half the time, or can't remember what I was planning on doing next. Needless to say, I'm feeling a lot more empathetic towards people with ADD/ADHD. Oddly enough, at school it's easier to function because a lot of what happens at school is predictable and routine, so I can "fake it" a lot easier. My ability to multitask is shot, but if I make lists, and refer back to them often, I can usually cope.

Heh heh, this is just the first trimester. I'm sure I'm in for way more surprises later.

a reflection about child abuse

Sometimes I can't hardly help but notice that the headlines are full of scandals involving inappropriate contact or sexual relationships between teachers and their students. Here's a sample from today's headlines off of Google News (just drop in "teacher" as a keyword and you'll see what I'm talking about):

Former teacher convicted of sexual abuse...

High school teacher acquitted in student sex case...

Teacher faces sexual abuse accusations...

High School teacher accused of sexual misconduct...

...and it just goes on and on from there.

I'd love to think this sort of thing never happens, but sadly it does, and far too regularly. A 2005 Department of Education report stated that nearly 7 percent of students have experienced unwanted sexual contact from an educator. Even here in Oregon, I can recall a few recent instances, both reported and unreported. Frankly as a teacher, and as a person who generally enjoys children, I find it incredibly disturbing and creepy that any teacher or school employee would ever perpetrate something like this on a child. Not only is it a massive violation of trust, and a sickening abuse of power and authority, but I can't even begin to understand what would motivate someone to do that to a student. And yet, people do--every day of the week, apparently!

I'm not sure what the answer is. The death penalty sounds pretty tempting at times, to be honest. The usual routine of employment screening (background checks and references) doesn't seem to intercept all of these creepos (male and female alike). I'm not sure what else you can do before it all conflicts with someone's constitutional rights. Sadly just as some parents (and other adults) choose to abuse their children, school employees are apparently no less human (or rather, inhuman). But I'm not interested in analyzing the perpetrators--who I find it impossible to empathize with (couldn't we bring back public shaming?). Instead, I'm more concerned the victims--the kids who have to go on trying to function after traumatic instances of abuse.

I know a student, who we'll call "Jimmy". While by no means a model student, I've rarely experienced any difficulties in working with him. Unfortunately during the course of the school year, Jimmy was abused by a district employee and has been pretty traumatized ever since. It was not a case of corporal punishment, or necessary restraint, but a physical assault (with sexual overtones). In case you are wondering, yes, DHS was contacted, but I don't know what, if anything ever came of that. Don't ask me what happened to the district employee--I don't know, but sadly, some people believe that male victims of abuse are somehow less victimized than females, and I feel like what happened here got swept under the rug and forgotten.

Since the incident occurred, I've seen Jimmy on several occasions, and he is definitely showing most (if not all) of the classic signs of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). It's like he's there physically, but not mentally. His ability to concentrate is pretty non-existent now (he never did much school work before, but now he doesn't do any at all), he's more distractible than ever, he's been showing a lot of avoidant behaviors (that I've never seen in him before). He seems sleep deprived (beyond the normal adolescent range). He also seems really withdrawn, and fights with peers much more than he used to. I've noticed that he tends to withdraw from most situations though--he wants to be alone a lot, and literally hides out in the back of the room. He overreacts to being touched (like if you tried to wake him, he'd totally freak out), and he has a lot of physical symptoms (headaches and stomach aches) that can't be explained.

To make a long story short, he's barely functioning, and it's really sad to watch. I'm not a psychologist, or a miracle worker, or even his regular teacher. When in doubt though, the policy "do no harm" won't steer you wrong in life. Obviously as a sub, I don't see Jimmy every day, or even every month, but when I do see him, I try to cheer him up a bit by bringing him treats (like most kids, he likes candy), and asking him about things I know he likes, but I'm starting to think that he'll never be the same kid after this, and that hurts my heart to think about. The whole thing makes me really sad, yet at the same time absolutely infuriates me. I don't have any answers in this situation, just the pervasive thought that he deserved better than this...he was abused by someone who should have had his best interests at heart.

Thinking about all of this makes me think that sex abuse prevention training should be mandatory for teachers and other school employees that have contact with children (bus drivers, janitors, administrators, etc). I'm not talking about the obligatory 10 minute video about mandatory reporting, but rather a more rigorous sort (I don't even think the topic was mentioned in graduate school). I don't think anyone ever gets good training in this area other than school counselors or psychologists. The rest of us get the "too little, too late" approach. As much as we all worry about test scores and benchmarks, there's a very human side to working with children, and I don't feel like that gets as much attention when it comes to professional development. Sure we can only do so much, but I think having the awareness of the dynamics involved would make it easier to act quickly, appropriately, and thoroughly when things like this do happen to kids.

Elbows, and fingers, and toes, oh my!

It's the end of week 9 and lil' sprout must be busily growing those elbows, fingers, and toes because mama's been REALLY tired lately. Not too tired to work, thank goodness, but too tired to do much of anything else. I even had to have some caffeine the other day because I was THAT tired. Needless to say, a lot is NOT getting done at hte moment. The weeds are getting pretty high. The grass needs mowing. The plants need watering. The dog hasn't been walked in days. I'm far too tired to care. I come home from whatever school I've been at, throw my bag down on the floor and climb right back in bed.

typical rose parade weekend

It's a typical Rose Parade weekend around here...cold, gloomy, rainy, and not pleasant. I haven't been feeling all that energetic anyway, so I've been laying low for the most part, and not doing a whole lot of anything. After the past whirlwind week of subbing, it's kind of nice to veg out and be totally lazy.

the fun thing about the end of the year...

The end of the school year is a pretty fun time to be a sub. Unlike classroom teachers, you don't have to deal with the pressures of grading or end of the year IEP evaluation meetings, so for subs, it's a good time just to enjoy whatever fun things the schools do to wrap up their year. Aside from some headaches that can come from dealing with the increased energy level (restless antsy kids are the norm after those first sunny days in May), it's a pretty relaxed time of the year. A lot of the time it means some outdoor activities or field trips, relaxed lesson plans, and fun end-of-the-year rituals.

On Friday I was at a school that was having a field day, so I got to watch kids run around all afternoon doing sack races, three-legged races, play tug of war, and various other fun but silly events. Other schools had their end-of-year class trips this week. Aside from working in Lifeskills classes on those days when they're doing their community outings, this is about as much fun as it gets when you're a sub. Sometimes it's hard to believe that I get paid to do this...

Marshall, Class of 2009

Working at Marshall is what helped me pass the time while I was trying to overcome the various obstacles to getting into graduate school. Depending on the year, 2 or 3 days a week, I rode the bus in the cold rain to work with squirrely yet lovable 9th and 10th graders. I did that up until the full-time reality of graduate school classes hit, and went back for the last time in 2008.

My original group of 9th graders graduated this year--I wonder how many of them made it to this day? And I wonder how much their participation in the Title I intervention program encouraged them to keep going? I would have liked to attend the Biztech graduation (this group of kids was pretty special to me...I had them for a couple of years, and they were my most recent "class"). Unfortunately these days, it's pretty unpredictable how I'll feel from one day to the next, and after feeling perfectly fine all afternoon, I was totally wiped out by 4pm, and knew I would not be able to handle driving over there and sitting in the gym for a couple of hours. So I didn't go. I may always regret not seeing them graduate, but I know I'll never forget my Biztech crew.

A Graduation Poem for the Class of 2009

Now that you’ve survived and graduated from Biztech,
Don't let nothing stop you now,
You’ve overcome a lot to get your diploma,
It’s time to stand up and take a bow,
Congratulations 2009 Biztech graduates,
You've taken the first step into a future that will be strong and bright,
May you achieve your hopes and dreams,
I know you'll be all right.

charter school

I worked at my very first charter school today as a sub. It was a pretty unexpected call to get (I didn't even know they used district subs--I know many don't), but either way, I figured it would be an adventure, so I picked it up, even knowing I was running the risk that it could potentially be grades K-2 (something I'm currently NOT doing, due to a massive lack of energy).

Working at a charter school is pretty different all right--as different from working a public school as you can possibly get. I'd say that none of my experience really prepared me for what I'd see and do, so I really spent most of the day just observing everything that was going on around me. I've never been inside of a charter school in my life, and had no idea what to expect. Also the job description was pretty vague, so I had no idea what exactly I'd be facing. I'm still in a bit of a daze from the whole thing, but my assessment will probably undergo some further fine-tuning since I'm going back tomorrow as well (it's a 2-day job). Basic observations from today:

1. Working at a charter school is nothing like working at a public school...not at all. I guess maybe private schools are a bit like this, but I wouldn't know...I've never been in a private school either.

2. I may have just lucked out and worked in the one building in the whole city that had air conditioning! (It's been a hot week around here, and as far as I can tell, there aren't any air-conditioned schools in the main district I work for.)

3. Class sizes are pretty small (but pretty average if you're used to working in Special Ed where class sizes are ALWAYS pretty small). As a sub, this means I was able to actually learn the names of most of the students, an unusual feat that I rarely attempt if I'm not in Special Ed.

4. The biggest difference to me is there's way less structure/routine...you don't have the overwhelming sense of structure that you get in a normal public school. Things are downright casual compared to daily life in a public school. There's arguments for and against this, of course, but as a sub, I find structure pretty comforting and familiar, so I spent most of the day feeling a bit lost and bewildered. The kids of course, always seem to know what to do, so when in doubt, I just follow their lead. This works 99% of the time anyway.

5. It can be really hard to tell the teachers from the parents. Teachers don't tend to dress like "teachers" or wear badges. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it's definitely different. Speaking of parents, I got to know quite a few of them just in the short time that I was there...which was a pleasant surprise.

6. Multi-age classrooms: you get this in self-contained Special Ed, and a few K-8 schools around town do this, but for the most part, multi-age classrooms are rare in public schools. I'm still trying to decipher the range I had today...I'm inferring that it was pretty wide compared to even a typical life skills group. The nice part is that the older ones kind of tend to take care of the younger ones. The downside is that you probably would get some weird dynamics in your classroom. I wonder if the instruction is mostly individualized in this kind of situation, or if kids are grouped around certain abilities. Either way, I'd hate to be the one planning/implementing it all! As a (mostly) single subject teacher, I would find this difficult.

7. Electives/offerings: electives and after school activities are much more eclectic--more like what you might get at a summer camp. Obviously, you would need to get your sports elsewhere.

8. A radically different approach to working with children...I don't know how else to put it, but I got the impression that my almost Danish philosophy towards children is a bit more welcome here (unlike a lot of people, I don't believe that children are especially fragile or helpless--they aren't made out of porcelain). One of the reasons I don't work with the lower grades is that I often get in trouble because I absolutely believe in minimal intervention--allowing children to "learn from experience" so I don't intervene as much as other people would like. I like kids to work things out for themselves and attempt to solve their own problems before I jump in. This does NOT appear to be the prevailing attitude among other adults that I typically work with, but I think it's good for kids to "fall down seven times and get up eight", as the saying goes.

9. Lack of diversity. I'm sure in situations like this, the demographics are really messing with all of the neighborhood schools' demographics. I personally prefer the vastly more diverse student populations in the public schools around here (there's a reason why I am interested in ESL). The latest demographic profile of the school I was at today is: White 74 %, Black 14 %, Hispanic 6 %, Asian/Pacific Islander 3 %, American Indian/Alaskan Native 3 %. A nearby K-8 school is about 80% Black, around 20% Hispanic, and there's a handful of white kids. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. A lot has been written about equity in education and I won't get into that here, but let's just say this is a good example of a situation that I find less than ideal.

10. Expanded opportunities for field trips and other out-of-class learning experiences: I bet it's WAY easier to arrange to do stuff like this when you have 15 or fewer students. That would be really nice.

11. A non-union work environment. There's a lot of downsides to this because having union representation protects you from a lot of abuses of your time and energy, so I don't know if I could do this all the time. Let's just say that I sure do appreciate my duty free lunches and regularly scheduled breaks...things that many if not most other working adults take for granted.

12. A charter school or alternative school would probably be a good place to do some pretty non-standard things with your teaching. I kind of straddle the boundaries between several different areas (ESL, remedial reading, literacy intervention) so that might be a good forum for doing that. Something to think about...

Those are the things I had time to notice/think about. I honestly spent most of the day wondering what I was supposed to do, and just generally interacting with the kids. Apparently, my main "job" was to provide one-on-one support to a student who happened to be absent. Since I didn't have anything to do in that department, I just spent the afternoon supervising and enjoying the kids and my attempts at "figuring them out". It took them awhile, but they warmed up to me by the end of the day...I knew they would eventually (most kids do, after all).

I'll be back again tomorrow, but just for a half-day (they don't have a full day of school on Fridays), so when I'm done there, I think I'm going to go wind down my afternoon at Jefferson...it's been awhile and I bet they could use another adult presence at this time of year.

a bit of a celebrity

I was back at one of my favorite schools again today, with my favorite group of 7th graders. I'm a bit of celebrity with this group--I've subbed for them a few times, and see them around on other occasions since I work in another classroom at that school pretty regularly, so I run into them on those days too.

They were a bit squirrelier than usual since it's the last few days of school, but overall it went well. It was a pretty easy day for me...they were working on group projects and watching a movie (a documentary). During their middle of class break, I took them outside (so they could blow off some steam and let out their excess energy without bothering anyone else).

I took a chance and brought them some popcorn (to go with their movie) and that went surprisingly well...(This is something I've only ever done in Special Ed, so this is my first time trying it out in a regular-sized mainstream classroom). I had a couple kids go get a stack of paper towels to use as plates, and both classes did a pretty good job of cleaning up afterward, and the floor looked pretty good after all that.

The afternoon class had it a bit rougher than the morning class because it was really hot in the afternoon, so I had them all fold their own personal over-sized fans (with poster paper I reclaimed from the recycle bin), and that helped keep heads cooler...let's just say it was a good day to sit in the dark and watch a movie.

It was a pretty good day, all things considered. I had to confiscate a few paper airplanes here and there, and quell some outbreaks of talking, but nothing out of the normal...like I said, they're my favorite seventh graders by far, and it was nice to have a laidback day with them, one last time before the end of the school year.

Wasn't I just here?

Well, lucky me, I got called to go work at one of my favorite schools again--I was just here a week or two ago, and the irony is that I'll be back again tomorrow for the seventh graders...that's fine with me though. Sadly, I missed out on the chance to be here the whole rest of the week, so I'll have to see where I end up on Thursday and Friday.