I survived the first FULL week of school and feel as if I deserve a medal or a glass of wine or a summer vacation.
OH MY WORD.
My feet are killing me and I am sick to death of talking about stuff that last year’s class already knows everything about because they were TRAINED and then for some dumb reason, I sent them off to second grade!!!!
WAAAAHHHHHHH!
I know we will get it but . . .
WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
Here’s something we worked on this week.
IGNORE THE DOOR!
Because every.single.time we are on the carpet and I’m teaching (not a real lesson, not yet, I just can’t seem to get past something along the lines of we’ve only been on the carpet for 30 seconds, please turn around, stop playing with your velcro shoes, sit flat for me please, don’t pick staples up off the carpet and hand them to me, don’t worry about her loose tooth, she’s fine, no, it isn’t time for recess yet, we’ll talk about your basketball game in a minute ETC ETC ETC) . . .
AHEM.
Because every.single.time we are on the carpet and I’m teaching and the CLASSROOM DOOR OPENS (heaven forbid), I’ve got a multitude of students getting up on their knees, swiveling their heads to the left and then shouting out or pointing with their actual arms out straight and their pointer fingers pointed that SO AND SO JUST WALKED IN or LOOK, MRS. OLDHAM or CAN I GO TO THE BATHROOM NOW?
And you’d think my door wouldn’t open that much BUT IT DOES with either students coming back from the bathroom, OTHER TEACHER’S STUDENTS COMING BACK FROM THE BATHROOM AND OPENING OUR DOOR BY MISTAKE (the look on their face is actually priceless) an upper grade “runner” who is delivering a water bottle or a lunch box or a sweater or WHO KNOWS WHAT or the bilingual aide that I’ve been trying to track down or or or or or or
SOMEONE KILL ME NOW.
So one day this week (or maybe every day) we practiced a new routine, rule, procedure, what-have-you called IGNORE THE DOOR.
ESPECIALLY WHEN MY NEW PRINCIPAL WALKS IN AND I’M IGNORING HER AS HARD AS I CAN BECAUSE I’M STARING AT MY KIDS AS IF I HAD LASERS IN MY EYES ZAPPING THEM INTO SITTING FLAT AND LOOKING ONLY AT ME WHILE SAYING NOTHING.
So yeah.
IGNORE THE DOOR PLEASE.
I.AM.BEGGING.YOU.
We literally took turns having students go outside and come back in just so we could practice IGNORE THE DOOR.
I introduced Write the Room whole class this week and that was a good 15 minutes of HAPPINESS!!!!!
I used Teaching with Love and Laughter’s pack because it is simple and straight forward. My kids went nuts for this (as they always do) and have asked every day since when we are going to do it again.
I’m introducing one center per day WHOLE class and then we are ALL doing that center at the same time so that when we finally break into actual center groups, everyone will know how to do everything.
I’ve blogged about each center before and how I actually do this so if you need ideas, read these posts:
I have tons of Write the Rooms that I switch out as the year goes by, but I primarily use:
Write the Room activities that I’ve personally created that are Skills Based
Write the Room sentences by Mrs. Winter’s Bliss
Write the Room anything by A Differentiated Kindergarten (I love her math and seasonal ones)
I passed out whiteboards and BRAND NEW expo markers this week and my kids went crazy for these, too. I told my kids how expensive the markers are and so we practiced putting the cap back on (HEAR THE CLICK!!!!) and writing gently so as not to make the point DISAPPEAR inside the marker (I have examples that I keep just to show the kids) and on and on and on and on. And then I say that this marker has to last for approximately three months (which they have no clue how long that is) because they won’t get a new one until the end of October and blah blah blah, I seriously am sick to death of talking.
Now.
Their personal marker is for them to use when they finish all of their work and want to work on their whiteboard.
But I know BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that I will have at least two students lose their marker, lose their cap (which I have “found” caps in a drawer in case they need one), or make the point disappear.
In fact, this year, IT HAPPENED within 30 minutes.
And I’m not kidding.
So.
I keep a set at the carpet that I have MARKED as MINE. They have turquoise and lime green washi tape on them to match my classroom because I have issues and we’ll talk about that on another day.
So when we need whiteboards for a lesson, students without a personal marker can grab one of these. But they cannot keep them.
No.
NO.
NO, I said.
After our lesson, they MUST put them back so that we will have them for the next lesson.
And I seriously don’t even have to worry about a kid trying to sneak off the tape because the other kids will rat him/her out faster than you can say EXPO.
And I don’t have to worry about a kid accidentally taking one back to their desk or putting one in their pencil box because first graders will tell on someone like it’s their JOB.
This whole idea is not mine. I saw it somewhere and I have no idea where and so I thank you.
Thank you!
ARE YOU DYING?
I DIED.
This guy is hilarious! At first, I was a little worried about him in a he is gonna give me a run for my money, he is THE ONE, oh no, this is gonna be hard but now that I’ve gotten to know him a little, I think he is going to be a lot of fun. A LOT OF WORK, but a lot of fun.
He said I could take this picture.
🙂
He can zip the Shark mouth closed if he so desires and then he has a big wide pocket to hold things.
Let’s not talk about the things it could hold, if you know what I mean.
I’m telling you, these pants made my whole day.
RIGHT?
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?!!!?
I MEAN, SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!
I saw this on my community Facebook page and died laughing.
I mean, DO WE EVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN?
UGHHHHHH.
We have to stay inside for our first recess.
I want to go out and see the eclipse, I think it’s important, I think it’s SCIENCE, but I guess the risk of someone looking directly at the sun is just too great. I did see a little article about someone who did this back when he was a kid when the last eclipse happened, and he is partially blind or something because of it so I guess it could happen.
But honestly, really and truly, we will miss first recess and then go out at lunch time.
And the sun will be there.
So I’m just kind of confused by the whole thing, but don’t leave any comments trying to enlighten me because I’m not asking to be educated either. Hahahahaha!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m just saying this picture CRACKED ME UP and THAT IS ALL.
Alright.
I’m off to lunch!!!
Have a great weekend!
I personally hope it rains Monday. We’re in the path of totality and the whole area has lost their minds. We have activities outside but yet we have to be inside to do activities (with parents in the room) , indoor recess, eat in the room because we will have too many parents to fit in the cafeteria, somehow get the kiddos to keep their glasses on(that I have to cut and tape onto a paper plate) out to our viewing area without burning their eyeballs. I have 5 year old and it’s the 4th day of school. I’m thinking Tuesday may be a sick day.
OH MY WORD. I can’t even imagine that. HOLY COW! Hang in there!!!!!
I love your post!! I start Wednesday and I know I will need to re-read this every night this next week to remind myself that my day is normal and that talking about the same things over and over and over is completely rational! YIKES! Thanks for making me laugh!! -Chris
Have a great first day!!!!! It’s TOTALLY normal or otherwise I’m a lunatic!!
If I used a million words, I couldn’t explain how much I love reading these posts.
Happy New (School) Year, Kristin!
(I know I will be happier when Eclipse Day is over!)
<3
Kim
Awwww!! You are the SWEETEST, Kim!!! I love hearing from you!
Hey there,
I am not Jane Elizabeth and that is not my email. I point this out to you because it is the second time it has happened on your site. When I scroll down to the leave a reply section, someone else’s name is there and their email. it happened a few months ago but since it has happened twice I thought you would want to know. Do you know why this is happening? Very strange. My name is Dee.
That is so bizarre!! I have no clue!???! When you go to leave a reply, can you erase their name and email? Or no?
The disappearing point of an Expo can be fixed using pliers. It pulls back up fairly easily.
Good to know!!
A parent bought “Eclipse” glasses for our whole school. I already have pegged “that kid” who will try to look at the sun without them. Isn’t it funny how after only two days (sometimes 2 minutes) you can tell which kids will push the boundaries and your buttons?!?!
Hahaha!! YES!!!
This was a delightful read! I can relate and I have 5th graders. You made me laugh out loud! (I had to spell that out cause it was IMPORTANT for you to know that.) I will continue to follow your antics , as well as your coverage of them because at the end of the day it’s all about the humor in the job! Isn’t it?
I had to read this again as it was my first day back. Man I hear ya on the trained kiddos from last year. This was by far my toughest first day. I had to remind my class several times that I teach first grade not kindergarten and that we don’t lay down on the cafpet or after lunch. The shock on their faces! It’s good to know we are all on this together and we will come through the tough training weeks! On a positive note a second grade teacher gave me a hug today and thanked me for all the work I did with last years group.