I knew it was coming . . . but I still couldn’t believe it when I was told progress reports were due.
That means that we are halfway through this first trimester.
WHAT?!
I still feel like I’m getting to know these kids which means I don’t really know them, not really, plus I got new students when our K/1 combo was dissolved, and then there was that week that I got a new little girl and she left after the second day. As in, left. THE SCHOOL.
Do you hear what I am saying?
SHE LEFT THE SCHOOL AFTER ONLY TWO DAYS.
Her name (and I’m obviously changing her name to protect her, this is not her real name, just go with it) was Alexandra. But she went by Alex.
ALEX LEFT THE SCHOOL AFTER ONLY TWO DAYS.
And this was after I had prepped everything for her in order to make her feel welcome and loved. Labels, folders, this and that, new crayons, a gold tag pocket with her name on it, a new sharing schedule, an AR card, and even a BRAND NEW PENCIL. (Pencils are hard to come by these days so I thought I should point that out.)
Also, yes, I saw that pin on Pinterest, and I DO have New Student Bags ready to go . . . but you still HAVE TO PREP THE STUFF INSIDE. WITH NAMES.
AND YES, I USE STUDENT NUMBERS. But those only take you so far. And then you really do have to use a student’s name. Believe me. It’s considered polite and the parents will thank you at parent conferences when you call their child ZOIE rather than NUMBER FIFTY SIX.
And, because I only had 30 desks out, I had to get an old, dusty, grimy desk out from underneath my back counter and FIND A PLACE TO PUT IT.
People. I have five table groups. There are six desks in each table group.
Let’s review. Six times fives = thirty.
NOT thirty-one.
I had to squeeze a desk into a table group. It just about killed me because thirty-one is odd, if you didn’t know. It is ODD! Now the desks are not EVEN!
Hold on. I need to smell the soup. My anxiety is getting to me about the oddness of this.
Okay. I’m back.
I wiped that dirty desk off with a Clorox wipe (not a Lysol wipe, I’m not really a fan of the Lysol ones for some reason, but if you asked me why, I couldn’t really articulate it) and I squeezed it into the Table Three table group. Which means table three has SEVEN kids in it now.
SEVEN KIDS. At TABLE THREE.
Seriously. Just kill me now.
But then ALEX LEFT. After TWO DAYS. Did I say that already?
I really liked her. And she fit right in. And by the end of the first day, Alex was holding hands with the other girls during recess.
Once I was told she wasn’t coming back, I had a momentary mini celebration as I thought about the fact that I could relegate that odd desk back to the dark and dank Back Counter Underneath-ness.
Ahem.
It was short lived.
My class of thirty-one students went back down to thirty in a span of two days, but went right back up to thirty-one THE VERY NEXT DAY.
I got a new little boy.
And, rather than make ALL OF THE NEW STUFF THAT A NEW STUDENT REQUIRES AND GO THROUGH WHAT I HAD JUST GONE THROUGH NOT THREE DAYS BEFORE, we just call him Alex.
Even though his name is John.
Shoulder Shrug.
It’s close enough.
I just found out I may be losing another student.
I’m not having any kid of mini-celebration. I’ve got my eye on the revolving door.
Do you have a revolving door?
*Obviously, I am kidding about calling a student by the wrong name.
**I AM!
***REALLY!
UGH. I had the revolving door last year!! I had a turnover of 6 kids in my Kinder class. It was ridiculous! I even got one girl during the last two weeks of school!! Luckily she wasn't there long enough for me to give her a report card because I had barely learned her first and last name…let alone done any assessments! I totally feel your pain. Hopefully your revolving door will be closed, like now!
I had one year where kids just kept coming and going. I think there were 5, and 1 of them left, then came back. It was such a crazy year!
The shortest I've had a kid was 2 days. The first and the second day. Then he left and went back to his old school for a year, then reappeared the following year in 2nd grade. Then 2 years ago I had a sweet little boy for 2 weeks. Then he left. I think I still have the jacket he forgot stuffed in the back of my closet.
I totally understand the revolving door! There seems to be a couple of classes every year at my school that are the revolving door classrooms! My first year at my school, I had that room. I had a girl for less than a week! I too got all her stuff ready with names and supplies and BAM! she was gone. I think I'm more in shock that you have 30….I mean 31 kids!!! That is INSANE!!! I won't even tell you how many I have, b/c it'll just make you cry 🙂 I hope your door doesn't swing too many more times.
Oh, yes! On the first day of school a kid showed up, even though she was supposed to go to a different school in the district. One day in my room, then gone. The next morning, a new girl comes. I found out about it a half hour before the kids came in the door. Brother tells us she belongs in second grade, so she left after an hour and a half. New kid comes the next week, he missed most of K, so he is not ready for first, but he is here. Last Monday, new girl comes. I was absent. Next day, she goes to second grade. I never even met her! Another student misplaced, and the third one who moved from first to second in 3 weeks. Always on a Tuesday. Crazy year…and yes, a revolving door!
Yup, right there with you.
So frustrating and hard on the kids, too!! Two years ago I had a revolving door…. Throughout the year I had 7 new students arrive and 6 students leave… I thought I had been super smart at the beginning of the year with my new student bags. But I only made 4 and used them all up!! Grrr! 🙂 Keep smelling the soup!
Amanda
First Grade Garden
My heart aches for the little ones who have so much turmoil in their lives
I.totally.feel.your.pain!! ugh!!!!!!! (boy is Alex really missing out!!)
Smelled the soup A LOT this week! Hugs!!
Aris
I can't believe that you have 31 kids!! I love your perspective, and all of your funny stories. You're my new favorite blog to follow because you make me laugh. My coworkers and I smell the soup a lot these days, and we always giggle because of the way you explained it! LOL! Hang in there…Friday is coming soon (I hope!)
I can't believe you have 31 kids in your class, give or take depending on the day! We have been blessed this year and I only have 21! PTL! I had 26 last year, but half of them were mean little kids. This year is all rainbows and unicorns! During my 1st year teaching (17 years ago), I had 36 kids in my class over the course of the year. We were capped at 20 then. 13 kids were there from beginning to end…the other 23 came and went, some after just a day. It was an interesting way to begin my teaching career! But then there was one year that I didn't lose a kid until April, and then 4 moved within the month. Hopefully your numbers stabilize and your kiddos all stay put!
Not only is 31 odd, it is prime! I could not handle that! Hang in there <3
Mrs. B, you beat me to it! Nothing kills me more than a prime! Ugh. Feeling for you – our seats aren't usually cold for long…our revolving door is a permanent fixture where I teach. Sigh. Good luck with Alex 2.0
I HATE odd numbers! I beg the secretaries to give me kids two at a time to avoid it! My revolving door years come and go….mostly because we have so many apartment complexes within our boundaries.
Laurie
Chickadee Jubilee
PS my kids exit card question today was, "what is the Dodger's magic number?"
HA! You may have a revolving door, but our schools should have turnstyles. Our site has an 87% transient rate!! So yes we only have a handful of our original students at the end of the year. Often times a child will leave and then we will see them in about 6 months (about the time it takes to move, get evicted, and return-poor babies). Sometimes they end up back in your class or another teacher's class. You'll see them at recess and think, "You look familiar.." Our kinder and t/k – kinder combo are all currently at 32- but it's cool with our district because our first grade numbers are low so it all averages out ( I'm assuming this is their interpretation of common core math). It gets better- I'm required to serve breakfast in my classroom everyday!!
Gone are the days when parents only relocated in the summer…I've moved on from the odd number. It's the a-b-c order which gets me!!! Not to mention all the writing of names on all the desk tags, folders, bus sign, birthday board…Ya Know???
I had a revolving door two years ago. I would lose a student and within 2 days have 1-2 more show up. It was crazy.
Back in the olden days of half day Kindergarten, we used to order our kids by their first names. So one year, by chance, I lost one of my lowest kids, Patricia, and gained a super responsible boy, Patrick. I was so excited that it didn't mess up my folder order! Last year I had a little girl for two weeks. After she moved, her mom brought her back to see us because she said she missed us so much (two really good weeks, I guess!). I have taught 30 in first grade but it is not fun.
Always a revolving door at my school, too. Some years I've had a switch of 6 students! But I'm sitting with a class size of 18 right now… So…. Life is good! Don't know how you do it!
I had a revolving door 2 years ago, 9 kids in and 9 kids out (kindergarten). One little girl was there 2 days as well and then the mom decided to move back to the town they came from but to enroll her in a new school (she was headed to school #5 for the year and it was March). So frustrating! Hoping your class becomes a little more "stable".
Amanda
A Very Curious Class
You kill me. I just want to work with you every single day.
Lysol wipes? NO… they don't smell as nice as Clorox. The Clorox in the orange tub are the best. 🙂
This is my very first year NOT having a revolving door within the first few weeks. Don't throw anything at me.
Did I tell you that our district decided 27 students was class size reduction? 27 is odd. ODD!!! WHO would choose that number? It makes me crazy just looking at my groups.
hahaha so true so true.
& then they TAKE all the stuff you made them, like they need a beautiful homework folder labeled just right for your class..NOT.
Hey! I have 31 kids too. I know what you mean by messing up the feng shui to the classroom set up. I put my new buddy at the end of the table but I kept cutting the corner short and bumping into her. After she fell over a few times (joking), I put her along the side so that there were four smushed together and it didn't match the other side with three students. ARGH. I also don't have enough cubbies, so she's sharing with two other kids. Poor thing. Going around corners on walks, I lose sight of half of them. I hope they're behaving… I feel your pain, sistah!