Oops...

Today, right before dismissal, I sat my babies in the auditorium (where they wait to be picked up) when all of a sudden, my precious AP sneezed. However, the sneeze sounded a little more like someone sat on a duck. I LOUD duck. Yep, she sneezed a little wind out of her bottom! I was just going to pretend I didn't hear it. When I turned to say, "God bless you," I could see the mortified look on her face. For a minute, I thought she might cry. Then, one of the girls sitting next to her whispered, "She pooted!" I froze for just a second, not knowing if the tears were going to come, or if some teasing was going to start. Instead, AP broke out into an embarrassed grin, which then turned into a giggle. From there, it went into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, with her friends joining her. I had to turn around so they would see me giggling right along with them. Ah...they're so easily amused, aren't they? And, I'm glad they haven't reached that age where they get so easily embarrassed by bodily functions. They still think it's funny. I, on the other hand, think it's disgusting, but it's not about me, is it?

That ship has sailed...

Yeah, so, apparently, I already let this cat out of the bag. I'm a big dork!!!

How'd I miss this?!?

Did any of you catch Jennifer Hudson: I'll Be Home For Christmas? I can NOT believe I didn't watch it until just now. Oh holy hell, you have GOT to watch this!!! After spending the day downtown with 8741, Stud Muffin and his friends, this was the perfect thing to watch tonight. It so beautifully spotlights my gorgeous city, that I swear I got teary eyed a few times. Not to mention, I love me some Jennifer Hudson!

OK, I've avoided posting anything about this, because it seriously jeopardizes the anonymity I try to maintain here, but I think just this once, it'll be alright. I've always had a special place in my heart for Jennifer (even though I have never, to this day, seen a single episode of American Idol!) because....oh, should I do it? I don't know....ok, her uncle is our assistant principal. (There, I said it!) You know, the one I'm always saying how much I LOVE? The reason I'm still at the damn Hell-Hole? Yeah, remember him? Anyway, he's Jennifer's uncle. (In my opinion, she looks exactly like him!!) Back during that season on AI, you can imagine the support she had at the Hell-Hole. One of my former colleagues (Former Upstairs Neighbor. Heeyyy, Girl!! Giving you a shout out!) really had her class showing major support for "JHud," as they so affectionately called her. My love for her grew out of my love for her uncle. Every time something exciting happened, like she was on a talk show or something, or she appeared in a magazine, he and I would always talk about it at school. It happens so frequently now, that we don't talk about it as much. He's so very proud of his niece. (He is in all the church scenes, sitting third pew from the front, on the right side of the church. I wish he had invited his favorite teacher along for the performance!)

One of the coolest things for the people I worked with was that most of them knew Jennifer her whole life. They watched her grow up. A huge surprise for me while watching this special was when they showed the segment with her cousins. Her cousin, Krista, was our music teacher for the first 3 or 4 years that I was at the Hell-Hole. (I'm not sure how long she was there before I came, but I know it was a while.) This was the first time I've seen her since she left. She actually left the year that Jennifer was on AI to pursue her own music career. I know she's released at least one gospel CD since she left.

One other thing I wanted to share with you, that really was kinda cool. The segment of the show where she goes to Evergreen Plaza (a local mall) and performs was really neat. I did a show of my own on the very stage she performed on, although it was nothing like hers. When I was about 4 or 5, I went to Charm School (yes, really, you can stop laughing any time now!!) at The Plaza, and the culminating activity was a fashion show, performed on the stage in the center of The Plaza. Watching her sing brought up all these memories of my own show, and quite frankly, what a disaster it was! I got a sudden case of stage fright, and refused to walk out on the runway. If I remember correctly, my mom had to hold my hand from down on the floor and lead me through my walk. Ah, I guess I was never cut out to be a super model!

If you find yourself with about 45 minutes of free time, you really should click on the link and watch this special. If for nothing else, to see my incredible city being showcased!! There are some really incredible shots of the city, both during the day and at night. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times - I live in the most incredible city in the world!!

(Oh, and if any information here helps you figure out just which school I work at, do me a favor and keep it to yourself!)

One down, 39 to go....

That was the looonnngggeeesssttt first week in history! Once again, I was at school until well after 5. I could barely drag myself to my car. Besides the long day, and the physical demands of herding cats, I mean dealing with 30 5 year-olds, the freakin' heat just zaps any little bit of energy I have left. It has just been so unbearable this week. By the time I leave, I feel like I've been run over by a Mack truck.

I did, however, force myself to do my Wii when I got home. I just kept reminding myself that as soon as I did it, I could relax for the rest of the night. I barely made it home before Stud's friends started coming over. I told him he could invite a bunch of guys over to hang out on Friday night. It was mostly a ruse to get him to stay home. He finally came home Thursday after almost 2 weeks at his father's. He came home to cut the grass, but his father wanted to pick him up when he was done. Um...I don't think so! So, I convinced him to invite the guys over, guaranteeing that I'd get to see him another night.

His one friend arrived about 5 minutes before I finished the Wii. His other best friend was supposed to be coming with another boy, but when he showed up, he was alone. (He couldn't find the other boy.) When I realized it was going to just be "my 3 sons," I was thrilled because I realized after my shower, I could just put on my pajamas, and relax. The other boy did end up coming at about 9:30, and by then, I was already settled into bed! The boys moved down to the basement just as I was passing out, and I never heard a peep. Stud and his late-arriving buddy were both up by 7 this morning, which is unbelievable! The other little darling is still asleep.

Oh, wait, I was supposed to be writing about school, wasn't I? I can NOT wait for preps to start this week. I'm hoping it makes a difference in my exhaustion level. I have about 7 days worth of work to do this weekend, and unfortunately, I have to work tonight. I'm starting to get a little panicky. I'm probably already on New Principal's shit list because I never did turn in any lesson plans this week. I HAVE to turn them in on Monday. I'm really a little freaked out about doing them. I know that sounds crazy coming from someone who's been teaching for a couple of decades now, but let me tell you, I've gotten really lazy and out of practice after so many years of working for the Big Cheese. I always did my lesson plans (which was not the norm around that place!) but for the past 4 years, I've only had to do half the work. I decided years ago that it made more sense for me and my partner to do our plans together, with my partner doing the math and science plans and me doing the reading/language arts plans. (And, truthfully,after saving them on my computer, all I've had to do the past year was change the date!) Now, since I have NO partner, I've got to do them all by myself again. And, I can't even use the plans I have saved because we're switching to a new reading series. God, just thinking about how much work this is going to be makes me want to cry. I don't want to go back to those days when my entire Sunday was spent working on lesson plans!! And, now that I work Saturdays at our bar, I don't know how the hell I'm going to be able to do that, since most Sundays I don't get home until 5 or 6 am! OK, I'm starting to feel my chest tighten again....

This group of babies, for the most part, are just that - babies!! This is one of the most immature groups I've ever had. It says a LOT about what the hell must be going on in our preschool program. Um...that would be...NOTHING! These kids can't even write their names, nor write their letters. They think the whole day is for playing. I keep trying to tell myself it'll get better. It's only their first week, it's got to get better.

ALL of them except 1 showed up yesterday. Yikes! I had to put 5 of them at my group table, since it's the only other table I have. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next week when I actually start doing small group instruction. I'm going to have to have a lot of movement to keep shifting them from table to table.

The pep rally was WAY too long yesterday. My babies were amazing, though. Hey, wow, did I just say that?! I going to try and focus on that fact next week. I was really impressed with how quietly they were able to sit for well over an hour. That's a long time for 5 year-olds to sit. At least without a cartoon on for them to watch! :) We ended up having to leave before it ended because we needed to start getting ready for dismissal. We should have started about 30 minutes earlier.

New Principal introduced the entire staff, and had us come up on stage, while the kids cheered us on. I have to say, I was really touched by the reaction I got when my name was called. The whole auditorium erupted! It was really cool, and reminded me that I really do make a difference in the lives of some of these kids. (My first class at the Hell-Hole is now in 7th grade, so pretty much the entire school knows me.)

After the staff introductions, New Principal and our AP, Mr. H., went over the rules and expectations for this year. We talked about the uniform policy, and each teacher was asked to send 2 students up on the stage to show the proper uniform. My 2 did a great job, but they didn't take their eyes off me for even a second. It's a little scary to stand up on stage in front of the entire school!

When all the talk about rules, etc., was finished, each class then came up on stage and did their little presentation. We were first, of course, and the kids actually did a great job. We kept if very short and sweet. I "borrowed" a line for the pledge our kids are expected to say every morning. They loudly, and proudly, said, "I am in Room XXX. I am talented, smart and capable of success!" Thankfully, I had Ms. H. to help me again yesterday. She helped get them back in their seats as I got them off the stage. Then, they were forced to sit there while the rest of the school gave their performances. We only made it to the 4th grade performances, then we had to go. Unfortunately, because the upper grades still had to perform, that meant most of the students were dismissed late, which then meant that I was stuck outside on the playground, in the blinding sun (!) waiting for big brothers and sisters to pick up my babies.

OK, I've procrastinated long enough. I'd better start working on these lesson plans. I hope you all have a great weekend. Think of me slaving away while you're doing something fun and relaxing!
;-)

Sad Update...

...this morning, as we were all arriving at school, there was breaking news on all the local stations. I didn't mention all the details in the last post, since I assumed most people heard the reports on TV, but the Hudson's nephew had been missing all this time, and was believed to have been kidnapped by man accused of the murders (it is the boy's stepfather) This morning, around 8:30, the news reported that the body of a little boy had been found not far from the murder scene, and it is presumed to be this little boy. I can't believe it. I have no more words, other than, please, please pray for this family.

Yet another tragedy in Englewood...

I know I never mentioned this before, but our wonderful assistant principal is the uncle of Oscar award winning Jennifer Hudson (our AP and her father were brothers). Yesterday, tragedy struck their family, once again. By now, I'm sure all of you have seen the story on the news, even if you don't live in Chicago, because of Jennifer's fame. If you haven't, I've put a link here to one of our local news stations here.

Last year, another member of this family was run over and killed while working as a flagger at a construction site. She also used to work at the Hell-Hole (before my time) so it was really upsetting for most of the staff. I understand that she left the Hell-Hole when she got this "great job" as a flagger. (It was way more money, and everyone was so happy for her.) This family has had to deal with so much heartache and tragedy in a very short period of time. On a much smaller scale, another member had her car stolen less than a month ago.

I've never really written about our AP because, #1, I LOVE him!! I suppose on some level, one of the reasons I've stuck it out at the Hell-Hole is because I'm waiting for him to take over, and fix things!! Reason #2 is because I knew this tidbit of information would remove a great deal of the anonymity surrounding my school. Because of that, I may just be deleting this post in the near future, but first I must make a request. Please, please say a prayer for the Hudson family.