Not really sure where to start....

...so maybe I'll just go day by day.

Monday

When New Principal got to school (after me!) she passed me in the hall and said, "I need to see you later so we can talk about the switch." Well, it's about freakin' time!! She originally mentioned it almost 2 weeks ago, at the same time that she asked me to start putting a list together. So, ok, I tell her I have a prep at 1:20, which she then says is too late. "I'll send someone to your room." In the windup, she didn't send someone to my room (just like the four other times she said that during the past 2 weeks!) so I went to see her on my prep. Instead of having any kind of conversation, she simply hands me a list of kids. Apparently, it's my new class list. For some reason, instead of just taking kids out, she (or whoever the hell made the lists!!) moved 5 kids from the K/1 room to my room, then took 16 kids off my original list. Both classes had 21 students. Ok, fine.

But, then I started looking at the names, and realized instantly that my little TN was absent from my new list. Well, HELL NO!! That was NOT gonna work for me. It's taken me over 5 months to get him in some kind of routine, and to the point he's at now. There was NO WAY I was going to just ship him off to a new teacher. Besides the fact that I'd miss him like mad, he would just go absolutely ape shit because of the change. He does not do well when there's change in the routine. Anytime I've been out, there has been major problems with him. Anyway, I immediately told New Principal that I needed to move him back. She says, "Who's that, your little monster?" A couple of months ago, I might have laughed at that, but now I was just offended. I promptly informed her that "he's NOT a monster." and that he needed to stay in my room.

I also noticed that AB was not on my list. You may recall that his mom already threatened to take him out of the school if he was moved out of my room. I told New Principal about her threat, and her reply was, "So, let her transfer him." I was dumb-struck. But, then a few minutes later, she told me to put him on my list. We switched him with another kid. Then, the last switch we made was a little boy, CS, who is one of my babies who goes to "walking reading," which just means they go across the hall to Mrs. M.'s 1st grade class for reading (and I get a few of hers who need help). It didn't make sense for CS to be on the opposite end of the hallway, so I just kept him.

Now, when all was said and done, I somehow had 23 kids, and the other class had 19. OK, not exactly how it was supposed to go, but ok. I then had to go write out 19 letters to parents to let them know their kids were changing classrooms. The letter said that the change would be effective the next day, Feb. 2, but then she decided we need to change that to the 3rd. Go back, cross out the 2, write in a 3....ok...breathe, breathe....get all the letters stapled to the homework packets, we're good to go.

Now, I don't think I've really done too much bitching about the K/1 teacher, but suffice it to say, New Principal has been on the path to get rid of her since school started. Big Cheese tried to do it several times, but of course, he never followed proper procedures, so it didn't work. New Principal is doing everything by the book. I was actually really afraid that this teacher was going to be my new K partner. Turns out, she's been removed from that classroom and moved to Pre-K. There's a part of me that's really pissed about this, since we all know that's my dream position, but in actuality, it's serving as more of a holding place for her. Rumor has it, the Pre-K teacher (who has been out since Christmas break due to medical reasons) will be returning on Monday, and then Ms. H. is going to be gone. I don't think it's going to work that smoothly, but that's the plan.

So, exactly who is my new partner? Well, it just keeps getting better and better. Now, this will only mean something to those who currently (or used to) work at the Hell-Hole. New Principal has removed our counselor from her position, and made her the new kindergarten teacher. (Hell-Hole folks, did I just hear a collective WTF?!!) It's quite evident that New Principal wants Dr. Counselor to go. (She just earned her doctorate degree about a year and a half ago. That's quite impressive for a woman who's nearly 70!) She's near retirement age, and I'll be the first to admit, I've been saying for years that she should pack it in and go already. She's a feisty old broad, and I'm seriously afraid she's starting to show some signs of dementia.

All that being said, I think what New Principal is doing is a sin! She is not showing one ounce of respect toward this woman. It's obvious that this woman has not been in a classroom in at least 3 decades. Truthfully, I don't know if she EVER actually taught. Not only is she being thrown into a classroom, it's with 5 year-olds!! WTF?! This is pretty much the equivalent of asking the average person to walk into an operating room and perform a surgery. (ok, yes I know that's a little dramatic, but I'm pissed!) She doesn't know even the most basic of things, like how to take attendance on the computer, how to do the lunch count, she has NO idea what the curriculum is, what 5 year-olds should know at this point, OH MY GOD, I could go on and on. How dare New Principal do this to her! She's absolutely a fish out of water.

Argh! I'm so pissed about this. Dr. Counselor is well aware that New Principal's plan is to throw her in the classroom, where she's going to be lost, and then slowly start writing her up for different things (like not having a grasp of the curriculum) until she can finally just fire her. That's such BULLSHIT! Show this woman some respect.

And, on top of all this, it's my babies who are going to be hurt. I understand that pretty much all principals use these ridiculous games/tactics to get rid of teachers, but I really take offense at my babies being used as pawns in this dirty little game. They're the one who are really going to suffer. They essentially won't be receiving any instruction. All New Principal has been bitching, I mean, talking about is how we need to step things up, and do all this intensive intervention, blah, blah, blah... Well, HELLO! Do you not get that these kids need to get a solid, basic foundation in kindergarten in order to be successful in the future? No, let's keep screwing around with these babies' education, and then wonder why, years down the road, they can't pass the stupid standardized tests! Let's see, let's waste their kindergarten year by shuffling them around from teacher to teacher, and then send them off to 1st grade with nothing in their educational arsenal. (ok, yes, I'm being dramatic again, deal with it!) Then, they're supposed to try and figure out how to handle the 1st grade curriculum without the basics they should have gotten in kdg. Yeah, that's gonna work! And, then the vicious cycle of trying to play catch-up just continues until 3rd grade, which is when they need to pass the ISAT test in order to be promoted to 4th grade.

Wow, I'm feeling my blood pressure rise, and I could rant on and on, but I'm sure you're done (if you're even still reading at this point!). I'm going to have to just stop with Monday's bitching for now, and come back later for the rest of the week. Gee, I bet you're very excited....

I owe you a post...

...but a proper post is going to have to wait. I can give you some quick highlights though:
--a new kdg. was opened
--I will have 23 babies as of tomorrow
I know this sounds like good news, but trust me, I have PLENTY of bitching/venting to do. I just don't have the time or energy tonight. But, be warned, it's a comin'.....

"Um...I meant...."

Suddenly, Table 2 erupts into a cacophony of "ooohhh"s and "oooooo"s and "I'm tellin'!!"

Me: WHAT is going on!?

Table 2 (in unison!): M is cursing!!

Me: M, I hope that's not true.

M: (wildly shaking head)Uh, no, no! I, um, I just, um, I meant to say 'bitch.' (He then proceeds to shake his head, kinda like when you clear an Etch-A-Sketch) Um...yeah...(then he just kinda looks at me, defeated)

This all happened as we were preparing for dismissal. So after helping 32 babies put on and zipper their coats, tie their scarves, put on their gloves/mittens and hats, put on their boots....wait, where the hell was I going with this? Oh, yeah, after helping them all get ready, we started lining up, and I pulled M to the side for a second. "Were you trying to say 'pinch'?" "YES!" The look on his face was priceless!

OK, so New Principal never had anyone come to cover my class so we could talk about The Great Divide (as I keep referring to it as) so nothing was done today. I have a sinking feeling that the lists are just going to be made without my input. The plan, from what I understood, was to make the lists today, so that letters can go home tomorrow, and the 'new' classes can start Monday. (There is no school for students on Friday, because it's a professional development day.) Now, I have no idea how she plans to inform the parents of the switch.

I mentioned the possibility of children being taken out of my room in my newsletter last week, and again this week, so the parents wouldn't be caught by surprise when the switch happens. I had two parents come to me on Tuesday, demanding that their children NOT be moved out of my room. The one mom was pretty funny. She told me she planned to "march right into that office and tell them that I will pull A out of this school if he is moved out of your room!" I gotta tell ya, this is the same mother who pissed me off royaly when school started because she kept her son home on his birthday because she couldn't have a party in class. She did a few other things to bug my ass in the beginning of the year, however, over the past few months, we've come to an understanding. She actually wrote me a lovely thank you card at Christmas time to go with the pretty earrings that her son gave me. (She told me he bought them with his own money. Too cute!!) Anyway, I wish I had been a fly on the wall when she went in there!

I hope I have something to share with you tomorrow about The Great Divide. Friday, like I said, we have a professional development day. Unfortunately, I have to attend a workshop, along with about 20 coworkers, at the Double Tree Hotel in a suburb that's about 45 minutes from my house. I actually would rather be at school since I have lots of work to do. Report cards are due by tomorrow, and I'm not quite finished. I've been a DIBELing fool since we came back from break, and after doing my own kids, I had to do the kindergartners that are in the K/1 split class. I really don't want to start a full-on rant about this, but let me just say, that teacher had the balls to send me TEN kids to DIBEL today, during our rest time, which is when I DIBEL my own kids. I had planned to work on report cards today, since my kids have all been tested, but obviously, that didn't happen. Once again, I don't have a prep tomorrow, so I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to get them all done. In the ever-abundant wisdom on CPS, you can not access the system we use for report cards from home. They all have to be done at school. Have you ever heard of anything so stupid? I feel a rant coming, so I'm going to move on.

I need to get going anyway, since the groomer just called, and Buster is ready to be picked up from his Spa Day. I need to go straight from the groomer to my girlfriend's salon, for my own beautification project. I have a feeling Buster is on the winning end of this one! ;-)

Shapes

Square

Triangle
Rectangle
Trapezoid

Circle

Oval

This was so much fun!! These pictures are from yesterday's math lesson. We, obviously, made shapes with our bodies. We made lots of shapes, so that everyone had several turns, and so that we could practice before I took pictures. I wish I had stood on a table to get a better angle. I'm sure the babies will indulge me and do it again if I ask. :) Don't you just LOVE my carpet. I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!! I got it through one of my Donors Choose grants. I've been thinking about doing another one, so be on the look out for shameless begging in the near future!

Shhhh...I may have some exciting news for you tomorrow. I've been keeping a lid on this, because I wasn't really sure what was going to happen, but now I'm fairly certain that we will FINALLY be getting another kdg. teacher, and that my class will be split again. If all goes as planned, I will drop down to about 22-23 kids. But, I don't want to jinx things, so that's all I'm going to say for now. Please send good thoughts and/or prayers!!

Warning - This post may contain an F-bomb or two...

I haven't bitched about the Hell-Hole in a while, but there's some crap bubbling up right now that I need to spew, in hopes that my eye will stop fucking twitching!!!!!

First of all, did I mention I'm back up to 32 fucking kids?!? It was 33 for a day, until I realized that one of the new kids was actually supposed to be in 1st grade. Guess it was too fucking hard for the office to figure that out when they made a copy of her fucking birth certificate, huh? Thankfully, I've had, on average, at least 6 kids absent every day since we came back from break, so I've been able to squeeze them in at the tables. Today, however, all but 2 showed up, so I had to break down and set up a 5th table.

Latina Girl is lucky she didn't go home with my foot protruding from her ass today!! I tried to call her mother several times, so she could come get her, but of course, I couldn't reach her. God forbid there had been a real emergency! (You know, like needing a foot surgically removed from her rectum!) The final straw, that made me call her mom, was when she stole something from one of my little darlings. Two tables of babies displayed some wonderful behavior right before lunch, and each of those babies was given a treat to eat when they finished their lunch. Well, Latina Girl took one of the other girl's treats right off her plate and ate it!!! And THEN, she tried to say she didn't know it wasn't hers!! WTF?!? I wanted to punch her in her face!

Besides Latina Girl pissing me off all day, AM was really pushing my buttons, as well. (How do I NOT have a label for this PITA on this blog? It's not possible that I haven't bitched about her yet! Oh, well, there's a first time for everything, right?) She has been a HUGE PITA since the very first day of school. When her mother brought her to school this morning, she came to me and asked if I would send a note home at the end of the day to let her know what kind of day she had. Apparently, it's AM's little brother's birthday today, and if she had a bad day, she wasn't going to be able to go out to celebrate tonight. Well, of course, I figured I would sugar-coat the report so she wouldn't miss the party. Yeah, well, that lasted about 20 minutes!! Between her and Latina Girl, I don't know who was making my blood boil more. (When her mom came to get her at the end of the day, I didn't sugar coat a damn thing. Then mom tells me that she already was having a bad day before she came to school. I guess she shoved her baby brother - the birthday boy!- off the bed this morning. But, apparently Mom wanted to make ME the bad guy, cuz she didn't have the backbone to just tell her she was going to have to miss the celebration. Her mother's shitty parenting is exactly why this child acts the way she does!!!)

When we were coming back from our afternoon bathroom break, Ms. H saw us in the hall and asked if I wanted her to take a couple of them off my hands for a while (since I had 30 freakin' kids by myself all damn day!!) I didn't even have to say anything, she knew which two to take! About 15 minutes later, she comes to the room with the two brats, and says that New Principal said they had to come back to the room. WTF??! She said they couldn't be out of the room missing instruction. Yeah, well, when they're IN the room, there's very little instruction going on, because I spend all my fuckin' time dealing with their bullshit!! ARGH!!!! In the short time they were gone, we were able to do an awesome lesson about graphs that was tons of fun, and had the rest of the babies on the edge of their seats. Whatever! I put them in opposite corners, and tried to just trudge on with the day.

I was seething, though, on the inside about New Principal, and the stupid statement she made about them missing instruction. I haven't bitched about this yet, but there's no time like the present, right? Almost every fuckin' day, I have at least one 8th grader sent to my room, so that I can babysit. And 99% of the time, these kids have been kicked out of their rooms for being out of uniform. Seriously?!? Not because they were disrespectful, or disruptive, or any kind of discipline problem. No, they have on jeans!! Have you ever heard anything so fucking ridiculous?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad she's actually enforcing the uniform policy. That's always been a HUGE problem at the Hell-Hole. So, yes, please enforce it. However, how does she justify making an 8th grade student, who is supposed to graduate in June, miss an entire day of instruction?! Make these kids stay after school for detention, or come in early for morning detention, or some other appropriate consequence. DO NOT keep them out of class for a whole day. And DON'T make ME babysit them!!!! She's under the delusion that it embarrasses them to have to sit in kindergarten. Yeah, right!! They love it. And, it's one more body I have to be responsible for, one more kid I have to keep busy all day. The day I was out for Bestest Friend's mom's funeral, there were THREE of them sent to my room. Apparently, the sub paid them no mind, and they played with my computers, messed up my games, rearranged my books, ugh!!!!!!

Did it ever occur to New Principal that these kids purposely come to school out of uniform so they WON'T have to go to class? DUH! These kids aren't stupid, ya know!

Ugh, I could go on and on, and I definitely have more to bitch about, but I'm going to stop for tonight. I'm going to make myself a yummy cup of hot cocoa (sugar-free Swiss Miss with a shot of sugar-free hazelnut syrup. YUMMY!) and curl up on the couch. I'm sure there's some mindless TV I can watch for a while to lower my blood pressure. Man, I wish Glee was on...oh, wait! I just remembered it's Wednesday, and I love the line-up on ABC! Modern Family is one of the most hilarious shows on right now. I love it! The Middle has some pretty funny moments, and I love Cougar Town. Then, one of my all-time favorites, Ugly Betty, has just moved to Wednesday, so that'll round out my evening of mindless TV. Yay! Good thing Stud went with CSJ, otherwise I'm sure I'd be ignoring him tonight. Oh, wait, isn't that what teenagers WANT their parents to do?

Wow, what a day!

I had a whopping 14 kids come to school today! Woo hoo! It was such a great day. Then, one went home early at about noon, so I finished the day with 13. That's how many I had out yesterday!

I wish I could say that I made productive use of this small class size, and that we did lots of intensive one-on-one lessons, but truthfully, we did a whole lot of nuthin'! The babies got to take out the "computers" in the morning. Since there were so few kids, everyone got their own, and they were delighted about that! While the babies played on the computers, I organized and prepared a sub folder for Monday. I'll be out for Bestest Friend's mother's funeral. I essentially retyped 3 pages of sub plans, then copied worksheets, put together some extra coloring books (in case a time filler is needed) and left everything the sub will need in one place. Then, I typed out the newsletter and made the homework packets for next week. All the sub has to do is pass them out at the end of the day. Why do I have a sinking feeling that the packets will be right where I left them when I come in on Tuesday? I hope to God Ms. H. comes in to help the sub. I told her yesterday that I would be out on Monday. In the past, I had an assistant who took off almost every time I said I was going to be out! Or, if she came (which sometimes she did because then she'd be in charge for the day, as Big Cheese didn't always get a sub for my babies - yeesh, don't get me started....)she would then ALWAYS take the next day off. In some twisted way, she was getting even with me for being out. Bizarre, right? Anyway, I just hope Ms. H. doesn't decide to stay home, because she'll be a tremendous help to the sub.

I jotted down just a couple of funnies from this weeks DIBELing. They're not that hilarious, but they made me smile. The words in italics are the given words, the rest is the sentence they gave. The first three are all from the same little angel. He was cracking me up because he wanted to give the definition for each word instead of using the word in a sentence. But, he was so animated in his explanations, I couldn't help but crack up!

nobody-that means when people are invisible and you can't see 'em!
coach-that's a part of football, soccer, basketball.....oh, and baseball!
path-that means you when you follow a map!
coach-that means football, soccer-ball....

OK, time to finish the dishes. Stud has a friend over, and I need to take them to school in a bit for a basketball game. I'm so glad Stud's friends actually participate in social events at school, because he never would on his own. One of his best friends spent the entire ride home today begging him to come to the game. By the time we dropped him off, he had Stud convinced. Then, as we were driving home, he called to say he couldn't go himself! WTF? But, by then, Stud has already called another friend to see if he wanted to go, too, and now that's the friend who's here. I'm just glad he's hanging out with his friends. I kinda wish they'd decide to skip the game and just hang out here, just because I selfishly don't want to have to go back out tonight. Twice, since I'll have to pick them up. :( The temperature is supposed to take a serious nosedive tonight, with below-zero readings. And, that's withOUT the windchill factor. Yikes! That's a little chilly, even for ME!

Prayers requested...

My Bestest Friend lost her mom this morning. If you're a prayer, please say one for her and her family. Despite the fact that her mom has been ill for a while, her death was a shock, nonetheless.

We are having quite a snowstorm here today. I had 13 babies out today. Sounds great, right? Until you realize that I still had 18 babies in school!!!! It was so nice, though. All day, I couldn't help thinking, "THIS is what it should be like EVERYDAY!" There shouldn't be more than 20 kids in a kindergarten class. EVER! We had a delightful day. It's supposed to keep snowing all night, so I'll be curious to see how many come tomorrow.

Only one of the birthday boys came to school today. His mom came up with cupcakes and ice cream in the afternoon. YUM! It was exactly what we needed on day like today.

Wow, is it Wednesday already?

I kept thinking it was Tuesday all day today. Even when the announcement was made this morning to remind us that there was a staff meeting, my first thought was, "What? Today is only Tuesday, not Wednesday." Duh!!! Now that I'm home, I'm actually a little excited about only having two more days to go this week. Yay! You would think that today would have been a drag since Wednesday is one of the days I don't get a prep (=break) but it really wasn't that bad.

I've been a DIBELing fool for the past three days, though, so maybe that's why it's going by so quickly. There isn't a whole lot of "teaching" going on, ya know? Today, Between the Lions was on for a good chunk of the afternoon so I could get some testing done. I hate that I have to do that, but it's seriously the ONLY way I can get it done. Especially since I have no assistant. Years ago, I would be able to at least set up centers and then leave them with the assistant while I sat in the hallway to test my babies in peace and quiet. But, it's only me now, and it is imperative that they are quiet since the whole damn test is oral. If I can't hear what they're saying, what's the point? I'm hoping to finish all the babies by Friday. There really aren't any funny answers to share just yet. A lot of the "funny" ones are repeats of things I've posted in the past, which actually is pretty funny in and of itself.

I did have to call a mommy today. Not usually something I do, but I was at the end of my rope. I think I just had a very limited amount of patience since I'm on a deadline to get this testing done. The little girl whose mom I had to call is pretty new. She was one of the ones who arrived that last week before Christmas break. She was with us for two days, then we were off for three weeks. But, I'll tell ya, both of those two days she was there I gave her older brother messages for mom regarding her behavior. I told him he should talk to his sister while we were on break and explain to her about following rules, etc. Well, here we are, third day back, and things have only gotten worse.

According to the office, she transferred in from another school, which I find hard to believe. Her brother said she didn't go to school before, which I find VERY easy to believe. She has no concept of following rules or routines, she's very disruptive, walks around all day, can't stay on task, can't sit still, calls the other kids names, and today she added pinching to her repertoire! Oh, joy!

I'm hoping to get somewhere with Mom, but something tells me that's not gonna happen. The older brother is almost always out of his classroom because he's in trouble and basically gets thrown out. This is his second year at the Hell-Hole, and I believe he's in 8th grade now. I don't understand why his little sister wouldn't have started in August when he did. That really makes me believe she's just been sitting home and not attending a different school. Come on, why would mom send her kids to two different schools? Makes no sense.

The mother of these two is Latina (I don't know if the dad is black, or if they even have the same dad, but the sister is much darker-skinned that the brother) and the boy looks like a very fair Latino, which has been adding to his problems. Other than him and his sister, there is only one other Latino boy at the Hell-Hole. All of the other students are black. This caused a lot of problems for him last year, and he got into a fight almost daily. This year doesn't seem as bad, but he's still out of his classroom more than he should be. The funny thing is, I've gotten to know him because he's always out of his room. A few times I've volunteered to have him come sit in my room and help me, just so he wouldn't be sitting outside the office all day, doing nothing.

When the mom registered the little sister (with two damn days to go before break!) I was told that she HAD to be in MY class. I don't know if the brother had talked to the mom about me, and she requested me, or what. I really wish they had put her in that K/1 split class. OK, now I'm just being mean. Once all this crazy testing is finished, I'll be able to focus on what she needs and I'll have a bit more patience (I hope!) to work on straightening her out. In the meantime, I told both the mom and the brother that I'll be calling the house everyday, if need be.

Tomorrow, two of my babies are having birthdays. It always cracks me up when kids share a birthday, and I usually tease them about being twins. Hey, maybe we'll be enjoying cupcakes tomorrow! Yum! We're supposed to get some major snow tonight, so it might be a fairly small celebration. I've had 6 kids out everyday so far. Although, not the same 6! Again, that's great since I only have 24 seats!!!

Well, Stud Muffin is whining for me to feed him (who does he think I am, his mother!?) so I'd better sign off for the night. Plus, there are at least four loads of laundry calling my name. Unless I want to go commando tomorrow, I'd better go do it. (yes, I realize four loads doesn't really sound like a lot, but don't forget - there are only 2 people in this house. AND, one of the two hasn't even been home in almost 2 freakin' weeks. So, yeaaaahhhhh....time to do some laundry!)

Well, that wasn't so bad...

The first day back went as well as could be expected. In some regard, it was better than expected because I didn't get any new kids. I thought for sure I would. On the other hand, I didn't have any transfer out, either.

It was rather chilly here in Chitown this morning. When I got up, the weatherman was talking about sub-zero windchills. By the time I left for school, the temperature had climbed all the way up to the single digits. Woo-ha!! Talk about refreshing!!! I was hoping the cold would keep some of the kiddos home this morning (yes, I know I'm an ass, thanks!) but alas, that was not the case. I did get excited when I picked them up this morning because there were only 9 out of the 31 babies there. But, slowly they started trickling in, and by 9:20, there were 24 little darlings there. Thank goodness there were 7 out, because I only have 24 seats in my room!!

The babies were so quiet and subdued when they arrived, I just loved it. That's absolutely typical of the first day back after a break. We made it through the whole morning using our quietest voices. They were a little loud when I picked them up from lunch, but then they settled down pretty quickly for rest time. As expected, most of them fell asleep, and I listened to a symphony of their 'baby snores" while I ate my lunch. It was marvelous!

I was SO happy to see my little TN. I really, really missed him over break. I wanted to take him home with me, and I'd bet my big behind that if I had proposed that to his mom, she would have readily agreed. That's just so sad, isn't it? In my fantasy world, I would take him home and raise him as my own, but then reality bursts that little bubble, and I remember his psycho mother and the crap that is his life. OK, I'm trying to keep this post upbeat, so....moving on....

Time to go appease the loser in me by watching the premier of The Bachelor. I swore I was done with it after last season, but here I am, getting sucked back in again. Geez, there's already somebody crying!! It's the first freakin' night!!! This show is like a bad train wreck. You just can't look away. I'm thinking that the people on this show seem crazier each season because they keep picking the Bachelors and Bachelorettes from the cast-offs of previous seasons. The girls on this season all watched last season, and are under the delusion that they actually know this guy. OMG!! Jillian and Ed just walked in! WTF? Time to go get under my blankie and watch this nonsense in comfort. Night night!!

What the...

I just noticed that, for some reason, all my posts are now showing up in italics. WTF? I'm going to have to look into that. Maybe some weird setting was changed?

I almost did a quick post this morning, but I just didn't have time. I wanted to share with you all that when I was leaving my house, the current temperature was 1. Yeah...and the windchill factor was between -10 and -20, depending where in the Chicagoland area you were. When I signed on just now, at a little after 4:30 pm, my widget said 8. Mmmm, toasty!

The one nice thing about the bitter cold today was that 11, count 'em 11, of the babies stayed home today! Wooooo hooooo!!! I haven't gotten around to the bitching post I promised yet, but let me just tell you, I got THREE new kids yesterday!!! So having 11 out today still left me with 20.

OK, I don't have time to start ranting right now cuz Stud is in a show tonight, and I have to drive him to school in about 2 minutes. I'm hoping to get some video that I can share with you later. My shy, introverted little boy has blossomed into this creature who will be acting in an IMPROV skit (seriously!?) and singing not one, not two, but THREE songs, a cappella!!! I'm still floored. I hope I can get decent video to share.

The Good, The Bad and The Stuffy?

Things that pissed me off today:

1) New Principal decided that the spot I've been parking in for EIGHT YEARS is now HER new spot!

2) All but one of the little darlings showed up today. (Ok, I know this is mean, but I'm just keeping it real!)

3) I started to feel that tell-tale tickle/scratch in my throat last night, didn't sleep well at all because I kept waking up cuz I couldn't breathe, spent the day sneezing and blowing my nose!

4) Came home to find a message from one of Stud's teachers on my machine. Suffice it to say, he's in SERIOUS trouble. CSJ and I decided that, until further notice, there will be NO cell phone, IPod or computer.

Things that made me smile today:

1) My babies drew cute pictures of themselves today in their Halloween costumes.

2) Every time I take the babies anywhere (lunch, prep, etc.) most of them stop, as they walk by me, and give me a hug. There are LOTS of "Mrs. L., I love you!!"s thrown in there, too. (Why do they have to make it so damn hard to not fall in love with them!?)

3) My good friend, in the room next door, brought me some really cute Halloween pom-poms that I will use when we "cheer" out our reading words.

4) Today is my little niece's 13th birthday! WTF?! It was about a week ago that I watched her (literally!!) pop out of her mother!

5) She had her first Pon-Pom performance this afternoon. (I wasn't in a very good spot for videotaping, but it's still pretty cute!) [She's on the "white side" when the song starts, closest to the middle, second one back. She has a ponytail.]

6) We all (my sister, her girls, my daddy, Stud and I) went to dinner to celebrate the new teenager (yikes!)

7) Stud fell asleep in the car on the way home, and then went straight to bed when we got home. He hasn't gone to bed at 8 pm since he was about 6 years old! I guess when you don't have a phone, IPod or computer, there's nothing else to do, huh? Oh well, too bad, so sad!

Hmmm...whatta ya know? The good outweighed the bad. On that note, I'm gonna hit the sack. (Something else that makes me smile!) I just hope I'll be able to breathe!!

Now that wasn't so bad...

...for a Monday! Today was almost pleasant even! Again, I had 5 kids out, leaving me with 20 little darlings. My good buddy, TN, actually fell asleep at rest time, which gave me about 45 minutes of peace. It helped that the other PITA, AM, was out today. Last Friday, TN was out, so I only had to deal with AM. It was really nice of them to trade off like that, wasn't it?

It just occurred to me that I haven't really posted about TN, have I? I think last week was the first time I mentioned him. Because I keep such long and detailed anecdotal records about him, I think I mistakenly thought I had been sharing all these things with you guys. Obviously, I haven't, but I'll have to share the details another day. I just don't have the energy tonight. Let me just reiterate, he makes last year's Twin Boy look like an angel!!

The reason I'm drained tonight is because I had to make an unexpected trip downtown this afternoon after school. I had been told that I could fax an unofficial copy of my transcripts to my new school, then send them the official (sealed) copy later through the mail. Well, for the hell of it, I called the university this afternoon from school to check on how that worked, and to let them know I'd be faxing my transcripts from school. The lovely woman I spoke to informed me that, yes, I can fax first, then mail the others, however the official transcripts had to be there TODAY by midnight. WTF?!?! Thank GOD I called this afternoon, or I would have really screwed the whole thing up. (I would have had to wait 5 weeks for the next session to start, which wouldn't be so bad, except that Nov. 1 tuition goes up by $2,000, and I certainly couldn't let THAT happen!!)

My only option was to drive the official transcripts to their office downtown. Oh, joy. Getting there wasn't so bad. I was able to get downtown in about 15 minutes from school, but then I drove around for nearly half an hour just to find somewhere to park. If you're at all interested in the latest parking meter fiasco here in ChiTown, go here. I finally found a metered spot, put my $3.50 in the machine (for the first hour!!) and started hauling ass to the building, 3 blocks away. I was trying to hurry because I was hoping to beat the rush hour traffic. Yeah...not so much... I took me about an hour to get home.

The good news is that I was in and out of the office in less than 10 minutes. The bad news is I was supposed to bring a copy of my teaching certificate with me. Crap!! The woman I talked to never told me that! Luckily, the man I spoke to in the office told me I could email a copy to them. But, of course, it had to get there BEFORE MIDNIGHT! I was so irritated be the time I got home, I just wanted to lie down. Unfortunately, I had to get right online and send in the certificate, as well as the payment agreement. After a very frustrating half hour of not being able to figure out how the freak to send a copy of my damn certificate, Stud finally came and showed my how to take a screen shot of the certificate, and then attach it to an email. I just hope they get everything in time. The one nice thing about email is that you have an automatic "receipt" of sending things in your sent file.

OK, I've finished my bitching for the night. Dancing with the Stars is starting, so I need to go!

Is it over already?

For some reason, I had 6 babies out today. Can you see how broken up I am about that? I only had 20 kids for the day. It was AWESOME!!! We got so much done today, it was ridiculous. Actually, yesterday was another great day, as I only had 22 there. It's amazing how much teaching/learning can actually happen when I don't have to spend every minute asking someone to sit down/be quiet/stop touching your neighbor/stop singing/stop jumping....you get the idea.

One of the best things about today (oh, I'm going to burn in hell....) is that TN was out. I know I haven't really posted about him, but he has been my biggest challenge this year. I have an entire notebook filled with anecdotal records about him already, and it's only the 8th week of school. He makes last year's Twin Boy look like an absolute ANGEL! More about him later.

I think one of the reasons so many kids have been out this week is because we've been sending home medical exclusion letters since before the fall intersession. These are given to children who are out of medical compliance (e.i. Their shots/physicals aren't up to date) This Thursday, October 15, was supposed to be the deadline for getting this taken care of, and if they don't, the children can NOT come to school until it's done. Well, some of the parents must not have understood the letter, because I think they've been keeping their kids home since they received the letter.

Normally, the parents just ignore the letters, and send their kids anyway. At least they try to send them. New Principal insists that she's going to strictly enforce the exclusion policy. If that happens, I'll seriously only have less than 10 kids in my class next week! Out of the 34 children I originally had on my list, only 8 didn't get a letter!!! EIGHT!! What I want to know is, how in the HELL were these children allowed to register for kindergarten without showing proof of the required physical?! WTF!? New Principal asked me the same thing when I told her how many of mine received letters. She was NOT happy, and asked me what the hell was wrong with the office staff. I must admit, it made me giggle a little.

Next week is going to be a short week for the kids, as Friday is a staff development day. I hope it goes by as quickly as this week did!!

Terrific/Troubling Tuesday

Karen's comment from yesterday made me smile. I have a little easel I keep on my table right outside my door. One side is a chalkboard, one side is dry erase. Every morning, I write a little "morning message" to my babies. Yesterday it said:

Today will be a

Marvelous Monday!

I'm so glad you're here!

This morning, I wrote:

Today will be a

Terrific Tuesday!

Don't you agree?

It was after I wrote the message that I saw Karen's comment, and I thought it was pretty funny!

***

OK, so, school....

***

Apparently, my dear, sweet Bloggy Buddies, all your praying and positive thoughts have been working. You already know that I've been getting some extra help from Ms. M. every morning for the past 4 days now. And, of course, my darling Ms. H. is always there to help out. Well, this afternoon, as I was dropping my babies off for library, New Principal happened to stop by to talk to the librarian. When she saw me, she said, "I need to talk to you." Uh oh, now what? Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that I received one more student this morning. I thought maybe, just maybe, she'd say we were finally going to half-days. So, I said, "Well, do you have time right now?" "Oh, are you on your prep?" "Yes." "Ok, let's go to my office." As we walked to her office, she was stopped a couple of times, and at one point, she commented to someone, "I'm trying to talk to my kindergarten teacher. I need to ask her for a BIG favor." Hmmm....

***

I'll skip right to the punchline - she asked me if I'd be willing to move to preschool. OK, let that sink in for a minute....she asked me if I'd be WILLING to move to PRESCHOOL!!!!!!! Those of you that know me, as in real life, or even if you've been a long time reader, you know that this is the equivalent of winning the freakin' lottery!!!! I literally jumped up and shouted. Yes, like a big geek! First she just asked if I'd be willing to move. I kinda made a face, and asked, "to where?" When she said, "Pre-k," I seriously yelped. [ok, seriously, I started to say, "I'd give my left tit to have preschool!" but I, luckily, caught myself, and it came out "left arm". There's no reason for New Principal to know I have such a potty mouth just yet...;-)] There was a huge look of relief on her face. I know I haven't really been writing about this situation, but let me just say, she has NOT been happy with the way the preschool is run. Maybe I'll share/vent about the whole story on another post.

***

OK, now for the catch. I don't actually have my early childhood endorsement. My certificate is K-9. I immediately let her know that, as I didn't want her to be surprised later. She looked disappointed, but then I let her know that there may be a way for her to get a waiver. I am in the process of submitting my transcripts to the state for evaluation. They then let you know what classes, if any, you need to take to get the endorsement you're seeking. I'm hoping and praying that I won't need any, or at worst, just 2-3 classes. Usually, in a case like this, the state will accept a waiver signed by the principal, stating that the teacher in question is actively working toward the endorsement needed.

***

I told New Principal I would try to contact the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and see how I can expedite this process. She said she would like to try and get everything settled by the time we go on intersession, which is less than two weeks away.

***

Oo, she did say something that I didn't like, though, about a change in classes, AGAIN. When I asked if we would be able to go half-day (whether I move to pre-k or not) she said she was going to make a K/1 split. Huh?! We are severely overcrowded down in the primary classrooms right now. My friend next-door (the one who was supposed to do K with me) has a 1/2 split. She currently has 15 first graders and 15 second graders. Yup, that's 30 students total, in a primary classroom. TOO MANY! The other first grade is up to 35 students, which means there are 50 first graders all together. Um, I don't know about you, but that sounds like 2 classes to me. The other second grade has 27 students, which means there are 42 total. That could be 2 small classes.

***

All I know is, a K/1 split does NOT sound like a good idea to me. Even if she would guarantee that she would put the lowest 1st graders and highest Kdg. students together, I don't see this working very well. She has told my friend with the 1/2 split to teach the 2nd grade curriculum to all of her students (which is NOT working for the 1st graders!! They are missing out on an entire year of instruction, for Pete's sake!) So, I assume she would want whoever the teacher is of the K/1 split to teach the 1st grade curriculum to the class. How will that work?! And, what happens next year, when those Kdg. kids are in 1st grade? Do they just repeat an entire year? I am not comfortable with this at all. If it comes down to it, I may just have to tell her I'll just keep ALL my babies.

***

Jeez, I was in such high spirits when I started this post, but I hadn't really thought it all through until I started typing. Now, I'm a little frazzled. I'm going to just focus all my (positive!) energy on getting this preschool position, though, and I hope you'll do the same for me. Thanks! I can always count on my Bloggy Buddies!

***

Frickin' blogger is acting up again!!! Why the hell does that happen?! WHY does it keep eliminating my spacing?! Argh!

I'm no Julie McCoy....

Nothing really worth writing about today. The babies drove me freakin' nuts, as usual. All but 2 were there, so we were packed in like sardines.

I have a mom (the one I mentioned weeks ago, who kept her kid home because it was his birthday!!) who drives me freakin' craaazzzzyyy!!! Most mornings, she brings her precious little darling to school late, and then she insists on walking him all the way to the room, then she comes IN the room, hangs up his stuff for him, talking, loudly, the whole time ("Come on, Baby, give me your bookbag." "Ok, baby, have a great day!" etc.) despite the fact that class has ALREADY STARTED AND I'M TRYING TO TEACH!!!! You crazy bitch!

Then, she is always standing in the hall at the end of the day, waiting for her child, instead of being out on the playground, where she belongs!!! Today, as I'm trying to walk 30+ children out for dismissal, she starts asking me, "Are they going on the circus trip?" I gave her my best WTF look, and said, "What trip? I have no idea what you're talking about." She says, "The Univer-Soul Circus. The preschool is going." "That has nothing to do with us, this is kindergarten." In my head, that sentence finished with, "You goofy bitch!!" "Oh, really?" Yes, REALLY!!! Ugh!!! Of course, in the meantime, my other kids are all over the hall, instead of walking in two (LONG) lines.

After I dismissed my class, I was trying to get to the office to swipe out, so I could leave to pick up Stud, and she started in again! "Isn't there any way you could join the preschool?" "Absolutely not." "What if we got a lot of parents to come, like they do in preschool?" Ok, parents on field trips are the biggest problem with the field trips!!! (Keep in mind, I'm specifically referring to OUR parents, not parents in general!) "No, in preschool, the parents are required to go. We would never get enough parents to go. And, there's no way I'll be taking this many kids anywhere on my own." I wanted to throw in, "especially the way this group behaves!!" but I kept it to myself. "Well, will you be taking a lot of trips?"she whined. "No, probably not. That's the problem with having 38 kindergartners and no assistant. That's just the way it goes."

At this point, I wasn't even TRYING to be polite. She was seriously bugging my ass! I mean, seriously, WTF?! If you feel your child needs to go see the Univer-Soul Circus, then shit! Buy a damn ticket, and take him!!! I've got bigger fish to fry, like trying to teach your little cherub the damn letters of the alphabet, which you apparently were too busy to even introduce him to! How 'bout you teach him the ABC Song? Or a color? Or a number? A shape? ANYTHING!!!! I'm busy all day trying to teach the reading program, the math program, the science program, the social studies program, the NEW character education program, all while trying to get 30+ babies to sit in their seats, keep their hands and feet to themselves, and pay attention. Add the unbuttoning and buttoning of at least 20 pairs of pants at every bathroom break, unbuckling and rebuckling at least 10 belts, the tying of 100 shoe laces each day, saying 100 times a day "STOP DIGGING IN YOU NOSE AND GET A TISSUE!!" Yeah, you're right, I've got PLENTY of time to worry about taking your kid to the freakin' circus!!!!!!! UGH! Apparently, she pissed me off more than I realized... (Keep in mind that this kind of crap with this woman has been going on since school started 5 weeks ago. Today was certainly NOT the first time something like this has happened, but it obviously must have been the straw that broke the camel's back, huh?)

This is something that is really pissing me off regarding New Principal. She PROMISED us in the beginning of the year, that she was going to keep the parents out, both before and after school. Unless they have an appointment, they have absolutely NO business in the hallways, outside of our rooms. Almost every single day, I have some parent knocking on my door 10-15 minutes before school gets out because they want their child. This is exactly why we asked her to keep the parents OUT. At that time of the day, I'm trying to get every kid in and out of the coat closet, helping them pack up their bookbags, put on their jackets, etc. I don't have time to deal with people at the door. I don't even answer it anymore. How freakin' hard is it to go stand on the playground where you belong? Your child will be coming out, just like every other child. I don't get it.

OK, now that I've offended every one of my Bloggy Buddies who are parents, let me just remind you that I, too, am a parent. However, I have always followed whatever rules and procedures were in place at Stud's school. Despite my thinking that he was the single greatest child ever born, he was never treated any differently than any other child in his school, and I was expected to abide by the same rules as every other parent. I practically had to give blood just to enter the office. Parents were NEVER allowed beyond that point. We were NEVER allowed to go to the classroom. If we were picking our child up, the child was sent down to the office. We weren't allowed to just roam freely through the building, like parents are at the Hell-Hole. This is a serious safety issue, and it's being completely ignored. In that neighborhood, you can never be too careful about who the hell is walking in off the street.

Wow, so much for not having much to say. I could seriously go on and on, but it's past my bedtime, and I think I've offended enough people for one night. I hope tomorrow goes a little better. And God help this nutjob if she even TRIES to talk to me tomorrow!!!

I'm back...

...from an awesome weekend away in Michigan with my boys. I did manage to burn myself to a freakin' crisp at the beach, but other than that, we had a great time. The boys managed to talk me into staying one more night, so we didn't get home until yesterday afternoon. The boys then asked ever so nicely if I'd drop them off at the mall on the way home, and I happily obliged. Then I went home and unloaded the car. I could only let them stay about 2 hours, though, because I had already made plans to meet up with my dad and brother for dinner. Originally, I wanted them to come over for a barbecue, but in the windup, I was glad my dad suggested we go to a restaurant because I was completely exhausted.

On the way to dinner, I stopped at the car wash and the boys vacuumed all the sand out of my car (and there was a lot!) and then washed all the dead bugs off the exterior. They did a hell of a job! After dinner, we hung out at my dad's for a while, but after Stud Muffin's friend was picked up, we headed home because he had homework. My brother came over, and we did some work for the bar. It ended up being a late night, which made for a very difficult morning, let me tell you. Stud was almost 15 minutes late for school, and I was late for work. Way to start a week!!

School wasn't so bad today, to tell the truth. It surely helped that I had 6 babies absent. And, believe it or not, I did not get even ONE new student today. That is just shocking!! We thought for sure we'd get a big influx of new students after the holiday, but I don't think we got any. I'm not really complaining, I guess, but I was hoping for about 10 so we could open that second kindergarten. And, without the no-shows on my list, I'm down to 32 children who have actually been sitting in front of me every day. That's probably not enough for New Principal to agree to half-day. But, it's still FAR too many to have in a kindergarten class. I'm going to talk to her tomorrow and do a little begging. Imagine how awesome it would be to have two classes of 16 each! I would be able to get twice as much done! Send positive thoughts my way for that conversation, please. :)

I finally started our new reading program today. Hey, it's only the 5th week of school, don't rush me!! Truthfully, before this point, they weren't really ready for it. Plus, I didn't even get my stuff until last Wednesday!! I'm still missing a substantial portion of the program, but I have enough to start. The babies did a great job today, so let's hope this trend continues.

I met with some girls from work for dinner tonight after school, which was a great way to end the day. Now, I'm ready to put my jammies on, crawl into bed, and watch some mindless television. I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday weekend as I did!!

Yeah...um....

...so, guess who left her dome light on in her new car, and drained the battery, so the new car wouldn't start after school, when she was in a mad dash to get the hell out of Englewood, to pick up her son at school? What, no guesses? Yeah, I don't know anyone that dumb, either....

Today was actually an OK day. The morning started with an unexpected staff meeting for primary teachers(K-2) in MY ROOM! I walked in just as the 8:30 bell was about to ring (which made me feel late, even though 8:30 is technically our start time) and New Principal had hung a sign on the time clock about the meeting. So, I rushed down to my room to gather together the handful of "grown-up chairs" I have in there.

The meeting consisted of us walking around each other's rooms with a checklist, critiquing and commenting on what we did or didn't see. (for example, word walls, student work, classroom libraries, etc.) Each category had sub-categories (Classroom Library-Is there a check out system in place? Does it have a large number of books? Are there a large variety of genres? Is it comfortable and inviting? and so on) My room right now is a hot mess (as we would say in Englewood) because I've just been trying to get through one day at a time, with too many babies crammed into too small a room.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but for the past 8 years, my room has frequenctly received compliments and high praise for being so colorful, exciting and inviting to students. However, after the beginning of the year fiasco (cleaning issues, etc.) much of my stuff had been taken down, some thrown out (and NOT by me!!), and most never made it back up. I normally have everything that can possibly be labeled labeled. There are usually posters and so on all over the room.

My classroom library was actually organized, with every basket labeled according to genre. Unfortunately, when my stuff was moved out into the hallway for cleaning, my books were just randomly dumped then shoved back on the shelves, so it's just a disaster now. I was actually embarrassed to have my colleagues looking around.

Oh, and you'll love this one! I still don't have a word wall going. I covered my back board before school started, and put up a label that says "Word Wall," but never did anything else to it. I JUST yesterday put up the letters of the alphabet so that I can start putting up the words under each letter. That's ALL that is on there right now. Talk about doing a crappy job!! I was mortified. I thought for sure New Principal would have a lot to say about that. We were all given a checklist for each room we went to, and we were to fill it out and then leave it, face down, on each teacher's desk. I was dreading looking at the sheets on my desk.

New Principal must not be as upset with me as I thought, though, because just after school started, she came to my room with a woman and said, "This is Mrs. C., and she'll be here to help you all day, in any way you need." I almost kissed her right then and there!! Turns out, the woman was called by sub center to sub in our preschool today. However, when she went down there, no one was there. Turns out that, for some reason, there is two days of in-service scheduled for preschool, so classes were cancelled for today and tomorrow.

So, she was mine all day! It was awesome having an extra teacher in the room. Trust me, I SO appreciate having Ms. H. for the couple of hours a day that she's with me. But, having someone who actually knows how to deal with the babies was a blessing. The poor thing spent most of her day basically serving as a personal aide for one of my boys who really ought to be in a self-contained SpEd room. (Too bad we don't have those anymore at the Hell-Hole!) It was so great to not have to continually stop teaching to deal with his disturbances. Ms. H. does what she can, but she's had no formal training, obviously, to deal with these things. (She did, however, take him out of the room for me yesterday, which was nice, too.)

We had our first fire drill today, which was a bit of an inconvenience. Naturally, it happened during my prep. Now, at a normal school, the prep teacher would take the class outside and deal with things, right? Well, not here. We were told, by the parent volunteer who was walking around giving teachers the heads-up, that we needed to go up and get our kids for the fire drill. WTF? I was on my way up to the freakin' 4th floor when Mrs. H. passed me and said she was on her way to get the babies. God bless her heart! I told her I was going to duck into the bathroom real quick (cuz I'd been holding it for about 2 hours!) and I'd meet her up there. Of course, the alarm sounded as I was half-way there. I was AWESOME having another adult, in this case 2 adults, to keep the kids in line and quiet. What we're supposed to do is walk at the front of the line and guide the babies to our safe area. But, anyone who's ever walked little ones anywhere knows that you need to lead, bring up the rear, and occasionally attend to the middle, all at the same time! Now that I think about it, there were actually 4 adults because the gym teacher was with us, as well.

Luckily, the drill only lasted about 5 minutes, which meant there was still 20 minutes of gym left. I think the gym teacher thought I was going to take them back to the room, but he was sadly mistaken!! The rest of the day went pretty quickly. After gym, it was snack time. I took a small group of 6 back to the carpet with me to work on drawing and labeling a goldfish (our current science unit) while the rest ate their cookies and watched Chicka Chicka, Boom Boom. (Yes, AGAIN! They adore it, what can I say? And, I can seriously tell that it's having an impact on their letter recognition.) Before I knew it, it was time to go!

Now, you KNOW this day went to smoothly too be a day at the Hell-Hole, right? So go back up to top and remind yourself how the school day ended...go 'head, I'll wait....yeah, that's right. I'm a dork!! But, seriously, I didn't even sweat it. It took all of 5 minutes to jump it with the car parked next to me, and I was on my merry way. Right now, as I type this, there's a cool breeze blowing in my kitchen windows, and I can smell the chocolate chip cookies baking at the Nabisco factory. It smells like heaven!! I'm about to go down in the basement and do about 5 loads of laundry so I can pack for this weekend. I want to pack tonight just in case I decide to leave straight from school tomorrow.

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. See you when I get back. :)

Wow, I just realized that I started this post over two hours ago, but half-way through my sister called me from Italy, and we talked for nearly two hours. I think my Sissy is lonely. :(

OK, the honeymoon's over...

Today, it was back to business as usual. All but 2 of the babies came to school today, so it was a crowded house. The babies were ok for most of the morning, but apparently lunch was a disaster. When I met Ms. H. in the hall after lunch, she was quite frazzled, and told me how awful they were during lunch. As a matter of fact, later in the day, I realized I didn't have my snacks for snack time. I thought maybe Ms. H. had forgotten them in the lunch room, or set them down somewhere and forgot them. Well, I came to find out that she purposely left them in the lunchroom because they were so bad, she didn't feel they deserved the treats. Good for you, Ms. H. (Unfortunately, our snack every day since school started has been cookies. Not very nutritious, huh? I think we're going to have to start saving their fruit instead, so I can at least feel they're getting a healthy snack in the afternoon. The cookies can go home with them.) I hope now the babies will realize that Ms. H. is to be respected in the same way that I, and every other adult, should be.

I'm a bit confused about what will be happening tomorrow. You may remember that I was recently out for two days for some professional development for our new reading series. Well, there is a third day of PD, which is to be conducted at our school. The day that was scheduled for that is tomorrow. I had forgotten all about it until the clerk asked me this morning if I needed a sub for tomorrow. Now, our reading coach never mentioned anything to me about this PD happening tomorrow, so I don't know if it's going to happen. As far as I know, there will be two subs coming tomorrow, but I don't know if we'll actually need them. Plus, on top of that, I didn't prepare anything for the sub, if I do have one. Normally, I'd be able to get things ready in the morning, but Wednesday is our staff meeting morning, so I won't even be able to do that. I think I may go in early tomorrow, since I don't have to drive Stud to school, and get things ready. Even if I don't need it for tomorrow, I'll have a sub folder ready for an emergency.

One more little tidbit about the new schedule, which is still a work in progress. Today, Ms. H. was asked by New Principal to take a sheet around to certain teachers (they were marked on the sheet) to have them sign up for a slot in the computer lab. Up until the new schedule came out yesterday, computer lab was one of our preps. We didn't technically have a teacher in there, but there was an assistant who "ran" the lab. Now, that assistant has been pulled to work with SpEd students, so computers in no longer a prep. If we choose to take our class to the lab, we will need to stay with them.

Ms. H. and I gave a lot of thought to which slot we were going to take, and we decided we would take the last period on Friday. We will be going straight to computers from gym class. That's the perfect way to end the week. From 1:20-2:40, I will essentially be doing nothing with the babies. Hopefully that means I will be able to work on lesson plans, thus freeing up my weekend (you know, to work at the bar!!). Actually, we probably will go back to our room at 2:30 so we can get ready to go home, but still, it'll be nice. Last year's babies used to love going on PBS Kids and another awesome website called Starfall. So, that's what we'll be doing on Fridays!

Wait, are you sure it's Monday?

I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but today wasn't so bad! I don't know if the babies were sleepy because it's Monday, but they were pretty calm today. At least for the greater part of the day. Oh, and I had 5 absent, and one went home right after lunch because he didn't feel well. That made a WORLD of difference!!

When I walked in this morning, I checked my mailbox like I do every morning, and low and behold, yet ANOTHER revised prep schedule!! So, naturally I grab it and say, "What the hell?! It changed AGAIN!?" I then hear New Principal's voice behind me say, "Yes, and it will probably change a few more time til we get it right." I almost peed my pants. But, luckily, she didn't seem offended by my rude comment. As a matter of fact, I was looking at the schedule while standing over near her at the counter and was talking aloud to myself, wondering if any of my preps were changed. She quickly leaned forward and said, with a smile, "Well, yes, you now have 5 preps." I said, "Oh, we're back to 5 preps!" to which she replied, "Oh, no. YOU have 5 preps. You're the only one. But, you're also the only one with 37 kindergartners. So, if anyone has a problem with that, tell them to come see ME." HOLY CRAP!!!! I said, "Well I'M not going to say anything to anyone!" Woo-freakin'-hoo! Way to go, New Principal!

I hit the trifecta today. After I got home from school, I decided I would try accessing the code for my radio online again. Again, I got the error message. I figured, what the hell, I'll try the 1-800 number. I got this awesome guy named Michael on the line, who talked me through how to find my serial number. He was then able to give me the code, and after just a very few minutes, BOOM! I had a radio!! Yay!!!!! I immediately went in the house and grabbed a stack of my favorite CDs. :)

After Stud went with his dad, I hit Wal-Mart, my home away from home, and while I was shopping, my sister called from Italy (Did I mention that she left last Friday to visit my mom for a couple weeks?) and we talked for almost an hour. I ended up losing almost 3 hours at Wal-Mart (not the first time, won't be the last...). I decided to drive past my dad's on the way home, and I was surprised to see my favorite uncle's car in his driveway. Naturally, I had to stop in and say hi. He stopped there on his way home from Michigan. He'll be going back, though, on Thursday, so he'll be there with us over the weekend. Now, I'm even more excited about going. The fact that I'll be driving my new ride is the cherry on the top!! (Oh, and I came home with a bag of yummy peaches that my uncle brought home from peach picking in Michigan. I'll be enjoying those for breakfast the rest of the week!)

Last little thing, since I'm on a roll here with the great things about today. The weather here has been in the 60 for about a week now. Tonight, it's in the 50s. I'm happier than a pig in shit, that's for sure!!! I wish it were like this ALL YEAR!!! It's supposed to hit almost 80 by the weekend, but we won't even be here. I'm going to have to see what the weather is going to be in Saugatuck. I'm afraid that the boys won't be able to hit the beach. :( Although, they're so crazy, they probably wouldn't care if was only in the 70s. I hope the boys have a good time this weekend. I just hope I have a restful weekend. :)

Holy Hump Day!

OK, let me get all the personal bitching out of my system, and then I'll move on to school. Like I said Monday, my car is in the shop. My dad managed to jump my mom's car and get it started for me Monday night. But, as I was backing out of the driveway, I noticed the brakes were a little wonky. It only got worse as I drove down the block. I needed to start braking about a half a block before I actually wanted to stop! But, it was late, and I needed to get to school the next day, so I just went home. The next morning, I was super cautious as I drove to work. (Luckily, CSJ drove Stud to school.) I got there in one piece, obviously, but the drive home was a different story. I nearly got into two separate accidents. I seriously almost pissed my pants! I came within literally six inches of crashing into some assbag that pulled out in front of me. Naturally, he was on the phone, so I didn't hesitate to screech "Get the fuck off the phone, asshole!!" in his open window!!

Anyway, I went home, and stayed there last night. Then, this morning I got in the car to leave for work (CSJ drove Stud again) and the car started beeping at me like crazy. There were two separate lights flashing "low brake fluid." I didn't know what the hell to do. On top of the blaring alarm, it was pouring rain this morning. I had no freakin' idea how to work the windshield wipers in this car, and no matter what the hell I did, the damn washer fluid kept spraying on the already soaking wet window! I thought I was going to cry. I called my dad from the car to see if he could drive me to school, because there was no way I was driving into the ghetto in that car. Luckily, he was almost ready for work, so I drove to his house. The funny thing is, the brakes actually worked better this morning than they did last night. I parked the car, waited for my dad to finish getting dressed, and off we were.

My parents have been telling (or is that yelling at?) me for YEARS to get the hell out of Englewood. Every time a murder, or some other crime, in Englewood is reported on the news (which is fairly often) they go off. Well, I knew this ride was NOT going to be pleasant. About half-way there, my dad started. "What the hell happened to this neighborhood?" "Why the hell do you have to come here everyday?" "Why don't you get a new job at a new school?" And, that was when we were in a fairly decent neighborhood still. He was amazed at how it's changed from when we lived in "the old neighborhood," and he used to drive through the same area. It only got worse from there. When we actually turned into the neighborhood where the Hell-Hole is, I though he was going to blow a gasket. When we approached the block the school actually on, the shit really hit the fan. Naturally the buildings directly behind and next to the school are all boarded up, the property is not taken care of, etc. I mean, come on, it IS the ghetto after all. I don't even notice it anymore. He, however, was losing it. I seriously didn't think he was going to let me out of the car. My daddy is so cute. I'm sure I'm never going to hear the end of this now.

Well, like I said yesterday, today we had open house. It was supposed to go from 3-5. I forgot to mention that before I called my dad this morning, I tried calling CSJ, hoping he was still near Stud's school, and maybe he'd be able to drive me to work. But, I couldn't get through on his phone. He ended up calling me back while I was driving to my dad's. I told him what was going on, and he asked how I was getting home. I told him that I could probably get a ride, "unless you want to come to Englewood at 5:00 and get me." I was joking, but he said, "Well, let me see where I am at 5." Hmmm, ok....Again, weirdly nice, right? I wasn't going to bother him, but by the time open house rolled around, I was so freakin' exhausted from herding cats all day, that I figured, what the hell! If he can come, great. If not, I'll go home with my girlfriend. I figured I could weasel my way out of staying for the whole open house if he came because then I could tell New Principal that I had to go because he was my only ride. (She already knew about what happened in the morning, because I immediately called school to let them know what happened and that I would probably be late, etc. She actually came to me later to say "I see you made it. Glad you're here!" And, no, she WASN'T being sarcastic. How refreshing!)

Anyway, I sent CSJ a text around 3:30 saying, "Any chance you'd be able to pick me up?" He got back to me about a half-hour later, saying simply, "When?" I replied, "Any time that works for you. I'll leave whenever you get here." "OK, I'm leaving Ma's right now." Well, hell's bells, he wasn't even working! He was with Stud over at his mom's. Now, I actually felt bad. He certainly wasn't close, plus he never gets time to visit with his mom. Especially WITH Stud! But, at that point, I just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge.

I found New Principal and told her that I may have to leave a little early because I had a ride coming. She couldn't have been nicer. In the windup, CSJ got to school about 4:45, so I didn't even feel bad about leaving. I went to find New Principal to let her know I was leaving, and I apologized for having to leave early. She told me not to give it another thought, and then thanked me profusely for staying as long as I did. I'm sure part of that is because we stayed today on our own time. There's no money budgeted to pay us for any after school time. Earlier, when I first told her I was going to have to leave when me ride got there, she and I talked about a couple other things, and then she suddenly looked at me and said, "How are you doing? Are you feeling alright?" I was a bit confused, but said, "Yeah, I'm ok, just a bit stressed by the sheer number of babies I'm dealing with." While I was talking, she just kept looking at me, then she said, "Are you sure you're ok, you look wiped out, and your eyes are red." I wonder if she thought I had been crying or something. Truthfully, it's just my contacts irritating me. But, it was kind of touching that she even noticed. I guess that's a woman thing, huh? Jeez, I hope it wasn't because she thought I was on drugs or something! haha!

I assured her it was just the stress, but that I was plugging along. She then asked about how DIBELS was going, and I just happened to have in my hand a copy of my results. I was actually on my way to the office to put it in her mailbox. I'M FINISHED!!!! (All except one little boy who has been out for almost a week.) She was thoroughly impressed. I did admit to having to put on Sesame Street for part of the time I tested, expecting to get a look at the very least. Instead, she said, "You show them that Sesame Street, Girl! These babies need it!" I was floored!!! Hell, that was probably NOT the thing to tell me right now. I'm afraid we're going to end up having Sesame Street time every day until this class size problem is fixed. Still no word from central office, BTW.

CSJ surprised me by showing up with Stud. That was a nice surprise since I didn't think I'd be seeing my baby tonight. I suppose I may have to stop using "CSJ" if he keeps being so nice to me. Things that make you go hmmmm...... Things have been very pleasant between us lately. It's nice not always screaming and fighting with each other. On that note, it's time to change the subject, lest I jinx myself.... ;-)

All in all, open house was a giant waste of my time. I had all of TWO parents come to my room!! I was able to take care of a few housekeeping chores, so at least that's something. I also did a major clean-up this morning to prepare for open house, and that felt great. I finally got all the old reading materials out of my room, and the new materials put away. I cleaned out the coat closet, and cleared off two table. Woo hoo!! The reading coach came in and was impressed. I also got both my carpets back down on the floor, which was quite a task. The big carpet in the front was on the floor in the back when I got to school, so I had to roll it up and drag it to the other side of the room. That wouldn't have been so bad if the room wasn't already filled with nearly 30-something little baby bodies! When I put my other carpet down in the back of the room, I ended up changing its position to make it a better set up for doing calendar and the other things we do back there. It worked out great this afternoon. Luckily, 4 kids were absent today, so I was able to move the table that was sitting in that spot, and I shoved it in a corner for the day.

Let me tell you, having those 4 out made a big difference. Oo, another bad parent story to share! I've had a sweet little girl sitting in my room since the very first day of school. However, her name was never on my list in the computer. Every day I attached a note to my attendance sheet to tell them she needed to be put in the system (along with about 4 other kids.) Well, I come to find out Monday afternoon from Mrs. J. in the office what the deal was. Get this!! She attended pre-k at the Hell-Hole, but then Mom transferred her out to another school for this year. Mrs. J. found her name in the system with the new school's name. So she called Mom, who claimed she never transferred her. Huh? Well, then who the hell did? Mrs. J. told her that if she wanted to continue sending her here, she needed to transfer her back. Mom kept saying it wasn't her that transferred, etc., but then says, "Well, I can't get the paper work until they open the office next week." Hmmm, how do you know when that school opens if you didn't transfer your kid there?! Can you believe how slick she was?! Gee, let me get a whole MONTH of FREE BABYSITTING over at the Hell-Hole, then I'll take my kid out when her real school starts. WTF?! I was fit to be tied!!! So, at least that's one less baby in my room. And, I was actually a little bummed because this little girl was very sweet, smart and well-behaved. Poor thing. I hope her mother's sneaky ways don't rub off on her!

Holy crap, I think this is my longest post ever! And, I didn't even tell you everything I wanted to tell you. If you're still here, thanks for hanging in there! I'll save the rest for tomorrow. You're welcome!