Ay, que dia...

So today (as I had predicted) was somewhat of a disaster. First thing in the morning, the class split up for their computer/library time. They were barely all in the door when I had to usher them back out! During library/computer, I had a TON of things to do. I miraculously got them done, then had to pick up both halves of the class 30 minutes later for school pictures.

Um, for those of you who haven't witnessed the sheer joy of taking a class picture with 27 LOUD children, let me tell you how it went for me (and all the other new teachers)... We had to line the kids up by height, tallest to shortest. Height suddenly became a measure of the mettle one had. When I would move the kids around, the taller person would always cheer or say, "All right!" or something, as if height is a personality trait. Go figure. This grueling lining up process took waaaay longer than it should've: 10 minutes!! Ridiculous! Then I had to refocus them and get them quiet so we could go in the gym. During this time, they lost SEVEN earned free time minutes. Seven! That's a record for us.

Once we were in the gym, this artsy young photography dude attempted to get my class into 4 rows on the bleachers. Ha! He thought it'd be easy. Within seconds, he was yelling at them. Welcome to my world, dude. (The reason I'm using "dude" right now is because the guy himself called all my boys "dude" when addressing them. How professional.)

Anyway, we finally got the picture itself taken. Then came individual pictures, where the kids waited in line and I filled out the names of the kids in the picture in order. Nightmare! You'd think it'd be simple to do this, but no. "Ms. Anderson, Johnny*'s been punching Chase* and Steve* called me short!!" or "Ms. Anderson, the boys are kicking each other!" or "Ms. Anderson, Chase* and Brian* are calling each other names!" ... for the next 15 minutes, mostly at the same time. Ahhhh!!! I eventually had the misbehaviors standing by me and those who had their pictures taken already were to wait on the bleachers.

(*Names were changed to protect the "innocent.")

Ew... just thinking about it makes me get all tense and angry again. I swore I wouldn't become one of those angry women I loathe so much, but my first 4 weeks on the job have probably caused me to age about 4 years. Long, dreadful story short, we got back to class, and the whole class put their heads down for 20 minutes. My assistant (ever so helpful!) came in and co-lectured me with the class for 2 minutes. Fun.

After their time was served, we began math QUIETLY . My assistant proved most helpful when she asked helpful questions and purposefully wrote problems incorrectly on the board. The kids were actively engaged, and it was beautiful! I've already learned so much from her; I hope she sticks around in my class for a while.

Anyway, then reading (how hard is it to follow along when someone reads?!), then lunch. We actually got there on time today, and it only took us THREE times of lining up. Small steps, y'all, small steps.

After lunch, I read to them (The Twits by Roald Dahl), then half the class left for beginning band. Ah, yes... the logistical nightmare that is... band. See, 4th and 5th graders who have never played an instrument before can be in beginning band. I have 14 such students in my class. 5th graders who have played instruments before can be in intermediate band. I have about 9 of these. The bands meet EVERY DAY for 45 minutes each (with the exception of intermediate on Wednesdays). This wouldn't be bad if I had one grade. However, since I have 14 students in one band and 9 in the other, there is an hour and a half period each day where I barely have half my class. Awesome. So I alternate study halls and science for each band group, but bleh. Band EVERY day? Don't get me wrong; band is wonderful, and I was in it from 4th grade through grad school, but every day is a bit excessive in elementary school. I no longer have time to teach whole-group science or social studies.

The end of the day: a short recess (since they wasted time earlier), then it was time to pack up and go home. Yay! Today, the last ones to leave were 3 of my best girls, so it was a nice send-off.

For a stressful day, I feel OK right now. It's strange. Maybe I'm getting used to it. :P For now, I will go home. Before dark!