Daaaaaaaaang, Tuesday!

So yesterday was pretty much the day from hell. Ugh. I'm SO glad the internet was down yesterday, because my entry would've been little more than a pity/bitch fest. Yuck!!!

Today was MUCH better. Infinitely better, even. The kids were calmer (though they were still, of course, loud and somewhat annoying), and we got a lot of cool work done. The only downside: they're now -12 earned free time minutes, meaning they'll owe me that time Friday with heads down if they don't clean up their act. Ew.

Anyway, the literature circle thing today was AWESOME!! We're reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (even though I had to buy 6 more copies of it so we'd have a class set). I'm going to be reading the whole story aloud to them, and I started yesterday. Two pages into the book when I started yesterday, one kid said, "Dang, this book is boring!!" I wanted to smack him. They're so quick to be negative and judgemental. Bleh. Today, Chapter 2, was MUCH better. There was a captivated silence as I read- so much so that you could have heard a pin drop. I looove moments like that, when the whole class is with me. When I finished the chapter, I asked, "Who here is even a little bit interested in the story?" Every hand shot up, and a few kids yelled out, "A LOT interested!!" It was cool.

Equally awesome was the ensuing discussion. Before we started reading today, I prepped them on their first literature circle role: "Discussion Director." This role means taking some excerpts from the book and analyzing and/or asking questions. I told them that we're trying to move away from literal ("who," "where," etc. type of questions) and onto inferential/critical ("what would happen if..." or "was there ever a time in your life when..."). The discussion kicked ass. I had questions like, "Would the plane still have run out of gas if the pilot were alive, and if so, would the pilot have known what to do?" and, "Why does Brian keep repeating words like divorce or The Secret?" Beautiful!!

After that, I was to lead the beginning band's flute sectional. There were 4 girls with whom I worked, and we had a pretty good time. Turns out they know almost nothing about music. I helped them on fingering, note recognition, tone, and we even sort of did a B-flat concert scale. All in 30 minutes, thankyouverymuch. I even played 2 songs for them. At the end, one girl was like, "I want to be just like you! Famous and all." I laughed saying, "I'm not famous, my dear." The other girls chimed in, "Yes, you are!" Adorable.

The end of the day was pretty good... when we went out to recess, I had "the usual suspects" sitting out on a bench. Instead of having them sit there and do nothing, we brainstormed what would work better than their present course of action. They actually had a suggestion: make a stoplight-esque poster with each student's name on it (on something movable, like clothespins). Every day, each student starts at "green," and can move through the colors (from negative behavior) as the day progresses. Super- at least we're trying.

After school, amidst mountains of paperwork, I was invited to dinner with 2 of the other newbies. We went, then came back for the PTO (parent-teacher organization) meeting at 6. (And hence, I'm still here at 9pm.) It was a good meeting. The highlights:
-I got nominated as Secretary of the PTO, and I'll be running unopposed at the next meeting.
-I was able to share the playground project with the parents, who were also enthusiastic about the idea! (To date, we have nearly $2,000 in donations... in less than a week!!) I think this thing'll be HUGE!! :)

Also, I got an e-mail from a local community college saying that my application has been reviewed, and I am eligible to teach numerous classes. (I'd applied a few weeks ago to teach online courses to earn extra $$.) I may be making BANK in a few months... we'll see. :)

Anyway, these days are somewhat bipolar, but that means that it's not all bad! I just spent the past hour doing sub plans for tomorrow... If I were a sub, I'd want my plans. They're *that* good. Anyway, I'll be in Phoenix tomorrow for a conference... yay! A paid day off!

For now, I wrap up in the classroom, then go home (finally)! Peace out.