Posts Tagged “backpack”

No H1N1 this time!

It’s been a long strange school year. Earlier in the fall my district had about with the respiratory type of flu, and we did see some H1N1. There were times when over 20% of the student population was absent. In fact there were classrooms with as few as 6 students in them for days at a time.

Well, this week the “pukin’ flu” (as one student put it) hit my building, with a vengeance. It started with just a few, but just a couple of days in there were students lined up in the office sharing garbage cans as they waited for their parents. In every classroom the upchuck has hit the floor/desks/rugs, causing all teachers to have the “if you are going to be sick, just GO! - You don’t have to ask permission” speech. Students are being made aware of the location of every garbage can, and every bathroom. Again, hand washing is being stressed and the use of hand sanitizer is on the rise. However, I have come to the conclusion this is to no avail – those “pukin’ flu” germs are going to infect us all, they are on a mission.

This is why I feel that way. On Wednesday a guest teacher in a first grade classroom was trying to get students ready to go home about 2:45, so they would all be ready to board their buses at 2:55. During this time it’s really just managed chaos as snow pants, hats, mittens, scarves, boots, and coats get layered on and backpacks get loaded. In the midst of all of this, one little girl tells the teacher she doesn’t feel very good, then she immediately punctuates her sentence by vomiting all over her shoes and the floor. The rest of the children immediately start reacting with “EEEEEWWWW!”, “That’s GROSS”, “Why’d ya do THAT?”. The guest teacher holds her composure, and calmly stops a teacher in the hall to take the ill child to the office, and send a janitor back to the room. As the regular teacher is taking the ill child from the room, another student (yep, in the same room) vomits all over the floor and another student’s backpack. At this point, in desperation, the guest teacher asks the remaining students if anyone else is feeling ill. The second ill student is shipped off with another teacher as the janitor makes his way into the room to try to clean up the damage. (There is not enough money to get me to do that job.) While this clean up is going on, the guest teacher manages to get the rest of the students in line and starts down the hallway to the buses. On the way this class has to dodge 2 more “puddles” of vomit, deposited by students headed home. I don’t know if this guest teacher will ever return, perhaps in the spring after the “pukin’ flu” is gone!

Seriously, some days, I feel like I work in an ongoing Monty Python movie…….. “There’s always room for a thin mint.”

Testing 1-2-3…….

Yep, with the beginning of a new school year comes testing. Scores are required to report to the State; scores are needed to place students in reading groups, math groups and on and on. It’s a flurry of testing – whoops “assessment”! (Oh, the thousands of trees who have sacrificed their lives in the name of assessment!) I am all for assessment, ongoing, authentic assessment that guides instruction in a meaningful way. But assessment for a “number” on a report…..that’s busy work. Regardless of my personal feelings, the assessments are done. They do however provide some chuckles along the way.

A fellow reading teacher was listening to a 2nd grader, “Denise”, read the list of Dolch Words. Denise was one of my Title I students the year before. She excitedly told me that she “hadn’t really learned anything over the summer, didn’t even read a book” when she greeted me on Unpack Your Backpack night. SUPER! Well, Mrs. S. might have guessed that without actually knowing from the lack of success she was having with the list. As the list went on (220 words) Denise started saying, “Um, you can just put a check by that one, I knew it last year, I just don’t remember it right now.” But at least she was being fair! She also said to a few, “I’ve never seen that one before in my life….better not check that one!” I believe I will be seeing Denise in the Title I room this year too.

I was administering the BRI to a new 4th grade student. I explained the test and told him after he read it he would be retelling me the story and answering some questions. He responded to this by saying, “So, can I read slower so I can remember stuff better?” YEP! That’s actually NOT considered cheating on this test. I assured him that would be an excellent strategy to employ.

And finally in 3rd grade, again on the BRI test, I am asking the questions that go with the oral reading segment. (It is about a bear that comes to a cabin looking for honey and wakes up the person who is sleeping. ) The question is, “What would you do to keep the bear away?” The student answers, “I wouldn’t keep him away….I would want to keep him. I would make a trail of honey and put a card with my name on it so he would know who it was from. I am a good animal person like that. We would be friends, and I would pet it.” All I could think was “I am staring at the next Grizzly Man, Timothy Treadwell.”

Can’t we start Guided Reading already????!!

A Week’s Worth of Wisdom

Kids have been back to school for a week. Here are a few quotes heard first hand, or through the grapevine…..

First day of school, I am leading a Kindergartener to her class line….she is wearing a backpack, almost as big as she is, her face fresh and shining, pigtails and the most darling sundress – the perfect first day of Kindergarten picture…..I asked her if she was excited to be at school…….her answer, given with a big bright smile….. “Every time I walk, my backpack pats my butt!” This is why I don’t work with Kindergarten….there is NO safe question…..and whether or not the reply matches the question….is optional.

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Testing a second grader, I recognize the last name so I asked if she had a sister named Chelsea (one of a set of triplets). “Yes!” she grins.
“I was her reading teacher last year. She is a very nice girl”.
She smiles and says, “Yep, she’s nice.” Then she turns very serious and adds, “But you have to watch that Rachel, she’s pissy!” Be forewarned, if you are an older sibling…those younger ones are going to rat you out.

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Today, I took over that same second grade class so the classroom teacher could assess her students individually. I spent the morning teaching grammar, shared reading and spelling. This class has 5 integrated special education students. “Julian” sits right in front, adorable blonde boy, with ornery eyes. I kind of picked on him, to start with – as he kept putting his head down. “Don’t give up on me, Julian. I promise it gets better.” He and the other special education students left the room for 45 minutes of reading support. During that time, the rest of the class had difficulty following directions and owed me a minute at recess. Julian’s group wasn’t included, since they weren’t in the room. He beamed as they took off out the door. After recess, we read the shared reading story together and discussed it. When I didn’t get a volunteer to answer a question, I picked on Julian and he and I worked out a good answer. As I wrapped up my morning and sent them to lunch. Julian stopped and said, “Mrs. R. It’s been real nice working with you this morning!” I told him that good students like him, made my job easier. He replied, “Well, I am happy to help you anytime, just look me up!”, and hopped on out the door to lunch. I think I will do just that. I love a kid with a sense of humor.

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And finally, from Fifth Grade, who are almost as bad as Kindergarten for no filter answers. Less than two hours into the first day, Mr. K is talking to his students about homework. He tells the students he accepts NO excuses for late homework. A student asks him what the rule is if they are sick or gone. Mr. K says, “If you are sick, in the hospital, someone dies, or something along those lines, I will work with you. I’m not completely heartless.” Jordan immediately raises his hand. Mr. K. calls on him and hears – “My sister has herpes. Does that count?” Yep, less than two hours into the year and he is already explaining herpes……it’s going to be a good year. Oh, and by the way, in Mr. K’s class….a sister with herpes doesn’t count.