The countdown is on!

Apparently we have only 20-some days of school left this year. I'm resisting the countdown, partly because 20-some days is still 20-some days, and I know it will be a struggle to the very end. The other reason I'm resisting is because I'm not quite ready to say good-bye to the little people that I've spent the last 9 months with.

I don't know if it's the spring weather or the end of the year in sight, but the students have been wilder than ever! These are just some of the problems that have arisen over the last two weeks:

• a student putting water in his pencil sharpener during class (only he and the Lord know why)
• 2 boys pointing scissors at each other; another boy pretending to cut another student's hair (You can imagine the lecture I gave about how they should know how to properly use scissors by now!)
• One student kept taking his shoes off whenever he felt like it, no matter how many times I told him he couldn't!
• For the life of me, I absolutely cannot get this one boy to follow along in his reading book when we're reading as a class. Lately whenever it's his turn to read and he doesn't know where we are, he says, "Who, what, when, where...?" It exasperates me, and I think I've just about given up. 
• In the last two weeks, I've had to confiscate several pencil sharpener blades from several different students. (What third grader plays with pencil sharpener blades??) One student got cut by one, but assured me it didn't hurt. 
• At Hot Lunch on Wednesday, one of the boys was out of his chair and running. I stared him down until he sat quietly. One of the moms witnessed this and said, "Wow, you've got the look down pat!" I said, "Yes, I've had a lot of practice this year!"

And then there are the things that come up that just make me laugh. 

• At the beginning of Math class one day, a boy raised his hand. I called on him, and he said, "One plus one equals one." "What do you mean?" I asked. "The Bible says that. When a man and a woman get married." "Um, yes, something like that," I said with a smile. We did not continue that conversation. (He must have been listening to the sermon on Sunday!)
• One girl came up to me one morning and said that she was sick the night before but was better now. She said she read a whole book and felt sick after that and threw up, but she didn't tell anyone. I said, "You mean your mom didn't know you threw up?!" She calmly said, "No, I didn't tell anyone." And she seemed to think reading the book was the cause of her sickness. Needless to say, I immediately started praying that she was better and that no one else would get sick and told her to run to the bathroom if she felt like she was going to throw up again! 
• On a Language worksheet, the students were supposed to write a sentence using the word "sweetest." Here are a couple sentences that made me chuckle: " 'Danny' is the sweetest boy in our class." (I wonder if "Danny" knows that.) "I am not the sweetest in our family." 
• The other day in Reading class, we read a story that had a mountain lion in it. One boy informed us that it was actually a bobcat. He could tell from the picture. I have no idea what the difference is, but he was adamant, and kept correcting me when I said mountain lion. Another boy crossed out mountain lion on his worksheet and replaced it with bobcat. I told them maybe the illustrator just drew the picture wrong, but it really bothered them. 

The Lord also gives me so many sweet moments to get me through the days. One girl wrote in her journal, "When I'm in 4th grade, I'll miss you!" She also gave me a note that said, "You are a great teacher. I love you so-o-o much!" Another sweet girl wrote me a note for no reason except to thank me for being her teacher. 

And so the countdown continues, whether I'm ready for the end of the year or not! 

Who knows what goes on in a child's mind!

As a student I always liked achievement testing. (Is that weird?) And as a teacher, it's kind of a nice break from the usual routine. However, I think all of us were relieved when this week was over. After a whole week of testing, on Friday I was at my wit's end: 

• There were still students making noises and trying to talk to others across the room during testing.
• One student finished the Science section, which was 15 pages long, in less than 10 minutes. 
• One student still didn't realize he wasn't supposed to get out of his seat and wander around the classroom in the middle of the test. 

(However, that was the minority. Most of the students did a really good job!)

What it comes down to is that sometimes, you just have no idea what is going on in a child's mind. For example, I had a student stay in at recess on Friday to finish some work. He kept making noises, no matter how many times I reminded him to be quiet, because the other student in the room was trying to concentrate.  Suddenly (still apparently not aware that he was not being quiet), he piped up, "It would be really funny if you would cry and tears would be streaming down your face and you wouldn't make any noise!" I found this amusing coming from the boy who makes constant noise, so I said, "Yeah, I'd like to see you do that." And he proceeded to pretend to cry, however, not surprisingly, he had a difficult time doing it without making any noise!

Oh my, I'd be so bored if it wasn't for these dear ones. :) 

It's all worth it!

First week of warm weather + achievement testing = interesting dynamics in the classroom.

It's been a while since I've written. Some of the things that have been going on: a student taking a chomp out of a piece of paper during class (I stared in shock before I could tell him to stop!)... One student told me he wanted to change his seat. When I asked him why, he said it was because he smells a terrible smell sitting where he sits... I confronted a student who someone accused of throwing bits of paper at him. He admitted to throwing the paper, but when I asked if he was throwing it at the student, his response was, "No! Not at him, surely not at him!" Surely, huh?... One dear student came up to me at break time with his pad of paper and pencil and asked for his letter grade and percentage for Reading. He then proceeded to ask for every subject and told me that his dad helped him set up an Excel spreadsheet at home to help him keep track of his grades. (This makes me so happy!) Since then, he's continually asking if I counted this or that as a grade and what the percentage is... Today one boy's hands somehow got covered in black ink. (I do mean covered!) I really had no idea what to say, except, "I don't know what your mom is going to say!"

Last week, the chapel speaker had the students write thank you notes to their teachers. Those notes made my week (maybe my year)! Here are some of cute things they said:

Thank you for making learning fun. I like how much you put into work. 

Thank you for being nice to me and helping me.

I like that you give me time for me to do my work!

I'm glad you're my teacher. I love you very much!

I'll miss you next year.

Thank you for teaching us. We learn a lot each day. We try to do our best. We are glad we have you. I love you!

I tried not to be concerned at the few that said, "Thank you for teaching us everything we now!" :)

Even though I'm tired and feel a bit worn out and impatient somedays, these are the reasons it's all worth it! Love those kids!