Posts under ‘wild things’

Not just a couple of weeks, but a couple of months.  I needed to get FAR away from the wild things, and I did.   I roamed all over.
But now tomorrow’s the first day of the new year, and today was wrap-up of last year.
We got our scores today, both last year’s class’s results and this [...]

This week I had the chance to observe a fellow teacher.  It wasn’t pretty.
Her classroom was being run by 6 boys who did what they pleased when they pleased.  They giggled, cracked jokes, were sarcastic,  played with balloons and stickers, ignored instructions, roamed around the room, called out.
I don’t think it was their fault.
It was [...]

Antonio moved to Wisconsin.  Again.
Kelly moved next door (after the social worker showed up after the my-mommy-hits-me-with-a-belt incident after a week had gone by since I reported it after which her mommy kept her out of school for three days and threatened to take her to another school unless the principal switched her out of [...]

I had to do it again today.  Call the Department of Child and Family Services to report a parent.
This one haunts me for different reasons than the last one: last week, I knew the mother intended well but just needed some parenting help; today I know the mother intends bad.
This mother instructed her seven-year-old child, [...]

11 warning notices filled out to be sent home to kids not meeting grade-level standards
5 notes to parents (homework issues)
3 mini-conferences with parents (Kelly, Jesus, Brianna: Kelly brought a glass perfume bottle to school because Jesus, a 2nd grader in another class, called her fat and stinky; Brianna’s having a hard time counting to 20 [...]

As a mom, I walk up the path to the school with hope and trepidation.  Probably more of the former.  As a teacher, ditto.  I think this is a good thing: when teachers and parents have similar feelings and expectations.
Tonight we finally had our Back-To-School Night. 7 weeks into the school year.  Why so late, [...]

Last week José smiled. On a fairly regular basis. When he wasn’t frowning, that is.
And, he sat downstage right or left most of the time we were at the rug, rather than practically out the door and with his back to me.
I considered all this enormous progress and worked hard to acknowledge [...]

The first month of school is a crucial time in the life of a classroom. Don’t meld them into a working group, and you pay for it for the rest of the year. Classroom life is chaos. Teaching and learning are repeatedly interrupted by stretches of wildness. Days are exhausting. [...]

The force is always with us in the classroom. We, the teachers, direct, control, command. The question is always how much force to use.
I’m not talking about physical force–though did you know that in the eighth year of the 21st century corporal punishment in schools is still legal in 22 U.S. states?!
I’m talking [...]

How do you feel about lines? Most adults, I think, HATE them, unless we’re already in one, and someone cuts into it. Then we want the orderly justice a line promises, be it on the freeway or at Costco. Our inner wild thing wants to become a ruthless enforcer of line order.
Wild kid [...]