I am happy to report that the two substitutes that took over my class while I was gone, did surprisingly well. I've heard horror stories about teachers painstakingly planning for an absence only to come back and discover that their substitute did NOTHING in their lesson plans. I was thrilled to come back and find out that every assignment I planned for them to do, was actually executed and my students received rave reviews! I cannot stress to you enough how different my class is this year than last. I will, however, always have a special place in my heart for my very first class. They were wonderful, challenging and very, very special to me. Seeing the few that are still here, makes my day - especially when they shower me with hugs and sign language "I love you's". Now that I've taught my current class the "I love you" sign they are equally as eager to share it.
The past couple of weeks since my return have been wonderful, yet heartbreaking all the same. For the majority of you who know me personally, you know of the heartbreak of which I speak. For those who don't, I can only say that I have been dealing with my first case of alleged child abuse. It is mindboggling to me how someone, anyone, could hurt a child...any child. Dealing with this firsthand has been an eye-opening, heartbreaking and learning-filled experience that I hope I never have to encounter again.
My students were amazing to return to...each one declaring how much they missed and loved me. How many of you can say you get to return to that kind of reception? =) Just one of the many reasons I love teaching.
So you're probably looking for some "funnies" in this blog, so let me share a couple with you. Funny #1: I am teaching extended day school, which is basically an extra hour of reading a day to kids that need that extra push. On Tuesday night we were reviewing the letter sounds and names and we got to the letter "u". You know that the letter "u" makes two sounds, right? It makes the "uh" sound as in "umbrella" and "under" and the "yu" sound as in "unicorn", "you" and etc. Well, this little girl pipes up and says "h"...as in "hunicorn"...I look at her quizzically and had her repeat her word, "Yes, Mrs. Eklund...it's "h" as in "hunicorn." I tried to convince her that it does NOT in fact make that sound, but in no certain terms was she giving it up. So I guess it's called a "hunicorn" from now on. We'll work on that one individually =)
Funny #2: We're sitting doing calendar one day and I look up to see one of my boys playing with the hair of the girl in front of him. I give him the "keep your hands to yourself" look and he stops. A few seconds later...he starts doing it again. So I give him a second, but more stern, "stop it now" look and he does. Again, a few seconds later he starts again, so I finally ask him to stop and he says, "But she WANTS me to...her hair is SO SOFT!" The girl about died of embarassment, turned pink and then looks at me and says, "No I DON'T!" Looks like we have a rascal in the classroom again this year.
Funny #3: Remember the pants-turned-inside-out kiddo from a couple of weeks ago? He has quite the imagination as you can figure out. Today he comes and tells me, in all seriousness, that "everything was ok" and he didn't get "fired from his job." That "James" his boss, "said that he could just finish his work later, but he gave me a warning, a BIG one. I finally hung up on him and told him I didn't want the job anyway." Hmmmm...clearly something is going on at home regarding a job. =)
So - that about wraps it up. I'll have more updates this week and I'll post some pictures of student work. =)
I'm just going to say it...my kids are so well-behaved this year...it's almost boring! ;-) Is that terrible to say or what?? They're disgustingly good. Outside of some in-class talking issues, they're amazing. I kind of don't know what to do sometimes with them. Trust me, I'm thankful after all the stuff that happened last year, but wow! It's kind of unsettling at times. ha ha
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