An Overall Good Day

I am happy to report that today was a great day! Not without it's bumps of course, but overall I feel accomplished and successful. I feel confident, loved, and able. And all of that is wonderful to me.

Here are the highlights:

I gave my first spelling test this morning. I tell the kids my expectations, they repeat them back to me. We do this three times and 4 kids still get their papers ripped up for talking. But, I can guarantee you that next week no one will talk...

I lead my kids out to recess and the fire alarm goes off! I was probably the most panicked, but all of my kids managed to get out of the bathrooms, around the corner, and into a straight line with no trouble at all.

At recess, I'm talking to one of my sweet, bright and yet un-controlled boys. He looks at me funny and asks if I'm going to have a baby. I smile and say no. "Ever?" he asks. I reply yes, but not soon. He nods his head. "You just want one kid?" I smile at his appallment when I say I want four. Then he tells me that he knows where babies come from. "Really?" I ask. "Mmhmm. They come from eggs!" (At this point, I am praying he doesn't go on...) "Mommies go to the store and they buy eggs for babies to come out of, " he finished emphatically. I smile brightly while a girl says "You mean chicken babies." He turns his round head and says, "Nope baby babies." I smiled as I walked away.

This week one of my dear Luis's (not the one with the screaming mother...) was our Student of the Week. As a special treat, I ate lunch with him in our classroom. He felt so special. In the lunch line he told me he would wait outside the door for me. When I met up with him he had the biggest smile and a plate of chicken nuggets and ketchup. We walked down the hall and he just kept smiling at anybody we passed. We ate at my little U shaped table in the back of the room and he talked to me about his family and about how much he likes chicken and ketchup.

After lunch, I notice that I am missing two of my slow eaters. We had gotten to lunch late (totally my fault...) so I wonder if they are still in the cafeteria or just making their way back. I call the front of office and explain my dilemma. One little girl finds us on her own, by my little boy is still lost. Ten minutes later he is standing at my door with an office aid, his eyes bloodshot from tears. He had been running into the bathroom, through the door to the hall, down the hall, back outside and back into the bathroom. While doing these laps, he missed the fact that we had come inside....

In the afternoon the kids went to music and then came back for special science observation centers. They had fun tasting marshmallows, listening to a triangle, feeling cotton balls and smelling cilantro. I look forward to doing centers with them again.

Today was my first pay day and you can bet that my check has already been deposited. I'm certainly not in this for the money, but it is nice to get some sort of compensation : )

I'm ready and excited for a weekend of relaxation- and planning- but mostly relaxation. Thanks for hanging in there with me this week. Ten days down- 170 to go : )