Short Days are Crazy Days

I don't know why we call them short days- I stayed later than I have all week...

Wednesdays are ridiculous. Not only are they shortened, so the kids are excited- but they are Jamba Juice days- and no morning recess days. The former also makes them excited, the latter means everyone (including me) needs to pee and run around at 10:00, but we can't because there's still a half hour before lunch...

Alas. It is crazy. People see my loud, crooked line in the hall and greet me with "Happy Wednesday" with a sneering smile on their face. Just think- I get to do this every week. Goodness gracious...

To add on to all of this- I had two boys who went to the bathroom and came back claiming that someone was hitting them. Then, at recess I had a boy who convinced a first grader from another class to buy him a Jamba Juice. After school, I got a phone call from a parent who said she gave her child $5 to buy a Jamba Juice and he told her it was stolen...

Oh, yeah- this kid started off on a bad foot today. He was angry about something (the stolen money perhaps?? I don't know. He wouldn't talk to me!) In his anger, he did sin. He was shoving desks and things. Ripped papers and scrunched his backpack into a ball and threw it away. He's the one who said he was going to kill the next person who touched him. I tried to reason with him (Ha!) but he wouldn't talk to me. So, he was sent out of my classroom because I was afraid he was going to hurt someone.

The phone call came because the mom was mad I hadn't done anything about the stolen money. I tried to reason with her that I don't know about these problems if he won't tell me about them. (Take deep breaths...)

My duty this afternoon was to lead the kids out to the buses. I started walking the 150 of them through the school- past 8th graders going to lunch and being 8th graders... when I realized that there was no one at the end of my line. I quickly recruited Mr. Luna (P.E/art teacher whom all my girls adore) to take up the rear. It was good for him. After they were all on the bus, I thanked him for his help and he said he was amazed by my "sheep herding skills" "How did you get them all lined up by yourself?" he asked in wonderment. I just smiled : )

After school, I met with the resource teacher and the mother of my special ed boy. Turns out he tested out of the self-contained class and can not go back. He also tested too high to be seen for math. Which means I need to up the anty- get him to focus and LEARN! You can pray for that...

Our teacher meeting was actually very good today. It led to great discussion. I did not feel like it was a waste of time. Hallelujah!

You can pray that this week finishes strong. Just two days to go. Friday will be crazy as I have a bunch of parent volunteers coming to help and a birthday celebration. Oh, yeah. Do you remember my one girl who told me on the first day of school that she was starving? After a whole lot of absences, she was withdrawn from my class. But- will be back at school tomorrow after being out of school for 3 weeks. (Keep breathing deeply...)

It'll be okay. Please pray for God's presence, wisdom and patience. There's a lot to deal with right now!

Thanks. Blessings on you!