DAY 91 and Day 4 of extension

Today was a mixture – some parts went well and others were behaviorally challenging. There are a handful that try to ruin it for the rest of them – and us! One boy is really big on respect and whether he is being disrespected or not. I quietly explained to him that when he speaks out of turn when the teacher is teaching, that is disrespectful to her, and it seemed that the message might have gotten thru, at least at that moment.

There was a puppet show (of sorts) for all the 3rd-6th graders from about 1-1:45 p.m. that I thought was beneath them. I’m not sure what the kids thought of it, but it seemed inane to me and in some ways made me think of Baby Einstein – which is wonderful for it’s age group. I think I would recommend it only for ages 3-6. The kids seemed pretty bored.

I spent about 30 minutes gathering up pencils and sharpening them in another room since we have no sharpener – only tiny ones. This should come in handy. I also called two parents – that was a first – about two girls hitting each other, but only did a voice mail for them. As I felt weary of the whining, disrespect, and nonsense, I thought of the teachers who taught my children and all of the things they had to deal with, and felt for them, anew.

Next week we are going on a field trip to hear a symphony in downtown Detroit – I am looking forward to it, although funneling 26 kids who generally refuse to stand in anything like a straight line through the bus doors, concert hall doors, etc. will likely be a bit taxing. These kids have uniforms but they have 4 colors they can wear – it would be nice if they could stick to one that day.