My oh My

A TON has changed since the last time I wrote....let me take you back to the week before Thanksgiving.

My little Z man had started to become extremly rebellious to anything that came out of my mouth. One thing led to another and after flicking another student in the face, Z was sent to the office. Dad came, words were said...hurtful might I add....principals were called in...more than one...and Z was withdrawn from our school. To be honest, I was so sad. I felt like an absolute failure. Here was a little guy sent from another class for me to "whip into shape" and I failed. I didn't fail at one thing though....I loved that little boy. As much grief and despair that he gave me...at the end of the day...I still loved him. I listened to his stories and laughed at what he said. I gave him oh so many chances to do right, but he chose to do wrong. He is a young 4 and absolutely needs another year of "daycare" before being able to handle the school scene. After dad calmed down, he came in on Z's last day and thanked me for all that I had done and said that I really did succeed with his son and that he and his wife appreciated all of my efforts. I hugged Z, gave him a kiss on the cheek and said goodbye. I have a feeling that I haven't seen the last of him!

Get this....The day AFTER the traumatic experience with Z's dad, I get an email. This email simply said...Mrs. Thompson, on Monday, December 1st, Anderson will be transferring to your class from Mrs. Barfield's class. Yes...my first reaction was..."Are you kidding me?" and yes I said that outloud! After all I had just gone through with my former "transfer" student, I thought enough was enough. I thought...why can't they put him in another class...why me? So after my pity party...I got over it, accepted it and was looking forward to this new young man joining my class. His first day with me was yesterday and he is going to do great! He is in NO way a behavior problem and we are going to work extra hard to get him caught up with the academics of 4K. We shall see!

Okay...enough of the logistical drama of preschool.

At lunch today, Brianna raised one hand while holding a piece of turkey in another and boldly announced "Mrs. Thompson, my turkey is a little bouncy!" She was not happy that the turkey was moving around and not doing what she wanted it to. So funny!

We have our big preschool Christmas Program on Thursday of this week. I will do my best to get pictures of the event! You might even get to see me in my Shepherd's costume! (Please pray for a higher grade next year!! haha)

Until next time,
Sam

Freckles

Everytime I introduce a new letter and its sounds, I like to see what the kids already know. Today I introduced the letter 'f'. I have them raise their hands and tell me words that start with 'f'. I got the traditional frog, fox, food, feet, fair and funny. Then I move on to giving them clues about f words and see if they can follow my trail of clues. Today's conversation went something like this:

Mrs. T: What are the little dots that are sometimes on peoples faces?
MV: Pimples!
Mrs. T: well, pimple starts with a 'P', we are looking for words that start with 'f'
LZ: Frankles!

I simply said freckles and moved on! SO funny!

I finally had to break down and call Z's dad today. He came to the school to "take care of things" if you know what I mean.

During play time today, Z was putting puzzles together and when told to clean up he looked me dead in the eye, said "NO", and stuck his tongue right out at me! Then proceeded to call me a "booty head!" A little while later he interrupted my lesson to tell me that I was crazy!
Let's just say I hope he has a better day today!

Have a great one!
Until next time,
Sam

My voice.....it hurts

So apparently the 4 year olds have figured out that I am a not so good singer. I knew it, my sisters know it, my husband surly knows it...but I thought I could fool them.

There is an old youth group song "I've got a river of life flowing out of me." I have been working with them on this. Yesterday I decided to add the "Go, Go's" to the end of each phrase. Kind of a hip hop theme. You know me and my hip hop! Anyway.... the young man, Z...was NOT impressed. The rest of the class went along with it and participated, but not him. He resorted to plugging his ears. In my silliness of the morning, I looked right at him and said:

"Z, you better sing with us, or I am coming to your house to sing you to sleep"

Z: "You better not, or I am coming to your house to spank you"

It was quite funny. He still wont sing that song!

We survived our Harvest Fest! We had a great time! I am so thankful to all of the parents in my class that helped us out!

I am SO tired and ready for the weekend, but I will press on! I am off for now...its show and tell time!

Until next time,
Sam

Hold Me!

Well, the cold weather is here! I am not sure how long it is going to stay...but it is here for now. With that comes a little bit more responsibility on my part as well as the students. They come in dressed like little eskimos as if it were snowing buckets outside. We have to put them on before bathroom, before recess, before lunch and so on...it gets quite annoying. Today as they were attempting to put them on themselves, Tyler walks up to me and says..."My jackets legs are inside outside!" Funny!

This morning during Bible time I was teaching about Moses and the burning bush. About 5 minutes into my lesson, Z was getting into trouble. They sit at my feet as I sit in the chair and teach with a flannel board. I gave him the eye and kept right on teaching. I notice that he is resting his head on one of my calmer boys, Joseph. This time I spoke and told him to pick his head up and pay attention. That was when Joseph spoke up and told me that Z "asked me to hold him". That made me laugh so hard...even now as I am writing this, I am laughing.

One more thing before I close for now. In my previous school back in 2004 when we were upon the Bush vs. Kerry days, I was able to speak a little of my mind with my 4th graders and tie certain facts in with my history and bible lessons. I am not able to do that with my little guys, so I just steer clear of the topic. (let me just say....my one 6th grade History class hears plenty from me...not my opinions...but the facts) These guys have no idea who McCain or Obama are. This morning I had a mom come in with a button on that said Obama. I shuttered a little and tried not to let my blood boil and continued on with my day, remembering to pray for this upcoming election. A little later during play time this is the conversation I hear between two little girls:

#1: Are you gonna vote with your momma?
#2: Nope
#1: I voted with my momma!
#2: I don't like Omama....he's weird.
#1: I know

Again....laughing on the inside.

I hope you are remembering to pray for our country and the Men and Women that are WILLINGLY serving to protect our freedoms.
Have a great one,
Until next time,
Sam

This is him!

Let me introduce you to Z. Z is the "newest" edition to our class, however he has been her for several weeks now. He is the one student that tests and tries me more than anyone. When he messes up, he goes to timeout, but refuses to sit in the chair...to the point of throwing himself on the floor. He has gotten much better as time goes on, but we still have our days. One thing that works is me being so incredibly sweet to him in the mornings and asking him lots and lots of questions bout himself (baseball, drums, pets...you name it). I do the same thing after nap time which seems to help things progress along a little easier.

Yesterday during playtime, he came to my desk and started touching my post-it notes. This was our conversation:

Me: Z, please do not touch things on Mrs. Thompson's desk

Z: Why?

Me: Because Mrs. Thompson said not to (my mom would be so proud)

Z: YOU have to tell me why

Me: who says?

Z: my dad....and he's big

(at this point I am laughing and wanting to see where this conversation will take me; thankfully it was the end of the day and most kids)

Me: Well, Z, Mrs. Thompson is big too

Z: I want some cheese

What???? Shows you how their minds give in after about 10 seconds of one topic.

The picture above was one of the many faces made during our conversation.

Have a great one,

Until next time,

Sam

Pajama Day Panic

Yesterday was Pajama Day! Our class has been raising money for the upcoming Harvest Fest and we finally met our goal of $1,000! To celebrate we had a popcicle party, a icecream sundae party, a popcorn party, pajama day and princess/superhero day! The kids LOVE it and enjoy every little thing!

Communication is a HUGE part of running my class successfully! To advertise Pajama Day I emailed every parent, sent a flyer home, wrote it on the white board outside my room and verbally told every parent and child. You would think that would be enough...but this time it wasn't. The kids were coming in with their cinderella, hannah montana (yes, 4 year olds), spiderman, superman, baseball and barbie pj's. They were really cute and so proud to show them off. One little girl and her dad walked in...she was in jeans and a t shirt. She IMMEDIATELY started SOBBING. Her dad's response to her was "you didn't tell me." I could have screamed at him right then. Instead I took her in my arms and consoled her the best that I could. I felt so so bad for her.

I little bit later....Z....(who most of my posts seem to be about lately) comes up to me and we have this conversation:

Z: Mrs. Thompson I have to tell you something (said in the most serious tone, thankfully only for me to hear)
Me: What is that Z?
Z: You have to tell Lily that she has to leave our class because she doesn't have on Pajamas!!
Me: (in shock) We have to be kind Z, Lily just forgot and she can stay in our class!

Poor little girl!

Well, that is about all for now....other than Z just informing me that his blanket smells like dog food.

Have a great rest of your week.
Until next time,
Sam

On my toes

I have to stay on my toes in the world of 4K. Seriously. You never quite know what they are going to say!

Z: "Mrs. Thompson, I have to ask you something"
Me: Okay
Z: (whispering in my ear) "You look like a boy"

WHAT? He later explained that that is what his daddy tells him. So FUNNY!

This little guy Z...the one that moved into my room because of behavior issues....is a cutie. But my oh my does he have an attitude. He spends a good part of the day sitting in time out because of it. Yesterday he was in it TWO minutes after his dad dropped him off at 7:30 a.m. He immediately started to cry...alot...(he is my crier and I have NO patience for criers!). I told him to dry it up and be done with it. At the top of his lungs he yelled "I am SO mad at you!!" WOW. I wanted to say it right back, but I refrained. Pray for me to handle him like am supposed to.

That's all for now!
Until next time,
Sam

Pumpkin Patch Day!!!

The kids had a blast at the pumpkin patch! However the best part for them was riding in the big yellow school bus! They laughed and laughed the WHOLE way there. It really was cute!

One thing from this morning. I have been teaching the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors for SEVERAL days now. You have to do a little bit at a time or it means nothing to them. We have gone over the fact that Joseph's dad gave him a coat of many colors. I have reviewed and reviewed and asked and asked and so far everyone has gotten it right. This morning I asked a little guy named Joseph what the Joseph in our story was given by his dad. He thought and thought about it and finally said...."a pie". HAHA!

I hope you are all finding yourself enjoying the fall weather and getting ready for the fall festivities!

Much love and until next time,

Sam

It's been a while!

It has been a while since my last post. That can be attibuted to two things: busyness and the fact that I am getting used to 4 year olds and their funnies. I need to be more diligent in storing things that happen in my brain to save for later!

Last Thursday was Grandparents day! I had 18 students, 29 grandparents, 3 parents, my teacher's aide, and myself all in my little classroom. It was a packed house, but we all had a great time. We had grandparent's show and tell where the child brings something that they have in common with their grandparent. I had coloring books, pictures of them gardening together, and even a kid in full African clothing with some sort of drums. It was really neat. I even had an 89 year old great grandpa that still drives!!! The kids had a blast and I was just glad I survived!

The worst part about grandparents day was seeing the 4 kids without grandparents there look so sad and pitiful. I even sent home a questionarre to be filled out by mom or dad that told us all about their grandparents and had a place for their picture. Only 2 of the 4 did that. I overheard this conversation early that morning:

Naya: My grandma is mean
Tyler: Does she live in a swamp?
Naya: No, she is just mean!

Today is Monday what a Monday it has been. Let's just say it fit the definition of Monday!

I got a new boy several weeks ago. His name is Z. He is a handful and makes very unwise choices about when he will obey and when he will not. This morning I asked him if he would rather go to the 3K classroom because he wasn't acting like a 4 year old. He said...and I quote..."Mrs. Roth (his old teacher) is my best friend! Not Mrs. Thompson or Ms. Washington (my aide)" And boy was he serious. I simply replied that that was fine because my job is not to be his best friend, but his teacher and to make him obey me! I did chuckle a little though!

That is all for now, and I will do my best to keep up with this a little better!

Until next time,
Sam

Yes Sir!

So...the transfer has happened! I got a new young man in my class this week. He was transferred from another 4K due to his behavior. So...I am the new girl....that gets the discipline "situations" (I refuse to use the word problem) Go figure...but that is a whole other blog.

Anywho...I have had to use a FIRM voice and FIRM actions this week to show this dude who was boss and that he isn't going to be pushing me around.

During class today we were cutting out zig zag shapes for them to learn how to use their scissors. This young man, Z, was cutting fine and then proceeded to crumble up his shape that he just cut out. I told him..."Do not crumble that up, it is not trash....do you understand?" "Yes Ma'am".... so, I continued walking around the room but kept my eye on him. For some reason 4 year olds don't think teachers are able to walk around and watch them at the same time. I watched him take that shape and put it in his desk and keep his hands inside....I KNEW what he was doing. I walked over, took his hands out of his desk and low and behold, his completely crumbled shape. I marched him straight to Time out and there he sat. 5 minutes later, I went to him to "discuss" the problem. He was able to explain to me why he was in time out and that he isn't supposed to disobey. I said again..."Do you understand"...."Yes ma'am" was his reply, then I said something to the effect of "what else"....waiting for an apology....however, I simply received a "yes sir". Poor guy. I guess I have to work on my questioning with 4 year olds.

One more thing before my long trek home! The 3K classes come out to recess with us pretty regularly. The new thing for the girls in those classes is to be "married and have 101 babies"...(that's what one little one told me). The set off to find someone who will marry them during recess. Well....a group of three little ones come running up to their teacher, who I happened to be standing by....and said... in their little whiny 3 year old way...."teacher, no body will marry Maddy"......SO FUNNY!

Until next time,
Samantha

Tireka and Squary

Oh the joy of Show and Tell. These kids are hilarious! Today was show and tell day. I have some that are super prepared and thrilled about the experience and then I hae some that seem to forget and grab whatever they can get their hands on. Today was no different.

Squary: This just so happened to be a blue square that was part of our lesson from a few days ago. The students had to cut the square out. McKayla found her square in her bag and decided to use that for show and tell.

McKayla: This is my square

Me: Does your square have a name

McKayla: Yes, Squary

Beautiful huh? She went back to her seat and I saw her give squary a hug and say "I love you squary"! So funny!

Tireka: This poor little thing came in with no pants on. Tireka is the name of the doll. I got so cracked up when she told me the name of her doll that I could not stop laughing. The kids just laughed right along with me. It was great!

Yesterday one of my little guys came on with a big pouty face on. After asking him what was wrong, he said..."my daddy made me cry like a girl." Must have heard that one before. Poor guy!

One more thing before I close:

A conversation I overheard between Katryana and McKayla:

K: I see your tatoo

M: I know

K: It's Sparkely

M: yep

K: I have sparkely lipstick

M: I know, I see some on your mouth

K: nope, that's just food!

SO FUNNY!

Until Next time,

Sam

Prepare my Heart

Ashlynn, Katryana

Okay, so the funny things just don't seem to be rolling like they were at the beginning of the year. They are probably there, but by the time I make it until the end of the day, I have forgotton them....3 more days until I am 26, cut me a little slack!

One thing did happen this morning that made me laugh.... I am a HUGE Diet Coke fan, and I drink it on a very regular basis (everyday). I know...bad for ya, bad for your teeth...blah blah blah....I will work on it..(haha). This morning, after picking up my 3 early birds, I opened my DC and began to pour it over my ice. Little Ashlynn was right in the middle of telling me a thrilling story about "Ms. Margret sitting on her couch and sitting on an ant and jumping up so fast..." she immediately stopped her story, stared at the fizz and said to me.."Mrs. Thompson...that is a drug...you shouldn't do drugs!" She was so serious!! I asked her who told her that and she quickly ran away laughing to herself. I had to laugh as well!

I am asking the Lord to prepare me for what is headed my way tomorrow. There is a certain young man in another 4k class that has quite a struggle with obedience and respect to his teacher. Depending on how everything goes with some meetings tomorrow, it is quite possible that he will be making the move to my class. I understand that things happen for a reason, and I know I have been so spoiled with the obedient class that I have, and that is my fear. I don't want this little guy to come in and take over...so watch out. I will be in rare form if he makes the move. I will say....he is quite adorable and I know I have enough love for him...we'll just see how the "being patient" thing goes.

Anyway...things are going well and I am adjusting to this amazing opportunity! I truly am starting to see it like that! An opportunity...not a "let's get this show on the road and finish this year so I can move on up..." kind of attitude that I started with. Life is incredibly short and what happens in the short time we are on this Earth is so very important to our Eternity! I want to influence these little ones just as much as the older ones!

Sorry for those of you wanting your laugh for the day! I will pay better attention as the days go on!

Until next time,
Sam

Fruit Loop

Nothing too funny for today! We made Fruit Loop rainbow necklaces today. The kids really enjoyed it. Most of them did well, however a few didn't quite get the whole "order" thing. Oh well! Just wanted to post a few pictures for you to see exactly what I am working with here.

Until next time,

Sam

Stank

My oh my what a day....instead of complaining like I really really want to, I am just going to bypass that and move right into my funnies for the day!

After picking up the kids that were at school by 7:30, we headed to the classroom...all 4 of us. I do enjoy the times where I have just a handful of kiddos...they say some funny stuff...especially when you over hear them talking to their friends. While the 3 kids were playing with blocks, I heard Tyler say...."I have "chick stuff" in my hair today!!!" I asked him what he said and he proudly proclaimed again that he had "chick stuff" in his hair! I noticed his slicked down hair and smiled! SO funny!

Bathroom time is one of my least favorite times of the day. It is necessary however! While manning the girls side of the hallway (this is where they try to make me their b.f.f. by telling me everything) one of my sweet girls blurted out "I went in my mommy's bathroom today, and it was stank." They tell EVERYTHING.... warning to current and future parents of toddlers!

Lastly... In the middle of naptime, I heard a sweet little voice say... "Mrs. Thompson, my hair fell out!" As she calmly held up one of her braids....she was right. She was DEAD set on my putting it back on her head, but I had no clue as to the first step! She was almost in tears as I sent her to put it in her back pack. That is when she informed me that her "mommy could teach me exactly how to do it!" Bless her heart!

Well, I have officially survived 16 WHOLE days of 4K! Let's hope I have enough in me to make it about 160 more.....(oh my that was depressing)

Until next time,
Sam

Beautiful

Emma: "Teacher, she wont tell me I am beautiful!"
Teacher: "She doesn't have to tell you that, your mommy can tell you that."
Emma: "But I am!!!!" (with hands on hips)

This little girl is not in my class, but I laughed so so hard when I heard this on the playground!

I have one little sweetheart that thrives on "alone" time with me. EVERYDAY without fail, during recess, she asks me to take her to the restroom. I don't mind...that's 5 minutes out of the sun in the bathroom hall! Today I needed to go back to my classroom to put something in there and I asked Bri to put it on my desk. She said "where is your desk?.....OH I know where your desk is Sweetie!" HAHA!

Until Next time,
Sam

Absolutely Not!

After a FANTASTIC Labor Day weekend spent with my new family....it was time to get back to work. The Tuesday after Labor day is always an interesting day. Some students got way too much "down" time, and others spent the entire weekend "go go going!" Let's just say nap time went quite well!

After nap is snack time! I WILL teach these 4 year olds manners if it's the last thing I do! It is IMPERITIVE that they say, "yes please" or "no thank you" when I walk by with the snack. I remind them of this before snack each time we partake. Today was no different...remind, walk down each row and pass out their oreos. I get to one of my sweeties...and with a HUGE smile on her face she says..."absolutely not"...I just laughed and laughed! I believe she has heard that phrase one too many times!

Friday of last week:

McKayla: Guess what?
Me: what?
McKayla: I know my mommy's phone number.
Me: You do? What is it?
McKayla: 2 green

That is a phone number to a 4 year old in the year 2008! Speed dial my friends.... a wonderful thing!

One more thing....While working aftercare today, I got to be the potty person....send them to Mrs. Thompson and I take them to the potty...not a bad job because I was in the air conditioned building for most of my shift. Anyway, this little guy went potty and came out. His shirt was an absolute mess from the lasagna that he had at lunch. I simply said...

Me: "You have food all over your shirt"
Boy: "I know"
Me: "what is your mommy going to say about that"
Boy: "Let's go to Chucky Cheese"

Wow.....wow.....wow!

Well, I am about to head off. Clint is having surgery tomorrow so I will be missing my very first day of school! Interesting!

Until next time,
Sam

So....my bad habit caught up with me...

Well....the bad habit is referring to my students as "sister" or "brother." You know..."pick up the trash sister," "watch where you're going sister," "pay attention my brother." No BIG deal I guess. I never really thought anything of it until today. My students have said NOTHING about it...until today. A parent comes to the door, student gets all of their belongings, "bye, see you tomorrow," and this was her reply...."see you tomorrow my sister." Her mom looked at me, we both just broke out in laughter. It was so so funny. I guess I need to work on that!

One more thing before I go fix supper.....
KayKay: Mrs. Thompson, you call me KayKay
Me: yes, that's your name right?
KayKay: That's my nickname
Me: I know, that's what you want to be called right?
KayKay: My "sista" says you a hip hop teacher 'cause you call me KayKay

So.....ladies and gentlemen, I, Samantha Thompson, am a "hip hop teacher"

Until next time,
Sam

Go Away Fay!

I am only able to write this one, because I have officially survived Tropical Storm Fay. While teaching my 6th grade History class on Thursday, I was informed that we would not be having school on Friday due to Tropical Storm Fay. My initial reaction was that of pure and utter praise...followed by a short thought of "I hope this isn't serious!" Well here I sit on Sunday night, after a DAY of no power..alive! Saturday my husband and I went a whole 5 hours with no power and decided to pack up and make the trip to Tifton where his parents were waiting with a warm meal, lights and an air conditioned home! We gladly accepted and made the one hour trip! It was VERY much worth it because we have since found out that our power wasn't restored until LATE Saturday night! All is well now. I am about to make my weekly trip to Walmart, do my ironing for the week and settle in to watch the closing ceremony of the Olymics.

One thing from Thursday that struck me as funny:
We have spent the last FIVE days learning the sound for the letter i...it has gone great. They have answered my questions and gotten to put the little people on my big park picture to fill up the park, they got to feed the ducks in the park with a cracker which they helped the ducks eat, and have mastered the "Indian Child" poem. We also made paper plate iguanas with pieces of paper with "i" words for them to practice. At dismissal time little Ashlynns mom came in the door....Ashlynn made a b-line for her cubbie, grabbed her iguana and proudly announced to her mom...."Look mommy, we made a Guana...(pronounced goo-a-na) SO FUNNY! Her mom and I caught each others eye and had her say it again and again! What a way to end my Thursday! I just love those little ones!

Alrighty...I have been informed by my three sisters that they love reading my blogs, so I will keep them coming. (I would anyway!) I am sure I will have more for you this week!

Until then,
Sam

2 Funny things today!

Oh what a Wednesday. Wednesdays are those days that you just almost dread. They are right in the middle and you still have two days just waiting for you! Wednesdays are also the days for me that last forever it seems. I leave my house at 6am and am at work by 6:40ish. I welcome the kids starting at about 7:30. At 3:15 begins the dreaded, and I do mean DREADED aftercare! By far....the absolute WORST part about this position. Anyway....on a good day I am out of there at about 4ish...but from what I hear it starts to push 5 or 5:30 by the time I am done. THEN we have church at 7:05 on Wednesdays....so I just stay all the way through, leaving at about 8:00 to drive 40 min back home, making it close to 9 by the time I walk in the door. SO....as you can tell....Wednesdays wear me out!

Anyway...that wasn't where I wanted this blog to go.....moving on

We have our Preschool Evacuation Drill tomorrow! Today was our practice round. I spoke very seriously to my sweet class of 4 year olds and told them, "when you hear a bell, and Mrs. Thompson says, this is an emergency, you look at me and get quiet right away." So, we did our little practice, walked to the right place, called roll, and we were off to the playground. Well....all of a sudden, the church bells began to ring (very pretty) and one of my sweeties....STOPPED....looked at me, and then took off running straight to me yelling..."Emergency, Emergency, Emergency" as she was trembling! Precious! I bent down to her level, took her in my arms and tried to re-explain the whole thing. I had to warn mom, that if she starts saying emergency anytime she hears a bell....its my fault! So cute!


Alrighty...my last one! At the end of my day with my class, after they wake up from their nap, it is snack time. To cease the chitter chatter while eating, I like to read to them. Today I read a Winnie the Pooh book called... Roo and the very messy day. Anyway....Roo has a messy room, his mom lets him do it so he'll get sick of it, he goes to Piglets really really clean and tidy house and has to help Piglet put back everything they played with.....right when I showed the picture of Piglets clean, organized house, my very outspoken little one, Tyler, speaks up (quite loudly) and says "I'm allergic to that!" Well....me being stunned by that remark, I asked him what he was talking about...."I'm allergic to cleaning my room"! I definately laughed outloud on that one! Hilarious!

I hope you are all doing great and life is being kind to you! Thank you for reading!

Until next time,
Sam

I survived!

That's right...I survived my first day as a 4k teacher! And...believe it or not...it went so very well! Those kids will do anything, believe anything and think I am the absolute smartest person ever...seriously...they are such people pleasers and will do ANYTHING to get me to say their name and notice how well they did!

I started the day out with ZERO criers! I was so surprised. I had been warned..."you will have some criers so be prepared!" I was prepared (i think) but I had none. Little Joseph wanted to and was a tad bit clingy, but as soon as I mentioned his Cars backpack, he was my friend for life!

Oh and nap time...they are so so precious when they sleep! Seriously...I have a great class of nappers. I had one little girl tell me as I was passing out the mats..."Mrs. Thompson, I don't take naps" I replied, "well, Samaryia...today is a new day and everyone in 4k takes naps." She was OUT as soon as she hit that mat!

I am sure those "days" will come...you know the crazy ones, but so far so good! I am resolved that I have the best class and the SMARTEST class. They already knew their 1, 2 and 3 numbers AND the colors red and yellow! Ahhhhh

So ready for the weekend! Headed to the grocery store then out to supper to celebrate my first day.....until next time!

Sam

Whatcho name again?

Super fast blog...meetings, meetings, meetings! Work in classroom time because tonight was our first of two orientations. Went well. I got to introduce my self as Mrs. Thompson which was so cool! The kiddos were SO cute! Seriously....I am just gonna wanna play all day...haha! I seem to have a great group of parents too! Trying to stay on the positive side! I also have a little girl in my class named Amy....and I will be teaching her 6th grade brother...interesting...her mom was so confused....can you blame her?

One little girl, Ashlynn, said goodbye and left along with her mom. A few moments later, she walked back in, by herself....apparently she forgot my name and her mom didn't like that, so she had to come in and ask again...."Whatcho name again?" SO FUNNY!

Off to eat and sleep and repeat!
Sam

Just when I thought....

Just when I thought things couldn't get any more...shall I say....crazy....THEY DID!

Today was another full day of meetings for me. You know, the page by page handbook meetings. I will say, these meetings are not that bad. My supervisors trust that I know how to read and leave it up to me to do so. Amazing.

As the morning dragged on, I became more overwhelmed when realizing all of the work still yet to be done. You see, at this school we have TWO open houses...that's right TWO. One tomorrow for the new students and one on Thursday for all of the others. As crazy as it is leading up to those, I do believe I might enjoy it better not having my entire class and their parents all at one time. It kind of spreads it out.

I am not to the crazy part yet.....

So....I finally got my class list today...18 students! YAY! 2 Ethans and lots of J names! I put their names (in my very best cursive) on my apples that go on the bulletin board, stapled them up there and moved on to their desk name tags....got those done and taped on their desks and headed for my next meeting. About an hour after that meeting, the preschool secretary informed me that she had given me the WRONG class list! YIKES. They are working with a new program this year on the computers, thus causing the mix up! My first reaction was to cry, but I just quickly got over it, got my new list and redid everything I had just done! No biggie! 15 students now, twins, and Mckayla, Kayla, and Jakayla! HELP!

STILL not to the crazy part!

I was informed that the HEAD bossman wanted a meeting with me at 4:15. YIKES....I am thinking..."what have I done now?" Didn't think much else of it, headed over for my meeting and that is where I was hit with these words...."What would you think about teaching a 6th grade history class for one hour each day?" Oh My was my first thought, followed by a chipper, "SIGN me up!" I am really excited believe it or not. My connection to the other side of teaching is still there! Thankfully I taught the same EXACT book last year, so my preparation will not be bad. Also, the Grade Level Chair for 6th grade is going to be doing the lesson plans for me! Basically I will hike over, teach the class, speak in a different voice, grade papers, and give tests and quizzes. I am honestly thrilled! I choose to think of this as God's gift to me for being willing to brave the world of 4K!

Tomorrow is new student orientation! Yikes! Pray for me if you think about it!

More to come soon.....

Sam