today my students and i had a discussion about "baby talk."
it all began this morning. with monday off for mlk day (the day when we remember dr. king-the man who was shot by lightening; according to one of my nuggets) and a snow day on tuesday, this cold wednesday morning got off to a wacky start. i don't know what was in the kool-aid today, but my minions were straight up cracked out. everything that is normally routine was out the window. it was as if my class had been replaced by 25 wild baby gorillas. they were loud, ornery, and they all had their sassy pants on. the baby talk started off subtle but then grew to full blown absurdity. "miss d, i needa potta right nowwwww!" i'm sorry, what? no, just no. "miss d, i want my mawwwwmyyyy!" seriously? by mid-afternoon, i was ready to crack. i looked at my co-teacher who had the same "wtf is wrong with these kids do you want to ditch and get cheese fries?" face on and i made a decision-i was going to be the boss. "enough!" i projected (i never yell, i'm not about that life). the kids looked shocked and stared at me as if i had flowers growing out of my ears. i looked at their little faces and simply stated that actual infants do not sound as annoying as they did in their current state. "when you are ready to be my students again, we will learn but i do NOT teach babies. i teach first graders." and that was that. i have a feeling my first graders will be back tomorrow. and i'm glad. they're so cool. for now, a glass of pinot grigio and some grading. until next time, xo
0 Comments
so today i got my first "i hate you" from a student.
it's not that i'm unfamiliar with the expression or even that i haven't heard it before. (i've been babysitting since i was ten and these things called bedtimes exist-i know what hate looks like) anyway, i left school today and teared up on my drive home for a variety of reasons. first, it's never nice to be told you're hated. even if the person saying it is six and toothless. i also felt terrible for not being able to better articulate my instructions and expectations. i can't help but feel that if i had been better at communicating with this nugget i could've avoided the drama entirely. it also bothers me that this peanut knows about language filled with so much hate. that kind of thing isn't innate; it's learned. what i will say is i find it pretty remarkable that i can go from being "the meanest person in the history of forever" to being someone worth hugging at the the end of the day. that, my friends, is the beauty of early childhood. nothing lasts longer than a day and there is no such thing as grudge holding. every day is a new day. a new chance. that's pretty neat in my book. and tomorrow. i'll try again. and so will the child who hated me so only a handful of hours earlier. it'll be a good day. i just know it. xo, ld so today is my first friday of student teaching and this is what i have left with on this balmy january afternoon:
-the satisfaction of knowing i taught a child how to tie his shoes (who needs math when you can do THAT, am i right?) -pink eye...thanks, whoever gave this to me (poo poo fingers, the nurse said; beautiful) -a variety of multi-colored pictures thanks to a weeks worth of indoor recess courtesy of ohio weather -a happy heart -joy about the prospects of going back on monday this is a really good life, people. really good. happy friday! xo |
archives
July 2020
categories |