desprate times…

I’m at my wits end!  I need to vent!  Badly.  It’s 3 weeks into the school year – 3 whole weeks – and these kids in my class still don’t get it – and I can’t figure out why!  Usually by this time we have found our rhythm and are a happy class! Usually it’s just a couple kids that need a little extra guidance – but everyone else is fine.  Not this year.

Just yesterday 3 books in our book area were destroyed – the covers ripped right off – and no one will admit to doing it! (Why did I turn my back for so long?!)  And this after we constantly go over how to treat books and how special they are!

They still can’t walk in a line – if I’m not constantly telling them wherever we go to follow the person in front of them – they simply wander off! If they don’t wander off they bump into things and I have to keep from laughing!  I know that sounds mean – but really – the stunned expression on their face is quite amusing!

And there is no use giving them simple instructions – they don’t seem to understand.  I told one child, “Please go put this book on the brown table for me.”  (We only have one brown table and we use it daily at circle time – it was about 6 feet away and I pointed to it).  The child proceeds to walk in the opposite direction in which I pointed and refused to listen to my redirection.   He walks around the classroom with a lost expression on his face for a few minutes before comming back to inform me we don’t have a brown table!  When I showed him the brown table – he gave me a stunned look as if I must have made it appear out of thin air!

Some can’t even go to the bathroom without being walked through the process (i.e. telling them to wipe, flush, wash hands with soap, dry hands, and throw the paper towel away).

I have never had a class like this!  And they have absolutely no attention span!  They also have a complete lack of respect for adults.  They talk back, tell us no, and laugh in our faces when we correct their behavior! Where did they learn this behavior?!  I certainly hope their teachers from last year didn’t let them act this way!

I need help!  I.AM.DONE.

(deep breath…or two or three)

There.  I feel better now.  I vented.  But seriously it’s not good.  I wrote about my frustrations with the class here – but I would have thought 2 weeks later we wold have had some progress!  We have our good moments – don’t get me wrong.  And it’s not every single child – but it’s about half of them!  And for me – that’s too many!

I will take suggestions!  If anyone has any games or stories to help teach listening and following direction skills – I will be more then happy to hear them!  Also, they don’t know spacial concepts such as in front, behind, over, under, next to, etc.  If anyone has any good ideas for teaching this, it would help as well.  I need to find away to get this class together!  I can’t go through the year like this – and talking to parents or writing notes will only get me so far – any suggestions are welcome!  🙂

just stay calm

I have returned from my much needed and long overdue vacation!  I had a great time away – beautiful scenery and a moderate climate – who could ask for more?  I missed my kids while I was on vacation, but I’ll miss them more on Monday when I go to start class and I don’t see their faces!  So I’m trying to make the best of every moment I have left with them.

I have to admit that I kinda had a mini panic attack this morning (and another one this evening) when I got to work and realized I have 1 week until the new school year starts!  Where did the time go?!    I feel like I have 10 million things to do and no time to do them!  I’m currently in the process of making a To-Do list of all the things I’d like done by Monday.  It’s pretty long…so I’m going in early tomorrow to work in my room and I’m going to ask Ms. Bennet to keep the children outside for as long as she can in the morning so I can work in peace.  We’ll see how that goes and how much I can get done.  I might have to take this plan of attack everyday this week.  I really wish I worked in a school where I had access to my room in the evenings.  That would be soooo nice!  What a luxury!  I wouldn’t be so stressed then – but I’ll just take it all in stride!

Wish me luck – I might need it!  🙂

staying focused

I’m already pondering Mother’s Day.  Yes, I know – this early!  I actually woke up in a slight panic this morning because I have no plans on what my children will make for Mother’s Day – silly, isn’t it?  My goal this year was to be prepared in advance for all the holidays and big events in our school year – and so far so good.  But looming in the not so distant future is Mother’s Day.  I like to make something that the mother’s can keep for years to come – and if I can use a hand print that’s always a plus.  I’ve done pot holders, tiles, and jean pockets (with magnets on the back) all with hand prints in the past.  Nice keepsakes.  I have no idea for this year.

And if worrying about Mother’s Day wasn’t bad enough – it just brings up thoughts of Father’s Day – which is always way harder for me!  Especially considering that all my children don’t have a father present in their lives.  So, for now I’m going to put these things on the back burner until I manage to deal with more pressing issues – such as getting my progress reports out to the parents.  I would ideally like to put them all out on Monday – but looks like this time I will just have to send them home as I get them done.

I really don’t like writing comments on each child’s progress report – they all start to sound the same after awhile.  It’s even harder with those few children who are way behind the others.  I know the parents must be at home thinking, “Why is that teacher not doing her job?!” and then they go and complain to Ms. Lezze-Faire and she gets on me about worksheets again.  It’s a vicious cycle.  Let’s not take into consideration that the child doesn’t show up to school most of the time and when they do it’s practically lunch.  It will still somehow be my fault.  Or at least that’s how I feel.  But we’ll see how it goes.  Right now, I need to refocus on working on those progress reports.