Ever Have One of ThOsE Days?

Ever have one of those days?  You know the type of day I'm talking about!  The day that starts out deceivingly well...then quickly takes a nosedive! 

Yep, you couldn't see if on their faces.  You couldn't hear it in their voices.  You just didn't know that every single child in my classroom was silently planning to self destruct within fifteen minutes of entering the classroom today! 

So, here's how it started.  Our first little guy made his way off the bus with my associate and into the classroom.  I started the day like I do every day with him.  A verbal prompt to unzip his coat.  A picture prompt to unzip his coat.  And wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Then tears.  Lot's of tears.  Tears streaming, lip quivering.  How could you POSSIBLY expect me to unzip my coat?!  (yes, he is perfectly capable of unzipping his coat)  A few more minutes of waiting, crying, waiting...then, a small hand decides, finally, to unzip the darn coat!

Whew!  We climbed that obstacle, we're out of the woods, ready to get back on track and have a great day!  Oh, but wait, we've made it to the table.  We're eating our breakfast.  Another little one decides to turn around multiple times in her chair and ends up spilling her breakfast (not enough to warrant immediate clean-up though).  I remind her to "turn around and eat your breakfast".  Tears, lots of tears!  More tears!  I have now successfully, somehow, made two children cry in less than 15 minutes!

The crying subsides and we move on with our day.  A little guy walks past his friend to go to the carpet and reaches out and grabs the friend!  No, not in a gentle, let's play kind of way!  My guess is this little guy was upset that I had to charge my Mp3 player and the music was not playing.  Well, believe me, if there was any way I could have milked a few last bits of juice out of that rechargeable battery for the Mp3 player, I would have!!  Nope, it was dead.  And here we are with two children who have cried and a child who is trying to hurt his friend...and it's 8:35 in the morning. 

Yep, great way to start a Monday morning!  Let's hope tomorrow starts off a bit better!

(Just a note:  The two children who cried were clearly not feeling well today.  Of course, they had no temperature...so they stayed at school.  One of these children also was sent home sick last Friday!  The other child was yawning uncontrollably all afternoon and flopped on his cot the moment it was out!  We also had multiple other children with stuffed up noses, hyper sensitive to sounds and general tiredness.  Ugh!  I am tempted to come to work tomorrow in a full body Hazmat suit!)

I Think the Kids are on to Something! :)

So, apparently I have been learning a few choice ways to get things done when no one seems to be listening, from the kids.   We've been short staffed.  We have had various people coming in and out of the classroom and the children HAVE HAD IT!!  I mean, they are in full blown stomping feet, refusing to move, "DON'T TELL ME ANOTHER PERSON IS COMING IN TO HELP"...mode. 

And I don't blame them ONE BIT!  In fact, I am to that point as well.  Due to what I feel are various less than desirable decisions made by various unnamed people, we have seen several people come and go in and out of the classroom within the last few months. 

I get it, people.  Being a teacher associate in a special education classroom is not for everyone.  That's fine!  I certainly don't want someone to be here if they don't want to be.  That just makes MY life and the CHILDREN'S lives miserable!  But, is there a reason WHY you wouldn't just at least come observe the classroom first to see if it would be somewhere you would enjoy working?!

Well, last week I pretty much kidnapped and held our education consultant hostage in my room for an hour and basically threw the fit that I knew the children couldn't throw (at least not to the people that can make things happen) but really wanted to.  If I could have gotten away with it I would have screamed, thrown myself on the floor and kicked and cried. 

No, I didn't do those things.  I basically threw a "grown up" fit...Yup...not proud of it...but apparently it worked!  This was after a week and a half of only one teacher associate in the room.  You may think that should be plenty.  But, just take my word for it...it's not. 

A day after I threw that fit, a teacher associate "sub" showed up at my doorstep.  I'm calm again.  The world is still not right for the kids.  They are still upset that so many people have been coming and going out of the classroom.   But at least there are almost enough hands to meet the needs of the children.

Of course, my poor new teacher associate (who, by the way, DOES want to be here and is doing a wonderful job) has had to go through this with me.  That is certainly NOT the way to start a new job!  But, we'll get there!  We'll find one more good match for the classroom.  We'll find someone who wants to stay for more than a month.  Hopefully soon.  And hopefully with minimal fit throwing in the future...by the children or myself!

Too Busy!

We have been busy, busy, busy in my classroom!  

This begins to explain why I haven't been able to visit my own blog very often!  The other reason being that we are short staffed AGAIN!  Grrrr!  Hopefully we'll just be short staffed for this next week or so (I have a new teacher associate starting soon)!  I'm looking forward to being able to function with a full team in the classroom again! 

I'm pretty sure I don't have to convince any of you; but a classroom team truly can make or break you in early childhood education!  The children in my room are dealing relatively well with the absence of the necessary number of adult hands to help!  (They would prefer short staffed and adults they know and enjoy being around rather than fully staffed with strangers!)

So, even though we are very busy, I hope to be able to post at least a few times this week!  I think we've got the short staffed management down now and I may be able to pull out the camera at least a few times, to take a few photos! 

I was just happy I had time to eat my LUNCH last week!  We can do it!  I've made time to eat my lunch...we can surely take a few photos during the day!  Wish me luck!

H...E...L...P...!

HELP....I'm drowning in work.... :) ... that's what I get for a month off!  I'll be back soon when I can grow a few more arms and hands to take photos to accompany blog posts... and when I can juggle everything again!  :) 

What Happened Here?!

So, what makes it go so wrong sometimes...while other times, the children are perfectly happy switching things up a bit?  Really...if I knew the answer to this, I'm pretty sure I would be a very rich person!
I'm getting bits and pieces of what last month was like in my classroom (while I was on break and a guest teacher was in my room).  Yep, you guessed it!  Apparently, the children decided a bit of a mini- revolution was in order!

I can just imagine the thoughts going through their heads:  "What!?  That's NOT the voice you use while reading that book!".... "How DARE you think you're going to hold MY hand while I go to the sink...I am PERFECTLY capable of doing this myself!"... "Oh, no, we ALWAYS sit about 2 inches in front of our teacher while she's reading us a book"... "What?! We can't today?!"

All of this, and, of course, the guest teacher is a wonderful person!  She has been in my classroom before (of course, not for a full month).  I have talked to her several times.  We share many of the same philosophies.   She has experience and enjoys being a guest teacher.   Sometimes, you just can't win!

It was all just a bit too much for them, I think!  First, a guest teacher in the room.  Then, a new teacher associate.  And, to top it off, ANOTHER new teacher associate in the middle of the month!  Yep, I think I would have started a mini-revolution as well!

I'm pretty sure the children do not feel sorry for any of this.  In fact, I'm pretty sure the impression that may have been made was "act really really horrible to the guest teacher and your teacher will return".  Oh, good grief...we may have some more work to do on being "flexible" thinkers and being willing to "go with the flow"! 

Then again, in a small way, I'm happy they felt powerful enough to stand up for themselves and insist that this wasn't OK with them!  I just wish they hadn't made it quite so difficult on the poor guest teacher.

Saying Goodbye

Yep, I'm not good at saying "goodbye"!  The last of my little classroom team of teachers that we had going for a number of years has just started teaching in her own classroom.  So...I'm starting over.  Boo-hoo.  Yes, of course I'm excited for her, just bummed for me.

I'm not sure many people, other than early childhood educators, REALLY understand how important wonderful teacher associates (or assistants) are to the everyday functioning of the classroom!  I think sometimes people think assistants simply sit in the back of the room and laminate things! (I'm silently chuckling to myself about that last statement! :)

Of course, we all know how important every single person is to the classroom environment.  It just takes a while for a new team to really begin working together smoothly!  When you have a team that functions like a well oiled machine it's not easy to start all over and build that up again from scratch! 

Believe me...I know!  I've had associates in the past who have clearly and openly said they have no desire to work with children with special needs.  ...Um....tell me again why you took the job!?  I've had associates who clearly envisioned sitting back and relaxing all day while getting paid!  Not in my classroom...are you crazy?!

But those people are definitely NOT in the majority!  Thank goodness!  So, we'll work on getting our new team moving smoothly through the day!  I'm sure the children will grow to love these new wonderful people!  It will be a new adventure; as each person brings something new to the table!  It still doesn't make saying "goodbye" any easier!

Changes are never easy!

Changes are never easy.  Lately, I've been so busy working on paperwork and IEP's that the changes that are about to happen at our school really haven't sunk in yet!  Changes are never easy; especially when these changes are happening because of budgets that are created at a much higher level and are completely out of the control of anyone within our immediate area!   Changes are never easy. 

I've tried to keep looking at the positive in all this.  Although we will have teachers moving from preschool to teach kindergarten; we aren't truly "losing" anyone.  We will still be able to provide wonderful services for the children in our preschool program.  We continue to function as an early learning program...we just may look a bit different...with fewer classrooms and programs, but still a good core group of programs.  Changes are never easy. 

I'm all for learning new things!  Sometimes shaking things up is a good thing!  We'll have the opportunity to work with new wonderful people!  Although, of course, we will miss those wonderful people who are moving on to new adventures.  Changes are never easy.  

I have the month of July off...the entire month!  I'm very excited and completely ready to have a month off, but these changes will be taking place WHILE I'm off!  I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back in August and hardly recognize the place!  OK, that may be taking it a bit far!  Changes are never easy.   

So, while changes are never easy...sometimes they really do open up wonderful new learning opportunities!   I'm excited to see what these changes bring...

HEY! HE TOUCHED ME! (or Don't make me stop this car...again!)

Several weeks ago, there was some disagreement in our program as to how to handle certain things.  Some felt these were very large issues; others did not.  This got me to thinking...how do we as early childhood teachers, normally handle disagreements?  

Now, we are no strangers to conflict!  Any group of people who have worked together for any length of time WILL deal with disagreements at some point!  HOW we handle disagreements can make all the difference in the world, though!  

Hopefully, most of us would choose to take an issue that sends us "over the top" to the hall, to an office or wait for a more appropriate time to discuss it if we couldn't "hold it together" for the moment.  Hopefully, most of us would not choose to "vent" while the children were present. 

But, other than that, how do you deal with conflict within your program?  Is there an established procedure for dealing with issues that are "hot button" topics?  Do you have established times to meet to discuss issues? 

Wanted: Cloning Machine

While I'm sure if I lived inside my t.v. with the cartoons, I could quickly clone myself and my teacher associate with some ingenious cloning machine some cartoon villain uses; but out here in the real world, I haven't found I'm able to do this!  Now, forget about any moral issues surrounding cloning humans; I'm just interested in having enough hands to meet the needs of the little guys in my classroom currently!

We're down one teacher associate.  While things are still going smoothly and calmly for the most part, I've gone home extra tired and have had more muscle aches than usual.  I suppose that may be because I spend 90% of my day in a hunched over position assisting children, sitting in little tiny chairs and sitting on the floor!  I know, I know, I'm not the only one!  It just makes it even more noticeable when we are missing an adult!  Just imagine if I was actually a TALL person!  Yikes, this would be even more painful!

So, for now, our activities require all hands on deck!  I haven't been able to take photos of activities because of this...so, no new blog posts!  I think I have things balanced pretty well for next week, so I should be able to sneak some blogging in there somewhere!  But if you don't see me here for a bit, you'll know it's because I'm out there searching for that cloning machine! 

Hanging On!

For some reason I feel behind...behind on IEP stuff...behind on planning...behind on responding to e-mails...behind on READING e-mails...behind on working on the data team...behind on filing paperwork...behind on working on our outdoor learning area additions...behind on relaxing...behind on blogging (only had 2 posts ready for this week- so that got me through until Tuesday)...

OK- Let's face it...behind on LIFE or at least WORK!  Needless to say, I will be leaving this post shortly!  I will be taking a jaunt over to the IEP website to finish goal updates...then I will be heading down the path to list making; namely, making a list of things I MUST finish tomorrow...or ELSE!

Then...THEN...I WILL be relaxing...and I will try to leave the list of things to do until tomorrow...where I will hopefully leave work feeling like I am keeping up with the treadmill...not hanging on for dear life...and then I will relax, because tomorrow is Friday!