I had a class of 4th graders today who were feeling their oats a little. They just couldn’t quite get it together to be quiet, follow directions, not talk back, not roll their eyes and make faces at me. They weren’t tearing the walls down or anything, they were just pushing the limits with me. And all I wanted them to do was decorate their library cards and use shelf markers.
Archive: September 2008
I just bought this book, and I’m really excited about it but also kind of terrified. I have still not been able to figure out how to make Sheldon. I’ve knit bags, scarves, hats, even iPod cozies. But I took one look at the directions for Sheldon and felt like I was trying to read a foreign language. I could not get my mind around it.
I wanted to post about this on Friday, but something was up with WordPress and I couldn’t upload any pictures. It has been gross here in NJ since Friday morning, and since my classes that day were a week ahead (I started last Friday) I decided to do some rainy day stories with the little kids. For Kindergarten and 1st grade, I read Bamboo & Friends: The Rainy Day by Felicia Law. I was totally unfamiliar with this series of books, but it was kind of charming and straightforward. It had a few little facts about pandas and rain throughout the story, which was nice. Some of the facts needed extra explanation for the little kids, and some of them were randomly placed in the story which made it hard to work them in. It was a short little book with nice illustrations, fine for what I needed it for.
Today was Adam’s birthday. His favorite animal is the squirrel. So what happened when we were driving home from the city this afternoon? I killed a squirrel! The little guy was crossing the street, then he doubled back just as I was driving up, and I had no time to avoid him. He made a terrible THWUMP sound under the tires and became a pancake in the road. I’ve never hit anything in my entire life, EVER, so of course on Adam’s birthday I hit his favorite animal. I couldn’t believe it.
It’s harder than I originally thought. At least, the first week is harder. So this blog might be a bit sporadic until I get this new routine down. I love the job, the kids are awesome. But at the moment my hours are gobbled up with lesson plans, cleaning out my office, finding things around the library, getting settled, and coming home to recover. Posting every day has not been happening. Plus, I haven’t quite decided what direction this blog will take now that my job has changed. I’m not doing neat programs once or twice a week with photogenic crafts to post. Will I post what I’m doing with the kids from week to week? Quite possibly. Or what I’ve done in the library, or some cool new thing I’ve found.