I was suppose to be at school by 8 am. I was there by quarter till. The school day is from 8:15 am to 2:30 pm. I didn't' leave until about 5:15 pm. I had a very long and tiring day. My feet hurt. Besides adding a 4th grade class, they also added 3 kindergarten classes. The other two 4th classes had like 34 or 35 students in each room.
I was given 11 and 12 students from the other two rooms, which gives me 23 students. We didn't move the kids until after lunch. I spent the morning, getting manuals, finding some supplies, making notes and lists. By noon, I was tired. I put my students into alphabetical order and made up a seating chart. By 12:30, all the students were in the classroom. I tried to introduce myself, talk about rules, etc. Do you know how hard that was? They would not shut-up. My students in TX talked, but not like this. I talk, they talk. I wait for them to get quiet, they still talk. Lining up, they talk. Standing in the hallway, they talk. I am hoping you can see the picture, I am making. Almost, non-stop talking. They wanted to go to the bathroom, I kept putting them off, because I couldn't get through anything, because of the NOISE.
After restroom break, we did a getting to know you worksheet. I saw to whisper, they do not know what that means. They were loud. After about 5-10 minutes, I said, by the time I count to 10, you will be sitting down, quietly. Were they? No way! I had to yell, raise my voice. In about 2-21/2 hours, I raised it about 5 times. We finish that activity, and I pass out a reading packet on the Oregon Trail.
We start reading it out loud. Get through about half of the paragraphs. Some were talking, not paying attention, had no idea where they were, etc. I stopped, and told them they were on silence and would work on the packet by themselves in silence. No talking. There is about 30 minutes left in the school day. Were they quiet? NO! The principal even came into the room, before school was out, they still talked while working, even though I said no talking.
On Tuesday, I will assign them numbers, and they will line up in number order. When they want to be rude and disrespectful, they will sit with heads down, and practice being quiet. They will also practice standing quiet in a vertical line. I told them they are in the 4th grade and know how to do it properly. Since they don't seem to, then they will practice.
After school, I had to get textbooks, short on heath books, talk to teammates, and think about for next week. I will do lesson plans over the weekend. I copied pages for Tuesday only. I will do the rest of the week on Tuesday.
This is very interesting, the principal is a year older than me, and we went to the same elementary school. She has a daughter in the first grade, who is going to the same school we went to; which is where my niece goes to school. Her daughter and my niece has been going to the same summer camp. This principal knows my niece. A small world.
The next few weeks will be a challenge. I feel for the kids, in knowing they will have a new teacher in a few weeks. I am not going to decorate the classroom. I will be taking as little stuff from home as possible. It is a nice school. I pray and hope things go better next week.
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