Irish Yums!

Looking up...

Breakthrough finally

Happiness can be real now

I have a new job.

Life Changing Moments…

In teaching there are sometimes life changing moments…

One such moment for me was when I first got sucked into teaching ESL.

Another such moment was when I sat in on an ESL kindergarten class…

I met my first little autistic student.

He was non-verbal and hated colors and loud noises.

His fixation was a car…but it was also me…oddly enough.

Direct eye contact and then a hug…

His teacher discouraged it…  It was my first day there and she did not know me.

But I did not mind the hug…

From then on, every time he saw me, he’d rush over to hug me or show me something he worked on in class…

This is how I decided that my next Master’s degree will be in Special Education, one sweet boy who changed my life…

Talk to Them...

“I hate it here.  School is too hard.  The playground is different from the one in Pennsylvania.  I don’t like Delaware.  I don’t like living with my grandpa.  I want to live with my mom and dad but they have to fix the house so we can go back.  My brother and sister and I moved down here.  My baby-baby sister is with mom and dad.  I want to go home.”

This ramble is brought to you by a displaced boy in first grade.

Sometimes you just have to listen and not just shove a lesson down their throat.

Not long after this, I sat with him again.  We worked on his reading, which is something he hates.  He still hated Delaware.  He still missed his mom and dad.  But he was more willing to participate and work with me.  He didn’t act up or whine.

Sometimes a chat can make a world of difference.

Even if the effects only lasts two weeks before he goes back to Pennsylvania…

What am I watching?!

Watching a movie

It is so very trippy

Appropriate drugs

Contaminated Gifts...

Booger cookies are

A very thoughtful gift, dear

I think I’ll pass.

Background Check...

I passed both Praxises

Yet I am so forgetful…

My brain has a fog.

I’m Trying...

Class Rules

 1.      Stay quiet.

2.      Look at the teacher.

3.      Listen to the teacher.

4.      Stay in your seat.

5.      Answer questions.

  Prizes

 1.      One good day gets you one sticker.

2.      A whole week of stickers gets you a small prize.

3.      A whole month of stickers gets you a bigger prize.

  Punishments

 1.      Verbal warning and no sticker.

2.      Five minutes off of recess.

3.      A call home.

  Signals

 1.      Finger to lips – Quiet!

2.      Teacher points to eye – Look at teacher.

3.      Teacher touches ear – Listen to teacher.

4.      Push down with palm – Sit.

5.      Hand up – Raise your hand to answer.

6.      X with arms – STOP!

Tired...

No energy

Still rather depressed at times

Creativity.

Eighth Classroom...

After a long painful summer of no luck…

I finally made it as a teacher…

Kind of…

Their usual teacher just popped out her 3rd kid…

Hey, more power to ya…

I was a long-term substitute for 5th grad math…

But I have a BA in Literature…

And an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language…

What the heck do I know about 5th grade math?!

Surprisingly it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be…

The morning kids were wonderful…

Low energy, just like me…

The afternoon kids were naughty…

And so, so hyper…

But I loved their individual personalities…

And their general mischievousness…

So adorable…<3

Third Classroom...

My third classroom…

I taught Shakespeare.

I was fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen-years-old.

My classroom was chaotic and stunk of school lunches.

Once again, the ‘weird’ kid was the center of attention.

Seriously though, how hard is it to read the footnotes?

They hold the keys to the wonders of the world!