Is this real life???

I swear, these kids say the CRAZIEST things! With everything that happens, I've lost track of all the times I've said "I NEVER thought that could happen in real life!"
Unfortunately, there have been a few unhappy crazy stories like that, but more often than not the stories are funny/awkward!

--Student: "Miss W, I just really want this rain to stop. It's annoying, and it really messed up your hair!"

--Same Student: "Miss W, I'm going to Chicago this weekend!"
Miss W: "I remember you telling me that yesterday, I can't wait to hear all about it!"
Student: "I want you to come too, Miss W! You can come with me, my dad, [another student], and his mom!"
Other Student: "And my mom's boyfriend and his daughter!"
Student: "Please, Miss W?"
Miss W: "Uhhhh, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to pass... but have fun!"

--Same Student: [Reaching arms around his back & up to his shoulder blades.] "This hurts."
Miss W: "So don't do it."
Student: "No, it hurts good! Here, feel it Miss W!"
Miss W: "No thanks, [Student], go back to your seat and do your work!"
(I am SO glad Miss B was there to witness that one, too, that was way too awkward to handle alone!!!)

--Different Student: "Some people from my church are coming to my house tonight."
Miss W: "Oh, that's cool, why?"
Student: "To bless my house."
Miss W: "...What are they doing?"
Student: "They're coming to bless my house, that way they can get rid of the ghosts!"
Miss B: "There are ghosts in your house??? How do you know?"
Student: "My mom has an app on her phone that tells you when there's a ghost and what its name is. We have two, their names are [?] and [?]!"


I swear, the things that come out of their mouths...
Anyway, work was pretty rough for awhile, because I was still trying to get used to the new procedures and whatnot, but this week things have progressively gotten better!
I know what group of kids I'll be working with for a reading intervention, and I have more specific kids to work with in small groups during math.
Usually the computers teacher takes charge during lunch and recess duty, but he's doing MAP testing with the kids, so a sub has been taking his place. Since I haven't been taking charge as much, I've stepped up a little more, so that the librarian isn't left to do all the talking. It's given me more confidence, which is great! Especially for a day like today, when I was with 2 subs on lunch duty today, so I had to be the take-charge one. It was a good feeling to realize that I have enough of a grasp on everything to keep things running smoothly! ;-)

Finally, and most excitingly (for me), I volunteered to coordinate the math competition for 4th grade! I guess they do it every year, but this year none of the 4th grade teachers volunteered, so I was happy to step up! Unfortunately, I didn't get my password for the website until yesterday, and the contest is 2 weeks from today! I'm still supposed to plan study sessions and get permission slips from the kids and register them on the website and everything, so it was late notice... but it gives me something to do. I printed out the practice packets, and these questions are hard! I tried them all myself, then looked at the answer keys, and I got 2 wrong! One of them I knew I didn't know, so I'd been enlisting the help of some other staff, and we could not figure it out... rough. Totally fun, though :-D

That's about it from the first-year TA, though! Hopefully doing this contest will be a step in helping me get my own classroom next year!!! :-)

I've already lost track of time...

Time flies when you're having fun!! No wonder I already feel like it should be Winter Break... I still love the staff, but I'm ready to do more than walk around and answer the kids' questions. Recess is a nice break, though I'm not excited for the winter...

As of today I have something more definite to do for at least 20 minutes -- I get to take groups of the lower kids in math to work with them on their basic math facts. I can work with them using whatever method I want, and I am SO beyond excited for this! Today I experimented with 2 different methods, and I decided that I'll continue using the second method until they know most of their facts, then go back to the first method. Luckily the kids like both activities I did, so hopefully they'll stay engaged!

Otherwise I just grade papers and the like. I don't mind anything I do, I just want to do MORE so that the day goes by faster!!!

I went to Back to School Night, as well, so I got to meet a few parents. The 4th grade team went out to dinner beforehand, and my mentor invited me along so I got to see how well they all get along. It's so fun to see their relationship -- very encouraging!

So, nothing too interesting yet. I'll end my entries with a few funny moments (one of which is PG-13, just fyi!!):

-Yesterday the 4th grade teacher I work with handed me some borders and a stapler and asked me to hang the borders around the word wall (which has been up since before I saw the room). I quietly try to staple it up a couple of times, to no avail. Finally, I decided to just pound the stapler in, thinking that might work. It make a really loud noise but still doesn't work! The teacher looks at me and bursts out laughing, then tells me, "I am SO sorry, I completely forgot that's a chalkboard!" No wonder the staples wouldn't go in! ;-)

-There's no tackling allowed at recess. I saw some and went to stop it, and the boy who was doing the tackling told me "But he said if I give him my chocolate milk I can tackle him!!!"

-The 4th graders are learning Scrabble, and they're not all that great at it yet. I was helping one boy student, who had the letters "O" and "T," and there was a "P" open on the board. I was trying to get him to see that he could make the word "pot," so I said "There's an open letter that you can use to make a word, towards the bottom of the board..." eventually I had to tell him it was the "P." So I said, "What word can you make that starts with 'p'?" He goes, "porn?" LOL.

Have a great weekend, everyone!