The scary parent has been banned from the campus for scaring the children and staff. A happy end to the story below.

The new group of little people is slowly but surely shaping up! I'm having to raise my voice less and less each day. I did have an EBD kid climb in the closet this morning because I took pencils away from him. He was beating his crayon box to death and driving me up a tree.

His grand-parental unit forgot to give him the medication he needs, and so he was climbing the walls! Thankfully they rushed to my call and brought medicine within the hour!

If you have children, please be a good parent. Teach your children at home as much as you possibly can, for you are your child's first and most important teacher.

I have one year to teach your child everything you didn't in the first five years of his/her life. I'm a teacher, not a miracle worker, damnit!

Rough afternoon at work.

One of my kids got mixed up on modes of transportation home - This isn't normally a big deal and it happens several times the first week of school to random children. The children are always supervised by an adult, be it a bus driver, or someone on campus until the parent can get to the child.

Anyway, the child was given to me with the notice that they would be "a car rider, and sometimes a bus rider" which is incredibly vague. One of our assistants comes around and tags the kids who ride buses with colored bands, and apparently this morning the kid got himself a colored bus band to wear.

Fast forward.

This afternoon at dismissal, we called for the specific bus and the kid lined up with all the other students. I checked the arm band. All was in order. I checked the kids names with my list. I saw "sometimes a bus rider" and assumed that the kid had been banded for a reason, because he was told to go home on the bus by a parent. I even ask the kid, are you sure?? and he says "yes, bus rider."

Fast forward.

20 minutes later, I have an irate parent screaming obscenities at me because their child was supposed to be a car rider and no one was at home to meet the kid. The parent then proceeded to romp through the hallways shouting curse words while other students are fleeing with fear. (Perhaps the better idea would have been to get in the car and drive the five minutes home to meet the kid...? The bus driver was waiting with the child.)

I'm the first to admit mistake. I apologized 1000 times. I won't make excuses but I followed all the rules. The band was put on him because he stood up and got on the line, and he repeated several times that he was a bus rider. His paperwork stated that he would occasionally ride the bus as per the parent.

The entire system is wrong when a parent can use words like "sometimes" and "occasionally". From now on, parents will list one method of transportation, and one alone. If there is a change your child will require a notice or phone call to the school to inform the staff.

I think it's insane that the parent was allowed out of the office in such an emotional state to come scream at a teacher. I, too, would be upset if I was unsure of the location of my child, but there is a time and a place for everything... and it's not usually done in the presence of small children. Especially when the teacher is only partially to blame, with the parent and student making up the rest of the equation. Mistakes happen. We're human. The child was safe 100% of the time and under constant supervision.

There were several students in tears as this parent was completely out of control. I should not fear walking into my classroom tomorrow morning but I have 19 other children to protect from said parent now.

Frustrated.

The Heed will make it better ~ once upon a time I learned to play this ~ I think I'll learn it again!

Always and Never - Coheed and Cambria

The first day of the 2010/11 school year is in the books. We made it through an entire day of organized chaos without any unforeseen drama, thank heavens.

It seems as though I have four students, as of today, who are in serious need of help. Two of those four told me "No!" several times throughout the day, and one of those I had to pick up and carry to time-out. He spent the next ten minutes screaming a fit until the assistant principal showed up to remove him.

I'm not sure what made him angrier. The fact that I put him in time-out, or the fact that I ignored his screams of anger.

The problem there happens to be that the child is supposed to be in an "Emotional Behavior Disorder" classroom, but the powers that be let the parent choose between a regular ed room or the smaller EBD setting. She choose the regular ed room, of course, and so now the child is completely overwhelmed and out of place. It frustrates me that the best interest of the child isn't considered.

Nothing I can do there but proceed one day at a time and not give in to the dramatic displays. It's a great thing I have the patience of a saint.

In other news, I received the sweetest email from the parent of a past student (last year). She wanted to let me know how her child was doing at her new school, and had this to say:

"As you know the kindergarten teacher is usually the most revered as children grow up and recollect their school years. =o) You are a great one to remember!"

Made my day...

Random shots of random objects, for random reasons.


Diego and Fred. Diego belongs to my sister-in-law, and Fred belongs to Alex and I. We had Lulu (the neighbor's boxer) over yesterday, and I ended up breaking up a growling match between the two boxers. I handled the situation better than I thought I would! Thank goodness for choke chains. Rules, boundaries, limitations! Thanks Ceasar!


This is the inside of our piano... makes for a great desktop if I do say so myself.


Alex and Amy at the piano last week. Alex was working out his newest piano piece for the upcoming album - This Town - A Sinking Ship by Sympathy from the Stars

If you need me, this is where I'll be! A single shot from the classroom this year - before the kids get there to tear it up!

More to come!

Can you...


name my...


favorite bands...


from these pictures???



If you guessed Dream Theater and Coheed and Cambria.... you are correct! All pictures taken by me!