Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

I realized as soon as I saw the kids this morning how much I missed them.  Promptly at 9 a.m. the bell rang and the hallways filled with laughing, talking, happy little ones, anxious to get back to school.  The teachers filled the hallways smiling and invigorated from their two week + three bonus snow days of vacation.  And it was already Thursday!

So what if a pipe had burst under one of the classroom sinks in my hallway late Wednesday night?  And the carpets had been removed from the classrooms, soaking wet from the three inches of water.  No problem that the book shelves were moved around the room and anything left on the floor was completely soaking wet?  What difference did it make that the classroom was a bit disorganized and "off" due to having to move things out of the way in the water clean-up?

I stood in the hallway as the students arrived, wishing them a happy new year and welcoming them back.  

"[student name], is that you?" I asked bending down and looking at one of my little cuties.  "It's been so long since I've seen you, I barely recognize you." 

(giggle) "Oh, you know who I am!" came the reply.

I continued down the row of coat racks attempting to be silly and unable to contain my glee at seeing them again.

"Aren't you SO happy to be back at school finally?" I asked several of them as they urgently pulled and jerked to remove their snow pants and coats.   "I have so many things for us to do today!"

They laughed and grabbed their binders and headed to the classroom.  

Naturally, they instantly noticed two things.  

#1  The disco/mirror ball was hanging from the ceiling. Sparkling and reflecting magnificently I might add.

#2  The room looked very different: bookcases were not in their places and the reading carpet was missing. 

"Let's hurry up and get settled so we can get started," I instructed.   

At this, one student noticed the note on the boy's bathroom door:  "Do Not Use" with a confused face drawn on it.  Because every note needs some kind of face on it.

Pointing to the boy's bathroom as he headed towards me I heard, "Why can't we use the bathroom?"  

Simultaneously two little girls were asking me why the book cases and book boxes were all over the room. 

I held up both of my arms as if calling a touch down in a football game.  I clicked on my microphone.   "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?   I need to make an important announcement.  Last night a water pipe broke in a classroom down the hall and there was some water in our classroom.   They are cleaning the carpet and had to move some things to clean up the water.  You may not use the bathrooms in the room or the sink/drinking fountain because there isn't any H2O.  You may use the bathrooms and sink in the Media Center."

Fifteen hands were in the air.   How in the world can they have so many questions?  I explained the situation perfectly and completely. 

"What is H2O?" asked one, who had apparently heard only one word of the fifty.  

"Water!" echoed back at least four others.   "It means water."

"What if there is someone in the bathroom in the Media Center?" asked another.

"Well, you can do what you do here.  Wait." I replied.

At this, at least seven hands went down.  Seems that was an important question of the day.  I finished up the remaining questions quickly and we began.

In the middle of our math lesson, a hand shot in the air with urgency.  

"Yes?"  

"You have the wrong date on the board.  You have 1-9-13 and it should be 1-9-14," stated the little boy. 

"You are absolutely right!" I exclaimed as I headed over to the board to correct it.  "Thank you for being so observant.  I am a year behind the times."

It was great today to see the kids get right back into the routine and the flow of our classroom.  We have a great little community of learners and thinkers.  

I got called "mom" at least fifteen times today, typical for after a long break away from school.  At recess, I encouraged the students to make a snowman outside our classroom window as they headed outside.  When they returned, I looked out the window and shrugged my shoulders.  

"Where is the snowman?"  I asked with a pouty face.  "All that time outdoors and you didn't make a snowman for me?" 

At this two headed for the window.  They pointed far away to a giant snowball. 

"We tried.  We made the snowball but it was too big and wouldn't roll any more."  

Indeed, there was a rather large snowball in the middle of the playground.  

"Well, you can try again tomorrow!  I know you can do this!" I encouraged them as I headed away from the window. "Now, I'm certainly no snowman builder expert, but maybe you should start the snowballs closer to where you want them to end up," I suggested. "Just saying."

After all, last year my class put in lots of time and effort to build this:

Last Year's Snowman

After lunch it was time for reading.  "OK, please come and sit on the --  on the -- back carp--", I said pointing to the space where the carpet normally is. 

They giggled.  "Well, I guess that wouldn't be too comfortable to sit on the hard floor.  So you can just stay in your seat." 

When students asked to go to the Media Center (bathroom), I told them to have a nice stroll and to not get into any mischief. 

As usual, the day flew by.  I know the kids were happy to be back to school on a schedule.    And I'm guessing that the parents were elated to have their kids back to school.

Most of all, I'm quite positive the teachers were glad to be back teaching and with kids.

Ice, Ice Baby

Well I am certainly no meteorologist, but the weather can be summed up around here lately in two words: POLAR VORTEX.   Now, how cool is that?  I have never in my life heard that term before and here I was right in the middle of this polar vortex thingie.  It sounded so serious.  And so cold.   I looked it up on Wikipedia and learned that it is also called a polar cyclone and a circumpolar whirl.  Those meteorologists!

So, this phenomenal polar vortex moves into Michigan late Sunday night, after at least twelve inches of snow were dumped on the area throughout the day.  Perfect!  Monday was for sure going to be a snow day.  A teacher's dream. Temperatures were expected to be -20 to -30, not fit for man nor beast, let alone a little eight year old at a frigid bus stop.

This was an extra bonus to have this additional day at the end of our two week holiday break.    School was called off Sunday night which made the Monday snow day even sweeter as I didn't have to stay up half the night monitoring school closings, looking out the window, and waking up my husband to ask him if he thought there might be a snow day.  Teachers have a lot of stress on snow day eves. We hang in limbo as we wait to find out if we will be staying home, or if we should, indeed, open up that plan book and finish up those lesson plans.   In addition, thanks to Facebook we now spend way too many hours posting about the possibility of a snow day.  It's a vicious cycle. 

Today marks our third, and unprecedented, snow day, or cold day, or stay-off-the-roads day at my school.  In fact every district for miles around has been closed for three solid days. I ventured out yesterday and today for a bit and the roads were very icy and treacherous.  Best to make the call and keep the little ones safe at home.

I don't ever remember it being this cold around here.  Snow days are meant for staying in your pajamas until noon and then bundling up and playing in the snow.  But with these below 0 temperatures playing outside is impossible.  I baked banana bread for the first time, cleaned the oven (well the oven cleaned itself), worked out every day, and called friends to chat.  I read a book, which sadly rarely happens during the school year, watched some movies, and cleaned.  

 In other words, I can't wait to get back to school.

I miss the kids.  I miss their smiles and their loud talking and their laughter.  I miss teaching and learning. I miss my classroom and my teacher friends.  I miss the routine and the constant activity of a day at school.  
  

We'll be back at school tomorrow, well rested, refreshed, and anxious to get back to the business of learning.  So, adios Polar Vortex.  Good-bye Snowmageddon 2014.  Ciao -30 wind chill.  And parents, you can go back to work now, we've got this.  

At least until the next snow day.

10 Things I've Learned (to accept) This Year

Happy 2014!   Where does the time go?  I've learned a lot this past year and I've reached the point where I accept some things I just can't change.  So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are ten things that I've learned to accept.

 1.  I can actually run on the treadmill (which I assume will transfer to outside when the weather breaks).  After decades of attempting to run more than .25 miles and failing, I've finally worked myself up to being able to successfully run 5K.  And by that I mean 3.1 miles.  It just sounds better when you say 5K.   Yay me! 

2.  I find folding fitted sheets exasperating.    I even tried watching a YouTube video over the summer and still can't get it.  So, I'm giving up.

3.  If I think of myself as a year older than I really am during the year, getting older doesn't bother me.  In fact, when my birthday arrives, I'm excited that I actually am not as old as I think I am.   You're welcome.

4.  Dry erase kidney tables are the bomb.   My students would whole-heartedly agree. 

5.  Hugging is overrated.  There.  I've said it. 

6.  There's an app for that.  And by that I mean everything.

7.  I am a morning person. With or without coffee.  I have high energy in the morning and start to fade by 3 pm.   No matter how late I stay up, I am still ready to go early the next day. 

8.  I can't sing and I can't dance.  But that doesn't stop me from joining in when we celebrate birthdays in my classroom.  That's because kids don't care.  They like me anyway.

9.  If you were to lock me in a room with a box of parts and directions to build an item (for example, from IKEA), I would not be able to do it.   This also applies to any sewing, DIY projects, drawing, or anything found on Pinterest.   

10.  Honesty is always the best policy.   

As the new year begins, may you be happy and healthy and ready for the new things coming your way.