First Day Failure....

So it's Sunday night at 8:39 and I'm watching the minutes tick by until I must force myself to go to bed and tackle another Monday first thing tomorrow morning....  Let's back track a bit, shall we?

We started back to work Monday last week and had three days of PD.  Our kiddos started on Thursday.  I've been on the edge of my seat with anticipation about school starting this year for WEEKS.  I've worked really hard all summer to organize, decorate, plan, learn, and instruct.  With all my new WBT goals I've been super excited to get into the thick of things: meet my new kids, start my lessons, really rev up the year from the very beginning.

Thursday morning... <sigh> did NOT go as planned.

My kiddos came in and had Play-Doh and a letter from me as usual.  They played quietly and whispered with neighbors for a bit and read their letter and even had an opportunity to write a letter to me in return.  I began my first day lessons with strength and passion.  We rocked through Rule 1 and learned the scoreboard before I had to deliver my sweet darlings to their enrichment class at 8:45.  At 9:15 my kids returned and we reviewed Rule 1 and practiced earning Smilies and Frownies on the Scoreboard.  (By the way, I was given all the special friends for third grade this year so my dynamic is a bit different than before.)  I had one sweet little dear who spent the next 2 hours asking when is lunch.  Every. Three. Minutes... Literally.  I could have set a clock by it.  Even though we had started on the rest of the rules and we were practicing rules 2 and 3 (not to mention 5!!!) the little dear just - kept - going.    

We made it through lunch...  Finally! so for the next 3 hours he asked for a blanket so he could take a nap because he was tired.  (You know I teach THIRD grade right?)  Sweet little guy just couldn't help it.  We played games - a version of the Name Game with Brainies.  We read stories and interviewed our new friends.  We heard all about German schools from a new friend who just recently moved to the United States (she is American, but her family has lived in Germany for longer than she has been alive).  It should have been a FUN day.  

This year is my seventh year to teach and the first time I've cried on the first day.  I was also asleep on my couch before 7:30 and we went out to eat that night.

I have two other special friends who require a lot of attention.  One is fine as long as he is hugging me.  However, sit him at a desk for even a second and he becomes Mr. Chatterbox with no one but himself... so my solution for the time being is to let him walk in step with me in a hug as often as necessary to help him adjust.  And I have a third friend who cannot articulate.  Anything.  And has difficulty listening to the whole direction.  Even a very short one like "Put this in the keep at home pocket in your binder."  That one was a hard one.

I really shouldn't complain because the other 17 kids are amazing.  They were ON IT with my WBT activities and seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and learn a lot.  Which should have made me smile.  And on Friday when I thought about it, I did smile.  But Thursday... to say I was overwhelmed is an understatement.

Friday was better.  MUCH BETTER!  I'm not sure if maybe I was a sensory overload for them and they weren't ready... or they are just adjusting more slowly... or if I worked so hard that I was already a little tired.  But Friday was so much better!  I made a colored pictorial schedule for my time-oriented friend and made him my class chair-taker-downer (still working on that title) in the mornings, but only if he goes home on green or better on the clip chart.  Those two things seemed to help.  Plus, the positive peer pressure and rule rehearsal seemed to make a big difference as well.  But, I completely forgot about the scoreboard all day!  I felt dumb when I realized it was blank.  Buhhh-lank I tell you.  Craziness.

When I got my afternoon class for the first time, it went amazingly well in comparison. (We are departmentalized, so I teach a different class in the afternoon for more reading and writing.)  Except that I have one child, who is Hispanic, that refuses to speak out loud.  Not because he doesn't know it in English though.  He will whisper to another kid, or even whisper to me... but doesn't want to do the activity aloud or even with a partner.  I am struggling here.  I've had kids who were reluctant to speak, but I've always managed to win them over quickly.  I'm a little stumped with this kid.  Several kids would respond "He doesn't talk much." to which I responded that it was an unacceptable answer.  I even gave him plenty of warnings that I was coming to him, would call on someone else and come back to him, sandwiched him in between other kids kinda near the end of the group during the name game.... everything I could think of.  I need a prayer because my personal goal is to have him talking out loud to the class by Christmas.

So now it's 9:14 and I'm 35 minutes closer to Monday morning.  I have everything planned and ready: Shark Week!  I'm using texts about sharks to teach my classroom routines and procedures.  My goals this week include:

• Utilize the scoreboard MUCH more often (like stop forgetting about it)
• Begin Universal Homework
• Introduce more Brainies - because, and, in addition.
• Practice, practice, practice the rules
• Super.  Improvers.

How is the beginning of your year going?  What are your goals?  Leave a comment and let me know!