Can birthdays get any better?

I work with THE BEST people and my students are FANTASTIC.

I was late to work because not only could I not figure out how to do my hair (I wanted it to look good today!), but my 2nd period had earned donuts, and I had to go buy them. Let's just say I barely made it to work by the 5-minute bell. (As in FIVE MINUTES BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS.) Oops.

What surprise was waiting? One of my dear friends (who is a para for the Special Ed department at the school) and her friend (who also works for the district) decorated my classroom last night. I opened my door to a birthday wonder-land! There were fun little birthday signs and on my desk was a pink sash with the words "Birthday Princess" printed on them along with a matching pink button. Of course I immediately put them on!

Leslie, my facilitator, had given me a pink crown to wear last year and I kept it and wore it today! (Leslie asked me where my crown was though, and then I took it out of my purse and put it on.)

Leslie prompted my 1st period to sing to me. My 2nd period sang happy birthday to me right before we had donuts.

3rd period spontaneously started singing to me when one lone student began singing "Happy Birthday" solo-style. I probably sang the loudest though.

At the beginning of each period, I told my students that as a birthday present to them, I would allow them ten minutes of free time at the end of the class if they were ON-TASK for the rest of the class period. It worked! During free time 4th period, we had a Temple Run contest to see who could last the longest. We had about four kids on ipads and a couple on their personal ipods. It was so fun. I won the first round. (I don't think that's something to be proud of though...)

Leslie bought me lunch from Zupa's and I opened presents. (Like I said, I work with THE BEST people.) Lisa and Char bought me a cool game that I might be able to use in my classroom. Leslie bestowed a pair of her earrings to me. (I say "bestow" because she owned them and gave them to me because I have a necklace that matches them perfectly.) Then she bought me a book called The Art of Clean Up: Life made neat and tidy. The book is both a joke and awesome. It's awesome because the pictures area really fun, but it's a joke because I'm the "neat, organized" one who is slightly OCD about my classroom being organized and clean. (I freak out at my students if they make a mess and don't clean it up.)

Various co-workers stopped by during lunch time and said hi and wished me happy birthday. :) Of course I loved all the attention.

6th period I received some flowers! My dad sent me flowers, which is just the sweetest thing. I remember when he sent me flowers at work last year. I LOVE IT.

7th period two students were late to my class. What did they come in late with? A huge poster. And they were singing happy birthday. It was awesome. They read me these little poems they wrote on the poster. It was so sweet. The past couple of days they have been coming into my classroom during their math class and asking for markers. Apparently they were working on this poster! Isn't that so sweet? They were so proud of their poster! (And they should be - it was awesome!)



All-in-all it was a pretty great day. I'm completely exhausted though. Some students asked me if they could stay after school and I said, "No! I'm going home and relaxing tonight!" Of course all I'm doing is prying my eyes ope and trying not to fall asleep before I got to dinner with my brother and sister!

Best. Birthday. Ever.

-Ms. Damron-

Teacher for the day

At the beginning of the week I had a student in my 7th period ask if he could be the teacher for the day. (This is the same student who asked me to be more strict.) I said, "If you can be on-task and totally awesome for the next couple of days, YES." I didn't really think about it a whole lot after that, but this student took me seriously and did his best to be on-task and do as he was supposed to.

Thursday we had a half-day due to Parent-Teacher Conferences. Our period were a bit shorter, so I figured this would be a fine day for this student to be the teacher.

I really wanted to "beef" the experience up so-to-speak in case I could use this as a motivator for later, so I wrote lesson plans for this student. They were as follows:

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Dear Mr. XXXXX, 

Thank you for being willing to cover my class. Please do the following:

• Take attendance on the clipboard.

• Do math minute 93. Give the students 3 minutes, then correct together. They should raise their hand and participate accordingly.

• Have students take out their planners. They need to fill out their planners for this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). If they don’t have their planners, they receive a red “Not Following Directions” point on Class Dojo.

• Have students break into independent homework time. Students need to check their grades and then you can bring them tickets. They get tickets for every “A” or “B” they have in a class. READ 180 counts for two classes.

• Monitor students to make sure they are on-task and doing their homework. If they don’t have homework, they can review notes/assignments from other classes, do IXL or VMathlive, Mavis Beacon Typing, or do a free time worksheet. 

Thanks again and let me know how it goes!

-Ms. Damron-

I know what you're thinking - and you're right - I AM AWESOME.

As soon as this student entered my classroom on Thursday, he went straight for the chair at my desk and sat down like he owned the place. I couldn't possible let that slide, regardless of whether or not he was "teacher for the day" or not! I told him to beat it, and I think he thought that meant he wasn't going to be teacher of the day. 

He left kind of disheartened, but when I told him I had made lesson plans for him, he perked up immediately, took the plans, and went straight for the front of the classroom. He was SO EXCITED. 

I enjoyed every minute of his "reign." It was so entertaining. He is a funny character as it is, but he was saying they funniest things. For example, he told one boy, "Is that how you speak to me, BOY? TAKE  YOUR SEAT!" 

At the end, he made himself quite comfortable and put his feet up on the desk and used my ipad to keep points on ClassDojo. It was so funny. One of our paraeducators said, "I don't think Ms. Damron would do that..." His reply was, "I am a much cooler teacher than Ms. Damron." (or something like that) 

He did leave a note, and it was pretty funny! It said, 

"it is a vary rebelius class. It need me more to Be teacher." I love this kid!

All-in-all, it was an enjoyable way to spend the class period, and I hope he had fun!

-Ms. Damron-

State Audit

Well, the state audit for Special Ed was today. I felt like it was so far away, but then it snuck up on me. Time really is flying by!

To give you an idea of what the audit entailed, our paperwork was checked to make sure it was in compliance with the law; there were several interviews that included special ed teachers, general ed teachers, and the assistant principal, and observations of special ed students were done to see if their accommodations were being met in their classes.

That's a lot, in case you didn't catch on.

Two of the six special ed teachers at my school were interviewed and I was one of the lucky interviewees! (When my facilitator told me I was going to be interviewed, I just laughed and thought to myself, "Of course I was chosen. This year isn't crazy enough!")

The interview itself went pretty well. I don't know how my folder fared, but the observation that happened in my class? Pretty sure it was AWFUL. It's cool though. Remember how my hardest class to manage is 6th period? Was that the class where the observation occurred? Of course it was! That's how my life works, right?!

And today wasn't any better than usual. When the observer from the state office came in, my students were acting typical: COMPLETELY INSANE. There were talk-outs up the wazoo, I was barely maintaing control, and one of the students might have fallen asleep.

Oh well. I only felt like crying and crawling into bed after the observer left, but fortunately I made it through 7th period. Funny enough, because I was not in the mood for any sort of mischief or disrespect, I was quite strict with my 7th period.
Last week, one of my students asked if I could be more strict. In fact, he begged me to be more strict. It was kind of weird and slightly unsettling. I couldn't figure out why he wanted me to be "more strict." The class wasn't out of control. We got work done, but we had fun.
Due to my lack of...cheer during 7th period though, I was tough! The poor kids didn't even get warnings (which they complained about), they just received a red point (which is not good).
When we broke up for homework time, that student who had asked me to be strict said, "Finally! You were strict and it was awesome!"

Huh?

I'm still confused about that one.

Oh well.

The audit is done and I feel so relieved. Now we just get to wait for results and feedback. Maybe it's not done yet...haha

To top it off, parent-teacher conferences are tomorrow, so I won't be leaving school until a little before 8:00 pm.
On that note, I'm going to bed!

-Ms. Damron-

Here's one more good one for you!

Happy Valentine's Day (middle school style)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today started out with a couple of sweet girls bringing me goodies. They were both wearing pink or read with hearts on their shirts. One of them was wearing bright red lipstick. (She asked me if she should dress up as Cupid next year.)

Before school started, I had an 8th grade boy come in and ask if he could stash a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a rose in my classroom. They were for a special someone and he didn't want her to know. Then he asked if, during my class, he could go surprise her with the Valentine treats. I fully supported his romantic endeavor and even offered to record it for him!

2nd period came along and he was pretty excited! We decided to wait until 3rd period though because this cute girl is in my 3rd period and so it would be easier to record and we wouldn't have to disrupt another class.
One girl in my 2nd period asked him if he was going to get on his knee to give the girl the presents. He forcefully said, "No! I'm not proposing!"

The magical moment in 3rd period came and my class was watching a movie, so when I noticed him waiting outside, I paused the movie and turned on the lights (without any explanation) and then this student came walking in. He was blushing like crazy, but he went straight to my closet and got the presents and went up to this girl and gave her his gifts. They hugged while everyone awkwardly stared. I started clapping and encouraged the rest of the class to clap.

It was pretty cute. Young love is great!

-Ms. Damron-

Warm Fuzzies

Last week our 8th grade counselor stopped me and told me that she had met with one of my student's mothers for SEOPs (I have no idea what that stands for or what is entailed in that meeting- prep for high school maybe?). This mother's child was just classified and put into Special Ed around Thanksgiving. Apparently he used to go straight home and work on homework until 11:00 pm. He was very meticulous and it just took him a LOOOOONG time to get his homework done.

Mom reported that she is so happy with his progress and with the class he was put into (my homework help class) because he has rearranged his room to make it more conducive to studying and he is able to manage his time better (something like that).

Our 8th grade counselor is such a sweetheart and she told the mom that she had nothing to do with the change, but it was his teacher, "Ms. Damron."

Now doesn't that just give you the warm fuzzies?! Sometimes it's just nice to hear that you have impacted at least one of your students and he/she is able to function better and (in my case) study more efficiently.

I wish I could attach the powerpoint I made about "Preparing a Place to Study" because it was a pretty sweet powerpoint - and that is what inspired this particular student to rearrange his bedroom so that it was more conducive to studying. Pretty neat, huh?!

-Ms. Damron-

Hot Lava

Do you remember that game you played in elementary school at recess where the ground was lava and if you touched it you died? Well you missed out yesterday because that game was re-enacted in my 7th period!

I have a special place in my heart for several students in my 7th period. One of them, whom we shall call Special Agent X, is one of my favorites. He has told me several times that he is "observing" in my class and reporting to someone somewhere on the happenings in my classroom. He calls me "Coach" and always covers his eyes and refuses to make eye contact with me in the hall. I know. Now you want to meet him.

On Friday, Special Agent X was sitting on one of the tables. (He likes to do things differently.) When we finished correcting the Math Minute (our self-start), I noticed that he was strategically placing chairs across the room to the table close to me. It took two chairs to get over to my table and he walked across them and then sat on the table near me.

What was his explanation?

"The floor is lava. I can't touch it."

Yup. That happened. And that happened for the rest of the period. I left my seat to do other things throughout the classroom, and he very carefully climbed over to a chair by a table with a computer on it. He refused to touch the ground.

I was passing around tickets (one of my rewards) and I noticed that my chair was dirty because he had squatted in my chair. He couldn't sit in it the normal way because, of course, his feet might touch the lava ground.

I got "mad" at him and said, "SPECIAL AGENT X!!!! YOU GOT MY CHAIR DIRTY!"

He apologized and climbed over to my chair to clean it off. I heard another student saying, "Special Agent X, are you using Ms. Damron's computer cover to clean off the chair?!"

**I don't know if you remember, but I made the computer covers in my classroom, and I am very particular in how my students take care of them. I make them fold the computer covers if that gives you an idea.**

Special Agent X shushed this student, and I told him I couldn't believe he would use my computer cover to clean off the dirt from his shoes! (Again, all of this actually happened.)

He tried to come up with a good excuse for using my computer cover, but I wasn't having it. I still had the roll of tickets in my hand and so I unraveled some and started "whacking" him with the tickets. (In case you're worried, they probably felt like feathers - nothing harsh.)

Special Agent X was perched on the edge of the table, and during this "whacking" the table that he was perched on started tipping over. He was still determined not to touch the ground though, so he somehow managed to stay on top of the table with the help of another student. Sadly, he lost a foot to the lava.

I was laughing so hard I was crying my eyes out.

He blamed me and actually found some rope in his backpack and tied his foot back to represent his "lost foot." He did make it back to the chair by the computer and worked diligently for the rest of the period.

At the end of the period, he used a piece of paper on the ground to slide across the floor towards my door. While I was doing my end-of-class reward, all I heard was a crash by my door and Special Agent X was on the floor. I'm afraid to say we lost him to the lava.

He will be sorely missed.

_________________________________________________________

It was absolutely hilarious. I told him I desperately hope he becomes some sort of agent when he gets older because he would be awesome at it!

-Ms. Damron-

NO FOOD IN MY CLASSROOM!

When I'm walking in my classroom and I step on a chip that someone SOMEHOW didn't notice fall, something inside of me snaps. I haaaaate it. 

At the beginning of the school year I said that students were allowed to eat food in my classroom until they made a mess and it became an issue. If that happened they would lose that privilege. Well, they did lose that privilege, and before Christmas, I had to instate the NO FOOD IN MY CLASSROOM rule. Awesome.

I will admit I got lax with it, but students are still eating in my classroom! And the funny part is that they try to hide it. They will keep a bag of chips in their backpack and sneakily reach their hand into their backpack and then slowly bring it up to their mouth...

Yeah right. I HAVE EYES AND I CAN SEE YOU. Ridiculous.

Well, I was eating a muffin in class today, and two boys were sharing chips. What do you know, one of the boys dropped a chip on the floor. Of course I lost it. I marched over there, and yes, with my mouth partially full of food, I said, "NO FOOD IS ALLOWED IN MY CLASSROOM!" He of course came back with, "But you're eating!"

To give the boy credit, I'm pretty sure he was about to pick up the chip that he dropped, but he's most likely an exception. Middle schoolers aren't the cleanest human beings on the earth. 

So, 6th period came along and one student was quietly eating chips while writing in his journal. 

Considering the blow up earlier, I knew I couldn't just let that slide.

I went up to him and said, "You can't eat in my classroom, so I'm going to have to throw your chips away."

The students LOST it. He started furiously saying, "NO! But I spent a dollar on those chips! You can't take them away. I'll put them away, I promise!!!!!"

I can't back down! So I took his chips.

Well, what was his natural response? He screamed, pounded his fists on the desks multiple times, stood up, picked up a chair, threw it across the room and stormed out of my class. 

Awesome...

Granted, this student is quite impulsive and does have anger problems, but still. 

My students all looked shocked, which is natural. I just told them to keep writing in their journals. haha

The best part of all of this? 

I had a new student today! He was just classified and so this was his first day in a special ed class. 

I'll bet he's super excited to come back!

-Ms. Damron-

I know you are curious about how 6th period ended. I talked to the student who stormed out of my classroom, and he did come back in and work quietly and obediently the rest of the class period. The rest of my students were out of control though, and we did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE WERE SUPPOSED TO. It's cool. I like planning lessons and having such ridiculous behavior issues that we get nothing done that day. At least it's Wednesday, right?