day 2

It's bedtime - I'm exhausted but case anyone is curious about my survival I thought I would force myself to reflect for a minute.

I LOVED today. Waited with eager anticipation for familiar faces coming to my door - met each face with a handshake/hug and the directions "find a cubby and let's find your name to move it "I am here"" And every one of the 17 that came arrived in perfect timing, giving me just a few seconds with each child. I know it won't always be like that, so I enjoyed it.

Then breakfast - late - more cereal with milk (seriously...pancakes - eggs - anything would be better than my entire class pouring milk on apple jacks). 3 milks were sour and chunky (gross). 3 kids thought their milk tasted like juice (gross). One child ate two breakfasts...he was hungry. Turns out he was a lot of things, including a heart breaker, as he was suspended part way through the day. Mostly to get the home he is living at to come get him and also because he doesn't belong in a regular education classroom. : (. He bolted after breakfast and thankfully the librarian was in the room so I could chase him. He is so little but he is a bulky kid with a lot of will power, a whole lot of anger, and no family. Not to mention I think he has FAS and he has a different thinking process than most children...needless to say I can't give him the right support and so we hope he will find his way into a school with behavior specialists who can help him. In the meantime I hurt for him. : (

My little friend who is named after what a princess wears on her head - yes - Tiara - threw only 2 tantrums today, not as loud and not as long...shoes only came off once. My other friend refused to leave the cafeteria and the playground - forcing me to use his parents, tomorrow's recess, and storytime as threats - things I would never use...well his parents perhaps.

Centers were the roughest part today - we didn't "freeze" well and so it was hard to move them around. I suppose we will practice that tomorrow. I need to think it through better. Lining up was good - songs work for everything...they came in humming my good morning song so I suppose that's a good sign. 4 kids fell asleep, wore them out I guess and let them rest for almost an hour. I need new kids songs, I have exhausted Head and Shoulders as well as If You're Happy and You Know it. Time to dig out some Raffi songs.

I need to plan for a few minutes and I am realizing today's reflection doesn't read well or flow....but I guess I'm just fried. I'm in trouble when it's a full week!

Still - I love every single second.