I know, I know, the title doesn't sound good. Well it's not good. It was just one of those days. If you walked into our room any time during the morning, you would have thought Miss Shupert is the meanest teacher in the entire world!
Incident 1: Miss Shupert is helping a girl with her math worksheet. This girl happens to have a long history of hitting. Girl gets mad and frustrated at Miss Shupert during the process of helping her. Girl hits Miss Shupert. So naturally I had to speak with this girl about why we don't hit, about how some day someone will hit her back when she hits them, and what we can do instead of hit. As if on a cue, she begins to cry because she feels bad. She promised me she wouldn't hit anymore (remember this promise).
Incident 2: Only about 5 minutes later. All of math work time Miss Shupert explained to a girl over and over that she already knew how to do the math worksheet and therefore would not do it for the girl, but would be more than happy to help. Girl chose to be angry and stubborn and not complete the sheet because it was too hard (this girl is smart enough to do this sheet without any help btw). So naturally once again I had to have a talk. I asked the girl what she would like me to tell her parents when they see that her work is not completed. She answered, "I have an attitude." I gave her credit for a perfect answer. We talked about how she would fix the rest of her day and I thought it was fine. Not more than two seconds after I stood up the tears began. She felt very bad for wasting all of math with a bad attitude, but I reassured her that she now had a clean slate and could change her day. Sure enough she turned her day around. We did a wonderful calendar time and went to specialist.
Incident 3: I'm enjoying my wonderful prep hour correcting homework and filling folders with the new homework when my CT and I hear very loud cries coming down the hall. I got that woman's intuition that this cry was headed for our room. I couldn't have been more right. Sure enough in walks hitting girl from incident 1 with the teacher who deals with many behavior problems. She hit a boy in the eye at specialist. UGH!!! I said, "Girl's name you promised me you wouldn't hit anymore!!" Less than an hour after her promise, she broke it. She's crying hysterically and my CT and I are once again explaining how bad this behavior is and next time she will be suspended for a day, which they almost never do with 1st graders. A call was made home and mom ended up coming in at the end of the day and talking with my CT. The problem is until she is hit back by a student, no one thinks this behavior will change.
All of this happened between 9:30 and 10:30. Seriously, enough tears for our whole class within an hour time period. Yes indeed, you never know what will happen next. So even though these tears were because of bad behavior, I still am too soft to not feel horrible. After school I was reminded that maybe I'm not so horrible after all.
Incident 4: Sure I get all the pictures and letters that students give their teachers just like everyone else. During the after school program I especially get a lot since they have a lot of free time. But, none of this is what made my heart melt. A little boy in my after school class always gets picked up early. I was playing chess with him when his adult walked in the door to pick him up. After moaning, he gets up to get his coat and backpack. He then runs over to me and asks, "Miss Shupert, can I give you a hug?" I answered him with an, "ALWAYS." He then proceeds to give me the world's biggest hug from the world's smallest 2nd grader and thank me for playing chess with him.
I hope quite often that God will bless me with children some day. I have heard that their is no greater love (other than God's love for us) than what a parent feels for their child. I can't even imagine how this will feel if I already feel so much love towards my students. My students mean the world to me. I love walking down the hall just so I can hear students calling my name. If they see me, they insist on stopping whatever they are doing to give me a hug and say hi even though they will see me in a matter of hours, sometimes minutes. To them, it is worth any reprimanding they will receive for getting out of line in the hall. I hope you understand now why my heart melts.
I know this one was kind of long, but I hope you got a few laughs and a few smiles. May your holiday season heart feel the same joy as mine!!! Now off to lesson plan so I can enjoy my weekend of baking!
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