Today was: Ok

Miles said that he thought today was the best day so far this year... I didn't quite think so. It was good and all, and the kids really worked hard all day, but I didn't feel at 100%. I'm not sure what it was, but I just felt tired and worn out - it could be because we have a couple of mosquitoes [which we can't seem to kill] that hover around our heads while we sleep.

So, I just felt out of it and cranky most of the day, and when Miles asked me about tomorrow [Miles will be absent so there will be a substitute all day] I said, "I don't want to sound like a baby [even though I DID sound like a baby] but I really don't want to take over the whole day, and I don't want to feel like I SHOULD take over the whole day." One main reason that I didn't want to be THE teacher tomorrow is that I don't feel prepared - Miles and I hadn't really talked in advance about what things should happen tomorrow [we just can't seem to find time to sit down and chat these days]. I'm sure, though, that there will be many times during the day tomorrow where I'll say to the sub, "Ok, just let me do this", because I've been there every day, I know how things work and should be run, and I'm now familiar with the things that Miles wants us to do tomorrow. I don't know, I also feel like just kicking back and relaxing for a day. We'll play it by ear, depending on how I feel in the morning [stupid mosquitoes]...

I'm not sure that I've mentioned it before, but when the girl with autism feels like not attending to what's going on in class at all she'll get a piece of white paper and start drawing flowers. Well, today at recess I hung out with her and we looked at all of the flowers that are growing in the little garden by the playground. She's FASCINATED by sunflowers [probably because they are HUGE flowers] and she kept poking me to get my attention and then pointing at them. We walked around and saw some bees, I asked her which kind of flower was her favorite [she pointed to some light blue and purple ones], and she kept pointing at some white flowers that looked like they had been eaten by bugs [as I theorized]. When she's cute and sweet, she's REALLY cute and sweet. Oh, and she has a new haircut - she HAD a long bowl cut, and now she has a short bowl cut [that I think her mom may have done at home...] that makes her look like a boy.

We did a really cute activity during Math time today: everyone got a quarter of a sheet of white paper and got to draw a monster on it. There were guidelines, though - you had to draw it using only 1 color marker [blue, green, or red], and its main body had to be one big shape [circle, square, or triangle]. When the kids were done drawing [I made one, too - it was a blue square with 4 arms and 4 legs which I dubbed "The Crazy TV Monster"], I went around and taped a popsicle stick to the back. Then, while music was playing, we marched around the room making monster noises. When the music stopped you had to find someone who had a monster that matched your monster in one way - either the same shape or the same color. Finally, we placed them all in the appropriate boxes on a grid that had SHAPE as the vertical axis, and COLOR as the horizontal axis. C-U-T-E. Next week we're going to do it again, adding a third attribute - hair type. Maybe my Crazy TV Monster will get a stylish perm.

The kids liked the fish, but we ran out of time so they didn't FORMALLY get to be introduced to them. I'll make a mental note to send them over in table-groups to look at the tank tomorrow morning. Oh, at one point I looked over and noticed that the girl with autism's hand was all wet. A parent that was working in the room at the time said, "Oh, she just fed the fish." I looked into the tank and saw a FEAST floating to the bottom. My words to her were, "It's very nice of you to feed the fish, and you CAN feed the fish, but ASK me next time if you want to feed them." She seemed to understand - if she didn't then we're going to have some fish that are going to eat themselves to death.

Did I mention that we're taking a FIELD TRIP TO THE AQUARIUM ON TUESDAY!? I'm really excited, except that the school nurse mentioned today that because it is going to close soon for renovation, the aquarium just shipped its sharks off to other locales around the country. We're going to have some UPSET little kids.

Oh, I almost forgot to put up Reggie Rooster's song for you! Here it is, to the tune of Hush, Little Baby:

Reggie has a rocket that is red.
Reggie keeps it right beside his bed.
Reggie likes to listen to rock 'n roll.
Reggie plays it on his radio.

If you want the full effect, sing it in this really cheesy, faux-rock voice along to some awful keyboards and drum machine effects. Miles said it's his favorite so far. Whatever.

Speaking of which - during Read-Aloud time today, Miles said "Houghton Mifflin reading program be damned" and decided to read some real literature. His goal was to work on the comprehension skill of making personal connections, so he read Tomie dePaola's groundbreaking Oliver Button is a Sissy to the students, and talked about how the things that happened in the book were a lot like the things that happened to him when he was growing up. His story is the story that MANY of us share...