September 13, 2023

I’m treading lightly with this post, and it’s gonna be LONG. Two weeks ago, there was a kiddo who caused a lot of chaos the first time they were in my class, I could not figure out what went wrong or how things went wrong. There was another kiddo in the same class that day, and it was clear they should not be anywhere near each other, but it was too late. I had never had an experience like this with a student or class. There was a lot of yelling not only on the part of those two kiddos, and other kiddos jumping in to try and help, but embarrassingly from me too. It was the last class of the day and when it was over…I cried. Several faculty members heard all the chaos and came in to make sure I was okay…I wasn’t. Not even close. Ends up this particular group of kiddos has been difficult since Kindergarten. I also learned that the culprit kiddo has so much going on in their life, more than ANY kiddo should have to go through along with having recently been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Gender Dysphoria. When I found this out, I. Felt. Horrible. Absolutely horrible. I couldn’t stop thinking about them and what I could do to make the situation better. I came up with a plan to write them a card. When I got to school the next week, I noticed a hand-written note of apology on my keyboard from this kiddo. I had my card ready to give them when they came into class…BUT, on my prep that day they came in and asked if I wanted to play ping-pong with them (the school psychologist suggested this). I gave them my cute, tiny card and they said they were going to keep it in their phone case so they always had it. We played ping-pong for about 20 minutes as we got to know each other. Their class was - again - the last class of the day. When the other kiddo came in a little late wanting to cause chaos again, I firmly laid some ground rules, they were not happy and made the decision to sit out…but still tried to distract, but everyone ignored them. When they noticed how much fun we were having, they slowly joined in. Class was awesome, in fact I got zero points and kiddos left with jibbitz/stickers. Every time this kiddo has seen me since they have gone out of their way to say hi and to give me compliments, I have done the same. Today? I was working on some lesson plans on my laptop during my prep, so my head was down, when suddenly I heard a familiar voice (which would usually startle me), “Hi Ms. Karlyn! I just came in to give you a hug!” They gave me a hug, and while running out of the room said, “see you in class!” Class went well again today. #thankgodforawesomeschoolpsychologists #dailyelementarymusings #itsgonnabeagoodyear #focusonthepositive

September 12, 2023

Today, I taught SECOND GRADERS Mumbling Murder Mystery! Second graders. Did I mention they are Second graders? All my theatre peeps who know the game, probably realize how difficult of a challenge this could be. IT WASN’T. They picked it up pretty easily and played it well! I’m still a bit flabbergasted. We had: Spider-Man in a microwave with a baseball bat, Hulk on a roller-coaster with a soda can, and Shrek in a car with a banana. On a side note, it was another 100% winning day! 31 kiddos left with Jibbitz/Stickers. #dailyelementarymusings #itsgonnabeagoodyear #focusonthepositive

September 11, 2023

6th graders are difficult (NOT nearly as difficult as fifth graders this year - at this school), because sixth grade is hard! I personally don’t think elementary should go to sixth grade, but…I digress. I have this sixth grade class that I have been struggling with classroom management wise, so, I took a step back, re-evaluated and decided to start over today. I did and it went amazingly well. Three kiddos left with Jibbitz! And they got to hear some of my stories about gifts students have given me. Then the fifth graders came in… #dailyelementarymusings #itsgonnabeagoodyear #focusonthepositive

September 8, 2023

Today when a 2nd grader’s name was randomly generated for a jibbitz/sticker he cried. At first he didn’t quite understand why I was calling his name, but when his peers explained to him in his native tongue that he got to pick a jibbitz, he cried. When he was walking out of the classroom, he hugged me SO tightly, I nearly fell over. If you know me, you know I’m not a hugger. But I will always take a hug from Littles. Who knew that a jibbitz could make one SO happy? Not gonna lie, it made me teary too. #dailyelementarymusings #itsgonnabeagoodyear #focusonthepositive

September 7, 2023

The scene: 22 first graders at the beginning of class getting settled on their stars. “Dammit! Would you STOP touching me?” I’m pretty certain the kiddo who they were speaking to and I were the only ones who heard. I made eye-contact and gave them a look, and asked kiddo 2 to choose a different star. Apparently this is an ongoing issue with these two. Even though there was TONS of movement in class today, kiddo 2 did not get in kiddo 1’s space the rest of class. Kiddo 2 got the clue. Sometimes all it takes is a firm DAMMIT! #dailyelementarymusings #itsgonnabeagoodyear #focusonthepositive

September 6, 2023

The scene: 25 fourth graders sitting on their stars listening to our guest artist dance teacher. She was talking about the preamble and how they were going to create a movement piece based on some of the big words, i.e. Union, Justice, Tranquility, etc… I believe there was a misunderstanding with one of the words, because when I looked up, about 10 kiddos were doing this… Posterity, NOT Prosperity😂 #dailyelementarymusings #itsgonnabeagoodyear #focusonthepositive

September 5, 2023

Today was one of those days that went perfectly! All seven of my classes not only won “Teacher vs Class”, but they DEMOLISHED Teacher. I did not get one point. Not one. That means 21 students left with a Jibbitz or a VINYL sticker. #dailyelementarymusings #itsgonnabeagoodyear #focusonthepositive