TeacherSense (or, A Day In The Life of a Primary School Teacher)

(Tune: The WIlliam Tell Overture)

You really have to see the original upon which this particular masterpiece is based. Go to Youtube! Look up "Momsense" by Anita Renfroe! Enjoy!

TeacherSense, or A Day In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher


Woke up late, woke up late, woke up late today
Rushed around, stubbed my toe, oh what can I say?
Spilled my drink, stopped to think, took some time to pray
Got to school and was on time today

Supervise, supervise, gotta watch the kids
Find the stuff, say hello, find the one who hid
Fix the book, heal the scrape, is it just THursday?
What? You're sick?! I didn't ask for this.

Come on in, sit on down it's time to read our story and listen to me
What is happening to you that makes you act as if you're only three?
Yes I know a bear attacked a man and I know about the plane that crashed
I am sure that in here we're safe and I'm sorry that your toy is smashed

Let's work now, let's think now, please stay on task..I'm begging you
Today it is Thursday, and yes, one plus one is two

Recess time, recess time, recess time is here
Rain is bad, you won't melt, no, lunch is not near.
Let's go out, let's go play, line up nice and straight
Wear your coat because it's cold today.

Play outside, Don't play rough, Would you just play fair?
Be polite, Make a friend, Don't forget to share
Work it out, Wait your turn, Never take a dare
Get along, Don't make me come out there

Sit in your chair, get off that chair
Don't sit so close, you're too loud, your inside voice is needed!
Yes, we are going to read out loud
Don't interrupt, it's your turn, let's clean up now for lunch!

Where you going and with whom and why are you not sitting in your chair?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me are good manners you'll need everywhere.
You'll appreciate my wisdom next year when your teacher is so pleased
Can't wait 'til they get to deal with the way you act when you are teased!

You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now I thank you NOT to roll your eyes at me

Close your mouth when you chew, Would appreciate
Take a bite, Maybe two, Of the stuff you hate
Use your fork, Do not you burp, Or I'll set you straight
Eat the food that's put in your lunchbag

Get an A, Get the door, Don't get smart with me
Get a Grip, Get in here, I'll count to 3
Get a job, Get a life, Get a PhD
Get a dose of...
I don't care who started it! Your recess will be in the office!
Get your story straight, And tell the truth for once for heaven's sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?

If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before that
You're too old to act this way, it must be your parents' DNA
Look at me when I am talking, stand up straight when you walk
A place for everything, and everything must be in place
Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about
Oh!

Let's go home, let's go home, I have work to do
mark the books, clean the room, ack! my grades are due!

Day is done, I am though
***sigh***

And tomorrow we will do this all again because these tasks just never end

You don't need the reason why
Because
Because
Because
Because
I said so
I said so
I said so
I said so
I'm in charge
you're not
you're not
you're not
I'm in charge!

Ta-Da!

New Song!

Hello to all!

I have here, for your enjoyment, a song I wrote today. Yes, this masterpiece is born of another event occurring at school.

Please think of the song "Christmas Time Is Here" (the one that is sung by Charlie Brown and Company!).

Now that it is in your head, here are the new lyrics.

Head lice time is here
Itchiness and fear
Telephone calls and chemicals
Let's check behind each ear...

Nits are in the hair
Rumours everywhere
Who's the source, and what's the course
of treatment? Please Beware!

Move the coats apart...
Don't we all look smart?
Dollar bills and headache pills
it's not my favourite part.

(pun totally intended. If you didn't get it, sorry)

Yes,
Head lice time is here
Itchiness and fear
Telephone calls and chemicals
Let's check behind each ear...
Telephone calls and chemicals
Let's check behind each ear...


Thank you, thank you very much. Tune in later for "TeacherSense", a day in the life of a primary teacher...in the form of "MomSense" by Anita Renfroe. If you haven't seen that, you must look it up on Youtube.

Sunday Evening Blues

Start humming John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Just do it. You know it, trust me!
Now here are the new lyrics.

Sunday Evening Blues

I have the Sunday Evening Blues,
oh, yes, I do!
My weekend's almost done
and Monday is no fun!
Oh-h I have the Sunday evening blues.
(da-na-na-na-na-na-na)

I have the Sunday Evening Blues,
oh, yes, I do!
There's no more sleeping in
'til the weekend comes again,
Oh-h I have the Sunday evening blues.
(da-na-na-na-na-na-na)

I have the Sunday Evening Blues,
oh, yes, I do!
It's off to school I go.
My contract tells me so.
Oh-h I have the Sunday evening blues.
(da-na-na-na-na-na-na)

I have the Sunday Evening Blues,
oh, yes, I do!
My students would agree,
school's not the place to be!
Oh-h I have the Sunday evening blues.
(da-na-na-na-na-na-na)

I have the Sunday Evening Blues,
oh, yes, I do!
Staff Meeting's coming too,
I've got better things to do!
Oh-h I have the Sunday evening blues.
(da-na-na-na-na-na-na)

I have the Sunday Evening Blues,
oh, yes, I do!

(this is where you continue to add verses until you drive yourself, or someone else crazy)

Addendum to the last post...

Did I mention that between "that's not karate, that's haiku" and "oh sh**" there was an episode of vomiting?

Wednesdays...

I thought I'd share some of my ponderings, as they developed over the course of the day...

8:00am

Today is Wednesday. Wednesday is a happy day, despite staff meeting after school. Why is it a happy day? Well. Wednesday means only two more days of 5:40am alarm clocks before two days of sleeping in. I love teaching, but do not like mornings.

Wednesday also means CSI:NY! Yes, there is still another week before the new season. Yes, the writers have me all ticked off. Despite that, Detectives Don Flack and Danny Messer are still hot.

So, as I sit in my "City of Atlantis" blue classroom (stupid SCI-FI channel canceling SGA!), drinking my water-based hot beverage in a setting where caffeine is contraband (oh, it's fun to be a rule breaker!), I relish my Wednesday.


Later that morning...

Wednesday's not so great. Whine whine whine...

Six year olds should not be saying "*huff* FINE" to their teachers!


Lunch time...

Overheard in my classroom while two students discuss martial arts: "That's not karate! That's haiku!" hahahahaha....


End of the day...

Let's top off our day with a six year old mouthing off with the "SH" word while picking a toy from the prize box.

A few pictures...

Well, my classroom is all set up and organized. I have my first week of lesson plans mostly completed, my year overviews are being worked on, and I finally have a few minutes where I'm going to post some pictures! Granted, this wouldn't be happening this morning if I didn't have a staff meeting in an hour which I don't want to get ready for!

So, starting with the most miraculous transformations...from this
to this...


and that...

to that!



A few more pictures for your enjoyment...if you want to see more you can check my facebook page. Those pictures come complete with snarky comments!

Well...

Well...I think that it is safe to say that "tomorrow" was a little bit overly ambitious. It would also be safe to say that moving is not my favourite activity! Between cleaning up and setting up my classroom (not quite finished), writing up year overviews and units (nowhere near finished!), and taking care of exciting things such as insurance, telephone service, blah blah blah...there just isn't time to blog! Then, add in the Olympics...which manage to be interesting even when all that is on is basketball, and I'm just hooped (haha...I'm so punny that I crack myself up)!

I promise that there really will be some pictures and such in the near future. Watch for a "before and after" set of images from my classroom. Also, don't be surprised if you see some apartment/Port Hardy pics!

I'm here!

Well, I made it! I'm in Port Hardy (with my parents, who will leave tomorrow morning), mostly unpacked and organized, and happy with my apartment! Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of the apartment.

Down to the Wire...

The big move is getting closer! 2.5 hours from now I will have bought school supplies at Staples (for all of my students), and 3 hours from now we will have picked up the rental truck! Hopefully not too many hours after that the truck will be loaded up. Ack! This moving thing is becoming a reality! Look for more updates in the next day or two...

The Next Great Adventure

One of my favourite books in the entire world is Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women"...it's such a classic story, full of all the good things I look for in a book. Each time I read it I find something new that I hadn't thought about before, or that I had somehow missed. As I get older I start to look at the characters in different ways, and this is exciting too. I love the section of chapter 13 where Jo March asks her sisters "Wouldn't it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true and we could live in them?" She is talking about dreams. We build up these dreams and goals for ourselves, many of which are so clearly out of reach, but fun to think about. Others are entirely attainable. Castles in the Air do not have to be impossible to reach!


One of my big castles is becoming a reality. I have my first real honest-to-goodness-actually-making-money teaching job! Not only that, but I am fortunate enough to be teaching grades one and two, which is my favourite group. I will be in Port Hardy, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, working with people I like in a system with which I am familiar.


A few years ago, upon returning home from teaching Kindergarten in Saipan, CNMI, I was heard to say that I would NEVER live on an island again. It was too nerve-wracking and confining. I'd like to amend that statement now! I don't know that I could handle another teeny tiny island, but this is entirely different. Call it my prerogative to change my mind, call it a change in priorities, call it whatever you'd like, but I'm off to another island.


I look forward to sharing my adventures...and misadventures...with you!