Today was my first day back in h*ll. Remember last year's h*ll working in two schools, and the principal from h*ll? This year I'm at my original school with a grant to teach full-day pre-k. We were never told that the parents were going to have to pay tuition. We all thought this grant was covering all costs. It is about to hit the fan. These parents registered their children under the impression that they were getting free pre-k, NOT
Okay, that was my issue today. Some colleagues didn't fare as well. One's aide quit and the city froze hiring. Two teachers were told to switch classrooms today...the day before the kids arrive. This could have been done over the summer, but no. Another teacher on leave because of her DH's death and then a serious injury to her arm and leg, had the early childhood department in her room "reorganizing" which is code for throwing away all her stuff!!!!! I don't know about any of you, but I bought about 1/3 of my classroom stuff with my own money. If they came in my room and just started tossing stuff in the trash, I would have a fit. Unfortunately, she won't be back for several weeks. None of us have the heart to tell her what's become of her classroom. A bright, shiny, new 4th grade teacher started today. Just picturing her makes me laugh...shame on me. That poor little thing has no idea what she is in for!!! She is very naive and is full of idealistic thoughts. I wonder how long it will take for my city to crush her. They pretty much destroyed me within the first few weeks...and by the end of the first year, I knew I'd never be the same. Our sunshine club person wants us all to give $50 to cover the dues for the year. Is it me, or is $50 a bit steep? Last year, I didn't sign up because of the cost. Only a handful of teachers signed up for the same reason, but nobody would admit that they couldn't afford it. Today, I just said it. "$50 is not in my budget." It wasn't accepted well by her, and unfortunately all those who felt the same way stayed quiet.Kids come tomorrow.
. Thank God it decided to hang around for the weekend. I'm going to pretend that the last five days never happened by going swimming
and sunning 
If they make us tack on those days in June, I wouldn't care much, because the real summer weather doesn't kick in till July. We get a lot of rain in June, so even though it is hot, you can't really enjoy it anyway. August is usually hotter, and it is torture for us to be in school so early. We'll see what happens!
Tomorrow I get tofire up my big yellow submarine. Ugh. Bring on the tylenol.\
and my sympathies. How are you managing with a classroom of such young children? I can't imagine a group so large at that age. You will prevail- please remember, this is just the beginning, and once you establish law and order and some routines it will be fine. I think Thanksgiving is generally considered the turnaround time- when most kids fit into a schedule and are more orderly. Bless you......I will be praying for you.
each other and end up in 
time-out. They still pee on themselves and my furniture and leave their required "change of clothes" at home. It is 
actually. I now have several hours to accomplish my goals for each day, and I don't leave the building till I go home. I knew that what I was doing was hard, but now that I have this slower pace, I feel quite wonderful. The ordinary bullcrap doesn't really bother me as much. The fact that the principal insists on my students having their 10 minute recess (all the district allows! Thanks NCLB!) to be scheduled during the middle of their naptime, isn't freaking me out as much as usual because I know that eventually she will have to come to her senses or the Early Childhood Dept. will have to step in. The parents that drop off late and forget to pick up their kids don't bother me nearly as much as they did last year. Being in one place all day with one group of kids is HEAVEN!
, but since I've already been back for over a week, you won't get too much sympathy from me
Safe driving!!!