An Amazing Day

     Yesterday was a pretty amazing day. There were many parts of it that made me incredibly happy. I went to see one of the assistant principals in her office in the morning and the first thing I saw was... phone jail! I told her I loved it and it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. The kids joke about phone jail all the time. She got up and handed it to me! What a cool gift! The first class that noticed it I said I meant to tell them about it. I said it was phone jail. One of the kids said his phone wouldn't fit and asked me to try. It fit just fine. And now they know, lol. So now I have phone jail for the kids who can't seem to stay off their phones, no matter how many times I say it. I won't lock anything in until I have the key though, lol. I would not want to have to break a kid's phone out of phone jail!

     I also had a class that is usually good, but one of the kids, who often doesn't even bother to listen, worked really hard. Asked questions, asked for help, asked if the answers were correct. I was so pleased. I was already thinking it was a pretty magical day and then the next awesome thing happened. 

     I bought several card games for the classroom. As well as puzzles, coloring books, wordsearch books... I want the kids to have something to do when they are done with their work that is not staring at their phones. Mostly I was not taken up on the fun activities until I put my foot down about the phones. I had walked in on a super silly conversation the week before vacation and the kids said that is what I get when I don't let them use their phones. I reminded them about the games and a group of them started playing Monopoly Deal. Ethan and I play this a lot and love it, so I got one for the classroom. I taught the group how to play, walked them through the first several rounds and left them to it. They now have, of course, completely gotten the hang of it and they play every day. Well, yesterday after one of the classes, the bell rang and they kept on playing (they are in the next class with me as well) and I said if they wanted they could leave the game out and keep on playing during the 5 minutes of phone time I give everyone at the beginning of class. They said THAT WAS OUR PLAN. Holy crap! These kids were CHOOSING to interact with each other, face to face, using words spoken from their mouths... I am magical! They also worked really hard on their work. I was so proud. 

    I worked really hard in my first math class (I have 2). A lot of the kids asked for help and I had no paras with me yesterday. So I went from one kid to another, walked them through a problem or two, had them walk me through one, and then I moved on. I was super insanely busy, by the end of the day I had a stack of work on my desk that I didn't finish (grading, planning, etc.) and I didn't care at all. The kids ASKED for help. They listened when I told them what they needed to do. And I think they understood. I also found out that they don't understand the work quite as much as I thought they did. Apparently they just seemed to be doing really well. The para had been running around helping everyone so much they looked like they got it. But they don't quite get it on their own. I wonder if we need another day or two. But they GET the thing we are working on. They get tripped up on the negatives and positives. Which is a constant struggle. Which I get. I honestly struggled to remember the rules for adding/subtracting negative numbers until I was in my 30s. I always grabbed a calculator because I never trusted I was correct. Now I can rattle off all the rules off the top of my head, do the math in my head (or on paper, I like paper), show you how to do it on a number line, explain how it would work if it was money (earnings and purchases), but it really did take a long time for it to stick. So I do get it. 

     In other news, I got my latest micro from Maggie yesterday. I have already forgot her (his? Didn't check) name, but they are cool. I think I may keep this one. I am still loving the one from last month as well. But I think maybe the bronco whose name I also have forgotten might go. I need to get out the bag of micros and see what I have left from the last time I listed them for sale. I realize I did not put them in a blog post that time. Maybe later I will add a micros sale blog post. 

         So yesterday was actually quite an excellent day. School was pretty good, though I did have to send a kid out of class for being thoroughly disruptive. I called in reinforcements to help with the talking to about do-you-work-and-be-more-quiet and it didn't work, they just got louder and were giving me a headache. I hate sending kids out, but I can't teach people if they can't hear me. And I can't think if shrill noises are stabbing my brain. 

     I am glad it is the weekend, though I did have a good week at school. I got some doll work done, not a ton, but some. I got a bunch of things listed for sale, and now need to pack up a bunch of things to get them shipped on Monday. But I have a few less things hanging around and that does make me happy. I am sure I have more to sell. And I am sure there will be a lot more hobby items in the mix.