Misconceptions

I love the way kids think. The crazy things they connect, how they think things work, etc. Lately I’ve been reminded of some of the misconceptions I had growing up. Here are just a few of them.

1. I loved the Wizard of Oz. My sis and I watched it a lot growing up. At one point in time (when we were still young) our mom told us the actress that played her died because she had no friends. For years I seriously thought if I didn’t have friends I would die.

2. My sis and I thought that as we got older, our parents got younger. Meaning when we were grown up, our mom and dad would be kids. So when we got mad at our mom we would always say things like “When we grow up and you’re our kid, we’ll….”

3. You know when a TV is on in room down the hall so you see light flickering out from the room? Whenever I saw this mysterious light coming from my parents’ room I thought aliens were in there talking to them.

4. We used to have a clock that chimed on the hour. I love it. One of those noises from childhood that’ll always stick with me. Around preschool-ish I vividly remember thinking there were little people that looked just like my family inside the clock playing instruments.

5. Talk about egocentrism. A lot of young kids think their teachers are just…teachers. There for them. In the beginning of first grade I remember thinking my kindergarten and first grade teacher were best friends. I thought this because I thought all they ever did was talk about me to help me learn.

6. Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but we watched the making of Thriller over and over…and over. I thought that Michael Jackson would stay the same age and when I caught up with him we would get married and live happily ever after. I remember wanting to be the girl (Janet) in the Thriller video with him. That’s scary. At least he was close to normal and very talented back then.

7. We used to go camping with the whole family. On this particular trip our dad was letting us “shoot” one of his guns into the air (over the lake). My sis and I had been to a couple Sunday school classes prior to this and were very concerned the bullets would go through the clouds and hit Jesus in the butt. I don’t remember this one, but our mom reminded us later on.

What were some misconceptions you had as a kid? I love hearing these things so please share!

So Lucky

*I was going to start a new blog and this was my first post there, so I apologize to the couple of you that have already read this. I wrote it about 2 weeks ago. I decided I like wordpress better, so I’m back.

The past 3 months have been nothing less of chaos. Twelve+ hours a day at school, most of my “free time” spent doing teaching related stuff, etc. I’ve loved every minute, but there are times when the stress and constant struggle to keep up get the best of me.

Yesterday I realized how blessed I truly am to have this job. A brand new school, amazing team and principal, everything. As I was walking through the halls (without my kids, so I took in things I normally don’t) I just had to stop and thank God. The atmosphere is so uplifting- bright colors everywhere, soft music playing in the halls and incredible art work covering the walls (our art teacher fills all the extra bulletin boards with it). I love this place.

So thank you God for putting me here. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to begin my career at my first choice school. Thank you for the great evaluation I had with my principal last week that ensured me my second year will also be spent here. You are amazing.

Survivied 1st Quarter

I figured it’s time for an update. I’ve survived first quarter- report cards and parent-teacher conferences are over, so that’s a good thing.  This wont be a very thought provoking post, just random updates from the last month or so.

• The girl I last posted about went downhill after that. It got to the point of daily kicking walls/classroom furnature (and me), screaming, throwing things, etc. We had to evacuate my class multiple times because it wasn’t safe for the rest of the kids to be in there (and she refused to willingly leave when help arrived). I’ve learned how to properly restrain a kid through my experiences with her.  Anyway, Wednesday was her last day. I love her to death and I will be visiting her at the alternative school weekly, but I am so relieved. It’s good for her, because they’ll be able to better meet her needs. It’s good for the rest of my kiddos because we can actually learn…and I can give them more attention now. And it’s good for the school staff. Our recovery room teacher, counselor and principal have been devoting so much time to this one student. Anyway….it’s been a really emotional journey, but I’m thankful she’ll get the support she needs there and I can’t wait to visit her.
• A sign I’ve been spending too much time at school- my stepdad broke his arm and I didn’t know until 3 days later. And I live with him. Pathetic of me, right? But now that first quarter is done, I feel like I’ll be able to better balance my time at school and maybe start to gain back some sort of social life.
• Related to basically living at school, I realized last week I make less than $5/hour. Maybe I shoudn’t spend so much extra time doing school stuff, but it’s so worth it…so I guess I’ve ok with it. 
• I find myself still kind of amazed when I meet people and introduce myself as a first grade teacher (I just did). I know it’s weird, but it somehow hasn’t sunk in that I’m doing the job I’ve so long waited to do.

I could keep going, but really need to get off (Halloween plans are calling my name). I’ll try to update more regularly. God has been doing some incredible things lately, which is great considering I’ve had a hard time making him my focus. I’ll share soon.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The Hard Part

Before I begin, I’m going to start off with a negative comment but one I feel strongly about-

Child molesters should be shot. NOT given a second chance. Now that that’s out of the way…

Teaching is a  ministry. I’ve always known it but sometimes forget to view it that way. It’s our jobs, as teachers, to show God’s love for these kiddos. So many of whom are not receiving the love, encouragement and support they need at home.

Some of you have heard me talk about my “challenge” this year. A beautiful little girl who had to be restrained almost daily last year…in kindergarten! She is bright- does amazing work and has a great personality…when she chooses too. Despite the constant resistance, objection and not letting adults be in charge, I’ve fallen madly in love with her.

Her at home life is terrible. Something I’ve known from day one. Although I didn’t know the extent, it’s beyond obvious her family has some not ok things going on. She has six other siblings, all of which have the same behavoir issues as she does. She told me a couple days ago her brother just got out of jail- I had no idea she had a brother in jail and had no idea why he was in there. But as her behavior has progressively grown over the last week or so, I assumed him being out of jail had something to do with it. My assumption (of what he did to get him there in the first place) was confirmed today when I talked to my counselor. Even though I’m her teacher she still can’t share details with me. It’s sickening and pisses me off. I know many kids today go through what she’s been through (and I’m assuming her other sisters), but good grief- the brother is sixteen. And how in the world did mom let this happen….or at least continue when she did know it was happening. And now he’s out of jail…I sure as heck hope he wont be allowed to live back at home.

One of my many lessons for today was to remember that no matter what she does I can never let her doubt how much she means to me. I can’t change my tone of voice from the loving, caring one she needs so much to hear. I still have to drill into her to let the adult be in charge, but the times I get frustrated or she does something really over the top (she’s perfected testing and pushing people’s buttons) I can’t change the way I react. Our school staff is the only place she’s getting what she needs and I can’t let her doubt how we truly feel about her.

Just a little insight into my  year so far. It is my job to show these kids they are truly safe and cared about here. This situation has reminded me of what led me to this profession in the first place. So to my fellow teachers reading this- keep doing what you’re doing. Keep showing kids how much you truly care, no matter how much they make you not want to and last…pray for them. Lots.

Redirecting My Focus

The last few weeks have been, to say the least, overwhelming and exhausting. I’ve never been thrown so outside of my comfort zone and so consumed by a to do list that is never ending. I’ve been living at school (15 hours a day has pretty much been the norm). When I’m at home my focus has been nothing but school stuff- everything I still need to do, what I need to do to improve, etc. I could go on, but I need to stop and say that despite how everything I just mentioned sounds, I have been enjoying (almost) every minute of it. I am incredible grateful God put me here and I’m getting to do what I’ve waited so long to do.

But because some things have started to get to me, and I’ve been pretty hard on myself about them, I’ve found it imperative to focus on the blessings that God has surrounded me with. I hate to say it, but because I’ve been so wrapped up in starting off the school year I’ve accidentally turned my focus away from God. And try as I may, there is no way to even attempt to justify that. In a time of my life that I need God most- to give me guidance and patience in particular- I’ve hardly even acknowledged him. I could go on about this, and who knows, it might be a new post soon, but I’m already rambling more than I intended. The purpose of this post was to share the blessings & praises of current. Some are very random, simple pleasures. But I am very thankful for each of them!

So here, in very random order, are my current praises:

• Beginning my career….a career of which I’ve waited A LONG time for!
• Expecting 2 new nieces/nephews in the next few months (Stephanie- it better be a niece from you!)….fun fact- this will give me a total of 12 nieces and nephews, crazy!
• Amazing friends- who despite blowing them off and being a terrible friend and all around person the last couple months, they don’t seem to mind.
• 27 kiddos in KidsCo. today!
• Sunday afternoon nap….although I have lots to do, it was very peaceful and very much needed
• Getting to sit in on service today…something my spirit really needed. Good message Chris!
• Seeing the family of one of the girls I taught last year continue to come to Life Co…and get involved (her mom signed up for a community group!!)
• 2.5 weeks of a ridiculous amount of testing is finally OVER for my first graders.
• Freshly prepared sweet tea that I’m about to go enjoy
• Being with Johnny right after he woke up from his nap, I miss the cuddly times with that boy!
• Car rides to school (starting this week) catching up on Jason’s messages from Life Co. Thank goodness for iTunes!
• The Office DVDs…I’ve been playing them on my computer while I’m working late in my classroom
• Making time to go to 24 Hour tonight (after 1st Sundays)…for the first time in way to long!
• Chipotle for lunch
• Last, but not least, after 2 weeks of testing had already passed and my kiddos were all bored and tired, one boy walked up to me, gave me a hug and said “You are my favorite teacher ever.” Pretty awesome feeling to have that said..especially after all the testing I’ve been putting them through.

Starting 1st Grade

So I finished my first week as an official teacher. It’s actually MY classroom and somehow (despite the 12+ hours I’ve spent there almost everyday for the past 2 1/2 weeks), it still hasn’t fully hit me. I’ve spent so long waiting for my career to begin and it finally has. I am so thankful, so excited and so incredibly stressed out (but it’s a good thing).

My first week was good. Really fast. We almost got nothing done because of all the drilling and practicing of routines and rules. My kiddos are amazing. I have 3 from my kindergarten student teaching class which is such a blessing, they are great!

But of course every class comes with the students who make each day unique. They continuiously push their limits and look for new buttons to push. Brief overview of the few that I’m sure you will hear stories about. First, a little girl who was referred to our district’s alternative school last year (in kindergarten!!). The only reason she didn’t go is because her older brother went instead. She has started off with a decent week, but she is starting to show that side of her.  Next there is my retained first grader, so this is her second year in first grade. Based on the little bit of reading and writing we did this week, you really cannot tell she has been in first grade. Her writing is much less advanced than most of my class- who are all first time first graders. Next we have a boy who’s mom warned me he might be a little wild…but only because he spent summer at his grandma’s with  “a bunch of rowdy cousins” who have revved him up. Even when I’m talking directly to him, he doesn’t realize what he needs to do to follow directions. I’ll strait out say, directly to him 1-on-1, what his body/actions/etc. need to look like and he’s still in his own world doing everything opposite of the rest of the class.

I know students like these are inevitable, and it’s working with them and the wide range of others that make teaching so rewarding, I just wanted to give a breif insight into what will be making up my year.

The first week really did go great. The honeymoon phase of EVERYONE listening and being respectful ended on the third day of school which made practicing the routines and reviewing rules that much more fun. I am looking forward to getting into the year and working with and getting to know each of my kiddos individually. I can’t wait to see what challenges, experiences and learning opportunities I’ll endure in my first year teaching.

I’ll do better at posting on here, so I’m sure you will soon be reading about some crazy stuff happening in first grade.

Everything

Everything

Watch this. Don’t judge it on the first part, you NEED to watch it to the very end. Trust me.

Code Red

For the first time in Fort Osage SD history Code Red was called today. Can’t say that I feel lucky to be a part of the experience.

My kiddos had just begun Writer’s Workshop (their absolute favorite part of the day) when our secretary almost frantically called out “Code Red- this is NOT a drill” over the intercom. I don’t know if my heart has ever stopped beating that quickly. My first thought was “crap, I’ve never looked at the procedure for Code Red”. Then I pulled it together turned off the light, locked my door and rushed my kiddos into hiding.

They are smart kiddos. They picked up on the “this is not a drill” and although some were reasonably frightened did an amazing job crowding behind our bookshelf where they couldn’t be seen from the hall OR the windows.

So after they were all settled (19 kids in about a 5 foot hiding spot), I was able to explain (whispering) that it is probably no big deal and everything was going to be OK. I even added “ya know, this probably IS a drill and they’re just making sure we know what to do”. Although I knew that wasn’t the case and it’s hard to tell them not to panic when the curiosity and not knowing are starting to get to you.

So after about 45 minutes we, needless to say, realized it wasn’t a drill. Want a challenge? Hide with 19 kindergarten kids and keep them quite/calmed down and still for 45 minutes.

Apparently there was an assault at nearby apartments (note to self: don’t choose to live at those apartments) and the men were on the loose with at least one gun.

I can definitely say it was probably the most eventful day I’ve experienced as a teacher at this point. And I thank God it wasn’t a more serious Code Red (ie School Shooting, intruder, etc.).

Officially a Teacher

Two weeks ago I got offered a teaching position for next year. What’s more than that is it was my very top choice. I first heard about the new school Fort was building about 2 years ago and have wanted to go there since. Everything about district that I’ve experience (from student teaching and I’m doing now) plus meeting the principal a few times more than confirmed my desire to be there.

 God definitely provides. And the fact that I was offered a job this early is a huge blessing! I cannot wait to experience my first year as a teacher in a brand stinkin new school with an amazing principal.

 Check out the slide-show (halfway down) to check out Indian Trails. This is where I work!!!

http://www.fortosage.k12.mo.us/

The way she offered it to me was really encouraging! I could go on, but I’ll spare you. I am so so so thankful and cannot wait to see what the beginning of my teaching career brings!

Brilliant

Today in Kindergarten (a class I’m teaching for the rest of the year), we were talking about Presidents. We started off by answering the question “What does the President do?”. They gave me answers such as “makes sure we follows rules” and “helps the whole world”.  One boy added that the president is everyone’s boss. Without hesitation one of my little girls urgently said “Miss Wilcox, that’s not right. GOD is our boss, not the President!”. 

 I love it.

 Prayer request: I have two interviews with my top two choices this week. Fort Osage’s new school (my first choice) on Friday morning and Independence on Saturday. These are my first REAL interviews and your prayers would be SO appreciated! Thanks.