today.

Oh man...what do I say about today?

Well, I guess I could say that I almost quit my job. Seriously. I was ready to leave the building at 11:30. Luckily, I took the kids to Music, shut myself in the classroom, wrote a long email asking/demanding help for the severe behavior problems I have, and sat with my head in my hands doing some deep breathing until I calmed down.

I was at the end of my rope. I'd had one too many chairs thrown at me, seen one too many kids kick the walls and knock over the trash cans, heard one too many screaming/yelling kids, and had one too many kids disrespect me and refuse to do what I asked. And nothing gets better because there have not been severe enough consequences from the office. 

Luckily I collected myself, had a vent session with my Teaching Assistant that was much needed, my blood pressure dropped back down to "boiling" instead of "severe risk of heart attack," and I was able to get it together for the rest of the day.

One thing I've always prided myself on is my ability to get over issues very quickly in the classroom. Something can make me so super mad, but I'm able to push it aside to do what is best for my kids, which in many cases, is turn around, take a deep breath, put the smile back on my face, and teach an enthusiastic lesson. The rest of the day was pretty good (although that's likely in part due to the fact that one of the rough kids spent the afternoon in In School Suspension.)

We've been learning about patterns this week, so today we actually got to do a craft (gasp!) and we made these cute patterns.

The kids were super quiet and worked so hard on these. They were extremely proud of how they turned out. This math craft was the one saving grace of the day. My 4 severe behavior problems really tend to overshadow my 16 good eggs. Those good eggs were really able to shine through during this project.

However, Time Out was still a very popular hangout today.

Is it totally terrible that I snapped this picture? That tells you how upset I was!

I was told by my principal this afternoon that I am a Saint. She told me that she's completely aware of all the things I deal with on a daily basis, and that I'm doing a great job with my kids. It's hard to remember that fact while I'm dodging flying chairs and pencil boxes while being yelled at to "shut up", but it's nice to know that the administration knows what I have to put up with and they acknowledge that I'm doing my best, given what I've been dealt.

xoxo, wife.