Home Sweet Home?!?!?

So after a quick trip down the hill and back, I’m sitting here in my 1970’s rustic country room reflecting on lessons learned.

1. As great as it was to be back in the hometown, it suddenly felt less like home, and more like a visit. But this new place can’t be home just yet, can it?

2. I’m learning that I’m not a fan of the city. Ok I’ve known that for quite some time but now it’s all becoming clearer. The city makes me anxious.

3. I’m now pondering the “what ifs” of next year. Knowing that this town, while it has its charms, is not a place I’d like to call my own for any length of time, do I willingly return to a part-time gig that hardly pays the bills but pays richly in emotional rewards, or follow the career path, subsequently following the full-time positions, if I can find them, without regard to location?

4. Spray starch kills spiders, even the big brown ones, but it requires a little more umph.

5. If it looks like a rotting cowhide and smells funny don’t let your dog eat it.

6. The Fluffy likes to chase chickens.

7. Never judge a day by the weather. Today I have seen plenty of rain, sunshine and snow.

8. The K-1 substitute today spent a month as the sub for my classroom. The look on her face said it all. I wonder why no one told me about that before I was hired. Things to look into before the next employment opportunity.

9. Sometimes they are going to be kids: Sexual references will be funny. The response of "No I didn't" will be attempted no matter how much you witness them do. Sometimes they just need a little down time.

On the bright side I’m putting some work into my bulletin boards and they are coming along. The kids seem to like it. I also have gotten some routine and they are taking to it well. I even managed to read them part of an adapted version of Twelfth Night. My motives are not entirely pure. While it is education from the literary aspect it also leads nicely into a movie day, thereby keeping the Monkeys (as I’ve started calling them) busy for the troublesome afternoon hours.

I’m also working the positive reinforcement angle to improve behavior. Surprisingly the kids that are always talking, interrupting and in trouble have moved into negative points. That’s math at least right?!

Today one of my favorites tried to convince her mom that she lost all her points because she "laughed at someone else’s joke during SSR." Yes that’s right, the class was actually being quite loud and I ignored all the other talking in the classroom and focused solely on picking out your daughter ma’am and erasing her points. I also had a mom sit in class all day with her four year old daughter. Not sure if she was checking up on me or on her daughter but at one point she started cleaning my room (YAY). I’m curious to know what she thought.

Lastly, I’m working on the internet dilemma. My wireless USB chip is laughably slow. My next avenue is connecting to the dish network and seeing about getting internet for the whole house. I’ll get Grandpa on Facebook yet. :)