back to the grind

Been back at school for almost a week now....well, three days seeing as I didn't actually make it back Monday due to my car breaking a leg. Yes my rear left strut rusted in half and I had to spend the night in a hotel in Maryland. Found some very helpful people who kindly took my Dad's money! Anyway so I tried to call my boss the night before, went to a voicemail where you can't actually leave a message without a code(?), called the school left a message with them. That should be fine right?! Well I found out on Tuesday when I went in for class (early early early because I was supposed to sub for Mom) that the message was not received and they somehow lost a 8 million papers with my number on it. well maybe it was more like 5 million papers. I mean come on people get your shit together. Here are just a few of the places they have my number....my application, my resume (x2), the slip of paper I gave to the secretary 2 weeks before....should I go on or should that be enough for the world?! They weren't actually upset just worried that I was hurt or something ("I said to Jerry, this isn't in her nature to not show up or call. We knew it just wasn't in your nature" -Barbara the sweet secretary), but they didn't know if I was going to show up on Tuesday so they called in a sub for Mom's class.....there goes the extra money I was hoping for (Dad's just going to have to wait a little longer for car payments....you're the best Dad). Oh that also meant 2 extra hours to kill at the school....Oh Joy! Then today I was awake, showered and dressed with so much time to kill. I made some tea, was thinking about making some eggs and then heading off to school.....wait...wait time is it? ...what day is it?? NOT Wednesday! F*#@ IT ALL, I HAVE 5 MINUTES TO GET TO MY CLASS! yup, i did that. My brain is just anywhere but here this week. So I called Barbara again and told her I was on my way in 5. This woman is just so darn sweet "Oh my goodness gracious, well okay, they're with Mr. C and they'll be fine until you get here." I feel like a chicken running round with my head cut off...Mom was so sweet about it all "Welcome to Menopause!" Yeah great, thanks. It's going to go away right?! I mean I'm not even 26 yet. Crapper.

Spring Break

Two weeks of no art class what so ever. Strange you say, because Spring Break doesn't start for another week and it's only one week long?! Well let me explain a lovely little thing called testing!! Yes sir this whole week is taken up by testing and strange Independent Project presentations. Which means that i don't have to deal with making kids make art!! Yippy. all i have to do this week is sit around watching kids take test and then leave. pretty darn easy...although it would have been nice if the school had just said "You know Ms. Remillard, you have done such a SUPER job with these kids thepast few months that we think you deserve 2 weeks off...PAID! have fun and send us a postcard from Vermont" sadly that did not and will not happen this time around. So off i go to sit around and read my Kindle, heck yeah!

Does fabric paint come out of Clothes?!

Had the little guys again today, i love wednesdays, usually. These kids are always so excited to see me and to do some art. Turns out it can be a bit exhausting to deal with 11 little kids all by myself. I found this great activity combining Eric Carle and The Wild Things into a fun collage.

First, the idea of painting something to cut up and create something else seemed to soar right over their heads (there is an art to getting these kids to listen and I am so far from mastering it). Then there is the concept of pouring out paint as you need it and not dumping the entire tube right on your paper (ugh), this was a difficult one. Then, dear well-meaning teacher, there is a wonderful thing called Fabric paint, which you should never give to a bunch of students who are messy and don't listen when you say,
"WAIT, your elbow is painting a picture for your brush!"
Turns out fabric paint, like the label reads, is a great way to decorate fun shirts, jerseys, and your school uniform that your parents toiled over to get it looking presentable for school. Oops...my bad.

And then there are the difficult tasks of putting the artwork someplace out of the way to dry, cleaning up the room, brushes, children, etc. All of this while half the kids are running around the room screaming for, well, purely the joy of exercising the vocal chords (wait, I'm a theater teacher, I should like this right?!? Well I don't think I do). In the middle of all of this maddness their main teacher came in to get them and just stared at the lovely mess that was once a classroom full of students and one frazzled teacher. And as she smiles knowingly she says to me "Yeah, we've only painted once before....they tend to be a bit messy."
OH, really?! ha, you don't say, I never would have guessed. They seem so calm and put together normally. Thanks for the update, now you can have them back! *smile*

Needless to say when my high schoolers came in half a minute later I told them they could do anything they wanted today as long as it was art related....crap, way too open ended, "No Shawn, painting Jo, as creative as it sounds, is not in the books for today." (I had to physically remove the paint from his hands....it would have been funny for like a second until they realized they would have to clean up after).

I AM SO TIRED. and my high schoolers were a surprising breath of fresh air.

side note: I had a 2ed grade girl tell me I 'looked sexy today'....that's weird, right?!

UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH.

NO Mr. Mullet I will not be teaching them math today or ever again. I WILL BE TEACHING THEM ART!!!!! Get that into your head once and for all. There is nowhere in my job description that says I am a Math teacher, and it will never be added!
For the love of all that is good in the world understand this...I. AM. THE. ART. TEACHER. AT. THIS. SCHOOL.
I know this is a hard school to get a grip on, but it's your job to figure it out. You have "been teaching for 25 years" and I have just a few months of teaching as a 'real' teacher, so how am I able to figure this out and you are not?!?!?!?!

Happy Thursday world!

Mr. M and adventures in teaching

and just when I thought things couldn't get any stranger.....

So here it is, Tuesday, the second day of the new middle school teacher, from here on he shall be known as Mr. Mullet (think of the best one you've ever seen and then go a little further....trust me, you won't be disappointed). And for some reason he is under the impression that I am a math teacher as well as an art teacher. Yes it is true that I came in to help the sub with the math class last week, only because she had no idea how to do Algebra. But when I came in on Monday I was under the impression that I would be taking half the class back to the art room while the other half and Mr. Mullet worked on math.....all of this is to give him an easier time (there are 3 different levels of math in the room). Kind of like what we did at Southshire....split it up to make things easier on the teachers and so the kids get more attention. I was fine staying in the classroom on Monday to help out, Mr. Mullet needed that time to see where everyone was, makes sense. What didn't make sense was when he decided to review Algebra with the whole class to "see where you're all at". Great, except for the fact that there are a few students who are 2 years away from Algebra and have NO IDEA WHAT THE SHIT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, AND NO I DON'T WANT TO TEACH THIS PORTION OF THE CLASS! I am here to assist with individuals when needed, only for today!!!
Yes, I know it will be difficult to teach 3 different levels in one classroom, that is exactly why I am supposed to take half of them away! DUH!
Finally, I put my foot down and just told him that I will not be here anymore to help with math, no, there is not other times that I can come in and help (I. AM. THE. ART. TEACHER. and there is no extra money so i will not be giving up my time to make your job easier!! OPEN YOUR FLIPPIN EARS. maybe a little harsh but i don't care at this point), and I would like to start art class on Thursday (which is almost 2 weeks later then expected, so that is 2 weeks of me getting to school 2 hours before I actually have an art class, not fun!).

Yes I know it is hard to wrap your brain around teaching different levels at the same time, but you're at Ryan Academy now, you better get use to it!

And honestly, if you can't figure out how to do middle school math when you have the answer book (with the work done for you) right in front of you, I have no sympathy for you at all. And it's great that you were a drummer in a rock band, but I don't care, help the students instead of telling me how cool it can be to perform I KNOW THAT, REMEMBER THAT TIME 2 SECONDS AGO WHEN I TOLD YOU I WAS AN ACTRESS?!?!?! Yup, I didn't mean I act for myself.

on the bright side there is no school for me tomorrow!!! yippy, day off from the crazy! Loves it!