What a great day!

Today was a wonderful day! We did, like every other day, have a few meltdowns from a select couple of students, but they weren't so bad. The meltdowns seem to be decreasing in duration and intensity, which is so nice!

I feel like I am finally gaining enough control of my class to have fun with them. It didn't take me this long last year, but it's a totally different group of kids. I just hope that by the time we become the family that I know we can, the year won't be over! All in all, I am feeling really good about things. The kids are excelling in reading, writing, and math. I tweaked a lot of my strategies from last year and it really seems to be paying off. And, all things considered, I have a reasonable amount of control over my class. We have our routines and procedures and we stick to them. So much that if I ever decide to, say, do math in the morning instead of the afternoon, my kids freak out. The same goes for if we ever, Heaven forbid, put away our markers without saying "Make your markers click so they won't get sick." Or if we do not take our restroom breaks at exactly 8:50, 11:20, and 1:30. Routines are lifesavers.

As I type, I am sitting at my kitchen table eating DELICIOUS taco soup that one of my students brought me today. I don't know why, but I'm glad he did! He or his mom didn't even know that Kevin is out of town and I'm on my own for dinner; they just decided to randomly send me some soup and it worked out great!

Oh, and for dessert, I'm eating the cupcake that another one of my students brought me this morning. It's not anyone's birthday; she just wanted to make and bring her teachers a cupcake. How sweet are my students, really?

Funny story: As I wrote about before, I got sent home from school on Tuesday morning to avoid the ice storm that was coming from my side of town. Our speeth pathologist took over my class for the day (a BIG sacrifice for her, which is why I'm bringing her Starbucks to thank her - but that's just what the people at my school do for each other - it's amazing). You may remember little 'Jake' asking me about the birds and the bees a couple of weeks ago. Well, Jake took this opportunity (fresh blood in the classroom) to further explore his curiosity. I believe their conversation went something like this:

Jake - Um, Mrs. Sandler, what are those things on your jacket?
Mrs. Sandler: What things? (looks around for buttons, spills, etc)
Jake - Um, well, you know....when a girl gets all dressed up sometimes you can see them?
Mrs. Sandler - (realizing what he is talking about) Oh! Um, let's not talk about that right now.
Jake - But what ARE they anyway?
Mrs. Sandler - (tries to change the subject)
Jake - Seriously. What are they?
Mrs. Sandler - (still desperately trying to change the subject)
Jake - Are they like cushions or something?

HAHAHAHA! How funny is this kid?


Also, KEVIN COMES HOME TONIGHT! I have been so bored and lonely and I am looking so forward to seeing him in less than 4 hours!

I hope you have a wonderful evening and a great Friday! TGIF