Week 5, don't ask how many more to go

For some reason these type of pictures are really fun to take....I don't know what that reason is

This week was a power struggle…Who is going to rule the class? Will teacher be able to tame this wild herd of children that for the past 6 or 7 years have been doing exactly as they pleased? I will tell you that it is a battle, but I do not quit, I do not get tired of turning name cards or taking away recess, I just don’t. They give me attitude I turn their name card to yellow…they hit someone in the class or say a bad word or draw and talk while I am talking then their name card gets turned. Like I said before green = good, yellow = warning, blue = 5 minutes at the next recess, red = principal’s office. By the end of the day there are usually only three names that haven’t been turned yet, and by then I am so ticked at my class that I just want to ring their little necks…just for once I would love for them to just listen long enough for me to finish explaining something.
There were times this week when I wondered what had gotten into my students. Monday was a holiday…Pohnpei’s Liberation Day…rather odd when you think about it…considering it was September 11…but that shouldn’t have suddenly turned my students into little horrors? Why couldn’t they be the little angels I know is hidden somewhere down in each one of them? By the time Friday came I swore to myself if the next week was this bad I was never going to ever consider teaching ever again after this year. I laid down the law all day long…which meant no lunch recess, no student of the week, and more time outs in the classroom then I can honestly remember. And then my day ended…as Raz is so good at reminding us elementary teachers…it is Friday…no more teaching until Monday…Praise God!