Tasha is a Poet

Things have been busy as the 8 and 1/2 week countdown continues... My kids have been decent, with the exception of the 37.5 minute crew who are off the chain. Brandon is closely resembling Joey Pigza in the book we are reading Joey Pigza Swallowed a Key. Jim kicks all of the furniture and runs to the window or the door screaming FIGHT whenever he hears a loud noise [even when it is his own foot, kicking the chair]. Brandon felt Tasha's breasts the other day right in front of me and then looked at me wide-eyed to see if I noticed. I had to pull him in the hall and discuss inappropriate touching while he spazzed out and couldn't stand still. Ally stole 6 dry erase markers and 2 post it pads from the classroom. Stevie blew spitballs at the girls. They are all sharing books so they cannot concentrate in such close proximity. Joey Pigza would be proud.

Highlight of the past week:

New Sub allowed Tasha to check her MySpace account on his laptop, a move of such utter naivety that I was unable to react appropriately when she told me about it. She pranced into the staff room during one of my preps and wandered over to New Sub saying "You are my favorite teacher, and you did me a favor that NO other teacher would do for me" and he was kind of teasing her about blackmailing him in exchange for good clasroom behavior and I finally asked the question: "What did you do for her? When he explained I was like "Oh really? You are right. No other teacher would do that for you Tasha." I refrained from explaining the fact that Sonya had produced her Sex Poem from MySpace just a day earlier.

However, to New Sub's credit, he then proceded to have the most pleasant intellectual conversation with Tasha that I have ever witnessed her engaged in. He was pulling up poetry on his laptop and having her read it aloud and discussing the meaning of each poem. He ran the gamet from silly poems to Shakespeare, and she was quite eloquent in her delivery and analysis, despite the fact that she is, at best, on a 4th grade reading level. She spoke in a tone foreign to the Tasha most teachers are familiar with and I swear she went a whole half of an hour without sucking her teeth or rolling her eyes. So maybe letting her check MySpace was worth it. I cannot wait to look her up...

My co-teacher and I [she has them for Math] are planning about 6 field trips between now and June 28th. We are going to the Museum of TV & Radio, the movies [Akeelah and the Bee, if we can find a d@mn theatre that plays it before 1pm], the Hall of Science, the Intrepid, the Botanical Gardens, and I think one or two others. I do not want to spend one full week in the building before the year's end.

In other good news, Melanie is officially discharged, and T-Rex, in an act from above, has "turned over a new leaf." You see, we have started a Junior Knicks basketball league and each participant is required to fill out a progress report, daily, monitoring their behavior and academic performance. T-Rex knows he's totally f*cked without my approval. So he is actually doing his work, and remaining relatively calm throughout the periods I see him. He usually falls off at the end and does some ridiculous thing like run out of the room honking like a donkey. But for the most part he is respectful and under control. In essence, I love the Junior Knicks, and I have just learned that my 37.5 minute terror boys Brandon, Jim, Richard, and Stevie, are all participants! Just need to get a box on that progress report for that class period and we are all set. Anyone have an official "days left of school" count that has taken into account the clerical and PD days?