DAY EIGHTEEN: 5th Grade Math.

I was all set to work with the High School students again this morning when the call came at 7:15 that I was needed for 5th grade math. 

Math didn't scare me when I was in school-until college when it terrified me.  So, as we humans are wont to do with things that scare us, I've avoided math.  Having to teach a class on it was a little bit nerve wracking.  If only math were the worst part.

No, the worst part would be 5th grade attitudes.  Kristin had been telling me they were rough, but I didn't think it could be that bad.  I mean, they aren't teenagers yet, so the angst and moodiness should be minimal.  And, they are mostly less than five feet tall, so not intimidating at all.

Well, that last one is true, despite them thinking they were intimidating.  But the angst and moodiness- yeah, they could get their teenager badges right now.

I had a student walk out because he was getting angry at the fact attendance was taking so long and recess was being delayed- because they wouldn't stop talking and that was pretty much the only leverage I had on them.  His walk-out brought in a teacher, so that was good.  Ten minutes later this kid was sent to the office for fighting.

The end of the day saw me about to step between two kids who wanted to go at it.  Well, one kid who wanted to go at to show how manly he was, and another student (who, by the way, would have crushed the little guy trying to pick the fight) doing everything he could to avoid conflict.  With five minuted before the end of the day, this went down.  And as they went into the hallway, I could tell it was going to continue.  I got the instigator's attention, and calmly explained to him that even if he fought the guy and won, it wasn't going to end well.  He would get in much less trouble if he just walked away and cooled down.  Which, thankfully, he did.

The sad thing is, this 5% are the names and faces I will most likely remember.  The good kids, the ones who were respectful and fun and obedient got overshadowed.  I feel bad for them.

There were very cool new technologies I got to play with.  Smart Boards are so cool.  They are like the screens that football commentators use to draw on to show plays over the video.  Awesome. I want one for church.  But they are kinda bulky.

The other one was the "yacker tracker."  It's a stop light rigged for sound.  Green is good.  Flashing yellow is getting too loud, and Red sounds an alarm.  The kids would police themselves and I had far less "shhhhh-ing to do."

By the way, Monday, I complained that I didn't get to shush anyone as a librarian.  Today, I more than made up for it.

Still, I still enjoyed it.  It's been a while since I've worked with kids, once I get back in the habit, I know things will go much more smoothly.