Laptops + Friday afternoon + Jamba Juice fundraiser day

Our students have to take the state test on computers. So of course, we need to teach them how to use the various aspects of the test. There are some neat things, such as providing a read aloud for math questions for students who have trouble reading. We're testing their math, right? Not their reading.... on a math test. There is also a really neat thing where my boys who are new from Mexico can take their math test with the questions presented in both English and Spanish.

The clincher is that in order to use certain special helps, we have to sign in with the secure testing browser, not just a regular online browser. So that is how we were trying to get the kids login. We means Ms.  G and the students. We were having so many problems. Kids were so wild anyway, because it was Jamba Juice day! If they had prepaid $3, they could get a little Jamba Juice today. Really. Real Jamba Juice. They bring them in. Many of the students were not particularly patient in waiting for help when they were having trouble logging into the practice test. I had to create a session, they had to log in with specific IDs, there were all kinds of things that had to be checked or unchecked or approved and so on. Lots of technical issues. And too many kids like to just call out when they need help.

Meanwhile, various children had to go to the restroom. Quite a few stomachaches going on in my class this week. I'm starting to wonder which ones are true and which ones are not. A couple of boys were in the bathroom, and an older boy pushed one or both of them. One of them fell down and hurt his knee. I'm not sure if the hurt knee was from crashing into something metal or falling on the floor. So I was trying to call different 6th grade teachers with the description of the boys and have them send them down to my room for my kids to identify. None of the 6th graders met the description. So perhaps it was a 7th or 8th grade boy. The kids came in so full of stories and excitement and feelings of injustice and so on.

Meanwhile, we still had the issues with the computers going! One of my little girls, who is already having issues and is on a contract with me and her parents, not only was wild and excited sitting in her chair, she was starting to do the Macarena.  And part way through the technology session, I had to let kids go to buy their Jamba Juices with the tickets they had purchased. Apparently, the auditors for our school districts are getting extremely picky about fundraisers, so I had to write down numbers to keep track of which child got which ticket. This was going on while some students were working, and others were perhaps still trying to get online. Later, when most of the class were sitting in their seats at the end of the day, I looked and saw Miss Macarena on the floor on her hands and knees, or perhaps I should say knees and  one hand, pouring water from a bottle onto the carpeting. I was like Are. You. Kidding!? This child knows that her parents are on her case.

Oh, let me mention the child who needed a bandaid because he scratched so hard that he made himself bleed. His leg itched!  This is actually not completely common, although usually it is more like they picked off a scab.

There were some good kids today, including one boy who sometimes is a troublemaker, kids who actually settled down, and did their practice tests. These students were rewarded with an unusual set of 2 tickets (in addition to one they might receive Monday morning for today)  as per our classroom rewards.

I had to put away laptops after the kids left. I was wondering how I was going to take the laptop cart back, because it is just too heavy for me to push with my knee still acting up. It still has not completely healed from the break over 6 months ago. Fortunately, I found a few boys who were in the after school program and got them to help me roll the car back.  It was quite an afternoon!   I left school reasonably early, went to the doctor and waited, got good results from my MRI about my knee, and now am about to go into the mall to eat. Yes, that is what I do on Friday nights sometimes. I actually needed some peace and quiet for my brain. At the mall? Yes, lots of people around, but no kids with whom I have to interact or discipline or give a bandaid to or help them with their computer laptop or find out who is bothering them in the bathroom. I'm taking my Kindle in, and I'll just kind of be in  my own little world!

I am glad it's the weekend!

Whew. What a week!

I am glad this week of school is over!  Although I have LOTS to work on this weekend (not sure how much I'll actually accomplish), Friday evening is a relief.  The one word to describe the craziness of this week is "LOCKDOWN".  Wednesday afternoon, I was still at school, working in my room.  I heard a call over the loudspeaker to lock down.  I knew kids were at school for an after school program, so I ran outside, blowing my whistle, and calling for the kids on the field, after school program workers/coaches, and parents to come inside!  It turned out that by the time we were locking down, a suspect was already in custody.  He had jumped the fence right by my classroom, ran through an area where kids were playing a game, and somehow was captured by law enforcement.  The lockdown was to secure the area while the cops looked for possible dropped items.  I had nearly 60 people (mostly kids) in my classroom.  I got busy trying to get all the names written down to email to the office, as I had been trained.  I enlisted the moms there to write their own names and the names of the kids with them.  An after school youth leader (college age) started taking down names of kids on one side of the room, and I started on another. Fortunately, it was over before I actually had them all collected. Later, I was rather shaken up as I realized how close my room is to the gate/fence over which the suspect jumped, and how quickly someone could be in my classroom!  Unfortunately, apparently fire code trumps intruder safety, and I am not allowed to leave my door locked during class. We do have "door blocks", which are specially designed to keep the door ajar while leaving it actually locked.  It is easily "unblocked" from inside in case of an emergency.

The next afternoon, I was again working in my room after school. For some reason which I can't remember (maybe I heard the helicopter?) I looked outside the classroom. A helicopter was circling over the area north of the school, quite close.  As this happens rather frequently in our area, it wasn't a complete surprise.  However, the cop car on the street by our play field was more unusual.  I called the office, and was told about police activity a few blocks away.  An intercom announcement told us to lock our doors, yet it wasn't announced as a lockdown.  Students in the after school program would be escorted to the restroom.  My window shades were still closed (and some of the gaps covered) from the lockdown the day before!  I turned out the lights and decided to check for news of the situation on TV.  The overhead cameras showed a liquor store right at the end of the street which borders one side of our school.  I called the principal, who was going to check with law enforcement, as the original report indicated further away. NOW a real lockdown was called.  At least I didn't have kids in the class with me!  However, my classroom is pretty close to a street perpendicular to the one where they were looking.  A helicopter was overhead, and sometimes the building would shake.  I even heard announcements such as "come out with your hands up" and, referring to at least one canine, "will bite you".  As I sat there in the dark, not wanting even to turn on the computer screen again (I didn't want light to show) I was getting scared.  At one time, I heard a thump.  I texted my principal and assistant principal and said I was scared.  Not too long after that, they texted me that a certain police officer (I think he may be our campus liaison) would come to get me and escort me to the office.  (Like many Southern California schools, our classrooms open directly to the outdoors.  To get to the office, I had to walk about the distance of a block...outside.)  My principal told me he would knock three times.  Shortly after that, he arrived.  We stopped to get the assistant principal, who had delivered snacks to some after school program kids.  I wondered if he had his hand gun out.  No!  He had a BIG gun out...not sure exactly what it's called, but looks like the assault rifle type!  I got to the office and hung out there a while.  Finally, about 2 hours after we locked down, it was over.  I told my principal I was going to leave early today (Friday)!  And I did.