Hell of a day.

I've figured it out.

The world likes me blogging.

I mean, it must. Because why else would I have a day like today if not to write about it?

When your day starts with one of your kids getting hit by a car and ends with a student peeing on your floor, there's gotta be some sort of higher meaning, right?

I'll begin at the beginning.

Grins came into my room this morning to hang out. He happened to be the only one in there, and we were chatting about this and that as I prepared for the day. Ninjas, his grades, why permanent markers are banned at school....and then he tossed in, "I got hit by a car this morning, Ms. Teachin'."

I looked at him. "What?"

"I got hit by a car."

"Hit. Like, actually hit. Like.....HIT. BY A CAR." He nodded. "Did it STOP????" Shook his head. "Did you report this????" Again, negative. Well, that was just great.

"Honey, I need to have you go to the nurse to get checked out ---"

"What??? No! I'm fine!"

I stopped him. "I hope you're fine, but I need to make sure. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you had internal bleeding and died ---"

"Don't you think I would know if I had internal bleeding? I'm fine!"

"Grins, this is non-negotiable. I HAVE to report this. C'mon." We walked down to the office, he arguing with me the whole way, trying to talk me out of it, telling me that he was going to get in trouble, that his dad would think he was dumb, that he really was fiiiiiiine....

I felt terrible.

And how ridiculous that I feel terrible for reporting that a child got hit by a car that then drove away. But I do, because he was so upset.

So that colored the first hour or so of my day; this was right before first period, and I just felt so terrifically guilty about the whole thing that I was awfully quiet and serious during class (I know, because several kids asked me what was wrong). Eventually, though, I was able to put it out of my mind and refocus on teaching. And the rest of the day passed essentially uneventfully (though the Antagonizer did a surprisingly large amount of work - it was a pleasant change).

Then. After school.

One of my kids, Stephanie Meyer's Biggest Fan, had asked me if she could stay after. She was absent yesterday so I assumed she just wanted some time/space to do her work; we hadn't done anything new, just continued several ongoing projects so it didn't require any guidance and I was working on my own stuff. Another girl was in my room helping me with some clerical work; she likes to be useful and she likes to have personal attention, and so she volunteers with me once a week and we chat and she does this and that.

So all three of us were talking, and somehow Twilight came up (because it always does in conversations with SMBF), and I asked if they'd seen the Twilight/Buffy mashup (which, if you haven't, it's brilliant - go watch it immediately and revel in how much more badass and awesome Buffy is than creepy creepy Edward).

They hadn't, so we watched it, me sitting at my desk and the girls standing to the side. SMBF started moving oddly as she was watching - it kind of looked like the pee dance (you know the one) but I thought, hey, she's in 8th grade, it's after school, if she needs to go, she'll go.

Well, she did.

But not the way I would have hoped.

Suddenly I heard a distinctive splashing noise. I looked over and....yep. Yellow puddle forming. I said, "You can go to the bathroom...." because she was just standing there, peeing.

She said, "I can't."

What that meant, I got nothin' (maybe that she couldn't move right then?), but I was in shock, so I sat there for another 30 seconds or so while the video ended and she continued. Finally it finished and I said, "Why don't you go to the bathroom."

As she started out the door, SMBF stopped and said that her doctor had told her this might happen. And then she went. And I looked at the other student and said that I'd appreciate it if she wouldn't tell anyone, which she immediately agreed to, and then I went to find a custodian, and then to check on SMBF. She refused a pair of school dress-code sweats; she'd been wearing a skirt so she just took off her tights and said she was fine. She said this had started yesterday, and the doctor said to wait and see what happened; I suggested she have her parents call the school so all her teachers know that if she asks to go, she needs to go RIGHT THEN.

After she left, I emailed my AP, the counselor, and the school nurse because this was just so weird; it seems like something must be going on, medically or emotionally, for something like this to happen, and I'm certainly not equipped to deal with the situation. I will say that SMBF seemed remarkable unphased by the whole thing - at her age, I'd've been in tears, and calling my mom to insist on transferring schools immediately. I'll check in with her tomorrow after I get some guidance on what to say.

It was a hell of a day.

(Image credit to jomilo75)

Worth giving up 11 hours of my Saturday?

The field trip that was causing me so many concerns was today.

In general we had a fabulous time; all but one of the kids showed, which for a Saturday ain't too bad. One had to leave early due to an injury from a few days ago, and another went home sick, which was a shame for him (and for me, because I missed out on an hour and a half of the conference as I waited (...and waited...and waited) with him for a parent to show up).

Three of my darlings got into moderate trouble; it almost became real trouble, but something good happened. They had skipped out on one of the conference sessions and texted me to see if that was okay. It wasn't, and I called them to find out where they were so I could go discuss it with them in person; as I hung up, I heard Drama King say to the other two, "I think she's mad."

When I got to them, I started with, "I'm not mad."

"Yes you arrrrrrrrrrre, Miss!"

I stopped them. "I'm not mad. But I AM disappointed in you. I'm not going to tell you that you have to go back into the session; you can make your own choices. But you should know that if you don't go back to the sessions, you're banned from my room for the rest of the year [all three eat lunch in my room almost every day]." And then I waited.

Grins (he's one of those kids who smiles all the time, even when he's in trouble - he often gets in more trouble for it) asked, "If we go back in, will you still be disappointed in us?"

I shook my head. "Nope. If you go back in, the slate is wiped clean and we're good, assuming the rest of the day goes well."

For a moment, no one said anything. Then Grins spoke up. "I don't want to be banned from the room....but I really don't want Ms. Teachin' to be disappointed in me. I'm going back in." He looked at his friends, and after a moment, they agreed. They got up, and went back.

Were they perfect the rest of the day? No. But they tried. They tried hard. And they did fairly well. It's good to be respected....or maybe just to have a carrot that you can use as a stick when needed.

Another highlight of the day came when one of my kids told me I would not be working at my school next year because I'd be moving to the high school to teach her there (adorable), and then later asking if I could adopt her because I'm so fun. I declined, so she asked if she could call me Mom. I said she could call me that, but I might not realize to answer.....I was immediately Mom or Momma T (for Teachin', of course) for the rest of the day to four of them.

Another one won a book that she didn't want, so she said I could have it for my classroom library but not yet because she has to do something to it first, which turned out to mean sign it to me. :)

And three of my seventh graders (kids I had last year) agreed that while they really like all the 8th grade Language Arts teachers, they're going to have a fit if they don't get me next year. They planned it out: where to lie down, how to kick and hit their fists at the same time, just what they would say (along the lines of "It's not faaaaaaaaair! I want Ms. Teeeeeeeeeachin'! NONONONONONO!"). Clearly they will not actually do this, because if they even try it, I'll kill 'em, but it was sweet.

They are so cute. I love my kids.

To answer my title's question? Definitely.