No air, no air!

If you're familiar with the Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown song, "No Air," the title about sums up the temperature of my classroom.  UGH!  I was definitely spoiled last week when it was only about 80 degrees in my room.  Today it hit (drum roll ...) 90 freaking degrees in the room!  I was grumpy, the kids were grumpy and we were all so tired.  During math, which is at the end of the day, they were dragging so much that no learning was going on.  My clothes were sticking to me all day long.  I know some complain that the air in their buildings is too cold.  Here is my thought - You can always put on more clothes in school but I can only take off so much!!  No stripping allowed!!  I told my little darlings to lay on the floor with their heads down while I read a chapter from our current read-aloud.  They seemed to enjoy that immensely, as did I.  We are constantly trying to stay hydrated but it is almost a losing battle.  With ISTEP coming up very soon, I will have to come up with some creative ways to keep us cool.  Sitting on blocks of ice is probably out of the question, huh? 

Until next time ...

First Day Jitters!

Whew!  The first day has (finally!) come and gone.  Overall, it was a pretty successful day.  Of course, I had about 10 minutes to get them in, at desks, take attendance and lunch count BEFORE we were to be at gym at 8:30.  Yes, current and former Muesselites, I've got our specials schedule from the last several years.  No problem except our lunch isn't until 12:20.  12:20?!  Holy moly!  I have this group from 9:05-12:20.  Hmm... did I make enough plans?  Luckily I did (barely!) but here are some snippets heard in room 209 - At 10:00, "Mrs. Strunk, when is lunch?"  "I'm hungry."  At 10:30, "My stomach is making sounds."  At 11:00, "How far away is 12:20?"  At 11:05, "Mrs. Strunk, you got any snacks?"  At 12:00, "Only 20 more minutes, Mrs. Strunk, then we can feast!!"  Needless to say, we did take lots of drink breaks to fill up their empty tummies.  (And mine!)  Meijer brand cereal to the rescue!  I am taking some in tomorrow and giving them a scoop mid-morning.  I admit it - I scarfed my lunch down!!

Until next time, my friends ...