Crick! Crick! Cricket!

A few weeks ago I wrote of a cricket who had taken up residency in my garage. Grandma J told me it was good luck and at least it was in the garage. Well, so much for the good luck because his girlfriend (or boyfriend) has moved into my house. I've only included this picture as a reference because in all reality it is impossible to see a cricket when it is in your house. IMPOSSIBLE. I hear it, but I can't find it for the life of me. It all started with the "crick! crick! crick!" coming from, what sounded like, behind or under my fridge. That first night I moved the fridge, looked behind it, and made lots of noise hoping it would scurry out into the open. No such luck, but I thought, "I can't hear it upstairs," so I went to bed and hoped it would be gone in the morning. It was gone, the chirping sound that is. It was as quiet as can be the next day when I went downstairs to make some breakfast. Phew!

Well that next evening, and every evening since, it has continued its song to its boyfriend who is still in my garage. It moves on a daily basis though. Sometimes it sounds like its coming from under my sink, sometimes it sounds like its coming from my dishwasher, sometimes it sounds like it coming from the pots and pans cupboard. I say "it sounds like" because I have no idea where it's coming from...once I crawl into one cupboard the sound bounces somewhere else. I have found myself standing in the middle of my kitchen, with my feet planted and my arms stretched out, just listening, hoping to locate where the sound is coming from.

To make matters worse, this seems to be a two-timing cricket. It not only has the garage boyfriend cricket to talk to, it is also talking to another cricket on my back patio. The triangular pattern of "crick! crick! crick!" is driving me mad. More than once I have whined, "Stoooooppppp iiiittttt, please just stoooooopppppp iiiiittttt."

I don't know what to do and I don't know how much longer I can stand it. "How to" articles on line say that your best way to catch a cricket is to know where it is. No, duh! I need a "how to" article on how to know where it is at this point. Do exterminators deal with this kind of thing? Do they have special cricket seeing powers that I don't have? I'm going to have to research that and get this problem solved. Any ideas?

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

For those of you following the DAP story this might be of some interest. Tonight was back to school night which is a night that the teachers are able to meet the parents and listen to a presentation about their child's upcoming year. At my school, it's attended by (if we're lucky) about half of our parents. This year I had 5 out of 16 parents attend which, in case you're not so good in math, isn't half. However, one of those parents was DAP's. I have tried to get in touch with them the last couple of weeks, just leaving messages with no response. So I was thrilled that she showed up. DAP happened to have a FANTASTIC day today and I was happy to share that with her. We talked for a bit and I wanted to be encouraging about the last couple of days. To make a long story short, one of her comments to me was, "I'm most worried about his social skills this year." (OK that sounds good, but just wait). "Elementary school is really just a wash, it doesn't matter that much, I'm more concerned with his social skills." (Well, it actually is pretty important. A lot of foundational skills are taught in elementary school) "Oh sure, but he already knows it." (Are you freakin' kidding me, everything in elementary school? Then maybe he should stay home for the next 5 years. Ya know, if he already knows everything.)

That sure would make my life a hell of a lot easier.

Madness

I haven't written about my job as a teacher yet. I don't know if I had planned on writing about it, but after this week, I need to vent!

Tuesday was my first day back to work with kids. I've been working on-and-off all summer, but Tuesday was my first official day. Before the school year started, I was told that I would have a 2nd/3rd grade combo. That's a tough one for a teacher because, even though we make "it" work all the time, I have not yet figured out how to be two teachers at the same time in order to teach two separate grade levels. I resigned myself to the fact that I would have it and tried to just shrug it off as one more thing. As the end of the school year approached, it seemed to me like the combo wouldn't happen because of the numbers, but I still remained a combo teacher.

Over the summer, I didn't do too much planning because I didn't want to waste the time on something that was bound to change. The first day of school got closer and closer without word one way or another. Then on Friday of last week, I got my class list and I had a combo. I spent the weekend doing some planning and started school on Tuesday, ready to go!!!

This entire week was spent on assessing and teaching classroom procedures. I had a nice little group, albeit two different grade levels, but it was ok. I still wasn't convinced that this combo should be happening. The numbers weren't right, but as the week went on, I started some curriculum and we were moving forward. Then Friday morning I was told that I wouldn't be having a combo anymore. My 3rd graders were to go to another 3rd grade room and I would get additional 2nd graders to fill my class. Ugh! Here we go again.

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to have a straight 2nd grade, but the first week of school is so, so very important and now it's come and gone, but I've got to do it all over again. I started school on Tuesday with 18 students and now I will start school on Monday with 17 students 8 of which are new to my classroom. Not to mention that among those new students are a borderline autistic child and two selective mutes. It's almost comical, and all I can do is laugh.

This is my ninth year of teaching and not one of those years has started off "normal". I work for a principal (yah, the one who grabs his neck) who likes to change things and move people around a lot. Here is a quick glance at my 9 school years...

Year 1 - Hired in October. Two second grade classrooms were too full so those teachers picked students to go into my classroom. I started that year with 18 boys, two girls, and 5 students who didn't speak any English, 2 of which had never ever been to school.

Year 2 - Given a 2/3 combo and moved out of Year 1's classroom into a classroom that was pretty much condemned a year later. My kids and I were sick all year, so sick that my principal wouldn't even come observe me because we were hacking, and coughing, and sneezing like a doctor's office.

Year 3 - Back to 2nd grade, but made into a roving teacher. I had to move, yet again, out of the sick classroom and into one rolling cabinet. That rolling cabinet made it "easier" to pick up and move from classroom to classroom each month...that's right, EACH MONTH!

Year 4 - Still in 2nd grade, but this time had to pack up that rolling cabinet and all my storage and move to a new school, literally a brand new school. We got to move in about 4 days before school started. That year I had the class from hell.

Year 5 - Still in 2nd grade and the same classroom, but I don't remember too much about it, so it must have been pretty normal.

Year 6 - Still in 2nd grade. The year started off pretty normal. Then a month into the school year another teacher was mad that she had lower kids and to appease her my principal moved 7 of my kids out to her room and 7 of her kids to my room. Did I mention how important that first week of school is? After a month had gone by it was very difficult to reteach all the classroom procedures AND keep up with curriculum. That was the worst year I have had.

Year 7 - Still in the same classroom, but back to a 2/3 combo. Plus I had back-to-back student teachers starting with day 1. They were WONDERFUL, but it's hard to get your classroom running smoothly when you have to hand it over to another person a week or two into the year.

Year 8 - Started off the year job-sharing with another teacher and doing additional tasks for my principal. Let's just say that last year is neck-in-neck with year 6 as the worst year ever.

Year 9 - See above

I know I'm just being a whiny baby, but it's my blog and I'm allowed too. I'd really like to have a normal beginning to the school year more than one out of nine times. I'm just saying.

Flipping Out, Episode 3

That Jeff Lewis cracks me up. Here's a recap of Episode 3's craziness.

While visiting Ryan’s, his investment partner, office…

Jeff: This is so professional. You all have your own desk and your own computers. You don’t have three people sharing one desk and one computer. It looks like a real office.

Ryan: It is a real office Jeff. What did you think?

Jeff (in interview): In regards to the work environment between Ryan’s office and my office we run our offices a little differently. I think the atmosphere seems to be a little more tense in my home.

Jeff: There’s no dogs running around or barking. You guys must get a lot of work done here.

Ryan: We try. Don’t you think something like this would be nice for you and Jenny? Even this (pointing to the desk he sat at) it’s like you could still yell at her from over the little separator.

Jeff: This is way too professional for us. Where’s your sassy Nicaraguan housekeeper?

Jeff (in interview): It’s like too perfect over there. I don’t know, I just question it. I just question it. It’s like that family next door where everybody is like hot, and happy, and working hard which makes me think there’s something wrong. Then there’s my family. At least, ya know, we keep it real over here. We’re screaming at each other. We’re threatening each other. We’re quitting. We’re firing. Um, it just seems to me like that’s really the way a work environment should be.

When Chris comes back from the bank…

Jeff: Remember Chris, I like all the 20s facing same direction. See what is happening here, I have to now redo it all.

While looking at an investment property with Jenny…

Jeff: I’m hearing kids, screaming kids. Are we over a school?
Jenny: I don’t know, maybe.
Jeff: The price just went down fifty grand.
Jenny: Just by one scream?
Jeff: Ya, fifty grand per kid.


While Jeff was on the way home from buying nanny-cams for his house…
Ryan: When are you going to be at Valley Oak?
Jeff: Listen Ryan, I don’t know why you are bringing up that right now, this is really important.
Ryan: It’s important to you, but it’s not that important to me. Can you have a double session of therapy this morning?
Jeff: This sting operation is the biggest thing I’ve got going.
Ryan: Alright, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
Jeff: I’m working on catching a culprit is what I’m working on.