Some Photos (and much unpaid overtime)

Just thought I'd show off what a little construction paper, and going to work on a Sunday can accomplish.

Although, to be completely fair, when everyone was telling me that Sunday was a good day to accomplish a few things in my classroom, no one bothered to tell me that I would be sharing my quiet work time with the Love Baptist Church. They apparantly rent out the gym, the cafeteria, and a few empty rooms on Sunday from 7 AM-2PM. Which is all well and good, except for the Pre-teen Boys Sunday School teacher and I gave each other a pretty good scare.





There I was, merrily cutting and taping and drawing twelve birthday cakes, singing along with Nirvana on the radio and minding my own business (although I was wondering about the smattering of sharply dressed people in the parking lot) when a large, suited man burst through my door. I just about disembowled myself with rounded-edge scissors, and he immediately flew backwards out of the room. He crept back in, and stared at the primary-hued masterpiece that is my room. "Is this 109?" he asked. Once we had gotten ourselves situated, and he realized that he needed to move his kids elsewhere, I peeked out into the hallway.






This church was not joking around. I saw choir uniforms being briskly wheeled into the gym, I saw a decked out minister striding past a couple of guys pushing an organ behind the choir robes. Accutely aware that "Heart Shaped Box" was mournfully wailing away behind me, I decided to work at a much lower volume. Four hours later, I believe my room turned into something more workable.







Day One of teaching went pretty well, considering it felt like a cross between balancing 23 marbles on a piece of cardboard, and herding cats. I still have a voice, which is pretty noteworthy, and having all of the kids at once wasn't really that difficult. Each of the rules on the sign above tells their own little story. I think I'll save that madness for another day. What was difficult about today was:

#1- I have no desk or computer. All of the attendance and various teacher-paperwork is done online here, and taking attendance and getting it to the office the exact moment they wanted it was tricky. Which means, it plain old didn't happen.

#2- The munchkins can't operate the sink, and therefore, every time one of them went to the bathroom (and, as they are about three feet tall, have lightning-quick urinary systems), I had to hold the faucet on for them with one hand, and try to keep my touchy-feely kid from wrapping his peers in an octapus-hold, using only the Jedi-mind skills I'm attempting to learn from my husband.

#3- No coat-hooks. I get a cheerful reply of, "They'll be here soon!" every time I ask, and I'm sure the second I leave, the office staff die laughing as I sadly trudge my way back to a room where backpacks and coats are in piles on the floor.

#4- No mailboxes or cubby system for the kids. This meant I had to coordinate handing out four pieces of VERY IMPORTANT paperwork at the end of the day. Sounds easy? Try getting one five year old to put one thing in a backpack.

Most importantly, I still want to go back tomorrow. Especially since it's "Computer Lab" day, and I'm dying of curiosity about what sort of technological wonders some of my kids will do.