Telling time, say "no", and memes

We covered parent complaints about school supplies and then parents complaining about recess being taken away from their, no doubt, perfect angels. 

This week: telling time. 

"They wanted to work it out for themselves." I cannot stop laughing at that. 

I have no less than 5 conversations a day about the clock. 

These are 8-9 year olds though so I can almost understand. But, in reality, I have two analog clocks in my classroom and every time someone asks when _______ is (lunch, recess, etc), I say "the same time it is every day" and they say "no how much more time until _____?" and I say "there's a clock* on the wall" and they genuinely try to puzzle it out before someone else will yell out the answer or they give up. "It's my job to teach you, it's not my job to be your personal reminder of elapsed time" is going to be my new tagline. I have a schedule with times on the wall. I have the clocks available for them to see. To be honest, the most visible learning I see is when they work out elapsed time by themselves. Not being able to do this by 9 years old, it's almost a travesty. 

*My first several classrooms had analog and digital clocks on the wall. I used to cover up the digital clock in Alaska because it didn't do us any favors; they needed to understand the dang clock face and hands. Years later, my classroom in Missouri didn't have a clock. Just no clock. I spent $12 on one and we used that clock all day long. Especially because we switched classes, keeping track of time was important. I didn't teach math, but my students could use a clock by the end of the year simply because it was there. I took it with me when I left. Looking at the current classroom photos I've seen on Facebook, there's no clock on the wall. 

Speaking of: ^^^

The other day, Wells was like "remember when we went to that summer school thing?" "huh?" "yeah it was like a camp or..something...at a church". He described the location. 

"OH YOU MEAN THE CO-OP!?" 

"oh yeah that. that was boring, remember?" 

lol

But my point is: the kids were out of control there at the co-op with their parents around, in the same way they'd be in any school setting. And some of the parents had very strong opinions about not wanting their kids in a school. 

There were also 12 yr olds who couldn't spell and printed like 2nd graders. A school didn't fail that kid, the parent did. 

So that's how I know it's a parenting problem. Everything is a parenting problem. It doesn't matter if your kid is in school, can tell time, can't tell time, or homeschooled: it all comes down to parenting. Every kid is parented in some way or another and the "how" makes all the difference. 

Recess and memes

Last week, I went at the parents griping over school supplies. This week, let's look at recess. More specifically, the idea of recess being taken away. 

 

PA must be really behind the times because Colorado required 30 minutes of recess a day by law in 2014 when I was there. Same in Missouri the last few years and now in Kansas. It's 30 minutes of recess a day and 30 minutes of P.E. per week, even in private school. 

Point is: you're not gonna hear me argue this. 

But Ashley and Heather here are having a lively discussion in which they spell everything wrong and talk about how the schools aren't good enough for them. Sorry your Title One school that provides you with everything for free (childcare, food, education) isn't quite doing it for you. 

I also glean that their kids are probably the problem. You can picture them after reading these comments. 

News Flash: Kids don't get their recess taken away "for any reason". Kids get their recess taken away because they exhibit no self-control or have no obedience to authority. It's a parenting problem.

And even in states where it's mandated, you can still take away their recess. Most schools have them walk laps. 

Few things bother me more than a couch in the classroom. 

Okay, the meme: 

The caption:

Can you imagine how proud Amerigo Vespucci's parents must be?

I would spend full minutes waiting for Disney on channel 43 and then miss it. 

I still use this every single day. Best money I've spent. It's 10 years old. Ngl: all the good colors are gone but I'm making do. 

^^Saturday AND Sunday for me this weekend

It's one or the other. 

And most important: 

Tequila & Tonic (and memes)

My biggest gripe with Kansas and grocery shopping is that you can't buy alcohol in the regular grocery store so when we run out of something, I just don't replace it. I am not ambitious enough to go into a liquor store because the idea of making a second stop is too much to handle. Usually if we need something, I'll ask Scott to pick it up. 

All this to say, we ran out of gin like 6 months ago. I do like a gin and tonic mostly because I love tonic water. With ice and lots of lime, it's the perfect drink. I realize this means I'm probably from the 1950s. 

We did happen to have a bottle of tequila on hand ...so I mixed tequila with the tonic and a lot of fresh lime and a splash of sweetened lime juice. It's not quite as good as a gin and tonic but it fits the need for something fizzy on a hot day. 

The back-to-school nightmare parents have hit the Facebook groups!