Can I just begin with " Oh my God!"? The kids came today, full of p&v. One little boy, one of my Mohamed's, decided it would be a great trick if he pretended he could not speak English. So for about 3 hours he had me going. I went to the principal's office and asked for advice, and it turns out he has a sister in 6th grade. She was brought over to my class and promptly said " Oh speaks perfect English! He can read, he can write he can do everything!" Then, because my class is set up so the students are facing the door, every time the door was opened, and I kid you not, the kids who could look directly into the hallway became totally hypnotized!!! I would call their names, I would ask them questions and got no response. As soon as the door was shut, they would suddenly be normal again. I kept wondering if Stewie was out in the hall with his hypnotic glasses on!!! Then I had a kid who may have been medicated when he got to school because he was very quiet, but as soon as lunch was over, Dr. Jekyll left and Mr Hyde entered the building. He is a sneaky little thing. He can get the others very worked up, but you never hear him say anything, but wherever he sat, everybody became totally distracted. Then there's the kid who thinks he's gonna do exactly what he wants when he wants...Guess what? I am totally in love with them all ready! I couldn't have asked for a better group. They are smart, they are funny and they really want to learn. Oh boy...however, tomorrow I gotta put my foot down. From this point on, I will be giving them writing assignments. I am trying to teach them that 4th grade means you are not a baby any more. You are a big kid. And you need to act like one. Oh...and they left my class room a hot mess. And what is up with 4th graders and the bathroom? I swear, the kindergartners can go to the loo, use wash their hands and come out in 2 minutes. I had to go in to the girls, and open up the boys, bathrooms, and yell at my kids to come out. One time I was standing at the door saying " If there are 4th grade girls in here they need to come out!" No one said anything but of course I knew some of my kids were in there. I go in, and instead of them washing up to go to prayer, they are in there dashing water on each other and everything else. I said" Really? Really dude?" And they all smiled and went sashaying out the door like it was no body's business. The things I said the most were : "Really dude?' and "Uhhhh,,,,whatcha doin?" Because I would be in the middle of telling them something and look up and one kid has another kid's shoe, three little girls are seriously discussing something, heaven only knows what, another had fallen asleep and still another. was sharpening his pencil to a nub! Oh yes and please do not let me get started on pencil sharpeners. Then there was the "I gotta go to the bathroom" which happened all day today. Tomorrow, the answer to the bathroom question will be " No!" Why? Most of the time I would have to send someone to retrieve the goer, because they would either be trapped in bathroom limbo, or visiting all their friends in other classrooms....On a bright note, these are some really smart kids! One little boy reads as well or better than any 4th grader I have experienced. Really sharp kid! Math is so-so with a lot of them so we are really going to be working on that. Up shot? I am exhausted. it is twenty minutes after 8 and I am already going to bed. I think I am officially old........