Just a rant and a Funny!

Soooooo....how's your year going?! We are in the middle of our third week and we are up and running in my class. It's.....different than last year. Last year I had around 19 kids most of the year. I had one child who had behavior issues, but pretty much everyone else was great. This year is......different. I do have great kids! 23 this year. I know many of you have way more than that and I'm sorry and I think that's crazy! But those 4 more in my room are making a big difference! They are just quite a bit more chatty than last year's group. I'm doing the Clip Chart AND they are earning Golden Tickets thanks to Kristin's idea at A Teeny Tiny Teacher. Thanks, Kristin! But we are still struggling. You know the years when you have 4 or 5 talkers that just won't be quiet? Well, I've got about 13 of those! One afternoon, I dismissed the kids who were not talking and let them go ahead and get in the car rider and bus rider lines. The other more than half my class had. no. clue. I finally just had to turn out the lights and yell, "Bus Riders! You're going to need to go get on your bus now!" They looked around, oblivious to the fact that the other kids were gone. Uhh..... We will work it out, though! These are good kids, just noisy. I do have a few kids who I've had to remind that there is one teacher in the room and they need to take care of themselves (I know you've never experienced anything like this before!) Anyhoo, I had to laugh this morning when I heard a student at the table. He said to another student, "You know, I'm not the teacher, but if I were, I'd tell you to STOP IT!!!!" ha! That was a moment I had to turn around and look the other way so they couldn't see me laughing!!! So funny! I'm still introducing the Daily 5 and although we are struggling with our stamina in Read to Self, I'm going to stick with it because I think they'll get it and I think they'll love it once I get every part up and running. I'm staying optimistic! I hope your year is off to a good start and if you have any ideas for me to try, please share!!!! Talk to you soon!!