April 24: It was another hot day and I brought my spray bottle to recess. This time, I told them that the way to show me that they wanted to be sprayed was by paying me a compliment. At first, they complimented me for being a great teacher. Then they had to move on to saying they liked my clothes, my hair, the pins in my lanyard. Luna was having trouble thinking of something new. She stood in front of me for a few moments, tapping her foot on the ground as she searched the recesses of her mind fr something kind to say. “You’re almost as cool as I am.”
I smiled, accepted, and shot a stream of lukewarm tap water into her face.
April 25: We did Blackout Poetry today. I gave my students pages from books that were already falling apart and they highlighted the words they liked to form a sentence and blacked out everything else so only their chosen words remained. Luna was one of the first to finish. Her read: Give me back my heart and my wagons.
April 26: The dance class took over the cafeteria, so we had to do the slime party in the front yard. Miss Patty was supposed to be on response duty while we were with the students who had earned enough tickets to participate. Instead, she stood by as and watched us set up, saying she was really glad we got stuck with this job, otherwise, she might be the one who had to do it. Then while in the middle of making slime with the kids, she decided she wanted some. She went up to each of us individually and shoved a bowl in our faces, asking if we could give her some. She did this to people who were very busy helping kids mix their slime, to people who had the food coloring and were nowhere near the slime, and when half the kids hadn’t gotten their share yet. Then she kept playing with the part she managed to snag and talking about how the teachers were going to be mad at her for not being in the classrooms like she was supposed to.
April 27: We have to grind Addie’s nails because years ago, Nick cut her wick while clipping her nails and now she starts screeching if we get the clippers anywhere near her paws. It is a two-person operation to grind her nails. We both put on face masks and I pull Addie into my lap with her legs sticking up into the air. I wrap my arms around her, just under her front legs, and put one leg around her hips to keep her in place. Even then, it’s difficult to keep her still and she often smashes the top of her head into my face.
April 28: I started writing this novel a year ago. I am at chapter 22 of 26. I have written 85,725 words. And the closer I get to completing it, the more I am struck with fear. I can’t keep worrying that I could spend years of my life working on something that no one will want.
April 29: Only one of the four soccer coaches was able to show up today. He was used to having maybe four kids per teacher and he was now greatly outnumbered by the kids and was having trouble getting all of them to focus and work together. He tried to see how many hits they could get before the volleyball hit the ground. They averaged 3. Then I told them I would buy them all ice cream if they got to 20. On the next round, they jumped up to 13.
April 30: Fernando’s boys aren’t allowed to go in pairs to the bathroom anymore. They have to go one at a time and all three immediately said they needed the restroom as soon as they came in from recess for Yearbook Squad. I told them they would have to wait fifteen minutes because I called for bathroom/water five minutes before recess ended and that was their time to go. Vincent immediately said he was going to pee both on himself and on Teacher Patel’s desk. I told him to go ahead. I’m sure his mother would love to hear me tell that story. It’s so strange to watch 11-year olds think they are so tough and gangster when they are so tiny.
much love,
hedgie
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