Photograph by: Goodwin-Frazier Elementary School
Today was a pretty good day, though I feel that there’s not much to report because it was a Fitness Friday.
The day began with the usual Friday assembly, though this one was much shorter than previous ones. Next week’s agenda was discussed, the new P.R.I.D.E. Leaders were given their badges, the birthdays from this week were celebrated, and the pledges were said. After assembly, there were still 20 minutes left of the 1st period class, a rare occurrence.
Unfortunately, it was raining all morning, so we were not able to take the students outside and instead had to hold gym stations inside. This caused quite a bit of chaos, since there’s usually half of the students inside and half outside. Instead, we had to squish all of the students inside with the basketballs, scooterboards, jump ropes, hula hoops, hippity-hops, and other toys. Another inconvenience was the fact that the music teacher was practicing next week’s talent show on the stage. This meant that all of the stations that are normally on the stage, such as the gymnastics mats, puzzles, crayons, building blocks, etc. had to be moved to the gym floor. Although we placed cones to separate the basketball area from the wheeled vehicle area from the gymnastics area from the hippity-hop area, etc., it was still a crazy mess with students running over the cones or just ignoring them.
It’s a challenge managing so many hyperactive and excited students!
After the 1st period ended, the jump ropes had been left in a complete mess. They are normally hung on a wheeled rack, but the ropes were so tangled the rack couldn’t even be rolled. I took the 5 minute passing period time to unravel all of the jump ropes and hang them back up appropriately. I also hung them up by size and color and was pleased when I was finished. The gym teacher saw my work and was incredibly happy and pleased. “Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen the jump ropes so organized!” she exclaimed. “The whole time I’ve worked here, it’s never looked like this!”
The next period went about the same as the first did. I spent my time making sure that students were safe on the wheeled vehicles, trying to explain to the students playing basketball that they weren’t supposed to travel with the ball out of bounds, and re-setting the cones that were ran over, pushed aside, or moved about.
When the next class period began, though, the gym teacher approached me with an proposition. She thanked me for the jump ropes again and began to ask if I’m an organized person. “Is your house really clean? Do you keep everything neat? Do you hate when things are messy?” she asked. I told her that I actually like organizing and I keep everything organized in my life. She was stunned. Then she asked if I’d be interested in organizing the gym’s equipment room. “I don’t want to pressure you, but if you like doing it…” I was thrilled. I absolutely love organizing things, and when it’s helping someone, it’s even better. For the rest of the day, I bounced between helping managing the students in the gym and organizing the equipment room.
Although the gym teacher kept saying that the room was horrid and that she was embarrassed by it, it really wasn’t bad at all. Everything was grouped together, all the balls in one bin, all the cones in one stack, it was just a little cluttered. Everything was basically organized, I felt it all just needed a home. I moved things around, sorted things a little better, and made sure that everything was in some sort of barrel, box, pile, stack, etc. By the end of the day, the room was completely organized with nothing out in the middle of the floor like before. Everything was on a shelf, put away, and easily in view.
The gym teacher came into the room and lost her mind. “It’s so clean! I can see everything! I’ve never seen it like this before!” She was so thrilled, that she video taped the room, photographed it, and began sending the photos out to other staff members. She called for the music teacher to check it out, and they were both in awe together. I felt happy to help and just excited that I got to organize, something I absolutely love doing. “Now that I can see what we have to work with, I feel better about Field Day!” the gym teacher said.
I’m really glad that she liked the room and I’m happy that I was able to help out. It made today a good day.
Katy Perry – Roar
Here’s one of the songs that’s played at the beginning of the Friday assemblies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CevxZvSJLk8
© 
“What school districts have the best fine art programs? Which school districts have an open art teacher position?”
Larger districts usually have better art programs. You can look at the past VASE work – gold seal winners on the NAEA site and identify districts that had winners. As to finding open positions, you need to look on each district’s jobs page. It takes a lot of searching if you do not have someone in the district to give you a heads-up.
“How many students can become a P.R.I.D.E. leader? Will P.R.I.D.E. leader status carry over to the next school year or will the student have to re-earn the title?”
I have no knowledge of how that works. You will need to ask your CT.