Ahh, Spring

Cue the Vivaldi...it is springtime in the Pacific Northwest.

With spring comes...well, rain. April showers and all that. We had a glorious weekend of sunny weather, and Monday and Tuesday followed suit. But, as happens all the time in this part of the world, so near the ocean, the weather changed in a blink and today it has been downright blah. Gray skies, mist, frizzy hair...

But--it is still spring, and with spring comes young love. Right, everyone with me: "Awwwwwwwwwwww..."

I peeled myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning to sub for the high school Video Production teacher. I've subbed for him before and it's always an easy gig. They work on projects, I sit at his desk twiddling my thumbs and keeping my To Do list up-to-date.

Anyway, today, I even got some cheap entertainment! A young couple chatting at their table...and then fighting...and then breaking up.

I'm not laughing at them, I'm really not. I went through my own adolescent angst and I know that the feelings they have at this age are intense and dramatic. But listening to them bicker was a bit amusing...I just kept thinking, "Give this girl Glamour and Cosmo, and she'll never argue like this again."

I'm sure they'll get back together and break up and get back together and break up many more times before they grow up and move on. The circle of life and all that.

So even with the rain, and the young love gone awry, it is still springtime. And with spring comes...

Hyperactivity.

I like procedures in my classroom. Procedure is what got me through a year at St. Peter's. But procedure doesn't seem to work well with 47 11-year-olds. They still don't pass their music folders in in the right order--Gah! And you would think, after knowing me since September, that Brian (same Brian who was crying during the lockdown) would know by now that throwing a chair is unacceptable.

But throw a chair he did, while he was helping his group put chairs away. I have room on the risers for 36 kids, so the rest of them sit on chairs. Anyway, I looked over at Brian just in time to see him toss a chair, attempting to put it on the stack.

"BRIAN!! Come here!!"

"WHAT?!?"

"Just come here! Stay."

When all the kids left, I took a deep breath and turned to him and said in my low, growling, I'm-a-meanie voice, "I. Don't. Ever. Want. To. See. You. Throw. Anything. In. My. Classroom. You. Know. Better. Especially. A. CHAIR!!!!"

"I was--"

"No. You threw it."

"But I was--"

"Throwing it."

"You never listen!! Just listen to me!"

"No, Brian. I. Saw. You. Throw. The. Chair. Unacceptable!"

I then proceeded to explain--and demonstrate--to Brian that there is a substantial difference between placing a chair on the stack and throwing a chair on the stack.

"See? My hands don't leave the chair until the chair is actually placed on the stack."

By now Brian was looking really peeved at being treated like a moron, but honestly! Until he can learn a bit of impulse control (an ongoing problem with him), I'm goint to have to.

His excuse for throwing the chair? You're gonna love this.

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"I was just trying to make it fun."

"Brian! It's not supposed to be fun! It's stacking chairs, for heaven's sake! There's no fun about it! And you don't need to make it fun!" I'm pretty sure my eyes were bulging by now.

Still, it is springtime. And with spring comes...hayfever.

Ahh, yes, Spring has sprung, in all her glory. Pass the Claritin, please.