Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned in the Fourth Grade

What I learned during my first week of school as a 4th grade teacher's aide...

4th Grade math is harder than it looks...memo to self: brush up on some fractioning, geometric shapes, prime numbers..it's a lengthy list.

8 am to 12:30 pm is a long time to go without eating...I'm going to call it my "Back to School Diet" (the only problem with my new diet is I'm so hungry by the time I get home that I make up for lost time between the hours of 1-10pm).

Lunch ladies {still} scare me..now there are some tough gals...especially if you forget to follow procedure--or lose 13 lunchboxes.

Some parents think they are above carpool rules {perhaps I should put myself in their shoes...I'm sure that if I drove a big honkin' SUV I'd probably feel like I could park in the carpool lane for undetermined amounts of time whenever I felt like it too.}

At morning drop off, I am so jealous of the mom's still in their PJ's...that was me last year ladies.

At afternoon pick up, I am so jealous of the mom's still in their PJ's...that was {sometimes} me last year ladies.

Power be to the whistle-blower...especially if you accidentally blow it before recess is over...man, the kids are like Pavlov's dog--when they hear the whistle they come a runnin'.

To avoid potential migraines, smuggle in a can of diet coke into my little office--hide it on the bookshelf--and sneak sips as needed.

Sneaking sips of diet coke as needed may result in excessive potty breaks...and if you're going more often than the kids...people are going to talk

{i.e. your daughter:

"Gee mom, you sure go to the bathroom a lot."}.

Working all morning, creates a to-do list the size of Texas. What a quandary! Do I---catch up on google-reader, drink diet coke, blog, clean house, drink diet coke, talk on the phone, do laundry, go grocery shopping, read a book, work on RS handouts/posters, run errands? It is a shenanigan to fit it all in.

I have gotta get out of motherbear mode...whenever I see a kid get in trouble by a teacher..I get little tearies in my eyes unless they are really rotten--and I want but, I refrain to go give them a hug, tell them it's okay, and to try to do better.

So, what have you learned new this school year?