Here are my top 5 pet peeves...apparently I have a few. :)
5. Running the pencil sharpener ALL day long. Now, on the first day of school I give my kids this whole shpeal about how the pencil sharpener stops working between the hours of 8:00 and 2:20. Strange, huh? Luckily, it comes on at the end of the day. :) My 4th and 5th graders always laughed and abided by the silly rule, but my 3rd graders last year seemed genuinely concerned that it wasn't working properly. Gotta love 'em!
4. Getting up while I am still giving directions. Hold on! I'm almost done and then you will know what to do.
3. Using scissors to cut up anything and everything into tiny little bits that now act as confetti inside a desk. Oh, and by the way, guess who now needs another eraser top?
2. Whining!
And... my #1 pet peeve is... the abuse and gross mistreatment of the books in my classroom library. Why? Why? Why do they shove them into their backpacks while bending the covers? Why do they rip the pages? How do they get large globs of ink on the first 50 pages? Why do they spill Cherrios in the book and then give it back to me? (Eww! Why would I want that? It stinks!) Why do they "forget" to use a bookmark and leave their book open face down, breaking the spine? Why don't they put the books back in the correct basket? The baskets are labeled and SO are the books! It baffles the mind. We talk about caring for books all throughout the year and yet... I am left just shaking my head. I have to remind myself WHY I BUY the books and if a few books don't make it, well... it was worth it in the long run. :)
So, now I'm curious... what are your pet peeves in the classroom?
Hi, I just found your blog and I am now following it! I love finding other 4th grade blogs and I love the name of your blog!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindy! I think all teachers "steal". It's survival. Glad you found me. I follow your blog too...looking forward to swapping 4th grade ideas.
ReplyDelete~Amanda
I have a cure for #4! I use a "magic word" to "release" students. Most teacher have a signal as an attention getter, but I realized I needed an attention un-getter. I use it like this right after morning work: "When I say the magic word, I want you to do x, y, and z. The magic word is [dramatic pause] bananas." The word changes every day (for some odd reason it's evolved into foods). It's helped them to have a signal for when their downtime/transition time starts.
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