Field Day 2014

At the end of June, I went back to sub for one last day when the school was having their Field Day. I'm happy I got to be part of this annual tradition even though it meant being outside for a long time and getting a pretty bad sunburn. I never posted the few pictures that I took on my phone, so here they are! 

The mom of one of the students was able to bring 3 horses. If the parents had given permission, the kids were allowed to go on a brief horseback ride. I stood there for quite some time capturing pictures of the day. Thankfully, they didn't smell bad, so I was able to enjoy being around such majestic animals. 

I did get a breather indoors for a bit because I had to fill water balloons again this year! Haha, last year I had that job with a few students, but this year, I was able to get through a lot of them rather quickly because one of my former co-workers, Caroline, helped me out with it. She was really fast at tying them, so we got through a lot much faster. Plus, we didn't actually have to fill all the balloons in these packages since we were just doing a water balloon toss.

The elementary school director and superintendent wanted me to stop filling water balloons to make sure that I ate! They both knew that lunch is important to me and my health because not eating can make me sick. The middle school kids had a special rodeo event the day before, so there was leftover fried chicken, corn, and biscuits, so I was able to eat some of that instead of the food I brought.

Once I finished transporting all the balloons out and eating lunch, I went out and was able to enjoy an ice. The mom of one of the teachers at the school brings these refreshing treats; it's such a treat in the heat! The kids are given 3 tickets for treats, so they can get the ice, cotton candy, and popcorn. I just had to be super careful when eating this since I was actually wearing a white shirt, which I normally never do. I just knew that if we were going to be outside, I should wear a lighter color shirt since I wasn't going to wear a tank top to school!

For some time I helped one of my former colleagues, Caroline, deal with the cotton candy machine. I was just collecting tickets whereas she had the sticky, messy job of making the cotton candy! I helped peel the fluff off her hands and arms in between waves of the kids. This picture doesn't even capture how bad it got! It was going all the way up her arms!

The cotton candy in that rack was much larger, but it melted into those smaller balls on the cones when left out in the sun. That meant it pretty much had to be made to order since she couldn't make any ahead of time. The tickets were collected in the cigar box. At the end of the day, I actually had to wash one of the boxes where the tickets for ice because it was so sticky. 

Ahhh, the final results! These were the same buckets we used last year for the balloons. Some of the kids from the student council filled some of the balloons as well. We definitely had to keep guard over them because there were some who would want to go over and just grab whatever they wanted even when they were already out of the game!

It was definitely a hot day, but I did have fun helping out! It wasn't until I left that I realized just how burned I was though. Everyone was saying my face was red, but I knew that that always happened when out in the sun. I did put on some SPF on my face and arms and knees, but I completely forgot my neck region! I can't believe I completely about that area! I was already feeling miserable before I drove home.

That night, I actually felt extremely sick. I was gagging in the bathroom, and then I finally fell asleep on the floor after a long time of misery. My wonderful husband took care of me and got me whatever I needed. Then he woke me up so I could move to the bed. I thought that maybe I felt sick from eating dinner too quickly, but afterwards, I realized that I probably had sun poisoning. It's kind of crazy that that happened considering I've been outside in Disney World in heat as well, but I guess I'm a lot more mindful of sunblock on vacation. Plus, I have the option of taking a breather in the shade or in AC whenever I want. I must be more careful about this if I'm there at next year's Field Day!

Stretches and Jump Ropes

I subbed once again yesterday, but it was for the gym teacher! I had never done gym before, but the regular teacher was on the 8th grade overnight trip. Thankfully, there are two teachers for gym, so even though I was there, I wasn't the one in charge since I didn't know how their regular routine. I just went along with what the other teacher did and supervised the kids. There definitely needed to be an extra set of eyes when dealing with the lower elementary school gym periods!

I was actually grateful to be in the gym yesterday as I wasn't entirely feeling the regular classroom setting since the kids obviously had spring fever since school ends next week! I had homeroom in the morning and then one period of 6th grade Spanish, but they were just taking a test. Then it was time to go downstairs.

It was funny when the other teacher said, "Mrs. F is going to be here with us today so let's give her a warm welcome!" and some of the little kids were like, "Mrs. F? It's Miss L!" or "Can we still call you Miss L?" I'm all for that. Sorry, Howard! I just really like my original last name, but at school, I of course had to switch it to Mrs F.

Another moment that really touched my heart was when the 3rd and 4th graders came for their gym period. One of the girls ran up to me to hug me like she always does when she sees me there subbing, and she said, "Are you going to come back? You should get a job here." One of the other girls also came up to hug me, which totally melted my heart because she's usually a bit shy around me.

I did the stretches with all the grades, and then the younger kids played "Red Light, Green Light" where a few of them couldn't spit out that phrase correctly or turned around before saying "1, 2, 3!". Then the classes were divided for soccer. In the morning, there were some minor injuries, but they were the kind that kids complain about so as to get another student in trouble even though it was clearly accidental (ex. "So-and-so kicked me!") and there were a few kids who cried for other reasons too. There were lots of "That's not fair!" and "I'm not playing anymore!" and "You're a liar; you're cheating!" Haha, I have to say I was glad to get those periods out of the way in the morning before a period of lunch duty, a period of my own lunch where I got to chat with friends during 2nd lunch, and then gym with middle school.

The older kids knew how to pick teams and plan games by themselves. They kind of had "free" periods in that there wasn't one organized activity with everyone. Most of them played "Knockout" or "21" at the basketball hoops while others practiced flips and such because they dance and do gymnastics. The other gym teacher said that she recently brought in jump ropes and not all of them knew how to do it! So we did a lot of jump rope too, mainly with the girls. At one point, I even jumped a bit, but I didn't last too long since it was right after lunch! I really don't know how the kids can be so active after eating! The first period after lunch was outdoors, but we soon moved it back indoors because it was kind of a stifling heat. It was fine to just be outside and sit, but since the kids were being active, it was a bit too much. Kids kept asking to go inside to get a drink. Even I was excited to head back in because the school had the air conditioning on.

I have to say that the BEST part about subbing for gym is that I get to go to work wearing a t-shirt, sweatpants, and sneakers!

Double Lunch Duty Day

I went to work today to sub for the Spanish teacher who is also the pastor who married us almost two years ago! I anticipated a fairly easy day since I actually still remember a lot of the Spanish I learned when I was in school (3 years in junior high, 4 years in high school, and 2 semesters in college since my college advisor kind of pushed to continue with it instead of starting a new language like I had wanted). Though I might not remember the words right off the bat if you were to ask me, a good chunk of it comes back when I actually see it written. Plus, it's still middle school level Spanish and not college level! 

The classes were easy for me and pretty straightforward as 8th grade was working on a project in preparation for their trip to a Spanish restaurant and 7th grade had lessons on "estar + adjective" phrases. I still remembered all the words except I did learn the word apurado (ex. "Estoy apurado" = I'm in a hurry). Those were the easier periods of the day. But then I also had lunch duty. Twice. Yes, I had to do lunch duty for both lunch periods!

First lunch is always easy as it's all the middle school kids and Pre-K and kindergarten. The assistant teacher is with the Pre-K kids, so they're always under control. A few of the kids in kindergarten might need a gentle reminder to continue eating their lunches, but other than that, they're also well-behaved as well. Middle school is the easiest. The only issues might be calming a handful of the girls who get a little loud, but other than that, they know the rules of the lunchroom and follow directions.

Unfortunately, second lunch is a completely different story with the 1st through 5th graders. The 3-5th graders are usually well-behaved, and even if they get a little rowdy, a simple correction or a nice "You won't have recess" threat gets them in line. The younger ones are a handful though as there's a constant need for "Sit down the right way; I don't want you to fall" or "Why are you out of your seat?" The elementary school kids also have higher pitched voices, so their voices seem much louder to my ears. 

Recess gets even crazier whether they're in the gym or outside. Since there was supposed to be rain, I kept them indoors so the chaos was a little bit more insane. I had to deal with a lot of reprimanding and dealing with minor injuries and a few tears (from a kid, not from me, haha). One of the boys had a sweatshirt that zipped all the way up to the tip of the hood to completely cover his face. He zipped it up, and I told him that he wasn't allowed to have his hood on like that in school, so he undid it. Just a minute or two later, it was zipped up again all the way so I told him to sit out because was disobedient right after I corrected him. Immediately, the pleading began. "Can I just have one more chance?! I promise I won't do it again!" No amount of begging would change the consequence, but once he sat down, he started saying, "Is it for all of recess? When can I get up? Can I go play?" No, kid, NO! The more he asked, the more it reaffirmed my decision for having him sit out for the rest of recess, which was really only 5 minutes anyway.

Besides, I had to deal with two of the upper elementary school boys who were arguing about accidental versus intention "tackling" when grabbing the basketball in their game of Knockout. I said to them that if they couldn't get over whatever happened, they could both just sit out and not play at all. Sometimes it's kind of funny noticing that more of the drama occurs with the boys than it does with the girls!

When the bell finally rang, I looked at my mom who has to experience second lunch every day and mouthed, "Thank God!" Phew, I survived. Haha, and the kids did too. Even though there are some kids who continuously misbehave and need correction, I also do love seeing the quieter ones or the helpful ones who make it easier on me. There were a few younger boys who were trying to protect a group of girls as they reenacted a wedding because some naughty boys were trying to mess with their pretending. Then there were two other boys who were helpful in getting all the balls collected and put back in the sack. I see the kids like that and know that their parents taught them well!

I was exhausted by the end of the day and eagerly awaited my return home! My mom and I stopped by just a few places on the way back to the house. One of the stops was AC Moore, but I didn't part with any of my money because I really felt that I worked really hard today to earn it! I did snap a quick picture of one of my favorite parts of the store. I just like seeing such a wide assortment of colors when it comes to the two widths of ribbon that I purchase. I was going to pick up some white or silver since those neutral colors work well for treat bags and such regardless of the cardstock color or pattern, but then I just couldn't deal with the idea of spending part of today's paycheck! I'll be back for them in the future when I need 'em! It just makes more sense to purchase it there as it always has the outlet pricing since I wouldn't exactly use 50% coupons at Michaels, haha.

But for now, I think the reward for a long day is going to be SLEEP. Oh, how wonderful that sounds, doesn't it?