a round of applause please

Happy Wednesday all!  We're halfway! It's only been two days since the weekend and I'm exhausted. Anyways, today was great. I've already fallen in love with my babies and can't wait to go back tomorrow to spend all morning with them. As exhausting and tiring as yesterday was, it was nice to be able to spend all day with them.
Today, I was only at school in the morning and then we had to go back to HQ to do CPR training. I was there in the morning when they had carpet time, which is basically story time and they talk about what they're going to do that day.  They always want to reread the story they read the day before, but then as soon as Ms. Moulton starts reading the new book, they are laughing and giggling along. Today's story was "If you bring a mouse to school," which they found hysterical.  The morning is a lot of coloring and writing, which to them is hard work.  I forgot that in first grade, not everyone is good at using scissors, no one knows how to tie their shoes, and most of them mess up their letters when writing. It all adds up to a very large dose of cuteness.
At one point, they were all sitting on the carpet and Ms. Moulton was showing them how to cut and glue things together. It was going to make a little pouch for paper crayons they were coloring. There were lots of pieces to cut and glue, so she showed them how to do it on a sample paper from start to finish. When it was all done and assembled, they were so excited, they all started clapping.  Ms. Moulton and I made eye contact and couldn't help but smile.  Only in first grade will you get a round of applause for cutting and gluing.
The little ones were picked up by the P.E. teacher and left for an hour of P.E. and recess. They don't have a gym, so the PE teacher has to be creative.  Today, they went outside, but if it's raining, they're stuck inside playing some sort of game in the hallways. Major bummer. As they were coming back to class, I had to leave. They were all upset that I was leaving, which was secretly kind of nice knowing how much they would miss me.
The afternoon was not as exciting. CPR training was okay. I've done it a couple of times before, so I pretty much knew what to expect, but it's a good refresher and now you can feel safer knowing I'm around to save the day :)  Afterwards, parts of our uniform had come in and we were supposed to try them on.  Megan and Ethan's were missing, so they told us we couldn't take them home until everyone had them. I guess we kind of complained and Danielle and Erica got mad. I honestly think people were just joking and weren't actually that upset, but Danielle and Erica talked to us about how we do everything as a team and how if we can't handle this, how are we going to handle bigger issues. It all seemed a little dramatic to me (and to most other people on our team) but whatever. We're going with the flow as my first graders would say. The rest of the day was spent in a training about forming relationships with your students. It seemed kind of like common sense and was boring, but whatever.  I think I was just tired and ready for the day to be over.  Plus, it's gotten to the point where I'd rather just be at school than HQ, so unless it's something fun and interactive at HQ, I'm going to have a hard time staying focused.
Tomorrow we're at school all day which is great. In the morning I'll be in class, but in the afternoon, I'll be giving kids reading tests to test for proficiency.  I get to meet the second graders because first graders don't know how to read...yet!
Alright bed time for everyone going to first grade tomorrow...aka me!


P.S. At City Year, there are things called "Founding Stories" which  represent the collective civic values that guide City Year, set the organization on course, and remind us of the most fundamental motivations for our work.  Here's a shortened version of my favorite. 



T H E   S T A R F I S H   S T O R Y     ( S H O R T E N E D   V E R S I O N )
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a 
terrible storm.  When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean.  
People watched her with amusement. 
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you 
doing this?  Look at this beach!  You can’t save all these starfish.  You can’t begin to make a difference!” 
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated.  But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another 
starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean.  Then she looked up at the man and replied, 
“Well, I made a difference to that one!” 
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said.  Inspired, he 
joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea.  Soon others joined, and all the starfish were 
saved.