Surviving and googling

 I have heard people with health situations say, "I have good days and bad days."

I get that now.

Yesterday was not great.  I don't know why.  If I knew why, I would stop doing whatever that thing is....

I came home from school and had an enthusiastic come apart.

I hate feeling sick all. The. Time.  I hate relying on everyone else to do things that I used to be able to do no problem.  I hate knowing there isn't actually an end in sight for any of it.

Here's something very good that happened though.  My PET scan was approved!  I don't know if I was happier or the lady at my doctor's office was happier because I will now stop calling and asking her if it has been approved yet.

It is tomorrow at 6:30 AM.  I think it will be over in plenty of time so I just got a sub for the morning.  I need to save up all my sub time.

I'm grateful it was approved because moving forward is moving, even if it is slow.  I'm grateful Adam and Mark pick me up and put me back together.  I'm grateful I'm surviving one day at a time.

Besides all of that, 3rd graders crack me up.

Here are some things that happened:

In a story we read, someone was playing the cello.  I wrote cello down on our graphic organizer and they all told me I'd spelled it wrong.

I kept telling them I hadn't and they weren't having it.  It has to be spelled CH, they said.

I had to google it and show them.

There is one little guy who isn't quite on top of things.  He very often gets the wrong computer.  He can't log in.  He can't find the page we're on.  During phonics, I was having them write words.  For example, they wrote a list of -an words and -og words.  I wrote the words on the board that they told me.  Very basic stuff, not 3rd grade level, but we'll work up to it.

With all the angst of someone who thought his teacher was crazy, he said, "That isn't a word.  None of these are words!"

I promised they were.  (They were words like can and tan and frog and log.)

He didn't believe me.

Friends, my work is cut out for me.

I have a very live wire sort of boy who moved here from Columbia last year.  His English is wobbly and his behavior is even wobblier, but he is so cute and charming and I already love him.  

We were doing math and he said, "Wait, is this minus or subtract?"

It kind of stopped me in my tracks.  My brain stuttered.  I finally said, "It is both.  They are the same."

He drew a slash on his white board.  "This?" he demanded.

"Yes," I said.

I admire him so much.  Working hard (and working hard at causing havoc--he is rarely in his seat) in a language that is new to him, but learning so fast.

If they spell the word responsible they will get popsicles.  They earn a letter if they transition quickly or come to the kiva in ways that are civilized and I erase a letter if they don't.

It's been pretty hard fought, but they are close.

My little Columbian friend was really encouraging everyone yesterday and saying, "C'mon!  We want to get popsicles!"

Then he said, "Miss?  What is popsicles?

I tried to explain and he was mystified.  I googled it and showed him a picture.  He said, "Ohhhhh!"  Then he spoke rapid fire Spanish to no one in particular.  

I would like to know how anyone was a teacher before google.