Today during science, I was pairing up the children...

Mrs. B: And Joey, you and Chloe will be partners.

Joey: Ummmm...

Mrs. B: You two get along, right?

Joey: (Chloe is standing right next to him) Well, yeah. I'm pretty sure she likes me and I like her but I'm TRYING to get over her.

(Side note: I'm noticing that Joey and Chloe are the leads in a lot of these posts. I think they will be providing a lot of entertainment this year!)

Each day we do a daily math warm-up page. Some students finish faster than others and when this happens, they flip their paper over and draw a picture while waiting for their classmates to catch up. Yesterday, one student asked what he should draw. I told him to draw a picture of me. After some serious work (tongue out and all) he asked, "Are you sure you're going to look at this?" I assured him I would. This is what he drew:

Mrs. B: Okay, get your math papers and settle in so we can get started.

Wyatt: (To his fellow classmates) Yeah! Let's get this thing done.

Chloe is the little sister of a very quiet, sweet student I had in my class last year. I was making small talk with her today...

Mrs. B: So, Chloe, how's that sister of yours treating you?

Chloe: Not very nice.

Mrs. B: What?! Why?

Chloe: She thinks 'cuz she's older than me that she can boss me around...but I showed her.

Mrs. B: You did? What did you do?

Chloe: Her friend was over and she was showin' off and told me I had to get her a glass of water to drink.

Mrs. B: Yeah, so...?

Chloe: So, I took her a glass of olive juice instead.

Mrs. B: HEY! What is WITH all the naughtiness today?!!!

Student: (quietly from the back row) Umm, we're eight?

When I say this has been a rough start to the year, I mean ROUGH START. Today, my teeny-tiny student decided to pee in the bushes on the way to recess after lunch. Never mind that he passed about five bathrooms between the cafeteria and playground. Oh, yeah, he also peed on the class basketball.

Anyone want to donate a new basketball to my room?

p.s. The same student who peed on the basketball also tried to steal 15 Taco Bell pencils AND faked a "throw up" in the trash can to try to get sent to the nurse. It's gonna be a loooooooonnnnnnnggggggg year.

Chloe: Mrs. B, I made this picture for you. (It is a picture of a clown.)

Mrs. B: Thank you, Chloe! It's beautiful! I love it!

Chloe: Has anyone ever made you a picture like this before?

Mrs. B: No. This is the first one like this. Would you put it on my desk for me so I'll know right where it is?

Chloe: Okay.

A few minutes later, Chloe returns with the picture in hand...

Chloe: You know, you can feel free to put this on the bulletin board out front.