I still love them :)

Oh my. During recess 3rd grade A decided they wanted to throw a party for one of the teachers. So without supervision they began to celebrate. I was teaching a class in the room next door and all of a sudden I heard a loud bang come from their room. I immediately stopped teaching and ran over to 3A's classroom. There was no teacher present and the room was a complete disaster. One of the students had brought snow in a spray can. She sprayed it all over the room and the entire room was white with fake snow. "Miss Miss! Christopher brought a firework to class and lit it off!" There were fireworks going off in the classroom and there was cake everywhere on the floor mixed with confetti making it completely sticky. I made my way to the bathroom to help some girls get cake out of their hair. When I got there I found 2 of my girls pulling each others hair screaming. The instant they saw me they let go and one of them, Melany, starting bawling her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong and why on earth they were pulling each others hair. Through tears and Spanglish she managed to tell me the 'oh so tragic' story of why they were fighting. It was nothing I hadn't heard before. I let it go and returned to the classroom to help clean up. Within a few minutes I walked back to check on the girls and all of a sudden Melany started throwing up all over the place. I was in complete shock. I had 6 kids around me trying to explain what happened and I finally managed to get the story out. The other girl, Daniela, had punched Melany in the back and Melany then started to vomit everywhere. Heaving and crying, we took her to the nurse and conveniently she wasn't in her office. I took her back to the bathroom and the poor girl could hardly breath she was crying and heaving so much. 3A spent the lunch period cleaning the room and the rest of the day writing sentences. Enough punishment? I think not.

My kids are completely wild.

When I walk into class there are kids in the back punching each other and wrestling on the floor. I once walked into class and one boy had red marks around his neck while the other had a huge purple bite mark on his arm. One had been strangling the other and in return had bitten the other ones arm to get him off. Girls lift their skirts at boys and dance on their desks. Everyday, I have at least one student crying about SOMETHING. Either it's because someone stole their pencil, called them a name, kicked or punched them. I spend half of my class period yelling at them to be quiet and sit down. But I can say that it has gotten better. I no longer spend 20 minutes telling them to sit down and be quiet. It is down to a mere 10 :)
I really love my students though. They are so affectionate and thoughtful. If I am ever having a bad day, I can always count on a hug, a kiss and an I love you from at least one of them :) I have been given enough hugs to last me a lifetime, no doubt! I cannot stay mad at any of them for too long no matter how terrible they may have been. I will miss them this Christmas break. I have been blessed with students who are molding me to become more patient and loving through every day's crazy events. Can you think of a better way to grow spiritually than teaching a bunch of crazy 3rd graders? I think not! ;)