What a Wonderful World

...that is my recent clean up song.

I needed something that I could listen to 10 times a day...skills clean up, literacy center clean up, writing clean up, math station clean up, social studies clean up...etc.

It's pretty cute when my whole class of five and six year olds is singing along with Louis Armstrong :)

However today the song was not radiating butterflies and rainbows. Have you ever seen Goodmorning Vietnam? When they use that song in the movie it's played over towns exploding and people dying...very ironic.

My classroom was like a war zone today. As the song was playing during math clean up I just stood there watching...everything was in slow motion. Students were shouting across the room, twirling, hopping, jumping, leaving their mess on the floor or table.  One student seriously dropped the bucket of cubes twice...TWICE! BOOM! Then another student dropped 60 stegosaurus spikes and another student dropped 30 gold coins. KABOOM! "MRS. WOLFE!!! HE LOOKED AT ME! MRS. WOLFE HE THREW THE DICE ACROSS THE FLOOR!" BOOM!....and I think to myself...what a wonderful world.

After the clean up song had ended half my class was not on the rug (that's their goal...to be on the rug when the song ends), stations were not put away, and there was black marker scribbled all over a table.  

Suddenly the room grew very quiet.  My students noticed I wasn't saying a word, I wasn't moving...what is she going to do next?!

Ahh the silent treatment is deadly. I slowly raised my eyebrow...a talent every teacher should have...and began to silently walk across the room to the mess.  My students' eyes followed me and they didn't say a word.  I simply pointed to everything that was out of place and sure enough the guilty parties got up to fix it.

I'm tired.

I hear we only have about thirty days left of school. 

I'm hoping I survive...I'll let you know.