Teaching Manifestation #21: Sometimes Kids Don't have Toothbrushes

My mom taught me to brush my teeth at 3 years old. My sister and I were taught that it was unsanitary to leave the house without brushing your teeth/tongue, not washing your face, wearing the same underwear twice, not cleaning your ears, and a few other random mama-knows-best-mandates.

So, yes, you can call me crazy and you can call me naïve: I thought everybody's mama, dad, grandma, auntie, guardian, foster mom made them/told them to brush their teeth.

Well, folks, that ol' brush yo' teef strategy is not happenin' with Generation Right now. These little buck toothed monkeys have the nerve to roll out of bed, walk to school, and stroll into my classroom with breath smelling like hell warmed over. By 8:15 AM my room smells like a sulphur factory mixed with a batch of last week's scrambled eggs. No lies. No fables. True story.

I've had kids complain day in and day out that a certain student smells like fish, pee, old eggs, and carne asada. Basically, she is a taco truck. Little homegirl does stink. My prediction is that she pees in the bed and comes to school without showering. However, I've reminded the students not to tease, laugh, or make fun of people, blah, blah, you know the rest.

However, something came over me on Thursday. Maybe it was X's dirty finger nails. Or, maybe it was X's snotty nose. Wait, it could have been because of X's ogre breath. I can't pin point it exactly, but the spirit of my mother overshadowed me and prompted me to give a lesson on hygiene.

Yes, I made it funny. The kids said, "Ewwww," when I said you shouldn't dig for gold and eat your treasure. They laughed when I pretended to pass gas and didn't say, "Excuse me" Then I sucker punched them: "Make sure you wash your face and brush your teeth before coming to school. If you don't have a tooth brush, let me know." Silence. Feet shifted. Then one brave soul raised his hand and said, "I...I don't have one." Then another! And another! Until 12 students admitted that they have never brushed their teeth, do not own toothpaste/toothbrushes, or simply use their finger.

A stunned Ms. Lockett asked, "Why?"

+My mom says wait 'til they all fall out
+I use my dad's toothbrush
+My mom says I'm too little

I sighed, and explained the purpose for brushing teeth. I discussed plaque, cavities, decay, bacteria, bad breath, yellow teeth, and tartar. I'm pretty sure all of these kids had at least four, or all of the symptoms of nastiness.

The lesson went well. I discussed why you should change sheets when you accidentally have an accident while you dream, how to clean out your ears, and why you cut your nails and wash your hands.

I took to Facebook and proclaimed my aghast. One friend took it upon herself to petition her dentist to donate toothbrushes to my students. Next week 20 little ogres will go home with a brand new toothbrush, and a squeezable tube of toofpaste.

I can hear it now: "My second grade teacher was Ms. Lockett. She told me my breath was funkier than a raccoon's and then gave me a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste."

Yup. That's me. Changing Generation Right now one small rotten tooth at a time.

Teaching Manifestation #20

Teaching is hard work. Well, teaching is hard work for good teachers. This job is not a joke! The actual mothering that goes into teaching is mind blowing. I am honestly a "mother" to 20 kids. This, my friends, is the ultimate birth control.

I have been blessed with 25 years, and my time with church chirrens, Sunday school kiddos, and Sunday school bus ragamuffins already reminded me that birthing and taking care of children was no walk in the park. But any flame or passion I had about possibly having my own spawn has been put out by the 20+ kids that have coughed on me, scuffed/stepped on my shoes, whined, complained, talked back, rolled their eyes, stolen my pencils, lied, didn't bring their homework, didn't complete their homework, and have begged to be rewarded.

But wait! Trinity just wrote that she loved me. Angelique gave me a Valentine's day gift in the middle of January. Diego said I was the most "beautifullest" teacher he knows. Joel finally realized that 4 quarters makes $1.00. Pedro brought his homework back. Yuvia and Diana just greeted me with a hug.

Ohhhh. The spark is back. Yeah, ok. I guess the ultimate BC isn't so ultimate. I love teaching and Chandra D lurves the kids.

Tax season

It's here. I'm not too excited. I didn't have an actual job from April until November, and feel like I'm going to owe money! Yech!

In other news, I kept all my receipts and will write off sales tax, fuel for school, tuition, all the stuff I gave to Goodwill, and I do believe teachers get deductions.

Am I missing anything?

A Quote

God wants full custody, not weekend visitation.

New blog a-comin!

Stay tuned dear, blogosphere! I've decided to create a new blog. I
will keep this current blog, but need a new one to tell all of you
about my teaching tales. I don't want to be a liability for my
district, so I won't discuss my teaching strategies/ideas/students on
a public blog. The forthcoming blog will be private.

Once I figure out the name yadda yadda, ye shall know!

Two days ago:
I asked the kids for a synonym for the word angry. Everyone yelled out
mad, furious, upset, & outrage. One lovely boy screamed "menopausal"!
He said he grandma was always menopausal. She cannot eat or sleep, and
everything makes her menopausal.

Yesterday:
The kids kept saying something or someone smelled of "olive juice" or
"deviled eggs". At the end of the day one girl yelled out, "Miss
Lockett! I figured out the problem! It's Lizzy! Lizzy smells like
olive juice!" A boy yelled, "No! It's a deviled egg smell!". Another
boy sighed, shook his head, and said, "Miss Lockett it's pee. Lizzy
smells like pee." Lizzy and I both stood there with mouths agape. I
wanted to laugh; Lizzy wanted to die. I had to regain my thoughts and
admonish the other students for not telling me in private.

Last week:
I have a huge prize box with tons of stuff: lipgloss, pens, pencils,
yoyos, candy, chips, juice, Hot Wheels, Play-doh, erasers, High School
Musical notebooks, Hannah Montana folders, Jonas Brothers
stickers--you name it, I've got it. The kids flipped out when they saw
I had a blueberry muffin in the prize box. "Miss Lockett, is that a
real live muffin?!" "Omgosh! Miss Lockett has a true muffin in the
prize box!" My favorite line? "There's a muffin in the prize box!" The
first thing to leave the box that day? The blueberry muffin.

All this and more coming to an RSS feed near you.

CDL

Thankful

I use the micro-blogging site, Twitter, and one person who calls himself an "atheist" made this statement: "I'm thankful for my nephew!".

I laughed to myself and shook my head. What I wanted to ask was, "Just who exactly are you thanking?"

I don't profess to be the smartest girl. I don't profess to be biblically sound, and prophetic. However, on Thanksgiving I am thankful for the truth; I know that I must repent of my sins, be baptized in Jesus' name, receive the Holy Ghost, and live an overcoming life in order to be saved. Furthermore, Jesus is God manifested in the flesh and in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead (Col 2:9).

I've mentioned before that our church has footwashing & communion on Thanksgiving Day. Many churches take communion multiple times throughout the year, and have footwashing on New Year's Eve. I always feel like I have a fresh start every Thanksgiving. Our FW&C service is special & tight knit. It's not a time for games and laughing; we are reminded weeks in advance to prepare for the service by making sure our lives are right. We do not want to take communion in jest.

As my pastor read from the book of 2 Timothy this verse stuck with me: "Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" v 7 NIV.

Wow! There are people that pride themselves on being well versed on a number of subjects; these are smart people! Yet they deny the power of God because they have yet to experience His power (made me think of the "thankful" atheist!)

2 Tim Chap 3 is great chapter, and I suggest you read it.

I try my best to be thankful on a daily basis and not just on Thanksgiving Day. In a time where people gripe, complain, and are rarely thankful, I am glad to set aside 24 hours to celebrate Thanksgiving as a Christian who knows who God is.

He is my provider--I quit my social work position in April without another job in order. Bye, health benefits & bi-weekly salary! Right when my savings got pretty low, God blessed me with a teaching job.

He is my protector--I have over 105k miles on my car, and have never been in a car accident.

He has extended grace & mercy towards me--He has given me what I do not deserve, and held back what I do deserve.

He has given me strength--I made a career change, and was nervous about the transition. I completed a teaching program in less than 7 months with a 4.0 GPA and couldn't have done it without Him.

I can go on...and...on...and on! We all can! In everything give thanks. God has our best interests in mind and we should always be cognizant of this!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Ps. 1 pic is in my front yard & the other is of me & my sis before church this morning.

PPS. I'm thankful that I can blog from my phone, because I rarely get on my computer!

Christmas Gift Ideas

I am in need of Christmas gift ideas for my Sunday School bus riders. Every year the three of us (those apart of the bus team) usually buy cloths/toys, but I'm trying to focus on something a little more memorable. We have about 60 kids total. I saw some KJV Bibles at Dollar Tree and was considering getting each of their names engraved on the Bibles. However, I am open to better suggestions! The ages of the kids range from 3 1/2 to 17, with the bulk of our kids falling in the 6-10 category.