Today, heck, this week, has been frustrating.

#ohdotell

It’s the last week of school. Life is hard for both teachers and kids.

#ohgoodness

So, today, we had two different activities. We had our track and field day and worked on building bridges. Two things that would make students a little screwy on a good day, but the last week? Yup, they were a little nutty. A lot nutty.

To add insult to injury, today was the first of four days when the temperature will be dramatically below normal. On top of it all, the remnants of storms that came through last night were around. Cool, windy, and a slight drizzle was what we walked into as we headed down to the track. So we went through the “Mr. J, what time is it?” “Mr. J, when do I run?” “Mr. J, what day is my birthday?”

#seriously

No, the last question I made up, however, it was the seagulls in Finding Nemo scenario, and instead of them going “MINE, MINE,” they were going, “MR. J! MR. J!” I’ve found I really enjoy this class, but they are one of the most needy classes I’ve ever had! And following directions? Oh hell no. They wouldn’t listen to me, the teacher getting ready to run, their moms, all of us were not worthy. By the time the morning sessions got done, I was not a happy camper.

We sat outside, the drizzle passed, but the wind picked up, and at 11:30, we went in for hot lunch! No, silly, that’s not what we had! We had cold sub sandwiches and cheese curds.

#ohdear

We can’t control the weather, no matter what those in red hats here in America try to tell us!

So, we ate our lunch, went outside for recess, and came back in to build bridges.

This is an end of the year engineering project in which the students practice using checks, a register, and have to buy supplies to create a straw bridge. The end goal: to create the strongest bridge that will hold the most rolls of pennies.

Seems pretty easy, right?

#no?

No.

First, our time has gotten compressed because of our new literacy series (whole different post). We are starting later and did not have much time to go through the idea of writing checks and balancing the amount. True, it’s a process that seems a bit old-fashioned, but it’s something we do. So, we spent some time yesterday writing out checks, showing them in our register, and making sure we had the right amount of money. Today, I was speaking an alien language to them when I said they needed to write me checks. Apparently, yesterday was just a bad dream to most of them because I had checks come to me with all sorts of fun information, most of which was wrong!

Second, they were given a supply list for what they could buy, and the amount each cost. Again, a pretty easy process, right? You know the total you have to spend, you know what supplies cost, what could go wrong?

#uhoh

A lot could go wrong, starting with simple subtraction! Then, checks written in pen by the equivalent of a 3-year-old, followed by “but it’s not my fault”. You’d have thought the directions that we read, which were on their iPads and in print in front of them, were done up in Sanskrit for the number of questions that I was asked. Again, wonderful, low drama, hard-working class that I will miss next year. At this point of the year, I’m thinking of punting each of them into the next county!

Anyway, we’ll keep building tomorrow, along with starting our final writing project of the year, a letter to our senior selves in 2032, coming from our sixth-grade selves in 2026.

What could go wrong?