First Day of Summer School

Yesterday was my first day of summer school. Any teacher knows the stresses of the first day of school. The biggest one for me has always been getting to know the kids and making sure that I have them all at all times and that I get them safely home. I am always constantly checking my kids...counting them...making sure that they are all there. Yesterday was noooo different. I arrived at summer school and went to the gym to pick up my kids. They came in one by one, a got into our line. One child came up to me and said that he was added to my class...checked his name...yep...he was on my list. Checked each kid as they walked in...all on the list. We walked down to our room and started our day. We did the attendance (and found that one of the kids sitting in one of the chairs belonged to another class...we safely got him there), calendar, and a bunch of other academic activities. It was a long morning of getting to know one another and making sure that I learned the names...which takes me a couple days to do. Now...normally I put name tags on desks...but I didn't do that this summer....thinking that I would give them choice and if I had to, I would eventually label them. In hind sight, this would have made me realize the problem that I had on my hands that I am still laughing about now.

So....we are about to go outside for recess. This is the first time that we are going to be leaving the room and the kids will be running FREELY with a bunch of other kids. Just as a mother hen is protective with all her chicks....I started counting my kids. I wanted to make sure that I had the same number of kids when I came back into the room that I brought outside with me. SOOOO...I count my kids. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,.......15. Okay...I have 15 kids. But wait....I have 16 kids on my class list and 2 are absent. Hmmmm....in doing the math I should have 14. I count again...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...15. Hmmmm....does anyone else see the problem here? I have 1 extra kid!!!! What the heck???? How did one extra kid end up in my room and who is it? We have been having fun all morning...all 14 + 1 of my kids. So now....right before recess I have to figure out who is extra. I tell all the kids to stand up. I tell them that when I hear their name, they are suppose to sit down. I am looking at my class list as I read names. When I get to the bottom of the list...they are all sitting down. I tell them, "One of you should not be sitting. Who sat down without hearing their name?" I ask. No response. I do this again...this time telling them to stand when they hear their name. Same thing happened. NO EXTRA KIDS!!! That one kid is still in our class...This time I tell them to go get in line when I call their name. As I am looking at the names and reading them...they all line up. Again...that one kid is in line. Now I am starting to loose my mind. I count again. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,...15. Yep...there were 15 kids there. Again I do the math...16-2=14. 15-1=14. What the heck!!!! Now, 5 minutes into recess I am trying to figure this out. I finally tell them...when I call your name...please come and physically touch my arm. I go through the list...child A, child B, child C, child D, child E. Yup they are all here. I got to Mike Johnson (whose name I have changed). "Mike Johnson", I call. Two kids come up. I look at them. I say, "Which one of you is Mike Johnson?" "I am", they both reply. I look at their name tags. Yup...they BOTH say Mike Johnson. Weird I am thinking. Both kids have the SAME name and they are both in my class. Only one Mike Johnson is listed. Sooo...I have found the problem...I take all 14 +1 extra kid with me to the summer school office. I tell them my story. Another teacher who works with families in the district recognized both of them...one from one school and one from another school. Only one Mike was suppose to come to summer school and the other must have gotten the paperwork by mistake. One Mike stays in the summer school office and the other 14 kids come with me. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...14 kids I count...14 kids I bring back from the playground and 14 kids I put safely on the bus at the end of the morning. Whew...I think...what a first day!!!! Now, if I wouldn't have been so nice and given them CHOICE...if I would have just labeled their desks and told them where to sit...I probably would have seen two kids with the same name, fighting for the one chair!!!!