Being Ms. Cooper

What is being Ms. Cooper like, you ask? Well let me share a few stories from the past week, just to give you an idea.

1) The other day, kid number one walked by kid number two, and just licked him on the head. No idea why.

2) I got to hear my principal give the boys in my class a bathroom lesson, in which he compared peeing to a video game and encouraged them all to "go to the next level." He then had them all take aim and make peeing noises. This all was prompted because some kid keeps peeing in a corner, and all of them pee on the seat. It's quite gross.

3) Speaking of gross pee, one kid peed herself like three times on Friday (I think she's scared of the pee-covered bathroom), and she didn't have a change of clothes and I couldn't get a hold of her parents. Not a good situation.

4) During writing time, one kid wrote that he loved recess and illustrated his story with my co-teacher watching the happy kids play and me watching the kids who didn't bring their homework cry. Sadly, this is a pretty accurate representation of kindergarten recess.

5) On a more positive note, our lowest kid who came in only able to scribble on the page this week wrote the number six and colored within the lines! These small victories are what make it all worthwhile.

6) Some of my kids absolutely love me. When asked to draw and write about their families, one girl drew a picture of me. She told me that she was going to draw her family around me.

7) This week in our morning meeting we danced to the hokey-pokey. None of them know which is their right or left hand, but they're putting them in there anyway (and looking incredibly adorable while doing so).

I love my job. It's a bit like Yale in that I'm working between 11 and 12 hours a day, do nothing outside of schoolwork, and is very challenging but rewarding. I have to admit that this post isn't just to update y'all on my new life; I also have a favor to ask of each and every one of you.

My school, Success Preparatory Academy, is a brand spanking new charter school in New Orleans, and we're looking to have universities sponsor each classroom. If you've ever visited Amistad Academy in New Haven, they have much the same system. Rather than being Ms. Cooper's and Ms. Oliver's kindergarten class, my class would instead be the Yale class. Before this can happen, however, I have to raise enough money to buy t-shirts for every child, along with other paraphernalia, roughly in the range of $500. This is where you come in.

I realize that this is very spammy of me, but it would do a lot to help us on our mission of creating college-bound students for leadership and lifelong learning if you could contribute to my school, no matter the amount.

If you're interested in donating, visit www.successpreparatory.org, and click on the Donate button on the left. Also let me know if you choose to donate so that the school knows to channel that money to my classroom.

This is of course tax-deductible, and you will receive updates from my cute little kids if you choose to contribute!

Ok, spam done. Almost...donate plzthxbai!!!1