Drama!

I have never witnessed so much drama in my life from 9 year olds. It all took place today. The buckets we created and words of encouragement we made for each other meant absolutely nothing. The kids seemed to enjoy writing kind words towards each other in the morning, then recess came around and it was as if they completely forgot how to behave. Girls were saying mean things to each other. They were giving each other dirty looks. They weren't friends anymore. There were more tears today from both boys and girls than I ever dealt with last year in my 1st grade classroom. Tomorrow, I'm going back to the beginning and starting all over again with rules, expectations, and positive conversations between everyone. Yes, math first thing in the morning is important, but I can't teach when I have kids hating each other and not focusing on what they need to do. Let's hope tomorrow is better than today!