Saturday, December 4, 2010

Letters to Santa

This past week we had some 8th grade students come into the classroom and help us write letters to Santa. I somewhat remember what it was like to believe in Santa but it is very easy to forget how big of a deal it really is and how careful you have to be when you are talking to the kids about it.

Before we started writing I asked my kiddos to think about what they were going to ask for and I also told them they had to ask for something for at least one other person. I had several students raise their hands and thinking they were going to tell me who they were going to include in their letter I started calling on them. They had no such concerns other than how their letter was going to get to Santa, how he would know who it was from, if they would get all of the things they asked for, and if it would get to him in time for Christmas. I had not thought of answering any of these questions ahead of time and was not sure how to respond. We are displaying the letters in the hallway and the students are very concerned that Santa will not see their letters.

That same day the students were being very talkative and just to see how they would respond I told them that Santa was watching and that they should follow the rules. You could have heard a pin drop in the classroom after that. Witnessing that makes me wish that Santa would come visit every month!!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Timing is Everything

Monday this last week I had a chair appear in my room and I did not know where it came from. It was a little bit bigger than what my kids use so I asked the teacher next door if it was hers and she said it wasn't. I just left the chair in my room thinking I will figure it out later.

Wednesday my principal came in to observe one of my lessons. I wasn't very nervous becaue we have had a few informal meetings and he is in my room almost everyday so it really wasn't a big deal. Although it became a big deal when he tried to sit in the chair that had mysteriously appeared in my room.

He pulled the chair down off the table and set his notebook on the table. He sat down and the chair legs gave out, chair collapsed, and I looked over and my principal was sitting on the floor with a broken chair beside him. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die at that moment. The kids didn't know if they should laugh or really be concerned, and our principal acted like no big deal (thank goodness!).

Not the greatest way to start off my first formal observation as a first year teacher but everything else turned out okay so I guess I just have a good story to tell.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Kids Think We Never Leave!

You always hear that the students think you spend the night at school and don't have a home. Well you never realize how true this is until they ask you.

A couple weeks ago one of the kids asked me if I had left school that night. When I replied Yes I go home every night there was a look of shock. "You mean you have a home?" One of the students asked. I replied Yes! What did you think I used your rest mats and slept here every night?! They thought this was quite hilarious but still didn't seem convinced that I left every night.

Today our afternoon schedule was thrown off by a concert. I had to use the restroom and knew I could not wait until the end of the day. The kids were eating snack and we have a restroom in the classroom. I told the kids that very quickly I was going to use the restroom and to quietly finish their snack. As I was walking to the restroom one of the students stated "I didn't know teachers used the restroom!" I just kind of laughed to myself and continued on my way.

It's funny to me that the kids think we never leave and that they think we are super human. I guess that goes to show how they really see us and how big of an impact we can really have on them!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The First Few Months

As most teachers know there are always things that happen in the classroom that can make our day. I started this blog to share my stories from my classroom. We have been in school for a couple months now and there have been quite a few things that have happened in my Kindergarten classroom so I will share a few of my favorites to start.
During library one day the librarian was reading the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The book starts out by saying “If you give a mouse a cookie, he will probably ask for a glass of milk.” One of the students commented “Just like you leave for Santa!” The librarian replied “Yes, just like you leave for Santa.”  Another student replied or beer! The librarian questioned “beer?” The student said “Yup, we leave a beer in the fridge and peanuts for Santa!” We both had a pretty good laugh about that and the student didn’t think twice about it.
Another thing that has happened just this week is we were working on our word chart for the letter of the week. Our letter this week is “Cc” and I was trying to get the students to think of the word crazy. I started explaining by saying “If something is just really ridiculous and there is a lot going on around you what would you say that is?” One student shouted our RIDONCULOUS!
The same student really likes to sing. One day when we were going over the seasons of the year we had already listed summer, winter, and fall. Another student listed the last season, spring, and the student started opera like singing Ssssprrrrriiiinnng! The student is usually pretty quiet so it was very unexpected and I just couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
I will try and remember to update as much as possible and hope everyone enjoys!