Health Challenge

Last year a few of my co-workers and I started a health challenge. We competed to see who could earn the most points by eating vegetables, drinking water, staying away from sweets, working out, and things like that. At the time I told my third graders a little bit about it so that they would help me to remember to drink my water. Two full Nalgenes a day is a lot.

The other day two of my former students, sassy little Ida and one of my all time favorites Ethan, came into my room to bring me some cupcakes for Ethan's birthday. I told them that I quite regrettably couldn't take any, and Ida said with her hand on her hip, "Because you're back on your challenge?" Yes, Ida, I am.

Well I didn't think that any of my first graders overheard me, but apparently they did. Today another former student, Alice, was in our classroom to tell us about the student council toy drive that starts next week. She was asking the kids if they wanted to win a pizza party or an ice cream party, and I raised my hand along with them when she asked who loves ice cream. Then Jake yelled, "You can't have any ice cream right now Miss G!" And Rylyn chimed in, "Yeah! You're on a diet!" Thanks for reminding me, buddies. 

Lockdown!

A while back I wrote about how we were preparing for a lockdown drill at our school. Well about six weeks after first talking about it, we finally had one today. We practiced a few times as a class because the first two test-runs involved a lot of rushing, yelling, and pushing. When it came time for the actual drill, the kids moved quickly and quietly into our hiding corner while I grabbed my emergency backpack, locked the door, and turned off the lights. Since I don't have windows to the outside world, it was shockingly dark in my room. We all huddled together and sat still and silent... for about 60 seconds. It's amazing how six year olds can't sit in one place for any extended period of time. I told them they could close their eyes and fall asleep if they wanted, and I ended up with the kids all leaning on one-another in a giant restless dog pile. Boy were they squirmy - for the whole twenty minutes that we had to sit in the dark! Compared to past lockdowns, apparently that's nothing. Some drills have lasted an hour or more. I can't even imagine.

Boy Teachers

Today on the playground Presley told me, "Every year I tell my mom I hope I don't have a boy teacher." I told her that my first grade teacher was a man and that I've had some wonderful male teachers. Her response: "But boy teachers are always old. And they're not good at doing ladies' hair." I can't argue with that logic. 

Do Not Open Until Lunch

I'm not sure if that's I just needed a long break, or if I've had an attitude adjustment, or if they've grown on me, or if they really are more independent and capable, or a little bit of all of the above. But either way, I have to admit, it's getting better. I'm actually starting to really love, not just tolerate or like, teaching first grade. 

Plus, things like this (from Nathan) really help: 

To Miss G, from Santa. Do not open until lunch. Ho ho ho.

An Eventful Return

By some miracle, Thanksgiving break actually felt pretty long. I had a seriously wonderful week catching up with old friends, spending time with family, and even going to my high school reunion. By the end of the week I was in full-on vacation mode, which certainly didn't make going back to work today easy. I wasn't sure what to expect with the kids having been off for a week, and I definitely didn't expect my day to be as eventful as it was.

First, I got two pieces of sad news: One of my students' parents are getting a divorce and her mom moved out this week. It sounds like it's happening as amicably as possible, but it's still heartbreaking to see any kid go through that. And secondly, my precious little Philip is moving! Philip was my late-comer who arrived from Korea mid-September. He is so cute and bright and well-behaved, and I'm really sad he's leaving. He has two more weeks here, and then is headed back to Korea for 6 months and then to Canada after that. Poor kid. 

Then my nightmare happened: Elizabeth threw up in the classroom. I looked over during Daily 5 time to see her standing with vomit in her hands and all around the floor underneath her (you're welcome). I am not a good handler of vomit - not one bit. And the idea of having a kid throw up in my classroom has always terrified me, and luckily it's never happened to me before today. But guess what? I handled it like a champ! I calmly walked the poor little angel out of the classroom and into the bathroom, had a kid go inform the office (and janitor!), helped wash Elizabeth off, and did it all without gagging (too much). This seriously might be the most proud I've been of myself all year. 

Also some funny things happened, including this: Rylyn was showing us her Star Student poster this morning and had covered it with a variety of Barbie stickers. The kids were asking her about her poster and giving her compliments, and Johnny had several to give. For his last one, he stood up, bashfully mumbled "Oh gosh," pointed to the a sticker on the poster and asked, "Who is that hot girl?" I could barely stop laughing long enough to whisper to him that we don't call girls "hot."

And while I didn't actively miss my kids over vacation one bit, I was reminded today of how fun and hilarious they are to be around. On the way to lunch Jake asked me, "Can I chomp down a tree outside? 'Cause I'm half beaver." I told him he could. I may have missed them after all. 

The Taylor Swift Who Cried Wolf

I've written before about Presley and how I caught her discussing with Anna when they might "need to go to the clinic." The "clinic" is the school nurse. And they don't actually ever need to go - they're fakers. This happens all of the time, and so one day very soon I am going to read the class The Boy Who Cried Wolf and let them think on that for a bit.

Well today, Presley, who I also overheard telling another kid that her nickname is Taylor Swift, said: "Probably at some point today I'm not going to feel good. Just so you know." Thanks for the heads-up Taylor Swift.

I Love to Read Day

Part of my behavior management for my class revolves around earning "paws" which can be earned by positive individual behaviors as well as class behavior. Once we've earned enough paws, we get to celebrate our accomplishments with a Paw Party. Today was our first Paw Party of the year, and we decided on a pajama party/I Love to Read Day. Everyone wore their PJs to school (except for me because I had to sit in meetings all afternoon) and brought stuffed animals and blankets and pillows. It was an early release day, so our school day was super short as it was, but the kids got to spend the morning just relaxing and reading. Or "reading." I Love to Read Day really turned into I Love to Build Forts and Play with Stuffed Animals and Chat with my Friends Day. I even turned on some Explosions in the Sky Pandora music, but the longest stretch they were able to sit still and read for was maybe about 15 minutes. 

I think our next Paw Party will involve running laps outside. 

Calipittar

Today Riley, who is one of my sweetest and most precious angels, shared a book she wrote with the class. (I forgot to take pictures, but I will add some in later.) She wrote a five or 6 page picture book over the weekend, all on her own, and it was phenomenal! It was called The Lonely Caterpillar, and it was about a lonely caterpillar (duh) who meets a butterfly and asks to be his friend. As Riley was reading it to the class, she kept saying "calipittar" instead of "caterpillar". And every time she said it, my whole body seized up with joy overload and my heart swelled to twice its size. Cutest thing ever.

Almost

22 report cards. 4 more days. I can do this.

And Thanksgiving break will be sooooo worth it! 

Sick

It was really only a matter of time before they got me sick. I've got a sinus head cold thing happening, and it certainly didn't make teaching any easier today.

Kendal was out with the stomach flu the last two days, but she came back today. Riley, who sits next to her, said, "I think Kendal gave me her stomach thing." Kendal heard this, got very teary, and angrily exclaimed, "No I didn't!" I explained to her how germs spread, and how we say that somebody gave us germs even though we know they didn't do it on purpose. To which Kendal replied, "I don't want her copying my stomach flu!" Perfectly reasonable. 

Thankful

Every year my school puts on a special Veterans Day assembly, and I spend the whole time holding back tears. The fifth graders, all decked out in red, white, and blue, sing a multitude of patriotic songs to an audience that includes family members who have served in the armed forces. Kelsey's uncle, who served in the Navy, was there in his "outfit" as Kelsey put it. As I was walking my students out of the gym at the end of the assembly, I could hear them saying to Kelsey's uncle as they passed, "Thank you for serving!" It was enough to make one weep.

An actual miracle happened during writing time today. For over thirty minutes my whole class was sitting working silently on their writing. I played an "ambient" station on Pandora while they wrote, which I think helped. (Jake asked if I had any Taylor Swift.) They were all putting so much effort into writing what they were thankful for, using everything I spent the last two weeks teaching them, and I was beaming with pride and joy. Many of them were thankful for their families, a couple for our country and army, quite a few were thankful for me (too cute!), and Nathan was thankful for tornadoes. 

Good News

I was pretty thrilled at last night's election results for a variety of reasons, both locally, nationally, and in other states. But the one that hit closest to home and will actually impact my life is that the county I work in finally passed a bond/mill levy that will save our district from drowning financially. Not only will I see a little bit of extra money this year, but this actually gives me a chance at having a job next year! I am on a temporary one-year contract, so no matter what my job is up in the air, but now I actually stand a chance to get to stay where I am. As opposed to the guaranteed unemployment had it failed. Before school this morning, two of my old students came into my room and with wide open arms and cheered, "You get to keep your job!" Nothing could have made me happier. 

Election Day!

We talked briefly about the election this morning. I intended to try and do some election focused lessons, or a kid's vote, or something, but life got the best of me before I was able to make it happen. But we did talk about it during the morning meeting. Jake talked extensively about everything he knew about "Rock Obama and Mitt Ronany" and how one of the congressmen running would "take away a woman's right to choose." This is a serious topic, obviously, but I couldn't help but laugh hearing it come out of the mouth of a six year old who is years away from having a clue of what that means. At one point Everett and Johnny started chanting "Mitt Romney! Mitt Romney!" but I shut it down. In the spirit of bi-partisanship, I would have shut down any Obama chants too, but my Obama supporters are more reasonable and controlled than that. 

Boom. 

Poop

Today my room smelled like poop. Actual poop. I think it started sometime after recess. At first I couldn't tell if someone had an "accident" or if someone stepped in something foul. I spent most of the day trying to smell it out, to no avail. 

Where it came from, the world may never know...

Charlotte

Last night I had the privilege of getting to see Barack Obama in person. It was 100% worth the 4 hour hunger-crazed wait. As a teacher, I know that I'm not allowed to share any political beliefs with my students or even tell them who I'm voting for. I don't totally get why this matters when the people I'm "influencing" are six, but whatever. I follow the rules. But I also feel like seeing the President of the United States is a big deal, no matter what your politics, and worth sharing with my students. And it raised some hilarious questions and comments. For example, Anna said that she knows that if the president dies, then the woman takes over. I gleaned that she was referring to Sarah Palin as a VP candidate. And then Presley said, "A woman has been president before." "No, there has not been a woman president yet," I said. "Yes, there has!" "Not of the United States, no." "Yes, there was one!" I don't understand why they don't believe that I might know more than them.

Later in the day we had free choice time and I was sitting grading papers when a large shiny black plastic-looking spider, like no spider I had ever seen, came waltzing by my desk. I made some sort of loud reactive sound, and all of the kids rushed over to see what it was. I encouraged them to help me kill it, but really just stayed in my seat as they all started to stomp near it. One girl finally got it and I felt a wave of relief. Then I got two kleenexes and attempted to pick its dead body off the floor but flinched and hesitated because it was so disgusting. So Anna grabbed the kleenex out of my hand and calmly picked up the body and threw it in the trash. Sometimes I'm so terrible at being an adult.

After the spider-killing, I remembered that we are actually reading Charlotte's Web right now, and in the next chapter we meet Charlotte (who is a spider if you had no childhood). I hope I didn't traumatize my students too much, and I'm guessing that will be the last spider we kill this year. 

Post-Halloween Depression

I wasn't sure if the kids would be really tired or really wound up the day after Halloween. Turns out it was a weird combination of both that lead to some pretty crazy emotions.

Kendal slumped in first thing in the morning and sadly mumbled, "I want it to be Halloween again. It was so fun." And then she looked like she was about to cry. I totally understand how she feels - I always go through post-_____ depression. Be it a concert, a holiday, a book, a trip - I hate when things end. But then I just need to find a new thing to look forward to. So I read them a book about Thanksgiving to fix the post-Halloween blues. I'm not sure if it helped - Thanksgiving is not nearly as fun as Halloween when you're six. Or when you're an adult.