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.