Day 89 Part Deux (doesn't that sound fancy?!)

So, somewhere I got off in my count. It threw my kids for a little loop when I said, "we are not adding another straw, penny or number to our count." Oh well. Life goes on.

Today was our first day to do Rise and Shine. R&S is a silly assembly that is put on every day of the week. Monday and Friday is done in the gym as a whole school and Tuesday-Thursday is done on the "KEGL radio show," also known as an intercom. (Do you notice that says kegel, like your kegel muscles, ew.)Lucky for me, we didn't have school on Monday so we are only responsible for 4 days. Ask any teacher and they will tell you that they LOATHE being in charge of R&S.  

Tomorrow is the day we have been preparing for since January 4th. The big DIBELS day. When we were practicing again today, I can tell the kids that will excel more because they were actually participating. I can only take them to the water. I can't make them drink it.

I forgot to take a picture of our mitten. I remembered during the day and then I forgot. This is my reminder to do it tomorrow. :)

This is my Pal's remark about a previous post or two. Some of the things he says, I don't want to forget, like the fur lined jock strap!
"I just wanted to tell you your example to your class about MLK was outstanding and I'm really proud of you and your example. Good show No 1 Granddaughter

About the kids under the desk, sorry i can't help you, i was surprise they are concerned at this age, as you say i'm just to old for whats going on today in this old world . love pal. "

Happy MLK, Jr. Day!!!

MLK Day is even better than a snow day because we don't have to make it up!!! :) Since we are out of school, I wanted the kids to know why. So, on Friday (I guess I could have posted this on day 89), I read the kids two stories about Martin Luther King. One was a kid friendly biography and the other was about how a class thought of their dreams and shared them with one another.

Even with second graders, I was never sure they understood how MLK felt until I broke it down for them. This is how our conversation went:

Me: Everyone with dark hair (and then I named them off so they knew who they were) stand up. We are going to have cake and ice cream for snack!!! All of you that are still sitting down, you get to have broccoli and carrots for snack.

The 'sitters': Ugh. That's not fair!

Some of the 'standers': Yeah, why can't they have cake and ice cream too?

And that my friends is how you explain segregation to five and six year olds!

Then we read this little five page book that the kids were going to color, put together and take home.



Informative yet simple book to help little people learn about MLK, Jr.



I could not have been more excited when one of my friend brought his page up to show me how he had colored one of the pages.

Way to go friend! You get it!!!



I was later given a beautiful compliment that I hope I can pass on to my students. Mrs. Thompson told me that she felt that I do not have a racist bone in my body. Being an African American, she said she doesn't see that often. I just want my kids to see that it really doesn't matter what color your skin is. At school, our quote of the week is:

“We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to the same human race.” -Kofi Annan

 
 

I still remember a song from grade school about Dr. King. By remember, I mean 5 words, but I told my kids I would try to find it and share it with them. There are a lot of songs out there and when I look at them, I start not remembering how it goes. All I have for them is, "Dr. King! Dr. King! He had a dream!" I also vaguely remember that my mom liked the song too. {isn't it weird how things will just pop into your head?!}

88-89

Wow. This week we went from attitude-y, whiney, and clingy, then to comatose, then to nosey and bossy. What a week!

TGIF of a 3dW!!! Figure it out yet?!

We have had lots of sickies in our room. Everyday this week, we had at least two friends gone. It is nice to have a smaller number but I hope they get to feeling better soon!

Day 89- During free center time, I heard a boy exclaim, "Come to my beauty shop for a rockin' hair style!" I am not real sure what he was playing except that his beaty shop wasn't open for long when he started building jets again.

Day 86-87.

This picture sums up the last two days of school. By snow day, I mean cold weather day.

Last year, we had school called for a few days because the weather was too cold for students to safely get to and from school. I had never heard of that and last year thought, "this is silly, we should be at school so we don't have to go into June." This year is a different story! Even though we just started back and will get a four day weekend for MLK day I was hoping for snow days this week. I think my kids were too!

Day 86, they were pumped full of all kinds of attitude. I felt like I was in the room with a bunch of teenagers. Gee whiz.

Today, Day 87, someone I felt like someone slipped them all some sort of downer. Calmness seemed to fill the air. There were also four kids gone so I had 13. My principal came for my evaluation. As far as I know, I have not been fired. My kids did really well while she was in there! I wish they would always work so calmly and do their quiet activities so quietly, but... I do not want my principal sitting in my room everyday, so I will take a little chaos.

First thing this morning, I found out that I am getting one of my students back from the other class. You see, this friend was under a table having a little 'show and tell' time with another student. Somewhere in the mix, it was suggested to move this kid back. You know me, when I was told this I responded, "Why aren't the parents just teaching their kid that it is not okay?" To which I was answered, "They have told them but this is the second time it's happened so we are going to make an effort to put it to a stop." Again, I respond, "So why is it now my problem (thinking how my students are going to question why this student is returning)?" I sort of got tired of waiting for a reasonable answer and walked out. Sometimes, I just feel that is the most polite thing I can do.

Now, I am not a parent but I do have a very well behaved dog, hopefully that is a good sign for how my kids will turn out. My 'parent' thinking on this is:

-I get it, the first time they are curious or not sure what to think of the situation---> So, sit the child down and make it very clear to them it is unacceptable behavior. Remind them they are privates for a reason.

-A second time happens? ---> Time to rehash the curiosity with the child while they are STANDING at dinner because their little fanny is too sore to sit. "Did I not talk to you about this 4 weeks ago? You had the choice to get under the table with this friend. You know it is wrong so you get out of the situation and tell a teacher immediately."

-A third??? --->Better not happen!

But, like I said, I am not a parent (of a human child) so what do I know? I just wonder what kind of example we are setting for this child. 'You can do this and this and just get moved out the class to stop the problem instead of teaching them how to make the right choices.

Any input? Pal, tell me what you would do if you were the parent.

Day 85

It was snowing today! During our morning rise and shine program, our principal announced that kids needed to watch Channel 6 news to find out there is school tomorrow. All my kids heard was: "There's no school tomorrow!" Which isn't what she said AT ALL. I am still keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Due to the weather, I had 3 kids gone which meant I had 14 kids today. After all these years, it is still amazing how much a difference a few kids being gone can make.

We are doing a mini book study on The Mitten by Jan Brett. Thanks to one of my partners, I was able walk in to things ready to go. I just had to make copies. She planned it all. That is what I love about team work and the people I work with! The kids really seemed to enjoy the story about all these animals crawling into a lost mitten in the snow.

Going to cross my fingers and toes for a snow day! Join me??

A little behind and a lot to catch up on

By the sound of the title, I will be here all night.

Day 84 was Friday, January 7th. The plan was to go to school. Leave at 11. Pick up brother and niece at the airport, drop them off at home and go back to school to finish the day. At approximately 8:30 a.m. that plan changed. I told my dear friend and PE teacher, Maxwell, my plan. She promptly told me I was not coming back to school and was going to find a way for me to leave (IE. work the schedule so that someone could be with my kids for the least amount of time while I leave for the afternoon). Then she got my neighbor in Mrs. Thompson in on it and they informed me that I would not be welcome back. In about 10 minutes she came back to me and said that one of my partners had agreed to give up her afternoon time with Mrs. Amber, our assistant, so she could keep my kids.

That, my friends, just shows a glimpse of what GREAT co-workers I have. Even though I resisted, I really enjoyed my time lounging with Claire (and my brother) while we waited for Hubby to get off of work. We colored which is when I realized how much Claire would LOVE the gift that I was so excited about- see it here: Favorite present for Claire 2010.

***Sidenote: The kids were fine at school. When I told them I was leaving and why, one of them said, "Will they come see us?"

I had so much fun with Claire!!! I loved every second of the time we spent together. Here are some highlights:

• After leaving the airport, she ever so quietly sang some of one of her favorite songs, Firework by Katy Perry. You could hear this faint little voice singing along. SO. CUTE!
• Coloring with her. We made lots of T's for Tobie. Now I have some refrigerator art too!
• On the way to Enid, we rode "Girls in the back. Boys in front."




This is the face I make to fit in. If Claire doesn't want a picture, neither do I. So, we pouted. :)


• We play lots of games too, like: "(marching her little hands up Tobie's kennel) Dut. Dut. Dut. You're a sign!" or "(marching her little hands up the same spot as before on Tobie's kennel) Dut. Dut. Dut. You're a car!" This game went with anything, You're a pickle!, You're a horse! and many more!!
• I heard a story about Princess Felicia. She has a unicorn and live is a big castle.
• I heard a joke: "What did the ranch say to the refrigerator? Close the door, I'm dressing."
• Knock knock jokes were told.
• We even took a little time to look for Santa. We had to pretend we were asleep in hopes that Santa would come by. Claire just wanted to say Hi to him. She told me that she saw Rudolph's nose so Santa must be near.
• Just as we got into Enid (about 1.5 hour trip), Claire decided she would take a little nap. It lasted about 15 minutes until we went inside of Nandy and Pa's.
• Hide and seek was played
• Dogs were chased
• Grandpa was climbed on (and he did not mind one single bit!)

Saturday morning we took pictures. Martin, our photographer, was great with her! He even worked some magic on my Dad. That man [my dad] was reacting to all the silly stuff Martin was doing to make Claire laugh. We kept telling him that the silly stuff was for the 3 year old, not the almost 63 year old!

After pictures, we went for lunch at McDonald's. Then we went to visit my MIL and FIL. When Claire was a baby, she sent them a picture. According to MIL, Claire would talk to her. [This is the lady that has the "damn dolls" and gnomes as 'children.'] So they always love seeing her. All stops were pulled as I commented, "Reason #93 we don't have kids. Grandparents aren't ready." They had to work to find toys to play with.

Then we went to Grandpa's to have Christmas. Nandy and Pa came over, which I am sure was good for them to get out of the house, to open presents too. After presents, we went back to Nandy and Pa's for dinner. Claire and I even had a little crafting time with her cool craft kit.

Sunday morning, we got up and took Claire to church. Brother wasn't feeling well so Grandpa, Uncle Preston and I had some quality time with her. She did great during church and at lunch. We ate with church friends at Pizza Hut. In the mix of kids there were 5 boys and Claire. Shannon (mother of 3 of the boys) was so impressed with how calmly Claire was eating lunch, wiping her hands and face without being told and that she never got food on the white sleeves of her dress, even when she reached over her spaghetti plate to get her drink.

Shortly after church, we packed up and headed to Guthrie to visit Grandma. Unfortunately, after eating dinner with Claire in 'the Gut,' Hubby and I had to leave to come home.

I always love spending time with family, especially when we don't see much of each other, but it is always so sad to leave. I think I need to start a countdown to our romantical Ohio spring break trip.


*More pictures to come.

Day 81

Today was still good with my friends. Some of them were pushing it though. While they were working on math, I overheard, "Nationwide is on your side." You know, the tune from the Nationwide commercials?! Then I hear it sung again, "Nationwide is on your side." followed by, "Did ya'll know that?!?!" His tablemates look at him and say, "HUH?!" He says, "Ya'll didn't know. Nationwide is on your side!" SO! FUNNY!

Later in the day, a different friend got upset that someone may have thrown away a piece he needed to label his snowman. He kind of threw a fit and started crying. I thought I heard him say he wanted to "smack her" so I called him over to ask what happened and why he was so upset. He tells me that "she threw away my last piece." I tell him, "It's no big deal. Just write in what is missing. There is no need to get upset." My Nationwide friend happened to be standing there and chimes in, "I had to that before. It's really not a big deal. Just write it with a pencil." It was also a little funny because there have been times that this particular child has gotten all worked up about something that could be solved easily by writing the answer in. Apparently he has listened to me and remembered the advice I gave him.

We are 5 days in and have continued my walking. I walked 3 miles yesterday and 2 today! I just have to remember to pack her up for the weekend. Maybe if I write it enough, I will remember. :)