Loaded Question..

Today was a very tired day not just for me but my kids as well. Majority of them could barely stay awake today, a whole bunch of tired faces stared back at me most of the day.

As I sat down to read a story, one of the girls was yawning. I said to her I was tired today too. I then told the class, "You know how to tell when I am tired?"

Girl- "Your hair is a mess?"

Me- "What?!? My hair is not a mess!"

Boy- "You have bags under your eyes?"

Me- "What?!? I do not have bags under my eyes!

Kids- "Well what then?"

Me - "I lose my voice, it is very crackly when I talk!"

Kids- "Ohhh, yah!"

Note to self- never ask a loaded question again!

Awww...

My girls were telling me today that one of my boys told them he bought a present for one of the girls. Awwww, too cute! He hasn't given it to her yet. He is such a cool, neat, kind kid. I never expected this little crush though.

I was sitting next to the girl, who is receiving this gift, and said, "You know he is such a gentlemen."

The girls agreed.

We are putting on some Reader's Theater plays on Friday and this particular boy was very brave enough to play Prince Cicada in a version of Cinderella (Spiderella). He is the only boy in this play. In one part he gets down on his knee and asks Spiderella to marry him (which is not being played by the girl he is giving a gift too).

Stories like this today warm my heart in this cold weather. I hope he grows up to be just as nice and charming as he is today!

Tales from Third Grade...

This one comes to us from one of the third grade classrooms today.

The class was working on a spelling lesson. They were convinced that baby was spelled babby. The teacher assured them it was not.

One boy then asks the teacher, "Well what about the other type of baby?"

She looks at him, quite confused and asks him to clarify what he means.

He replies, "You know like, "Yo baby what's goin on?"

Prediciting the Week Ahead...

I think this is going to be a cosmo week.

The term cosmo year started four years ago when my teaching partner had a class that drove her to drink. She had many cosmos that year, hence the term Cosmo year. Four years later we now use the term as in, "This was a cosmo day!" or "Arghh, this has been a cosmo week."

So off I go, about to start the day! Five more days to go!

Hysterical Laughter...

Are there moments when you are teaching when something the kids do or say or how they react to things are soooo funny that you can't help but to laugh to the point you cry? Happens occasionally, but yesterday was a doozy, despite my trying to plow through.

I am currently reading the book, "Sign of the Beaver." I just started reading the book but the kids seem to be into the story so far. Yesterday I reach the part where the main character Matt gets rescued by the Indians (Native Americans, whatever is PC). They were describing the dress the Indians wore, lion clothes etc. You get the gist here. There were little chuckles but I kept of moving. As I am reading I can see around the book the kids looking at each other, smiling, quietly giggling. I keep reading until I can't ignore what is going on, of course I have no clue.

I stop reading to ask what is so funny. They all look at each other and say, "No you tell her." "NO you tell." "I can't say it."

At this point I am like, someone please just tell me here! They are laughing more and more. Finally one girl, "We're laughing at the thongs." What?, apparently when they were describing the moccassions in the story they say how it was made of leather with thongs that tie up around the legs. Ok, I have to admit from a kids visualization point, I can only imagine what they thought those shoes looked like to them.

Ok, that was it, here they go... Thongs. Of which, Mr. Thingy jumps up and has to announce his BROTHER has one. I am telling him to take a seat, I don't want to hear it. but of course Mr. Thingy can't hold it in, it is killing him to not shout out the story. Even with my evil eye look, he can't stop. At this point the class is in hysterical laughter.

It was one of those moments where everyone needed a minute to recoup and then I was kind of able to move on.

Never Ever....

As a lesson to you all, never ever slowly say the word horse in front of your students, especially those street smart students. I knew what I was saying as it was coming out but couldn't send the signal from my brain to my mouth fast enough.

Also, note to self, when a kid comes up to you and asks,
"Why is your hair golden?"
"Because I have blonde hair, sweety."
"Then why do you have some dark on top also?"

It is time to get your roots done! It's not even bad, like a bright blonde to a darker blonde, but man I made that appointment as soon as I got home today!

What a welcome back from Thanksgiving break. Gotta love it!

Being Creative...

I didn't get enough turkey yesterday. I actually went home feeling a bit hungry. I know how could that happen on Thanksgiving? I was very fortunate to go to my aunt and uncle's house along with twenty other guests. I still believe there is nothing better than mom's Thanksgiving dinner.

This year I have decided to make a holiday gift for each of my students. Crazy, I know. I went to Walmart and bought all the plain .95 cent clipboards they had. The checkout lady had to ask what I needed 16 of them for (I was short 4, need to hit up another Walmart)

Here is what I am going to do... I am going to take the plain clipboard and personalize it by stenciling each students' name onto their own clipboard with paint markers. It is actually really easy to do. At the bottom I put their name and then I did some kind of design along the edges of the board. They look really cute, which I will post a pic when I get a change. Time wise to complete one board is about five minutes, of course I am a fast worker, so that time could vary.

At less than one dollar per student, this is a great gift that will last them for years.