Familiarity Breeds Germs!

 Indulge me dear readers as I share this next brief account of an encounter I had in the classroom today.
       It was fairly mellow this morning considering it was our first day back from spring break and the students were relatively focused and on task.  After recess on Monday's I usually introduce several new concepts for the week and then the first graders begin working on their weekend writing assignments while the kindergarteners continue adding to their alphabet books.  As we were wrapping up our writing time, several students had come up to my desk to ask for spelling help or direction once their assignments were complete.
     About two minutes before I rang the bell to clean up, one of my kindergarteners approached my desk with a determined look on his face.  As I was finishing up an email, I quickly asked how I could help him (while multi-tasking) and did not make eye contact.  He began to pause, which caught my attention.  It seemed at first that he had forgotten his train of thought, until I realized he just wanted to be near me, like my little shadow.  Because we had a minute I indulged him and asked him how his vacation went, in which he nonchalantly shrugged and replied it was good.
     As he began to ask me what I was doing, he rather impulsively and without any warning shot his hand out and stuck it into a plastic cup on my desk containing trail mix.  I was so shocked I actually laughed out loud, then proceeded to ask him what he was thinking.  I've never encountered a student who felt comfortable enough to touch my food.  It is usually an unspoken but clearly communicated rule between teacher and students that all things on the teachers' desk are strictly prohibited.
This little guy clearly didn't get the memo.  I was so surprised and somewhat flustered but all together amused that I ended up turning the situation into a mini lesson about germs.  Its funny how the important things you end up teaching kids are usually in response to a "real life" situation.  I had to explain that if he continued to touch my food (with his unwashed hands) that I would probably get sick and not be able to teach.  After hearing that, he promised to never do that again which also made me smile.  This was a very funny and endearing memory that I will tuck away for safe keeping.
   I guess this is just a perfect example of the unpredictability of your average five year old and the fact that a child's brain is wired very differently than an adult.

Bootcamp + Big Shoes=can't BEND over

So I recently started bootcamp (about 3 weeks ago) which I decided was a good way to combat all the holiday treats & sweets lurking in the staff room.  It sounded like a great idea to get in shape and start eating healthy and really take charge of my life.  Little did I know the first week, bootcamp was going to take charge of me.  After the first work out I had no control over my body.  I was unable to sit (at all), stand comfortably, or move at a remotely normal pace.  The first week I looked like an old person, feebly hobbling around in search of my cane. I felt like the mayor from Hornton Hears a Who, after he went to the dentist and got stabbed with the novocain injection in the arm.  The scene was so clear in my mind of him running home and racing up the stairs as his arm waved and flapped behind him knocking over valuable objects and slapping him in the face.
That was me, hobbling/flopping around in complete and utter chaos.  I had lost all control of my four essential limbs, therefore driving walking, bending over and sitting down became dangerous activities (thank God I didn't run anyone over!).  Thankfully this excruciating pain only lasted the first week, but bear with me as I share this next story... Its pretty hilarious.

The Morning Of:
It really began to get interesting when I decided to wear a pair of open toed flats a friend had given me to work.  They looked really cute and matched my outfit.  I didn't bother checking to make sure they fit properly and quickly donned them on and skipped (or hobbled, but just work with me here) out the door.  When I arrived at school I was rather in a hurry to get into my classroom and get started preparing for the day.  I was in such a rush to enter my room that my shoes (which happened to be slippery and not a great match against tile flooring) slid down the hallway, sending me flying and landed me flat on my back.  Fortunately only a couple older students observed my tumble and graciously asked if I was alright.
After my embarrassing start to the morning, I commenced to crawl back to my feet, inch my way into my room and laugh for a good 30 seconds before pulling it together.

Later in the day...
My students had begun to notice my peculiar behavior and were inquiring as to why I was so slow.  Throughout the day, I was constantly asking students to help pick up crayons and markers from the floor, and for some reason it seemed the number of materials on the ground had multiplied making it impossible for me to ignore.  So apart from being driven crazy by my inability to ignore pencils, markers, crayons and glue hiding in all four corners of the classroom, I could not bring myself to sit and was constantly hobbling around from student to student checking work and answering questions.

In the late afternoon, about an hour before school was out, I had the students clean up and get ready for our topic study.  As the class was tidying up, I noticed a marker right by my foot.  Because I was tired of asking the kids to pick everything up, I decided to be brave and take the plunge.  As I descended down into an awkward squat in a feeble attempt to pick up the marker, one of my first grade boys turned to me and remarked "you look just like my mom, she can't pick anything up either!"  This made me laugh out loud.  You see, this boy's mom was 9 months pregnant and had a very valid reason for not bending over.  Me on the other hand, had no excuse and think next time around, I will just leave the marker on the floor.

Bake Sale Extravaganzas... Moderation is not in my vocabulary

Rainbow Jello Adventures        

I must begin this posting with my confession, hopefully it will pardon my crazy behavior and help you understand the way I am wired as a teacher and a person.

Confession:  I spent approximately 8hrs. on average creating layered jello cups to sell at for my class bake sale.  Granted I cannot be accused of my lack of enthusiasm though my innate need to try and fail something before learning its going to be painful and not worth the time investment remains one of my character flaws.

Tip: Definitely do not add a whip cream layer in between your jello colors.  It takes twice as long to harden and looks extremely messy regardless of how hard you try to smooth it out and not let it smear on the sides of the cup.  When I made the rainbow jello for St. Patty's Day, it took a very long time but the result was rewarding and they sold like hot cakes.  The whip cream Easter jello cups on the other hand were not as appealing and I had left overs.  Next time I will probably pick two or three colors to layer and make much smaller cups.  Then I will mark down the prices to motivate buyers to purchase more.

Pictures from our first Bake Sale on Valentine's Day:

We sold cookies, cupcakes, flowers, lollie-pops and marsh mellow chocolate dippers.

Pics from our St. Patrick's Day Bake Sale:

            Amazing Rainbow Cupcakes with Gold Coins and 

                                         Chocolate Shamrock Lollie Pops made by K/1 Parents

   

 

Our Most Recent Bake Sale: Celebrating Easter

Our easter goodies: Chocolate dipped pretzles, Fudge bunnies, sugar cookies, Easter Jello, Easter basket cupcakes and edible grass!

Missing Fish or Miscalculation?

Have you ever evaluated a situation and quickly jumped to a conclusion?  I am definitely guilty of jumping to the wrong conclusion more than I'd like to admit.  In this particular scenario the situation is especially embarrassing and I hope you will not only find humor in it, but also learn from my rather epic faux pas.  Let me preface this story by saying I was very enthusiastic at the start of the year to have my own classroom and was eager to fill it with everything your average classroom contains and more.  Among the things required to complete my classroom was a class pet.  I figured since I love animals but needed something low maintenance, why not get a fish.  Fish are pretty much guaranteed to survive being hardy by nature.  So after researching "hardy, durable" fish in my all time

 favorite google search engine, I decided a Beta fish would be the best fit for our classroom 

environment.  I was especially excited since the fish would be colorful and probably match my decorations (totally ridiculous but that is the way my mind works).  Anyway, after saving and

 researching I was finally prepared to take the plunge and make the commitment to purchase and care for a living creature.  All went according to plan... I fed it weekly (every 2-3 days give or take)  and occasionally cleaned its tank.  As the school year progressed and I got busier 

and more tired, the fish ceased to be a priority.

Flash forward with me-  After a lovely four day weekend, I came into my room and scanned the environment to mentally assess if everything was still settled in its assigned space (our school is located in a multi-use building that is accessed by other groups for events on the weekends).  After determining everything was as I'd left it, I went to the sink to check on our fish.  Sadly, it had been more than a week (I won't admit just how long), since the tank was clean and the water was very murky.  I scanned the water and then immediately did a double take.  THE FISH WAS GONE!!!  I couldn’t believe my eyes and began to survey the water more carefully.  

I shook the tank and did not see anything float to the surface.  

In all astonishment, I scoffed aloud and made an assumption I am now embarrassed to admit. I assumed someone stole the class fish.  Why anyone would be interested in a malnourished sea creature is beyond me, but weirder things have happened, Right?  

I was so flabbergasted, I included a memo in the class newsletter and asked the parents to report back if they heard anything.  Naturally, there was no response (which I was grateful for later).

Later in the week, I asked my T.A. (a high school student who assists as me in the mornings) to clean out the tank so I could return it to my storage area.  Needless to say, this was not the most well thought out plan.  I discovered very quickly, sometimes its better to do things 

yourself. 

About ten minutes after sending her out, my T.A. returned to the classroom.  Interrupting my calendar routine she announced to the class that she needed gloves if she was expected to scrub out dirty tank with a dead fish inside.  Thankfully some of my kids are oblivious and remained wholly unaffected by the announcement.  

My perceptive ones on the other hand were listening avidly in an attempt to assess the situation.  Meanwhile, after seeing the look 

on her face and predicting her next sentence, I ungracefully and somewhat freakishly bounded across the room to the door (as if in slow motion) yelling no, no, never mind (to try and drown out her statement) and stop her from blowing the lid off our investigation.  You see, I not only posted a "missing fish" ad in our class newsletter, I also made several announcements to the class in hopes that our mystery would be solved.

After the truth surfaced, I was all together humbled by my ridiculous assumption and wiser in The ways of parent/student/teacher communication.

Confession:  It took me all of five seconds to conclude someone had stolen our fish and it didn't even occur to me that the dead fish may be nestled at the bottom of the tank, don't dead fish usually float?

Tip: Always have someone proof read your newsletters and "censor" your comments.  It may really protect you from making a fool of yourself.

Amusing side note:  When complaining about the incident at family dinner, my dad after hearing the story concluded someone ATE the fish.  *Note: He usually says eccentric things because he knows we find him amusing.