finally.

Do not mess with my class.

Yes, kindergarten students are little and cute and they say the darnedest things but people, you are making my job really hard.

When you see them walking in a line, across two parking lots and you hear the teacher repremand the class for stopping to throw snowballs, it is not, I repeat NOT, a good idea to lob a snowball at the line of students and then laugh. And don’t acted so shocked when you get reamed out by the teacher for being a bad example.

When the entire class is sitting quietly outside the bathroom, do not come out of the teacher’s lounge and tell the girls they are so cute and beautiful and tell the boys they are handsome and strong. It’s not helpful. You leave in your wake 18 kids who are a) so giggly they can’t calm down b) so embarrased they can’t calm down c) so pissed off because you said she was beautiful but the boy in the class said “no she isn’t” so she hit him and then he pushed her and now they are both in trouble.

When they are walking in the stairs, don’t stop and chat with them right after you hear me say “no talking in the stairs.” They are 5 and remembering not to talk to you. You are, what? 45?, how come you can’t just walk by quietly.

And for the love of all things holy, DO NOT start saying “HIGH 5!” as you walk past my students. If you do, I will walk away and you are now in charge of all of them and good luck because everytime you’ve done this, 5 minutes later is supposed to be rest time. Have fun.

Sometimes, my class is cute.

We started learning about Community Helpers on Monday. We’ve been learning about the different jobs people have, what they do, tools they need, all that fun stuff.

Today, as we came in from recess, there was a Marine also waiting to get into the building (our school is on the third floor of a huge office building). He was dressed in his dress uniform and as he waited for us to pass he looked like he was standing at attention. My students were in absolute awe. Once we were all inside and starting up the stairs and he was out of sight, the questions started: “What’s his job?” “Is he a community helper?” “Can I be that when I grow up?” “Is he real?” “He’s so cool!”

We had to stop on the stairs (because kindergarteners can ‘t walk and talk at the same time) and I tried to quickly answer their questions. While we were there, the Marine passed us going back down the stairs with whoever he was picking up. As he passed my class decided to speak up. A couple kids called out as he passed, “You’re a Community Helper! Thank you! You’re doing a really good job!”

Hope it made him feel good to know that a bunch of kids think he’s a pretty cool guy.

Oh, and the questions, didn’t stop for the rest. of. the. day. I’m thinking I need to find a Marine to come to my class and talk to the kids about their job….

Class Rules

At the beginning of the year we created the rules for our classroom. According to Responsive Classroom, class rules should be entirely student generated. But in kindergarten when you ask a group of 5 year olds what the rules should be you get this list:

1. Don’t hit
2. Don’t push
3. Don’t kick
4. Don’t punch
5. Don’t run
6. Don’t yell
7. Don’t slap
8. Don’t bite
9. Don’t throw things
10. Don’t be mean
11. Don’t talk
12. No running
13. No spitting
14. No fighting
15. No being mean
16. No yelling
17. No shouting
18. No being loud
19. No wrestling
20. No stealing

And that’s the shortened version. When I let them start suggesting rules I usually get close to 50 or 60 “don’t’s” and “no’s”. That’s a whole lot of things we aren’t allowed to do. And an insane list to remember.

So, I have to start tweaking the list to a more positive wording and narrowing it down. There is a long conversation which is mostly me saying things like “Hitting and kicking and punching and slapping and hurting other people is something we godn’t want to do. So can we make the rule be “Keep your hands and feet to yourself?” And I’ll be honest, in the end, the rules end up being the 5 rules that I use every year in kindergarten. (1. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. 2. Share. 3. Listen when someone else is speaking. 4. Walking feet. 5. Be respectful)

And every year in January we re-evaluate and re-write our class rules. Since we have to spend the first week in January re-learnign the whole routine anyway, might as well start fresh with new rules.

So today we sat and made the long list of ideas for rules. However, I told them none of the rules could start with the word “don’t” or “no”. I wanted all positive language. I wanted the rules to state what we could (and should) do, not what we couldn’t do.

I was seriously impressed with their list. If they suggested a “don’t” rule, the rest of the class immediately corrected them – YOU CAN’T SAY DON’T! – but after the shouting, they gave the student a chance to rephrase their idea.

The list included:

1. Be best friends
2. Be good
3. Listen when people talk
4. Be nice
5. Be kind
6. Be helpful
7. Be respectful
8. Tell the truth
9. Walk
10. Take care of the toys and books
11. Only dig and build with sand or snow
12. Share
13. Have fun
14. Learn
15. Say please
16. Watch where you are walking in line
17. Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough (this one made me laugh out loud. Earlier this year, I had over half my class hit with H1N1. I had them hand-santizing and going through tissues like good little germ0phobes. At least they were paying attention.)

We then talked about how some rules were pretty similar and they decided to have 6 rules total. The final list (with barely any influence from me):

1. Be safe

2. Be good

3. Be kind

4. Be respectful

5. Tell the truth

6. Have fun

Now, we’ll see if they stick to the new rules.

Best Movie Ever (according to 15 kindergarten students)

Welcome to teaching in Minnesota.

Land of indoor recess.

I know what some of you are thinking. “Indoor recess? Sweet. No need to get on coats, boots, hats, gloves. No kids whinning because they are too cold. No need to stand on the playground and freeze while listening to the whinning about being too cold.” Well, all of that is great compared to 3 days in a row of indoor recess. The scientific term for indoor recess is “Cabin Fever”.

I, however, have found the cure. Disney and Pixar Movies. I know, shocking, isn’t it? But here’s the thing, my students were all born after movies like Lilo and Stitch, Monsters, Inc; Toy Story (1 & 2), Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King came out.

A month ago I brought in Lilo and Stitch and they had never heard of it. They were fascinated. This week, we watched Monsters, Inc. And they loved it. They sat perfectly still. They jumped when a monster acted scary. They covered their eyes when the monsters were on the “scare floor”. They laughed at the jokes. And they practically held their breath during the big chase scene at the end. When it was over, several kids asked if we could watch it again tomorrow because it was the “best movie ever.”

I think I’m going to introduce them to Fraggle Rock next. Or maybe The Sound of Music. Although, there’s a lot of kissing in the Sound of Music and in kindergarten we really don’t like the kissing parts. Hmmm….is the Princess Bride appropriate to show? They would LOVE that movie.

NaBloPoMo Post #19: The Minnesota Children’s Museum in 10 simple steps.

The kindergarten went to the Minnesota Children’s Museum today. Best. Field Trip. Ever.

Step 1. Take 30 children and add a mix of 9 parents and teachers.

Step 2. Divide children according to energy level among parents and teachers

Step 3. Board the bus.

Step 4. On a 8 minute bus ride answer the question “Is this the field trip?” 75000 times.

Step 5. Arrive at the museum and feed the children.

Step 6. Walk children to an exhibit room and say “See this big purple door? You may NOT go out this door without a grown-up. Understand?”

Step 7. Turn children loose.

Step 8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for approximately 2 hours,  substituting “purple” for “green”, “yellow”, “blue”, and “red”.

Step 9. Round up children.

Step 10. Board bus and return to school.

NaBloPoMo Post #15: Kindergarten

I haven’t talked about kindergarten in a while.

Here’s the thing. I (heart) my class. They rock. Sure I’ve got one or two that like to try and push my buttons but that’s only about once a day. The rest of the week is smooth sailing. I haven’t figured out what the secret ingredient to this year is yet.

Maybe it’s their personalities. Maybe it’s the new routine I’ve created. Maybe it’s the fact that they have been told by numerous adults in the school that they are the best class. Maybe it’s the fact that I have sixteen – 8 boys, 8 girls. I have don’t know.

All I know is that when I ask them to listen, they do. When I ask them to settle down, they do. When someone needs help, they are helpful. They are respectful. They are responsible. They are funny and silly and try really hard on their work. When we walk in a line, it’s an actual line. They are fiercely protective of one-another. And they love to arm wrestle. When someone can beat me, they get a party. (I may let somebody win next week.) They understand the importance of admitting they were wrong or telling the truth. They know a bad choice makes me upset but lying makes me angry. They are proud of our class library. They are convinced we have more books than the school library. (There’s a good chance we do.) We work together as a community. They love me and I love them.

I’ll admit it, I’ve got a favorite in my class.

Remember my kid who meditates? Well, after being gone for almost 10 days due to a broken arm, he came back today.
And he’s learned to use “air quotes”. Sort of. He air quotes about every 5th word he says. Today he needed to “tell me something”. (yeah he put air quotes on tell me something).

“Ms. Abby”, I was at “home” because I broke my “arm”. My dad brought me to “school” in the “car” today. I can’t ride the “bus” until my “arm” is “better”.

Can’t wait to see what new habit he picks up next week.

Sometimes, they really amaze me.

One of the boys in my class broke his arm last weekend. He’s been home for almost 7 school days. And we all miss him. He’s easily a favorite of mine and the rest of the class really likes him as well.

We write in our journals everyday. Or we do some type of writing exercise. Today we made get well cards for Abdurahman.

Since they are only 6 weeks into kindergarten their penmanship and spelling are pretty weak. In fact, it’s still a little painful to watch them try and write their names. To help them out, I wrote his name on the board along with “get well” and “feel better” and even so he’s still getting cards that say:

“Abdurahman

Feyahdng Btr”

and

“amstfrdnbio” (which are the letters we have learned to write)

But one of my kids pulled out all the stops. His card read:

“DER ABDURAHMAN
IYAS SO SRT
U BROK U HDE”

Translated that says:

Dear Abdurahman

I was so sorry

you broke your hand.

Pretty impressive for only 6 weeks into kindergarten.

Teaching Art

It’s a long story how it came about but my school does “Friday School” every Friday afternoon. It’s a chance for teachers to help struggling students and/or add in a little something new to the curriculum. The kindergarten and first grade teachers got smart. We split our kids into four groups and the groups rotate between the four teachers. 30 minutes per group. This works out great for the teachers. We were able to split up behavior issues. The kids that end to drive a teacher nuts all week are only with each teacher for 30 minutes on Friday afternoons (trust me, it’s a needed break) and we each only have to do one lesson plan and teach it four times. The other kindergarten teacher is doing Math & Movement, one first-grade teacher is doing Author Studies,  the other first-grade teacher is doing Science and me? I’m teaching art.

I have never taught art. I’ve done art projects in my room but I’ve never taught art. I got the art lessons becaue I’m not bothered by messes (as long the messes are appropriate – a whole bottle of glitter dumped on a paper and subseqeuntly all over the floor = not a big deal. A whole bottle of glitter dumped on a friend = one very irritated teacher.). In fact I don’t think you can do art if it’s not messy. Part of art is experimenting with the tools you are given and it’s fun to find out what happens if you empty a whole glue bottle onto on piece of paper.

I think the kids will have fun. Last Friday was a pretty simple coloring activity because I had to explain all the expectations for art class. But next week, next week will be very excting. Next week is shaving cream art. Talk about messy art.

How’s School Going?

We are now in week 3 of school (week 2 with kids) and things are still going well.

I’ve had 16 consistent kids but I do have 17 on my list. I’m not sure where #17 has been. She’s only been to school 2 of the last 10 days.

Since they’ve gotten a little more comfortable with life in kindergarten they are starting to show their true colors. And so far, it’s not too rough. There are a couple kids who think it’s really fun to speak Somali but I’ve busted them twice for swearing in Somali (because in my 4 years at the school the only Somali I know is a greeting, counting to twenty, a couple colors, mom, dad, teacher and about 15 swear words). And as a bonus, if I don’t bust them, the girls in my class will.

Oh. My. Word. Do I have tattle tales in my class. So far this year I’ve gotten “she’s looking at me”, “he’s coughing at me”, “he said I’m a girl” (and she  is a girl), “she said I’m 6″ and my personal favorite “she’s tattling on me”. Tuesday we are doing the lesson on the difference between reporting and tattling. I only want to hear about it if the person is crying, bleeding, or throwing up.

So my girls basically a sweet group. Very shy when it comes to speaking in front of the group but they are good friends with each other and get along together wel, when they aren’t tattling.

Back to my boys. They think they are a group of stand up comedians. I have never seen such class clowns. Everything is a joke or can be made a joke or causes them to break into a fit of giggles. And I usually have to send them to their desks to calm down. Not because they are trying to be disrespectful but because if they look at each other they start giggling again.

Oh, and did I tell you the story of the boy who meditates?

When we work as a group my class sits in a circle on carpet squares. The squares are always out and always in a circle. One of the boys will pull his square into the middle of the circle, sit down in the lotus position, close his eyes, put his hands together like he is praying and say, “oohhmmm” for about 5 seconds. The first time he did it, I tried to correct him and he stuck out one hand and shushed me, then finished his “oohhmmm”. He then moves his carpet square back to the circle and is perfectly behaved. Surprisingly enough none of my kids think this is funny. They just wait for him to be finished and carry on.

Yeah, the meditating kid – totally one of my favorites.