finally.

Funny Things Kindergarteners Say and the 10 phrases I say over and over…

Kindergarteners:

1. “Can I off my jacket?” (Can I take off my jacket?)
2. “He has a bleed.” (He’s got a cut/scrape/bruise/any random minor injury.)
3. “I like your hair cut” (I like your hair style)
4. “Why me no?” (Why are you saying no to me?)
5. “Then you’ll get dead.” (Then you’ll get hurt – it’s amazing how many of my kids have family members who “die” over the weekend, when really they just needed a band-aide)
6. “The table lost it.” (I put it on the table and now I can’t find it

Ms. Abby:

1. Hands are not for hitting.
2. If it’s not food, it does not go in your mouth.
3. 1-2-3-4 No more.
4. 5-4-3-2-1-zero voices.
5. If I can hear you, you’re too loud.
6. When my voice is on, your voice is off.
7. I’ll wait.
8. Are you tatteling? If he’s not bleeding, crying or throwing up, you can fix the problem yourself.
9. Did you try before you asked me? Go back and try.
10. Ms. Abby is not a trash can. (For some reason they feel the need to hand me every piece of trash they find on the ground)

And as an added bonus:

The most ridiculous conversation I’ve had in 3 years of teaching kindergarten:

Me: “F, Why is your underwear in the middle of the floor?”

F: “Because it fell out of my pocket.”

First Impressions of Kindergarten

This probably won’t be of interest to anyone but me, but I want to get it down so when I am ready to toss kids out the window in December I can look back and remember that at one point I did think they were cute. And just to warn you, I’ll be doing that annoying initials thing instead of real names just to be on the safe side.

First day started off a little crazy. There was some type of bus mix up (which means they had no idea who to pick up where) so at 7:55 I still had only 8 kids. By the end of breakfast I was up to 13. I had 8 girls and 5 boys which is fine with me. Last year I had 20 kids and only 6 were girls so this year is already looking up.

I know we are still in the “honeymoon” phase of school so I’m not going to pretend that just because today was good the rest of the year will be too but hey, a girl can hope right?

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School Starts Monday

For the teachers at least. Our schedule isn’t too bad next week. We have work days Monday through Thursday. Parent night is Thursday (which means we don’t have to come in until noon but don’t get to leave until 8). Friday is also a day off (because we had to come in last Monday) but I’ll probably go in anyway because there’s a lot to do to get ready for the first weeks of school (mostly it’s just hanging bulletin boards and rearranging furniture)

I think I have all my supplies for this year. I didn’t have too much that I needed so I got to spend my allowance on things that I’ve wanted but have put off getting for the items in the “need” column. This will be my third year of teaching kindergarten and I feel like I’ve hit my stride. I’m not making countless “to do” lists or over-thinking my lesson plans for the first week.

I’ve got my class list so I can start making name tags and those little craft sticks with everyone’s name to make sure everyone gets a turn. And the twenty other things that get labeled with everyone’s name (homework folders, journals, cubbies, pencils, coat hooks, circle spot…).

Once that’s all done, all that’s left is to wait for the students to show up, see how their personalities are, toss my plans out the window and re-write them to fit this particular group.

I’ve got 9 girls and 9 boys. Things are already looking up for this year.

Great Adventure Club

Great Adventure Club (GAC) started today at church. This year, I don’t have to run it. I’m just teaching the preschool group and so far, it’s been fun. There are 12 kids in my group from 2 1/2 – 4 yrs. old and like every other group of kids I’ve taught I have double the number of boys to girls. It’s fun teaching preschool again, but I’m glad it’s only for 4 days.

Quote of the Day

This was overheard as a class was leaving for recess, as they passed the office the teacher told one student to go to the office.

Student: “But I’m SORRY!”

Teacher: “Sorry doesn’t cut it when you tried to staple your friend. Go to the office.”

The Field Trip or Why Was That Not On Your Website?

Friday was the big field trip. Despite the luming rain clouds, we loaded about 60 extremely excited kindergarten and 2nd graders onto a bus and drove them a half hour to the coolest playground ever. We pulled up in front of the play area and were greeted with orange construction fencing and a “play area closed” sign. The very friendly park ranger informed us that 1. the play area was closed for repair (even though the website said open April – November) and 2. they require a reservation for school groups (also not posted on the website). He told us they had been trying to get that information up for a long time. He then gave us directions to another play area close by that would be big enough for our group. We drove there. It was not. Not even close. Plus, there were no bathrooms. The kids did enjoy the novelty of it while we called the bus driver and told him to come back and pick us up. I have no idea why he left in the first place. He came and got us and we drove back to school to use the bathrooms. (This is after several phone calls to the school secretary having her look up parks in the area for us.) After the bathroom break we got back on the bus and drove to a small park that I knew had some cool climbing ropes. It’s a bunch of cables and cargo nets that look like spider webs to climb around in. The kids had a blast. They told everyone that we took them on two field trips in one day and that the second field trip was to the Spider-Man park. Not to mention they got to eat their lunches outside. Good thing they had no idea that we were completely making the day up as we went along. At least the rain held out until the last 10 minutes of our time at the park.

I’m Sorry vs. I Was Wrong

When I started student teaching the first place I worked had a policy of not making the kids apologize to each other. I remember being at work and after stopping some type of argument I said you need to tell so-and-so you are sorry. The classroom teacher came flying around the corner and told me they don’t make the kids say sorry but failed to tell what to do instead. About a month or so later, I found out. The kids had to say “I was wrong for (fill in the blank with hitting you, taking your stuff, calling you a name, etc).” And I got on board with this instantly. And it’s carried over into my parenting and my teaching.

I never make anyone apologize. An apology has to come from the heart and so when a teacher or parent says “Say you are sorry.” the kid will say it but not mean it. Plus, they may not be sorry. But they were wrong. A 3 year old may not be the least bit sorry for taking a friend’s toy. But they were wrong for taking it without asking. If a child wants to say sorry after they have said they were wrong, go right ahead because I’m not forcing the apology.

I also like making them say they were wrong because as kids get a little older I also make them correct the problem in a way appropriate to their age. In my class it goes something like this:

Kid A: I was wrong for dumping over your puzzle.
Kid B: Please don’t do it again.
Kid A: Instead of dumping your puzzle I should have asked you to move it or found a different place to play.
Kid B: Can you help me fix the puzzle?
Kid A: Okay.

It does take a lot of coaching to get a dialogue like that but it’s completely possible and my kids do it on a regular basis (at our school we call it Walking the Peace Path).

In a culture where the word sorry carries very little weight anymore, I think saying you were wrong is a more meaningful alternative.

So the Drama

I am now the coolest. teacher. ever. I own the Kim Possible Movie. The book we are reading in reading class has a character named Kim. And the kids realized it was “like Kim Possible”. I agreed with them and they were shocked that I knew who Kim Possible was. But they were even more impressed when I wowed them with my knowledge of Ron Stoppable, Rufus, “what’s the sitch’, Wade?”, Ninja Monkeys, and “call me, page me, beep me. Anyway you want to reach me.” We sort of lost focus of reading class for about 15 minutes while we discussed the finer points of Kim Possible. Today was indoor recess – being the great teacher that I am guess what movie my kids got to watch?

A Few Valentine’s Day Thoughts

What Kevin and I did for Valentine’s Day (because I know you are dying to know):

Nothing. But we never make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day.

What the Kindergarten class did for Valentine’s Day:

We made a banner for the school secretary listing all the reasons we thought she was great. (The list included reason’s like “she gives us band-aids”, “she helps us when we are in trouble”, “she tells us if we have inside or outside recess”). We hung them outside her office, asked her come out to the hallway and said “surprise.”

What the rest of the school did for Valentine’s Day:

When 98% of the school is Somali and 100% of the school is Muslim, Valentine’s Day is not a holiday that most of the families celebrate – honestly, I don’t think the kids really knew what it was until we talked about. We tend not to focus on the love part, we put most of the emphasis on appreciating someone or friendship.

Anyway, most of the classes made Valentine’s for their reading buddies or for other teachers and delivered them throughout the day.

Best reaction to a Valentine:

When Maryama (6th grade) delivered a card to Mohamed (kindergarten), Mohamed, in the most dramatic voice imaginable, yelled for the whole room to hear, “Oh man! I can’t believe I got one from a girl!”

My three favorite valentines:

From Warda:
“I appreciate you because I like the way you to your class.”

From Mumtaz:
Deer Ms. Abby Thank you fore teaching me how to rite gud end teeching hou to reed iksrshen. Lev Mumtaz*

*translation: Dear Ms. Abby, Thank you for teaching me how to write good and teaching how to read English. Love Mumtaz (Mumtaz was in my kindergarten class last year)

From Hafsa:
Dear Ms. Abby Your very nice and won I was at kinnagrden you was nice to me I was happy and you clas is nice and you are nice alway I wish i was in kinnagrden. Hafsa*

*translation
Dear Ms. Abby You’re very nice and when I was at kindergarten you was nice to me I was happy and you class is nice and you are nice always. I wish I was in kindgarten. Hafsa. (again, one of my girls from last year)

So, that was my Valentine’s Day. How was yours?

100th Day of Kindergarten

Today is the 100th day of kindergarten. The kids love it. I hate it. Okay I don’t really hate it but like all special days that involve doing something out of their normal routine, a special activity or snack, it makes them crazy and it makes my job that much more….interesting.

Today we had “100 Day” learning labs – going to 10 different stations and gluing, drawing or sticking 10 things on a bag to equal 100. We also had “100 Day” math mysteries. We strung fruit loops into necklaces (sorting them by color in groups of 5) until we had 100 fruit loops. We had our “100 Day” snack. A pretzel rod and 2 cookies. (Picture it – it makes the number 100.) Now they are sitting quietly (and I use that term very loosely – really they are giggling, standing up, coming up to my desk, trading books back and forth, falling on the floor, thumb wrestling, wandering around) trying to come down from their sugar high.

Tomorrow, unfortunately is Valentine’s Day. I cannot handle two “fun” days in a row. Good thing we are not having a party tomorrow. Just working on a super-secret project.