They were CRANKING him!!! :)

*What an exhausting week. For some reason, I was dragging all week long. I wasn't really able to sleep at night and was very active and busy during the days. I was waiting for the weekend since Monday night. Yesterday however, I looked around during Calendar time while my kids were counting to 100-their sweet faces, so full of excitement and pride at what they've learned. I am so content in that room. 

*Everyday when we're learning, I tell my kiddos how SMART they are. I always say: "We need to focus, listen and do our VERY best, because don't you want to be even smarter?!" They all answer: YES!!! My kids had to take the big State reading test this week. I told them the principal would be in there and watching how hard they were working. I could not have asked for more. As my kids took 50 multiple choice question test, they were ALL focused so hard. I watched as they ALL used strategies I had taught them--even if they didn't quite carry them out. :) Ex: The kids can click on a button to listen to the question, but as the questions get harder, the students have to read the choices to themselves. One of my "low" students listened the question: "What word rhymes with 'cake'?" He went on to think outloud: "Cake, flake. Those rhyme". Then he looked at the choices and said "I don't see it. OH! Play!! I know that word--I'll go with that!" ha. Oh well...I was so proud of the kids. Especially a few of my "low" kids who passed the test--I told one "ADD-like" student that I was SO proud of how hard he focused and how hard he worked. He said: "Will you tell my mom that?!" After school when his mom picked him up, I didn't get a chance to talk to her. Later that evening my husband and I went running and we ran into his mom & dad. I stopped to talk to them and told them all about how great he did on his test. They responded "We heard ALL about how proud Mrs. was AND that the principal was watching him!" :) 

*Friday we had a family breakfast before school. They had a ton of fruit left over so I took some apples to my class and got out a jar of Peanut Butter that I had at school...before the day ended, I got out the snack of apples & PB...They were SO excited. "Where'd you get those apples, Mrs!? At the Price Chopper?!" "This is DELICIOUS!!!" :)

*We were working on the Word Family "ank" and sounding out words on the smart board before they went back to their tables to read a book with "ank"....One of the words that came up was "prank". I asked the kids if they knew what a prank was. No one knew, so I explained what it is and gave an example of a prank my sister played on me when I was little. They were CRACKING up. Later that day, I read them a book called "Elmer Takes Off"...in that book, Elmer the Elephant plays a trick on his friend. I asked the kids "Is Elmer really blowing away?" And one student raised his hand, and VERY seriously said: "NO MRS!!! He's just CRANKING them!!!":) I had to turn my head to laugh. 

*We had our last day of Walking Club this week. We walked over 2 miles. It was about 90 degrees. My poor Kindergartener's legs were HURTING and they were so tired. Did they complain? NOPE! They were too busy telling me all kinds of stories and pointing out plants they saw, etc. Everyday since, the kids have asked me: "Is it walking club day?!" After club was over, the kids got their drinks and waited for their parents. Because my kids had gotten so many compliments from other teachers and filled out their "Brownie Point" chart I owed them brownies that day...I convinced them that a healthier snack would be better, so I brought Ants on a Log. Obviously I have not mastered knowing how much food I need for a group of people, because I had LOTS left over. After walking club, I ran into my room and grabbed the extras...I brought them outside where kids were waiting and several of my students were double fisting celery with peanut butter. Not because they're selfish or hogs but because they are SO hungry and don't have much food at home. I told them to slow down, and that there was plenty. They asked if they could bring one home to their mom. The next day, one of my students came up to me and said: "I love it when you give us food. My mom said it was real good too...thanks Mrs!"

*In Science we're learning about plants....rather than show pictures and explain how plants grow, I really wanted to show them! I went to the store and bought Grass Seed (It grows faster than anything else)...We had SO much fun planting it--they were so cute as I let them put the dirt in, put the seeds in and water it. They check the cups every day to see if their grass is growing. PLEASE let it work--haha. I don't think I have the green thumb that my mom does...

*My favorite make-believe story of the week: 

Page 1-One day, a tiger and princess were playing at the park.

Page 2-The tiger ate the princess.

Page 3-The tiger took the princess out of his mouth. 

Good problem and solution....don't ya think?! ;) hahaha

*We finished up our make-believe books and are moving onto All About books in preparation for a field trip to a farm. I gave my kids a little info packet about farm animals. Each day, we are going to read about a different animal, and they are going to "highlight" (with a crayon...Kinder style) :) important words they might want to use. Then we are going to make a class chart of all the info we know about that animal...they can then go on to write a book about the animal. We started with Cows. I read the kids a funny fiction book about cows, and then we went onto the info packet. We talked about what cows eat, what they like to do, etc. At the very end, we talked about what cows give us...If you remember from an earlier blog post, one of my girls was SHOCKED that milk comes from cows (UH UH!! I did NOT know that!) Yesterday, she raised her hand and said-MILK comes from cows (very proudly). I got really quiet and whispered--Does anyone know what  else comes from cows? All of my students looked at me very seriously and shook their heads. One of my ELL students raised his hands and said "The brown hamburger at McDonalds!!" I went on to explain that hamburgers come from cows..."EWWWWWW!" was the response. After awhile of convincing them that it was ok, we went on. That night me and my hubby went out for hamburgers. :) 

*I am SO excited because tomorrow I get to take out one of my students and her sister to lunch and to the park to play. I am hoping to get to do this at least once a week this summer. She is really neglected and I have to give her lotion, tie her shoes, etc. every day. I'm so excited to spend some time with those sweet girls tomorrow...

*This really has been the greatest year of my life. I wouldn't take a single second back. I have never been more exhausted or more fulfilled. My husband and I are starting our Foster Classes soon....It is a long process, so we know that God will continue to show us the way. I just really believe that God has a beautiful child out there who needs a home and love and that this child may drastically change our lives, and that we will be even MORE exhausted....but that we will also be even MORE fulfilled. The Lord has been so faithful. 

*I spent my Saturday DEEP cleaning my house, grocery shopping and cooking. Luckily the evening was a little more fun ;)....But I will say that I shocked myself more than ever today. BOTH of our neighbors have yippy tiny dogs. They wake me up at 6:30 AM yipping like crazy. I am not really a big animal person anyway, and those dogs have put me over the edge. Today, when I was getting in my car to go to the grocery store, my neighbors were gone, and I saw the yippy dog walking around the driveway. They had accidently left their gate open. I coaxed the dog back into the yard and shut the gate. As I was driving to the grocery store, I thought: "That was my chance! I could have ignored that dog and NEVER seen it again!!!" I guess my heart for dogs is a little softer that I thought. ;)

Have I mentioned that I love my class? Hello, May...let the madness begin!!!:)

No flies to eat...poor frog :(

*What a great week. Ended by a 3 day weekend of rest, cleaning my house, spending time with friends, suprise visits from family, getting things done, and RELAXED time with my hubby!

*My hubby and I are contacting Agencies about possible Foster Care--our hearts are really softening up and we are praying like crazy for the Lord's Will to be done. Of course we are taking things REALLY slow and not jumping into anything. I went running the other night after school to pray that God give me a sign. Since December I have felt SURE that this is what is right and what God is calling us to. I just needed God to remind me that this is the right time, etc. I got home from my run, sat on my porch swing and wrote in my prayer journal. That night my husband was volunteering at a free clinic and I was alone at home. I cleaned the house/started laundry and didn't want to watch TV. I started to watch Foster Care YouTube Documentaries. One of the Foster Parents in the video said: "If I could tell people thinking about Foster Care one thing it would be: If not you, who? If not now, when?" I paused the video. That is the EXACT thing I wrote on my last blog post & have been thinking. THOSE EXACT WORDS. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is. We have only talked to a few people about it, and it is so sweet to see how protective people are, but it's also helped me to realize that sometimes the people closest to us want what's "best" for us and the "good/relaxing" life to make us "happy"....but the truth is what we're really called to is to give our lives AWAY for the Lord to use. And that sometimes that is messy and doesn't look very neat. But ultimately--THAT is what gives us joy!! Just thinking.

Ok...onto my sweet Kindergarten stories :)

*We are working on Make Believe Stories in class. We read a story, mapped it out, thought of ideas of what characters/problems/solutions/settings we could think of (they were SO creative--again--thank you cartoons) and then we wrote a class book together. We decided our characters would be a frog and a lizard (although most of the girls wanted it to be a princess) who were at a pond eating flies. On page 2, I asked what the problem should be. The kids throught of several ideas, and then we all settled on "There were no more flies to eat, so the frog and lizard had no food at home. They were really hungry". That's right....my 5 year olds thought of that problem. Breaks your heart.

*Wednesday was our Principal's bday...every teacher asked their kids to write "wishes" to her so that she could read them throughout the year. My kids wrote: "I hope you get to go outside today." "I hope you get to eat some candy today". "Your hair is so pretty". "You are the best principal in the whole world" "I hope you get a hug today" "I hope you get to come in our class today. It is so fun." <--Although that's cute, let's not be beggin the principal to come in! ;) Just kiddin...

*I went to walking club again this week. The kids ask me EVERYDAY if it's walking club day :). We started to walk, and my sweet girls all wanted to walk with me again. I decided I should walk with my boys, though. These boys are sort of naughty and annoying in class sometimes, so I decided we needed some good time together when I didn't need them to "perform"....when we could just talk. I hooked the girls up with some 5th grade girls to talk to & went up to one of my boys. He was walking with perhaps the most "ghetto" looking 1st grader I could imagine. This was the boy last week that I was getting on for talking about disgusting things. I asked the boy how school was and asked the first grader to tell my student about what to expect. "Aiight Mrs. I can do that!" He put his arm around my student and went on and on about 1st grade: "Do you know what 10 + 10 is? If you don't, don't worry--you'll learn that in 1st grade." :) Seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen. My student went on to ask lots of question: "What do you do after writing? We go to lunch"...etc. A few minutes later, both boys had grabbed my hands. We were holding hands, walking down the street talking about things they like to eat/what they do after school/etc. I don't know who had more fun-them or me. :)

*Yesterday was "Kindergarten Roundup"...where preschool kids come to school to enroll for next year and visit our class for an hour. As I explained to my students that they were coming, I was explaining to them that next year, they were going on to 1st grade--that they would have a NEW teacher and a NEW classroom...with different kids. We've talked a lot about 1st grade, but I guess I've never explained that I'm not going too-They looked at me like I had BETRAYED them. Several kids' jaws dropped and said: "WHAT?!" I tried to calm them down and asked...friends--I have to stay here to teach the NEW kids coming to Kindergarten. You are going to go on to an awesome teacher for 1st grade." :) I guess that's a better reaction that them cheering. haha

*My kids are reading. They write books. They add and subtract. They count to 100 by 1s, 5s, 10s and 2s. They know how to write their names. They sit still on the carpet. They listen to each other. My kids' schedule is down so well--somedays I feel like I could leave the room and they'd be fine without me. I'm proud of them! This year I feel like I've taught preschool, kindergarten and 1st grade all in one year. When the preschoolers came in....it reminded me that in a few months, we start ALL over. One was crying, they were all shouting out during the story, but they had SO much fun and they were SO cute. I forget where we started. I read them a very short story (they shouted out answers to my questions while my kids sat perfectly and raised their hands! ha), then we had a snack before they broke up into groups to play with blocks/color pictures & play with playdoh. My kids were ADORABLE as they helped the kids/talked to them...several of my Spanish Speaking students were talking to those students. The hour FLEW by. I could tell that some of my students were a little bothered that I was giving so much attention to the newbies. When parents came to pick up their kids...they didn't want to leave. It was so sweet. By the end of the time, the kids were raising their hands, helping us pick up the messes, and my kids were trying to show them how to write words on their coloring pages. MAN it would be a lot easier if I could keep my class AND teach a new class next year. These kids would be so helpful ;).

*The best part of the afternoon was one student...I'll call him Bob. Bob is VERY whiney in my class. He throws fits, does not get along with the other kids very well and likes to act like he is a 2 year old. He has frustrated me a lot, but I am really trying to build a strong POSITIVE relationship with him and to give him attention in positive ways. I want him to understand that throwing fits does not get you attention, but that he is loved. Last week he was playing dumb on worksheets/centers in order to get attention. During K Round Up we had 1 kid who was crying a lot. He didn't want to eat a snack/do anything. All the other kids were smiling at their tables having so much fun, so I sat this kid next to Bob. Bob speaks Spanish too, so I asked him to speak in SPanish and that I needed his help with this child. I looked over 3 minutes later and the child was NOT crying, but smiling. Bob was helping him color a picture and the two were talking quietly. I walked over to Bob and whispered in his ear: "I am SO proud of you. THIS is the kind of friend I have been wanting to see in you. I LOVE how you are helping this child. I am SO proud of you." He grinned from ear to ear and went back to helping the child. Bob was my Star Student this week. :)

*We are blessed to host a Bible study at our house with 4 other couples who are AWESOME. We know them through Med School, so they live the same insane  lives that we do. I was just really blessed last week to spend over an hour studying the Word and talking about Christ's call for our lives to give ourselves away. Even if that means living a life that society thinks is insane.

Praying for the Lord's provision and grace in areas of this city where people have close to nothing. No hope/no food/no love. EVERY child deserves a childhood and love.

Only 4 more weeks with my students. I am going to embrace every second.

:)

*Yesterday on the way home from dinner & a movie, I was quiet and looking out the window. (Very abnormal behavior for me). My husband asked me if I was ok, and my response was no. And that I don't think I ever will be again. It has been a very hard week. I will never find peace with the fact that SO many children and neglected and hungry....on that note...

*Today at the dentist, the receptionist asked me what I do. I told her that I was a Kinder Teacher. She said: "Oh my gosh. I could never do that! 25 crazy 5 year olds running around--I bet you want to pull your hair out." No...not really at all. I absolutely adore my class. I keep warning my husband that I am going to be a WRECK in a few weeks when school is out. This week we have a bunch of kids coming to my school to enroll in K for next year and to come visit the school. My principal asked if I would host some of the kids in my room. Of course I said yes! They will get to come in, I will read them a story, we'll do a little craft and eat a snack. I'm excited to meet the kids for next year, but more than that, I'm so excited to see MY kids help the newbies. My students LOVE to help & I know they'll be SO proud to show them what Kindergarten is all about!

*Last Friday was Good Friday, so I did several "Easter" themed activities in class. They did an Easter Egg Hunt in my classroom during reading time. When they found an egg, they took it back to their table, opened it up, and inside was a sentence. They had to read the sentence, write the sentence and draw a picture to go with the sentence. It was so fun. At the end of the day, my husband came and hid Easter Eggs for the kids outside. I told them the Easter Bunny did it. It was SO fun to watch them running and finding eggs. Then we all sat in a circle and I let them eat one piece of candy out of one of the eggs. "This is the best day EVER!!!"

*As the competitive person I am, I created a competition in math. I usually have 3 centers of activities that kids are working on during math time. They rotate through the 3 games. The group that is MOST on task, quietly working, doesn't argue with their partner, cleans up quickly, etc. gets a point each day. On Friday, the team with the most points gets to eat lunch with me in the classroom. Group 2 won last Friday. They reminded me ALL day Friday that they got to eat with me at lunch. They thought it was so funny that I brought my own lunch instead of eating the mystery meat from the cafeteria. We talked about all kinds of things. "Mrs...this is the BESt thing we've ever done. I LOVE eating with you!!" "I wish we could do this everyday!!" They were cracking me up with their stories.

*We have walking club again this month as an after school program. I told my kids if they signed up, I'd do it again and walk with them. I had over half of my class sign up!! haha I spend the whole time, rotating between kids to make sure I get a chance to talk to every kid. It is so fun to be with them outside of school.

*I have a student who is INCREDIBLY low. She came to me in November from another school and didn't know anything that I had already taught. She has also been very slow to catch on...I have volunteers & aids working with her everyday to help her, and have been working with her small reading group every day. She has a LOT of kids who live at her house, and thrives in our class. To give you an idea of how low this child was...Me: This is an A. What letter is this? STudent: P?  Me: No, this is an A...it says "AAA" Let's draw it together. What letter is this? Student: L?

That was in December. This week she sounded out duck, cow & pig to write in her writing book AND read very simple books in my small reading group. SHE IS TAKING OFF!!!! It is SO exciting to see things click for her. Even though she is still so far behind the other kids, I am SO excited at her growth. "Mrs..you're the BEST teacher ever. You're my favorite." :)

*Before school started, my principal told me that sometimes families will be VERY hard on you, and if you survive it, they will accept you and there's no going back after that. I BELIEVE THAT NOW!! I had a family whose child I adore, but he is a MESS. Several times the dad/grandpa have been in my face yelling at me for his behavior problems. Last week the "grandpop" came up to school to talk to me. When I saw him, I was a little nervous. I dropped my kids off at music and went over to talk to him. He went on and on about how well his grandson is doing and how thankful they are. He went on to tell me that there are 2 more girls coming next year and they really want them both to be in my class. haha Talk about a 180.

*"Mrs...you're so pretty." Another student "I like your hair"..."I like your shirt"..."I like how you always dress"..."I like your shoes"..."I like that color paint on your nails"....haha Talk about losing your insecurities ;)

*Today a commercial came on TV for abused animals and how we HAVE to do something about it--that it is going on all around us and that we just CAN'T ignore it....my husband just looked at me, knowing that I was FURIOUS. I'm all for kindness to animals, but COME ON....OPEN YOUR EYES!

*Yesterday I had to give the HARDEST 15 question multiple choice math test to my kids. My 5th graders last year would have missed a lot of these questions. It was written to TRICK the kids rather than test what they know about addition, subtraction & number stories (which they have DOMINATED!). I decided to do it in the morning while they were so calm. (I'm not dumb enough to give my kids a long test on a Friday afternoon)...anyway they actually did great and were SO good for it, that I called them to the reading carpet afterwards, and pulled up the song "Bear Hunt"...we acted it out around the room and they had so much fun. They begged me to do it again. haha  We went on to brainstorming characters/settings/problems for our make believe stories. I will say--all of the cartoon watching is finally coming in handy, because their ideas for characters, etc. were SO good. During writing time, they were SO excited to write their books, that they were all busy working and I lost track of time and we were late to lunch! SO fun.

*Because we worked so hard yesterday, the day flew by. It is really hitting me that the year is almost over, and I just can't accept that I haven't taught them everything I want to...so we are PUSHING it! At the end of the day, the kid were so happy and proud of themselves. "Man! This day went so fast!" "Mrs...we sure did learn a lot today!"

*After recess my kids were in line and one student called out: "Mrs...she has food in her pocket!!" Me-We do not take food out of the lunch room, give it to me. She handed over an apple. While my other kids were in the bathroom, I pulled that student to the side in the hallway.
Me-Why did you take that out of the lunchroom?
Student-We aint got no food at home Mrs.
Me-(Heartbroken)--What did you eat for supper last night?
STudent-Some meat.
Me-(Hugging the child)-Listen to me--if you need food, we don't steal...you ask Mrs. and I will help you. Never take what isn't yours. You don't need to be sneaky. Mrs. will help you!
She hugged me so tight, wiped her tears and went to the bathroom. When we got back to the room, for the first time ever I got my cell phone out while the kids were getting ready for math, texted my husband and asked him to go buy food for one of my students and bring it to me at school. Do you know the best part? He didn't even ask why or question it. He showed up 30 minutes later with fruit, crackers, granola bars, etc. I snuck it into her backpack during PE. She must have noticed that her backpack was heavy after PE because she came up to me and gave me a huge hug and whispered. "Thank you, mrs. I love you".

I don't write this to brag on myself or to make myself feel good--because to be honest, writing this makes me want to vomit. I have been a wreck ever since. Not just for THIS child, but for the THOUSANDS of kids who are hungry. The perfectly behaved kids who are STEALING fruit from the cafeteria at the age of 5 because they need to SURVIVE. I told my husband I want to get a megaphone and walk up and down the streets lined with mansions in this city. I can't solve this problem, you can't solve it either--we have to ALL solve it together. I don't get why we have allowed this?!?!?!??!

*That night at home, my husband listened for a LONG time as I went on and on...some yelling, some crying. The next day I pulled up the paperwork to become Foster Parents. If not now, when? If not us, who? Of course we're still praying & it is a LONG process...but I believe it's the only thing that will give me some peace...I have to do something.

*I'm also really praying about asking this mother if I can take her 2 daughters out once a week in the summer...to subway & the park...or to a movie and a picnic. I know this mother, and I'm sure she'll say yes. I don't want to become removed and comfortable this summer--or I will become exactly what I am disgusted with in this society.

People keep asking me--are you so excited for summer? I always say I'm not ready yet. Of COURSE I'm excited to sleep in, be a person, spend QT with my hubby, have a clean house, have my nephew & niece up to stay with me, etc. but I have a small taste of how some of these kids live--and I know how much they LOVE coming to school. 3 months at home? Maybe isn't the greatest thing.

I am sorry to be SO open...and that my blogs are getting a little less funny. My kids are still hilarious. It's just the heavy things feel so heavy that I have to get it out. Please pray for my students and for their families and for our city and for all of the kids who are neglected.

*I will say that when I was at the dentist today, my dental hygenist was telling me that she is in school to run a dental community clinic for people in poverty. We talked a long time about it--just the kind of convo to encourage me today!!


And I'll end with a quote from Hunger Games--the movie I didn't even want to see because people are so obsessed--but it was good. A man speaking because he wants to keep the weak down: "Hope is stronger than fear. A little hope is ok, but a lot of hope is dangerous."

:)