It's been awhile since I've posted--I am battling the worst part of being a first year teacher--SICKNESS! I have been sick for about 2 weeks and don't see any end in sight. In the last 2 weeks, though, I've taken 1 day off. It's more work than it's worth to take a day. My husband keeps asking me if I'm worried that I'll get the kids sick. My response? They gave it to me!! No really, I have been sanitizing my room every morning and afternoon. I've given lessons on how to cough into your elbow, drink lots of water and wash your hands a lot. Here's to hoping for wellness. I had a sub last Monday when I had the stomach flu. When I picked up my kids on Tuesday morning, they all started to cheer. "I missed you so much, Mrs." I heard all day. "Don't be sick again, ok?" And people wonder why I don't like to call in sick :). The sub did leave a note that she loved my class and had a great day. Thank GOODNESS!!
*I usually hold my kids' hands in the hallway while we walk to specials, lunch, etc. This week I didn't hold hands. "Friends, I am still a little sick, so I'm not going to hold your hands. I don't want to get you sick, too!" One student looking very concerned: "Don't worry Mrs! I'm sick too-you can hold my hand!!" How can you refuse that? :)
*We had conferences last week--I am probably the only teacher in the world who loves conferences. I love my families and their affirmation of me as a teacher was really appreciated. One comment: "Any chance you gonna teach 1st grade next year, Mrs?!" :) I was able to show parents how much their child had improved--I showed writing samples from 3 months ago, and compared them to now. I had the kid read one of their small group reading books to their parents--we talked about what they need to work on, etc...but at the end of every conference, I got to tell the parent why I love having that student in class. It was a fun day. And those parents that didn't show? I've been hounding them ever since. :) haha
*"Mrs..this kindergarten thang is gettin pretty easy--I think I'm ready for 1st grade."
*"Mrs--2012 is a pretty good year. But you know what my favorite year was?! 2008! That was a REAL good year." Lol...um?!
*"Man, Mrs.--it seems like school is gettin harder every day. You just keep teachin us more and more and more." Me--That's because you are getting so much smarter. I am trying to fill that brain up with everything I can. Student-"Yea..."
*When I started teaching Kinder....I had no IDEA how much we are expecting out of 5 year olds now...this week I started teaching addition. That's right. ADDITION--my students were working at their math centers making their designs with tile blocks and then writing out 2+6=8....(just an example). I am floored.
**My kids took a state test on the computer this week. A 57 question multiple choice test. I kid you not. Before we went into the test, I told them it was super important--that their parents, me, and the principal was going to see their score, so I wanted them to turn their brains on. (They all did--click!!) "You are so smart, I know you will do great. I'm proud of you already!!" After the test "Mrs...I know I turned my brain on cuz I did real good on that test."
*"Mrs...for that heart day--me and my mom are going to make some candies for my friends." I'm so excited for Valentine's Day! It was one of my favorite things about elementary school!!!
**Some of my parents confided some horrible things to me at conferences. It continues to break my heart to hear about the situations that people are forced to live in...Feeling inspired to do something more.....
*We have been working on counting by 10s, 5s and 2s...so I found a little kid rap video to help us practice--you should have SEEN how excited my kids were. It was hilarious. :)
*My FAVORITE thing about my class was the way they all watched out for each other--they were so sweet to each other and they didn't seem to notice differences in skin, clothes, hair, etc. I am sad, because I already see them growing up--I see them losing some of that innocence...this week some of them have started to say MEAN things to each other--I have come down hard on them--we've had apologies and tears...lots of lessons on being a good friend. It just stinks to watch them lose some of that genuine friendship. :(
*I have invited our teacher leader to spend more time in my classroom--she LOVES my kids so has started to come in everyday during writing. One day last week...she said "Can I come watch them in centers, too?" I love for them to have another adult who adores them!
*I volunteered to test a computer program that reads books to the kids. They have had SO much fun listening to books at the computer center during centers...They say one of the best ways to build fluency is to have someone read to you--a lot of my kids parents either aren't reading to them or can't read English--so this is a great alternative....and they LOVE it.
*Walking down the hallway...."Mrs...will you PLEASE read us a story when we get back to the room!?" :) When I told another teacher how much they ask to be read to, she said: Are they trying to get out of something? ...Are you kidding? They would stay after school to hear a story! :) Singing and reading....their 2 favorite things.
For those of you who have seen "David at the Dentist" on Youtube...one of my students was late coming to school because he was at the dentist. He came up to me while the other students were in the bathroom with a dazed look on his face: "Mrs...my teeth feel funnnnnnnnny." I had to leave laughing. He was so confused. :)
:)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Mrs...I love you!
**I am prefacing this blog post by saying that I am very opinionated. I am posting this on here instead of talking about it, because you have the option to press "X" and close out. :) I promise to get to the Kinder stories though...hold out? :)
-This week I was informed about a certain politicians idea of how to "solve" education funding issues. Let's just say that I am disgusted on every level. It is so hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I live in a world where we are refusing to open our eyes. I understand that we are entitled to different opinions, but if we REALLY want to be like Christ...we should be very ANTI "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer" type of ideas.
--Another disgust? Hearing people say that "those poor people" need to earn something for themselves. The "Why should I work my butt off just to give out handouts?!" mentality baffles me. I guess it comes down to what we believe about whether or not we've earned anything that we have. I don't believe that I have. I believe EVERYTHING I have is a gift. I was born into a middle class family, my parents valued education and worked with me outside of school, my parents gave me a car (not a new car, but still a CAR!) to drive when I was 16, I took music lessons, I went to church every Sunday, I was encouraged to go to college, I could afford college, both of my parents worked, my dad lived at home, I didn't have to raise my younger siblings, I spent a lot of time with my youth group, I was rarely if ever approached with drugs or alcohol. I NEEDED NO "OUT". My life was easy. I grew up very priveledged. Of course I am now able to work a full time job, etc. I am not saying that we should expect nothing out of people, but I see how some of my kids are growing up. I understand why the cycle is SO hard to break. We have NO idea of what it is like. None.
Second--I have been to these homes. Before I went to visit my students' families, I thought I knew what poverty was. I thought I knew the disgusting difference in economic wealth. I had no idea. Do you really think people WANT to live like that? They are doing the best they can.
--Ok, let me say, there are definitely parents who do not deserve to raise such beautiful, sweet children. There are children who are abused, mistreated, neglected, etc. But those kids need more opportunities given to them through school than other kids do! EDUCATION IS THEIR ONLY WAY OUT OF THE CYCLE.
*I am reading a book called Radical, by David Platt. At first I didn't like it much, but being the multi-tasking girl I am, I was reading it today while running on my treadmill. (I get sick reading in a car, but not while running on a treadmill. Weird, right?!) It talks about how Christ calls us to be Sheep among wolves. The author talks about non-Christians looking at Christians really following the actions of Christ and thinking that we are INSANE. I want to care for these people who "don't deserve it" the same way that I know Christ would. I want to open my house, my bank account, my heart & my time to these kids. I am sorry to be ranting so much, but I am so sickened by the fact that the thought would even cross someones mind to make things even more unfair than they already are!!! Moving on....
--I really did have a great week. I have been working like crazy making new games for my centers. The only bad thing about new ideas, is a LOT more work. :) It's alright because the kids love to learn. One of the K teachers at my school gave me some great ideas. One is a letter writing station where kids can write letters to their friends in the class, then they can put the letter in the child's mailbox. When EVERY kid in the class has a letter in their mailbox, I'll deliver the letters. They begged me to make a mailbox for me, and the letters in there already are SO sweet. Man, I love them!
*It's the weekend before 4 tests for my husband, which means tons of time to be productive for me. Last night I baked, made center games, cleaned my house, and today I went to a teacher store. (He usually doesn't let me go alone, knowing I'll spend WAY too much!) I had so much fun buying games for my kids to play at centers. (At this point, I'd rather spend the money than the time). Some of the games said "7 and Up" but I knew my kids could do them. It continues to baffle me...These kids who were SO far behind coming into kinder, and now some of them are reading at 1st grade levels.
*I am so attached to my class this year. The thing I love the most about them is the way they all interact together. The environment in my room is SO sweet. I think a teacher can teach a lot of that, but I think a lot of it is them. They really care about each other. Recently though, some of my kids have been saying really rude things to each other. So during social studies I did a lesson using the Ugly Duckling. I gave each student a piece of paper when they walked in the door after library time. I asked them to draw their face on it. When they had done that, they brought their paper to the carpet and sat in a circle. We talked about what it means to be a good friend, etc. Then I told them I was going to read a book about some friends who were NOT good friends at all. And everytime somebody said something mean to the Ugly Duckling, we were going to crumple the picture of our face. Some of my students' faces were so SHOCKED to hear how mean the other ducks were to the U.D...I love that. Anyway, at the end of the story, I told them that I wanted them to flatten out their paper to look perfect like it did before. They tried and tried. I told them a paper with wrinkles was NOT acceptable. At the end, we talked about how we couldn't get the face back to normal because when we say mean things to our friends, it really hurts them. And that we can't take it back just by saying sorry. We have to be careful with our words. They have been much better friends since. :)
*During Centers: "Mrs...Johnny said a BAD word." Thinking it was 'stupid' or 'dumb', I asked my student not to tattle, but asked him what word he said. "I can't say it Mrs. It's REAL bad." I started to get a little concerned. Me-'Johnny, what word did you say?" Johnny shook his head. "I was just trying to write my name and I wrote it wrong, so I said a word." The other student said..."Mrs., He said "F***". I almost fell over. WHAT?! a 5 year old?! Now--this is probably my SWEETEST student. He has NEVER gotten in trouble. I pulled him aside and told him that was a VERY bad word and that we NEVER want to say that. At school OR at home. He nodded and started to cry. I had to send him to time-out just to ensure that he got the point. :( I still can't believe that! Wow.
*During writing time, we are writing "All About" Books...This week we did "All About Dogs". We talked about everything the kids knew about dogs and made a web. I asked if any of my students had a pet dog. A few did. I asked if anyone else had any kind of pet at their house. One student raised her hand: "Mrs. I used to have a pet ladybug, but it died." :) LOVE it!
*In the prize box last week, I put some headbands. I wear headbands a lot now because I have short hair...One of my little girls: "Mrs. I'm gonna pick this headband cuz I really wanna look like you." :)
*Probably my favorite lesson I've ever taught was the Friday before MLK Jr. Day. I was a little nervous about how I was going to teach it, considering that I am the only white person in my room. ;) When they came back from PE class, I asked them to have a seat at their tables. I said: "If you are a girl, you can go to whatever center you want, play whatever game you want and talk as much as you want. Go ahead. If you are a boy, put your heads down and do not talk. If you talk at all, I'm moving 3 behavior bears!!!" Somehow I kept a straight face. The girls were so excited. I was afraid the boys would cry. I let it go on for about 2 minutes. Then I called all of my students to the carpet. I told them that was an experiment and assured the boys they were not in trouble. I asked them how they felt. I asked the boys if they thought it was fair. A resounding "NO!!!" was the answer. We went on to talk about MLK. I read them a story about him, and explained the segregation of blacks and whites. Their faces were full of both pure shock and disgust. We talked about how it doesn't matter what we look like on the outside, but what is on the inside that is important. That we want to be good people, etc. and that makes us beautiful. Then I sent them back to their seats. I gave them each a paper towel and a handful of M&Ms. I asked them to seperate them by color. Once they all had them grouped, I told them to eat their favorite color of M&M. "How does it taste?" 'GOOD!' They all responded. Then I asked them to close their eyes and pick a random M&M. "How does it taste?" One student-'Mrs., it tastes EXACTLY the same.' We went on to talk about how the color of our skin doesn't matter. We decided as a class that we don't care what people look like and that differences are good. I bit into an M&M and showed them the inside. I bit into another color and we saw that the inside was exactly the same. We decided that they should mix all the colors together and enjoy them that way. One of the boys: "Mrs. I sure think it looks better this way!" Me-'I agree Tommy!' :) They ate their M&Ms and colored a book about MLK Jr. until it was time to go home. I wish our society thought more like 5 year olds....
* While they were eating their M&Ms..."Mrs., when you have babies, are you gonna be a mom?" Me-"Yes. But I don't have babies now do I?!" Students-NOO! But you do have a nephew and niece! One student-"Mrs. You never show us no picture of them." I went to my desk and grabbed a frame with a picture of my sweet nephew and niece. I took it around to each table and showed them. "AWWW! SO cute" Me-Their names are Luke & Natalie. Students-"Luke and Natalie?!" (Their faces showed that they thought those were the weirest names ever...My thoughts--I know, white people names:) haha)
*My sister in law gave me robots for Christmas for my students to decorate. For our Friday fun activity this week for the kids who had good behavior all week, I pulled out markers, turned on some music and let them decorate them. "We get to take these home?!" "Can we name it?!" I knew they'd be excited, but I had no idea HOW excited they'd be. "Mrs., I named mine Luke." :) At the end, I told them they were from my sister, and asked if they wanted to say 'Thank You'? They all wanted to, so we made a video of them saying thank you to her. :) Great way to end a Friday.
*"Bye Mrs. See ya Monday." Student runs off. Student comes back looking worried. Me-"DId you forget something?" Student-"Mrs. I love you!!" Hugs me and runs off. :)
*"Mrs. I had a real good dream last night. You was in it."
*I offered to have indoor recess in my room everyday this week. The other teachers thought I was so sweet. The reality is that I picked Toy Story for the kids to watch. It's my fav kid movie and I wanted to see the whole thing. ;)
*It is so cold out. I have turned into the queen of wearing boots-I LOVE boots. "Mrs. I know the white people, they like those shoes like that. I want some too." Haha....umm?
*I was so sad about my sister the other day, after talking to her I felt so discouraged for her. Then my husband asked me a question about school. I went on about my kids for an hour. I smiled as I went to bed. They bless me much more than they know. While running today, I reminded myself that I can't take a single second for granted. I have to give it everything I have. For all I know, I could go for an MRI tomorrow and find out I have the same thing that my sisters do. I could lose my ability to live such a demanding life. Until then, I will live 100% devoted to these kids. People keep warning me to slow down and not burn out...I get it, but I truly don't see how you can burn out when the kids are so needy and so sweet. I will sure be hearbroken if I don't get to teach K next year!!!
*I am so blessed to have the greatest husband. I really did marry my best friend. I can't wait until next weekend to get to spend more time with him. Weekends like this, though, give me a chance to be a good wife. I always feel so tired/overwhelmed with school work that I don't get to clean the house as well as I want to, or cook, or bake, etc. But this weekend I get to be a "good wife" and that makes me happy. The little things... :)
*I'm really starting to pray about what I should do this summer. I spread my paycheck out over the year so I can have time to volunteer....I'm thinking about volunteering at the after school center a lot of my kids go to--they have a summer program, or maybe taking in a child, or maybe starting a women's BIble study/breakfast at the government housing a lot of my families live in....Really praying for the Lord to lead. He will.
**I have become a little obsessed with Yo-Yo Ma. He was in town and the tickets were sold out for months. :( My husband tried to trade KU Bball tickets for YoYo Ma tickets. THAT is true love, right?! Oh well...YouTube is good enough for me! :)
Happy Weekend!!
:)
-This week I was informed about a certain politicians idea of how to "solve" education funding issues. Let's just say that I am disgusted on every level. It is so hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I live in a world where we are refusing to open our eyes. I understand that we are entitled to different opinions, but if we REALLY want to be like Christ...we should be very ANTI "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer" type of ideas.
--Another disgust? Hearing people say that "those poor people" need to earn something for themselves. The "Why should I work my butt off just to give out handouts?!" mentality baffles me. I guess it comes down to what we believe about whether or not we've earned anything that we have. I don't believe that I have. I believe EVERYTHING I have is a gift. I was born into a middle class family, my parents valued education and worked with me outside of school, my parents gave me a car (not a new car, but still a CAR!) to drive when I was 16, I took music lessons, I went to church every Sunday, I was encouraged to go to college, I could afford college, both of my parents worked, my dad lived at home, I didn't have to raise my younger siblings, I spent a lot of time with my youth group, I was rarely if ever approached with drugs or alcohol. I NEEDED NO "OUT". My life was easy. I grew up very priveledged. Of course I am now able to work a full time job, etc. I am not saying that we should expect nothing out of people, but I see how some of my kids are growing up. I understand why the cycle is SO hard to break. We have NO idea of what it is like. None.
Second--I have been to these homes. Before I went to visit my students' families, I thought I knew what poverty was. I thought I knew the disgusting difference in economic wealth. I had no idea. Do you really think people WANT to live like that? They are doing the best they can.
--Ok, let me say, there are definitely parents who do not deserve to raise such beautiful, sweet children. There are children who are abused, mistreated, neglected, etc. But those kids need more opportunities given to them through school than other kids do! EDUCATION IS THEIR ONLY WAY OUT OF THE CYCLE.
*I am reading a book called Radical, by David Platt. At first I didn't like it much, but being the multi-tasking girl I am, I was reading it today while running on my treadmill. (I get sick reading in a car, but not while running on a treadmill. Weird, right?!) It talks about how Christ calls us to be Sheep among wolves. The author talks about non-Christians looking at Christians really following the actions of Christ and thinking that we are INSANE. I want to care for these people who "don't deserve it" the same way that I know Christ would. I want to open my house, my bank account, my heart & my time to these kids. I am sorry to be ranting so much, but I am so sickened by the fact that the thought would even cross someones mind to make things even more unfair than they already are!!! Moving on....
--I really did have a great week. I have been working like crazy making new games for my centers. The only bad thing about new ideas, is a LOT more work. :) It's alright because the kids love to learn. One of the K teachers at my school gave me some great ideas. One is a letter writing station where kids can write letters to their friends in the class, then they can put the letter in the child's mailbox. When EVERY kid in the class has a letter in their mailbox, I'll deliver the letters. They begged me to make a mailbox for me, and the letters in there already are SO sweet. Man, I love them!
*It's the weekend before 4 tests for my husband, which means tons of time to be productive for me. Last night I baked, made center games, cleaned my house, and today I went to a teacher store. (He usually doesn't let me go alone, knowing I'll spend WAY too much!) I had so much fun buying games for my kids to play at centers. (At this point, I'd rather spend the money than the time). Some of the games said "7 and Up" but I knew my kids could do them. It continues to baffle me...These kids who were SO far behind coming into kinder, and now some of them are reading at 1st grade levels.
*I am so attached to my class this year. The thing I love the most about them is the way they all interact together. The environment in my room is SO sweet. I think a teacher can teach a lot of that, but I think a lot of it is them. They really care about each other. Recently though, some of my kids have been saying really rude things to each other. So during social studies I did a lesson using the Ugly Duckling. I gave each student a piece of paper when they walked in the door after library time. I asked them to draw their face on it. When they had done that, they brought their paper to the carpet and sat in a circle. We talked about what it means to be a good friend, etc. Then I told them I was going to read a book about some friends who were NOT good friends at all. And everytime somebody said something mean to the Ugly Duckling, we were going to crumple the picture of our face. Some of my students' faces were so SHOCKED to hear how mean the other ducks were to the U.D...I love that. Anyway, at the end of the story, I told them that I wanted them to flatten out their paper to look perfect like it did before. They tried and tried. I told them a paper with wrinkles was NOT acceptable. At the end, we talked about how we couldn't get the face back to normal because when we say mean things to our friends, it really hurts them. And that we can't take it back just by saying sorry. We have to be careful with our words. They have been much better friends since. :)
*During Centers: "Mrs...Johnny said a BAD word." Thinking it was 'stupid' or 'dumb', I asked my student not to tattle, but asked him what word he said. "I can't say it Mrs. It's REAL bad." I started to get a little concerned. Me-'Johnny, what word did you say?" Johnny shook his head. "I was just trying to write my name and I wrote it wrong, so I said a word." The other student said..."Mrs., He said "F***". I almost fell over. WHAT?! a 5 year old?! Now--this is probably my SWEETEST student. He has NEVER gotten in trouble. I pulled him aside and told him that was a VERY bad word and that we NEVER want to say that. At school OR at home. He nodded and started to cry. I had to send him to time-out just to ensure that he got the point. :( I still can't believe that! Wow.
*During writing time, we are writing "All About" Books...This week we did "All About Dogs". We talked about everything the kids knew about dogs and made a web. I asked if any of my students had a pet dog. A few did. I asked if anyone else had any kind of pet at their house. One student raised her hand: "Mrs. I used to have a pet ladybug, but it died." :) LOVE it!
*In the prize box last week, I put some headbands. I wear headbands a lot now because I have short hair...One of my little girls: "Mrs. I'm gonna pick this headband cuz I really wanna look like you." :)
*Probably my favorite lesson I've ever taught was the Friday before MLK Jr. Day. I was a little nervous about how I was going to teach it, considering that I am the only white person in my room. ;) When they came back from PE class, I asked them to have a seat at their tables. I said: "If you are a girl, you can go to whatever center you want, play whatever game you want and talk as much as you want. Go ahead. If you are a boy, put your heads down and do not talk. If you talk at all, I'm moving 3 behavior bears!!!" Somehow I kept a straight face. The girls were so excited. I was afraid the boys would cry. I let it go on for about 2 minutes. Then I called all of my students to the carpet. I told them that was an experiment and assured the boys they were not in trouble. I asked them how they felt. I asked the boys if they thought it was fair. A resounding "NO!!!" was the answer. We went on to talk about MLK. I read them a story about him, and explained the segregation of blacks and whites. Their faces were full of both pure shock and disgust. We talked about how it doesn't matter what we look like on the outside, but what is on the inside that is important. That we want to be good people, etc. and that makes us beautiful. Then I sent them back to their seats. I gave them each a paper towel and a handful of M&Ms. I asked them to seperate them by color. Once they all had them grouped, I told them to eat their favorite color of M&M. "How does it taste?" 'GOOD!' They all responded. Then I asked them to close their eyes and pick a random M&M. "How does it taste?" One student-'Mrs., it tastes EXACTLY the same.' We went on to talk about how the color of our skin doesn't matter. We decided as a class that we don't care what people look like and that differences are good. I bit into an M&M and showed them the inside. I bit into another color and we saw that the inside was exactly the same. We decided that they should mix all the colors together and enjoy them that way. One of the boys: "Mrs. I sure think it looks better this way!" Me-'I agree Tommy!' :) They ate their M&Ms and colored a book about MLK Jr. until it was time to go home. I wish our society thought more like 5 year olds....
* While they were eating their M&Ms..."Mrs., when you have babies, are you gonna be a mom?" Me-"Yes. But I don't have babies now do I?!" Students-NOO! But you do have a nephew and niece! One student-"Mrs. You never show us no picture of them." I went to my desk and grabbed a frame with a picture of my sweet nephew and niece. I took it around to each table and showed them. "AWWW! SO cute" Me-Their names are Luke & Natalie. Students-"Luke and Natalie?!" (Their faces showed that they thought those were the weirest names ever...My thoughts--I know, white people names:) haha)
*My sister in law gave me robots for Christmas for my students to decorate. For our Friday fun activity this week for the kids who had good behavior all week, I pulled out markers, turned on some music and let them decorate them. "We get to take these home?!" "Can we name it?!" I knew they'd be excited, but I had no idea HOW excited they'd be. "Mrs., I named mine Luke." :) At the end, I told them they were from my sister, and asked if they wanted to say 'Thank You'? They all wanted to, so we made a video of them saying thank you to her. :) Great way to end a Friday.
*"Bye Mrs. See ya Monday." Student runs off. Student comes back looking worried. Me-"DId you forget something?" Student-"Mrs. I love you!!" Hugs me and runs off. :)
*"Mrs. I had a real good dream last night. You was in it."
*I offered to have indoor recess in my room everyday this week. The other teachers thought I was so sweet. The reality is that I picked Toy Story for the kids to watch. It's my fav kid movie and I wanted to see the whole thing. ;)
*It is so cold out. I have turned into the queen of wearing boots-I LOVE boots. "Mrs. I know the white people, they like those shoes like that. I want some too." Haha....umm?
*I was so sad about my sister the other day, after talking to her I felt so discouraged for her. Then my husband asked me a question about school. I went on about my kids for an hour. I smiled as I went to bed. They bless me much more than they know. While running today, I reminded myself that I can't take a single second for granted. I have to give it everything I have. For all I know, I could go for an MRI tomorrow and find out I have the same thing that my sisters do. I could lose my ability to live such a demanding life. Until then, I will live 100% devoted to these kids. People keep warning me to slow down and not burn out...I get it, but I truly don't see how you can burn out when the kids are so needy and so sweet. I will sure be hearbroken if I don't get to teach K next year!!!
*I am so blessed to have the greatest husband. I really did marry my best friend. I can't wait until next weekend to get to spend more time with him. Weekends like this, though, give me a chance to be a good wife. I always feel so tired/overwhelmed with school work that I don't get to clean the house as well as I want to, or cook, or bake, etc. But this weekend I get to be a "good wife" and that makes me happy. The little things... :)
*I'm really starting to pray about what I should do this summer. I spread my paycheck out over the year so I can have time to volunteer....I'm thinking about volunteering at the after school center a lot of my kids go to--they have a summer program, or maybe taking in a child, or maybe starting a women's BIble study/breakfast at the government housing a lot of my families live in....Really praying for the Lord to lead. He will.
**I have become a little obsessed with Yo-Yo Ma. He was in town and the tickets were sold out for months. :( My husband tried to trade KU Bball tickets for YoYo Ma tickets. THAT is true love, right?! Oh well...YouTube is good enough for me! :)
Happy Weekend!!
:)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Listen!!
**We're back to reality! As you know from my last blog post, we started the break really wrestling with hard stuff...the rest of the break continued to take that theme. Although it was WONDERFUL to be with family, sleep in, spend time as "real people": cooking, cleaning, playing, running, eating WAY too much....a lot of heartbreaking things people I love were dealing with also came to surface. I spent a lot of hours on my treadmill crying out to God. I kept asking my husband when life was going to be "normal and happy". His answer has stuck with me in a strong way--"I don't think it's about being happy or everything being ok--I think it's about finding joy in the midst of deep pain." My sister has had brain problems for many years--it has been a deep sadness in my family. She has 2 small children who have been a unreal source of joy. They have brought so much healing to all of us. Last week we found out my sister's brain is causing more life-threatening problems than ever and that surgery is a real possibility again. My head and heart immediately flashed back to 4 years ago, when she had to go through all of this. My little sister was recently diagnosed with the same issue. One of the hardest things about this is that I don't live in the same city as my family. In the past, it brought me some comfort to be at the hospital with my family, to help give showers, watch the kids, or even just go for walks with my mom to talk. Now, I feel so guilty being so far away. In some ways, I think the Lord is using this to allow me to trust Him to bring other people to help. My heart is broken, but I am not without hope. I found this scripture in 2 Corinthians during a "reflective" service at church last week. I love it!--"Our hearts ache, but we always have joy...For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation. We will never regret that kind of sorrow."
*Having such a demanding job will make it hard to help my family during this time, but it is also a blessing. I was eager to go back to school. I had missed my students and was ready to get back to "real life". The 2 days this week were SO fun. I smiled all day long working with my sweet students. I overheard one student during centers telling her friend "I really missed Mrs. when we were not at school. I love her". I feel the same, my sweet student! :)
*I have a VERY tiny student--about the size of an average 3 year old. But let me tell you--she is not without attitude. :) She is so funny. One of my students is a little bit of a mess-at centers, I walked past their group and asked :"Who got both of these games out and didn't put them away" All of the kids in the group answered with frustration, "Billy!!" Me-"Billy", I need you to pick both of those games up before you do anything else. He nodded. I walked back to my table to pull my reading group, but watched to make sure he picked it up. I saw him bothering my tiny girl who was playing a game. She started to wag her finger at him and said with more attitude than you can imagine: "Listen! You better go pick up those 2 games like Mrs. said before you even start to talk to me. OK?!" hahaha I looked at her and shook my head at her, and she just smiled. Hey--the boy listend. :)
*When we take bathroom breaks, my girls are always a little slower than the boys--we always have a little competition to see which line (boys/girls) is ready first after bathroom and drinks. I whispered to them--The boys win today! They were so fast and they are stading SO quietly. One of my little girls' response: "Mrs., Why do we need to make everything a competition?" HAHAHA Sorry kid-I'm too competitive, I've been told. :)
*I was anxious to see the girls whose families we adopted for Christmas. They both came in wearing their new clothes and shoes. They looked so cute. During writing time, we were writing about what we did over break. Both of those girls wrote that they played with baby dolls that they got for Christmas. :) So sweet. As I walked around writing time, I was shocked to see my students' writing. I had assumed that since many of my students didn't speak English all break and that others spent hours in front of the TV, that we would have to review a lot...but they were picking up RIGHT where we left off. Many students told me throughout the day that they really missed school. They were so glad to be back.
*We are starting to practice our last names. Most of them have picked it up very quickly and are writing first and last names on every worksheet/activity. I have to say--I pity my Hispanic kids who have 2 last names...One kid: "Mrs...this name is too big-I can't fit it on my paper". :)
*"Mrs...next year when we make Christmas presents for our moms, can we make them some cookies?" Me-That's a great idea, but next year you'll be in 1st grade, and I won't be your teacher. You are going to have a new teacher. Student-"WHAT?! NO!!!" The whole table of kids-"NO!!!!!" **Trust me kids--I'm going to be more sad about it than you are! :(
*During centers on our first day back, one of my students came up to me: "Mrs. I didn't work this hard all break. When I get home, I'm SERIOUSLY gonna need a nap." :)
*While we were waiting in the hallway for my students to get drinks at the water fountain before our afternoon recess, one of my students told me that his uncle was shot with a gun and that he had to lay down and rest a lot. My response: "That is so sad. I am so sorry." I went on to tell them that guns are very dangerous and I never want them to touch one. If they ever see one, I want them to tell an adult, etc. One student: "Mrs. I saw one under my couch but I didn't touch it. I won't Mrs. I never will." :(!!!!!!!!!
*I can't put into words how much fun we had being back at school. My class and I have such a sweet connection. We learned more letters, new sight words and they cracked me up all day long. Being with the kids heals me--a lot of these kids have harder lives than I could ever imagine...yet to me, they are bright beams of joy. It reminds me of this quote: "Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle".
*Math this week has been so fun! I am starting a geometry unit and it is very open to "exploring". I have been SHOCKED at the creativity of my students. We made shapes posters, sang our songs about the shapes, and then I gave them each a shape and a piece of paper. They had to look at the shape (circle/square/triangle/etc) and decide what it looked like and make a picture with it. For example, I used a circle and colored it like a basketball. Then I glued it onto my paper and drew people playing basketball and a hoop, grass, etc. You should have seen the pictures they made--I saw donuts, cookies, baseballs, heads of monsters, heads of people, hula hoops, a wheel, etc. They had so much fun with it. Everyday during math centers, they get to choose a new shape to add to their "shape book", they also go to explore with playdoh to make shapes, make pictures using pattern block shapes, and explore on the Geoboards with rubber bands. EVERY single kid was so eager to show me what they made. Some of my kids are really "out of the box" thinkers so they dominated these activities. My student who used to fall out of his chair all the time and threw up when he cried--made Catwoman with pattern blocks. It REALLY looked like Catwoman. Then he made a rabbit with different shapes he had made with playdoh. I was very impressed. It was SO fun.
*There is so much to look forward to this week besides teaching. I know the kids will be fun this week and I have some very fun lessons I think they are going to love. I get to go to kickboxing class (Found a Groupon for cheap and I am SO excited! My husband bought one too, and so did one of "couple" friends--what better way to destress and get out some anger about my sisters' issues than kick and punch a bag!), Bible study with our wonderful friends--we are so blessed with great friends through the med school, go help at our college campus ministry retreat, and I get to go see my family next weekend.
I was reading a book my husband bought me for Christmas: Radical by David Platt. He bought it for me because he knows I love to read extreme books. I'm not really sure how I feel about the book, but I like that it gets me to thinking--I agree with about 60% of what he writes, but this one part, I really like:
I find it interesting that one of the most common questions asked today among Christians is "What is God's will for my life? or How do I find God's will for my life?" Many Christians have almost assumed the attitude that they would obey God if he would just show them what he wanted them to do. In the middle of a Christian culture asking: How do I find God's will for my life? I bring good news. His will is not lost. The answer is clear. The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the gospel and the glory of God known among all peoples. The question, therefore, is not Can we find God's will? The question is "Will we obey his will?" Will we refuse to sit back and wait for some tingly feeling to go down our spines before we rise up and do what we have already been commanded to do? Will we risk everything--our comfort, our possessions, our safety, our security, our very lives--to make the gospel known among unreached peoples? Such rising up and such risk taking are the unavoidable, urgent results of a life that is radically abandoned to Jesus.
*I love that!
:)
*Having such a demanding job will make it hard to help my family during this time, but it is also a blessing. I was eager to go back to school. I had missed my students and was ready to get back to "real life". The 2 days this week were SO fun. I smiled all day long working with my sweet students. I overheard one student during centers telling her friend "I really missed Mrs. when we were not at school. I love her". I feel the same, my sweet student! :)
*I have a VERY tiny student--about the size of an average 3 year old. But let me tell you--she is not without attitude. :) She is so funny. One of my students is a little bit of a mess-at centers, I walked past their group and asked :"Who got both of these games out and didn't put them away" All of the kids in the group answered with frustration, "Billy!!" Me-"Billy", I need you to pick both of those games up before you do anything else. He nodded. I walked back to my table to pull my reading group, but watched to make sure he picked it up. I saw him bothering my tiny girl who was playing a game. She started to wag her finger at him and said with more attitude than you can imagine: "Listen! You better go pick up those 2 games like Mrs. said before you even start to talk to me. OK?!" hahaha I looked at her and shook my head at her, and she just smiled. Hey--the boy listend. :)
*When we take bathroom breaks, my girls are always a little slower than the boys--we always have a little competition to see which line (boys/girls) is ready first after bathroom and drinks. I whispered to them--The boys win today! They were so fast and they are stading SO quietly. One of my little girls' response: "Mrs., Why do we need to make everything a competition?" HAHAHA Sorry kid-I'm too competitive, I've been told. :)
*I was anxious to see the girls whose families we adopted for Christmas. They both came in wearing their new clothes and shoes. They looked so cute. During writing time, we were writing about what we did over break. Both of those girls wrote that they played with baby dolls that they got for Christmas. :) So sweet. As I walked around writing time, I was shocked to see my students' writing. I had assumed that since many of my students didn't speak English all break and that others spent hours in front of the TV, that we would have to review a lot...but they were picking up RIGHT where we left off. Many students told me throughout the day that they really missed school. They were so glad to be back.
*We are starting to practice our last names. Most of them have picked it up very quickly and are writing first and last names on every worksheet/activity. I have to say--I pity my Hispanic kids who have 2 last names...One kid: "Mrs...this name is too big-I can't fit it on my paper". :)
*"Mrs...next year when we make Christmas presents for our moms, can we make them some cookies?" Me-That's a great idea, but next year you'll be in 1st grade, and I won't be your teacher. You are going to have a new teacher. Student-"WHAT?! NO!!!" The whole table of kids-"NO!!!!!" **Trust me kids--I'm going to be more sad about it than you are! :(
*During centers on our first day back, one of my students came up to me: "Mrs. I didn't work this hard all break. When I get home, I'm SERIOUSLY gonna need a nap." :)
*While we were waiting in the hallway for my students to get drinks at the water fountain before our afternoon recess, one of my students told me that his uncle was shot with a gun and that he had to lay down and rest a lot. My response: "That is so sad. I am so sorry." I went on to tell them that guns are very dangerous and I never want them to touch one. If they ever see one, I want them to tell an adult, etc. One student: "Mrs. I saw one under my couch but I didn't touch it. I won't Mrs. I never will." :(!!!!!!!!!
*I can't put into words how much fun we had being back at school. My class and I have such a sweet connection. We learned more letters, new sight words and they cracked me up all day long. Being with the kids heals me--a lot of these kids have harder lives than I could ever imagine...yet to me, they are bright beams of joy. It reminds me of this quote: "Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle".
*Math this week has been so fun! I am starting a geometry unit and it is very open to "exploring". I have been SHOCKED at the creativity of my students. We made shapes posters, sang our songs about the shapes, and then I gave them each a shape and a piece of paper. They had to look at the shape (circle/square/triangle/etc) and decide what it looked like and make a picture with it. For example, I used a circle and colored it like a basketball. Then I glued it onto my paper and drew people playing basketball and a hoop, grass, etc. You should have seen the pictures they made--I saw donuts, cookies, baseballs, heads of monsters, heads of people, hula hoops, a wheel, etc. They had so much fun with it. Everyday during math centers, they get to choose a new shape to add to their "shape book", they also go to explore with playdoh to make shapes, make pictures using pattern block shapes, and explore on the Geoboards with rubber bands. EVERY single kid was so eager to show me what they made. Some of my kids are really "out of the box" thinkers so they dominated these activities. My student who used to fall out of his chair all the time and threw up when he cried--made Catwoman with pattern blocks. It REALLY looked like Catwoman. Then he made a rabbit with different shapes he had made with playdoh. I was very impressed. It was SO fun.
*There is so much to look forward to this week besides teaching. I know the kids will be fun this week and I have some very fun lessons I think they are going to love. I get to go to kickboxing class (Found a Groupon for cheap and I am SO excited! My husband bought one too, and so did one of "couple" friends--what better way to destress and get out some anger about my sisters' issues than kick and punch a bag!), Bible study with our wonderful friends--we are so blessed with great friends through the med school, go help at our college campus ministry retreat, and I get to go see my family next weekend.
I was reading a book my husband bought me for Christmas: Radical by David Platt. He bought it for me because he knows I love to read extreme books. I'm not really sure how I feel about the book, but I like that it gets me to thinking--I agree with about 60% of what he writes, but this one part, I really like:
I find it interesting that one of the most common questions asked today among Christians is "What is God's will for my life? or How do I find God's will for my life?" Many Christians have almost assumed the attitude that they would obey God if he would just show them what he wanted them to do. In the middle of a Christian culture asking: How do I find God's will for my life? I bring good news. His will is not lost. The answer is clear. The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the gospel and the glory of God known among all peoples. The question, therefore, is not Can we find God's will? The question is "Will we obey his will?" Will we refuse to sit back and wait for some tingly feeling to go down our spines before we rise up and do what we have already been commanded to do? Will we risk everything--our comfort, our possessions, our safety, our security, our very lives--to make the gospel known among unreached peoples? Such rising up and such risk taking are the unavoidable, urgent results of a life that is radically abandoned to Jesus.
*I love that!
:)
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Give us a Song...
*Warning: This might not be the happiest blog post. It has been a very emotional 2 days. I can't believe it's only been a 2 day week, because so much has happened. Very good things, and things so heartbreaking that I have been on the constant verge of tears for over 24 hours.
*I'm going to write my blog backwards this week. Tonight is the first night of Christmas break. I went to dinner with my husband, walked around the Plaza (so nice to be outside) and watched 2 stupid movies. No stress, no work to do...but a lot on my mind. Both of our minds. I dragged him into it all this week. It's nice for him to know exactly what I get to do everyday and how easy it is to be attached. His exact words: "I see how you could love these kids like they're your own."
*After school today, my husband helped me pack up my stuff (SO nice to have a helper!!) and then we headed home to pack up all of the gifts for the 2 families that we adopted. We packed the wrapped gifts in big trash bags. There were a LOT of gifts. Both families live in the same government housing. I didn't think through how it would go down--2 white people with tons of gifts, driving up to an apartment building. Students from my school poured out of the building screaming my name-so happy to see me at their home. It was sweet, but also so sad. We dropped off the gifts at the first home and received huge hugs from the mother and kids. Other people around the building stared at us as we left. We pulled up at the next area, and we saw people coming to each window as if saying: "What would they be doing here?" It was a strange feeling--not wanting to feel like the white people coming to "save the day" and also feeling a little scared. I needed to see that-to feel that. This is not far from where I live, but SO different than the life I've always known. When we dropped off the gifts at the next home, the apartment was full of kids. Older sisters watching younger siblings. No furniture, no sheets on the matresses on the floors. I can't explain what I saw. My husband described it as feeling as if you were in a Third World Country. But those are my babies-the homes they live in. I left not feeling guilt or judgement, but just utter sadness at the way things are. I am just so sad. Just because they are poor does not mean they have a bad life. It just means that they are not safe in the area they live in-the parks they play in are full of guns and violence. I was scared to be there, but my 5 year olds play there. I am thankful that my husband experienced that with me this time.
*Yesterday was a good day. My husband came in with me to school for the morning. When I asked my principal if it was ok, her response was: "I always think it is a good idea for husbands to see what we do all day long." :) After about 20 minutes of helping me before the kids came, he said: "Your daily life is so much more work than mine." Lol. My response: "But in a few minutes, you'll see why it's worth it!" And he did. He is so attached already! It was so nice to have a helper. When the kids came in, they were SO excited to meet him. We did a few learning activities and then made ornaments for their moms. My husband helped. He was so sweet with the kids-I know he cares about them--he has let me spent so much money, time and energy on them. He has never questioned me when I work late or have to visit a family. He has listened to EVERY story. Then he sat and played with them at centers. It was fun to see how he worked with them. He told me he was shocked at how small they were...but how much they knew. :) The rest of the day was great.
*After lunch we wrote letters to Santa to review the word: "Want." I was really impressed with their writing samples. One of my students that we adopted for Christmas wrote that she wanted shoes for Christmas. It's opinion writing, so when I asked her WHY she wanted them...she said: "Cuz my shoes is always fallin off-my feet are cold." (Guess what--you're getting them for Christmas!!!! Cute pink ones that you can show off!! I picked them out!!!) I just helped her sound out the sentence. :)
*After school I had a chance to talk with the mother of my student who has to move away. :( I asked her why they had to leave and she told me. Another father abandonment. Makes me want to throw up. One of my few families who had a father figure at home. I found out today, they may stay a little longer so she should be at school for awhile after break. I gave her my number and email in case she needs help with food or shelter over the break. She promised she'd call if she did. If I didn't come home to such a great man, I would be really tempted to HATE men. One of my students in her letter to Santa wrote: "I want my dad becuz he never comes to see me." alkjsdlnaldknfdlsndlkfs;lkdflsknkln:LASkdnl;fksmn. Those are my thoughts on that!
*I was so torn up last night. This morning when I ran on my treadmill, I listed to Lecrea. It helps to heal my soul. Pumps me up that the Lord can change things. I decided that we needed to party it up today. We needed a little joy. Today was an amazing day at school-our Christmas party/celebration day. I am SO proud of the work my students have invested this semester. The growth I have seen both socially and academically is beyond words. We partied all day long. We started off the day by decorating sugar cookies with our book buddies. Every year I can remember, I decorated sugar cookies with my family for Christmas. I wanted my students to get to do that too! Then we played Christmas Jeopardy. I was pretty suprised how much some of them knew-it was so fun. We went to centers--fun to see them interacting together-I looked around my class to see every student engaged. Playing learning games with friends, playing "teacher" at the library and holding the book up like I do to read to friends or working on writing at tables. We then went to our All-School Christmas Carol sing along (another reason why I LOVE my school!!). The choir led is in songs. I looked around my class...had 2 of my squirmy students on each side of me leaning on my legs as I sat in a chair. I realized that I am doing exactly what I want to be doing with my life right now. There was a line in one of the songs: "Give us a song. For all the despair and pain we see-just give us a song. A tune to help bring some joy." I looked around the crowd of kids in the cafeteria, thinking how true that must be for so many of them! How true it is for me. During that song, my students seemed to sense that I was sad. One by one, they looked up at me and smiled. As if to say..."It's ok, Mrs!" Strangely comforting.
We did lots of other fun activities and then after music class, we had our party. I showed a class slideshow that I made. They LOVED it. We finished our jeopardy game, had snacks and then had a dance party. :) The best part is that my husband came back. :) He had so much fun yesterday that he couldn't stay away! When he walked in, they all started to cheer. I'm not suprised they loved him--most of them do not have any men in their lives....the ones that do don't have very sweet ones. Ok, I'm being dramatic, 3 of my students have dads at home. 3!!!! Ok, done man bashing. I gave my students each a book, a candy cane and a pair of gloves. (Tired of those freezing hands at recess). Guess which was their favorite?! Yes...the gloves. They all put them on-LOVED them. :)
*I hugged all my babies goodbye-not sure what kind of break they will have. I don't want to sound work obsessed or sound like my whole life revolves around my school--I am excited for the break. I need time with my husband. No med school, no school work. It's just hard to leave it all behind. Especially after what I experienced tonight. I am still glad all of our amazing friends/family donated all of those gifts. Because it's not about me--it's about those kids having a few toys and some NEW, nice clothes/shoes/things to feel special. It's for the moms to give their kids something on Christmas morning. It's about beginning to break these stupid divides. We needed to see that. We needed to keep facing reality. When we got home, my husband said: "Back to our mansion."
*I am so excited to spend time with my in-laws. It's my first shared Christmas, and I am thankful to have 2 families that I love so much. In the teachers lounge today, everyone was talking about how hard it is to be with their in-laws. I just said: I love mine! Everyone was shocked. Then I get to go see my family and my sweet nephew and niece (It's been awhile since I've seen a white kid ;) haha. Seriously though). I feel so blessed. I plan on reading some Christian books, running a lot, sleeping a lot, eating a lot, and just being with my husband...and our families.
But first, I am going to have to run like 1000 miles on my treadmill tomorrow to try to lay all of this down. I am tired of being on the verge of tears.
I warned you that it was a sad blog post. I hope that you have a VERY Merry Christmas. We are all so blessed in so many ways!!
:)
*I'm going to write my blog backwards this week. Tonight is the first night of Christmas break. I went to dinner with my husband, walked around the Plaza (so nice to be outside) and watched 2 stupid movies. No stress, no work to do...but a lot on my mind. Both of our minds. I dragged him into it all this week. It's nice for him to know exactly what I get to do everyday and how easy it is to be attached. His exact words: "I see how you could love these kids like they're your own."
*After school today, my husband helped me pack up my stuff (SO nice to have a helper!!) and then we headed home to pack up all of the gifts for the 2 families that we adopted. We packed the wrapped gifts in big trash bags. There were a LOT of gifts. Both families live in the same government housing. I didn't think through how it would go down--2 white people with tons of gifts, driving up to an apartment building. Students from my school poured out of the building screaming my name-so happy to see me at their home. It was sweet, but also so sad. We dropped off the gifts at the first home and received huge hugs from the mother and kids. Other people around the building stared at us as we left. We pulled up at the next area, and we saw people coming to each window as if saying: "What would they be doing here?" It was a strange feeling--not wanting to feel like the white people coming to "save the day" and also feeling a little scared. I needed to see that-to feel that. This is not far from where I live, but SO different than the life I've always known. When we dropped off the gifts at the next home, the apartment was full of kids. Older sisters watching younger siblings. No furniture, no sheets on the matresses on the floors. I can't explain what I saw. My husband described it as feeling as if you were in a Third World Country. But those are my babies-the homes they live in. I left not feeling guilt or judgement, but just utter sadness at the way things are. I am just so sad. Just because they are poor does not mean they have a bad life. It just means that they are not safe in the area they live in-the parks they play in are full of guns and violence. I was scared to be there, but my 5 year olds play there. I am thankful that my husband experienced that with me this time.
*Yesterday was a good day. My husband came in with me to school for the morning. When I asked my principal if it was ok, her response was: "I always think it is a good idea for husbands to see what we do all day long." :) After about 20 minutes of helping me before the kids came, he said: "Your daily life is so much more work than mine." Lol. My response: "But in a few minutes, you'll see why it's worth it!" And he did. He is so attached already! It was so nice to have a helper. When the kids came in, they were SO excited to meet him. We did a few learning activities and then made ornaments for their moms. My husband helped. He was so sweet with the kids-I know he cares about them--he has let me spent so much money, time and energy on them. He has never questioned me when I work late or have to visit a family. He has listened to EVERY story. Then he sat and played with them at centers. It was fun to see how he worked with them. He told me he was shocked at how small they were...but how much they knew. :) The rest of the day was great.
*After lunch we wrote letters to Santa to review the word: "Want." I was really impressed with their writing samples. One of my students that we adopted for Christmas wrote that she wanted shoes for Christmas. It's opinion writing, so when I asked her WHY she wanted them...she said: "Cuz my shoes is always fallin off-my feet are cold." (Guess what--you're getting them for Christmas!!!! Cute pink ones that you can show off!! I picked them out!!!) I just helped her sound out the sentence. :)
*After school I had a chance to talk with the mother of my student who has to move away. :( I asked her why they had to leave and she told me. Another father abandonment. Makes me want to throw up. One of my few families who had a father figure at home. I found out today, they may stay a little longer so she should be at school for awhile after break. I gave her my number and email in case she needs help with food or shelter over the break. She promised she'd call if she did. If I didn't come home to such a great man, I would be really tempted to HATE men. One of my students in her letter to Santa wrote: "I want my dad becuz he never comes to see me." alkjsdlnaldknfdlsndlkfs;lkdflsknkln:LASkdnl;fksmn. Those are my thoughts on that!
*I was so torn up last night. This morning when I ran on my treadmill, I listed to Lecrea. It helps to heal my soul. Pumps me up that the Lord can change things. I decided that we needed to party it up today. We needed a little joy. Today was an amazing day at school-our Christmas party/celebration day. I am SO proud of the work my students have invested this semester. The growth I have seen both socially and academically is beyond words. We partied all day long. We started off the day by decorating sugar cookies with our book buddies. Every year I can remember, I decorated sugar cookies with my family for Christmas. I wanted my students to get to do that too! Then we played Christmas Jeopardy. I was pretty suprised how much some of them knew-it was so fun. We went to centers--fun to see them interacting together-I looked around my class to see every student engaged. Playing learning games with friends, playing "teacher" at the library and holding the book up like I do to read to friends or working on writing at tables. We then went to our All-School Christmas Carol sing along (another reason why I LOVE my school!!). The choir led is in songs. I looked around my class...had 2 of my squirmy students on each side of me leaning on my legs as I sat in a chair. I realized that I am doing exactly what I want to be doing with my life right now. There was a line in one of the songs: "Give us a song. For all the despair and pain we see-just give us a song. A tune to help bring some joy." I looked around the crowd of kids in the cafeteria, thinking how true that must be for so many of them! How true it is for me. During that song, my students seemed to sense that I was sad. One by one, they looked up at me and smiled. As if to say..."It's ok, Mrs!" Strangely comforting.
We did lots of other fun activities and then after music class, we had our party. I showed a class slideshow that I made. They LOVED it. We finished our jeopardy game, had snacks and then had a dance party. :) The best part is that my husband came back. :) He had so much fun yesterday that he couldn't stay away! When he walked in, they all started to cheer. I'm not suprised they loved him--most of them do not have any men in their lives....the ones that do don't have very sweet ones. Ok, I'm being dramatic, 3 of my students have dads at home. 3!!!! Ok, done man bashing. I gave my students each a book, a candy cane and a pair of gloves. (Tired of those freezing hands at recess). Guess which was their favorite?! Yes...the gloves. They all put them on-LOVED them. :)
*I hugged all my babies goodbye-not sure what kind of break they will have. I don't want to sound work obsessed or sound like my whole life revolves around my school--I am excited for the break. I need time with my husband. No med school, no school work. It's just hard to leave it all behind. Especially after what I experienced tonight. I am still glad all of our amazing friends/family donated all of those gifts. Because it's not about me--it's about those kids having a few toys and some NEW, nice clothes/shoes/things to feel special. It's for the moms to give their kids something on Christmas morning. It's about beginning to break these stupid divides. We needed to see that. We needed to keep facing reality. When we got home, my husband said: "Back to our mansion."
*I am so excited to spend time with my in-laws. It's my first shared Christmas, and I am thankful to have 2 families that I love so much. In the teachers lounge today, everyone was talking about how hard it is to be with their in-laws. I just said: I love mine! Everyone was shocked. Then I get to go see my family and my sweet nephew and niece (It's been awhile since I've seen a white kid ;) haha. Seriously though). I feel so blessed. I plan on reading some Christian books, running a lot, sleeping a lot, eating a lot, and just being with my husband...and our families.
But first, I am going to have to run like 1000 miles on my treadmill tomorrow to try to lay all of this down. I am tired of being on the verge of tears.
I warned you that it was a sad blog post. I hope that you have a VERY Merry Christmas. We are all so blessed in so many ways!!
:)
Saturday, December 17, 2011
General Tso's Chicken
*I am so blessed. I love my students. I love my husband. I love my job. I love my house. I love our friends. I love our city. I love my family. I love my commute. I love running on my treadmill to Lecrae every morning to get ready for work. Can you tell I had a good week!?
*It was the last full week of school before Christmas. I've been testing like crazy, squeezing in fun activities wherever I can, and having so much fun making a fool of myself in front of my students. :)
*I'll start with the heartbreaking news to get it out of the way :(. On Friday when I came back in from dismissing my students, the secretary stopped me and told me that one of my students' moms had been looking for me. Because they are being sent back to their home country. Her last day of school will be Tuesday. My eyes filled up with tears. I am anxious to get a chance to talk to the mom, but I am SO sad to loose one of my students. This sweet girl who brings me drawings and cards every single day. Who came into my room barely speaking English, and when I just tested her, knew all of her letters, was writing sentences and reading books. BOOO! I am heartbroken.
*One of my students on the playground: "Mrs...I don't got no bed at my house. I sleep on the floor. I hope I get a bed some day." :(
*My husband and I are really praying about becoming Foster Parents. We are in the primary stages of praying and asking the Lord if this is our call....the more I am at work, the more I want to do it. I don't care if I'm tired or worn down-when I interact with my students and hear their lives and fears....it makes me want to start TODAY! Please be in prayer about that....And now to the hilarious parts of the week. There are so many!
*One student...First thing in the morning..."Mrs. I got you a present!!!"...later in the day-"Mrs. I got you a present-are you excited?!" At recess-"Mrs. I got you a present. I'll give you a hint...mar-k-er-s." Me-pretending not to hear to ruin the suprise..."Mrs! Did you hear me?! I got you markers!!! MARKERS!!!" :) lol The next day she brought me the gift and I opened it with her during centers. Her face was glowing as she gave me the gift. So sweet.
*On the Smart Board, I made a Jeopardy game with words that my students had to sound out. It had the music and everything. I split my class into groups of 4, had a scoreboard, and told students they had to whisper to each other to figure out the answer. I would call randomly on a student in their group, so they had to ensure that EVERY student in the group knew the answer confidently. I never expected it to go so well! The kids were at the point where they were saying: "I'll take the letter "a" for 200." It was so fun. Our school instructional coach came in and was SHOCKED to see the team work and how well they were sounding out words. It was so fun and they were so competitive. When I told them it was time for recess, they begged me to let them keep playing. :)
*At the end of the game, it was time for us to play a math game. I said to a student, "Go back to your chair my friend." He looked at me so sad and went over to move his behavior bear to the next level. I asked him what he was doing, and he said: "You made me move my bear." :( Me-"No. I told you to go to your chair. CHair. " Student-"Oh...ya. I can do that!!"
*We are writing "Opinion pieces" in writing this month, and we decided to make a class book about our favorite foods. I was asking my students about what their favorite foods are. Most said: Chicken Nuggets, Pizza, Macaroni and Cheese, etc. The trick was that they had to write WHY it was their favorite. I was walking around helping students sound out words, and one sentence said: "I like Macerone becuz it haz the cheez." And then I walked over to another student...I was frustrated with him for writing random letters down. He said: "It's not random....it says 'General Tso's Chicken'. My favorite food is General Tso's Chicken." Oh! Lol What a funny child.
*"Mrs. I love every single part of school. I even love just walking in the hallway holding your hand."
*"Mrs., this weekend I'm going to Chuckie Cheese for my birthday." Me-Wow! That sounds so fun. Who all is going with you? Student-My mom, YOU, my grandpa.... Me-I'm not going, sweety. Student-Just smiles.
*Next week we only have 2 days. I am so excited. On Monday my husband is coming into my class for the first time to help me. We are going to make ornaments as a present for thier moms. They are SO excited. We already made the gift bags, cards, etc. for the gifts. I told them not to tell their moms so it was a secret. "Mrs...is it ok if we tell our mom that we made them a present but we don't tell them WHAT we're making?!" Me-Sure that's ok! Student-Good, cuz I already did. :)
*I tested my students on "Reading Records" this week to check their reading level. They are expected to be at a level A or B. Most of my students did great. ONE student baffled me. He got 100% on A, B, C, and D!!! I am going to test him on E on Monday. SO exciting!!!
*We are having a school sing-along with Christmas carols, decorating sugar cookies with our book buddies, I got them some gifts, making gifts for their moms, playing a Christmas Jeopardy game, and then I also made a class slide show to the song "You Got a Friend in Me" for the Christmas party. When I made it, I was tearing up. Sure do love these kids. It's going to be an amazing week.
*Glen the Elf is still extremely popular. The mother of the child that is so mad that we don't call him "Chippy" told me that everyday when he goes home to tell her about his day, When he brings up Glen the Elf, he says: "You know-the Elf that Mrs. calls Glen, but his real name is Chippy".
*Tuesday after school I get to drop off the presents for the families that we adopted.
*Another highlight of my week? My husband's last day of school was Thursday. I'm so so so happy to see his smile again, to hang with our friends, AND to have his help around the house. :) Friday night I came home from work to flowers, a clean house, laundry done, groceries bought...BEST HUSBAND EVER!!!
*According to my husband, I am a Christmas light snob. I only like white lights and classy looking houses. Not a big fan of the blue or gaudy looking houses. It was fun to look at Christmas lights in the areas of mansions as I criticized their lights. Kind of pathetic how big these houses are...just 2 miles away from my school. The differences in wealth is sickening.
:) Happy Teach.
Then 2 1/2 weeks off with my husband and our families. I am so excited. Have a VERY Merry Christmas!!!
*It was the last full week of school before Christmas. I've been testing like crazy, squeezing in fun activities wherever I can, and having so much fun making a fool of myself in front of my students. :)
*I'll start with the heartbreaking news to get it out of the way :(. On Friday when I came back in from dismissing my students, the secretary stopped me and told me that one of my students' moms had been looking for me. Because they are being sent back to their home country. Her last day of school will be Tuesday. My eyes filled up with tears. I am anxious to get a chance to talk to the mom, but I am SO sad to loose one of my students. This sweet girl who brings me drawings and cards every single day. Who came into my room barely speaking English, and when I just tested her, knew all of her letters, was writing sentences and reading books. BOOO! I am heartbroken.
*One of my students on the playground: "Mrs...I don't got no bed at my house. I sleep on the floor. I hope I get a bed some day." :(
*My husband and I are really praying about becoming Foster Parents. We are in the primary stages of praying and asking the Lord if this is our call....the more I am at work, the more I want to do it. I don't care if I'm tired or worn down-when I interact with my students and hear their lives and fears....it makes me want to start TODAY! Please be in prayer about that....And now to the hilarious parts of the week. There are so many!
*One student...First thing in the morning..."Mrs. I got you a present!!!"...later in the day-"Mrs. I got you a present-are you excited?!" At recess-"Mrs. I got you a present. I'll give you a hint...mar-k-er-s." Me-pretending not to hear to ruin the suprise..."Mrs! Did you hear me?! I got you markers!!! MARKERS!!!" :) lol The next day she brought me the gift and I opened it with her during centers. Her face was glowing as she gave me the gift. So sweet.
*On the Smart Board, I made a Jeopardy game with words that my students had to sound out. It had the music and everything. I split my class into groups of 4, had a scoreboard, and told students they had to whisper to each other to figure out the answer. I would call randomly on a student in their group, so they had to ensure that EVERY student in the group knew the answer confidently. I never expected it to go so well! The kids were at the point where they were saying: "I'll take the letter "a" for 200." It was so fun. Our school instructional coach came in and was SHOCKED to see the team work and how well they were sounding out words. It was so fun and they were so competitive. When I told them it was time for recess, they begged me to let them keep playing. :)
*At the end of the game, it was time for us to play a math game. I said to a student, "Go back to your chair my friend." He looked at me so sad and went over to move his behavior bear to the next level. I asked him what he was doing, and he said: "You made me move my bear." :( Me-"No. I told you to go to your chair. CHair. " Student-"Oh...ya. I can do that!!"
*We are writing "Opinion pieces" in writing this month, and we decided to make a class book about our favorite foods. I was asking my students about what their favorite foods are. Most said: Chicken Nuggets, Pizza, Macaroni and Cheese, etc. The trick was that they had to write WHY it was their favorite. I was walking around helping students sound out words, and one sentence said: "I like Macerone becuz it haz the cheez." And then I walked over to another student...I was frustrated with him for writing random letters down. He said: "It's not random....it says 'General Tso's Chicken'. My favorite food is General Tso's Chicken." Oh! Lol What a funny child.
*"Mrs. I love every single part of school. I even love just walking in the hallway holding your hand."
*"Mrs., this weekend I'm going to Chuckie Cheese for my birthday." Me-Wow! That sounds so fun. Who all is going with you? Student-My mom, YOU, my grandpa.... Me-I'm not going, sweety. Student-Just smiles.
*Next week we only have 2 days. I am so excited. On Monday my husband is coming into my class for the first time to help me. We are going to make ornaments as a present for thier moms. They are SO excited. We already made the gift bags, cards, etc. for the gifts. I told them not to tell their moms so it was a secret. "Mrs...is it ok if we tell our mom that we made them a present but we don't tell them WHAT we're making?!" Me-Sure that's ok! Student-Good, cuz I already did. :)
*I tested my students on "Reading Records" this week to check their reading level. They are expected to be at a level A or B. Most of my students did great. ONE student baffled me. He got 100% on A, B, C, and D!!! I am going to test him on E on Monday. SO exciting!!!
*We are having a school sing-along with Christmas carols, decorating sugar cookies with our book buddies, I got them some gifts, making gifts for their moms, playing a Christmas Jeopardy game, and then I also made a class slide show to the song "You Got a Friend in Me" for the Christmas party. When I made it, I was tearing up. Sure do love these kids. It's going to be an amazing week.
*Glen the Elf is still extremely popular. The mother of the child that is so mad that we don't call him "Chippy" told me that everyday when he goes home to tell her about his day, When he brings up Glen the Elf, he says: "You know-the Elf that Mrs. calls Glen, but his real name is Chippy".
*Tuesday after school I get to drop off the presents for the families that we adopted.
*Another highlight of my week? My husband's last day of school was Thursday. I'm so so so happy to see his smile again, to hang with our friends, AND to have his help around the house. :) Friday night I came home from work to flowers, a clean house, laundry done, groceries bought...BEST HUSBAND EVER!!!
*According to my husband, I am a Christmas light snob. I only like white lights and classy looking houses. Not a big fan of the blue or gaudy looking houses. It was fun to look at Christmas lights in the areas of mansions as I criticized their lights. Kind of pathetic how big these houses are...just 2 miles away from my school. The differences in wealth is sickening.
:) Happy Teach.
Then 2 1/2 weeks off with my husband and our families. I am so excited. Have a VERY Merry Christmas!!!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Glen the Elf
I am siiiick. All of the coughing, sneezing teachers and kids finally caught up to me. I was so tired this week and went to bed early every night. Then Thursday I came down with it. Of course, being a first year teacher, I pushed through the day with a terrible sore throat and feeling dizzy for the majority of reading time. Strangely, it was one of the best days of teaching that I've ever had. I was so patient and the kids were really clicking with me. I realized I was being insane to teach like this, and didn't want to get the kids sick so I called in for a sub on Friday. My first day being gone. I was nervous, but when I went in to set things up for the sub that morning, all of the other teachers kept saying: "You look like death. You need to go home". I am spending the weekend on the couch. It really is perfect timing to be sick, because it's the weekend before a huge test for my husband. So he is studying constantly, and our friends loaned me the first season of Modern Family...so I'm good. :)
*We really did have a great week in my class. I never knew if I would really make Santa a big deal in my house when my kids are growing up. But I have had so much fun with my class-how their eyes light up just at the thought of magic. It is so sweet. One of the highlights of the week was when I read the book Elf on the Shelf. For those who don't know, it's a letter to the class from an elf who watches over you for Santa everyday and then at night, when the kids go home, he flies to the North Pole to report on how the kids are doing-(Whether they were naughty or nice). Then he comes back to school in the morning and lands on another place in the classroom. The rules are serious: You can't touch him or his magic will go away and he won't be able to go see Santa, he is not allowed to talk about to you but you can tell him what you want for Christmas, and you have to name him. I asked for several ideas...I got everything from Beethoven to Baby to GeeGee to Glen. I told the kids we were going to vote on his name, so he could tell Santa his name. Apparently my Elf doll looked a lot like an elf on TV named "Chippy". One of my kids raised his hand and with frustration in his voice, said: "Mrs., his name is Chippy. We don't have to vote. He ALREADY has a name." :) We voted on the name "Glen". Who knows where the name came from.
Glen watched the kids all day. During centers, I saw several kids walk up to him and whisper what they wanted for Christmas. But don't worry-they were SO careful not to touch him. :) The next day, I "registered" our Elf, Glen on the "Elf on the Shelf" website so that I could print off a personalized note from Santa. I gave it to the secretaries. At about 9:10, when we were doing morning calendar, the secretary came on the intercom and said: "Mrs...There is a special delivery for you in the office. Will you please send a student down?" I pretended to look really suprised and sent my Teacher Assistant down. When the student came back, his face was bright: "Mrs...it's from SANTA!!!" The kids were so excited. I read them the letter. Then they asked me to read it again. I hung it up so they could see it all day-they pointed it out to EVERYONE who came in the room. :) That should make for some good behavior for the next few weeks. ha
*One of my girls was pretty "weepy" one day. Usually she is perfectly behaved, but keeps to herself, so I was kind of concerned. We were working on a sort of short "e" and long "e" words. She was frustrated and put her head in her hands and started to cry. I pulled her aside and asked her why she was crying. She would barely look at me. I asked her if something happened at home that morning. She started to cry even harder, and hugged me. I finally got it out of her: "My mom cussed me out. I didn't mean to be bad." My heart sank. I went on to ask her: "Have I ever hurt you?" No. "Have I ever cussed or yelled at you or anyone in here?" She shook her head. "You are safe here. I'm not going to yell at you-if you feel frustrated or sad, I want you to raise your hand and talk to me, ok?" She nodded and gave me a big hug. This is the worst part of my job. It's hard to leave things like that at school.
*My hubby and I are praying about some big decisions. The sermon at church is still sticking with me and I've been reading my Bible every night this week trying to get some direction of what else the Lord is calling of us. I feel like He is slowly breaking me of my selfishness and is helping me to listen. A lot of times school, life and things are moving so fast that it's hard to sit back and reflect or listen. That's partly why I don't mind being sick this weekend. My house is a mess, I have no groceries, etc. but I have time to sit back and think...and pray. Which is good. I want to be sure any "good" we're doing isn't just because I feel so bad about how some kids have to live. I want it to be a call from the Lord.
*The VERY best thing that happened this week is that I am testing students in order to put grades in. (Now you might think, you are insane. Testing is so time-consuming, all the teachers hate it, it takes so much time away from teaching, etc....but read on!!) First, I tested them on their "Letter ID" (Whether they are able to tell me the name of the uppercase/lowercase letters without pausing or having to think). I was SHOCKED. My students had improved SO much! I looked back through the previous scores...at the beginning of the year, most of the scores were "0, 1, or 5", at the end of 1st Quarter...the scores had improved to "20, 15...and some were still 5 or less", this time, kids who had VERY low scores confidently knew EVERY letter. EVERY single kid improved a LOT. Even my lowest students improved a lot. I was so excited....
And THEN I tested Sentence Dictation. I tell the students 2 sentences and then say 1 word at a time. The student tries to write every sound they hear in the word. The sentences this time were: "Mom has gone up to the shop. She will get milk and bread." I watched as my students used all of the actions for letter sounds I had taught them. I watched them clap out sight words "W-i-ll says 'Will!" Several of my students got all of the sounds except for 2. ALL of my students doubled or tripled their scores from the first test I gave 1 1/2 months ago. I know this may not seem so exciting, but to me, it was affirmation that these little sponges are learning!!!!!
One student stood out in particular. She was in my lowest reading group. At the end of 1st Quarter she only knew 5 letter names, and on the sentence dictation test, she wrote random letters. On Thursday, I tested her. She got ALL of the letters, and scored a 20/37 on the sentence dictation. I started to tear up. I told her she was going to make me cry. She looked at me very confused and said: "Why?!" :) I told her I was SO proud of her, and that I was going to write a note home to tell her parents how hard she is trying and how much she is learning. There's no way I would forget to write that letter...she reminded me ALL day. :)
*After school, I told her mom how impressed I was. Her mom said: "I know. She gets up at 6 A.M. everyday to practice writing words and draw pictures and read books. She don't want to watch T.V. no more and it's hard to get her to eat dinner. All she wants to do is read and write." See why it's hard to call in sick? These kids are the sweetest things ever.
*In our staff development we were talking about "effort"...trying to get kids to not give up or act out when they are frustrated. I remember when I Student Taught 5th grade-I saw that a LOT, but my students this year are so different. I honestly can't think of a kid who is not super eager to learn. They are trying to sound out words in the hallways, always so eager to sing songs with me, etc.
There is so much to do in the next few school days before break. SO many tests to get-so many more things to teach, and I'm squeezing in as many holiday and winter activities as I can. I really want them to make a present for their parents too....I am SO excited for my husband. His next test is on Thursday, and then he is DONE for 3 weeks. We will get to have a life for 3 weeks. I still have school for a few days after he gets off, so for the first time, he will get to come help in my classroom. I have the BEST volunteer who comes in every Thursday to help with centers--she is also a counselor so I always have her work with students who need someone else to talk to. :) But...other than that, I don't really let other people come in the classroom. I am so excited to have my husband come fall in love with these sweet faces. I think he will see why I come home smiling almost everyday. It's hard not to have perspective when you are hugged and loved all day by kids who really need you.
*My students are especially huggy recently. I try to not promote a lot of "touching"...they used to try to touch my hair and stroke my boots when we would sit down for carpet time...I was always saying "Hands off, please.", touch my wedding ring or bracelets when I hold their hands in the hallways, but recently they are so huggy. On Wednesday, as the girls' line was walking into the bathroom, every single girl stopped and hugged me on their way in. The boys are hugging more too. I know it's not super professional, but they say kids need several "good touches" a day. They can hug me all they want.
*I am so excited for Christmas break to spend time with my husband, have some friends up, go to Christmas parties, spend time with family, celebrate our 1st Anniversary, have a clean house, bake a little, etc.
:)
*We really did have a great week in my class. I never knew if I would really make Santa a big deal in my house when my kids are growing up. But I have had so much fun with my class-how their eyes light up just at the thought of magic. It is so sweet. One of the highlights of the week was when I read the book Elf on the Shelf. For those who don't know, it's a letter to the class from an elf who watches over you for Santa everyday and then at night, when the kids go home, he flies to the North Pole to report on how the kids are doing-(Whether they were naughty or nice). Then he comes back to school in the morning and lands on another place in the classroom. The rules are serious: You can't touch him or his magic will go away and he won't be able to go see Santa, he is not allowed to talk about to you but you can tell him what you want for Christmas, and you have to name him. I asked for several ideas...I got everything from Beethoven to Baby to GeeGee to Glen. I told the kids we were going to vote on his name, so he could tell Santa his name. Apparently my Elf doll looked a lot like an elf on TV named "Chippy". One of my kids raised his hand and with frustration in his voice, said: "Mrs., his name is Chippy. We don't have to vote. He ALREADY has a name." :) We voted on the name "Glen". Who knows where the name came from.
Glen watched the kids all day. During centers, I saw several kids walk up to him and whisper what they wanted for Christmas. But don't worry-they were SO careful not to touch him. :) The next day, I "registered" our Elf, Glen on the "Elf on the Shelf" website so that I could print off a personalized note from Santa. I gave it to the secretaries. At about 9:10, when we were doing morning calendar, the secretary came on the intercom and said: "Mrs...There is a special delivery for you in the office. Will you please send a student down?" I pretended to look really suprised and sent my Teacher Assistant down. When the student came back, his face was bright: "Mrs...it's from SANTA!!!" The kids were so excited. I read them the letter. Then they asked me to read it again. I hung it up so they could see it all day-they pointed it out to EVERYONE who came in the room. :) That should make for some good behavior for the next few weeks. ha
*One of my girls was pretty "weepy" one day. Usually she is perfectly behaved, but keeps to herself, so I was kind of concerned. We were working on a sort of short "e" and long "e" words. She was frustrated and put her head in her hands and started to cry. I pulled her aside and asked her why she was crying. She would barely look at me. I asked her if something happened at home that morning. She started to cry even harder, and hugged me. I finally got it out of her: "My mom cussed me out. I didn't mean to be bad." My heart sank. I went on to ask her: "Have I ever hurt you?" No. "Have I ever cussed or yelled at you or anyone in here?" She shook her head. "You are safe here. I'm not going to yell at you-if you feel frustrated or sad, I want you to raise your hand and talk to me, ok?" She nodded and gave me a big hug. This is the worst part of my job. It's hard to leave things like that at school.
*My hubby and I are praying about some big decisions. The sermon at church is still sticking with me and I've been reading my Bible every night this week trying to get some direction of what else the Lord is calling of us. I feel like He is slowly breaking me of my selfishness and is helping me to listen. A lot of times school, life and things are moving so fast that it's hard to sit back and reflect or listen. That's partly why I don't mind being sick this weekend. My house is a mess, I have no groceries, etc. but I have time to sit back and think...and pray. Which is good. I want to be sure any "good" we're doing isn't just because I feel so bad about how some kids have to live. I want it to be a call from the Lord.
*The VERY best thing that happened this week is that I am testing students in order to put grades in. (Now you might think, you are insane. Testing is so time-consuming, all the teachers hate it, it takes so much time away from teaching, etc....but read on!!) First, I tested them on their "Letter ID" (Whether they are able to tell me the name of the uppercase/lowercase letters without pausing or having to think). I was SHOCKED. My students had improved SO much! I looked back through the previous scores...at the beginning of the year, most of the scores were "0, 1, or 5", at the end of 1st Quarter...the scores had improved to "20, 15...and some were still 5 or less", this time, kids who had VERY low scores confidently knew EVERY letter. EVERY single kid improved a LOT. Even my lowest students improved a lot. I was so excited....
And THEN I tested Sentence Dictation. I tell the students 2 sentences and then say 1 word at a time. The student tries to write every sound they hear in the word. The sentences this time were: "Mom has gone up to the shop. She will get milk and bread." I watched as my students used all of the actions for letter sounds I had taught them. I watched them clap out sight words "W-i-ll says 'Will!" Several of my students got all of the sounds except for 2. ALL of my students doubled or tripled their scores from the first test I gave 1 1/2 months ago. I know this may not seem so exciting, but to me, it was affirmation that these little sponges are learning!!!!!
One student stood out in particular. She was in my lowest reading group. At the end of 1st Quarter she only knew 5 letter names, and on the sentence dictation test, she wrote random letters. On Thursday, I tested her. She got ALL of the letters, and scored a 20/37 on the sentence dictation. I started to tear up. I told her she was going to make me cry. She looked at me very confused and said: "Why?!" :) I told her I was SO proud of her, and that I was going to write a note home to tell her parents how hard she is trying and how much she is learning. There's no way I would forget to write that letter...she reminded me ALL day. :)
*After school, I told her mom how impressed I was. Her mom said: "I know. She gets up at 6 A.M. everyday to practice writing words and draw pictures and read books. She don't want to watch T.V. no more and it's hard to get her to eat dinner. All she wants to do is read and write." See why it's hard to call in sick? These kids are the sweetest things ever.
*In our staff development we were talking about "effort"...trying to get kids to not give up or act out when they are frustrated. I remember when I Student Taught 5th grade-I saw that a LOT, but my students this year are so different. I honestly can't think of a kid who is not super eager to learn. They are trying to sound out words in the hallways, always so eager to sing songs with me, etc.
There is so much to do in the next few school days before break. SO many tests to get-so many more things to teach, and I'm squeezing in as many holiday and winter activities as I can. I really want them to make a present for their parents too....I am SO excited for my husband. His next test is on Thursday, and then he is DONE for 3 weeks. We will get to have a life for 3 weeks. I still have school for a few days after he gets off, so for the first time, he will get to come help in my classroom. I have the BEST volunteer who comes in every Thursday to help with centers--she is also a counselor so I always have her work with students who need someone else to talk to. :) But...other than that, I don't really let other people come in the classroom. I am so excited to have my husband come fall in love with these sweet faces. I think he will see why I come home smiling almost everyday. It's hard not to have perspective when you are hugged and loved all day by kids who really need you.
*My students are especially huggy recently. I try to not promote a lot of "touching"...they used to try to touch my hair and stroke my boots when we would sit down for carpet time...I was always saying "Hands off, please.", touch my wedding ring or bracelets when I hold their hands in the hallways, but recently they are so huggy. On Wednesday, as the girls' line was walking into the bathroom, every single girl stopped and hugged me on their way in. The boys are hugging more too. I know it's not super professional, but they say kids need several "good touches" a day. They can hug me all they want.
*I am so excited for Christmas break to spend time with my husband, have some friends up, go to Christmas parties, spend time with family, celebrate our 1st Anniversary, have a clean house, bake a little, etc.
:)
Saturday, December 3, 2011
"There she is!!! YES!!!"
*I have the sweetest, craziest, funniest kiddos in my classroom. It was HARD to get going this week--after a 5 day weekend, I was struggling on Monday morning. After pressing "snooze" for an hour, I got up and moving. I was grumpy and not wanting to go to work. Even when I got there, I wasn't moving nearly as fast as usual, but when the bell rang and I went to pick up my kids, I heard "There she is!! YES!!!" And my day was great from there. We had a wonderful week.
*I was teaching the sight word "want" on Friday. We talked about what we "want" for Christmas, clapped it out, and we were all reading our "sight word books" together. One of my kids raised his hand and said: "Mrs. -I thought you taught us that "ch" says chh--well-you said that word said "Christmas" but that Ch doesn't say "CH"...Why?" Good question kid. I am getting really tired of the English language. I teach the kids rules about what sounds the letters make and different blends...and there is ALWAYS an exception to the rule. You never realize how crazy our language is until you try to teach 5 year olds how to read/write.
*We have adopted several families for Christmas. Some of our friends came over last weekend to help us wrap all of the gifts. Our living room is FULL of gifts for these families, it is so exciting. My mom called today and said that she collected more donations, so now I think we can adopt another family! It has been so fun to shop/plan/have other people donate to these amazing kids. But I have still been a little nervous that maybe we were doing too much-that somehow the moms might feel a little offended. I was wrong. The absolute highlight of my week was when I dropped my kids off at music class on Monday morning. I was walking back to my classroom when I saw one of the moms from the family we are helping. She told me she wanted to talk about her daughter's progress. She rode the city bus up to school to see me...We went into the room and talked about her daughter, her family, how proud I am of her daughter (she started out knowing none of her letters, none of the colors, none of the numbers, didn't know how to write her name, etc. and now she is in one of my higher reading groups. She is SHOCKING me everyday)...I then mentioned the Christmas gifts...She said: "That is actually the real reason that I came up here. I wanted to say thank you so much-I really don't have no words. Bless you. Thanks so much." We went on to talk about a few more things and ways she can help her daughter at home and then she left. We haven't even given these families the gifts yet and they are so thankful.
*My kids love to sing more than any kids I've ever met. I was frustrated with my smartboard at the end of the day on Thursday, because I was trying to pull up a game and it wasn't working. I asked my students to sit quietly for just a second while I tried to fix it. One student started to sing a song I had taught them earlier that day. Then another joined. Before I knew it, my whole class was singing together. :) So sweet.
*We have been working on rhyming since the beginning of the year. Some kids picked it up really quickly...while others were a little slow to catch on. Me-"Let's try to think of a word that rhymes with 'black'." Student-"People". lol A few weeks later that student started to catch on. At any point in the day, if I would say a word, he would find a word that rhymes with it...During math time-"Mrs.-One rhymes with ton....right?!" "Recess...becess. That rhymes right?!" haha It is constant now. But at least he gets it, right?!
*I have been shocked at how VERY few of my students know nursery rhymes. I have started to teach one every few days. I hear them at centers practicing them with each other. Their favorite is "Hickory Dickory Dock".
*Usually all of the Kindergarten classes have recess together, but on Wednesdays, our schedule is different so we go to recess before lunch, alone. It is my favorite day of recess-because for one, there are less kids, so my kids get a chance to play on the equipment. But I also love to watch my class play together. They have become very good friends. This week was so funny. ALL of the girls were on the swings and playing "house" under the jungle gym. No one is left out...if someone is playing alone, my kids run up to that student and invite them to play. I love it....but the hilarious thing was the boys. They had organized a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose". Then they started to play robots and monsters. I just loved the way my students are so inclusive and such good friends. It was very fun to watch.
*Another highlight of the week was on Tuesday afternoon. I signed up for the "Junior Achievement" program, where a business person comes into your classroom once a week for 30 minutes to teach a lesson on money, healthy foods, etc. It was the final week of the program, so my person brought awards for each kid to have a little "Graduation". I had them sit on the carpet, and she called them up one by one to get their award. We clapped for each kid, and they were so proud. One student in particular was SO proud of each student. She was so funny as she was clapping and cheering for each kid. When it was her turn, the look of pride in her face was so sweet.
*One of my quietest students came up to me during math centers and mumbled to me: "Mrs...I think you look real nice today." And then walked back to his center. ha
*I had my principal almost in tears when I told her these funny quotes from Wednesday. I was wearing black tights under a skirt..."Mrs...now you have black legs like me! I LIKE it!" And another..."Mrs...you know who wears things like that on their legs? Superheroes. You kinda look like a superhero today!" When I got home and told my husband that, he thought I was making it up. I COULD NOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP! haha
*At the Med School my husband attends, there is a chance in the 3rd and 4th year that you will be sent to another city for clinicals. That city is our hometown. Not enough students signed up to go by choice, so they had a lottery to choose students to be sent. 20 students were going to be chosen. Although we have AMAZING friends and family there, and it would be nice to see them more often!!, I could not imagine leaving my school. I have the BEST principal, great teachers, I LOVE the kids, and I love how dedicated the teachers are to these students--we have walking clubs, running clubs, Science Nights, Reading nights, carnivals, cooking clubs, craft clubs, etc. all run and organized by the teachers. We love our Bible study and our proximity to our jobs. It would be so hard to leave the life we have right now. The night before the list was going to be released, I told my husband I was at peace either way. There were great benefits to both sides. And the truth is that we can not cling to what we have--not to the people in our lives, to the things, jobs, home, etc. that we have. I am positive that the Lord brought us here, so we had to trust that He would bring us to exactly where we're supposed to be. Well...we get to stay. No one in our Bible Study was sent, so we are very excited and thankful. It would have been nice to be around the WONDERFUL people down there, but for now, we really feel called to be here.
*For many reasons, I have never really enjoyed the Christmas season very much. But for some reason, being married has really changed all of that. I have had so much fun setting up our tree, buying/wrapping gifts for the students and for our families, and picking out things for my husband. I have Christmas music playing all the time, and tomorrow am going to buy all of the supplies to start making cookies/chocolate covered everything, etc. Of course, I am going to take them to school for the kids so that we don't eat them all. :) I feel very joyful and thankful this winter.
*I had a Smartboard (AMAZING technology-like a huge computer screen that you can touch/write on/interact with...great for games, etc.) installed in my classroom in August...but the projector needed to be lowered so that it would hit the screen. We were not allowed to fix it ourselves and had to wait on the district to come out and fix it. My connection for my elmo (camera projector) was in the back of my classroom and the screen was at the front. I had been running back and forth to project things for the kids to see and to point to what we were doing. My screen didn't have a "catch" so it was tied to a chair to hold it down...needless to say, my classroom looked kind of "ghetto". I didn't care, because I was just thankful to have the technology. Well-Monday, the men came to lower the projector. I was SO excited. They were drilling while my kids were at Centers. We jumped everytime the drill started. But I didn't care-I couldn't wait to use the Smartboard. I found out later that afternoon that I STILL couldn't use it, because the connection for the computer was both at the front of the room and the back of the room and there wasn't a cord long enough to connect them. Finally another technology person came on Wednesday and told me I could pull the cord to the front of the room myself. My kids were at Library class for 30 minutes. I told her I wanted to do it then to make sure it worked, while she was there. SO....I got a ladder, and pulled apart my ceiling...tile by tile...and pulled the cord to the front of the room. I moved tables, dust from the ceiling was all over the floor and me--but I finally got it out. Put the ceiling back, pulled the cord down. I won't go in to how we then got new teacher lap tops and I had to re-install everything and then it wasn't compatible with my board, etc. ...All I care about is that NOW I have a working Smart Board. The kids are SO excited. We have used it several times and they keep saying it's like "magic". I have been working like crazy finding fun games/etc. to reinforce skills. ha. What a week it has been trying to get it to work.
*My blog posts are getting longer and longer. Sometimes I think it's good just to type it out and reflect on my week. Some days feel crazy and exhausting, others I am smiling all day long. I am always praying that I can keep my eyes open for needs/issues that need to get dealt with...or just kids that need a little extra attention some days. There is so much that has happened/is happening in these kids' lives and they're only 5 years old. It really breaks my heart.
*Warning: Kind of sappy....I was running this morning on my treadmill, listening to Pandora and a song came on: "Who I am Hates Who I Was...by Reliant K. It got me to thinking about who I used to be in High School and College-the stupidity that I let define me, the relationships I messed up, and some of the very stupid things I cared so much about...I have changed so much in the last 5 months-these 20 kids really have changed me. I feel like I am living for a purpose and that the Lord is using me everyday. Working with these kids is slowly healing my heart and pulling me closer to Christ. Their natural SWEET instincts and innocent comments are helping me to realize why Christ called us to have faith like a child...
*I put some extra food in the "Backsnack" backpacks this week for my kids who take them home...The kids are always so excited to look inside to see what is in there for the weekend...One came up and whispered to me while the other kids were getting their things ready to go home on Friday-"Mrs...is this from you!? I LOVE it!"
:)
*I was teaching the sight word "want" on Friday. We talked about what we "want" for Christmas, clapped it out, and we were all reading our "sight word books" together. One of my kids raised his hand and said: "Mrs. -I thought you taught us that "ch" says chh--well-you said that word said "Christmas" but that Ch doesn't say "CH"...Why?" Good question kid. I am getting really tired of the English language. I teach the kids rules about what sounds the letters make and different blends...and there is ALWAYS an exception to the rule. You never realize how crazy our language is until you try to teach 5 year olds how to read/write.
*We have adopted several families for Christmas. Some of our friends came over last weekend to help us wrap all of the gifts. Our living room is FULL of gifts for these families, it is so exciting. My mom called today and said that she collected more donations, so now I think we can adopt another family! It has been so fun to shop/plan/have other people donate to these amazing kids. But I have still been a little nervous that maybe we were doing too much-that somehow the moms might feel a little offended. I was wrong. The absolute highlight of my week was when I dropped my kids off at music class on Monday morning. I was walking back to my classroom when I saw one of the moms from the family we are helping. She told me she wanted to talk about her daughter's progress. She rode the city bus up to school to see me...We went into the room and talked about her daughter, her family, how proud I am of her daughter (she started out knowing none of her letters, none of the colors, none of the numbers, didn't know how to write her name, etc. and now she is in one of my higher reading groups. She is SHOCKING me everyday)...I then mentioned the Christmas gifts...She said: "That is actually the real reason that I came up here. I wanted to say thank you so much-I really don't have no words. Bless you. Thanks so much." We went on to talk about a few more things and ways she can help her daughter at home and then she left. We haven't even given these families the gifts yet and they are so thankful.
*My kids love to sing more than any kids I've ever met. I was frustrated with my smartboard at the end of the day on Thursday, because I was trying to pull up a game and it wasn't working. I asked my students to sit quietly for just a second while I tried to fix it. One student started to sing a song I had taught them earlier that day. Then another joined. Before I knew it, my whole class was singing together. :) So sweet.
*We have been working on rhyming since the beginning of the year. Some kids picked it up really quickly...while others were a little slow to catch on. Me-"Let's try to think of a word that rhymes with 'black'." Student-"People". lol A few weeks later that student started to catch on. At any point in the day, if I would say a word, he would find a word that rhymes with it...During math time-"Mrs.-One rhymes with ton....right?!" "Recess...becess. That rhymes right?!" haha It is constant now. But at least he gets it, right?!
*I have been shocked at how VERY few of my students know nursery rhymes. I have started to teach one every few days. I hear them at centers practicing them with each other. Their favorite is "Hickory Dickory Dock".
*Usually all of the Kindergarten classes have recess together, but on Wednesdays, our schedule is different so we go to recess before lunch, alone. It is my favorite day of recess-because for one, there are less kids, so my kids get a chance to play on the equipment. But I also love to watch my class play together. They have become very good friends. This week was so funny. ALL of the girls were on the swings and playing "house" under the jungle gym. No one is left out...if someone is playing alone, my kids run up to that student and invite them to play. I love it....but the hilarious thing was the boys. They had organized a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose". Then they started to play robots and monsters. I just loved the way my students are so inclusive and such good friends. It was very fun to watch.
*Another highlight of the week was on Tuesday afternoon. I signed up for the "Junior Achievement" program, where a business person comes into your classroom once a week for 30 minutes to teach a lesson on money, healthy foods, etc. It was the final week of the program, so my person brought awards for each kid to have a little "Graduation". I had them sit on the carpet, and she called them up one by one to get their award. We clapped for each kid, and they were so proud. One student in particular was SO proud of each student. She was so funny as she was clapping and cheering for each kid. When it was her turn, the look of pride in her face was so sweet.
*One of my quietest students came up to me during math centers and mumbled to me: "Mrs...I think you look real nice today." And then walked back to his center. ha
*I had my principal almost in tears when I told her these funny quotes from Wednesday. I was wearing black tights under a skirt..."Mrs...now you have black legs like me! I LIKE it!" And another..."Mrs...you know who wears things like that on their legs? Superheroes. You kinda look like a superhero today!" When I got home and told my husband that, he thought I was making it up. I COULD NOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP! haha
*At the Med School my husband attends, there is a chance in the 3rd and 4th year that you will be sent to another city for clinicals. That city is our hometown. Not enough students signed up to go by choice, so they had a lottery to choose students to be sent. 20 students were going to be chosen. Although we have AMAZING friends and family there, and it would be nice to see them more often!!, I could not imagine leaving my school. I have the BEST principal, great teachers, I LOVE the kids, and I love how dedicated the teachers are to these students--we have walking clubs, running clubs, Science Nights, Reading nights, carnivals, cooking clubs, craft clubs, etc. all run and organized by the teachers. We love our Bible study and our proximity to our jobs. It would be so hard to leave the life we have right now. The night before the list was going to be released, I told my husband I was at peace either way. There were great benefits to both sides. And the truth is that we can not cling to what we have--not to the people in our lives, to the things, jobs, home, etc. that we have. I am positive that the Lord brought us here, so we had to trust that He would bring us to exactly where we're supposed to be. Well...we get to stay. No one in our Bible Study was sent, so we are very excited and thankful. It would have been nice to be around the WONDERFUL people down there, but for now, we really feel called to be here.
*For many reasons, I have never really enjoyed the Christmas season very much. But for some reason, being married has really changed all of that. I have had so much fun setting up our tree, buying/wrapping gifts for the students and for our families, and picking out things for my husband. I have Christmas music playing all the time, and tomorrow am going to buy all of the supplies to start making cookies/chocolate covered everything, etc. Of course, I am going to take them to school for the kids so that we don't eat them all. :) I feel very joyful and thankful this winter.
*I had a Smartboard (AMAZING technology-like a huge computer screen that you can touch/write on/interact with...great for games, etc.) installed in my classroom in August...but the projector needed to be lowered so that it would hit the screen. We were not allowed to fix it ourselves and had to wait on the district to come out and fix it. My connection for my elmo (camera projector) was in the back of my classroom and the screen was at the front. I had been running back and forth to project things for the kids to see and to point to what we were doing. My screen didn't have a "catch" so it was tied to a chair to hold it down...needless to say, my classroom looked kind of "ghetto". I didn't care, because I was just thankful to have the technology. Well-Monday, the men came to lower the projector. I was SO excited. They were drilling while my kids were at Centers. We jumped everytime the drill started. But I didn't care-I couldn't wait to use the Smartboard. I found out later that afternoon that I STILL couldn't use it, because the connection for the computer was both at the front of the room and the back of the room and there wasn't a cord long enough to connect them. Finally another technology person came on Wednesday and told me I could pull the cord to the front of the room myself. My kids were at Library class for 30 minutes. I told her I wanted to do it then to make sure it worked, while she was there. SO....I got a ladder, and pulled apart my ceiling...tile by tile...and pulled the cord to the front of the room. I moved tables, dust from the ceiling was all over the floor and me--but I finally got it out. Put the ceiling back, pulled the cord down. I won't go in to how we then got new teacher lap tops and I had to re-install everything and then it wasn't compatible with my board, etc. ...All I care about is that NOW I have a working Smart Board. The kids are SO excited. We have used it several times and they keep saying it's like "magic". I have been working like crazy finding fun games/etc. to reinforce skills. ha. What a week it has been trying to get it to work.
*My blog posts are getting longer and longer. Sometimes I think it's good just to type it out and reflect on my week. Some days feel crazy and exhausting, others I am smiling all day long. I am always praying that I can keep my eyes open for needs/issues that need to get dealt with...or just kids that need a little extra attention some days. There is so much that has happened/is happening in these kids' lives and they're only 5 years old. It really breaks my heart.
*Warning: Kind of sappy....I was running this morning on my treadmill, listening to Pandora and a song came on: "Who I am Hates Who I Was...by Reliant K. It got me to thinking about who I used to be in High School and College-the stupidity that I let define me, the relationships I messed up, and some of the very stupid things I cared so much about...I have changed so much in the last 5 months-these 20 kids really have changed me. I feel like I am living for a purpose and that the Lord is using me everyday. Working with these kids is slowly healing my heart and pulling me closer to Christ. Their natural SWEET instincts and innocent comments are helping me to realize why Christ called us to have faith like a child...
*I put some extra food in the "Backsnack" backpacks this week for my kids who take them home...The kids are always so excited to look inside to see what is in there for the weekend...One came up and whispered to me while the other kids were getting their things ready to go home on Friday-"Mrs...is this from you!? I LOVE it!"
:)
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