Indivisible

Another teacher sent a student down to me with a box (1st grade). We'll call him Droopy Pants. His friend, one of my students - Sneaky Boy, decided to come along. Apparently this box was closed when it left the other teacher. When Droopy and Sneaky found me, they excitedly told me about what was in the box. Later in the day I talked to the teacher who sent the box. Apparently Sneaky wasn't even supposed to be with Droopy and the box. And the box was closed. I asked the boys how it got open then. Sneaky's response? "Our indivisible friend opened it!" Oh really? And what's your friend's name? "Oh, he said we can't tell. It's a secret!"

Why Teachers Work

I was working with my first graders the other day and we were reading about teachers and police. One of the "thought provoking" questions before we read was, "Why do people work as teachers and police?" J raised his hand excitedly to answer, "People need to do those jobs to get money and pay the bills so the lights don't get cut off." Well, that's true - not what I was going for - but very true. Later in our discussion I asked them why we had police. J's answer? "To pull you over if you go over the limit." Hmm, limit? Drinking limit? Speed limit? Hoping he meant speed limit since he had obviously seen this happen, I asked (not smart, when I think back on it!) what he meant. He said, "you know, that limit sign!" Phew! Speed limit!

Cars

I had more excitement on the way to school Tuesday than I planned. I turned into the parking lot and heard a loud crash and it felt like my car hit a brick wall. No, I didn't hit anyone or anything! My wheel fell off my car. Yes, you read that right. Just fell off.
Apparently, when my transmission was repaired they failed to tighten a nut so it worked off. Lovely. At least it happened here and not on the highway. Of course plenty of kids saw me sitting there in my car as I tried to figure out what had happened! Here's my conversation with one of my 3rd grade darlings
Darling: Mrs. Z! I saw your wheel fell off your car this morning!
Me: Yes it did Darling.
Darling: I know cause we saw you when we got to school.
Me: Well, why didn't you stop to help me?!
Darling: I don't know how to fix THAT!
Lol, she was too cute! Her mom did check on me after school. She had gone home to get her dad to come up to look at it for me, but he'd left for work. Glad someone was worried!

And the debate has started. . .

Yesterday my 2nd graders were finishing their Christmas bags (so I could get them filled - I hate that part!) and I heard them start the classic is Santa real or not debate. The debate was between Sweet Girl and Tough Boy. I was so surprised to hear Tough Boy yelling, "He is too real!" Apparently Sweet Girl said something else so he replied, "If there's no Santa, how do you explain the North Pole?" Well? How do you? Lol! Too funny!

Snowmen

Last week I found a new way to make snowmen ornaments and decided to give it a try. The directions sounded pretty simple and fun. I think they turned out pretty cute! Each child needs wax paper to make their snowman on. They make they body out of glue - yep, just plain old glue! Drop in either paper or googly eyes, a nose, buttons (real, paper, beads, or pom-poms), arms (paper or pipe cleaner), and a piece of paper clip for a hook to hang them. Let them dry - takes a day or two, and presto - snowman ornament! I did have to go back on some after they dried and add a little more glue to the back to secure the pipe cleaners and beads. The paper ones were fine.

Cowboys

My 1st graders were working on the letter l. We discovered the sound l makes and what it looks like. We sang a song about l with a lazy lizard. We all knew the sound and the letter - it was going great! Or so I thought. To close our lesson, we had a new sound card (with the letter and a picture to represent the sound). I read a clue about the picture and the kids guess what it is. I reminded them of the sound l makes and that our picture will start with that sound. Then I read this clue -
I am a scaly animal who might live in a desert or a rain forest. I am often green or brown, but I come in lots of colors. I look a little like a snake with legs. What am I?
One boy is so excited to answer, waving his hand around. I call on him. Yes? What do you think it is - remember, it starts with /l/. His answer? A cowboy. Really? A cowboy??? Does it look like a snake with legs to you??? I can't even say, "Good guess!" because - he's not even close!!! I just walked him through the clue asking if each part could be a cowboy and if cowboy started with /l/. Oh dear. Back to the drawing board!

Insects and Incest

My first graders were working on the /i/ sound today. We have a story called Injured Insects that we look at and find all the words with the /i/ sound. One of my darlings raised her hand to tell me an /i/ word. I'm happy she's excited to share and call on her. "Incest!" Oh dear. What have I taught today?! The other kids were smiling and nodding. I decided she was really trying to say "insect" and we practiced saying that word. Hopefully she won't go home saying Mrs. Z taught her about incest today!