Reasons I Love My Class

As I have mentioned, I love my class this year, they are so much fun to be around!  We make each other laugh all the time.  Here are some reasons that I love my class:

1.  As I was reviewing a math assessment with my class on Monday morning, we came to a word problem that most of the students in my class missed on the test.  It was a simple question but, for some reason it confused the kids.  So, while I was explaining it and going over the problem, and I got to the point that confused everyone a unanimous, "Oooohhhhh...!" sounded throughout the classroom.  My response was, "Well look who just caught up!"  (A quote from one of my favorite movies, A League of their Own.)  As soon as I said it I hear Mark say, "Who?!  Who just caught up Miss Whittenberg?''

2.  I have a young lady in my class, Lidia, who reminds me a lot of me when I was her age.  She has a loud laugh, laughs easily, and has a very good sense of humor.  Now Lidia plays on a flag football team.  She has started a tradition with me; whenever she sees me (even when I don't see her), she runs full speed into me and gives me a huge hug!  It started with just Lidia doing this, but she has gotten a full gang of girls to run up and attack me every time they see me.  Although it is loud and it scares me most of the time, I love to know that my kiddos are excited to see me and that we have a relationship of trust with each other.

3.  We watch a Magic School Bus every day.  We watch them to pass time and keep the class busy while we are getting our math minutes and then we finish it when we pack up at the end of the day.  The funny thing about this is that when the opening song is playing there are 25 8 and 9 year old that are singing along to the song.  It puts a smile on my face every time I hear it.  It is great to know that they are comfortable with each other and they have no inhibitions around each other.

4.  I have a student in my class who has a broken thumb and it is on her writing hand.  Because of this, she needs a lot of assistance in the classroom.  I have had many students step up and help her even when they are not asked to do so!  I have a wonderful class.

Of course there are many other reasons why I love my kiddos and I will add them as I think of them, but for right now, that's all I got.  I have been truly blessed with this class.

Then It's Lights Out For Me

I have really been working with my class on their writing this year.  My class last year didn't score so well on the writing portion of the SBA so I made it a goal of mine this year to work more on teaching them how to write a good paragraph.  So, we write like a hamburger.  We have our top bun: the introduction sentence, the meat in the middle: the juicy detail, and the bottom bun: the conclusion sentence, you can't have your hamburger falling apart.  The kiddos are really taking to this type of writing and they understand how to put a paragraph together because they know how to put a hamburger together.  We even talked about what makes a good hamburger.  You don't want just a small piece of meat in between two buns.  You want lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, cheese, green chili, catsup, etc.  In the same way you don't want one sentence in between the opening and closing sentence, you want juicy detail.  So, to work on this, I give the class a writing prompt to work on every morning after they finish their morning math.  Usually they do this in their composition notebooks, but this past Friday I had them write on a loose leaf piece of paper and turn it in for me to grade.  I have to say I am very proud of my kiddos!  For the most part they wrote good hamburgers.  And, as always there were very interesting, and funny paragraphs.  Let me share them with you.  (These are exactly how the students wrote them, spelling and all, no teacher edits.)

The prompt this particular Friday was:  What would you do if you were in the middle of the lake and your boat started to leak?

Alexandra: If I was in the middle of a lake and My boat started to leak I would get my life gaket (jacket) and triy (try) to swim my way and my boat back to land.  Then I would leth (leave) my boat next to The lake.  Then go to my panis (parents) and Tell Tem (them) where The boat and they would drith (drive) to the boat.  then pu The boat in The car.  and that wast I wood do if I was in the middle of a lake.


Maria:  If I was in the middle of a lake and I was in a boat and it stared (started) to leak then I would put a life vest on and jump in the water.  I would do that because I have no chocie (choice).  All I can do is jump in the water or die.  And I would pick to jump in the water.  Even thought (though) it is very cold I would do it.  But I will try not to land in the rocks.  Thats what I would do if there was a leak in the boat.  


Mark:  iF my BoAt hAD A leAk I would swim to shore.  And Get A cANoN ANd Get bAck out There.  ANd Thats what would hApeN if my BoAt hAd A leAk.  


Erin:  First of all I would SCREAM!  Then get duck tape and tape it and put on my life jacket.  And would get a computer and contact 911.  Then wait for police until i'm safe.  and they would take me on land and I would give them shiny medals.  


Anna:  If I was in the middle of a lake and my boat began to leak then I wold begen to panik (panic) and screem screem and panec.  I wold call for help her (here) is an axampal (example) help help Aaaaaaahhhh help some body.  And thats what I wold do.  


Richie:  If I was in the lake and the boat began to leak.  I would get a life jacket and swim.  But if that did not work I would try to swim.  If that did not work I would find a log to get on.  If that did not work then its light out for me.  


Man, you gotta love a kid's imagination sometimes.


 

Something Fun?

The first month of school is over!  I can hardly believe it.  On one hand it seems like school has only begun but on the other hand it feels like we have been doing this for months now.  I am proud to say that Steve is still alive!  I was very nervous in the beginning that I wasn't going to be able to take care of him and keep him alive since I have never cared for an amphibian before.  But, as far as I know, he is still living.  However, I need to go get a new Can O' Crickets to feed Steve.  He doesn't like the new brand I bought for him last week.  REALLY Steve!?!  They are dead bugs packaged in their own "natural juices" what is not to like.  We've tried all week to get Steve to eat these crickets; all he does is walk up to them, stare at them for a minute, licks them (to see how they taste?  I don't know!) and then walks away.  But not without giving me a look like, "Really, you're still trying to give this stuff to me?"  Oh well, looks like I just need to buy a different Can O' Crickets. 


Since we have been in school a month I'm getting my kids ready to start literacy centers.  We have taken the first month to practice as a whole group what we are going to be doing in Literacy Centers.  We've made charts for rules, I've typed them up and laminated them, we've made pocket charts for them, we have done almost everything I can think of in order to get ready for them.  Well, this past Friday we were wrapping up creating rules for the Literacy Centers.  We had 3 centers that we still needed to create rules for.  So, I was doing as I had with the other centers in order to make rules:  I had chart paper on the board and we were coming up with "Do's" and "Don'ts" for the last 3 centers.  Granted it is not fun, but the kids generally enjoy creating rules for themselves and enjoy telling other people how to act, what 9 year old wouldn't?  So, we were finishing up creating rules for the last center so I told the class, "Alright that's enough rules for now.  If you have anymore you'd like to add, you can tell me later and we can add them.  So, we are moving onto math now."  Before I could finish this last sentence, Ari yells out, "Are we going to do something fun now?!"  My jaw dropped and my hands went to my hips as I said, "Well I don't know anymore, maybe not!"  I was trying to pretend that I was upset and offended but the kiddos knew I wasn't and they all began to laugh at Ari and laugh at me.  That is what I really like about my class this year, they know how to have fun with each other.  They know how to laugh and they know how to take a joke.  It is fun to have a class of kids that you yourself can have fun with.  I am really enjoying this year!

Go Away!

We are a month into the school year already!  We have to send progress reports home next week because it is half way through the first quarter!  I cannot believe how quickly this year is going!  Even though it is a month into school I am still just discovering the personalities of some of my students.  When you have 26 students and you lose or gain a student every other day it seems like, it makes it hard to get to know you student's very well in a timely manner.  This past week I discovered the personality of Alexandra, yes, the wing ripping/cricket smashing student.  I discovered her personality and I have to say I LOVE IT!  She is so much fun and makes me laugh every day.  Now, you would think I would understand her personality when she came to me with a fly with no wings.  However, I did not understand it until she literally told me to "Go away!"  Here's the story:  We were working on a simple, I thought, math assignment.  After explaining the assignment to the class I began to walk around to help students who needed it.  Alexandra raised her hand immediately so I made my way over to her desk to in order to provide my assistance.  As I began to reteach Alexandra she suddenly becomes very excited and says, "Oh okay I get it."  I believed that she understood the assignment but continued to explain further just to double check he knowledge.  Apparently Alexandra did not want this because she looks at me and says, "OKAY!  GO AWAY!"  I was laughing so hard at her that I had trouble walking away.  Alexandra was laughing with me, I think she realized at that moment that I understood her and that she would now be able to joke and play with me.  If you were wondering, she did understand it, she received a 100% on the assignment!

On another note; I must say I am very excited for this year and the direction my career is going.  I have been asked by the Ed Tech at our school to be on a district committee to rewrite the Technology Plan for the district!  I have always enjoyed technology and I am enjoying using it in my classroom this year.  Since I have a Smart Board in my classroom this year I feel like my teaching has improved and I feel like my students are learning better this year.  Our Ed Tech has also asked me to do a training with our school on a Wednesday.  I am the only teacher at the school to have AverVision on my lap top.  (AverVision is a program that can be used with the Smart Board.)  Since I am the only teacher that has this and uses it regularly she has asked me to show all the other teachers how to use it so they will know if they would like to implement it in their classroom.  

Sorry I have been neglecting the Blog, I will try to write more regularly.  I am glad you are all enjoying reading it!   

The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Clause

Well, I am happy to say that Steve received a live bug for breakfast on Thursday.  Alexandra came running up to me after the bell rang on Thursday morning exclaiming, "I caught a cricket for Steve!"  My first question was, "Did you rip his legs off?" "No but I did squish him in the bag some, I think he's still alive though."  Sure enough, the cricket was alive, barely, when Steve ate him.  Even geckos deserve a warm breakfast right?

I play a game with my kiddos called Brain Quest.  I remember playing it when I was in elementary school so I figured I'd give it a go with my class this year.  Brain Quest is an age appropriate trivia game that contains educational questions.  We play this game when we have a few minutes to kill before lunch, before recess, or before we pack up to go home.  Now remember, these are educational questions so I am not losing instructional time by doing this. :)  My class has really come to love this game and I love it as well.  It is fun to have something that you can do together to create a bond.  While playing Brain Quest before recess on Thursday the kids were having a great time playing they were helping helping each other and were even able to giggle at themselves when they gave a silly answer.  The last question I asked before going out to recess was this: "How many boats did Christopher Columbus have when he discovered the new world?"  I was shocked when almost everyone's hand shot up in the air along with "Ooohh ooohhh ooohhh" in surround sound.  I called on the first kid, "200!"
"No."
I moved onto the next, "1,000"
"No."
This random guessing lasted for about 5 students until Hannah finally answered correctly, "3."
"Yes!  Now a bonus if you can name them."
Once again, all hands shot up in the air and the ooohhhs continued.  I called on the first student, "The Titanic"
"No."
I called on the second student, "The Mayflower."
"No.  I'll give you a hint the first one is the Nina.  The other 2 rhyme with Nina."
I got answers anywhere from the Rina to the Thina.
"Alright, I'll give you the name of the second boat, it's the Pinta."
I received various answers for the third boat as well, "The Rinta, the Sinta."
"No."
By this time we were all giggling because no one could figure out the answer.
"Alright, here's the third hint; the last boat has two names the first name is Santa...."
"CLAUSE!"
I was laughing so hard I could hardly speak to give the class the right answer.  "NO!  It's not the Santa Clause!  Would there be a boat called the Santa Clause? It's the Santa Maria!"
"Oh!"  I was 25 beautiful kids laughing at themselves and laughing at me.  It was a great bonding moment and the best memory I have this year, even though we're only two weeks in.

A Gecko Named Steve

This summer I inherited a 5 gallon aquarium/terrarium tank.  Since I didn't have to pay for the tank, I decided I would accept it and buy a low maintenance pet for my class this year.  I was looking to buy a salamander or one of those cool looking frogs.  However, I found out that salamanders and cool looking frogs are not $5 like I had suspected, nor are they readily available.  I was disappointed, but made the best of it and decided to purchase a leopard gecko.  Now these geckos don't have the ability to stick to objects but they do like to climb.  I was planning on spending maybe $50 total on my classroom terrarium.  This, however, did not come to be.  Oh no, you have to buy eco friendly grass to line the tank, a water dish, a log for him to hide in, and objects for him to climb on.  Not to mention the can packed full of dead crickets you must purchase in order to feed your gecko. PLUS, I had to buy a lid to put on my terrarium, I was not fortunate enough to inherit one.   So, $180 later, I take my gecko and accessories home and set up my terrarium.

I was excited to have a class pet for my kiddos.  I had him at school during testing days and showed each student our class pet as they came into test and check out the room.  I could tell they were all excited and anxious to learn about our gecko.  I told them that in the first week of school we would be able to name our gecko.  I, being the amazing teacher that I am, kept my promise.  Using my smart board, I set up a grid and took suggestions for names.  We had some clever suggestions: Cash, Johnny, John, Phenius, Ferb, Cody, Zack, Dim, Spots, Dots, Boston, Jake, Steve, etc.  Now, since this is a class pet we had to make the decision as a class, so, we took a vote.  The first round each student got 3 votes each, the second round they got 2 votes each, and the last round they got 1 vote each.  Well, I guess you can summize from the blog title that the class voted on the name Steve; Boston was a close second.  So, we now have a gecko named Steve.  I did think it would be a bit more of an exotic name, but you know 8 year olds, very literal.

Steve is a good class pet, he hides most of the day, eats when he is fed, and used the bathroom in the same spot in his tank.  Steve, however, eats bugs.  So I have a class full of 25 kiddos who have become obsessed with catching bugs to feed Steve.  It is not enough that I have a can packed full of dead crickets in my refrigerator but now I have kids coming in proudly bringing me bugs just like a dog brings their owners a dead bird.  I've had crickets, beetles, spiders, and flies brought in so far.  Alexandra even went as far to catch a fly while out on recess.  She came into the classroom with her hand tightly clenched and exclaimed, "I caught a fly!"  Just as I was about to instruct Alexandra to put the fly in Steve's cage, she proceeds with, "I ripped his wings off so he can't fly anymore!"  Wonderful, a can full of crickets and a fly with ripped off wings.  I did not know this pet would cause so much humor in our classroom.

Now, I told you Steve was misplaced in his 5 gallon tank.  Here's the story:  I walk into the classroom after the weekend and start getting things set up for the day.  Since it was a Monday I decided I would check Steve's water and give him a cricket from my refrigerator.  I walk by Steve's cage, and tap my fingers lightly on the tank, this usually gets him to come out of his hiding space underneath the log.  I go to the refrigerator, grab the can of crickets, walk back to the tank and Steve had not come out of his hiding place.  I take the lid off and lift the log, no Steve.  I check under his bridge, no Steve.  I shake the plants, NO STEVE!!  At this point my heart is beating out of my chest and my hands are starting to get clammy.  I'm trying to think of how I am going to tell my kiddos that I lost their precious gecko the first weekend of school.  I  call my boyfriend, Shea, and inform him that Steve was gone.  He asks me if I've looked in all the obvious places in the tank, "There is nothing left in the tank but the grass!"  "Well, he'll turn up."  is all Shea says to me.  I don't think he'll understand the devastation these kiddos will feel if Steve is gone.  As I start to put objects back into Steve's cage and figure out how I'm going to break the news to my class, I notice a corner of the grass in the tank lifted and a small bump in the middle of the grass.  I lift the grass, and sure enough, there is Steve, asleep on the bottom of the tank, underneath the grass.  Now I found Steve, but I was afraid he had suffocated to death underneath the grass.  Instead of picking him up to see if he was dead, I decided to poke him with a stick.  Not such a good idea!  Apparently Steve doesn't like to be woken up by the poke of a stick, Steve hissed at me.  I was able to get him to crawl onto the stick and I put him back on top of the grass and put his cactus on the corner of the grass in which he tunneled under.  So, Steve was found, crisis #1 averted, I'm sure there are many more to come!

The Decision

Well...here it is, my first post.  As I was talking to my sister, Ashley, on the phone today after school, I had an epiphany; I should write a blog.  I was telling stories of my day to her and I had her rolling with laughter!  I have always enjoyed telling stories and I have been told many times that I should write down the stories I have about my classroom, but I have never done so...until now.

As you may know, I am a 3rd grade teacher in Rio Rancho.  I am currently in the second week of my second year of teaching.  I already have such good stories from my kiddos (that's teacher talk for class) that I just HAD to start writing.  Now I want you to understand, in no way, shape, or form is this a blog to help anyone become a better teacher.  I do believe that I am very good at my profession but I am in no position to tell anybody how to teach or organize their classroom.  This blog is simply to get my stories out there.  Children are hilarious and clever if you listen.  I chose to listen and find the humor in just about every situation.

I have a class full of 25 wonderful children this year.  We have 14 girls, 11 boys, and 1 class pet; a gecko named Steve; remind me to tell you that story later.  I am going to chose to not use my kiddo's real names, I will refer to them by names that hopefully I can remember and keep each student straight in my mind.  However, being as it is 11 o'clock at night and I have an 8am meeting tomorrow, I am going to chose to close my computer right now.  I've introduced my blog, hopefully given you something to look forward to, and have given myself motivation.  Hopefully I'll keep up with this.  Tomorrow's story:  how we named our class pet Steve and how Steve was misplaced in a 5 gallon terrarium.  That's all for now I suppose, goodnight.