insects.

We're starting an insect unit in Science.

Today, I wrote the word "insect" on the board, and asked my kiddos to sound it out.

Once they figured out the word, I asked them what it meant.

No response.

Then a moment later, a few hesitant hands went up.

I was thinking, "Oh boy...this could be interesting."

The following are just a few of the responses I got:

-"Insect is when you be real quiet and don't make any noise."

-"Oh! Its that one thing...you know..."

-"I think an insect is a power that protects you from bad guys."

"Umm...insect means you can't have no recess all week."

-"Its like when you go to the dentist, and he puts that string between your teeth."

Pretty sure he meant floss.

And on that note, I decided to tell them what an insect really is.

Never a dull moment :)

vomit.

Anytime someone throws up in the lunchroom, its one of my students.

EVERY TIME.

So I wasn't surprised when I walked in to pick my kids up today and saw the janitor sprinkling that magic puke powder on the floor.

My students quickly reassured me that yes, one of our friends had thrown up on the floor.

Surprise surprise.

What did surprise me however, was that the nurse walked this little girl back to class a few minutes later and told me she wasn't going home.

"Do you know why she threw up? Because (student who will not be named) convinced her to swallow her peaches whole."

I saw the peaches the kids were eating at lunch.

These were peach HALVES people.

So, (student who will not be named) talked my poor puker into swallowing it whole, which the puker did because she's 5, she choked, and then proceeded to throw up that peach half (still whole) all over the floor.

I was livid! I pulled (student who will not be named) aside and said,

"Do you realize she could have gotten seriously hurt?"

When that didn't get much of a reaction, I said,

"Do you realize she could have DIED today?"

That got the reaction that I wanted. Instant terror and tears.

This is serious stuff.

I know they're in kindergarten, but still. They know better than to tell their friends to swallow food without chewing!

And its not like I can trust that our "lunch staff" (i.e. the woman who stands around and yells at the kids to quit talking during lunch) would be capable of reviving a choking student, and delivering her back to me in one living piece.

Needless to say, after the LONG talk we had, I have a feeling that (student who will not be named) will be encouraging everyone else to chew their food into mush before swallowing from now on.

moments from this week

The following are some of the moments I feel blessed to have experienced this week at work:

A student's grandmother came to my room before school just to thank me and tell me what a good job I've done with getting her granddaughter to read so well.

After a bullying incident (which has been frequent in kindergarten lately), a student made an apology card for a friend. "i sory. i wil be nise to you form now on."

After I was gone for a couple hours directing the school play, I was greeted by hugs, and exclamations of, "Yay, Mrs. Miller's back!" and "I missed you so much!"

One of my students drawing me a picture of me, her, and her soon-to-be-born baby brother. "You and my baby brother are my two favoritest people!...You're the one in the dress."

I gave one of my higher readers her very first chapter book this week. The fear that was initially on her face was instantly replaced with immense pride when I told her I knew she could handle it. She not only finished it, but also comprehended everything she read!

Being told, "I love you so much, Mrs. Miller," about 50 times a day. It will never, ever get old.

Being asked if "asthma" is a bad word.

Finalizing 3rd quarter grades, I was taken back by just how much my kinders have grown throughout the year. They're not  the 4 year-old babies they were when they came to me anymore. They're becoming independent individuals who can read, write, and add.

I've realized this week that even though there are countless instances throughout a week that can make me want to pull my hair out, reflecting on all of the positive, endearing moments can really rejuvenate me, and I realize just how awesome these little babies big kids are!



bad word.

Last week, I taught my Kinders about the -SH sound.

And we took our spelling test on Friday.

I laughed out loud when I was grading this one...check out #7.

Oopsy!

I drew a little smiley face next to it for Mom, and wrote that the word was SUPPOSED to be "shot."

At the end of the day, students were packing up to go, and this little girl came up to me, held out her test, and with downcast eyes, said, "I changed my answer."

I said, "We've talked about this before...after I grade your paper, you can't erase your answer and change it."

To which she replied, "I know. But I sounded out what word I wrote down, and it was a bad word!"

This is how I know my students are growing up...they go back and try to sound out the words they missed to see what mistake they made :)



Fail...times two.

I have a 5 year old student who is a major behavior problem.

Not just disruptive, but violent as well.

Like...jabbing-other-students-in-the-ear-with-scissors violent.

We use a school-wide card chart system, in which students change their colored card based on their behavior.

It was decided that the card chart wasn't working for this student.

It was suggested to me that I try using a sticker chart to reward him for positive behavior, instead of scolding him for negative behavior.

I was skeptical, but said ok.

The moment I knew the sticker chart failed?

When he ripped it up and threw it in the trash.

Fail.

Ok. Deep breaths. So I went back to my administrators with the evidence that I'd dug out of the trash. It was then suggested that instead of a sticker chart, I use Silly Bandz.

He would get a set amount of Silly Bandz at the beginning of the day. I would take one away when he misbehaved, and I would give him one when he did something good.

I was 99.9% sure this would not work out well.

Something (instinct maybe?) told me that a 5 year old boy and Silly Bandz might not be a good match.

But again...since it was suggested, I said ok.

The moment I knew the Silly Bandz failed?

This morning when I caught him shooting them at other students across the room.

Fail. Again.

So...to recap.

I have a violence/behavior problem in my room.

I've tried 2 different behavior plans in the last 5 days.

I'm out $10.00 for the supplies I've have to purchase.

I'm also about out of patience.

And its only Wednesday :)

pork.

We've been doing a unit on Presidents lately for Social Studies.

We're nearing the end of the unit and I wanted to discuss Obama.

Since this is our current President, I was curious to see what the kids already knew about him.

They pretty much knew nothing, except that his wife's name is Michelle, and she wears pretty clothes.

I asked if the kids knew the reason why Obama is so important.

No one did, so I said, "Barack Obama is the very first African American president the United States has ever had."

Everyone just kind of stared at me.

So then I asked my class (which is about 90% African American) "Does anyone know what African American means?"

Cricket. Cricket.

No one knew. I was trying to figure out how to explain it in Kinder-friendly, but also politically correct lingo when I saw a hand shoot up in the air.

"I remember what African American means..." (says one of my African American students)

..."African American means you can't eat no pork!"

Oh boy.

"my lunch box was on the floor..."

My class uses cubbies that are around the corner from our classroom...out of sight.

They are in prime traffic position, because they are right by the staircase.

A lot of times, when we walk by, we see that our coats, hats, boots, etc. have gotten knocked out of our cubbies by all the people who walk by every day.

But that's not a huge deal.

Yesterday, something happened that WAS a big deal.

Before lunch, we line up outside the bathroom to do our business and wash hands before I take them to the lunchroom.

When we are about to leave, I send the students who packed their lunches to grab them.

After I'd sent them, one of my little girls comes back with wide eyes and says in her tiny little voice, "Mrs. Miller, my lunchbox was on the floor. I opened it up, and the only thing that was left in there was my water."

I instantly saw red.

Someone had come to our cubbies in the middle of the morning, taken her lunchbox out, opened it up, and took her food.

I explained to her what had happened, told her how sorry I was, and that I'd have to give her a lunch card to buy a hot lunch instead today so she'd have something to eat.

Again, the tiny voice: "But Mrs. Miller, I don't know how to get a lunch with my lunch card. I don't know what to do."

Her mom packs her lunch every day, and she's never gotten a hot lunch before. She was clearly worried about doing something new. I assigned her a buddy that would help her, and she seemed fine the rest of the day.

But I wasn't.

It made me absolutely sick to my stomach that someone would think to steal from a 5 year old.

They're babies. How can you steal from a baby?

I have the sweetest kids in the world, and to think that someone would purposely take something from them makes me so mad.

I wrote a note to her mom to explain the situation, and told her that from now on, I'm going to let my students bring their lunches into the classroom, to prevent things like this from happening in the future.

If I have anything to do about it, this will NOT happen again.

Not on my watch.