Christmas ponderings

Sometimes, kids just say it the best. So I'll wish you a merry Christmas with their words about the real meaning of Christmas (and a little bit about their gifts).

"When you open up a Christmas gift, it is like opening up Jesus in your heart. Because you have so much joy in your heart... I am sure Jesus gets some gifts up in heaven because they are so nice up there."

"The best gift that you could ever give to someone is the love of Jesus Christ."

"I will remember the spirit of Christmas cause you can't keep it out... I knew what my presents were because my dad had it on his phone and my mom had it in her closet. The tape came off on the coloring book and pencils so if you looked at it at just the right angle you could see it."

"The real meaning of Christmas isn't Santa Claus. The Christmas story is about Jesus Christ. Besides, there were kings that night, but they weren't important."

"If I could get any gift I wanted I would like to get some nice neighbor children."

"On Christmas break I'm gonna sit around and sleep in."
(Me, too, buddy, me, too.)

Merry Christmas!

Time for Thanksgiving break!

I am definitely ready for a long weekend with lots of sleep! The students are also ready for a long weekend, although I'm sure they won't be sleeping as much as me! Some days I feel like I ran a marathon, and for a while, I was puzzled by what exactly was tiring me out so much. But then I started getting back some of the parent questionnaires. Seven parents described their child as "energetic" plus others who used words like "bouncy," "bubbly," and "bold."

One of my energetic boys almost had a meltdown when I switched some people in reading groups and now he happens to be the only boy in his group. "Is this a punishment?!!" I told him there's nothing wrong with being with girls. (Someday he may even like it.)

However, some girls aren't too happy being with boys either. I received this note in my mailbox:

Dear Miss Weaver,
I don't like where I sit. The boys copy off of my paper sometimes. But I still don't like it. I would put two different people there. 

Meanwhile, my pile of confiscated goods reached a new size this week.

Yes, it's time for a break. I'm surprised we're already a third of the way through the school year. (Although when I wished the class a Happy Thanksgiving, one of my boys said he wished it was Easter.)

October happenings

The last day of the first quarter is on Friday, and the year has been moving so quickly, I've had a hard time keeping up with my blogging. But no worries, I've been storing up the stories to share with all of you!

We had a field trip to Oregon Dairy this month, and the students learned some very interesting things. Although the students may have gotten a little mixed up with some of their facts:

The mother cows have 1 calf a month.
A cow gives 90 gallons of milk every day.
Miss Weaver works at the delly at Oregon Dairy. 

And perhaps the most interesting "fact" learned on a field trip:

The students also wrote "How-to" paragraphs this month. They each chose something they enjoy doing and explained how to do it in a paragraph. Well, in most cases... One boy couldn't think of anything he likes to do to write about. So I told him he could write about a chore he does. He wrote about washing the car and ended by saying, "Finally, you're done, and now you can go relax and maybe you'll get paid."

One of the categories on the rubric I use to grade these paragraphs says, "Steps could easily be followed." I'm thinking I may have to change that when I read sentences like these from How to Make an Elevator: "First, screw the piece of 8 feet of wood to a high tree. Screw is strong."

You also may enjoy their pictures they created to go along with the paragraphs. (Art class this was not, and I believe some students interpreted, "Your picture should be colorful" as "I need a rainbow.")

Doesn't this make you want to play the game? 

How to Build a Tree House

How to Make a Volcano

How to Wake-board

How to Wash a Horse

How to Make Scrambled Eggs

How to Drive a Four-Wheeler

How to Take Care of a Pet
("Last, if you want to, you can have lots of fun with it.")

We like to take brain breaks in third grade, especially in the afternoons between Reading and Math. (They're sure to let me know when we've gone days without a brain break.) Many of them have a favorite brain break - going to the beach.  I stole this one from one of my high school gym teachers. The students lie on the floor and imagine they are at the beach. I've even started putting up a video of a beach with waves and other beach sounds. One day they asked me, "Why didn't you go to the beach?" I wish I could.

In Science, we've been learning about warm-blooded animals, and how although humans have some of the same characteristics, we are not animals because we are created in God's image. One question on their worksheet asked "Are humans animals? Why?" One student answered, "No. Because God made us in the U.S.A."

Lastly, it's very evident that we are in election season. (If you don't think kids are listening to the adults around them, think again!) One day I overheard this conversation between two girls:
"The United States is not the world."
"I know, but if she wins, she'll rule the world!"

This week I asked students to write a spelling word that rhymes with "sense." One student wrote, "Trump/Pence." (Rhyming word, yes. Spelling word, no.)

Today we learned about Rome and how one of the founders of Rome built a wall around it. I heard some students discussing how he was like Donald Trump, building a wall.

Horse funerals and instincts

I was feeling a little stressed out today, and it's like God knows when I need to relax and smile. I was reading to the students about Alexander the Great, and I got to the part where his horse died and they had a funeral for it. As I was showing the picture of the dead horse being paraded through the streets, one of the boys started humming the tune to "Here comes the bride..." Wrong ceremony, buddy.

I also found an informative note on my desk today saying, "Annie got a crush on Bobby." (Don't worry; the names have been changed to protect little Annie's identity!)

Last week I was in the bathroom, unbeknownst to two of my girls who were also using the bathroom. The rest of the class was in art class, and I overheard one of them say, "I don't want to miss art, so I'm not going to wash my hands!" But I feel very strongly about hand-washing, so I piped up, "Oh, no, you need to wash your hands!" (Surprise! The teacher's in the bathroom!)

Another day I was having a conversation with one of the boys about how he shouldn't be talking during class. He said, "I hate to bring him into this sentence, but..." and went on to explain that he was talking because another boy had asked him a question. I told him it's still his responsibility to not talk, and he doesn't have to answer a question. "But I have an instinct to answer when someone asks me a question."

Some days it's just impossible to stay too serious.

Mennonite Lions

We are an eighth of the way through the school year!  It feels like I'm really getting to know my students and that (maybe) we're starting to settle into some routines. As busy as they keep me, I enjoy many little moments throughout our days together.

I rearranged the students' desks into groups and let them choose group names. One group chose Mountain Lions, but another student thought they were the Mennonite Lions.

Many of these little boats have been popping up all over the place. I'm trying not to let my control-freak tendencies make them disappear.

One day I waited outside the bathroom for some boys who were taking incredibly long. When they finally emerged and I asked what was going on, they excitedly described the new lights and the way they looked in the mirror.

One girl had to stay in from recess to finish some work, and eventually the other students in the room went out to recess and she was the only one left. She told me, "I feel like I'm stuck in here, like a prisoner."

On a reading worksheet, the students were supposed to explain whistling and how to whistle. This always gets interesting responses.
     "It's fun, is it not?"
     "First make your mouth look like a fish blowing bubbles."
     "Humans have been trying to do it for years. The first person to discover this was Albert Einstein." (When he read that aloud to the class, I couldn't stop from laughing and asked him how he knew that.
"Maybe it was the caveman or George Washington.")

Another student's sentence answering a question about pets: "I have 2 cats, guppies, and dog nabers [neighbors]. I mean my nabers have dogs."

These days there are so many reasons why I find myself pausing in the middle of a lesson to redirect a student. Today was the first time I had to give a kid "the look" because he had a pencil taped to his chin.

And to sum it all up, the weather we've been having lately is perfect. One of my students agrees. As we walked outside this morning, he exclaimed, "It's so nice out here! It's cold and it's warm."

Entertainment & encouragement

I believe this year is going to be entertaining, at the very least.  There are a few snapshots from the past week that I managed to remember:

• One girl gave me a bookmark that came with her book cover. She spent some time explaining why she was giving it to me and ended by saying, "I didn't think it looked very nice, so I decided to give it to you." 
• I overheard one student coming into the classroom muttering, "I'm a thirsty centipede robot." 
• At the end of the day on Tuesday (after coming back from Labor Day weekend), I was having the students write their homework assignment on their calendars, and one boy asked, "Is it Friday?" 
• During a Language lesson, a few students kept giggling, but I couldn't figure out why. Turns out they find the word "caret" amusing. 
• And this: 

I spent a lot of the week trying to make my expectations clear and enforce them, and it felt like I wasn't being a very nice teacher. So these little notes I found along the way were so special and encouraging. 

To top off a long week, I was so happy to find these two sweet notes in my mailbox on Friday afternoon. 

Miss Weaver, I like having you for a teacher. But I do not like math. Can you make math funner. and I do not like science. Can you make science more interesting.

Dear Miss Weaver, Thanks for being a kind and loving teacher to me. I like spelling it is fun we should do it more often. I'm glad your birthday is soon coming up. You are a very funny teacher that's what I like about you. 

A few favorite things

Last week I had my students fill out a sheet of their favorite things. These are a few that made me smile.

book:  Anne from Green Gables

       dictionary

holiday: Christmas Eve

         Black Friday

sports team: USA  

(Obviously this is a summer Olympics year.)

season: Math 

(Rejoice, math teachers! Math is apparently a season. And a favorite one at that.)

food: clams

      shrimp 

(When I was in third grade, I don't think I even knew you could eat clams or shrimp. Which is probably why I don't like them now.)

hobby: the beach 

(I never thought of counting the beach as my hobby, but I think I will!)

set the table, clean the dish washer, feed the cats 

(Her mom must love this!)

sitting around 

(I never thought I'd see a third grade boy whose favorite hobby is sitting around.)

And now for two of my favorite things from the week so far: 

Folded up and handed to me this morning 

Piles

If my word for the beginning of the week was checklists (Checklists and Pinterest projects), my word for the end of the week is piles. After school yesterday I stared at my piles for awhile, not knowing where to start.

So I took a big pile home with me.

Despite the piles and exhaustion, it's been a good first week with the kids! They have so much energy and so many words to say (well, at least some of them). As I was thinking about my seating chart, this image came to mind:

I'm pretty sure that's what some of my kids are thinking.

I'm so blessed to work with such supportive families and parents. I already received a couple of gift cards for food, many encouraging notes, and a few handmade treasures. :)

Yesterday at lunch time, one boy said to me, "You're supposed to say, 'Who needs milk?' and then they raise their hands." It's good to know someone is here to help me if I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do.

Checklists and Pinterest projects

There's no denying it; school begins tomorrow! I've told people that since this is my seventh year teaching, I'm pretty much good to go with my checklist of to-do items for the beginning of the year. Essentially, I'm a pro at this by now. Or so I thought. I forgot just how long that checklist is, and then on top of that, I always find new Pinterest projects that I decide my classroom has to have in order for it to function properly. (Case in point:)

Today I couldn't stand the messiness of my haggard-looking list any longer, so I made a new one. When I looked at my clean, neat, newly-typed, but, once again, long list, I remembered what my summer self forgets - a teacher's work is never done, and there's always a to-do list somewhere.

But even though all my items are not checked off, my classroom is beautiful, and I am excited to meet my 26 new third graders tomorrow morning!

Ahh, summer

And it's another last day of school. There are many things to think about and many emotions to feel. These are forefront in my mind:

And here are a few pictures of my own.

August:

May:

I had this girl clean out her desk a couple of weeks ago, and it still looked like this. Yesterday I made all the students take all of their things home except a pencil and a folder. She literally had her backpack stuffed full, plus two large bags full of stuff, plus a lunchbox and a few other miscellaneous items to carry. She wanted to leave some it there, and I said, "Nope! It all has to go today." Well, today, she showed up with a full backpack. I said, "Missy, what is in your backpack?" "Stuff." *cheesy grin*

As I reflected over the year, I really had a good year. My students were so cooperative, and they learned so much! I will miss them. They left me with a few goodbyes that I will treasure. :)

Haphazard hodgepodge

I've been meaning to write for months. As is evident by my notes piling up. Literally.

I don't even know what some of my own jotted notes mean. So this is going to be a haphazard hodgepodge of stories. Bear with me.

We'll start with some writing samples.

One girl wrote that her grandma makes malicious cookies. Eventually, I convinced her that the word she was looking for was delicious. But now when I see the word malicious, I'll always think cookies.

When writing sentences with vocabulary words, I always remind my students to make sure that I can tell they understand what the word means. One girl wrote: I hate molasses, that thick, sweet, dark thing. 

In March, I had them write in their journals about spring.

- I do not like spring since you need to wear shoes. 
- I'm looking forward to being in the woods with my dog. 
- I like spring because it's the perfect weather to have some lemonade and just chill.


On a reading worksheet, they wrote about sounds.

Sounds that might make you feel sleepy or content:
- Mom and Dad talking politics. 
- a donkey neighing 

Sounds that make you feel happy or excited:
- gun shots 


And this is possibly my favorite journal entry ever.

Imagine you had a hundred dollars, but you could not keep it. You had to give it away to a person or charity. Who would you give it to? What would you want them to do with it?  

If I had to give a hundred dollars to someone, I would give it to my mom and dad when they are old and in a house for old people. I would give it to them and tell them to go buy a house, job, car, and a camper so they could live in a house not a house for old people. The end. 

And  now the things they say.

• "Adam is eventually sick."
• Girl who is acting grumpy: "I fell out of my bed! So I had to wake up." 
• Boy, upon hearing the year 1999: "I think my dad was alive then!" 
• To me, the day after a substitute teacher was in for me: "I feel a little bit better acting bad for my mom than for a teacher. Especially a substitute teacher." 
• In the morning, before beginning achievement tests: "Can I get my pillow from my backpack, for when I'm finished with the tests?" 
• Listening in as I re-explained directions on a spelling page to another student: "I don't think he tried real hard." 
• And today, as a reminder for how they should be standing on the risers for the spring program, I asked, "Where are your toes?"  Without missing a beat: "They're on my feet!" 

Distractions & smiles

My students have been making me smile. It's amazing what I overhear when I just listen in on their conversations. I hear about everything from their dads' motorcycles to Lady Gaga's red eye shadow to how we're going to get six feet of snow on Friday. Yesterday as I was listening to them work in groups, one of the girls must have told the boy she was working with that he spelled Elisha's name wrong. His reply (instead of erasing and correcting):"Well, I'll spell the next one right hopefully."

Sometimes it's hard to stay on task, but at least it makes me smile. As I mentioned before (in Problem Solving), during class they sometimes raise their hands to tell me problems that I'm not quite sure how to respond to. Here are some new examples:

"My socks are wet."
"I got a drink from the water fountain, and water went up my nose, and now it kind of burns." 

Yesterday, we were looking at vocabulary words for our reading story. We were discussing the word treatment. One of the boys began to have a coughing fit and may have made a little more commotion than necessary and became the center of the class's attention. One of the girls piped up, "Do you need a treatment?"

The story we've been reading is about a girl who had a pet boa constrictor at home. She had to figure out a way to get it to the garage without a group of ladies seeing it. The students brainstormed some ways she could do this, and one of the ideas was for her to wear it like a belt. (None of the students thought their moms would allow them to have a pet snake at home, although many of them would like to.)

Later in the day in science class, I instructed them to keep their books closed on their desks while we reviewed the chapter. One of the girls raised her hand, not to answer a question, but to ask me how the 3 on the ant farm on the cover of their science books stays there.

As we were talking about water vapor, another girl raised her hand and said, "So that's why you're wearing your glasses, because there's water vapor in the air!" Another girl informed me she likes to do science "experiences" at home.

Today, close to the end of the day, one of the girls mentioned that the day seemed so long. I asked the rest of the class if they thought so, too, and some agreed. One girl said, "Because it's raining!" The rest of us looked outside at the sun shining and looked back at her. She continued, "When it's raining, it feels long." We looked outside again. "But it's not raining," I told her. However, they were inside all day. Some other teachers thought maybe I need to open the blinds wider.

A great Valentine's Day, Amen

On Friday, I gave my students a choice of several Valentine's Day prompts to write about. I'll share with you some excerpts. I promise this is verbatim (with just a few spelling and grammar corrections).

Make a list of ways you can show love for your family members. 

Saying thank you for the meal to your mom, put away your laundry without being asked, wash the table with a table cloth, draw a picture for them that says Happy Valentine’s Day! 

Make a list of people who love you and tell how you know they love you. 

I can tell when they kiss, hug me, tell me that they love me because they care and that they do what is best for me so that is the only, only, only family I will have. 

Describe the best Valentine's Day you've ever had. 

This Valentine’s Day is the best… Things couldn’t be better. And besides, I’m eight now, what could happen?

Tell what this verse means in your own words: "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." -1 Corinthians 13:7

God never fails on us. And his love never leaves us. And he will never leave our side. 

It means love lasts forever and ever. Love from God helps us to know him better. On Valentine’s Day we celebrate love and how powerful it is. So if you love God you will have a great Valentine’s Day, Amen.

And I'm not quite sure which prompt this little guy was answering.

I can be thankful for my food that I have because my mom makes pretty good food! The only thing I don’t like about my mom’s food is that she doesn’t make the stuff I want but what you usually eat, cheese hot dogs. And they are really, really good because they are from John F. Martin. Last night she made tacos which I don’t like. But the one night she made pretty good chicken with beans, noodles, and baked beans and it was pretty good. And then she had really good ham steak with all kinds of stuff. The end. 

And of course I have to share a few pictures of our adorable, overflowing creatures.

Problem solving

After our short snow week, this past week we were able to get back into our normal routine. However, the boy who predicted three feet of snow has since been praying for more snow.

I have concluded that at least 25% of a teacher's job is problem solving.

I can't find my February calendar.
My magnet isn't on the board.
I can't find my packet.
I can't get my clementine peeled.
How long should I put this in the microwave?
I don't have a spoon in my lunch.
I accidentally put glue on the pattern.
I lost my sticker chart.
I don't know where my coat is.  

I would love to say that I always respond patiently and helpfully. However, there are times when a sigh escapes my mouth, and times when I walk away without immediately answering, and times when I stare blankly, thinking, "What would you like me to do about that?"

I only have one sandwich in my lunch.

One day this week, one of the girls asked me if she could tell the class something. I agreed, and she proceeded to ask the class how many of them would like to take a ride in an airplane with her dad. I told her that she better talk to her dad about that before she starts making plans. The next day, she says to the class, "My dad says he can't take you for a ride in the airplane. He sends his apologies."

The class was doing a good job yesterday, so I said, "I'll give you some marbles" (in the marble jar).

Student: Seven!
Me: No, I said some.
Student: My sister says some means seven. 

Report card

Last Tuesday morning, one boy entered the classroom excitedly chatting about the three feet of snow we'd be getting over the weekend. Some of the other students disagreed with him about the amount, to which he replied, "Yes we are! Two feet of snow on Friday and one foot on Saturday."
I said, "It's too early! They don't know yet!"
His reply made me laugh. "It's better to hope than to doubt!"
He sure told me... although we were hoping for different things. But I'm happy for him that he at least got two feet of snow!

I did something risky on Friday. Since I handed out their report cards, I decided it was only fair for them to give me a report card too, so I could see how I'm doing. It seems like I have some things to work on. Of course there are some things they wish they could change about third grade that I have no power to change (or that I will choose not to):

Art every day and no science
No homework
More gym
That I could be taller 

But I will have to seek some clarification for some of the suggestions.

How could I be a better teacher?

By being a little bit more senceable. (Did she mean sensitive? Or am I really not very sensible in her eyes?)
Less talking (Haha! I wish!)

And then there were sweet responses such as this one:

You are a good teacher. We will miss you. I love you, Miss Weaver. (I guess she's already thinking about the end of the year.)

40 hours of downtime

We are officially half way through the school year, which is always unbelievable to me. I'm also having a hard time remembering that we are now in the year 2016. The moment one boy walked into the classroom on the first day back from Christmas break, he said, "You have January 4, 2015 on the board." This happened more than once. And just yesterday, one of the boys brought me his birthday certificate where I had also written 2015. Luckily, it's pretty easy to change a 5 to a 6. And I have people keeping me on track.

I'm absolutely loving this year. It's so exciting to see how much the students are learning and progressing. We still have plenty to learn in the coming half of a year. Of course, things like multiplication and division and capital cursive letters. But there are a few other things to work on as well.

I'm still reminding the students that only water is acceptable at their desks throughout the day... not tea, not soda, not a huge bottle of Gatorade. Water with lemon is permissible, but snacking on your lemons from your water bottle is not.

Some of them also need continual reminders to not call out in class, especially during a test. Yesterday during the spelling test, one girl asked if the word was "disobey" or "disobeyed." I answered, and she went on to spell "disobeyed," exclaiming as she did, "Hey! The word 'eye' is in it!... Oops."

And of course, telling time and counting hours is always hard. The school newspaper staff did a survey this week, asking the students how much time they spent daily on various activities. One girl marked that she had 40 hours of downtime each day. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: You can't have 40 hours a day-
Girl, interrupting: Yes, I do! I have lots of free time.
Me (trying so hard to hold in my laughter): No, you can't! There are only 24 hours in a day!
Girl: But I do! I have so much time.
Me (with a hint of frustration and failing to hold in the laughter): You don't understand. From the time you get up in the morning until the next morning is only 24 hours! You can't have 40 hours of anything in one day. 

I didn't even go into how much time she spends sleeping and eating and at school. She grudgingly took the paper and changed her answer. I walked away, so as not to hover and create more stress, but I could tell from the way she was watching me that it was still probably not accurate. Sure enough... now she only has 24 hours of free time a day.

One battle at a time, I'm excited to see what the second half of the year holds!