A funny atmosphere

This month's questions:

"Did the slave owners know about the Underground Railroad?"
"David said he wouldn't use a sword to kill Goliath, so why did he?"
"The story says Abraham looked up and saw a ram for a sacrifice. How did Abraham pick up the ram?"
"How do mushrooms and worms break down dead things?"
"Why did they cover tombs with stones?"

My college classes did not prepare me for this.

They also did not prepare me for all the times my students would make me laugh. Not even just the Aw, you're a cute little kid kind of laughing, but laughter due to genuine amusement.

Like the time a student brought in a solar system model and plopped it on his desk (it did not stay there long). And then when a teacher came into the room and commented on the nice, productive atmosphere and another student, looking a little confused, pointed to the solar system (now on the shelf in the back of the room) and said, "There's an atmosphere over there!"

And the time when I told the students they'd have to take their chairs along to the assembly in the gym, and one student wanted to carry my chair down for me... and then clarified that he would take my rocking chair, while he demonstrated rocking in comfort at the assembly.

Or yesterday when the hot lunch consisted of chocolate chip pancakes with syrup, donuts, and chocolate milk, and one boy held out his hand, which held a donut hole, and asked, "Is my hand shaking because I ate so much sugar?"

And then today in math class as we were doing a probability demonstration, pulling red and green tiles out of a bag, one boy decided it could use some commentary. (Because somehow even the most mundane tasks become competitive and full of suspense.) "Red comes out ahead. Kevin dives into the bag - and - oh no! Out comes a green!" (I can't even mimic how truly entertaining it was to me.)

And of course there are the conversations I overhear, like this one, while they were watching Homeward Bound for their reward:
Worried and concerned student: "Is he dead?"
Experienced and carefree student: "It's a movie. Of course he's not dead."

Finally, there are those conversations I have with the students, sometimes just to entertain myself more than anything. Like yesterday when I heard two boys talking about another boy.
"Freddy likes every girl in the class!"
Me (in my most cheerful teacher voice): "I hope so! You're supposed to like all your classmates!"
First earnest and sincere boy, kindly explaining to me: "There are two kinds of like."
I just smiled, which did not satisfy.
Second earnest and sincere boy: "It's true!"
I couldn't help but giggle as I assured them, "I know," and walked away.

Give thanks for everything

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~Ephesians 5:20

Right now it is so easy to give thanks to God. He has blessed me abundantly.

I am thankful for grateful and creative students.

What has God done for you that you are thankful for?
"I’m thankful to be free that we can worship God without fighting."
"giving me a baby sister"
"He gave us color in the world so it would not be all black and white."

I am thankful for moms who make Thanksgiving turkeys for our snack. 

I am thankful for dedicated parents who make my work load way easier!

I am thankful for surprise gifts from students and their parents just to stay "thank you." 

I am thankful for students and parents who know me well! 

I am thankful for kind notes from sweet students.

I am thankful that we still have six more months of school together!

Terrifying rules, layers of coats, and lots of questions

I am continuing to enjoy my class, and they are continuing to keep me on my toes!

I seem to give daily reminders about there being no whistling in the classroom, to which I heard a student reply one time, "That is a terrifying rule."

Another rule I'm quite insistent about is washing our hands before lunch. One student sometimes thinks he can get away without it. Our conversation went like this one day:
"Billy, please wash your hands."
On his way back to his seat, I hear him muttering, "That's what I call washing your hands."
"Billy, did you use soap?"
"No."
"Please go back and use soap. That's what I call washing your hands."

We all have been adjusting to the colder weather. Some have a harder time than others. One boy wore five sweatshirts one day, four layers another day, and on his way out to recess one time was trying to put a coat on top of a coat. He needed a little assistance. Later that day, there were three coats scattered all around his desk.

One student decided to clean out his backpack at the end of the day. Right after I asked him what he was doing, he pulled out a bag of moldy grapes from the side pocket. Amidst my exclamations of "Ew!" and "Gross!" he says "How did that get there? I don't remember putting them there!"

The students are doing a great job writing in complete sentences. However, if you were to read some of their writing, you might have a hard time deciphering some words. For example:

jmastexe
egl
draffe
junkell 

Any guesses?

gymnastics
ankle
giraffe
jungle 

They continue to ask questions that cause me to stop and think and/or scratch my head and admit I don't know and/or run to my laptop and scramble to find the answer.

As we read a book about Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii:
"If it's a volcano, couldn't they just see the hole in the top?"
"Are there people living close by now?"
"What if it erupts now?" 
"How will people get away?"

As we read about plants in the science textbook:
"What about grass? Does it have roots?"
"What if there is a hole in the tree trunk? How does it get the nutrients it needs to stay alive?"

In social studies, we have been doing a chant with motions to help students remember people and vocabulary. To show that Cleopatra was married to Mark Antony, one boy suggested making a heart shape with both hands. 💓

The students' marble jar is steadily being filled. Some days I forget to give them marbles, even when they've been doing a great job. Lately, however, when I give them a couple marbles, they've been appealing for more, listing all the times throughout the day they did a good job. Most of the time, they convince me. :) I see a reward in the near future!

Just because it's school

A month ago I was preparing to meet my new students. It's been a lovely month, and I'm so glad I get to be part of their lives! I'm truly excited for the rest of the school year. 

Welcome to 3rd grade! 

I knew it was going to be good when I read what they were excited about for school this year: 

"I am happy to learn stuff."

"I can't wait until we have reading groups." 

"Homwrk" (Spelling homework, maybe?)

"Just because it's school." 

I've also overheard quite a few comments that made me smile. 

Squinting at the schedule on the board: "Next is recess... We are having fun all day." 

After singing a group prayer for lunch: "That song is not my taste."

"My mom, sadly, remembered about my lunch today." (He was hoping to have others share the best parts of their lunches with him.)

And then there were the comments directed to me. 

"My underwear are red." ("I don't need to know that.")

Same student another day: "I don't need pajamas because I just wear my underwear to bed." ("I don't need to know that.")

Another student, when asked why he was walking around in stocking feet: "I like taking my shoes off."

While reading Mr. Popper's Penguins today, during the part when Mr. Popper couldn't tell Captain Cook and Greta apart: "Couldn't he just read a book about the difference between a boy and a girl penguin?" (I mumbled something about them looking very much alike.)

A little dramatic, maybe...

I've also been asked questions about whether invertebrates have blood, where one could find more information about Sparta, and various other questions I wasn't able to answer very well. 

This class is going to keep me on my toes! 

Tomorrow is a new day

I know we say this every year, but every year it is true. It is unfathomable that tomorrow is the first day of school. What happened to summer? After feverishly working for the past week to get my classroom in order, I still can't quite believe that tomorrow morning at 8:15, 20 little humans will be walking into my room expecting me to lead them.

Having said that, there is something about new beginnings that I love. To borrow a quote from Anne of Green Gables, “Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it... yet.”

These are a few of my favorite things about a new school year, before the students set foot in the classroom:

• stacks of books
• freshly laminated name tags
• a clean white board
• sharp pencils
• empty notebooks 
• straight rows of desks
• a colorful, organized schedule 
• completed (almost) checklists 
• new markers 

But nothing compares to my favorite things about a new school year, after the students set foot in the classroom: 

• the nervous and excited chatter of a first day
• broken pencil tips
• eraser dirt 
• hand-drawn pictures
• dull crayons
• crooked desks
• scattered supplies 
• sweet notes from students 
• laughter 

An empty classroom, while organized and clean and neat, is nothing compared to seeing the evidence of life, of creativity, of God's very own image-bearers, placed into my care. It will truly be a privilege to live life with these 20 children for the next nine months. 

A big ride

There are two and a half hours left of the school year, and this teacher is exhausted and ready for some rest. The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of special activities, summer birthday treats, research report presentations and costumes, lots of noise and talking, reminders to myself to take deep breaths, and a fine layer of glitter coating the classroom from one girl's poster.

This year has not been easy, but I still find myself feeling melancholy over the end of the year. As I reflect back over the year, I realize there are many moments I could have and should have been a better teacher.

I definitely have had my fair share of teacher fails. Like the time I had a student go out in the hallway to finish an assignment and I completely forgot about her for the entire reading lesson... Oops! Or the time that one student was eating Nutella with a spoon during class. Or just this week when I found out from another teacher that the girls in my class were purposefully putting glitter (from the aforementioned poster) on their faces and in their hair.

Sometimes I think I picked the wrong battles to fight. (But once I picked a battle, I needed to win.) Sometimes I was too impatient. Sometimes I didn't show my students how much I cared about them. Sometimes students didn't learn what they were supposed to learn.

Despite all of my fails, though, God's grace and faithfulness have seen us through, and my students are ready to graduate from third grade.

I asked my students to fill out a survey, and I was proud of them for taking it seriously and giving me honest feedback. And I thought you might appreciate some of their responses as well.

What is one thing Miss Weaver did to show she cared about you? 

• Helped me with my work 
• Said "you almost got it" when I was doing a paper
• She let me take a piece of pizza home from school. 
• Spent money to give us Christmas gifts
• When you say you are hurt and she puts a band-aid on you. 
• If someone doesn’t have an eraser she gives it to us.
• When I raised my hand she came to me. 

I'm surprised at the simplicity of some of these answers. Take heart, teachers and parents! It's the small things we do every day that show our children we love them. 

What advice do you have for next year's third graders? 

I like the straightforwardness of some of their answers: (So they have been listening to me repeat these things all year long.)

• Listen and stay in your seat. 
• Be good and don’t fight. 

The essence of the whole year, I guess:

• If you behave she will be nice, but if you disobey she will get strict.
• A couple of times she gets a little strict sometimes.

These just make my teacher heart happy: 

• Be prepared to have a lot harder work.
• Get ready to learn a lot. 
• Try to make a good relationship with the teacher.
• Be calmer. 
• You should always do your best work because one time I got a point taken off because of sloppiness.
• Get ready! You’re in for a big ride. 

It has been a "big ride." As always, I'm excited to see how God continues to work in their lives, because thankfully third grade is not the end of the ride! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

I had my students color a card:

I instructed them to write a note to their moms on the inside of the card, telling why they'd pick their moms. Some of their notes were so sweet.

“I’ll pick you because you’re wise, pretty, and nice.”

“You are smart, funny, and fun.” 

“Because you are the prettiest!”

“I love you so much that my heart is going to break.” 

Some students took the flower analogy a little too literally, maybe.

“I love you, Mom, and there’s no one else I’d want to smell. Well I can’t really smell you but you know.” 

And this:

I am so thankful to my mom, for many reasons. This year I'm particularly thankful for her many hours volunteering in my classroom. She's listened to hundreds of Bible verses, graded thousands of papers (and spelling books!), helped multitudes of students make corrections, and generally just helped me keep my sanity. Thank you, Mom! You are amazing!

If you still need a quick, easy card for your mom, you can grab one here. https://www.etsy.com/listing/528229969/mothers-day-coloring-card-digital?ref=shop_home_active_7

And tell her why you'd pick her. :)

Three more Fridays

I don't even know where to start. Today was the fourth to last Friday of the school year. (Yes, I'm counting. Everyone's counting.) The day started with students exclaiming over ALL THE ANTS crawling out of a student's BACKPACK. Later in the day, one girl came and quietly informed me about all the ants (as if I hadn't heard the loud clamor in the morning).  For the record, I only saw one ant.

One student handed in his spelling test folded up in a little square.

In reading class, when asked to write a description of someone they know, one boy wrote about Donald Trump (duck face, weird hair) and another wrote about "the bane of his existence" (or, um, "the bain of my egsistance").

A few weeks ago (since I've been slacking on the writing), we learned about King Josiah in Bible class. The students wrote about what they would change if they were in charge of the country. Most students wrote about getting rid of drugs, taking care of the homeless, and treating everyone fairly. However, there were a few more creative responses:

• "Make the boys go to school and make sure all schools had a swimming pool."
• "I would look after my people. Boys can’t go in girls’ rooms. Girls can’t go in boys’ rooms." 
• "Sit and do nothing and read Flat Stanley and color."

Personally, I'm with the last student. Doesn't that sound nice? Sit and do nothing and read and color.

If I hadn't recorded it, I never would have remembered this conversation, but it's just an example of one of the many typical conversations I have on an average day:

Me: “Is there a reason you two boys were crouching in the corner instead of standing in line?”
Student A: “I don’t know.”
Student B: *Shrugs shoulders*
Student A: “Well, one reason is because it’s warm.”
Me: “Would you rather crouch in the warm corner than go to recess?”
Students: “No.” 

We love our grandparents

It's been too long since I've written. We are just plugging along, with only a quarter of the year left! Currently we are preparing for Grandparents' Day. The students have written some very nice pieces to give to their grandparents, and as always, I like to share some of the highlights with you. After reading all of their writing, it is evident to me that grandparents are very special people, and we love them very much! And also, grandparents give lots of candy!

Grandpas are for...

• letting you mow the lawn.
• fixing my stuff.
• making you laugh.
• setting up remote control trains.
• knowledge.
• chocolate. They’ll let you have two or three pieces of it.
• giving black licorice.
• letting you keep their dog.
• spoiling me.
• giving you big bear hugs.
• watching softball games with.
• getting up early and on Sundays they will take a little nap.
• throwing the old pigskin around or at least that’s what most grandpas call it. I usually just call it a football.
• sharing sandwiches.
• helping me when I try to make my own rock collection and ant collection too.
• letting me play on his iPad.
• giving you the last of the dessert.
• watching train movies because he has a lot of them.
• model trains to see if they work alright.
• eating pizza.

Grandmas are for... 

• buying stuff.
• helping to make you happy.
• making you smile.
• letting me play with old toys.
• good memories.
• letting you write secret notes to them.
• giving you a discount when you don’t have enough money.
• taking you mini golfing and taking you to Burger King and McDonald’s.
• letting you watch movies when you are bored.
• letting you stay up late.
• screaming contests.
• licking the bowl after making chocolate chip cookies.

It's also evident that one of the most special things about grandmas are the food that they make! 

• Grandmas are for making yummy food.
• They bake good bars. They bake good brownies. They bake good bread. They bake good cakes. They make good meals.
• Grandmas are for cookies, apple pies, peach pies, vanilla pies, shoofly pies.

Reflections & dreams

We are over halfway through the year, and I asked my students to reflect and to write in their journals about what they like and don't like about school and what they would change if they were the teacher. These are some of their responses:

"I like lunch because I eat."

"I dislike math and Spanish because Spanish makes my eyes hurt and math makes my head hurt."

"I don't like Spanish because I think knowing one language is good enough." 

"I like everything about school because school is a place where you can start a great future for yourself."

Since Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we read some books and talked about his dream. I asked students to write about dreams that they have. The responses varied greatly. Dreams included having lots of puppies, getting more American Girl dolls, getting to World 7 on Mario Brothers, becoming a Lego builder, being a principal, being a runner in the Olympics, being a motocross winner like Jonny Walker, and being "a police." One student dreams of becoming an artist and painting the Eiffel Tower "and all other famous places," as well as animals in Canada. One student wrote about an actual dream he had and ended by saying, "Then I woke up." Here are a few more excerpts:

“I want to become a rich millionaire and give money to poor people. I would also like to invent time travel. And end world hunger. I would also like to save all animals who want to be adopted. And I would stop animal cruelty.” 

“I want to go to college for football. I want to quit school now.” 

“I have a dream to be a mom. I had good training from my mom. You don’t have to go to college. To raise money I will do jobs like a waitress or a cashier. I think it’s the best job in the world.” 

“I hope to be as good as a teacher like Miss Weaver”

“I dream that I could be a teacher. Because they get lots of gifts… I think it would be easy to be a teacher." 
(She went on to ask me if it is, in fact, easy.)