Making cents

I've been kindly reminded that I haven't written in a while... It's not for a lack of interesting students. Unfortunately, in the midst of keeping track of 30 of them (or trying to), I sometimes forget to jot down a note when one of them does something cute or funny. But these are some of the stories I've managed to remember.

I gave the class a journal writing assignment to write down the best birthday gift they'd ever gotten. There were the typical responses one would expect from third graders: Legos, dolls, toy pets, and dolls and toy pets that talk and walk and meow and bark. One student's favorite gift was a Holy Bible, and a couple girls received baby brothers! Perhaps the most interesting favorite gift was a knife and a set of utensils. I love the variety! 

I continue to receive lots of notes and drawings from my sweet girls. But I was pleasantly surprised to find this in my mailbox from one of my rough-and-tumble boys:

I think I mentioned before that this class laughs at my jokes. They even laugh when I don't realize I made a joke. We were going over the answer to a math problem, and I asked "Does that make sense?" After a pause, I heard giggles throughout the room. I thought I was missing something that someone was doing. "What's so funny?" I asked. Finally, one of the boys piped up, "The answer was seven cents, and you asked, 'Does that make sense?'" Haha, clever class I have! 

Reasons for smiling

Some of my reasons for smiling this week: 

One of the sentences on their spelling homework was:

"Noah walked with God and was _____."

They had to choose the word "bright" or "upright" to fit into the sentence. My aide came to me and said, "Well, half of the class thinks Noah was bright." We counted it right. I mean, I think it takes a pretty bright man to build a giant ark.

On another assignment, they had to write directions for whistling. Here are some of my favorite excerpts.

"First make a hole in your mouth." 

"You put your lips in a circle like you kiss someone on the cheek."  

"First shape your mouth like you're going to kiss someone, then blow through the kiss." 

"If you blow wildly you are not going to get anywhere." 

7 things to know before becoming a teacher

If any of you out there are thinking about becoming an elementary school teacher, there are a few things you should know.

1. Your students will love to come to the board for any purpose, and they know how to strongly express their disappointment when they're not chosen.

2. You will get to know the unique personality of each student. For example, when you set the timer for break so they know when to be back in their seats, there will be some who wait until the last possible second, while others, to be on the safe side, are in their seats with a couple minutes left.

3. It's quite easy to amaze your students... Bubbles on the screensaver never get old... Laminating is a wonder that transforms a boring old name tag into something truly wondrous.

4. Every day, your students give you another reason to smile, whether it's the girl that raises her hand and asks, "May I use the facilities?" or the boy who writes this opinion sentence on his worksheet: "I love pizza, I repeat, I love pizza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Or it may even be when a student misinterprets directions:

5. You will run out of time to hear everyone's stories. In Science class, when one student shares a story about a reptile, suddenly there are 29 more stories waiting to be told.

6. You will also run out of space to exhibit all their displays of affection for you.

                    (You may also start receiving snow flakes in September.)

7. Children know how to make you feel loved.

Alive and well

A wise colleague told me that if children are noisy, that means they are alive and well. I'm happy to report that my students are alive and well. Although I have a feeling the noise level may have something to do with the number of students in the classroom. To give you an idea, this was my class last year:

And this is my class this year:

Sometimes, the classroom feels a little like that tree looks: full and overflowing. But the students are doing very well, and I'm thoroughly enjoying this class. The middle of last week, one student asked me when we're going to start using the behavior chart. She hadn't realized it started on day one. :)

So maybe it's not fair of me to say that they're noisy. But it turns out that students make generalizations about teachers, too. I heard one say, "That's how teachers are." (Stopping a story just when it gets to the good part.)

They're also doing well academically. I've enjoyed reading some very creative sentences in language class. For example, on one worksheet the directions said to "Pretend you are the teacher. Write a command for your students."

"You all go to the principal's office for 24 hours while I go four-wheeling." 

(When I asked if they thought it would work if I tried that, they were too distracted by the very idea of me going four-wheeling.) 

Another time they had to write an exclamatory sentence, pretending a flock of wild ducks just landed in their backyard. 

"There's some ducks out back! And sadly one bit me." 

I'm looking forward to much more entertainment!

 

A good start

When people ask me how the first two days of school went, I say, "Good!" It may sound like a generic reply, but these are the reasons why it's true: 

1. The students are already showing their eagerness for learning. 

2. A student already asked me a question about Valentine's Day. (My answer: "We'll talk about it closer to Valentine's Day.") 

3. I received my first gifts from a few sweet students.

4. My "Wall of Art" is already filling up! :) 

5. This class giggles at my jokes. 

Although I know there will be many challenges that come with having 30 students (getting all their names straight, finding a place for everyone to sit on the carpet, flipping the breaker with our two microwaves, to name a few...), I am excited for the school year. I am confident it will continue to be good, and that I'll have plenty of stories to pass on to you! 

Sweet goodbyes

I think I was just as ready for summer this year as my students.

But they almost made me cry today. They were so sweet.

They were talking about how the year flies by when they have a teacher they really like. Just to clarify, I asked, "So... did the year go fast or slow?" They assured me it went fast. For me, too. Looking back over my blog posts, just about every month, I made a comment about the year going by so fast!

I gave the students individual certificates of appreciation, and at the end, had them all clap one more time for each other. One student (the "class conversationalist") then piped up, "Let's give Miss Weaver a round of applause for being a great teacher!" They did, and I smiled and thanked them uncomfortably. But it is extra nice to be appreciated.

One boy told me he wishes he could fail third grade so he could come back next year. I also received a phone call, an email, and several cards from parents expressing their appreciation.

We ended our year by praying together. It blessed my heart to hear them thanking God for their friendships and for the good year they had in third grade and praying for a good year next year, especially as some classmates won't be returning.

Once again, I'm feeling a little sad at having to say goodbye to another group of great kids. But sad goodbyes mean that you made meaningful connections, and so I'm thankful.

We also took a moment to share what we're looking forward to about next year. Many students are looking forward to getting to know their new teacher, learning new things, and getting to sit in the bathtub which is in the fourth grade classroom. :) And I'm looking forward to the challenge of having a class double the size of this year's class.

But first... let's all have an enjoyable, relaxing summer!

6 more days

Six more days of school. 

As is evidenced by the stack of research reports on my desk. I'm proud of my students for their hard work. I emphasized that they need to write sentences in their own words, and I'm very happy to see proof that they were listening: 

"A guy named McKinley was the president." 

"She helped the Switzerland soldiers" (in the Silver War). "She met up with the Red Cross."

 "He had to go on a wheelchair." 

"She got famous because..."

"A bit later, Jefferson and Burn were going to see who was going to be president."  

It's also obvious that we're nearing the end of the year when my students start doing my job for me. Sometimes when the boys come in from recess, they can't quite let go of things that happened that they didn't like or agree with, so I'll often say, "Boys, recess is over, so you need to stop talking about it." The other day, I wasn't paying much attention to their conversation until I heard one of the girls saying, "Recess is over. Boys, recess is over."

As ready as I am for summer, it starts to feel bittersweet when I receive notes like the one I did today: