So he sat

Time is ticking away. I cannot believe it, but we only have half a quarter left of this school year!

I'll share a few of the highlights that I've managed to remember from the last month of school.

On one reading worksheet, the students had to write sentences using vocabulary words. I told them that their sentences should show me that they understand the meaning of the word, so they shouldn't write something like, "I like pastures." One girl wrote "I love the pasture." Another wrote "I like peeing. Do you?" Unfortunately, she misspelled peering. One student got creative: "The man's mustache quivered as he walked."

Students often like to share with their classmates at lunchtime. One day one of the girls was sharing about her cat. One of the boys asked her if she shot her cat. Looking absolutely shocked and dismayed, she gasped and exclaimed, "No!" The boy then proceeded to say that he's not fond of cats and other things that shocked the girls.

Last week we had roadside cleanup, when we go out in groups to clean up trash along the sides of roads as a fundraiser. In science a couple days before, we were learning about work. I said, "I'm sure some of you will tell me that roadside cleanup was a lot of work!" They loudly insisted that it would not be work, because there was no school work, and it was going to be so much fun. I just smiled and said, "Okay, we'll see."

I had three sweet girls in my group. We had a great day, but some of the comments I heard were:

"My bag is heavy!" and then another girl whispering, "Don't complain!"
"My feet hurt... but I'm having fun!"
"This is a little bit of work."

We had the pleasure of working on a road where a manure truck was making many trips back and forth. After the first couple times, the girls came up with a way to combat the smell. They yelled, "Cannon ball!", turned around, and curled up against the ground until the truck was past. I'm sure the driver was entertained.

The reward for making our fundraising goal is a half a day off school the next day. One of the boys kept insisting until the very end that he didn't want a half day off school. He changed his mind the next day though. :)

One morning this week I saw a girl carrying into the classroom a bottle of glue and a tube of glitter. Red flags and warning bells. "What are you planning on doing with that?" She replied that she wanted to make bookmarks. I was imagining glitter all over the classroom and suggested a time when she could do it, but not during class time!

I know I don't hear all the little comments that students make, and most of the time that's a good thing. But this one I caught, and although I ignored the student, I smiled inside. I was reading a book about Benjamin Franklin, and it said, "And Franklin could stand it no longer." And one of the boys commented, "So he sat."

Childlike simplicity

We can probably all use a dose of good, childlike simplicity from time to time. 

A couple of days ago, I was reading a story with the class, and it said a man "lost his bearings." Just to make sure they understood what happened, I asked what it meant. I soon realized they had no idea. They thought it meant he lost all his stuff, or that he lost his common sense, or that he got really mad. 

A conversation I overheard: 

Girl: My mom is pregnant!

Boy: When is her due date?

Girl: I don’t know… It’s either a boy or a girl.

A couple of days before the first day of spring, I asked the students to write in their journals. 

How can you tell spring is almost here?

“I know spring is almost here because I saw it on the calendar.”

What is your least favorite part about spring? 

“Parents and teachers make you keep coats on when it’s warm. :(”

“I’m tired of snow but I still want a blizzard this year.” 

Grandparents are for...

We've been preparing for Grandparents' Day next week. I read the stories "Grandpas Are For Finding Worms" and "Grandmas Are For Giving Tickles" by Harriet Ziefert. Then I had the students write their own paragraphs about their grandparents. I think they turned out pretty great! I picked out a few highlights to share with you.

Grandmas are for…
giving you a picnic in summer. 
baking good cookies.
letting you sit on their lap whenever you want.
happy times.
taking you places with your cousins.

Grandmas let you lick the spoon. 
Grandma lets you stay up late. 

Grandpas are for…
letting you use his back scratcher.
giving $20 on birthdays.
giving you kisses that tickle. 
taking naps.
wearing glasses.
sometimes coming home late for supper.
giving gum.

Grandpas are smart and have a lot of stuff. 
They let you have Tic-Tacs. 
Grandpas give you tons of snacks. 
Grandpas pick on you sometimes. 
Grandpas make grandmas happy. 

Most of all, grandpas/grandmas are for…
being grandpas
loving you
hugging 
fun
candy 

Entrepreneurs

I love my students. Sometimes they can be so cute, although I won't tell them that or they'd be embarrassed.

We've been learning about economics in social studies, and I told them I think some of them could be entrepreneurs someday.

That afternoon I saw signs like this one begin popping up all over the classroom:

One sign said, "Closed. Now hiring."

They're working together too. One boy's sign read, "Pencils for sale! See Johnny for papers."

Johnny's said, "Paper for sale $0.00"

One girl ran out of her pencil supply (high demand, I suppose, since they were free) and her sign the next day read, "Sorry closed! Good bye!"

On Monday I plan on asking some questions about profit.

It feels so much better...

I did not fall off the face of the earth, and my students did not stop coming to school, despite what it may seem like due to my lack of posts. I'll try to combine all my scribbled notes from the last month into one coherent post.

I wasn't sure I was ready to come back to school after Christmas break. I asked the students if they were ready and was answered with a mixture of cheers and groans. I heard one student say, "It feels so much better to be at school." How could I not be happy to be back after hearing that?

Over break I resupplied my prize box, and I've realized that sometimes the simplest, cheapest prizes are the favorite ones! I added some certificates that allow students to eat lunch at a table with a couple friends (instead of at their desks). This turned out to be a big hit!

My students continue to make me laugh. One girl told me that someone she knows is funny because her nose holes get bigger when she laughs. It makes me wonder what she says about me!

After learning about Martin Luther King Jr., I had them write a paragraph about their dreams. That is, after I convinced them that each of them does have dreams, stuffed somewhere deep inside of them. It was cute to read what some of them wrote. One girl wants to be "a hospital person." Another wants to travel around the world, like Canada and other places. One student is dreaming about traveling a little farther than Canada; he would like to go to Pluto or the moon.

They're creative in other subject areas as well. They've just written poems. First, we wrote a class poem together, which I think turned out pretty great.

Sunday Morning at Church

Clink! Plink!

The offering plates go by.

The pastor preaches at the pulpit.

Waa! A baby starts wailing!

I hear the preacher praying.

We sing.

Our voices ring.

Alleluia!

I noticed in their individual poems, there are a lot of wailing babies.

This class sure keeps me on my toes. One boy asked me a question about the Pythagorean Theorem. I didn't even know a third grader knew that was a thing. I guess I'll have to refer him to a high school math teacher, because I didn't know the answer. Other students wanted to know where Joan of Arc got her name from, since she was from a town not called Arc. I had to consult Wikipedia for that one. I graded their social studies tests today on the Medieval Times, and I actually had to go back and reread a few passages, because I wasn't sure if the facts they wrote were accurate. Turns out they were; they remembered more than I did!

And lastly, a few snowmen to brighten up February.

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

This quote comes from a book given to me by one of my students for Christmas:

Teaching is one of the few professions that permit love. --Theodore Roethke

Third graders are so easy to love (most days, that is). They're so easy to please. You let them watch a movie, give them a snack and a gift, and they make exclamations such as, "You're the best teacher ever!" and "This is the best day of my life!" It's such a pleasure.

All month long, we've been talking about how Jesus is our greatest gift. I know that they "know" it in their heads, and I pray that they know it, in their hearts. I had them write a paragraph about Christmas, and one boy wrote this:

I will remember the real meaning of Christmas this year because my teacher reads a book it tells the real meaning of Christmas and is a countdown.

So we finished the countdown yesterday.

Here are a few of Ann Voskamp's thoughts on the real meaning of Christmas, taken from Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. I pray that all of us can remember this truth this Christmas.

Christmas isn’t about getting something big and shiny. It’s about God’s doing whatever it takes to be with us – and our doing whatever it takes to be with Him. 

All the other love stories don’t compare to this one – because this is the truest, realest story that ever was. 

God is with us. Jesus is with us. Jesus stays with us. The Christmas candle burns hot tonight, giving its brilliant light, because Christmas goes on forever. Because we have Jesus with us – the greatest Gift of unfailing, unbeatable, unstoppable love that we can keep unwrapping all our days.

Little snippets

Here are a few snippets of my life in the third grade from the last month.

• One student told me she had a dream that I stole her family's car. And here I thought I was having a good impact.

• Math problem: "Name an object in your classroom that is about one yard in length." Several students' answers: "Tanner."  Creative answer. 

• On a Social Studies test, the students were asked to write about one of the Christian martyrs from the Early Church. One student wrote this about one of the girls we learned about: "She was weak but strong innerwords." 

• I gained a little perspective on King Josiah from the Bible when a chapel speaker asked what 8-year-old boy would like to be king, and most of the boys in my class raised their hands. 

• We've been learning about homophones. (In case you've been out of school for too long: words that sound alike but have different meanings.) I gave them sentences and they were supposed to write the correct homophone on their white boards. I said, "My hair is brown." One boy raised his hand and said, "It could be either hair/hare." (Even though he obviously knew what I meant!) I said, "No, because I said, 'My hair is...' Oh, I see what you mean." Smile. 

• Teachers don't teach just academics. One of the many things we try to teach students is manners. So when students come up to me at lunch and say, "I don't have a spoon" or "I need a spoon," I just keep looking at them until they remember to ask, "May I please have a spoon?" This week one girl corrected herself before even finishing her first sentence. :) 

• I walked over to two boys who were standing at the mailboxes, because I suspected something fishy going on. My suspicions were confirmed when immediately, without me saying a word, one boy declared, "I didn't do that!" I'm still not sure what he didn't do. Sometimes my presence is all that's needed to stop mischief! 

• This last week, most of the class has gotten involved in solving this puzzle that one of the boys brought in. It was neat to see them work together and persevere until, low and behold, four students figured it out! They were so excited, that they begged me to take a picture of it. They were hoping to get in the school newspaper.