Classroom magic

I'm currently reading a book about a thru-hiker trekking the Appalachian Trail. Hikers have this phenomenon they call "trail magic," when they unexpectedly receive some kind of food or drink. I've decided that teachers should have "classroom magic." Last week I was blessed with two wonderful, surprise gifts. I think any teacher will agree that a surprise cup of coffee and a free homemade meal feels magical!

And then there are also the beloved Valentine's Day gifts. This is one of my favorite gifts ever. The love is practically oozing out of every possible nook and cranny.

I am quite amused by the students' most recent writing piece.  We read a story about some characters who had a rule that stated everyone must work together and do their part. The students were asked to write about whether this rule would work in their home or classroom. I’m sure their parents would not be as entertained by their responses as I am, but I'm just tickled that they were honest and didn't just write what they thought I wanted to hear!

“Yes at school we do and at home it’s a no because we never do for some reason.”  

“I don’t do chores because I’m lazy because I don’t like chores.”  

“It wouldn’t work at home because people would get bored from working and they may not want to.”  

“In our home it would not work because we always fight and argue.”  

“It wouldn’t work in our home because we don’t ask we just get.”  

“It would not work in my home because my brother and sister are not good at following rules.” 

However, there were a few blessed souls that thought it would (or possibly would) work.

“It would work because then everybody would have a chance to share and do everything that they want and work would go faster.”  

“In our classroom it might work. Our classmates and teacher can help each other out! At home maybe. But! First get rid of fighting.” 

Regardless of what these dear kiddos say, I'm sure their parents do a fine job of teaching them to work together and do their part!

Full/super/blue moon

The beginning of February means the end of winter, according to one student. (I wish.)

Perhaps it had something to do with the full/super/blue moon, but there were some interesting conversations taking place in our classroom during the last week of January.

• One boy, after taking entirely too long in the bathroom, informed me it was because his favorite stall was taken, so he decided to wait until he could use it. 
• I overheard the whole class debating whether Miss Weaver is a chicken or a hen. (I don't know. I don't want to.)
• Some of the students were discussing what they might name their children some day. There were suggestions such as King Edward and Nero. One student - "Sam" - said, "If I ever have twins, I'll name one... Sam, and the other one... Sam!" 
• I often tell the students to make good use of their time if they're finished with all their work (read a book, practice multiplication facts, etc.). One day I noticed one boy had his head down on his desk, so I asked him to come help me with something. Later, he asked, "Is taking a nap making good use of your time?" (Absolutely, it is!) 
• We started a new unit in writing, one where they get to be a bit more creative. I am slightly uneasy about teaching it, because I like more structure, but after the first lesson, one boy exclaimed, "Now you're making us like writing!" 
• A couple sweet girls blessed me with some encouraging notes. I love how the one reminds me, above all, to love God! 

Halfway through

As you know, Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. If you've been following my blog for the last several years, you also know that I usually have my students write about their dreams after listening to a portion of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech. So here are a few of my students' dreams this year:

“I want to teach art. I want to work at a grocery store. And finally I want to work as a doctor.”

“I have 3 dreams. You know how people drive cars and crash and sometimes die. Well people should just ride on eagles. My 2nd dream is that half of the world should live on Mars. My 3rd dream is that I want to live in a barn. Most of the house is going to be a home. The rest of the house is going to be a barn and there are going to be horses in the barn.”

One girl wrote about wanting to be a teacher and go to different places in the world like Paris, Florida,  Washington, and New York. “Teach and travel T.A.T. is for me! I would also get married and have children after I travel. I do not know how I will fit it all in! But I will somehow!”

We are officially halfway through the year now. This bright group of students continues to ask questions with the purpose of stumping me, I think. ("Where does the sun get its energy from?" "Did Elijah die when God took him up to heaven?" "Did Elijah go through space to get to heaven?")

It's that time of the year when students have become quite comfortable with me and reaaaallllly comfortable with each other! One boy has taken it upon himself to remind his friend (who is always eager to eat his lunch and one time declared, "There is nothing in my lunch!") to wash his hands at lunchtime. I won't complain - that's one less thing I have to worry about!

The girls like to play with each other's hair during read aloud. A couple of the boys thought it would be funny to play with each other's hair. On the inside, I was amused. But my teacher face and voice told them it was distracting and to stop it.

As the year progresses, it seems the class needs more reminders to be quiet during class. One time, in exasperation, I proclaimed, "I don't want to hear a peep!" to which one boy responded, "Peep," in a tiny voice. Again, slightly amused on the inside, but not at all on the outside.

One day I said to them (I have no recollection of what I was talking about), "Use your common sense." The response? "We don't have any!"

Recently a midterm report was returned weeks late with the explanation, "It got lost and dirty," as he held the crumpled paper out to me between his thumb and forefinger. Later he handed me his homework explaining, "It has a little breakfast on it."

Lastly, one boy has taken to saying "Same diff," if anyone corrects him. Like when he was talking about a wedding in a story and we told him it was an anniversary. "Same diff. They're the same thing."

Writing samples to brighten your day

I believe it's time to share some writing samples from my kiddos with you, because there's nothing like reading the sincere words of a child to brighten your day!

On a Social Studies test, they were asked to explain the following quote: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

“It means people are killing people and the martyrs don’t make any excuses. The seed grows and the Christianity grows.”

“It means that even though Christians died for their faith it just helped more and more people to become Christians. So even though the emperors tried to stop Christianity, it just helped more and more people to believe so that made the church even bigger.”

“When Christians are willing to die for their faith, other people see that if they’re willing to die for their faith then God must be someone important. And they turn their hearts to God.”

“People die for their faith and nonbelievers see that, and think WOW! Their God is so great they’re dying for him. And so I believe that God made that happen for good. So other nonbelievers could become believers of him.”

"Write about your favorite place. Include where it is located, a description of it, and why it is so special to you."

"One of my favorite places is….. School. We get to learn a lot and play/talk with friends at recess. We have a lot of fun times learning! If I had to tell words to describe my class they would be fun, awesome, friendly and FF (friends forever)."

On a reading page, they wrote the story of Lazarus's resurrection from his point of view. (We had just studied David in Bible class.)

“I was in heaven and I sang songs with other people. I got a picture of David.” 

“I heard a voice calling to me. It was like a lion’s roar. It said: LAZARUS COME OUT!!! It was Jesus calling me. I stood and waddled out. Jesus told them to unwrap the grave cloth. I couldn’t believe it. I was alive again!” 

“...and then I was in heaven, and there was a race car I could drive it wherever I wanted. First I went to see God. And then David and he signed his name on my shirt. Then God said Lazarus you are going to come to earth again. Before I knew it I was alive. I stood up and hopped over to Jesus and said “hi” and then they unwrapped the cloths.”

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!