Who's the baby?
As part
of morning meeting, we greet each other in the classroom daily, often saying Good Morning in
languages other than English. So far we've spoken in French, Spanish, Bosnian, German,
Japanese, and Sign Language, among others. We decided that one morning last week we would use
the Hawaiian greeting, "Aloha". When it was Suada's turn, she turned to the child next to her
and greeted him, "Hello-ha, Charlie!"
We were working on some analogies the other day, and
came across one that was lion: cub :: cow : _____. After some discussion, the kids concluded
that the correct answer was calf. This led into a longer discussion about other animal babies,
including pigs and piglets, ducks and ducklings, geese and goslings, etc. The ELL teacher, who
was co-teaching the lesson with me, suggested goats. A baby goat is a "goatling", suggested
one of my English speakers. It was one of the ELL (English Language Learners) who knew that
the correct answer was a kid!
I also liked the answers I got when they found out that a baby
kangaroo is called a joey. Kitana asked, "But what if it's a girl kangaroo?"
Would that be
Josephine?
Have a great day, all!
"First Day Feelings"
One of the first activities I have my students complete each year is a page entitled "First Day Feelings." It gives me a chance to get to know their likes and dislikes, as well as gain a bit of insight into their personalities.
Some of my favorite answers from this year's survey:
1. If I had $100, I would--- * buy me a car
* get a crotch rocket (slang for motorcycle, I hope and believe)
2. If I could do something to make our school better, I would...
*keep the bathrooms fresh
3. If I could live in another country, it would be...
*full of nice kids
* clean
* Waterford (a suburb about 10 miles from our city)
* Florida (we live in PA)
* (my personal favorite) Disneyland
More laughs to follow, I'm sure!
They're ba-ack!
It's
official. We're back to school. I have 20 new third graders in my classroom this year,
and the funny thing is that I have had most of their older siblings as well.
I know they're
still honeymooning, but I think that I may have a pretty good year with these kids. I have
some very nice girls, and most of my boys seem like they'll be pretty good, too. I do have to
say that David is my favorite name right now. I've said it about 600 times...(as in, "David,
please keep your hands to yourself," "David, the rest of the class lined up two minutes ago,"
"David, please keep your hands to yourself," "David, we do not use rulers as swords," "David, please
keep your hands to yourself," and of course, "David, please put your shirt back on.") I think
David is going to be my best buddy this year. He's going to walk with me in the halls, and sit
near me in the classroom, at least for awhile.
We've already started our morning meetings
(see earlier posts for info about those), and already, it's shaping up to be one of our favorite
times of the day.
I especially love seeing my former third graders get their chance to be the
"big kids" in the school! It's amazing, but I think many of them have even grown several
inches over the summer!
Tune in for chuckles as they develop...I know they will
happen!
Runaway Train
Well,
it's coming, whether I'm ready or not. I'm obviously talking about the first day of school,
which for the teachers in my district, is August 19! The kids start on August 25. So I
broke down today and spent a good part of my day at school cleaning up from last year.
I tend to be a packrat (understatement of the year) so it was a necessary evil. I
figured since I could barely close the drawers in my desk, I probably should clean it out. I
was ruthless, throwing lots of stuff away!
The best part, though was finding two notes I had
written to myself from last year...humorous things that my students had said that I needed to share
with others.
The first was from Juroda. He had been outside playing in the snow and
told his buddy, "When I came in the house, I had to take a hot shower to get all those frostbites
off!" Love it! I will miss him this year.
I'm not so sure who the originator of
this one was, but it sure was funny. The students do a research project in teams on the solar
system every year. The students researching Mercury told me that the temperature there reaches
"800 degrees Fairandsquare" Hey, it sounded right to them!
I'll keep you all updated on
the happenings in room 9 this year. Meanwhile, I'll try to get excited about the upcoming
year, but it just hasn't hit me yet.
Amy
X Marks the Spot, sort of
So I'm
finally enjoying my summer vacation. Even though school was out on June 9, I really wasn't
relaxing at home until July. One of my newfound hobbies is geocaching. For those
unfamiliar with it, you use a GPS (global positioning system, I think) unit and find specific
coordinates where people have hidden items from 35 mm film canisters to ammo containers. My
husband and I started caching last summer, and we introduced my parents to it over the Christmas
holiday last year. My dad and I have been spending a lot of time caching together, especially
recently this summer (he'd been off work with a broken arm for almost 10 weeks and REALLY needed
something to do!) We've recently gotten my brother and his family involved, too.
My niece Alyssa, who just turned 4 in May, LOVES geocaching. In
her
words, "If it's a big cache, it might have toys in it, but if it's a little one, it just has
paper." (She's referring to the logbook that is there to sign at each cache location.)
We went caching together recently, Alyssa in the lead, holding her daddy's GPS unit. We
unearthed a pill box with a couple of trinkets in it. "No toys in this one," said Alyssa. My
mother held up a small metal animal figurine. "How about this?" asks Mom. "Look!
It's a harmadillo!" cries Alyssa with joy!
Had to put that in.
She has been so much
fun! For those interested in the sport, just check out geocaching.com. Much fun and
great exercise!
Well, I'll be returning to school in about a
month. We'll see what
adventures are taking place in room 9 this year!
:)
Amy
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