My students are working on report (informational) writing right now. They worked in pairs during these past few weeks. Their hard work came to an end this past Tuesday. They turned their reports in to me and I began grading them that night. As I went through one child’s report I noticed his glossary page. He had the word kick listed. After kick it said: “Kick: like a punch, but with your feet.” I couldn’t stop laughing. It’s neat to see their mentality of thinking. It was funny to see that he listed kick, thinking it was important enough to include in his glossary. However, his definition was a pretty clear and well written. It was a reminder of how much I love teaching first grade!
On Friday, I had a parent come up to me and tell me that her son has been writing persuasive letters to her on why he needs/wants Legos. He has been leaving them on her bed. I thought that was really cute and effective! I guess those few weeks of persuasive lessons sank in and registered with a few students!
Today I was testing one of my students’ reading level. As I was calculating his percentage, I could feel his eyes watching me. After a minute or so, he turned to me and said, “Why do you wear so much makeup?”
I always considered myself a light makeup user. Not knowing what to say, I turned to him and said, “It’s a girl thing. We like to look pretty.” He seemed content with that answer. However, now each morning as I apply my makeup, I’m going to be wondering if I’m wearing to much makeup. It’s funny how children can influence us as much as we can influence them.
I was thinking back to my previous year of teaching this past weekend. I’ll never forget a specific child who loved to stir up conversations between us. He would often ask questions as we were walking out to car cirlce or as we waited in line to go to recess. Each question he asked was never an easy one to answer, but one particular question had me in a complete uproar. He asked me, “Where do you live?” I tried to give him the best description I could since most six year old do not know street names. After a few minutes he responded, “You mean you don’t live at school?” That question was by far the cutest one I have ever been asked!
As I teacher, when I see something free I jump on it. I was browsing and found free downloadable lables and stickers from Martha Stewart. These cute labels can save you loads of time when writing your name in books. You can buy labels from Avery at Walgreens or Walmart. Stick them in your printer and print away. Check them out!
Today it was pouring outside when I was picking up my students from lunch. As we were walking back to class they began screaming and scattering about. I was not happy by their response to the rain. First of all it is just rain and secondly, there was a fifth grade class, whom we were walking passed that was taking a test. I firmly put my finger to my lips and gave them the death stare. It worked for most of them, but a few did not catch on. What is it about rain that gets kids so excited? I’m quite sure they do not have this reaction at home, so why at school? The funny thing is every single year I’ve taught, each class has the same reaction. It’s like they are seeing rain for the very first time!
Since school hasn’t started yet, I thought I would share a funny story that happened to me in my first year of teaching. I had just picked the children up from lunch and we were going out on the playground. During that time students have the opportunity to use the bathroom and get drinks from the water fountain. One of my students was running out the classroom door and she stopped dead in her tracks and said, “I have to pee. Ahh, I’ll just pee tomorrow.”
That made me laugh because she had no concept of time. Obviously, she will not be waiting to use the restroom for an entire day, but it was cute nonetheless.
