Refreshing Honesty

I have a little girl in my class who is always "in the know." She seems to make it her business to know everyone else's business. If ever I have a question of what's going on, she is always quick to fill me in. One day, we were all sitting up in front of the room on the carpet. My little "reporter" was turned around intently watching two boys behind her. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied quite honestly, "I am watching to see what they are doing so I can tell on them."

Politically Incorrect

We had a snow day earlier this week. When we returned to school the next day, I asked the kids what they did on their day off. One little girl told me that she played at her friend's house all day. When I asked if she had lots of fun, she said, "Yeah, but he always calls me 'Donkey'." Seeing the confused look on my face, she explained, "It means I'm white."
I couldn't help myself, I laughed out loud! To this she said, "That's a funny story, isn't it, Teacher?"
"Yes, it is!" (and to myself....More than you know!)

Surprise Visit and Man Perfume

We were in the middle of a lesson yesterday when a short, chubby face appeared in the window next to my classroom door. Next, there was a tap, tap, tap. I went to the door to find an outgoing little kindergarten boy. I greeted him, noticed the yellow late slip/pass from the office, and asked if he needed something.
"Nope!" He replied. "I just stopped to say 'hi' to Kyle. He's my friend. HI KYLE!!"
And off he zoomed down the hall! If only all of life could be that simple!!

Hand sanitizer was a new item added to the supply list this year. Let me tell you, it's a BIG HIT in our room! The kids LOVE putting that stuff on. Each day before lunch they get to use it. After cleaning their hands yesterday, a couple of boys came running up to me as proud as could be. "Teacher, teacher! Smell my man perfume!"

30 or 80....What's The Difference?

This weekend, Husband and I went on a little getaway out of state. On our way to our destination, we stopped in at Husband's Aunt's school to surprise her. (She and I both teach first grade and are planning to have our classes be pen pals this year. I thought it would be nice to see her room and meet her class, and to surprise her of course!) It was a fun surprise, as we caught her with her class in the hallway getting drinks after gym class. We went back to her classroom and the students all sat listening to her anxious to find out who the unexpected guests were. One sweet child raised his hand and asked, "Are they your MOM and DAD?"

The Four-Toed Teacher

It's been hot since school started, and I practically live in my sandals. At the beginning of the year it's always nice to be able to wear capris and sandals to work. I do lots of teaching from the rocking chair at the front of my room while the kids sit on the carpet. Yesterday, a couple of the kids must've been studying my feet. They wanted to know why I only had four toes. I said, "I have all five toes. You just can't see my little one. It's hiding. It's too short to see."
"No!" they said with a look of great concern on their faces. "Look! You only have four!" Nothing I could say would convince them otherwise. I guess I could've taken off my shoe and proven it to them, but why ruin the mystery?!

You Just Never Know

It's so good to be back in school. No, really! I do miss the kids when I'm not around them. First graders are just too funny. You never know what's going to come out of their mouths. I sometimes wish that I could just hang out with them all day and play and have obscure little conversations with them. You just can't make this stuff up!
While we were all gathered on the carpet this morning, a little girl was doing some odd things with her hands up in front of her eyes. I asked her what she was doing and she told me that she has a lot of PC's at her house. I asked what a PC was since I thought maybe it had something to do with the weird hand things she was doing. After all, that's why I asked in the first place. She said, "You know!" I said, "A PC, like a computer?"
"Yeah," she said. "We have lots of them at my house."
"How many?" I asked.
"600"
Then an argument broke out between a little boy and a little girl. He accused her of sticking her tongue out at him. She denied it, he kept pressing the issue that yes she did. Finally, she said, "I don't even know how to stick my tongue out!"
"Like THIS!" he said, and stuck his tongue out at her. She promptly raised her hand to tell on him for sticking his tongue out at her! :)

Teachers Can Be SOOO Frustrating!

The school where I work runs on the balanced calendar. This means that we start back to school earlier than most schools and go later in the year than most schools as well. The nice thing is that I am off for two weeks in October, March, and December. I have been back in school now for a little over a week, and the kids have been back since last Thursday. They are a sweet little bunch of first graders, and the year is off to a really nice start.

To try and maintain order in my room, I use a card system. The children each have a set of Green, Yellow, Blue and Red cards, and the goal is to remain on the Green card all day long. If some rules are broken, the cards need to be turned, and there are consequences associated with being on Blue and Red. For the first three days of school, all the children got to stay on their green cards while I let them know that "If it was Tuesday, you would have to move your card because...."

OK, lots of background to get to the cute story! I hope it's worth it! :) I have one little guy who is color blind. On the first day of school when it was time to color our "How Was My Day Today?" paper Green, he raised his hand and said, "I'm color blind, so I don't which one (crayon) is green." I got out his green crayon for him, he colored, all was well. The second day, when I passed out their papers and told them to color their day, he raised his hand again. Forgetting our conversation from the day before, I went to him again, wondering why he wasn't coloring yet. He said, again, "I'm color blind and I don't know which one is green."
"Oh, that's right!" I said, and again, handed him his green crayon. {Now keep in mind that the first three days of school were Thursday, Friday, Monday. I had to remember everything over a weekend :) }
On the third day of school, when it came time to color the paper green, you know who raised his hand, and again, I went over to his desk as clueless as ever. When I got there and asked what he needed, he replied, "I'm still color blind!"

P.S. We decided to take the paper off his green crayon so he doesn't have to ask me to help him find it anymore!! :)

Random Thoughts

You never know what a first grader is going to tell you. Here are a few thoughts from this week.

• I think aliens eat cheese.
• I'm going to swim class. Just don't tell my mom. She told me not to tell you.
• (At 8:45 AM) Is it lunchtime?
• Texas is the hottest place in the world, and they have really good sticky candy.
  

More Fingers, Please!

As the end of the year approaches, we have final assessments to give. I've mentioned before, I have been really surprised at how much first graders are expected to know. (I have taught middle school for the last 6 years. I'll have to share the story of getting to teach first grade sometime.) Anyway, we are in the midst of a very large math assessment. We break it into parts so it's not quite so treacherous for the children. I can only read the directions for them. I am not allowed to help them on any of the actual computation, but of course I do my best to answer questions as they arise. One little girl raised her hand and when I went to help her, she said, "I can't do this one." It was
12-6= ____. I said, "Why not? It's just like the other ones you already did." And she answered, holding out both hands, "Because I don't have enough fingers!" I asked her if she could think of another way that she could do the problem. She thought for a second, then her face lit up. I could see the light bulb flick on! She said with a huge smile on her face, "Can I use some of yours?!" Now how was I to say "No" to that??!!!
A few minutes later, the little boy next to here was having the same problem on the same question. She leaned over to him and asked, "Do you want to use some of my fingers?"

Am I Smarter Than A First Grader?

Sometimes I really wonder what my kids think of me! The same little guy who "explained" to me what almost means, had to explain himself again today. We were talking about weekend plans. Here's our conversation:
Student: I'm going to Wendy's house.
Me: Who's Wendy?
Student: My mom's mom.
Me: Oh, you call her Wendy and not Grandma?
Student: My Nana and Papa are my Grandma and Grandpa.
Me: So they're your dad's mom and dad? (He nods) So you don't even call her Grandma Wendy, just Wendy, huh?
Student: You know....... it's like the restaurant, except it's a person!

And You Thought You Had It Rough....

Yesterday at the end of the day, after the halls had cleared of children, a lone third grader was trudging toward the door. He was talking to himself as he walked, "If I get all my things ready when I'm supposed to, I can leave when the bell rings." Poor little guy!

Why I LOVE Teaching First Grade

One of my students was complaining of a headache this morning. I sent him down to the nurse to make sure everything was okay. After lunch, the nurse told me the sweetest thing. When my student explained about his headache, she asked if he was up late last night. He said that he had been up late because he was crying. When she asked why he had been crying, he replied, "Because my mom told me that Mrs. "Kasey" won't be my teacher next year!" AAAWWWW!!!!!!!

This Week in First Grade

I have taught middle school for the last 6 years. This year, I am teaching 1st grade for the first time. I LOVE it! These kids crack me up. Even when they are naughty, it's hard to stay mad; they're just too darn cute! :) Here are a few funnies from this week.

As the bell was ringing signaling the end of the day, one little boy started complaining that he thought he was going to throw up. Since he had been fine only moments earlier, and had complained only once at the beginning of the day that he thought he was going to throw up, I knew he was going to be A-OK. I just needed to convince him that he was fine and get him off to the bus. I tried the "positive talk" approach. He wasn't buying it. So I thought I'd remind him of this morning when he thought he was going to throw up but didn't. I said, "I think you're going to be alright. Remember this morning when you said you were almost going to throw up but you didn't?" He replied, "Well....that's what almost means!"

A little girl was telling me about the "mices" she found while waiting at her bus stop. She couldn't wait until she got home that afternoon so she could catch some of them and bring them home for pets "like hamsters." A couple of days later, I asked her if she got to have the mice as pets. She said, "No. They were bunnies. They left. I don't know where they went."

We've been taking a HUGE 30 page reading test all week. Some of the questions are really difficult for first grade. Following a lengthy reading passage was this short response question: What is the main idea of this passage? In perfect complete sentence form, one of my students wrote, "I don't know." I think that's worth at least one point for a complete sentence and honesty...what do you think???