Not at all!

Since the start of the year, I've wanted to start a partnering blog called "From the Mouths of Parents." I have had some crazy parent stories lately, but I feel like it is getting harder to shock me. Maybe that's what three years of experience buys you. For instance, I had to turn down my dream of a class pet for a child who wasn't allergic to the animal but a completely unrelated allergen. Or, my personal favorite, "we decided last minute to take a week vacation. I won't be getting my child's work so don't bother sending it home. It's not like he'll miss that much." I want to say..."you're right, we're just going to sit in school and wait for you guys to come back." For my job's sake, thank goodness I have a filter between my brain and my mouth.

As far as kids, I had a moment today that made me laugh all day. I have a boy in my class who is pretty far along on the autistic spectrum. As with many kids, his condition is complicated and, of course, one of the many aspects of him is a complete misunderstanding of social norms. He also struggles unbelievably so with anything related to organization. Lately, he's been trying to cover up some things he knows he's forgotten or not done correctly. He's come up with these standard one liners to help him explain or try to get out of his little sticky situations. The standard one about not handing in homework is: "My parents weren't home last night. You know, this possible because my mom goes out some nights." The line hasn't work yet, but it is taking a long time to die out.

My students just came back from almost a week off due to a holiday. He was supposed to get something signed and he didn't. So we had this interaction:

Me: Sweetheart, what happened? I'm looking for my signed note.
Boy: Ms.F, my parents weren't home last night. You know, this possible because my mom goes out some nights.
Me: Bobby, we were just off for many nights. Are you being truthful with me?
Boy: Not at all
Me: I'm so disappointed about this.
Boy: Eh, I don't really care.
Me: Bobby, go back to your seat please.

I love how he totally came clean. I love my job!

Special Toys

I was actually excited to see my little dudes and dudettes this morning. Over vacation I drastically cut my hair, and it was interesting to see who noticed. Rather, it was interesting to see how long it took some kids to notice :). It was a true test of who was observant.

Anyway, before break they wrote reports on a "Special Toy." It is supposed to be inspired from a book I read aloud to them. They liked the book (and the voices I do with it) until they realized there was a writing assignment they had to do. The focus of the assignment was to have them practice descriptive writing. It is interesting to me how young they sound in these writing pieces (especially the ones who try to seem tough at school). Here are some highlights:

A boy describing his bear: "It has limo black eyes and a hot chocolate brown nose." How does one go from limo black to hot chocolate?

Another boy wrote, "The reason I still have him is because I would be heartbroken to never saw my little buddy again."

Or, "there's something about his smile that just melts my heart."

I don't know what to make of this one: "Sometimes Lamby would get punched because he was my shield in the war against my family." With your brothers and sisters? I hope...

"My bear doesn't have a nose anymore because I ate it when I was young (at least that's what my parents told me)." Yum?

"Softy is a toy for snuggling only and not playing around. Most people don't understand that about him. He's not that kind of guy." I guess some toys are not for playing.

"Eilat is special because if you give her a hug when your sad, she won't ruin the moment by making some annoying squeaking sound." Yeah, you don't want to ruin those sad moments.

It was our first day back after vacation. I made the decision that I have to put an end to Butt Boy's exposure. I'm going to need to find a way to gently talk about it with him soon. It is just too much!

Saturdays at the Bake Sale

It's been awhile since I've posted. It's been a very busy week back.

A little boy made me laugh today by the way he answered a math question. He had to read information off a bar graph, use the values to add two sets of numbers, and then say which one is the larger value. Finally, as most math curriculums like to emphasize, he also had to explain how he knew his answer was correct. The graph gave results of how many of each kind of baked good was sold at the bake sale. He had to figure out which day (Friday or Saturday) sold the most baked goods in all. Before he did any adding, he said, "this is easy. I know the answer." Being a teacher, I said, "I really want you to show your work. No mental math please." So he started calculating, and he said, "I got the answer I expected, so I know why it's right." The answer was Saturday sold more. The explanation we were looking for is something along the lines of I know Saturday was more profitable than Friday because Saturday sold more baked goods. He wrote, "Saturday sold more baked goods because most people are off from work, and they take a break from their diets with bakery food." So cute!

Euros and Natives!

My class is in its explorer unit, and I spend part of today grading their homework. The assignment asked questions about a lesson we did in class, and the kids were encouraged to use their notes to answer the questions. In our explorer unit, a key concept is the Columbian Exchange (Columbian, as in Columbus and not Columbia, the country). The Columbian Exchange is the transfer of ideas and goods between the Native Americans and the Europeans during this time period (for those who need a quick refresher). In the homework, the question was: describe the Columbian Exchange with supporting details. One student wrote:

"The Columbian Exchange is when the Natives and the Euros had this, well, trade thing going on. The Euros gave the Natives a variety of things. Some were good and some were bad. The Natives did the same for the Euros."

Yikes! I cannot get over his use of "Euros" and "Natives (not to mention the fact that he didn't provide any detail)." There is, for sure, "see me" written on his paper. We need to discuss proper ways to refer to groups of people.