Dolls

Fifth grade is a funny age because some girls are ready for make-up and dating and other are still playing with dolls. The ones who still do play with dolls start to hide it because it clearly is not the "cool" thing to do. Anyway, this girl in my class did a fabulous presentation. I was really wow-ed by her. Afterward, we were talking as I was giving her her grade and we had this interaction:

Me: Wow! You really did a fabulous job! You must have really worked hard on this.
Girl: Yeah, I did!
Me: What did you do to prepare?
Girl: Well, I set up my dolls in my room just like our classroom. Then, I pretended I was you and practiced my presentation.
Me: Sounds like a great idea. Well, it certainly paid off! I want to share with the class how your practice really paid off.
Girl: umm, well, that's okay but can you leave the part out about the dolls?
Me: Sure, we can just keep that between us..
Girl: Thanks! What a relief!

Ghosts

This has been an intensely busy two weeks, and I fear the next few weeks will be just the same. We took two big trips with the grade. One trip was to Philadelphia and the other trip was an overnight to Washington, DC. I confess I was nervous about the overnight because, those who know me know, my sleep is very important to me. Anyway, one thing that I do like about these longer trips is that you do see different sides to the kids when they are so far removed from the classroom setting. Kids, who I doubted would be able to handle the trip, rose to the occasion beautifully.

Just as I was settling comfortably into bed my hotel phone rang.

Desk operator:“Ms. F, one of the room with students is requesting to speak with you.”

Me: Sure, put them through.

Me: Hello, this is Ms. F.

Boy 1: Ms. F, it’s Peter. We’re really scared in this room.

Me: Really, why?

Peter: Well, this place is haunted.

Me: what makes you think that?

Peter: Our lights were flickering, the clock in our room is wrong and we hear other noises.

Me: Sweetheart, we are very safe here.

Peter: Ms. F, do you believe in ghosts?

Me: No

Peter: DON’T SAY THAT! Then, they will come for you. Can you just come here?

Me: Okay, I’m coming

I got to the room only to find all four boys huddled in one bed. I eventually calmed them down enough so that they’d all get in bed. Then I left and went to bed. I heard they kept another chaperone up for another 2 hours. I think the sleeping set up for these kids was a little beyond them.

Overall thought, it was a great trip~!

Snack

On Mondays, I tutor this little girl that I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve been working with her for three years now. I’ve really come to know her parents over the years between her special needs, lots of meetings at her school and even some discipline and behavioral issues. We’ve been through a lot with this girl, Nina, and we’ve built a level of trust and teamwork that’s so helpful. I showed up to this girl’s house, and remarkably, I showed up before her bus came. When her mom came to the door, she was having trouble breathing and shocked me with, “I’m so sorry to do this to you, but I need you to drive me to the hospital. I have terrible asthma, and I know this is bad. My husband will meet us there as soon as he can.” So, as I think anyone would, I agreed to drive her and we started walking towards the car.

Sure enough, Nina’s bus came and she bolted off the bus as if she was trapped in there for years. She saw me and immediately launched into, “Lisa! I have so much homework, and it’s hard.” I told her that we’d work on it, but that her mom wasn’t feeling well and we needed to get in my car immediately and drive to the hospital.

This is the part that totally knocked me off my feet. Nina proceeded to only focus on herself in the midst of an emergency with her mom. She started with, “Can I get a snack first?” I told her no, but we’d get one at the hospital. I rushed her to the car, reminded her to buckle up and we were off. Throughout the whole car ride (about 10 minutes), Nina could not stop talking about her snack, her poor mom was wheezing and coughing, and I was putting all my effort into getting to the hospital quickly and safely. Behind me I hear:

Nina: Lisa, what kind of snacks do hospitals have?

Me: They have a bunch of things, and you’ll choose when you get there (aka: don’t know be quiet)

Nina: Lisa, do they have lemonade? I think I want lemonade.

Me: I’m not sure, but we’ll go look. We just have to get there (aka: I don’t know, stop asking me questions)

Nina: Lisa….

Me: Yes

Nina: ummm, ummm actually nevermind

(thank gd!)

30 seconds later

Nina: Lisa, I remember now. Am I allowed to have chips?....Liiisssaaa?, Liiiiisssa?

Me: (trying to get driving directions from the wheezing mom; I finally said in a stern voice) Nina, I need you to listen very carefully to me. My main job right now is getting Mommy to the hospital. I promise I’ll get you a snack, but I need quiet so I can hear how to get where we need go. Do you understand?

Nina: Yeah

We get to the hospital (which isn’t close by, by the way), and I pull into the circle. Mom starts walking in, and I go park the car with Nina. As we are walking into the hospital, I said, “Nin, do you understand why I needed quiet?

Nina: (with a smile) yeah, I get it now.

Me: Do you want to get a snack now?

Nina: Nah, I’m not hungry anymore

Seriously?!

Idioms and a brothers talk

It is so funny to me that kids take expressions very literally (especially special ed kids). My class is doing an idiom project where they have to use fifteen idiom in sentences and make this book about it. There sentences have to show me they get the meaning of the word. They have 'check points' along the way, so I know that they are at least doing some work and on the right track. Procrastinators have a hard time in my class because I make them break it down. Anyway, here are some sentences that didn't quite hit the mark and I find funny:

For: "put my foot in my mouth" (they could change the pronouns if needed)

1) My sister is so loud that I told her to put her foot in her mouth so I could go to sleep.

2) Kate is so good at gymnastics that she can get her foot in her mouth.

For: "jump the gun" (this kid argued that it is drop the gun)

1) My dad dropped the gun so no one would get shot.

There was a lot of explaining to do on that one.

For: "eats like a bird"

1) She eats like a bird because she likes seeds.

On a completely unrelated note, the grade had their puberty talk with the nurse and PE staff earlier this week. I decided I LOVE this day. It is just too funny. Their reactions are priceless to me! Anyway, I thought this year was relatively mellow until a parent came in to see me the next morning as I was setting up. We had this interaction:

Mom: Good morning, Ms. F, can I come in? I have to share my son's reaction to the puberty talk to you because I don't think he gets it.
Me: Sure, what happened?
Mom: Well, he came home with this little goody bag of stuff (deodorant, diagrams) and he was pumped to tell me about it. He took out the diagram. He was like, 'mom, did you know my voice is going to get lower?' and 'do you know I'm going to get hair in all the places dad does?' Naturally, his two younger brothers came over and Michael started sharing what he learned with them. When he started explaining what he knew to my younger boys, I realized he didn't quite get it.
Me: Oh?
Mom: Yeah, he told them that one day they will go to the bathroom and instead of pee sperm will come out. He said to his brothers, "isn't that so cool? no more pee"
Both the mom and I were laughing and she continues...
Mom: So, do you think my husband and I should do a review course with him? Is there any harm in him thinking this?
I explained to her how the program is really about body changes as opposed to sex so he may not get that piece of it yet, and it was up to her as to how/if she wanted to clarify this with him.
He missed the boat a bit.

Fragment

It's official. I love my class this year. I know I said this last year, but this year it is also true. There is this one girl who seems to make me laugh often (I know; usually it's the boys that make me laugh). Anyway, one of my pet peeves is that the kids come into fifth grade thinking that dependent clauses are sentences just because it has a capital letter and a period at the end. I quickly burst that bubble and drown them in practicing the difference between dependent and independent clauses. They can now say in their sleep that a dependent clause is considered a fragment (I'm so proud!).
During reading time today, we were focusing on character traits. I used this story about a girl who is a copy cat type character. The discussion went to the idea that this character is not an independent person. This little girl said, "Yeah, I agree. She's just a fragment."

I loved it!

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!

An anesthesiologist & a mother

School is up and running! I have another great class this year, and quite honestly, I wasn't expecting it. You see there is this rumor among the teachers that if you get a sweet class one year, then you are bound to get a rough batch the next year. I loved my class last year, so I expected hell city. Either the shoe hasn't dropped yet or they're just a great bunch. There were two quotes from the kids "Getting to Know You" survey that just cracked me up. Here goes:

Question: What job do you think you'd like to have when you grow up and why?

One boy writes: "I'd like to be an anesthesiologist (spelled anastheezyologist) when I grow up. It is a type of doctor that can put people to sleep. I learned about this job when I had to have surgery this summer. I want to have this job because I think it is cool that you could put anyone to sleep whenever you wanted. I would especially like to use this with my brothers."

Question: Who are some of your friends in the grade? Why do you like being with them?

"I have only one true friend in this school and it is Joey. He is my true friend because he is the only one who understands how much I love rocks. We have a rock club together at recess. Even my mom doesn't understand how much I love rocks. I'm not allowed to pile them in the house anymore."

These answers made me laugh. I hope you enjoyed!

Girls and an Imaginary Girlfriend

I am so incredibly proud of my class today. They had there Moving Up! Ceremony, and I feel this sense of accomplishment for them and myself. I can only imagine what the parents are feelings. Anyway, two things made me laugh out loud today:

1) It is tradition after the ceremony for the kids to change in designated rooms (separating boys and girls, of course) and for the class to go to a pool party. My boys were waiting out in the hallway, and I noticed they looked angry. When I asked them what's going on, they responded "Miss F, why does it take so long for the girls to change? What on earth are they doing in there? It is hot, and we want to go in the pool. Can we leave without them?" Umm...of course not! I told them that the girls had more things to do to get ready and that they should get used it.

2) This is the one day of the year that I turn a blind eye to seeing electronic on the bus to the pool party. When the boys got off the bus, they were all crowding around an ipod (the one that looks like an iphone) and laughing. Since 10 year old boys can't seem to be discrete, I went over to see what the fuss was about. I totally expected to see an inappropriate picture of some kind. I asked the owner of the ipod to talk to me on the side. It turned out that he made himself "an imaginary" cartoon girlfriend from a computer program. She looked like a south park like character. After I looked at the picture, the boy and I had this interaction:
Me: So, who is this?
Boy (huge smile): My imaginary girlfriend....I made her.
Me: Oh, that's interesting
Boy: Yeah, she's great. Do you like her?
Me: Well, I guess. Does she have a name?
Boy: Umm...hmm (has an expression of deep thought)...well, I've just always called her Girlfriend. Am I in trouble?
Me: No, honey, I was just wondering what all the fuss was about.
Boy: Well, the other boys in our class were laughing, but I think they're just jealous.

Wow! I know now why I write more about boys. They are so ridiculously funny.

On another note, I think parents should stop sending their geriatric parents as "chaperones" for school functions. When you can't see or hear, you are not that much of a help.

Treehouse Man & Some Casts

This is a crazy time of year for me because it is the end of school and the start of camp. At my school, I have to completely pack up my room. As a department chair, I am preparing two "training" sessions. I'm also finishing report cards, preparing lessons, going to camp meetings and, of course, I got summoned to jury duty (I'm all for being a good citizen, but seriously?). I was smart enough to bring journals to grade as I sat in that ridiculous waiting area. Here are two entries that made me smile. Although sometimes I think these writing pieces are only funny to me because I know the children and can imagine them actually saying these things, but I hope some readers out there enjoy them (let me know with a comment :)). I especially like this student's style because it totally matches the way he actually speaks and tells stories.

"A treehouse! A treehouse! Sure, my dad has built us stuff before, but nothing like this! He even did this all by himself! You know what that means, no help! My mom wouldn't even help him. He even might add a slide someday. Don't get me wrong and all. I'm usually not this hyper, but in my opinion this is something to hype about. I mean, not everyone has a dad who will take this own time to build his kids a tree house. I might be scared of heights but I'm going to forget about that fear when I'm in that treehouse. I might even forget my fear entirely. You know, I'm thinking of renaming my dad: The Treehouse Man!"

"My name is Mike, and I've had twelve casts! Now, I know what you are thinking. What on earth does this kid do in his free time?! Well, the answer to that is : falling off monkey bars, tripping over tree roots and a whole lot of toe-walking. Casts 1,2,3: When I was three, I was trying to do a trick that goes like this: step 1: get on the monkey bars, step 2:swing really high off the monkey bars, step 3: land on your feet! I screwed up on#3. That little incident landed me in the hospital with three casts at one time! Cast 4: Everyone loves camp, and so do I. But, I used to like it more. If you are wondering why I don't like camp so much, here's my story: my friend Seth and I were playing a game called "Steal The Counselors Hat". Apparently, karma decided then to visit me. While I was running from my counselor, I tripped on a tree root and smashed my arm into the ground, leaving my arm in yet another cast. Cast 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 &12: ever since I was in kindergarten I would walk on my toes. No harm you say? Think again, reader! Your hamstrings get super tight. These casts on my legs were the only other choice besides surgery. My advice is to avoid all of these things."

It's almost Moving Up! I'm going to miss these little guys.

The Prince of Where?

I haven't written in a while because I have been going non-stop. I keep thinking about another experience we had on our Philadelphia trip. We took the kids on a duck tour, and on the tour they play music. In the midst of pointing out the historical sites, the tour also points out pieces of popular culture within the city. They point out where Will Smith's father lives (I know...very educational). Anyway, they started playing the song for the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air." The tour guide asked the kid if they knew where the song was from. Not ONE kid knew! How old did I feel? Also, even after we explained to them that it was a TV show. There was one kid who was like, "oh, and old fashioned show." And, now my favorite reaction, "What country is that prince from?" Also, for the record, Full House is now on Nick at Night. Shocker!

I leave you in charge...

I forgot this other field trip interaction that made me laugh. We were boarding the buses to go home. As this one boy, who's dad was a chaperone, was walking on the bus, he grabbed my hand and said: "Ms.F, I'm leaving you in charge of my dad. Make sure he gets on the bus, okay?" His dad and I were laughing about it on the way ride back. He was like, "I want you do know that it is not like I've ever gotten lost or anything."

BTW, has anyone noticed that most of my stories are about boys? I was thinking about this today. I think I just don't get men at all, and it must start even from an early age.

Puberty and "Poor Old Gal"

Today was one of the days at school that we, as teachers, dread. We only dread this day because the kids react in a way that is totally wound up. You see, today was puberty day in the fifth grade. That's right, they get the talk. No, not the sex talk, but your bodies may be changing talk. There was one boy in my class, who does have some psychological issues, that took an approach that I've never seen before. He came up to me a few hours before the talk, and we had this interaction:

Boy: Ms. F, I want to talk to you about puberty.
Me: Do you have a question about the talk today, or do you want to talk about puberty? Talking about puberty today will happen with the nurse.
Boy: It's about the talk. I meant to ask my parents to write a note. I decided I don't want to have puberty, so I don't need to go to the talk.
Me: You don't feel comfortable going to the talk?
Boy: No, I don't care so much about the talk. I just don't want to do puberty. I'm not going to..
Me: Sweetheart, everyone goes through puberty. You'll learn today that it happens naturally with your body.
Boy: Not mine! I don't want to.
Me: (taking a deep breath) You know what, why don't you go to the talk in case you and your body change your mind. At least you'll know what it's all about.
Boy: No, I'm not going to change my mind. (pause) Wait, is this the talk where we are separated from girls?
Me: Yup, and...
Boy: (cutting me off with a smile) No girls! I hate girls! Okay, I'm definitely going.

Here's some other funny puberty quotes:

"Does deodorant only go underneath your arms? Like just the arm pits or can you put it on other parts of your body for like extra protection?"

"I'm only going to wear "Old Spice" like my dad."

"Why does the girls deodorant say secret on it? What's the secret? Like is it not real deordorant?"


This is another interaction that happened with the same child as before actually. He had a melt down over a math test. It took me and a colleague to get this boy out from under a desk crying. One of my favorite things he said was, "I'm never going to be able to multiply fractions. I'm going to be an old grandpa that can't multiply fractions. Ms. F, you might as well call my mom and tell her I failed." One the strategies we tried was explaining to him that other people find different things difficult. We used the example of how my colleague isn't that great with computers, but she keeps trying. Today he walked in and said this to me: "Ms. F, I meant to ask you. How's Mrs. T doing with her (in a whispering voice) computer problems? I feel bad for her. Poor old gal! I just don't want to embarrass her by asking her to her face." So funny!

Surprise and Drama Queen

This year, I have an exceptionally sweet class. I don't know if I've mentioned this previously, but last year was a rough group (they were needy, whiny and often didn't get along). This morning two girls came over to me with a sign they made on a play date. It was a belated happy birthday sign and some cake they made. This sign was one of the greatest things I've ever seen, and it was not just because it was a sign made for me. It was because they took pictures of themselves in funny poses with their thumbs up. Underneath the pictures it says, "we give you two thumbs up." The fact that they spent time doing this, took cheesy pictures of themselves and wrote a cute message will mean that I will cherish this sign always. This is one of the things that keep me going (certainly not the money ;)).

Here's a free writing journal entry one of my students wrote about herself:

"I am one major drama queen. I even got a fake ID card at a bar mitzvah that says "Drama Queen" on it. Then there is a picture of me over the words. It is my official Drama Queen ID card. It is not just the ID card that makes me a drama queen though. My parents call me that because I am a big mouth. I also fake cry sometimes or act like other people. Really, I just like to stand out. I love acting. It is something that you can suddenly do to entertain yourself. If you get mad, I recommend that you imitate that person. If you are upset with yourself, you should make yourself laugh. Also, when you are happy, you should act out whatever made you happy. My parents say I could be an actress, a lawyer, or a comedian when I grow up. At least I have some sort of future."

Wow! There are so many troubling pieces of this to me, but it is just funny how honest she is. I wonder how often she imitates me....hmmm

Why Boys Have An Easier Life

On a free writing topic, a girl wrote an article called "Why Boys Have an Easier Life." Enjoy!

"I think boy have a waaaaay easier life than girls. Tes, it took be awhile, but I thought of ten reasons. First, do boys have to worry about how they look? I don't think so. They never go, "oh, my lips are chapped! where's my chapstick?!" I can't imagine a boy saying that. Second, can you picture a boy wearing makeup? No! Do they have to go to the make-up store? I think not! Third, boys actually know how to "reuse" their clothes, so their laundry bags at camp are always lighter. Number four, it's probably not hard to find clothes they like. They probably don't care that much about what they wear, and maybe their parents go to the store for them. Fifth, last time I checked, there were way more boy's shoes. Most sneakers are for boys. It is hard for me to find shoes I like. Instead of looking for new shoes this weekend, I spent my time counting if there were more boy shoes or girl shoes in the store. Which one do you think won? Number six, most of them have short hair, so they don't have to keep fixing it. That brings me to number seven and eight: 7) they don't get tangles and knots in their hair that hurt, 8) they don't have to wear a hair tie on their wrist in case they want to tie their hair back. Nineth, their bags are probably lighter because they don't have to carry around brushes and mirrors and stuff.Last one, the most important, boys don't wear Uggs. They're lucky that they don't have to worry about getting them ruined. If you want to add more to my list, tell me, so I can prove (especially to my annoying brother) that girls have harder lives."

Wow! She hasn't even started dealing with the really hard things about being a woman like periods, bras, cramps, mood swings, hair removal, catty women, etc. I also think that she didn't touch on how guys can pee standing up. That is a HUGE plus, and it has always simply fascinated me!

There is a great picture that goes along with this article as well. It is a stick figure of a girl with mangled hair, dirty Ugg boots and a frown. Standing next to the girl stick figure is a boy with short hair and a huge smile on his face. Maybe it is good she didn't mention the peeing standing up thing...she may have wanted to draw a picture of that...

Last 4 days

I'm sorry for being MIA, blog readers, I had my sister in from out of town. I wanted to spend time with her in the evenings. Anyway, funny and inspiring things have been happening. Here are some of them:

1. Someone audibly passed gas in class yesterday. At the time, I wasn't sure who it was, but I was proud of my class because only a few of them needed to burst out laughing. Once they got over it and the class was working, the boy came over to me and said: "Ms. F, I just wanted to say: excuse me." So cute! And, now I totally know it was him :)!

2. On a more mature note, my class went to a nursing home on a visit together. I have to say that when this time of year rolls around, I get so excited to go to the nursing home. It is so funny to watch my students interact with elderly. My favorite moment was these two elderly residents sitting together on a couch. Two of my students went over to them, and they had this interaction:

Student 1: So, how do you guys know each other?
Elderly man, Stan: this is my new girlfriend, Ida
Student 2: Oh, I thought you were married
Elderly Woman: I'm not married to him!
Student 2: Sorry, I was just guessing. How do you know each other?
Elderly man: I'm 88, and I picked her up at Thursday night Bingo. Ida is 91, you know.

They talk for awhile. When they walked away, they had this interaction.

student 1: I think Stan was lying about Ida.
student 2: yeah, she didn't seem that into him.
student 1: No, I mean that he picked her up at bingo. He's not that strong at 88 to pick her up. He had to use a walker to get to the couch.
student 2: yeah, that was totally a lie!

hehe! They can be so literal sometimes.

More Science

We're back from vacation, so it's spring in fifth grade. I doubt it will happen in my class this year, because of the nature of the kids in the room, but other classes have couples. One even broke up right in front of me in the lunch room. All I can say is..."these are the days of our lives...."

In other news, my students are learning about the systems of the body. The kids do a simulation of medical school. We have them wear "lab coats," and many of them get very into their role. It is very important in upper elementary school grades to expose children to new vocabulary words. We explained how our these activities are "simulating" medical school. Thus, we can call these activities a simulation. They get the meaning, but some have a recall of or confuse this word with another similar word. Some kids walk around calling it the "stimulation."

Here's what one girl wrote in her class journal about starting the simulation:

"I'm excited to start the simulation. I'm in neurology. My group has Joe (funny), and Ellie is fun to be with. Nerves seem really fun to learn about too. I hope I learn about how you are nervous. I think it is great that we get to pretend to be doctors without going to jail. My mom said people who pretend to be doctors and don't go to medical school go to jail."

Mom, do you do....?

Fifth grade is a hard age for kids because they start wanting to be a part of the crowd so badly, and friendships are so incredibly important to them. At my school there are usually a few cliques of girls that vary in interest and maturity level. A girl from my class started hanging out with a more "mature" group of girls made up of mostly girls from another class. I am not going to deny that this year's crowd is not the hippest. Anyway, since she started hanging out with these girls, she's been making some poor decisions. and I've been in touch with her mom about it. We are trying to help guide her a little more. The mother shared this story today:

"You know, Ms. F, you're absolutely right that she's being exposed to new things with this group, and she's not processing things well. My husband and I agreed that this past weekend was going to be the last play date for a long time. When we picked her up, she got in the car and was rather quiet. Suddenly, like out of nowhere, she asked, 'Mom, do you do masturbation?' My husband almost hit a tree! She didn't understand what the word meant (obviously), and apparently she said this friend's sister was somehow talking about masturbation."

How ridiculous?! How embarrassing is it going to be for her when she gets older and realizes she asked her parents that?!

Trying to Use Words

As many of my readers know, some of the kids in my class have moderate special needs. I have this really bright boy who has some trouble understanding social conventions. He needs very structured and explicit teaching about certain behaviors that come naturally, or at least very quickly, to most students. We are still working on appropriate ways to ask to go to the bathroom. At the beginning on the year, he was walking up to me and grabbing his crotch. I had to stop that immediately for obvious reasons. For the beginning of the year, we developed a hand signal for him to signal to me that he needs to go to the bathroom (he holds up his index finger). This has been working out beautifully. Now, we are trying to get him to use his words. We talked about and practiced (before the snow days) ways he can tell me he needs to go to the bathroom:
"I need to go to the bathroom." "May I go to the bathroom?" etc...
Today, he came up to me and did his hand signal. I reminded him that we were going to try to use his words instead. "Oh yeah," he said, "I need to go number two."
We're making progress slowly!

Mating and news travels fast

We are done with genetics in science and are now talking about animal adaptations. Today we were talking about how some animals have coloring for a particular purpose like camouflage. The whole point of this unit is to notice the purpose of certain attributes on organisms. Anyway, we were talking about how some animals have coloring that attracts a mate. One boy veers slightly off topic and shares a comment that sparks a little discussion. Here goes:

Boy raises hand and I call on him-

Boy: "I am very interested in mating. I think it's alright that they can attract their mate with their coloring, but I prefer the way crickets do it. The man use their feet or wings to make a noise. Then the woman cricket falls under the trance of his noise and can't resist him."
Me: You are right about them making a noise, but I'm not sure about the trance part.
Another boy: "Whales do it that way too, Ms. F"

I'm still waiting for some boy to make a noise and put me under a trance...hehe

I got the best present today! I got to go to a meeting at the middle school (the meeting wasn't the present..believe me). Seeing my former students was! I loved seeing how much they've grown and really just how well they're doing. There was one little girl that I was really hoping to see. I was so proud of her growth in my class, and I can't wait to see all that she's going to do. Just as I was about to leave, a seventh grade student came up to me and was like, "You can't leave." When I asked him why, he said "Michelle (a former student of mine) really wants to see me and would you please wait for her." She, however, was no where in sight. I asked him where she was, and she mentioned a different part of the campus. I was confused, because I really didn't know how she knew I was there (this was kind of a last minute meeting). So, I asked him. He said, "Ms. F, having you here is kind of news, so I texted it to my friends. We're allowed to use our phones after dismissal. News travels fast around here."

So cute!

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!