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~!

Flag

For some unknown reason, the American flag that I've had in my classroom disappeared when I was unpacking boxes. So, my children had been pledging to a beautiful imaginary flag since Sept. 7th. We finally got word that the school found their 1 extra flag in the school basement (I'd be so scared to go down there). Anyway, when it was brought up to my room, it was on a pole that was so long that I couldn't put it in the flag pole holder because the ceiling got in the way. Now we know why this flag became the extra one that lived in the based and no one else wanted! Luckily, it was on a wooden pole, and when my awesome maintenance guys (seriously they are so good to me) got a chance they were going to trim the pole so we could hang our flag. So I leaned the flag, and it's super long pole against the wall, and I knew they'd trim it when they got a chance. One of the boys in the class came up to me and said: "Hey, Ms. F, I feel bad that you have to wait so long for our flag to get cut. You know my dad has a chain saw in our garage. He's away on a business trip, but I'd use it for you." Umm...no, you won't. That thought gave me at least two nightmares.

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!

June?!

I'm actually doing it. A co-worker convinced me to entrust my little ones with them, so I can sleep in a little a try to get rid of this cold. I wanted to believe it was allergies, but as the anti-histamines proved, I'm not allergic to anything. The truth is I think my body is responding to the end of the year craziness in fifth grade and my tendency to over-commit myself. I also noticed that the more stressed I am, the less I notice funny events or saying around me. One of the reasons I started this blog in the first place, aside from sharing some of these ridiculous experiences, is to force myself to notice as much as possible all of the funny and clever things the kids say and do.

Tonight I was grading their tests on the systems of the body. In response to the question, "what is the function of the immune system?" A boy wrote, "The function of the immune system is to fight off sperms that try to harm the body." I guess sperms and germs sound too similar for him. Or, maybe he recently learned about sex? Oh well, I had to mark that one wrong.

Another response that I found cute (and actually understand HOW the child came up with this) is in answer to the question: "why does air enter and leave the body when the diaphram relaxes and contracts?" The correct answer is that it creates a vacuum in the abdominal cavity. Instead, he wrote, "the diaphram is our body's vacuum cleaner without electricity." Umm...I think we had a misunderstanding...

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.

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."

Persuasive Writing

One of the styles of writing we expose kids to in fifth grade is persuasive writing. The thing about learning to write persuasively is that you have to know how to be convincing someone in general. Some of these kids don't realize that 'because I want it' or 'I asked for it' aren't very convincing. Anyway, I started this lesson off with an index card on everyone's desk and asked them to try to convince me not to give them homework. This might be the best idea I've had in a long time. Check out some of the tactics they used (and my thoughts afterward):

"Did you know that a lot of Americans are obese? Well, you're the cause. Teachers force kids to sit and do homework instead of playing outside. That is why the country is fat." Oh yeah, fast food, TV, computers and video games have nothing to do with it ;).

"A scientist said once that the more free time students have the better they do in school." So, does that mean that anything a scientist said once is true?

"If we didn't have homework, I would behave better in class because I'd be done running around. I could get my rest in class." Dude, you have to behave in the classroom anyway.

"Ms. F, I bet you didn't like homework as a kid. So, why do you give it to us? Shouldn't you treat us the way you would have wanted to be treated. It's the golden rule." If they only knew what I nerd I was...(and still am..;).

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!

Vacation Memory

It's vacation, and I made myself a list of all the activities I'd like to do while I have some time off. I feel like I'm my own cruise director. It's fabulous! Like all teachers though, I am going to have to pause the party or end it early to do some hard-core planning. I don't have any journals to entertain you with this break. I do have this memory of an interaction I saw in the hallway between a student and my principal. It happened a long time ago, but it randomly puts a smile on my face. Maybe it can do the same for you:

Scene: Little boy (like 1st grade ish..aka 6-7 years old) walks down the hallway toward the bathroom. My principal walks down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Principal: Hi, Tommy.
Boy: (Stops, looks really confused and just smiles...walks a few steps and says) Hey, I know you! You're the lady I had to talk to after I said those bad words to my teacher.
Principal: Yes, isn't nice to just say hi when you're not in trouble?
Boy: I guess.

Haha...I know you!

Studying, Backstage & update

I tutor this little boy who is actually quite bright. He cracks me up because for the longest time he flat out refused to study. Then, he'd sit down with me and tell me how he "forgot" everything during the test, and it was really hard. I would always tell him that if he studied the test would have seemed easier. He made my day today because he found me at school and said, "Ms. F, you're right, studying does make tests easier." Honestly, it is those little moments that make it all worth it.

I had trouble not laughing out loud today during my kids MacBeth rehearsal. One of my boys can't really be backstage without an adult yet. Every time I think he is ready for the "responsibility," I end up regretting it. Anyway, I decided to avoid any regrets and wait backstage for his part. While we were waiting, a bunch of girls were on stage. He points to one and whispers, "Ms. F, it scares me that one day some of the girls in our class will be moms. If that girl were my mom, I'd hang myself." I, of course, told him how mean spirited that comment was (inside I was laughing). To which he responded, "all I'm saying is maybe she'll grow up if you know what I mean." I only reply, "SHH" Thankfully, his cue was soon, so I could laugh to myself.

And now for an update: The butt is still out and exposed. Each time it stares back at me, I'm reminded that I really should do something. Why doesn't this little boy get a clue? How many times does a teacher have to quietly ask you to fix your pants for you to think about talking to your parents about it? Honestly, doesn't he feel a breeze?