Smile

Today was a mellow, low-key kind of day for us. We had two friends absent, and one got went home with a severe earache after specials. The rest of us sneezed, hacked, and coughed our way through the day. Well, except for DC, who was in very good spirits.

DC is one of the most charming little boys I have ever had the privelege of meeting. He almost reminds me of my little brother when he was that age; smaller than most, yet a heart that is bigger than the size of Texas. He finds joy in everything and has the most wickedly funny sense of humor ever contained in a 5-year-old body.

During seatwork today, DC decided to get a little "creative." I hear "oooooo, I'm telling" coming from his table, and look up to find him drawing with a crayon on his chair. I asked him to bring his chair over to me, so that we could discuss his actions and the ramifications of such behavior. Ever so slowly he pushes the chair towards me with his head down. Using our learning tools responsibly is a big deal in our classroom, so he knows he is probably going to get into a bit of trouble.

I look down at the seat of the chair to examine it, and find a blue crayon smiley face staring back at me.

I laughed. I couldn't help it, I just had to chuckle.

He looks up and breaks into his million dollar grin. I hand him a lysol wipe and tell him to clean it up. He spends the next 15 minutes scrubbing the crayon smiley face off of the seat, with the smile on his face intact.

I love my job.

And so it Begins!

I know, I totally fail. School has started, and I even had a back-to-school post. I just didn't post it. I will try to do better ;) Without further ado, here is the aforementioned post:

Our First Day of School was this past Thursday (the 12th). Every year, I am amazed at how little my new students are, and how dependent they are for everything! But I know that in just a few weeks time, they will have our procedures and policies down, and will be growing by leaps and bounds.

The first day back also made me realize how much I took for granted last year. I started in October, so someone else had done the hard work of laying the foundation of procedures, I only had to tweak them a tad when I started. This year, I am starting from scratch. It's hard. But I love it!

I have 20 kids this year, an almost even split between boys and girls. And as is my m.o., nicknames have already been assigned to a few. Meet a couple of my kids:

The Whiner- This little boy was my only crier the first day, and was down right inconsolable. It took three teachers to get him to my classroom, and one to keep him from bolting out the door. My principal removed him for a while, and then brought him back to join us; sitting with him during morning work. While he did not cry the rest of the day, and only once the next day, he has a maddening habit of whining when he doesn't get his way. Which is pretty often because I am the teacher and he's not in charge. But on Friday, I did catch a glimpse of the sweet nature I knew was somewhere behind the fear and whining. I don't think this nickname will stick for long.

Dennis- This kid is Dennis the Menace without the charming little overalls and cowlick. He seems to get himself in trouble without the slightest idea of how. He does, however, have this amazing smile that seems to charm the socks right off of most people. It's gonna be a fun year with this one!

As of now, those are the only nicknames. I'm sure as I get to know their personalities, I'll have more. For now, Happy Back-to-School!!

Appreciation

Last week was National Teacher Appreciation Week. Our PTA was wonderful in giving us little treats, and a tasty baked potato lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed the art my class created for me as well. But. what I treasure the most are the kind words from parents of my sprouts. I've had a few parents tell me that they appreciate how I work with their children, and how they have watched their child bloom before their eyes. I've even had one or two request me as their child's teacher for next year.Conversations like these with parents do wonders for my heart. It helps me know that  I am where I need to be doing what I need to do- teach and love children.

Perception

It has been an interesting week so far. Monday night brought hail and tornadoes to our part of the world, which was quite a thrilling, yet horrifying experience. The majority of my class loves tornadoes, so it was a very energetic morning meeting the next day. Many of my kids had very interesting stories to tell , so I made the executive decision to bypass our morning reading lesson to create a class book centered on tornadoes. All of my students , except one, did a fantastic job writing their rough draft, revising & editing, and then publishing  & illustrating their stories. ( I will post pictures very soon)

We have also been working on our kindergarten memory books. Three particular pages pique my interest the most; the self-portrait page, the teacher page and the friends page. It is very interesting to observe how my student's perception of themselves has changed, as well as how they perceive the others around  them. While Bad Robot was creating a picture of me, he remarked "You are tall Ms. S. I am going to make you tall." I chuckled inside, thinking to myself "at 5'2" I am pretty tall to these wee ones. The must think our principal and gym teacher are huge!"

Another student remarked she would draw me with a smile, so I wouldn't have to holler so much. Boy, did I feel mean. However, it did lead to another discussion on why Ms. S has to yell sometimes, and that I don't like doing it anymore than she does. I don't think I yell often, but I do have to use quite a forceful voice when we get a bit too boisterous, which has been happening quite frequently as the last day draws near. I think I detected a glimmer of understanding in her eyes after our conversation (she is one of my most boisterous darlings).

We have eight more days left, and still so much I would like to do! We will make the most of it, laughing and learning to the end!

Names

I love names. I name almost anything that I care about, including my kids. Now, I know their parents have already bestowed them with names that they deemed fit, but sometimes I just nickname them before I know I did it. My sprouts don't know I have nicknames for them; I usually use them when telling funny stories about my kids (really helps to avoid FERPA violations). Meet my a few kids from my class:

The Politician/ Dennis the Menace- This little darling will give you an entire speech to answer a yes or no question. He also happens to find himself in the most mischievous of situations.

The Talk-show Host- This little dear can talk the paint of a wall. She also has the biggest heart I have ever seen in such a little body.

Dakota Fanning- I'm pretty sure she could be a celebrity look-a-like if she wanted.

Charlie Brown/John Tesh- This little boy has two nicknames because he has changed so much. He started out as Charlie Brown because he was very melancholy and down about school and life. Now that he has more stability in the classroom (a regular classroom teacher), he is a talkative, brilliant star. He starts every conversation with "Ms. Sulaiman, did you know...."

Bad Robot- This kid nicknamed himself. Read it here .

There are more nicknames, although not everyone has one. Perhaps I'll introduce them at a later date.

Kissing

Spring is officially here, and my sprouts have a new founded affection for each other. Not a day has gone by this month, when I have not heard "Ms. S! He kissed me!" or "I have a boyfriend, and I'm going to kiss him." Even I'm not safe. Just the other day, a friend came an gave me a chair hug (I'm sitting in my teacher chair, they wrap their arms around my neck, and press their cheek to my cheek), sneaked a peck on the cheek, and ran off back to her center. All I could do was laugh when I heard "I kissed the teacher!"

I love my job!

PINK!

y students are obsessed with the color pink, both boys and girls. It is quite a wonder to behold, really.

Morning coloring:

"You can use violet red to make pink."

When we got new journals:

"LOOK! They're PINK!"

During snack time:

"Can I have the pink one?"

Anytime a color vote is taken, pink is the clear winner. Our kindergarten T-shirts...you guessed it, pink.

And of course, our favorite book...PINKALICIOUS.

Ahh, the joys of kindergarten!

Callbacks

I'm tired and I wanted to get my first "real" post done. So here it is.

Callbacks are my primary method of getting attention in our class. I introduced the few I knew at the beginning of the year, and the repertoire has expanded exponentially. I thought I'd share a few.
(For those who don't know- callbacks are a call and response yell/action/chant)

Kindergarten...ROCKS!
Oklahoma...OK!
And a hush fell over the crowd...SHHHH!!!
If you're listening and you know it, clap your hands....clap, clap

And my favorite:

Peanuuuuttt, Peanut Butter!....JELLY!