Dumb and Dumber

I have over 6 years of post secondary education, and can still feel like the dullest crayon in the box on any given day in my elementary classroom.  The children are always surprising me with their curiousity.  I have literally came home from school do to my homework in order to satisfy their need for answers.


Here are some tough questions I have been asked over the last year...

1. "When there is sheet lightning and a bird is flying could they be struck?"
2. "Do all mammals have belly buttons, cause I have never seen my cats?"
3. "Why do people on different continents have different skin colour then me"?
4.  "Who made up all these religions anyways?"
5. "What did spiders adapt from"?
6.  "Whats the point of even having Antartica, its the worst continent"!?
7. "Why do boys have nipples?"
8. "How come there are homeless people, there are lots of houses around"?
9. "If it takes a stars light million of years to reach us, doesnt that make me old?"
10.  "Do you think I have been to Earth before"?

What they didn't teach me in Teachers College Part 2

4. Save your money on a gym membership- you won't need it! Between the numerous bags you will carry back and forth each day, to the endless game of tag played at recess and not having any time to eat or sit down you will be burning lots of calories in a day.

5.  Rent a storage unit- between the puzzles, and toys, and paperwork, you will need either a big closet or a large storage unit. 

6.  You can never have enough post its, glue, construction paper, laminating sheets, and sticky tac amoung other things.  The Dollar Store clerk will know you by name. 

7. The principals office is still a scary place. 

8. Always carry hand sanitizer

Who is Mr. Nobody?

In our classroom we use the Mr. Nobody program to instill the students with a sense of community and to act both locally and globally.  At the beginning of the year I had my Grandmother make a blank doll- I told the students  that Mr. Nobody would be coming to our class but didnt reveal too much more information.  They were all curious who this person was.  When the package arrived I showed them the blank doll and explained how we as a class would make him into a Somebody...

The program really allows you to have open discussions about issues that matter to them.  The instructions were simple; each child would take Mr. Nobody home for 2 weeks, in that time they could take him anywhere.  They were responsible for helping a living thing; it could be the environment, their grandparent or a child who was half way across the world. After which, they were to attach a souvenir of sorts to show what they did to help.   The children were eager to get their turn and in the end he definetly became a somebody. 

A few exaples of what the children in my class (who are 5 and 6 years old) did are;  donated to the food bank, ran a 2km race and raised money for a boy in Chile, planted trees, sold some of their toys and used the money to donate to the blind, bought only fair trade items, gave up their allowance to help the humane society.  I was very proud of all their generosity and will definetly be continuing with this program in the Fall. 

Check it out for yourself http://www.whoisnobody.com/