Back to the Grind

Well its back to school now!  I havent stopped photocopying, cleaning, labelling, or shopping in order to get my classroom all ready for my new munchkins!  This year I am teaching a multiaged grouping (6-9) and loving it.  I am very thankful that I have a small class size of 10- it enables me to do soooo much with them.  It always surprises me just how advanced my students are!!  We are currently working on latitude and longitude, biodiversity and naming and labelling all countries and capital cities in Europe!  I am so happy to be back in the classroom.  Every year I have new ideas and feel I improve as a teacher- whether is being better prepared, new resources or just through trial and error how to keep their attention and have fun! 

Question of the Day...

A three year old at our schools day camp asked me today; how worms are born?  Without google can you answer....

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/

Thanks Dad!!

For the past several years when Father's Day rolls around,  I always ask the children a series of questions about their dad.  This is not only a great keepsake for a father to treasure but also hilarious for me as I read the results. 

Here are some of the memorable responses I have encountered over the years....

What is your dad's job?
- "his job is to clean the dog poo"

- "to listen to my mom"

- " I don't know, but I hear him complain about it all the time"

What does he like to do?
- "anything hockey"
-  "play with me"
- "workout for big muscles"

What is his favourite food?
- "steak"
- "chicken nuggets and kraft dinner"
- " apples"

What animal does he remind you of?
- " an elephant"
- " a bear"
- " a butterfly"

What do you love most about your dad?
- " his hair"
- " he loves me ALOT"
- " he looks good in jeans"

How old is your dad?
- " 76 and a half"
- "I'm not sure... but old"
- " I think about twelve"

Does your dad clean?
-" hahahahh NO!"
- "yeah of course, my mom is too busy and besides all dads are suppose to"
- " no, he makes my mom do everything"
- " nope, my mom has another man for that"  (after further questionning I realized they had a male housecleaner)

School's Out for Summer!

Well, the countdown until Summer if offically on.  Our school has 6 days left.  I find June to be one of the longest months!  There are no new lessons being taught, its just finish up,  clean up and pack up. The kids are pretty much wild- mostly because the weather is nice and there is less structrue in the class.  I seem to have about a hundred things on the go and its my own damn fault!!
1. I decided it would be a great idea for each of the kids to sew their own bag to take all their workbooks home in.  Two weeks later we are still sewing
2.  I  decided it would be cute if they could each make a little something for their end of the year gift for 2011.  So 3 buckets of clay later, 100 wipes of the table and over 20 minutes per child- they each have of their very own labryinth.
3. Of course then there is  Father's Day- we had to do a craft and card.
4. I  displayed all the lost and found items- funny enough all those mitts, sweaters, coats and other items still don't belong to anyone?!!
5. I cleaned out the collection of pencils, puzzle pieces, toys, bandaids, paints, and other random and miscellaneous items from your cupboards.
6. On top of all that-  I am totally freaking out about the end of the year performance.  Will they remember their lines, will someone fall of the stage, will everyone show up, what if there is a costume malfunction?!

Ahhh well, just breathe.  6 more days.  Well that is until next year!