Grown Up Babies

So Grown, yet such babies…

Today is a perfect example of how young these kids really are, even though they think they are so grown at 12. 

One of my girls came in a giant fluffy down-filled jacket, zipped up all the way to the top, almost choking her.  After being inside a little while, she attempted to unzip it, since it isn’t needed inside. 

She can’t do it.

Her zipper is stuck. 

So she had to come over to me and ask me to get her out of it… just like she’s probably done countless times with her mother. 

I thought it was so hilarious, but also really sweet.  It does make me happy to be that trusted by the children.  Like the girl last year who got stuck in a bracelet and panicky, so I had to use wire cutters to get it off of her.  She trusted me to use sharp objects near her arm.  

And my student today let me attempt to get her out of her jacket, risking a zipper pinch (she had it up so high she had to tip her head back so I could get to the zipper.)

I love forming relationships with the kids that lead to trust!

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week in our... well, I'm not sure if it's our state, or our county, but it's this week. It might even be national, but not sure.


Anyway, the point is, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. They advertise it everywhere, like in stores, where they tell you that they are having a sale on things to buy for your child's teachers.


Local restaurants are having specials on various foods (like a free taco) for teacher this week, and Barnes and Noble had a special discount.

At my old school, I got a few really nice things and a couple of wonderful cards made by the children.

Last year, at this school, I received nothing. Not even a card. While I don't think I'm entitled to something, it is really nice to receive cards from the children, because that shows I made a difference in their life.

Or at least taught them how to write.

This year, I have received the strangest things.

From one of my kids, I received a HUGE bouquet of long-stem flowers. So big, I currently have them in water... in my trash can. (Girls in my first class today washed it out, then filled it with water, and then plunked the flowers into it. I think it makes a statement. Not sure what that statement is, though).

Then, got some home-baked mini-muffins, a candle, a box of candy, and some bath things.

All very nice, plus I got a lovely card with a poem about me on it. (SO CUTE!)

But the present that broke my heart was from one of my students that doesn't have a lot, and it was obvious that she does not have a lot. Her present was painstakingly wrapped, in a bag that has been used before, and it had a candle and a ring, both obviously having been found somewhere around the house.

The sweetness of that breaks my heart. She wanted to get me a present, and since she didn't have a way to purchase a present, she found things to give instead.

That, right there, is one of the reasons I keep teaching.

Little Details

It's the little things that make up a whole day. Each little minute going by, moving into the next minute, adding up to a whole period, a whole day, a whole week.

Some of the the little minutes I have had in my classroom recently:

-One of the kids was answering a question about what a female seahorse does with her eggs. She wrote, "She takes her eggs and gives them to her husband to hold for about 2 weeks. Once they are ready, he lets them go back to his wife."

-One of my boys decided that the mouse's name was too difficult and started calling her "Sally." Now his whole class period calls her Sally.

-Upon receiving an A on a test, one of my girls came over to ask me if it was a mistake. She was serious! (How heartbreaking is that? She says she has never gotten an A in language arts. I told her I was so proud!)

-The boys trying, for the 9th time, to make it in the trash can in a game of improvised basketball. Me, asking them to stop, also for the 9th time, starting to sound irritated.

-The computer completely and totally crashing as I was trying to show the kids something on the Internet. Leaving them to stare at me, startled, then gleefully begin talking.

-Me forgetting to tune into the morning announcements for two days in a row. (It's not like it's not every morning, at the same time, or anything.)

-Letting the children go 20 minutes early for lunch because I was so very confused about the time, what day it was, what period it was, and having them brought back by my 6th grade administrator. (Whoops).

-My student assistant staring at me like I am insane as I teach. (I really don't like this. It feels a little strange, her staring at me the whole time. Doesn't she have homework??)

-Having a child have a complete breakdown in the media center, complete with screaming, crying, and stomping feet. (By screaming, I mean, SCREAMING, not just yelling). He wasn't allowed to check out a book, since he forgot his ID that day. (The look on the media clerk's face was pretty funny, though. She wasn't expecting that from a 12-year-old.)

-One of my students asks for his grade every day. Rain or shine. Even when he just saw his grade online, before he left home. That morning. When nothing could have possibly changed.

Right now, it's a tiresome time for teachers. After the holiday break, we have the push to the standardized tests. The clock is ticking, the kids are feeling it and are squirrely, and the teachers are desperately trying to get it all in.

So, I am glad for the little moments right now... it keeps me from focusing on the bigger picture and going crazy!

(By the way, if anyone is interested in hearing more about anything in particular, feel free to leave it in my comments section, and I'll see if I can accommodate you... Thanks!)

6th Graders are Adorable

Kids are cute. It's almost a proven fact. People make lots of money selling books that contain what they say, and they also include pictures of the cute things they do.

Sometimes, kids try to be cute, and fail miserably. Things they think are cute tend to be very not cute. It's the things they say without thinking, the things that show you that they have incomplete information but still use it to form opinions, ideas, and even facts that are the cute ones.

(Of course, some things are annoying. Like when you have just done something you wished you hadn't, and they ask you why, or what you're doing. Or when, in all innocence, they ask if you're okay, because you "have a rash on your face" when you're just having a poor skin week.)

But still... they are very, very cute.


Here are some of my favorite things I have heard recently.

• One of my students was telling me all about a book he was reading, which had an archipelago that contains dragons. He pronounced it: Arc uh pull AHHHH gooo. He said it so seriously, I almost laughed at him, but instead managed to hold myself together enough to answer him, then correct his pronunciation. (But him saying "goo" at the end almost killed me.)
• One of my students saw me in the grocery store, and she asked me, "You shop at the grocery store?" as if it was the craziest thing she'd ever heard of. I asked her how she thought I got food to eat, and she said she always thought the school fed us.
• One whole group of kids (when asking why they couldn't have their tests back) were horrified when I told them I didn't have a chance to grade them over the weekend, since I had a birthday party to go to, then I went to an amusement park. They said things like, "YOU go to PARTIES?" and " But what do you do there?" as if I am too old to enjoy an amusement park.
• One of the cutest things (and embarrassing for the kids) that they do is call me Mommy, or Mom, or their version of the word. They are so embarrassed about it, and I can't blame them. I just say, "Yes, dear?" and ignore it, or say, "I'm Ms. Language Arts Lady, remember?" to try to keep them from complete embarrassment.
• Some of my little angels are starting to become little vandals, starting the trend they continue throughout school. Writing on their desks, the bathroom stalls, etc, it drives teachers (and janitors) crazy. The best part about most 6th grade vandals is that (and this is the cute part) they are simply too foolish not to put their name on their artwork. My student, Trouble (you may remember him) drew all over one of my desks, then proudly signed his name. He then had the nerve to ask how I knew it was him. He just stood there blinking, holding the wipes he was going to use to clean my desks, and was stunned to realize I had read his work. It was hilarious.
• Kids arguing about politics. They sounded like they knew what they were talking about, but then they'd say something just slightly off... but they were quite impassioned.
• When they don't want to close their book when we're reading a story and it's at a good part when we need to stop.
• Playing the spelling game "Sparkle." It's hilarious to watch, and now that we've played it, it's hilarious to hear them beg to play it again. You essentially just all spell out a word out loud, but each kid says only one letter then the word 'sparkle.' It's so cute to hear them starting to confuse themselves with the word sparkle, and it starts to be speckle, Spackle, sprinkle, and so on. SO cute.

Anyway. Kids are really cute. I know there are some things I'm not remembering, but I'll have to write those later. I just can't think...

Hooray for the cute kids!