Productive Day

I was so proud of my kids today. Usually on rainy days everyone drags along and then gets antsy pants. Now it could have been because today was Monday and they recover over weekends, or it could be the fact that a break is coming up. My kids all came in and performed their morning routine (which I have them trained at very well may I add). Well, all of them except for my one girl who I will call Leigh for the confidentiality of my students. Mom I bet you can guess who this is because of the name ;). Well Leigh comes in EVERY morning after everyone has settled down in the classroom doing whatever we are doing that morning. This morning it was math tubs. She eats breakfast at school in the mornings and gets too distracted to finish on time so she gets to make an appearance. Now she could walk into the classroom and do what everyone else was doing, but that just wouldn't be fun would it. And Leigh likes to spice things up a bit. "Good Morning Ms. Hendason"! followed by a huge squeeze around the knees every single morning. Today she was also exceptionally excited because she can now pronouce the letter r's in her words. So she proclaims even though Henderson is still Hendason (that's okay though I like the different pronunciations and a part of me doesn't want her to fix it). She showed me how she could say "r four, see there's an r on the end of that word and I can say it, r four" over and over and over and over. This wouldn't be an issue if this ended her entrance into the classroom, but no she then goes to each table and welcomes her classmates as if it is her classroom. Which in her mind it is her santuary away from unstructured chaos, her place to have boundaries and excel. By the time she has her coat off (which she refused to take off this morning on account it was new), her bookbag put away (which I must rummage through to get her take home folder each morning because she forgets), makes a lunch choice (which I must remind her of at least 2 times each morning), and uses the bathroom (because we can all guess what happens if she doesn't get to go) everyone else is ready to begin calendar time. This usually results in me being "so mean" by taking away her coloring sheet or math manipulatives she is finally starting to work with. But enough about that. My kids did great this morning, even Leigh, because believe it or not we have had screaming battles (well one sided with her claiming to hate school 1 second and then after I ignore her she suddenly is sorry and loves school, me, and my leg she attaches herself to).

I was expecting it to be difficult for my kids to focus on the day ahead knowing a break was coming up; however, I found that I was able to bribe them with a new game as a reward. I don't know how many of you have heard about Hullabulu by Crainum. Let me tell you it is wonderful, and I love it, and I will always have it on hand. It is academic enough that I can use it during reading instruction time, but more importantly it let's the kids move around, play, and be 5 years old. They just discovered the wonderfulness of this game Friday, so with the chance to play looming above their heads they would do whatever I asked.

I love just listening to the conversations of my kids. It is so great to be able to get inside a kid's mind and remember when life was so simple. Today we talked about Thanksgiving and things we were thankful for. I told them about how yes we did eat a lot of food on Thanksgiving, but there were also other things we could do such as have fun with our family or help others out. We then went around the circle telling what we were thankful for.
There were the normal thanks comments: I'm thankful for my mommy and daddy, I'm thankful for my sister, I'm thankful for my bike
The humorous comments: I'm thankful for fresh ham (hahahahahaha), I'm thankful that my mom didn't hit that deer the other day, I'm thankful that my daddy is going to teach me to drive his truck soon, like next week, I'm thankful that my mom is getting the turkey home
And the serious comments: I'm thankful my baby brother didn't choke because mommy saved him.
As I listened to their ideas, tried not to laugh at some, and shared what I myself was thankful for I was reminded how blessed I truly am. I have friends and family who love and support me. Great co-workers, especially my Kindergarten team, and "co-first year teacher next door" :). And 16 smiles that I get to spend 180 days with this year. I might impact some of their lives, but they have no idea what kind of impact they will have as my first real students in my long career ahead of me. That's all folks!