Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 69

Katrina: “The cat in the story has claws.”

Me: “That’s right! How do you say claws in Spanish?”

Lena: “Claws? Santa!”

Quote(s) of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 68

My students were bursting with hilarious expressions today.  Or maybe I just think they're funny because I have no voice and now a stomachache and am delirious.  Either way, enjoy...

• “I love Kwanzaa... and also dinosaurs.” -Geraldine

• “Why does it smell like han-i-tizer?” -Paloma (Yes, she meant hand sanitizer.  Although, hanitizer makes more sense...)

• “I like to move it move it” -Paloma

• Me: “What are some animals that live in Africa?”
• Different students: “Elephant” “Lion” “Giraffe” “Cheetah” “Zebra”
• Natasha: “Coconuts”

• I showed a picture of a rhinoceros.  It looked like a typical rhino--grey, large, with a horn.  Elisabeth: “They look like marshmallows.”

• Me: “Sarahi, good answer.”
• “Yeah, I got my brain back today.  I’m going to lock it in.” -Sarahi

Misc. Quotes

Jotted down on pieces of paper and set aside for when I have a spare moment to post them:

While I'm trying to teach them how to read--
"Ms. Kirch, which one is the thumb that doesn't bend?"
-Harold

"Ms. Kirch, does your back hurt?  Because you look like you're working REALLY hard."
-Katrina

Songs My Students Know (and I'm not talking about the ABC's)...

-Bad Romance, Lady Gaga (Katrina walked up to my table singing this one.  She also knows Someone Like You, Adele)
-Say Hey, Michael Franti (Mia was chanting "Hey-mama-hey-mama-hey-mama-hey-mama-hey")
-Dynamite, Taio Cruz (Nadine led the whole class in a sing-along while coloring)

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 62

"I love having wiggly teeth.  But sometimes my tongue gets SO tired from wiggling so much."
-Ana

A Kindergartener Who Wants to Help the World

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 56

"We’re going to be tardy for the party!”'

-Nolan, as we made our way to the buses this afternoon

Quote from a Second Grade Teacher

"Today I let a kid research Korea on regular BrainPop (as opposed to BrainPop Jr.).  Then I glanced over and he was straight-up watching a video on COMMUNISM."

Day 52

Elizabeth tied her shoelaces together today.

It was while the science teacher was in the room, and I discovered it when I came back and was trying to get 20 kids where they needed to go for dismissal.  Both laces, on both shoes.  Quadruple knotted.

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 51

Past vs. Present
"The Pilgrims did not have solar panels."
-Bella

Kindergarten Worries
"I am scared of being the last one in your group because I always floss my brain!"
-Sarahi

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 50

Mia: "Tomorrow I'm going to Pennsylvania."
Ana: "Ms. Kirch, is it called Pennsylvania because they have a lot of... PENCILS?!"

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 47

"I have a girl, she's older, and I kiss her on the LIPS."
-Nigel

A Young Warhol?

The assignment was to draw two things that they had in schools long ago and two things that we have in schools today.  Although it is completely off-task, I like his interpretation:

Misc. Quotes

Here are some great ones that I have written down on scraps of paper but never posted.  Enjoy!

"If we cut down all the trees, then there will be no... (thinking hard) BUTTERFLIES!"
-Mia

"All day long, I've been feeling upside-down."
-Monica

And a personal favorite of mine:
The science teacher (who teaches in Spanish) was trying to get the students to answer a question.  She kept repeating the question, and none of the students had any guesses.  They were just looking at her, bewildered.  Finally, Nadine yells out, "Gosh, we don't know the answer... just tell us already!"

What Teachers Do on a Friday Night

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 44

7:50am-- I’m standing on a table, hanging something up.

Leni: "You’s too high.  You’s going to kill us.”

I laugh.

Leni: "Not funny!  That’s ENOUGH.”

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 43

"I like Science because it makes me think."
-Katrina... during Reading

Me: "Look at the smoke coming out of the train in the picture.  Does that look clean?"
Matthew: "No, that is AIR POLLUTION!"

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 41

To my wonderful assistant Alicia, Jordan asked:
"What are those dots on your face?"

Freckles Jordan.  They're called freckles.

"Oh.  Well I don't have dots on my face."

From the Same Second Grade Teacher Who Will Not Be Named

"Had a kid tell me that deer eat meat... it was real hard to convince him otherwise."

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 40

"Ms. Kirch, you're the best teacher in the whole wide world."

-Eduardo

My ego is getting too big.

This Makes It All Worth It

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 39

Me: "Wow, you guys are cool as a cucumber."
Andres: "Hey, that's like something we say at my house... Good as a potato!"

What??


Also,
Me: "Apples are red and-- Boys and girls, read with me.  Apples are red and yellow.  Good.  Again.  Apples are red and yellow.  Point to the words.  Apples are red and yellow."
Eduardo: "They can be red too!"

YES, I KNOW.

From a Second-Grade Teacher Who Will Not Be Named

Trying to make a food chain: "Deer!  Deer eat mice!"

15 minutes later, I'm still trying to convince her that this is, in fact, false...

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 36

Today we celebrated Halloween as an "American tradition".  I dressed as Mary Had a Little Lamb.  One of my students asked me what I was.



I said: "Mary had a little _____."


He said: "Man!"



My kindergarteners--rewriting nursery rhymes since 2011.

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 35

Nadine: "Ms. Kirch, you know the boy from the other class with the silver hair and the white skin?  I'm going to marry him."

Really?  I wasn't aware that I had an albino student...

Ms. Doughty's Second Graders

After an addition quiz was graded, Ms. Doughty had the students look at their mistakes.  Then they had to write the answer to these questions:


"Why did you get these problems wrong?  Was there a pattern?"
Answer #1  "My fingers didn't work."
Answer #2  "I tried to count on my fingers but I didn't have enough."

"How will you learn your addition facts?"
Answer #3   "I will work hard and chriy [try] my best."


Well, they get an "A" for creativity...

This is what happens when...

So I have a kid who chews on the bottom of his shoes during carpet time.  I pulled him aside and gave him a stress toy (a little stretchy sac filled with sand) so that he could have something to do with his hands.  I guess he was really stressed...

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 28

Audrey: "Ms. Kirch!  Look at this [tiny] cut on my finger!"
Me: "I think you'll live."
Elisabeth: "Happily ever after!"

Teaching Columbus Day

So I've been thinking a little bit about how to teach this holiday to a group of five-year-olds.  I know what I learned in school: Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.  He had three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.  King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain sent him.  He discovered America.

I know that these kids are only five, and I don't want to overwhelm them with too much information, especially since this is the first exposure for some of them.  But I do want to make sure I'm not using a completely "all-powerful white man" mentality.  I'd like to get them to think a little bit about the other side of the story too.  For example: Is it possible to discover a place where there are already people living?  But I just don't know if this will be over their heads...

Fortunately, I just found a great video on Brain Pop Jr.  It is simple, yet it provides good facts and a healthy dose of perspective.  I highly recommend it if anyone reading this is talking about Christopher Columbus with students in lower elementary school... or if you're just interested in seeing what we're teaching "the kids these days."

http://www.brainpopjr.com/socialstudies/holidays/columbusday/

Any feedback is always welcome!

Samantha

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 21

Nadine: “Did you know that the tri-state area CAN be real... but I don’t think it is.”

Me: “Hmm... what does the ‘tri-state area’ mean?”

Nadine: “I don’t know, but I saw it on Phineas and Ferb once.”

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 15

"Ms. Kirch, what's your last name?"
-Nicole

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 14

Me: "Shh everyone, it's writing time now."
Monica: "Yeah, I need everyone to be quiet, or else you'll blow my mind away."


Another from Monica that day:

The students were all trying to tell me knock-knock jokes at lunch, when Monica came up with, "Ms. Kirch why did the banana have problems going to the bathroom?"
Me: "I don't know Monica, why?"
Monica: "Because it was having a baby!"

Because that makes sense.

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 13

"Is 'go-to-the-back-of-the-line' a bad word?"
-Paloma

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 10

9/19/11

“BOO!”

Eduardo, jumping out at me when I was sitting calmly in a chair after school, recovering from the day.  Yeah, I screamed.

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 8

9/15/11

“Oooh that’s gonna hurt... that’s gonna leave a mark.”

-Andres, commenting on the stitches on my arm from my dermatologist’s mole removal

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 6

Me (with some plastic letters): “Ok, now I’m going to do something really crazy... I’m going to mix up the Ms and the Bs!”  (I dump them out.)

Roman: “OHHH you really gone and done it now!”

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 2

Librarian: “Why were the bears smiling when they found Goldilocks reading their books?”

Henry: “Maybe they're smiling because that’s their LUNCH.”

Quote of the Day from Kindergarten, Day 1

Me: "When the sun went down, Chester the raccoon got ready to go to school.  That's because raccoons are asleep during the day and awake at night boys and girls."
Harold: (already bored and over it) "Yeah... because they're NOCTURNAL."

In a tone as if he is saying, "Duh teacher, why don't you know the real word."

This is going to be a fun year!

Kindergarten Orientation

Met some of the students and their parents tonight.  Quote of the night:

Eduardo walks over to the play kitchen and says, "Ooh!  Dramatics!"

This is going to be a fun year.

5 days until the first day of school!
Sam

Does anyone have any idea why...

...my school does not have a die-cut machine, nor a laminating machine?  We have to send our assistants or go ourselves to the "Instructional Materials Center", which is not a quick drive away (it could take 15 minutes or 5 hours, depending on traffic).  I'm not trying to be a diva, I'm just thinking that having one at the school would be a huge time-saver for everyone.

So, does anyone have any thoughts as to why this might be?  If you're about to say "money", please refer to the previous post.

6 days until the first day of school, 1 day until Kindergarten Orientation Night

Sam

Thank you to my new school district...

... for my brand-new MacBook Pro.  That's all I have to say.

Oh, and 8 days until the first day of school.
Sam

Is this real life?

Caroline and I are sitting at the kitchen table, working on projects.  This is her math game involving Dixie cups with addition and subtraction problems on the bottom.  Then the kids get to stack them and put them in Pringles cans.

Caroline and her tower

The best part, obviously.

This is the look of a less-stressed-than-she-was-five-minutes-ago teacher.

14 days until the first day of school!

~Sam and Caroline

To give credit where credit is due, here is the link to the original (as far as we can tell) idea: http://www.youtube.com/user/teachertipster?feature=mhum#p/u/48/ySAaWqEJrwg

Objectives

Since we are teachers, the purpose of this blog simply must be written in the form of "Objectives," KUD-style:
-The bloggers will know what each other is up to in our separate schools, whether it is a detailed update or just a quick "Quote of the Day".
-The bloggers will understand that they are under no pressure at all to post to or even look at this blog on a regular basis. It's obvious that we may have just a couple other things on our to-do lists... this is just a way for us to share stories and ideas, or ask questions.
-The bloggers will be able to feel less stressed knowing that they are not the only ones out there with this many questions and also this much excitement*.

*Even over silly things like purchasing a full-size butterfly net at the dollar store for $1.49.

*Note: This blog will not let me invite people with @virginia.edu e-mail address... so if you have an alternate address for anyone who is a first-year teacher and wants to join, please let me know!