trick or treat

Today was the day. Halloween. Some say it is the worst teaching day of the year. I think that the worst part of the day is the party. Teaching went really well, our field trip went really well, the students were amazing. Then the party hit. Then all of the monsters and goblins come out of hiding and the kinders go crazy. Mine actually weren't as bad as they could have been, but classroom parties are still something that I just haven't figured out a system for. It was better than last year, but still not perfect. We all survived though and at the end of the day there were still two and a half pizzas left over from our pizza party so Mrs. S. and I both went home with dinner after an exhausting day.

The most exciting thing about today was our field trip. The kinders rocked it! They remembered their words, their actions, they were all smiles, and they used their manners. The residents of the nursing home were also rockstars. They loved the little guys and cheered at the end. Everyone was excited. The performance was followed by some trick or treating on our way out of the home.

Here is our final song from the performance, "Oh, my monster." Enjoy!

oh hail

Literally. This afternoon my kinders kept on telling me that it was going to rain. In the desert, you can smell it coming. Today we had a bitter chill though, so when the rain did come, at student pick-up time, it was not liquid, but solid. At first everyone was excited because it appeared to be snow. Then it came down harder. So hard, in fact, that it hurt. We rushed all of the kiddos inside to look for their rides and signed them out from the warmth of the building.

I hope that this weather doesn't continue through the evening. While I would appreciate a late start, I really don't want it to be tomorrow. With two thirty minute practice sessions a day for our trip to the nursing home tomorrow, I really want to make sure that it happens. The kiddos are so excited about performing and riding the bus. Right now the fact that they get to trick or treat while we are there hasn't even crossed their minds. They just want to meet the special grandparents. 

Fingers crossed for a whole day of Halloween havoc tomorrow.

number sense

Numbers can be quite confusing to kindergarteners. With some numbers such as seven and eleven sounding so similar I frequently hear my little learners counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13... As you can probably imagine, this gets quite frustrating for all parties involved. It is hard to make things click. 

With this in mind, today we brainstormed different ways that we can show the numbers 11 and 12. I was quite impressed with some of the things that my students came up with. We did the number 11 together, then they did number 12 all by themselves. I have faith that they'll get it one of these days (hopefully sooner, rather than later).

overheard

Kimberly: Did you know that my sister doesn't live at home anymore?

Emily: Oh yeah, because she's big now, right?

Kimberly: No, because she got married.

Emily: Eww! I'm never doing that. I'm going to live alone with my dog. ... Or my parrot.

***

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my kinders? They are pretty incredible little people. Today when we were doing calendar time they got all excited about Halloween - but not because of the reasons you would think. They got excited because they get to go visit the "special grandparents" and sing to them. I can't wait to watch them perform and see how they interact with everyone at the nursing home. I have a feeling that it is going to be great. How could it not?

the things they say

"Oh, my gosh! Today is P.E.! I forgot my sweaty pants!"

It's Saturday, my running day. I just had to share these fantastic words from one of my students yesterday.

Happy Saturday!

around the world

It is recess and I am coming off of an Around the World high. I know that I keep bragging about how awesome my kinders are, but I need to do it again (and I am sure that it is not for the last time).

This morning my kinders were a little full of Friday energy and ended up moving into the "yellow light" as a result. This meant that our class lost five minutes of recess time. To fill that time, and the fifteen minutes before, we did sight word work. First we worked on their word lists for study at home, then we did the high frequency words that we have been working on in class. The students had them down, so we extended our small group Around the World games into a whole group Around the World.

I wasn't too sure how this would work with mixed levels, but all of the students' practice has paid off. We had high levels competing against low levels, and to my surprise and delight, the high levels didn't always win. It was fantastic. The class had tons of energy, sight words were flying, the kinders were having a learning party. It was fantastic. I think that I see more around the world in the future!

the things they say

"I wish we had all five days this week. Or six or seven, or more. I love school."

Some days they just make me smile. The one that said this really needed to make me smile too. He's gotten two "yellow notes" home this week, and we've only had two days of school. At the end of the day when I was exhausted from running around and teaching all day, he turned to me and said the aforementioned words with a big grin on his face. 

I love that my kinders are loving school. I love that I have such amazing students this year (even the ones that keep on pushing just a little too far). I love my job (even though it leaves me feeling exhausted when the last child is picked up for the day). I cannot imagine doing anything else.