explosion

Not to worry, there haven't been any literal explosions. But, figuratively, my life has exploded. This semester is taking over my life with the addition of 20 hours of service work added to my graduate course load. Additionally, the school district has decided that all of the teachers should take an online course in assessment. I'll mention only briefly that I took a three hour graduate course in assessment this summer. So yes, it is easy (as my principal said it should be if I have just taken a class), but it takes up that little bit of free time that was nonexistent to begin with.

While life has taken a turn for crazier, I will say that I enjoyed my first afternoon/evening of volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club on Friday. I was immediately roped into painting nails and I was able to talk to a lot of fourth and fifth grade girls about what they like to do. Surprisingly (or not), it's not that different from what my kindergarteners like to do - with the exception of liking boys. As much as I'm dreading the loss of a little bit of me time, I am looking forward to getting to know this different group of students. Life will resume again in a couple of months - but until then, blogs may come at a very limited rate.

one hundred

I have survived the first one hundred days of the school year! So have my kinders. We've had our highs and lows, but I like to think that we're kicking this year's behind.

Counting 100 Objects (They were a little off, but we got it sorted out in the end!)

Aside from being the hundredth day of school, we also had the pleasure of having Explora, a pretty awesome science exploration organization, come and lead some experiments in reflection and symmetry for the kindergarten and first grade students. The kiddos loved it, and I think that anyone in the hallway where they were working knew it. If you want to entertain a kindergartener for an hour or so, give them two small mirrors taped together and let them explore.

Friends Playing With Mirrors 

I See You!

How Many Do You See?

Symmetrical Wormy Reflections

I personally enjoyed closing out my hundredth day with setting a PR on the Pyramid Trail (55 minutes,woohoo). I had had to leave school early to check in at the Boys and Girls Club about volunteer opportunities (yes, volunteer opportunities...). One of our grad classes this semester requires 20 hours of community service work, so the mister and I decided that reconnecting with our After School roots would be fun. Once I got that squared away though, I went and did a little trail running. And it felt great.

A Quick View From the Top, Before Running Back Down (to beat the sunset of course)

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!

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?

five little jack o lantern ghost witches

Oh goodness. Next week is Halloween. The kinders are super excited. Lesson planning for next week is rough and plans this week have gone out the window. Thank goodness it is only a three day teaching week.

Next Thursday, all of the kindergarteners from my school are going to the local nursing home to provide some entertainment for the residents. That means that starting today we have roughly 7.5 hours of practice time that we were able to fit into our schedules. This means that I have crazy Halloween songs going through my head all day, we have props to make, and the kinders are going to complete some art projects to decorate the halls of the home. 

Everyone is excited about meeting the "special grandparents that live in the special home" and so in the time leading up to and immediately following our song practice sessions the kinders are amped. That means our learning takes a hit. But, they are loving it and I think that the folks that we visit will love it too. In the meantime I have jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts, and Frankenstein running through my head. 

As an added bonus though, this field trip will also count toward a service learning project that I need to do for grad school. Sure, it may be double dipping, but my students are being reminded of the Navajo tradition (and hopefully every other culture out there's tradition) of respecting and honoring their elders. I think that this is an important tradition to instill in our youth, and so we're talking about why we're visiting the home - it really is about more than the fact that we get to trick or treat while we're there and show off our fancy costumes.

Oh life, sometimes you work out so well!