The end of the year...

Well the year has come to a close and I can honestly say that I have never met kids that are so entertaining. Some I was ready to send on to 2nd grade, but there's some that I wish I could bottle up and keep with me forever. I will post a pic of all my kids that were at school on the last day. They will be in my heart forever! Stay tuned for the newest edition starting late August!!!

He fell dead...

So we've been doing an ongoing project with all the 1st grade classes... the famous Flat Stanley project... As the reading teacher, I have been going through the Flat Stanley series of books. I was reading the last chapter of Invisible Stanley and I like to pause at predictable parts to make sure the kids are paying attention. When I pause, they are supposed to fill in the missing word. The very last line of the book was "... and they fell ______." Here I put a pause in... The line was supposed to be "... and they fell asleep." One of my boys who really gets into the story said, "... and they fell DEAD!" I couldn't help but bust out laughing!

You have GOT to come look at this!

One of my boys was on a computer program to help improve their reading, and he said, "Miss Glover, you have GOT to come and look at this!" So I walked over there and he told me to watch this little video that goes with a song. It was a cupid carrying a valentine, and of course the cupid was only wearing something to cover up the bottom half of them! I said, "Those crazy naked babies!" He rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah..."

It was very funny!

Double Whammy

Alright so I've got 2 things to share this time...

The first thing is how kids think that once they start learning about something, they know everything there is to know about the subject. For example, I team with another girl who teaches the math, science, and social studies part of life while I teach the reading/language arts part of it, and right now in math they're learning how to tell time. So my afternoon group walks in the room, and they sit down and stare at the clock. Not all of them by any means, but those who really think they've got it down are giving that clock the once (or twice) over. One of them looks up at me and says, "Miss Glover, what time is it?" I glance up at the clock, and let them know it's 12:35. They look at me with shocked expressions and shout, "How did you know so fast?!?"

The second thing is the things that kids pick up on when it comes to appearances. I mean all first graders are gonna be shorter than me (unless they flunked a few times, or are like giant people)... I'm only 5' 6"! But today one of my taller girls looked at me and said, "Miss Glover! You're tall today!" I, of course, was wearing heels... I looked back at her and said, "Girl, I've gotta do something to stay ahead of you!" She thought that was absolutely ridiculous and said, "Oh, Miss Glover!" with a shake of her head... I just love what they notice!

I am SO not in the mood...

It's so interesting what kids pick up on... You work all day long to try and teach them the things they need to know to succeed in life, but it's not always what they latch on to...

I was listening to a few of my kids playing school during some free time, and I noticed one of my girls was being the "teacher." I sat there working on something at my desk, and they totally didn't realize I was hanging on every word they were saying. The "teacher" was using phrases that I use every day! It was so funny! It took everything in me to not just laugh out loud (lol) literally! :)

Apparently I'm teaching my kids how to teach!

Can I pull your tooth?

So I was talking to my mom, and I recalled a funny story about one of my afternoon kids when they first moved here...

His first day of school could have been quite traumatic if it had been any other kid...

These kids come to me right after recess, and one of my girls came up to me and was telling me about a loose tooth. I could see that it was hanging by a thread, and so I asked her if she wanted the nurse to pull it or if she wanted me to pull it. She didn't hesitate and said she wanted me to pull it. So, I went and got a paper towel and popped the tooth out for her. The new boy witnessed this whole event take place, and I walked up to him after I had thrown the paper towel away and asked him if he'd let me pull his next loose tooth.

Now most kids will automatically say an emphatic NO... But he sat there and thought about it... the wheels were obviously turning in his head. He looked back up at me and said with utter confidence, "Yeah... I think I will." He was so serious about it that I just had to laugh.

It's been a few months now since he came to my room and he came in from recess telling me about a tooth he had lost. I of course remembered his first day of school and with mock shock I said, "But I thought you were gonna let ME pull your next loose tooth!" He looked at me with a surprised look like he remembered that day as well and said with a gasp, "I forgot!!!" Then he looked upset that he had forgotten and promised me that I would get to pull the next one!

I had forgotten about that story, but it was definitely a high point!

If my teacher isn't coming to school, I'm not either...

So I was talking to a mom after school today, and I mentioned that I wasn't gonna be there tomorrow. She got real quiet and said, "Does JC know that?" I said, "No, she doesn't." The mom then laughed under her breath, and said, "Good because then she'd think she could stay home too!"

I think it's so funny how kids want to be so grown-up all the time... They want all the privileges and benefits of being a grown up... Little do they know!

What's in a name???

It's so funny to me how kids can totally screw up any teacher's name... even the simple ones... My name is not that difficult to remember (Miss Glover), but inevitably a child will come up with an alternate name to call me. I think I had been hearing this boy in my afternoon class call me this numerous times before, but it struck me as hilarious today... He calls me Glove... Not Miss Glove, but Glove... That may not be funny to anyone else, but if you had met this kid who has the best comic timing, you'd understand why this is so funny! All of a sudden if he has a question he'll say, "Hey, Glove!" His last name is Salinas, so when he calls me Glove I call him Sal... Another boy in the same class tried to call me Glove (it wasn't near as funny by the way...) and I called him Cam (his last name is Camarillo)... He said, "That's not my name!" And I quickly replied, "Well, my name isn't Glove either!" Just a random funny moment of my short day with my darlings!

Oh... here's a picture of the toy that one of my girls gave me for Valentine's Day... My cat thinks it's amazing as well! :)

The Littlest Things...

It's so funny what kids come up with as presents. Sometimes it's something silly like a paper clip or a rubber band that they think you JUST HAVE TO HAVE! But sometimes it's something as small as a vending machine toy... you know... the ones that come in the plastic containers with the lids that are almost impossible to get off... One of my girls gave me one of those for Valentine's Day, and amazingly enough, it has been quite amazing! It's like a stress ball but so much more entertaining... I'll post a picture of this toy (they call it "The Spider") in a day or so... When my kids think I'm stressing, they'll go get "The Spider" and hand it to me because they know that I need something to get my mind of what's going wrong. They have moments where they drive me absolutely crazy, but it's moments like these when I realize that the bad moments don't have to outdo the good ones...

Big Personalities

This is only my third year to teach, but I can honestly say that I have not met any kids who have more personality than my kids this year... This blog is meant to share their personalities with you... To share what I get to see and spend time with every day... I don't know if you'll find them as amazing as I do, but I can't let moments like these go unnoticed...

I have not laughed, cried, and been more frustrated and ecstatic than I have this year... These kids have caused me to have more emotional outbursts than I've ever had in my life... But I have not felt so many "ah-ha" moments than I have with these kids... Do they always act the way they're supposed to? No. Do they always listen when I want them to? No. But do they surprise me every day with things that I didn't think were sinking in? Yes. When I don't think that they're paying a lick of attention... When I don't think that I'm doing my best by them... When they drive me to the end of my patience... They surprise me with their thoughts, their answers, and their awesomeness...

Let the joy of sharing them with you begin!