Mosaics by Ronna

As a small side job/hobby, I've started making mosaics. If you're interested in buying one, let me know!


Mosaics by Ronna

All Day Convo

The other day one of my students informed me that I look weird without my glasses. I asked for a clarification... weird or different? He said just different...

A few minutes later, another boy asked me why I haven't been wearing my glasses. I told him because they're broken. He then asked when I'm getting new ones. I explained that I have to go to the eye doctor so he can make new lenses for my frames. I also told him that I was ready to make an appointment because my head has been hurting since I've stopped wearing them.

Later on in the day, when we were not anywhere close to talking about my glasses, another boy asked out of the blue, "How many weeks until you go to the eye doctor?"

Apparently my glasses and the headaches I've been having because I haven't had them are a bigger concern to my 6-year olds than I thought!

Enjoy the Little Things

I had a kid walk into the room today when he was supposed to be in the library. I asked him if he forgot something knowing that he had forgotten his library book. He said yes and then asked me why I hole-punched the green dot for him (that just means he is a step above the easiest level of books). I told him that he had worked so hard that he had earned it. He thanked me with a surprised look on his face and I thanked him for working so hard. He thought for a little bit and replied "You're welcome!" You never know what's gonna brighten a kid's day and make them want to work hard for you until the little things happen. This is why I do what I do every day!

Money Talks

As part of our Positive Behavior System, we give "Bobcat Bucks" when we catch our kids being good without being told. I'm also teaching them about converting their money when they get 5 $1s, they can trade them in for a $5. When they get 2 $5s, they can trade it in for a $10. The boy that I talk about regularly went to count his money when he had a free moment and said, "Miss Glover can I trade you for a $13 because I have $13 and I want to trade it in." I laughed and told him that I only have $1s, $5s, and $10s... no $13s and that in all honesty, there is no such thing as a $13 bill. He was quite disappointed, but I told him that if he gets two more $1s, he could trade me for a $5. That seemed to cheer him up a little...

Today was also Picture Day for all the students. This is the picture that goes in the yearbook. The boy mentioned above came to school in the foulest mood I have ever seen on a 6-year old! I just knew that this day was not going to be normal (which they rarely are when their schedules get out of whack).  He informed the class that he didn't want anyone to look at him, talk to him, or act like he was even there. A few of his friends continued to talk to him as he covered his ears and tried to fold himself into his backpack. After the kids realized that we needed to leave him alone, we went on with our day. Things got better until it was actually time to take pictures. No one came to get us like they were supposed to, so we were late getting our pictures made, which made us have to rush to get to lunch on time. It didn't help that the photographers were taking FOREVER to take each picture. I am so glad that they worked hard to get a good shot of each child, but seriously... it doesn't take 5 minutes to get a good picture of a little girl.

After lunch we came back in the room, and I had to put my game face on. I informed them in no uncertain terms that the behavior this morning was not going to happen for the rest of the day. I started pulling clips left and right and we started our math lesson. I paired them up with linking cubes where we were working on greater than, less than, and equal to. I had one pair that worked so well together! I stopped the class and had each group walk over to look at their table to see what I wanted each of their tables to look like. After that, there were no problems and they started actually working well together too!

We had a hectic day, but hopefully things will get back to normal now that our schedule isn't changing again this week. Oh, wait... We don't have school Monday for Labor Day. Next week will be Round 2 I guess! :)

The Flattery of a 6-year old

I don't know if they've noticed or not, but today is the first day that my students have said anything major about my glasses. One of them asked why I wear them, while another student pointedly answered, "Because she's blind." I told her that I'm not blind, and that I just need them to see when I read. The kids wanted to know why I wear them all the time then, and I said because I'll lose them if I don't wear them all the time. Then they wanted to see what I look like without them, so I took them off. A few of them that don't deal well with change said, "Put them back on. You look better with them on!" One of my boys that I've mentioned before (the one with no filtering system) proceeded to say that if he was a little older and I went without my glasses all the time, that he'd be my husband! I asked him if I should tell my boyfriend that he has some competition where they quickly got distracted and wanted to know about my boyfriend... Talk about short attention span! :) Oh, he got a big grin on his face after I asked him about talking to my boyfriend. Quite funny!

Easy Button

Yeah... there is no such thing when it comes to 1st graders! I have a little girl who shall remain nameless, but anyone who knows me personally has heard and will hear her name regularly as she is the one pushing every button she can find. She argues, interrupts, bosses the other students around, and generally drives everyone up the wall with her mouth (which runs constantly). I'm at my wits end and it's only the 6th day! Not sure what to do... I'm gonna have to pull out the big guns and think of everything I've ever done to deal with trouble children.

On a lighter note, my 16 darlings (including the one noted before) are very sweet children. I know that any time they act out it's because they are starved for attention. It's the case every year...

I also have one little boy that I have mentioned before who also loves to push buttons... He and I are acquiring an understanding though and he's mature enough to understand that even though I fuss at him, I still love him very much and that I just want him to behave so he and everyone else can learn. He has a very dry sense of humor and always has a come back. He has by far the quickest wit I've EVER seen in a 6-year old! He's very fun to banter with and I think that that's my saving grace when it comes to disciplining him.

Week 2 is under way and I'm sure there are loads of adventures ahead... We've already had a few!

Out of Power, But Not Out of Energy

It has been a very interesting day... We had a wicked thunderstorm last night (Praise God!) that caused a lot of chaos in my life for multiple reasons. First of all, it woke me up at 1 in the morning after I had been asleep for 4 hours (yes, I was asleep by 9 pm) when the thunder vibrated my apartment so much that the light fixture in my half bathroom fell off and shattered. Then I get to school that morning and see the electric company working on the lines outside our building. I walk in and the classrooms still have electricity but the hallways are dark. Then I find out that they're turning off all the electricity to the entire building so that they can work on the lines. I hurry to sign in and then my principal instructs us to get all the kids to the East cafeteria (which has walls of windows). Every child that got to school for breakfast (Headstart through 4th grade) was in one cafeteria that usually is for 2nd through 4th grade. It was hot because there was no air conditioning and there were a lot of panicking children who either couldn't find their teacher or couldn't find a place to sit to eat their breakfast. After I got most of my kids rallied, we went outside to get some fresh air before going on to our classroom. My classroom is on the side of the building that has windows, so we could see enough to continue on with our day to some extent. The teachers that have no windows had to stay outside and "entertain" their students for a couple of hours until the electricity was restored. My students were working very well in the dark, but I could tell they were getting restless, so we went for a "nature walk" with a couple of the other 1st grade classes. They were very excited about all the fresh air. By the time we got back, the lights started coming back on, so we headed back to our classroom after a quick juice break. Little did I know that my students' restlessness had not gone away with our walk... It was the 1st rough day of the year lol

Later on... As I was reminding my class every few seconds of our rules while working independently, I was giving out Bobcat Bucks (our positive behavior reward). One of my students that is very outspoken and without much of a filtering system, said, "Miss Glover, you're going crazy!" I asked him, "Now why do you say that?" He so plainly replied, "You're giving out Bobcat Bucks like crazy!" I then told him that I could easily go put them away if he thought that would be a solution to my craziness. He waved a hand at me and said, "No, no, no, don't do that! That's not what I meant!" It was very funny and he quickly realized that Miss Glover is a little quicker than he might have realized... He may have met his match this year... We hope! :)

Maybe tomorrow will be a normal day... but never expect too much normalcy when working with 1st graders!

Do as I say, not as I do...

It is so funny to me how kids can know their manners and rules backwards and forwards, but when it comes to following them, they fly out the window. I have two kids (that you will probably hear about a lot!) that are so respectful and ready to retell the rules to me when I ask, but will not follow the rules that they know by heart.

I have one little girl who could probably teach the class for me, and we're probably going to have authority issues before the year is over. She loves to remind me of the rules and she is a huge fan of correcting her classmates when she needs to be following the rules herself. It's pretty entertaining and I try to praise her for being helpful while kindly reminding her that she needs to do those same things she's telling her friends to do.

I also have a little boy that has the biggest vocabulary I've ever heard, and I know he must have heard a lot of adults talking around him for quite some time. Today we were talking about a "store" that we're going to have at school for the kids to spend their "bucks" on that they earn for good behavior. He was telling the class about all the things that a former "store" had and he said, "...and for goodness sake, I can't even think of all the things that were in it because it was so big!" I laughed out loud at that one, and he says those things with the most serious face. Very funny!

Day 2 went well considering I'm still not used to this new curriculum. I like it, but it's a lot to learn! I'll keep pressing on and doing my best... My kids are learning so many new things and doing such a great job remembering them from one day to the next. We'll see if they keep up all year because we're not slowing down at all! I've got a great group, and I'm excited about this year!

Year 5, 1st Day

So... today started like any other first day of school... hectic!!! We are starting this year with a new behavior system, a new curriculum for math and reading, and a new teacher in our grade level. All of those are great until they come at you at one time. The new teacher is awesome, and is going to do a great job once the "first day jitters" are behind her. The new curriculum is OK just something to get used to after teaching the same thing for all the other years I've been teaching. The new behavior system is what's hard because when you get used to using one set of rules and you know them like the back of your hand, it's a little difficult to remember all the cutesy new tricks.

Cutesy trick #1: The hip and lip ~ One hand on your hip and the other hand has a finger on your lips.

So far that's the only one that I've gotten down with my 1st graders lol...

I also have a great group of kids this year! Only 16 so far, but I know there will be more. A girl I teach with only has 14, so she'll be the one to get the new kids first. :)

I do have one little girl that will be mentioned probably quite often throughout the year if I keep this up (which I haven't in the past). She will be my trying one who will push all the buttons she can think of to push to see which one will make me explode! Just in one day I have learned that she has ZERO filtering system and no mute button. She has the best manners I've ever seen in a 1st grader, and she knows all the rules backwards and forwards like she's been going to school here forever (she's new this year). I guess it doesn't matter how well you know the rules if you won't use them. We'll see how tomorrow goes, but I think I might be developing a twitch with her name written all over it! :)

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!