Thinking waayyy back

I was talking to a little girl about winter activities, and asked her if she had ever been ice skating. She told me she had - "when she was little".

She's 5.

Can I play?

Advice to a first grader today - after complaints from his friends:

"Aw Buddy, if you want to play, it's always better to ask your friends if you can play rather than just tackle them".

Life lesson #103

Awesome

Wisdom from a third grader:
"If everything was awesome, nothing would be awesome."

Definitely need to remember this during my less than awesome moments.


Now you see me?

Things reported seen at recess today:

1. N pushing people
2. snails
3. spiders
4. worms in the sand box
5. an invisible boy. Named Sawyer.

I guess as long as Sawyer isn't pushing people, I can keep my eye on that pushing issue.

Awkward silence

I was having a conversation with a 6th grade boy about "awkward silences". I'm not sure how we got on that subject (but imagine that could be a blog post for another day). Since he is one who likes to talk, I asked if he ever experiences awkward silence. He didn't have to think about it too long before he said "well- we did start sex ed in health last week..."

Luckily there's a lot to learn in silence.

Aha moment

"Mrs. Y - I figured out why our school colors are blue and green!"

It's a beautiful morning...

Have you ever had moments that you'd like to bottle up - to be able to take them out and experience them again at a later time? I had one yesterday morning when the first student I encountered, a grinning second grade boy, greeted me like this: "Mornin' Mrs. Y. It's gonna be a BEAUTIFUL day!". Now I don't know if he was talking about the weather (it was chilly and overcast) or just his prediction of how his day was going to go, but in either case my own day got off to a BEAUTIFUL start. Love those kids!

Your royal highness?

A second grade girl asked her friend to go do something for her, and this was the response:

"I know you were treated like a princess at your birthday party, but guess what? You're not really a princess".

Touché.

Good morning!

I love that kids often come up to report in to me on Monday mornings. They usually start with "look!" Or "guess what?!" and there are definitely some common themes:

*Lost teeth
*Sleep overs or play dates - some successful, some not
*Scraped knees and other new assorted cuts and bruises
*New shoes - often accompanied by a demonstration of how     fast they can now run
*Hair cuts 
*Annoying siblings
*Books being read (especially love this one) :)

Great way to start the week.



The infamous F word

A first grader came to tell me that a kindergartner had used the "F word". As I tried desperately to think of what it could be (a kindergartner couldn't have said THAT!) I must have just looked confused because the patient first grader explained: "Mrs. Y - it rhymes with duck". 


And I was so hoping it was "fudge" or "fight" or ....

No ifs ands or buts

I was helping two first grade boys with a writing assignment today. We would have been finished a lot sooner if one of them didn't have to write the word "but" - massive amounts of giggles ensued. 

To his credit, he did ask if he could spell it with two ts. I said no.

Best not to read between the lines

My hair has gotten long enough that I wore it to school in a pony tail for the first time. A group of third grade girls approached me at recess and one of them said "you don't look like you!" while a second girl went in for the kill - "you look really pretty".

 I could only laugh, and totally appreciate the sweet intention.

Really?

Try to follow this and you get a tiny sense of my life at school

Told to me in tears:
"My friend got mad at me. I was pretending something was real and she said that's not real so I told her it was to real, even though it wasn't - but I was pretending it was, so I had to say that."

Deep breath in and.....

After being gone for 3 days, a first grade friend greeted me this morning and literally said in one breath: 

Hi Mrs. Y - I'm back they buried my grandma in a coffin because she stopped breathing and my mom said I can wear sandals now because it's warmer is it going to rain today and I found a rock shaped like a heart I didn't buy it I found it and I'm havining a sleep over this weekend and am going to wear the nightgown I got for Christmas and I can't wait for summer beacause S. and I are going to have a play date every week when does the bell ring?

I don't know about her, but at 8:45 I felt like I had put in 1/2 a day already.

Fly like an eagle

It's not unusual for an eagle to fly over the playground, but it's not something the kids take for granted either. Today, instead of the usual " Mrs. Y - look!!", I had a boy come up to me and say very seriously "you know, when an eagle circles, a man has died". I'm not sure what look this prompted from me  (though I was thinking "huh?") because he quickly reassured me as he looked out onto the play field, "don't worry. I said man. Not child".

Times like this I do wish recess was longer, since the bell rang and he was gone. Yep - leaving me  just a little unsettled.

They say breakfast is the most important meal

A kindergartner, who is often rambunctious, was being particularly rambunctious this morning before school. When I talked to him about it, he explained this is what happens when he's hungry. Later, the school custodian, who had witnessed the morning's events, was remarking to me about them. I shared with him the student's  "hungry" explanation - to which the custodian quickly said "poor kid is always hungry".

If only it was that easy.


Bangs, bangs

A third grade girl came in looking very cute, but not very happy, with new bangs. I told her I loved them and asked what inspired her to cut her hair. Her answer explained the not very happy part: "an unfortunate comb incident".

I so wanted to tell her that some day she would look back on this and laugh. I so hated when people said that to me.


In focus?

Talking with a first grade girl at recess:

A - "I take a pill now to help me focus"
Me- "How's that workin......"
A - "Look! I'm wearing galoshes (love that word BTW) so I can step in puddles!"

I'll give it a little more time before I ask again.


Ask a silly question...

"Mrs. Y, look! I filled my pockets with rocks!"

"Why?" (Reasonable question, right?)

"Because I wanted to." (Reasonable answer)

Flippin' the bird

Today I overheard two first grade girls discussing "the finger". One was telling the other "remember, you can NEVER, EVER point that finger at someone. It's bad and very rude. Remember NEVER point it.  At ANYONE!"  The first girl, who was soaking it all in, flipped her middle finger straight up and said "OK - I'll just point it at the sky".

#stillalottolearn

What's in a name?

A kindergarten boy (we'll call Bobby) came up crying, very upset that his friend had called him a name. As I went through the usual suspects in my mind (stupid, something to do with poop, something that ends in "head", ) you can imagine my surprise when I found out he hadn't been called any of those. He had been called ... "Steve".





Oh my - I really don't need to know that...

Sitting with a group of first graders, this was the conversation:

A. "When I get married,I am NOT kissing my husband on the mouth. That's gross."

B. "I saw my parents do that in the shower."

C. "My dad doesn't wear anything when he sleeps."

D. "Mine either!"

E. "I have an X Box and a Wii U."

A, B, C, D all chime in about their gaming systems and E emerges as my hero of the day.

He said, he said

Today at recess, I saw one 2nd grade boy pin another to the ground. As I walked over, they jumped up and both started talking at once - "we were just playing" and "he tried to kill me" was what I made out.

My conclusion:  the truth lied somewhere in the middle.

Seattle Seahawks - Super Bowl Champs!

It's only 3 days after the Super Bowl and the day of the victory parade, so I can't say I blame him, but I had to laugh when I reminded a first grader to slow down while he practiced his handwriting and his response was "I can't! I'm in Beast Mode!"

Priorities

Instead of doing their math, a group of 6th grade girls got to wondering what Disney princess they would want to be - if they had a choice. One girl was having a difficult time deciding, so a friend offered "How about Cinderella?".  "Well, maybe....but I wouldn't want to do the servant thing."  She was ready to move on when she got another thought.  "Ooh, the shoes though..."

Class ended before I could hear her final decision, but I was heartened that it was shoes rather than marriage to a prince that would possible sway her.

Friends

From a third grade girl:

"There are some things I LIKE about D (a third grade boy) and some things I DON'T."

Me - "What don't you like?"

"He bothers me. He follows me. He calls me names. He won't stop when I ask him to"

Me- "What do you like about him?"

"He's my friend!"

FRIEND - such a powerful word!

BFFs?

A tearful kindergartner came up to me, sad that her best friend wouldn't play with her. In an attempt to help, I asked who her best friend was.  Her answer made it a little difficult to help - "I don't remember her name"....

Made me think perhaps sometimes adults put too much emphasis on getting to know all the pesky little details about our friends.