Hold Me!

Well, the cold weather is here! I am not sure how long it is going to stay...but it is here for now. With that comes a little bit more responsibility on my part as well as the students. They come in dressed like little eskimos as if it were snowing buckets outside. We have to put them on before bathroom, before recess, before lunch and so on...it gets quite annoying. Today as they were attempting to put them on themselves, Tyler walks up to me and says..."My jackets legs are inside outside!" Funny!

This morning during Bible time I was teaching about Moses and the burning bush. About 5 minutes into my lesson, Z was getting into trouble. They sit at my feet as I sit in the chair and teach with a flannel board. I gave him the eye and kept right on teaching. I notice that he is resting his head on one of my calmer boys, Joseph. This time I spoke and told him to pick his head up and pay attention. That was when Joseph spoke up and told me that Z "asked me to hold him". That made me laugh so hard...even now as I am writing this, I am laughing.

One more thing before I close for now. In my previous school back in 2004 when we were upon the Bush vs. Kerry days, I was able to speak a little of my mind with my 4th graders and tie certain facts in with my history and bible lessons. I am not able to do that with my little guys, so I just steer clear of the topic. (let me just say....my one 6th grade History class hears plenty from me...not my opinions...but the facts) These guys have no idea who McCain or Obama are. This morning I had a mom come in with a button on that said Obama. I shuttered a little and tried not to let my blood boil and continued on with my day, remembering to pray for this upcoming election. A little later during play time this is the conversation I hear between two little girls:

#1: Are you gonna vote with your momma?
#2: Nope
#1: I voted with my momma!
#2: I don't like Omama....he's weird.
#1: I know

Again....laughing on the inside.

I hope you are remembering to pray for our country and the Men and Women that are WILLINGLY serving to protect our freedoms.
Have a great one,
Until next time,
Sam

This is him!

Let me introduce you to Z. Z is the "newest" edition to our class, however he has been her for several weeks now. He is the one student that tests and tries me more than anyone. When he messes up, he goes to timeout, but refuses to sit in the chair...to the point of throwing himself on the floor. He has gotten much better as time goes on, but we still have our days. One thing that works is me being so incredibly sweet to him in the mornings and asking him lots and lots of questions bout himself (baseball, drums, pets...you name it). I do the same thing after nap time which seems to help things progress along a little easier.

Yesterday during playtime, he came to my desk and started touching my post-it notes. This was our conversation:

Me: Z, please do not touch things on Mrs. Thompson's desk

Z: Why?

Me: Because Mrs. Thompson said not to (my mom would be so proud)

Z: YOU have to tell me why

Me: who says?

Z: my dad....and he's big

(at this point I am laughing and wanting to see where this conversation will take me; thankfully it was the end of the day and most kids)

Me: Well, Z, Mrs. Thompson is big too

Z: I want some cheese

What???? Shows you how their minds give in after about 10 seconds of one topic.

The picture above was one of the many faces made during our conversation.

Have a great one,

Until next time,

Sam

Pajama Day Panic

Yesterday was Pajama Day! Our class has been raising money for the upcoming Harvest Fest and we finally met our goal of $1,000! To celebrate we had a popcicle party, a icecream sundae party, a popcorn party, pajama day and princess/superhero day! The kids LOVE it and enjoy every little thing!

Communication is a HUGE part of running my class successfully! To advertise Pajama Day I emailed every parent, sent a flyer home, wrote it on the white board outside my room and verbally told every parent and child. You would think that would be enough...but this time it wasn't. The kids were coming in with their cinderella, hannah montana (yes, 4 year olds), spiderman, superman, baseball and barbie pj's. They were really cute and so proud to show them off. One little girl and her dad walked in...she was in jeans and a t shirt. She IMMEDIATELY started SOBBING. Her dad's response to her was "you didn't tell me." I could have screamed at him right then. Instead I took her in my arms and consoled her the best that I could. I felt so so bad for her.

I little bit later....Z....(who most of my posts seem to be about lately) comes up to me and we have this conversation:

Z: Mrs. Thompson I have to tell you something (said in the most serious tone, thankfully only for me to hear)
Me: What is that Z?
Z: You have to tell Lily that she has to leave our class because she doesn't have on Pajamas!!
Me: (in shock) We have to be kind Z, Lily just forgot and she can stay in our class!

Poor little girl!

Well, that is about all for now....other than Z just informing me that his blanket smells like dog food.

Have a great rest of your week.
Until next time,
Sam

On my toes

I have to stay on my toes in the world of 4K. Seriously. You never quite know what they are going to say!

Z: "Mrs. Thompson, I have to ask you something"
Me: Okay
Z: (whispering in my ear) "You look like a boy"

WHAT? He later explained that that is what his daddy tells him. So FUNNY!

This little guy Z...the one that moved into my room because of behavior issues....is a cutie. But my oh my does he have an attitude. He spends a good part of the day sitting in time out because of it. Yesterday he was in it TWO minutes after his dad dropped him off at 7:30 a.m. He immediately started to cry...alot...(he is my crier and I have NO patience for criers!). I told him to dry it up and be done with it. At the top of his lungs he yelled "I am SO mad at you!!" WOW. I wanted to say it right back, but I refrained. Pray for me to handle him like am supposed to.

That's all for now!
Until next time,
Sam

Pumpkin Patch Day!!!

The kids had a blast at the pumpkin patch! However the best part for them was riding in the big yellow school bus! They laughed and laughed the WHOLE way there. It really was cute!

One thing from this morning. I have been teaching the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors for SEVERAL days now. You have to do a little bit at a time or it means nothing to them. We have gone over the fact that Joseph's dad gave him a coat of many colors. I have reviewed and reviewed and asked and asked and so far everyone has gotten it right. This morning I asked a little guy named Joseph what the Joseph in our story was given by his dad. He thought and thought about it and finally said...."a pie". HAHA!

I hope you are all finding yourself enjoying the fall weather and getting ready for the fall festivities!

Much love and until next time,

Sam

It's been a while!

It has been a while since my last post. That can be attibuted to two things: busyness and the fact that I am getting used to 4 year olds and their funnies. I need to be more diligent in storing things that happen in my brain to save for later!

Last Thursday was Grandparents day! I had 18 students, 29 grandparents, 3 parents, my teacher's aide, and myself all in my little classroom. It was a packed house, but we all had a great time. We had grandparent's show and tell where the child brings something that they have in common with their grandparent. I had coloring books, pictures of them gardening together, and even a kid in full African clothing with some sort of drums. It was really neat. I even had an 89 year old great grandpa that still drives!!! The kids had a blast and I was just glad I survived!

The worst part about grandparents day was seeing the 4 kids without grandparents there look so sad and pitiful. I even sent home a questionarre to be filled out by mom or dad that told us all about their grandparents and had a place for their picture. Only 2 of the 4 did that. I overheard this conversation early that morning:

Naya: My grandma is mean
Tyler: Does she live in a swamp?
Naya: No, she is just mean!

Today is Monday what a Monday it has been. Let's just say it fit the definition of Monday!

I got a new boy several weeks ago. His name is Z. He is a handful and makes very unwise choices about when he will obey and when he will not. This morning I asked him if he would rather go to the 3K classroom because he wasn't acting like a 4 year old. He said...and I quote..."Mrs. Roth (his old teacher) is my best friend! Not Mrs. Thompson or Ms. Washington (my aide)" And boy was he serious. I simply replied that that was fine because my job is not to be his best friend, but his teacher and to make him obey me! I did chuckle a little though!

That is all for now, and I will do my best to keep up with this a little better!

Until next time,
Sam