Best of Tuesday

Arts Week is just jam-packed with highlights:

• We saw a Hip Hop dance group this morning. They were unbelievable. One dude spun on his head for an improbably long time. Also, they had a lady breakdancer. She's my hero.
• During the dance part, one student of mine kept yelling, "You Michael Jackson! Michael Jackson! You Michael Jordan! Michael Jordan! You on fire, on fire, on fire!" 
• We saw a very inspirational Bronx-based modern dance troupe. 
• My 5th and 6th graders had their first day of filming. We followed the performance group to the subway station, where they were handing out free lollipops to "sweeten" everyone's day. The footage is a little Blair Witch, but it'll be the jam. These kids rock.
• After school, the other first grade teachers and I had to make stuffed animal butterflies. Using a hot glue gun sounded better when I was a kid.

Tomorrow is the Spring Gallery showcase. Oo la la.

Best of Monday

Today couldn't have been more stimulating. Some highlights:

• It was the first day of Arts Week. This means there was more art, more artists, and more organized chaos than usual.
• The Striking Viking Story Pirates put on a show! They were fantastic. They did many 4-5 minute musical numbers written by kids. Dudes in drag and anthropomorphic animals.
• Student R. got stuck in his sweatshirt. It was hilarious. All you could see was one eyeball looking out, kind of like a periscope. He laughed, I laughed. He got unstuck.
• I had my first day of my "Film Crew" workshop. 2 fifth graders, 2 sixth graders, and I are making a documentary about a performance street art piece. We're feeling pretty good about it. Today we watched Improv Everywhere videos to get ideas. Tomorrow we're going to follow the performance crew to the subway station, where they'll be handing out lollipops. Sweet.
• After school was over, the student hopper came by to sharpen pencils and play teacher. Awwwww.

omg, dance party friday

Today was the danciest day ever. 

It started off with dancing and singing in a circle, like most Friday mornings. One kid in the middle, everyone else on the edge. Today was a little subdued because my co-teacher and I decided to seriously crack down on behavior. No whispers, no dilly dallying. I had to warn one kid against doing "the worm." And we had our hopper, who hopped all around the circle, giggling. One kid just stood in the middle and stared at his arch nemesis in class. Neither danced. Little awk, little Wild West.

Then, fast forward past recess, the kids went to dance class.

Fast forward again to the ART PARADE! I scrambled around and found the box of musical instruments, so we banged on them and danced around the school and on the street. We passed a pretty stationary robot, a live-action visual artist, a Bronx-based dance troupe, and the lady dressed like a butterfly.  

Then, down to the cafeteria for an African dance troupe with djembe and everything. Great drumming, great dancing. They had an audience participation part, where 4 of my students went up and danced with them. I always love the kids who spend most of time out of sync, looking around at everyone else to see what to do. They're troopers.

Overheard in Kindergarten

"We're gonna walk by here, where there will be a woman dressed like a butterfly. We'll wave to her."

The kids were dressed as barnyard animals?

Can't wait for the parade.

Art Parade

Tomorrow is the kick-off to Art's Week. At some point, a boy trumpeter will sound the signal, and we'll file out of our classrooms with "I [heart] art!" flags. If I can find the music bin in time, we will also bang cymbals and glockenspiel-like instruments. 

There were rumors of a unicyclist and a large man on stilts. 

You'd have to be pretty square not to love it. And after all, as my former student D. once said, "You can't spell 'smart' without 'art'!"

... by the bell

We have a cowbell instead of a school bell, but it does the same job. At 3:00 every day, someone the cowbell rings and the kids bustle out with their backpacks. I walk the kids who are being picked up outside and have a few minutes outside to wait with them until their family members arrive.

I try to keep in teacher mode and prompt the kids to learn (sneakily getting them to sequence events or use adjectives), but it doesn't always work out that way. I'm too immature.

As a result of this loosey-goosey dismissal time, I have a few bets going with some students.

• Student X and I made a deal that if he has a whole week with great behavior, I'll arm wrestle him. This is particularly notable due to cleanliness reasons.
• I literally told student A today, "Ten bucks says I can beat you in a race." I mean it, too. She started it by saying grown-ups can't run.
• Almost daily now, I challenge my kids to tie their shoes. It usually gets them to attempt it at least.

La, la, la "goodbye" song!

Portrait of the Hair Model as a Young Man

I have a student with fabulous hair. 

I've seen faux hawks come and go, but this guy's hair is permanently amazing. It's thick and curly and, if left to its own devices, sticks out straight from his head. 

It's an endless source of amusement for him. He pulls a curl as long as it will go and boings it back into place. If he has braids that day, he'll boing a curl out of the braid and see if he can braid it back. Very fascinating to watch.

So, I'm happy to report that his newest writing piece is about last year's "Wacky Hair Day." I wish I could reproduce the illustrations already. They mostly look like a small boy with a lion mane of hair, which is exactly how he described it. Apparently his mother blowed it out AND it started to rain, so I can just imagine how it looked in real life.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for a repeat this year.

Apple Juice Toasts

It was a Happy Monday in first grade. We had a publishing party.

Background info #1:

The kids finally finished writing their personal narratives, so we invited the sixth graders in for a party. The little ones paired up with the big ones. Topics included, among others, visiting the eye doctor and swimming in a hotel pool. The first graders had even included dialogue in their narratives.

Once the sixth graders left, we toasted the writers with apple juice and pretzels. 

I'm happy to report no spills and no tears. Only minimal untied shoelaces.

Tangent #1:

Anyone else remember "publishing" stories in first grade? I know I do. It involved a volunteer mom typing them up on a typewriter. I thought it was legit. So legit I decided to compose an original piece of music, "Birdie Oh Birdie Sing!" I had my mom xerox it a million times at her work. In my mind, that made me the next Mozart.

Yikes. I hope my students aren't as deluded as I was.

Spa Castle Day

No school yesterday. For no reason, except the administration at my school knows everyone gets burnt out in March. Originally, they wanted to have a group trip to Spa Castle (is naked sitting in the Jade Sauna something ok to do with all your co-workers?) but that was too expensive.

No school --> no post. But! 

I found something in my pocket. I often find hair clips or stickers or something else confiscated from the kids. But I found my post-it pad that I always have at work so I can take notes on the students. 

This post-it reminded me of something great. On one kid's homework last week, he had to write a sentence using the word "each." He wrote:

"Each of us is a man and a wouman."

He's so forward-thinking.

Story Pirates

I was grading homework during theater class today, not paying too much attention, when the theater teacher made an announcement:

In two weeks, the Striking Viking Story Pirates are coming to my school. I'm already obsessed.

Seriously, check out these links. If I knew how to put them in the window of the blog, I would. But I don't, so you'll have to click. It's so worth it.

Abbey is Sile

and

Tickle Monster Robots

What's a wig hat?

Early readers can be hilarious. I mean, remember "Hot at the Dam"?

So today I'm reading "The Haircut" with student M. Here's the gist:

Edwin, the kid, is so shaggy he looks like the dog. His parents decide to give him a haircut but they don't know what the hell they're doing. Edwin's hair is choppy and weird. He's nervous about going to school.

So instead of going to the barber to rectify the situation, Mom goes to the closet to get out her old "wig hat" which she apparently wore one winter as a child. The "wig hat" has fluffly blond hair sticking out from under a red beanie. As Edwin exclaims, "It almost looks like hair!" Edwin wears it with gusto, to the mall and riding bikes with friends. It's the perfect solution to the problem.

Guess what, Edwin: you look ridiculous. "Wig hats" in real life are called toupees, and you're not supposed to wear them.

Don't touch my privacy

One of my students refers to his "privacy" when talking about his parts. 

Can we make that a trend?

Definitely not holiday vests

Elementary schools in New York look funny. Most of them are colorfully decorated with kids' artwork everywhere, just like schools in most places. And they've all got cute kids with Hannah Montana backpacks.

But instead of wearing denim vests and broom skirts, the teaching staff is usually dressed in black. 

I guess it's not surprising, considering New Yorkers in general wear a lot of black. Why should elementary school teachers be any different? Some days I'll be wearing gray jeans, black boots, and a black sweater while my co-teacher is wearing a black dress, gray tights, and black boots. 

I mean, I'd like to think we look hip, but maybe we just seem ironic when we burst out into singing the "find your seat" song.

I visited another school today, in a black dress, where most everyone else had variations of black and gray on. The last class I visited was math in kindergarten. They were learning what a nickel is. Sure enough, the teacher topped us all: black shirt, black pants, black socks, black shoes. And this is even St. Patrick's Day. Not a button or vest in sight.

Another Question from Little Red

Breaking news: I was cleaning up and found another question for Little Red:

"What do I do when I am alone?"

Maybe a little personal...?

hippity hoppity

The same kid who gave me the pudding cup on Friday came in to sharpen pencils after school today. 

She can't get enough of school.

She hops in the door, giggling, asking where the pencils are. She gathers more than her small hands can carry, then realizes she has to go to the bathroom. She giggles out the door, making sure to get the bathroom pass even though school's been over for an hour.

She hops back in, sharpens pencils, and plays teacher with the pointer. This little one read almost everything in the room, standing on a chair to do so.

Hippity hoppity. She's great.

I don't get apples...

...but I get pudding cups!

Student S.H. snuck in two pudding cups today. One for me, one for the other teacher. She wanted to give us a gift.

Safety Zone!

Yesterday the kindergarten, first, and second grades at my school attended a performance of Little Red Riding Safely in the 'Hood.  Let me recap:

Stage lights go up on an unbelievably energetic adult dressed in funny pants. She tells us she is a storyteller. A voice comes from somewhere, and Little Red Riding Hood--played by an even more energetic adult--comes out of the storybook and wants to get a new story. Instead of being a bad role model of making dangerous choices, she wants to be in the Safety Zone. She teaches the kids how to avoid danger. 

There is even a song about being alert and not getting hurt.

In this version, the Big Bad Wolf is part pedophile, part internet scammer. Lil' Red teaches the kids how to stay off facebook, run in the opposite direction from creepy cars, and just say "no" to free balloons. She has lots of helpful ideas, including creating a code word with her mom. 

If there's an emergency and the mom can't pick up the kid or something, mom can send an alternate in her place. Kid gets to check if the alternate is for real by asking for the code word. A helpful tip, if you ask me.

Two of my favorite tidbits from the show:

1. Lil' Red loved audience participation, so she asked the students to help her come up with a code word. When she asked for a random color, one of my more precocious students yelled, "BURGUNDY!"

2. Lil' Red, Big Bad Wolf, and Storyteller told the kids at the end of the show that they could write to ask questions. When we got back to class, one of my students wrote:

"Where is your house. What is your code word." 

Future Big Bad? I hope not.

***

All in all, the actors did a great job. They have a tough gig. Two thumbs up.

Little Red Riding Safety

Safety episode on Little Red Riding Hood. More coming tomorrow.

Forcing the Fun

In the past few weeks, we've gotten two new additions to class. As could be expected, things went slightly haywire. New personalities throw things out of whack.

To counteract this nuttiness, we needed to do some "community building." In first grade, community building involves singing and dancing in a circle, usually with one lucky kiddo in the middle.

I love it. From where I sit (in the teacher chair), it's adorable. There's nothing better than starting your day with kids singing and strutting their stuff. There's always a huge range of dancing talent. There's the kids who clearly go to dance parties on a regular basis. These kids have rhythm and variety. Then there's the kids who do mostly throw-back dances like the disco point. 

My favorite are the kids who just hop around gleefully, without any rhythm or coordination. I identify most with them. 

My second favorite group are the kids who, looking pained, stand awkwardly in the middle of the circle. They hate the spotlight, but they put up with it because they're good sports. And because, when you're a kid, you're always forced to do stuff you don't want to do. This is just another thing added to the list. 

How much did that suck...?

Maybe we should loosen up the bathroom policy.

Monday morning, not even recess yet, and we had another accident. Good thing he had extra pants.

Sigh...

If only they didn't abuse bathroom privileges like it was their job...

Meanwhile, we made bubbles in science. yay air!

Sew...I was just thinking...

Sewing with first graders is amazing. Sewing brings out the bizarre conversation in everyone, I think, and it's no different when they're small and can't thread the needle. 

Each year I've been teaching, I've done a sewing project with my class. We've made large-scale puppets and quilt squares. Last year's class was heavily male-dominated (in numbers and in personality), and one Friday afternoon I found myself sitting around a small table with a group of small boys in small chairs, sewing to make a large puppet of a doctor. 

Somehow the topic of God came up. There was a lot of debate. One kid thought God was a soul. Another thought God just hung out in the sky. An English-language-learner didn't know what the hell "god" was and kept asking. One thing they could mostly agree on: God knows how to spell. God can spell everything.

The other first grade teachers and I sat down with our new "artist-in-residence" last week, and I'm happy to report that once again, we'll be sewing in first grade. This time we'll make pillowy soft sculptures to show the life cycle of mealworms and butterflies. 

Adventures with the older set

On Wednesdays after the kids go home, the teachers at my school have staff meetings. Last Wednesday, after completing a physical challenge and doing representational printmaking, I got to plan a new project with a new set of kids: 5th and 6th graders. They're so old!

We're doing to make a documentary about another set of 5th and 6th graders. This other crowd will be doing some (hopefully public) performance art. Disaster or Magic in the making? 

I'll keep you updated.

You'd think it's not all about bodily fluids...

But sometimes it is. 

Monday: Snow day! 

Tuesday: First grader M. comes towards me, horror-movie style, with vomit in his hands. It was right around reading time. Room smelled; M. didn't want to go home. Say what?

Wednesday: M. poops in his pants. Again, smell. Again, didn't want to go home. ?!

Thursday: Ran out of hand sanitizer. My guess: stolen by Mr. Sticky Fingers, our newest addition to class.

Friday: Happy 7th Birthday, first grader L.! No bodily fluid news, but crumbly cupcakes and spilled juice kind of count.

Happy weekend, me.