Hello, Spirit Week

It's spirit week. This means all week long the kids are going to be anxious, hyped up, jittery, and on edge.  This madness began today and will culminate on Friday at Pelham Bay Park. It'll be Field Day, which means we'll all get wet pants from water balloons. Better than wet pants from the alternative(s)!

Today was "Choose Your Own Way" to show spirit. My class voted on "Hats and Glasses." 

I had been keeping my fingers crossed for fake noses, mustaches, and black frames. No such luck. 

One of my favorites got through a loop hole in the rules. He for sure wore glasses, but the hat was a little iffy. His reasoning was that, today, his hair counted as a hat. We had to give it to him. I mean, how could you not? 

I think he's been gearing up all year for this. Me, I'm just having trouble finding a somewhat professional-looking outfit for multi-color day tomorrow. 

Stripping and Molting

Today we did the molting dance.

This is when you pretend to come out of your larval exoskeleton, after you ate too much and got too big for it. You wiggle and wiggle.

Scanning the room, I thought it was pretty cute.

And then I saw evidence of serious miscommunication: one student, belly exposed past the button, had her arm in her shirt and was about it take it off. Yikes stripes!

Unexpected skin exposure never goes over well. Too many squeals to handle before lunch.

Blin Blin

Woohoo spring break stories! I'm just grading the kids' homework packet and came across this journal entry:

"On Thursday my mom went to a store to by our spring close. My close had blin blin on it."

It's complete with a sketch labeled BlinBlin and blinblin.

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.

... 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!

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.

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.

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!

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.