Totally Inappropriate

Good news: Student E. earned all of his bears today, which meant a dance party!

Things were all right for a while, with everyone just bopping along in their own place. The one kid doing the worm had to sit on the sidelines. 

I started to notice things going slightly haywire though when one student grabbed his crotch and then his belly, shaking the belly in front of another kid saying, "Belly dance! Belly dance!"

This might have prompted inappropriate incident #2, when a different student shimmied up to me, rubbing his rear against my leg. 

only one more week of school

Story Pirates, part million

Story Pirates again today! They're the best. We had a lovely outdoor performance, and then later they screened a highly creative video.

I am the best techer!

Well, she knows how to format a letter.

Rainy Monday

Not much to report. We had 4 kids return today after fevers galore. I wonder how many will be out tomorrow...

That lady from the King and I

Today the kids' group mentality went for the cute. While lining up after lunch, the swarmed me with a group hug. Totally unwarranted, but I felt like that lady from the King and I. Particularly when I had to pick the little one off me from the back.

Teaching is Like Birth Control

I enjoy kids. I really do. They're hilarious, and they need to learn so I'm happy to teach them. 

But my official stance is that teaching elementary school is a form of birth control. It's not just that I don't want to deal with the runny noses and incessant questions in my off time (although I'm not sure that I do...). It's more that teaching leads to the realization of how responsible you need to be to be a parent. The selflessness required is frightening.

Sometimes, though, things are too cute. My research group had to be semi-quiet today while the other group was working on their Insect Research Books. So instead of the usual raucous puzzle-making, phonics-gaming, or block-building that happens at the end of the day, we decided to read some of our favorite books. 

The kids picked Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. Great choice. So, for a brief 20-minute period today, I read Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too while the kids giggled and enjoyed and laid down on their bellies. And then they went over the top by asking to read Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day. When Peter walked through the snow with his toes pointed in and then toes pointed out, I almost teared up. Almost.

 

This made me shudder:

blue whales.

We're doing "final exams" in first grade. This involves reading books with each kid, one at a time. One book is on blue whales.

They are so big.

They are as big as 25 elephants. And a baby blue whale can gain up to 200 lbs a day.

Aaaaahhhhh. There is nothing scarier.