I resent people who imply that I am only passionate about teaching because I'm a first year teacher.
That my excitement will "wear off" in a couple of years.
That I will stop caring so much when I've had more experience.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Perspectives on love
The following are my students' responses to questions about love. Precious and insightful.
What is love?
“Like you like something.”
“When you give a person a hug like my mom and dad.”
“Caring for others like someone who can’t get in a store, getting them a coffee.”
“When I love my baby sister”
“It’s when your parents hug you and show you lots of love.”
“When a boy really really likes a girl and a girl really really likes a boy.”
“Like when you spend time with your parents and your whole family is there.”
“It’s when someone likes you really lots.”
“When you have a family you get respected.”
“When you give hugs and kisses to mom and dad.”
“When you go to someone and tell them.”
“When you live together like a family.”
“When you are happy.”
How can you show love to someone?
“By giving them a heart.”
“If someone was crying I would give them a hug.”
“I hug my mom and dad.”
“Hug them.”
“I just say that I love everybody in my family.”
“You respect them and you love them.”
“I would be nice and play with them a lot.”
“Well, I love a girl, I think she’s pretty and I like her.”
“By being nice.”
“Being their friend and including them in games and give them Valentine’s cards.”
“I play with them.”
“I be nice to them. I give my mom kisses and my dad hugs.”
“Maybe you would kiss them and tell them you love them.”
What does love mean to you?
“Like, when I love my Grandma.”
“It’s like when someone is in love with each other.”
“It’s the kind of thing when you love your parents or something.”
“It means you like people.”
“When you fall in love with someone.”
“Hugging my dad.”
“It’s about being nice.”
How do you show your mom that you love her?
“I give her a Valentine’s card.”
“I hug my mom.”
How does your dad show you he loves you?
“He gives me games for PS3.”
How do your mom and dad show they love you?
“Sometimes my mom takes breaks and cuddles me and my dad likes to tease me.”
“They take good care of me and treat me nice.”
“They hug me and kiss me.”
“By keeping me safe.”
“They hug me and buy me stuff.”
What is love?
“Like you like something.”
“When you give a person a hug like my mom and dad.”
“Caring for others like someone who can’t get in a store, getting them a coffee.”
“When I love my baby sister”
“It’s when your parents hug you and show you lots of love.”
“When a boy really really likes a girl and a girl really really likes a boy.”
“Like when you spend time with your parents and your whole family is there.”
“It’s when someone likes you really lots.”
“When you have a family you get respected.”
“When you give hugs and kisses to mom and dad.”
“When you go to someone and tell them.”
“When you live together like a family.”
“When you are happy.”
How can you show love to someone?
“By giving them a heart.”
“If someone was crying I would give them a hug.”
“I hug my mom and dad.”
“Hug them.”
“I just say that I love everybody in my family.”
“You respect them and you love them.”
“I would be nice and play with them a lot.”
“Well, I love a girl, I think she’s pretty and I like her.”
“By being nice.”
“Being their friend and including them in games and give them Valentine’s cards.”
“I play with them.”
“I be nice to them. I give my mom kisses and my dad hugs.”
“Maybe you would kiss them and tell them you love them.”
What does love mean to you?
“Like, when I love my Grandma.”
“It’s like when someone is in love with each other.”
“It’s the kind of thing when you love your parents or something.”
“It means you like people.”
“When you fall in love with someone.”
“Hugging my dad.”
“It’s about being nice.”
How do you show your mom that you love her?
“I give her a Valentine’s card.”
“I hug my mom.”
How does your dad show you he loves you?
“He gives me games for PS3.”
How do your mom and dad show they love you?
“Sometimes my mom takes breaks and cuddles me and my dad likes to tease me.”
“They take good care of me and treat me nice.”
“They hug me and kiss me.”
“By keeping me safe.”
“They hug me and buy me stuff.”
Monday, February 9, 2009
Just ask.
My students are hilarious.
Every week, on Monday, we have our Weekend Review. We sit in a circle on the floor and everyone gets a chance to share about three things they did on the weekend. After they have all taken their turns, I tell them what I did on the weekend. For some reason, at some point, (I don't know how it started) they began asking questions about my weekend after I shared. Like, a lot of questions.
Oh, and they fire them at me without waiting for answers or taking turns. Here's a random sampling of what they asked me today:
Did you brush your hair?
Did you brush your teeth?
Did you drink some coffee?
Did you drink water?
What did you have for breakfast?
What did you have for lunch?
Did you have any snacks?
Did you have a shower? Or a bath?
Did you watch any movies?
Did you read a book?
When did you go to bed?
Did you have a nap?
and so on, and so on.
Why they do this, I do not know. They laugh the whole time they're asking. They're weird.
Every week, on Monday, we have our Weekend Review. We sit in a circle on the floor and everyone gets a chance to share about three things they did on the weekend. After they have all taken their turns, I tell them what I did on the weekend. For some reason, at some point, (I don't know how it started) they began asking questions about my weekend after I shared. Like, a lot of questions.
Oh, and they fire them at me without waiting for answers or taking turns. Here's a random sampling of what they asked me today:
Did you brush your hair?
Did you brush your teeth?
Did you drink some coffee?
Did you drink water?
What did you have for breakfast?
What did you have for lunch?
Did you have any snacks?
Did you have a shower? Or a bath?
Did you watch any movies?
Did you read a book?
When did you go to bed?
Did you have a nap?
and so on, and so on.
Why they do this, I do not know. They laugh the whole time they're asking. They're weird.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Picto-blog
I overheard the following conversation in the hallway last week between two Kindergarten students. They were just coming in from recess and Mrs. N was telling them to hurry up because they had to get to an assembly.
T: Hurry up, B! Assembully! Assembully!
B: What's an Assembully?
T: I don't know, but we sure have to hurry!!
And now, some pictures.
Oh sad, yellow bamboo. Why are you dying?
New pillows! Hooray for pillows that make my place look more grown up!
And new sheets, compliments of my mother. They're flannel and so cozy. They make it hard to get out of bed in the morning.
T: Hurry up, B! Assembully! Assembully!
B: What's an Assembully?
T: I don't know, but we sure have to hurry!!
And now, some pictures.
Oh sad, yellow bamboo. Why are you dying?
New pillows! Hooray for pillows that make my place look more grown up!
And new sheets, compliments of my mother. They're flannel and so cozy. They make it hard to get out of bed in the morning.
I have this huge, blank wall in my kitchen that finally has some adornment. You can't really see the pictures, but they're kind of kitchen-y. The fruit in the frames are too high, but they're a huge hassle to move. I love my new clock, even though the Roman numeral is wrong for the 4. It says IIII instead of IV.
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One of my students has an alpaca farm and they've started making pet pillows, stuffing them with alpaca fibre. They gave me one for Christmas for my Walter. He loves it.
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Emma painted me this for Christmas. I love it.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
25 Random Facts
This has been passed around so I thought I'd finally do it.
1. I have an adorable cat Walter. My old roommate and I got cats together a few years ago. Walter is a monster (in size...in personality he's a baby) but when he was a kitten, he was the cutest round little ball of fluff.
2. I NEED to have at least one cup of coffee EVERY day. My first roommate got me hooked on it. Now, if I don't have a cup of coffee by late morning, I get a RAGING headache.
3. Like Regan, I put on lotion whenever I think of it. I keep it in my purse, in my desk at school, and in my car so it will always be on hand.
4. I love owning books. I have tons of books that I've never read, and my "to read" list gets longer and longer every time I buy a new one. And kids' books are even more of a weakness for me! Scholastic book orders are getting lots of business out of me this year!!!
5. I used to be SUPER picky about food. It's all my big sister's fault! I didn't like peppers, mushrooms, radishes, onions, tomatoes...
6. Okay, so I'm still a little picky about food. I still don't like onions, cooked carrots, or cooked celery. Or tomatoes. But I've REALLY tried to work on liking tomatoes, because they're in everything! I should say, it's just raw ones I don't like. I like things like ketchup, tomato soup, salsa, etc.
7. I'm SUPER queasy about needles. When I went to give blood, I actually thought I might pass out or throw up...before I was even in the blood giving area. When I got my wisdom teeth removed, I was equally concerned about the IV as I was about the surgery.
8. I've known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in Kindergarten. I remember looking at Mrs. Gropp, my Kindergarten teacher, and thinking that I wanted to be a teacher too because she gets to have fun all day long.
9. I'm extremely afraid of spiders. Once, when I lived at home, I put a cup over a spider for three hours until my dad could get home to kill it. Now, I've got a classroom full of 6-8 year olds who love killing spiders FOR me!
10. I have a ridiculous capacity for remembering details and conversations from a long time ago. I have a terrible short term memory, but if something makes it into my long term memory, I can remember every little detail. Like, I still remember conversations that I had in Kindergarten. I remember thoughts I had in playschool. If I remember something, I can not only tell you what I remember, but also what happened before and after, and probably where you were sitting and what someone else was wearing.
11. I hate HATE abbreviations like LOL and OMG. I use full words (correct spelling) and full sentences (including punctuation) in all my text messages.
12. I love being alone. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being around people, but I also LOVE spending a whole day alone just reading books and watching movies.
13. This one is similar to #11, but important enough to warrant its own number. I am bothered by poor grammar. Like when people use the wrong "your". Or less common, but equally annoying, using the wrong "too". Argh.
14. My bamboo is dying. I guess this isn't really about ME, but it's in my line of sight right now. And it's sad.
15. I love LOVE the game Catch Phrase. If you haven't played it, you should go out and buy it for your next party. Such fun.
16. I'm turning into my mother. I love things to match (though not to the extreme that my mom does) and I love dots and stripes. And decorating.
17. When I was in grade 4 or 5, I read a book about a girl who dotted her i's with a circle instead of a dot. I decided to do the same and proceeded to do so until about 2 years ago. Seriously.
18. Around the same time, I read a book about a girl whose older brother told her that you're supposed to say "Rabbit Rabbit" on the first day of every month. I've been doing so ever since.
19. I have crazy sensitive teeth. And don't tell me to brush with Sensodyne...I have been for over a year already. It doesn't help.
20. The only time I go to bed early is when I'm sick and I fall asleep on the couch. Even if I have to get up super early, I still can't bring myself to go to bed early.
21. I hate New Years Eve. I have had a long string of bad "luck" with things happening (or not happening) on NYE. This year I finally ended the chain of bad NYE's by spending a lovely, quiet evening with my parents, my Grandma, good food, good movies, good games, and a huge TV.
22. I love New York. I reminded myself of how much I love New York when I typed NYE in #21. I heart NY.
23. I've always wanted glasses. But my eyesight is too good.
24. Speaking of reading, I went to Kindergarten knowing how to read. My parents don't know how I learned. They didn't even know I knew how to read! Mrs. Gropp called my parents and told them!
25. I love peeling hard boiled eggs. Weird, I know.
1. I have an adorable cat Walter. My old roommate and I got cats together a few years ago. Walter is a monster (in size...in personality he's a baby) but when he was a kitten, he was the cutest round little ball of fluff.
2. I NEED to have at least one cup of coffee EVERY day. My first roommate got me hooked on it. Now, if I don't have a cup of coffee by late morning, I get a RAGING headache.
3. Like Regan, I put on lotion whenever I think of it. I keep it in my purse, in my desk at school, and in my car so it will always be on hand.
4. I love owning books. I have tons of books that I've never read, and my "to read" list gets longer and longer every time I buy a new one. And kids' books are even more of a weakness for me! Scholastic book orders are getting lots of business out of me this year!!!
5. I used to be SUPER picky about food. It's all my big sister's fault! I didn't like peppers, mushrooms, radishes, onions, tomatoes...
6. Okay, so I'm still a little picky about food. I still don't like onions, cooked carrots, or cooked celery. Or tomatoes. But I've REALLY tried to work on liking tomatoes, because they're in everything! I should say, it's just raw ones I don't like. I like things like ketchup, tomato soup, salsa, etc.
7. I'm SUPER queasy about needles. When I went to give blood, I actually thought I might pass out or throw up...before I was even in the blood giving area. When I got my wisdom teeth removed, I was equally concerned about the IV as I was about the surgery.
8. I've known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in Kindergarten. I remember looking at Mrs. Gropp, my Kindergarten teacher, and thinking that I wanted to be a teacher too because she gets to have fun all day long.
9. I'm extremely afraid of spiders. Once, when I lived at home, I put a cup over a spider for three hours until my dad could get home to kill it. Now, I've got a classroom full of 6-8 year olds who love killing spiders FOR me!
10. I have a ridiculous capacity for remembering details and conversations from a long time ago. I have a terrible short term memory, but if something makes it into my long term memory, I can remember every little detail. Like, I still remember conversations that I had in Kindergarten. I remember thoughts I had in playschool. If I remember something, I can not only tell you what I remember, but also what happened before and after, and probably where you were sitting and what someone else was wearing.
11. I hate HATE abbreviations like LOL and OMG. I use full words (correct spelling) and full sentences (including punctuation) in all my text messages.
12. I love being alone. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being around people, but I also LOVE spending a whole day alone just reading books and watching movies.
13. This one is similar to #11, but important enough to warrant its own number. I am bothered by poor grammar. Like when people use the wrong "your". Or less common, but equally annoying, using the wrong "too". Argh.
14. My bamboo is dying. I guess this isn't really about ME, but it's in my line of sight right now. And it's sad.
15. I love LOVE the game Catch Phrase. If you haven't played it, you should go out and buy it for your next party. Such fun.
16. I'm turning into my mother. I love things to match (though not to the extreme that my mom does) and I love dots and stripes. And decorating.
17. When I was in grade 4 or 5, I read a book about a girl who dotted her i's with a circle instead of a dot. I decided to do the same and proceeded to do so until about 2 years ago. Seriously.
18. Around the same time, I read a book about a girl whose older brother told her that you're supposed to say "Rabbit Rabbit" on the first day of every month. I've been doing so ever since.
19. I have crazy sensitive teeth. And don't tell me to brush with Sensodyne...I have been for over a year already. It doesn't help.
20. The only time I go to bed early is when I'm sick and I fall asleep on the couch. Even if I have to get up super early, I still can't bring myself to go to bed early.
21. I hate New Years Eve. I have had a long string of bad "luck" with things happening (or not happening) on NYE. This year I finally ended the chain of bad NYE's by spending a lovely, quiet evening with my parents, my Grandma, good food, good movies, good games, and a huge TV.
22. I love New York. I reminded myself of how much I love New York when I typed NYE in #21. I heart NY.
23. I've always wanted glasses. But my eyesight is too good.
24. Speaking of reading, I went to Kindergarten knowing how to read. My parents don't know how I learned. They didn't even know I knew how to read! Mrs. Gropp called my parents and told them!
25. I love peeling hard boiled eggs. Weird, I know.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Being assertive
Why is it that I have so much trouble telling people exactly what I want? Like, tonight I was getting my nails done by a woman I don't know. I told her specifically what I want and then watched her not do it.
Seriously, I'm paying her. Plus, it's my nails that she's doing...I'm the one that has to look at the work she did. That I paid her for.
Why is it that I couldn't bring myself to insist on what I want?
Seriously, I'm paying her. Plus, it's my nails that she's doing...I'm the one that has to look at the work she did. That I paid her for.
Why is it that I couldn't bring myself to insist on what I want?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Ho hum...
I'm sitting here, trying to think of something to blog about.
Hoping that something comes to me as I type.
And I've got...nothing.
Hoping that something comes to me as I type.
And I've got...nothing.
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