this is what i make

alissa pitt sent me this today.  normally i don't take the time to read these, but since i am lying on my death bed writing sub plans for tomorrow, i figured i would.


i am no cream of the crop or tip of the iceberg, but i work really hard at trying to be this teacher. {and yes, i can make kids focus for 40 minutes  of classtime. just with some yoga or singing breaks.}

What a Teacher Makes

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. 

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"  

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"  

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)  

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.  

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.  

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.  

You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)  

I make kids wonder.  

I make them question.  

I make them apologize and mean it.  

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.  

I teach them to write and then I make them write.. Keyboarding isn't everything.  

I make them read, read, read.  

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.  

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.  

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.  

I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the USA.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life. (Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.) 

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?  

His jaw dropped, he went silent.  

and a picture of a little cowboy for your viewing pleasure.

it's blurry.

i took it on my phone of a moving target while walking. triple whammy.

but how cute?

halloween. 2nd grade style.

here are my sweet little witches, zombies, dragons...

{from left to right}

football player, Hiccup [How to Train Your Dragon--still want to see that], tiger, flapper [she says 20's dancer], ballerina, zombie

 half angel/half devil, witch, wizardess [obviously casting a spell here], Jedi Knight, dragon [from How to Train Your Dragon]

witch, Glinda [Wicked], Vampiress, Link [some elf from a video game. he looked cute], Grimm Reaper, Mario

Batman, pirate, alien [he couldn't wear his mask/head thing so his mom did all of that this morning--looked so good. "Miss Kendrick!  I scared five 6th graders!!"], Dorothy [I was going to be Dorothy and my team was going to be the other characters.], fortune teller

the whole gang

so what were my team and i dressed up as?


ever heard of Roald Dahl's book The Witches? 
[i've read it like 6 times.  and erin and i read a little bit to each other last august when i was coming back to school.  i did a norwegian accent for the grandma.  yeah, so good.]


well, we are all reading it to our 2nd grade classes, so we dressed up like witches.  the thing about the witches in this book is that they look like ordinary women.  EXCEPT, they wear long gloves to cover up their claw fingernails, and wigs and hats to hide their bald heads, and they have blue spit and great big nostrils! i also wore my black pointy toe boots and black tights.  the kids loved it.  and the other 2nd grade teachers looked so good too!


today was SO fun.  my room mother's planned a FABULOUS party--cake walk center, art/craft center, craziest costume dress up center, toilet paper mummy center.  it was great.  and i didn't have to plan any of it--i just took pictures [with the crummy cramra {that says camera} and voted on craziest costume after each of the fashion shows.


we also watched monsters inc during recess, lunch, and after lunch during a little art thing {yes, i am so nice and let them stay in so they wouldn't freeze/mess up their costumes. and i was observed this morning with a halloween interactive writing that went fabulously well.


then the whole school does a halloween parade and all of the parents come.


the day was exhausting, but...


i LOVE halloween, 2nd grade style. 

3 cheers for Fall Break

hip hip horray

hip hip hooray

hip hip horray!

it's Fall Break today!!

let me start by expressing my love for my little 2nd graders.

they are SO dang cute!

Monday morning, my sweet little blondie brought in a red apple and said, "Here teacher, this is for you!  I brought you an apple!"

my first apple

i was pretty excited about that!

 the Halloween Ghost paid a visit to our classroom early Tuesday morning!

I got this cute little sign from the $1 spot at Target (love that spot, love that store)

i put it up along with some spider webs

the kids freaked out!

"Miss Kendrick did you do this!?"

"Nope!  It wasn't me!  The Halloween Ghost did!"

"What!?  The Halloween Ghost!?  I can't believe he came to our classroom!"

then every kid that came in after that was told, "Teacher didn't do it!  The Halloween Ghost did!"

it was HILARIOUS.

you really put on a show when you teach elementary kids.

and i definitely do every day.

this was what one of the reading responses said the other day.

the prompt was: I want to be _________ because I can be anything I want to be!

well, one little boy wrote: I want to be a fluffy orange cat because I can be anything I want to be!

wasn't what I was going for.  we had talked about being a doctor or singer or president of the U.S. but not really animals, let alone fluffy orange cats.  descriptive though.  A+ for adjectives!

[erin, emily, dana, mom, dad, and anyone else who had Mrs. Perry for 2nd grade at Courreges Elementary School: recognize the little smiley?  Thank you, Mrs. Perry.  You were my favorite teacher.] 


fridays i eat lunch with one of the tables that is being so good all week. last friday my diva's table was chosen. i asked the kids what they were going to be for Halloween.
These are Diva's words:
I was going to be a princess because I am one because my dad called me princess when I was little because I was cute, but now I'm going to be a vampire.


hmmm...are you not cute anymore?  or just not a princess anymore?  or you are still learning how to express ideas? or you just want to be a vampire? 

excuse the screen, but this is the view from my window.  well, if i am looking at the trees.  the mountains are back there too and i absolutely LOVE it!

i am just SO in love/obsessed with fall!

and now it's time for YOGA

stay tuned for some yummy news about squash

(it's a fruit, you know.  in the vegetable family.)

thunder cake and cracking heads

thunder cake

"this is thunder cake weather, all right."

thursday brought some heavy downpours, hail, and [my favorite], thunder and lightning.  

we read another patricia polacco book: thunder cake.  

if you're a teacher: read it to your class and then make thunder cake with them.  

if you're a mom {or grandma, or nanny/babysitter}: read it to your children and make thunder cake with them. 

it was so much fun!  and it was so perfect that it was pouring rain when we made it and then we could hear the thunder later in the afternoon.  the kids LOVED it.

the recipe is in the back of the book, or here.

cracking heads

while the kids were at music friday, i was sitting in my room grading spelling tests when the office buzzed me.

"miss kendrick."

"yes?"

"we need you to gather gavyn's things and bring them to the office.  he's getting picked up soon."

"okay!"

in my head i'm thinking, "this is my planning time. my precious 30 minutes of planning time.  can't he come get it himself?"

so i finished the spelling tests, grabbed gavyn's test, his watercolor butterfly to take home, his backpack, and his sweatshirt and walked down to the office only to find him on the couch with the principle (who had a latex glove on) and him holding and ice pack to his head.

"oh no! what happened, bud?"  [i call everyone bud, or buddy.  it's kind of a little problem when i slip and call 23+ year olds bud. and slightly embarrassing.]

"they were playing duck duck goose in music and he tripped on a chair and hit his head on the desk.

goose egg, i thought.  total goose egg bump/bruise is going to be on that 7 year old head of his.

WRONG.

"it's not that bad, he'll be okay." the principle said as gavyn lifts the ice pack off his head to show me.

blooooooood. 

no bueno!  stitches were in need!

i picked up the kids from music "MISS KENDRICK!!!! did you hear about gavyn!"

it was so precious. they were so cute--so worried about them.

of course, it was a perfect teaching opportunity: be careful, watch where you are going, don't run through the halls, etc.

"can we make him cards?"

"of course!!"

so we did.  there were some pretty cute/funny ones.

diva's said {amongst her most sincere apologies and heartfelt wishes to "get well"} "do you want to be friends?"

sheriff's is below

i love.

so we all wrote notes [me included] and i tied 'em up with a cute little yarn bow thingy and M&Ms and i dropped him by his house after school.  i hope he's okay!! i'll find out tomorrow.

sisters come to school, mooning, runaway turtle, pictures

sisters come to school

on thursday, em, dana & claire came up. they arrived pretty soon after i got home from work.  it was perfect timing.  


friday we had a grand ol' time. dana came to my classroom all day.  we went to the dinosaur museum that the 4th graders put on. and dana ate lunch in the faculty room with me and the other teachers.  yeah girl.


emily and claire came for the last part of the day.  the kids asked them all questions.  always interesting and hilarious.  yes, yes.  "what's your favorite sea animal" was one of the questions as well as "do you like vanilla or chocolate better?" no, ice cream was not mentioned, just vanilla or chocolate.
after school i put the girls to work. and...

mooning

at my school, we give out tickets if kids are bad. like really bad.  like cussing or violence.

well...remember how luna lovegood goes to my school? 
[see here. scroll to the luna lovegood part]

so her teacher tells us at lunch yesterday that luna [name changed] got a ticket on thursday.

"what! what did luna get a ticket for!?" 
[because luna is a little out there...] (me)

"she mooned some people." (luna's teacher)

"what!?" (luna)

"yeah, to some girls.  and i asked, 'luna.  why did you do that?'" (luna's teacher)

"they wouldn't leave me alone." (luna)

okay, well i guess that works then.

kids are so funny.

[also, apparently luna had bad gas the other day in her class and said, "i'm sorry! it just keeps coming!"]

runaway turtle

i cleaned james danger's tank [yuck] and put in his brand new filter! WOOO! works like a charm already! except, i didn't feed him yesterday or today and won't be going tomorrow either, soooo yeah.


remember how i said james danger is hilarious and tries to escape?
well, em caught it on video.

start it again.  watch those little legs kick and splash around!  he's so strong.  just like his momma.


then em said, "one of these days he's going to climb out, heidi!" and i said, "no, he has nothing to grip his legs on."  approximately 2 seconds later he climbed out!! so funny! now i just need to keep it closed. sorry, james!


enough writing [i'm sorry! there's so much to say!]

pictures

[just a few until miss claire bear gets them on her computer and sends them to me]

yes, the corn dog factory.

i found this kiddie art apron set and i wear one while i clean the tank de la tortuga.

i wanted to wear this little treasure of mine i somehow acquired to conference, but the girls said no.

why not?

i ran a marathon.

nbd.

conference was amazing. like so good.

more on that to come later, after tomorrow's sessions!

notes, farts, and does.

notes:

yesterday one of my sweet little guys walked up to the back table where i was sitting and grabbed a little slip of paper.

he looked at me while he was doing it like, "you did not just see me take that.  don't ask what i am going to do with it.  just pretend you didn't see me."

so of course i asked him, "what do you need that for?"

"i need to write a note."

"to who?" [thinking it would be to one of his friends--we will have a time for letters and right before math isn't the time.]

"to you."

"okay, well hurray up it's time for math."  [how much could he write--the slip was like 1/2 a small post-it note.]

then i started singing 

"everybody find a seat, 

find a seat, find a seat. 

everybody find a seat right on the floor." 

[to the tune of "shortnin' bread"]

and he dropped that off to me.

and i read it and almost cried.

"dear miss kendrick

thank you for being a nice teacher to us and we like you"

[this is the same sweet boy that wrote the journal entry with boy's name is my friend! and girl's name too!...etc. see here.]

farts:

yes.  sometimes these little chunkers fart.

it is hilarious.  and i almost die but i have to look down and keep going.  it's not acceptable. but it is so funny.

so today the kids were working on their centers [which means it is quiet time] and my funny boy let one rip.  and i almost lost it but i just looked up and said {name} we don't do that in the classroom. and then i put my head down before he could see me burst out laughing.  he's so cute!

then i had my facilitator/mentor teacher [aka my "boss", not the principal boss] come in and model a lesson for me.  so the class is all sitting on the carpet quietly and attentively and then another boy let one rip.  i was sitting in a chair at the back of the carpet and i seriously was biting my tongue like there was no tomorrow.

oh kids.

does:

it's been awhile since i've seen a deer prancing around. maybe because i haven't been running often or far enough to the normal spot i see them.

and i'm not at byu walking up the hill where missy and i saw the pregnant one like everyday munching on leaves.

it was quite a pleasant surprise to see this doe just prancing through the street close to my apartment.  taking her sweet, precious time.  which is why i snapped a photo.

i'm just loving life.

em and dana and claire bear are allllllmost here. like they should have been 10 minutes ago.

yeah!

today we learned that verbs describe an action.  first i had kids describe me: 

brown hair

glasses (got 'em on today)

nice (aw, thanks)

and then my diva says with an i-want-something smile "beautiful"

(well, thank you!)

then i told them that i think i am funny too.  and i wanted to die laughing after i said that because really, it was funny.

***

one of my favorite things is journals.

sometimes i make the prompt, things like

"if i were president for a day..."

"if i could fly..."

"let me tell you about my teacher..."

or something we learned about or did, like the fun run.

one of my girls writes the BEST journals.  her spelling is fantastic (see #5 here)

and her stories are just great.

today a different girl had a fabulous journal.

she wrote:

I like (girl's name).

I like (girl's name).

I like (girl's name).

I love Miss Kendrick.

I like (girl's name).

i got an "I love?"  The only one?  Must be doing something right!

I got an "I love" and "nice" and "beautiful" all before lunchtime!

another boy's journal is hilarious, too.  he likes to write. this is what it said today:

"(Boy's name) is my friend! (Boy's name) is my friend too!  And (Boy's name) too! And (Boy's name) too!  And (Girl's name) too!  And (Girl's name) too!  And (Girl's name) too!"

And i am pretty darn sure that if he had another 5 minutes he would have finished writing everyone in the class.

love, love, love.

em and dana--just wait til you see 'em!

erin.  come again.

mike, they want more of your stories.

katie, bring in the guitar asap.  oh you and our new roomie lindy can together!

any other cool talents to come in!?