4th grade hilarity

oh.my.goodness.i.am.a.terrible.teacher.

today my kids were joking about one of their dogs who got run over by a tractor trailer. the conversation started b/c another student wrote a whole narrative about her dog dying... which is wicked sad.

but the boys were just absolutely cracking up. and even though my head told me it was awful & mean b/c that girl might hear, i could NOT keep a straight face.

their little laughing faces were so full of life, joy, and humor that it just tickled my funny bone and i cracked up, too.

i hope she didn't hear me.

blog love!

i can't remember if i have blogged about design mom in the past. i can't even remember how i stumbled across her blog. and every once in a while i temporarily forget about the awesome-ness. but then i remember and i go back to play catch up.

well, check out these posts about hand-made "sibling gifts". she works with each of her kids individually to design and create presents for their brothers & sisters. so so rad!

here's a decoupaged sketchbook.

and bubble bath & a knitted scarf!

from the mouths of 4th graders

"ms. nelson, what was your first word when you were a baby?"

"i dunno, Lily. what was yours?" (me)

"juice, mama, dada"

"marcus, do you remember your first word?" (me)

"harold. i was a baby & harold put a cord near my head & tried to electrify me."

"... you mean he tried to electrocute you?" (me)

"yeah"

creepin' on me

i discovered that my students secretly think i'm quite fascinating.

yesterday we had early dismissal which meant the cafeteria brought the kids' lunches up and we ate all together in the classroom. i was mid-bite and noticed a bunch of them staring at me with interest...

i was instantly self-conscious until my colleague said "alright, guys, creepin' on ms. nelson's lunch over there"...

haha. so hilarious!

life this week

my 21 students are quite darling. they have big smiles. they ask good questions. they talk nearly non-stop. they raise their hands enthusiastically. they think it's hilarious when they fart. their laughter is contagious. they love being read to.

we're slowly getting to know each other... i can tell they don't fully trust me yet b/c when i put an assignment on the board and told them simply to copy the words "brown bag summary" into their homework journals, 75% of the class asked me what it was. i repeatedly said "i'll tell you in a minute.... just write it." and then the next kid asked the same question. and the next kid did, too. eek!

today we had off for rosh hashana and it was a treasure of a day! i got a lot of errands run & lessons planned. i also bought paper, stamps & labels for our invitations and dropped them off to get copied at staples. wahoo!!!

1st day as a "real"teacher

well, i survived. as did my students. all 20 of them. [1 didn't show up!]

we greeted each other. i mastered their names. they chose books to read. we checked/sorted all their school supplies. they played outside. they got safely home to their parents. [although i did have 1 little runaway whose parents asked me where she was and i had no good answer... umm... ]

i read "miss nelson is missing" and announced that this is probably the last time i'll read that book as miss nelson. they were super excited to get to call me mrs. alberts in just over 2 months!

those little buggers have made their way into my heart already. this will probably be the most challenging year ever. i hope i change their lives. i know they'll change mine.