Only in the Movies? Apparently Not.

This morning, my good friend, and fellow 4th grade teacher, Karen, came walking into the room and said, "You'll never guess what I just dealt with on the playground." Not being a good guesser, especially without coffee in my system, I waited for Karen to share the news.  "[Student]  just stuck his tongue to a pole out on the playground." 

Yup, just like that great Christmas move, A Christmas Story.  Except, here's the kicker, no one dared him to do it.  He just did it.  On his own.  Can I just remind you that I live in Michigan, where it has currently been in the single digits in the morning?  What in the world was he thinking?  Oh wait, he wasn't thinking! :)  

The morning recess ladies had to go get hot water from the school building to put on his tongue so they could get him off the pole.

This is why I love my job. 

Still Alive...

I apologize for taking so long to post something new. The first two weeks of school have been absolutely crazy. Much crazier then in the past, that's for sure.

In reflecting on the first two weeks, I have to be honest. I have a feeling it might be an incredibly long year. Truthfully, it has nothing to do with being pregnant because my teaching partner, who is not expecting, and the other teachers in my wing all feel the same way. It just feels like we will definitely have to work harder than we have ever worked before. I can't really explain it, so don't ask, it's just the "vibe" at school right now. :)

That being said, I do have some real sweet kids in my class. I have a couple of girls who are just so sweet and kind, it's wonderfully refreshing! I have a few boys who have a great personality and who I really think I'll enjoy teaching this year.

I guess I just have to remember that each year is different. I'm sure that by the end of the year, I'll look back on this time and wonder why I was worried. :)

A Brand New Year

Tomorrow marks the start of a new school year for me and I truly am looking forward to it. Last week we had our Open House, so I was able to meet around 16 of my 26 students. From those that I met, it seems like I have a really good group of kids. For the first time in recent years, I have a lot more girls in my class than I do boys. Thankfully, I teach 4th grade, so having more girls doesn't necessarily mean the same thing that it would if I were to teach middle school.

In a lot of ways, the first day of school feels the same to me now, as it did when I was the student, not the teacher. I still get nervous, I still have a hard time sleeping the night before, and I still have a fear of oversleeping the morning of the first day. I get completely giddy looking at school supplies and still think it's fun to get a new outfit for the first day. Although this year there was no new first day outfit as I've had to buy a lot of new clothes as a of late.

Of course, the first day of school also means that summer vacation is over. Now is the time when I reflect back on my summer and think about whether or not I accomplished everything I had hoped. Well, I had hoped to read a lot of books and was able to do that. I wanted to finish the quilt that I'm making for my precious little girl, and sadly, that I did not get done. Although it's almost done and hopefully, by the end of this week, it should be complete. I had hoped to get my home completely ready (clean and organized) for the arrival of our new family member. I can give myself a 50% on that one. It's looking a lot better, but still needs to have some work done. I can't be too disappointed in myself as I really enjoyed my summer which is the most important thing.

Well, to those of you heading back to school or sending kids off to school, enjoy the first day. To the rest of you, well, I suppose you can enjoy your day as well! :)

I know, I know...

Okay, I know it's been awhile since I've posted! I promise to get something up soon. With school starting next week, things have been just a teensy bit busy for me. Be patient, posting will resume soon!

Children's Classics

I've decided to participate in this monthly "meme" from Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books. (Thanks should go to my friend, Jen, who mentioned these blogs on her own blog.)

Anyway, the idea is to respond to this simple prompt:

• Would you recommend the book? To whom?
• If you wouldn't recommend it, why do you think it's been so popular?
• Has your child recently discovered a classic author? What is his or her perspective on the differences in classic and contemporary children's writing?
• Have you recently shared a childhood favorite with your own child? How did you each respond to it?

As always, picking just one book is really hard, so I've decided to pick two books. One of which was my absolute favorite as a child and the other one being a book that I have recently discovered and that has become an absolute favorite to share with my 4th grade class each year.



When I was a kid, I absolutely loved reading Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. In fact, I still have the original copy that I received as a gift when I was probably 8 years old. I keep it in my classroom and show the well-worn, much loved, tattered book to my students each year. They think its funny that a book they enjoy reading so much, along with its sequels, is a book that I enjoyed reading so very long ago. (I'm not really sure that at 27, I'm that old, but too them, me being 8 years old was soooo long ago).

I would definitely recommend this book to any child who is struggling to find a book that they can relate to. I really feel that there is something in this book for every kid. Most children, around 4th grade, are dealing with siblings, either older or younger. For me, I was dealing with older siblings and reading this book made me so thankful that I didn't have any younger siblings to deal with.

I do use this book, each year, as a read-aloud with my students, right at the beginning of the year. It is so much fun to listen to them laugh as I read the tales of Peter Hatcher and of course his little brother, Fudge. In the weeks following, they simply devour all of the sequels to this book. I can't keep them on the bookshelves of my classroom. My husband and I have talked about how we can't wait to be able to share this favorite of ours with our own little girl, when she is old enough. (Right now we just can't wait for her to make her appearance in October!)

While this isn't the most classic of literature, and it doesn't take a lot of work to read, this book is great just for introducing kids to larger chapter books and the great genre that is realistic fiction.

The other book, which I have just recently (a few years ago) discovered is The BFG by Roald Dahl. Oh My Word! Where was this book when I was a kid? Oh right, it's a fantasy book and when I was a kid, I hated anything that wasn't realistic fiction. Another teacher at my school suggested I read this book to my class. I wasn't really sure that it would be a good fit, as it is pretty lengthy and my class, at the time, suffered from ultra-short attention spans. But, I decided to give it a try, and boy, I was not disappointed. I'm not really sure who laughed more while we read it out loud, me or the kids?

As always, Roald Dahl does a fantastic job of weaving a story together. We learn about Sophie, a young orphan girl in London, who mistakenly witnesses a giant (The BFG) blowing dreams into a house across the street. Since giants aren't supposed to be seen by "human beans," as the BFG refers to them, he snatches her up and wisks her away to Giant Country. A dreary place where the BFG, along with 8 or 9 other giants live. We learn that the BFG is a rare giant, as he is kind and gentle. The other giants, well, let's just say they're less than "refined."

The challenge in reading this book comes in navigating the language of the giants. They speak English, but it certainly is confusing. For example, they don't say, "Am I right or wrong?" Instead they say, "Am I right or am I left?" The only food available to the giants are "snozzcumbers" and the only beverage would be "frobscottle," which causes "whizzpoppers." Needless to say, the kids got a kick out of this book, and each class I have shared it with since can't wait for read-aloud time. I even had one student, this past year, who after we read The BFG, was so into books by Roald Dahl, that by the time the year had ended, he had read all of Roald Dahl's books, including his autobiography, Boy.

If you're looking for other fantastic, middle-grade, chapter books, make sure to stop on over to 5 Minutes for Books, and check out the other great suggestions. Happy Reading!!!