Word Choice

In Language Arts, we do encourage good word choice. Using words that are more challenging and interesting to the reader and the writer. We often call them yummy words! Today, I walked into another classroom. I'm not so sure about this student's word choice!
"Mrs. ABC! Do you like my sexy new haircut?"

''The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.'' ~William Arthur Ward

In response to this: The mediocre student attends. The good student listens. The superior student participates. The great student inspires.

--- I won't break my class down for you. I'm still searching for the great... but I hope that I can be great.

Too much..

It's now May and the countdown is officially on.

Today a student approaches me and says:

"Mrs. ABC! We have had too much school! I'm even raising my hand for my mother!"

That made me smile.

Too bad she doesn't raise her hand for me! :-)

Punctuation

Seriously? Do we really need punctuation?

Mrs. ABC, "You have some great sentences there student. All you're missing is some periods."
Student replies, "Like, to ALL of them?"

A drink...

While writing a paragraph on their local community a princess of a student approaches me. She is proud of what she has written and is describing what one could do at the local recreation centre. You can swim, run on the track, curl, and even go to the Bar for a drink!
Umm.... Bar??
"But Mrs. ABC, there is a BAR there!!!"

Oh the perspective of this elementary student... scary.

Coffee

is a teacher's best friend. It's their comfort, their confidant, their soul mate, their 'a taste of heaven' in a cup. It's their tongue biting savior, their stress reliever, their pick me up.

So the story is that we have this amazing substitute teacher. She was to cover for one teacher who decided she didn't need her. So she jokingly said that Mrs. ABC would take her if Mrs. ABC did a Starbucks run. Well... who's going to pass that up?
NOT Mrs. ABC.

So I dash out... grab just 7 Starbuck lattes, of course all no-fat, half sweet, etc etc whatever weird concoction is brewing today. Now the time for me to insert that Mrs. ABC is a clutz.

Miraculously, I get 7 drinks into my vehicle, into the school, and now need to attempt a flight of 5 stairs. I trip on the 4th... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

But... in a moment of Olympic Glory, Mrs. ABC catches herself AND the 7 coffees. Not a single spill. Not one.

I am proud.

Editing.

Every day we practice editing. This has the goal of being able to edit our own work as well as others, so that Mrs. ABC isn't doing all of the work in order for them to publish their final product.
So, I was shocked, stunned and in simple disbelief when I asked the students to check the spelling on their work etc. Student raises his hand and oh so sincerely asks, "Do we have to have periods as well?"
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Mrs. ABC replies, "Do you need to breathe?"

New week...

A WHOLE 5 day work week LOOMS ahead! I know... that's what I said... 5 whole teaching days!!! :-) We had 2 of them in a row. Unbelievable. But that's ok. We just make it through this week, and then we have 2, 4 day work weeks. That's better!

Homework

A very excited student (who never does his homework), approaches my desk.
In his most excitable voice he says, "Teacher! Teacher! I finished my homework!"
I am now excited for him. "Wow! Great job, student!"
As I continue to praise this child up and down, and he continues to beam, suddenly, the printing on his grammar page changes. It's now the neat and very precise printing of a mother.
"Ummm... Student?"
"Ya?"
"This printing isn't yours. Was your mom helping you, and you gave her the answers while she filled it in?"
"No, Mrs. ABC. I was so tired last night that I fell asleep on the couch, so my mother just finished it for me."
"I see. So you're telling me that your mother DID your homework for you?"
"But, Mrs. ABC... It's finished!!!"
"Yes, however your mother is not in Grade #."

Student redid homework and I marked his mother's work... I think maybe she should redo Grade 4 as well.

Lesson: If you're going to do your child's homework, at least read the instructions and get it right!!!

Welcome...

to the Musings of an Elementary Teacher... here you find my frustrations, my joys, and all the wonders and spectacles of elementary students. Most likely their parents as well.

What time is it Mr. Wolf? We are learning how to read analog clocks. I won't mention what Grade I teach just yet. You see, I am a little perturbed that reading clocks is left so long in the curriculum. However, it is what it is.Apparently it is a hard concept to grasp that the long hand shows the minutes and the short hand shows the hours. A student approaches me today, "Mrs. ABC, my mom says that the short hand is for the minutes." I reply with, "Actually it's the LONG hand that shows us the minutes."
This is responded with a very dramatic eye roll as if to say, "Teachers sure don't know much these days!"
My guess is that their house is full of digital clocks both on the walls and on the wrist. Which if you want to argue, is the way of the future.