Did I hear that correctly?

This blog is for sharing the happenings in the world of a kindergarten teacher and her classroom.
When I was in college, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. One of my grandmothers had been a teacher in the early 1900's and I always thought that was cool. I heard about the school laws back then that required female teachers to be unmarried and even leave the profession if they married. Well, my grandmother did not teach long in the one room schoolhouse in Arkansas,  because she married my grandfather in her early twenties. My mother was a teacher also. She taught for 35 years and even taught at Richland in the 60's. By the sixties, school policies had changed a little for women that went into the teaching profession. They could be married, but had to resign when she they were expecting a child. A female teacher could not "show" and was expected to give up her position after 3 months. My mother had to resign when she found out she was having my sister. I remember being told of this and being shocked, but it is a true story! Times have really changed, haven't they?

The above reflection brings me to last Friday in the classroom.
As the class anticipates our upcoming field trip to The Memphis Zoo this Friday, the children eagerly listen to books about zoo animals. Our topic this morning was about real and make-believe. I held up two books in front of the children titled Giraffes Can't Dance and Giraffes.  "Let's look at the cover of these two books children and predict which book is real or make-believe."  One book had a colorful yellow and orange giraffe dancing on a page of purple. The other book showed a National Geographic type photograph of a brown and beige giraffe. Many children eagerly raised their hands and gave their accurate predictions of the two choices. 

I played a song on a CD about a giraffe to set the mood and asked them to listen so they could recall things that the song says giraffes can do. After naming them, I began the non-fiction book on Giraffes.
I paused after page two of the beautifully photographed book,  to ask the group of listeners a high-order thinking question....  "Why do you think giraffes have such long tongues?"  Very quickly a little boy threw his hand up in the air. "Yes" I said. Ever so seriously, he said "Their tongues are really long because they use them to go up and then help clean out their noses."  YES, your eyes read what I heard!!! There were two parent volunteers helping in the class, Mrs. Carlisle and Mrs. Sandlin, that heard it too!!!! So I have witnesses!!!! I'm NOT making this stuff up folks!!! We had to resist to keep from bursting out with hysterical laughter! The children, not quite knowing what to think of his comment, sat and looked a little bewildered.
With a straight face, I continued to read and was so relieved to get to the page that explained how the giraffes use their tongues (which are as long as a child's arm) to wrap around leaves and branches. 
"This is what they use their tongues for." I said. "Oh" the children sighed.

I love teaching kindergarten!
They can say the cutest things.

Playground Danger?

So last week there was a dangerous animal on the playground, or so I was told! From my carefully positioned "lifeguard chair" (as I call it) I sat with my shiny, silver whistle ready to blow at children running 'up' the slide and kids jumping on each other from time to time. I noticed a small group of children gathered around throwing dirt on a little target. It had to be small because I could not see what it was with my eagle eyes! HA! They were screaming and really 'doing a number on' whatever it was! A few brave boys even stomped it! I jumped up and in a flash flew to the danger zone!

"What is it?" I found myself not so calmly saying. :)
A little girl screamed at the top of her lungs "Mrs. Pechak don't come over here! It's a bumble bee!"
She was right! It was a huge yellow and black bee, severely injured, buzzing around and around in circles on the ground. "Aww kids, don't kill it! Let's put it in the grass! It's hurt now! " I said. (Trying to teach empathy for little creatures). One of the boys in my class shouts out "Yeah, let's put it in its habitat!"  

I sighed, thinking...."I love it when they remember a lesson!"  A nearby stick was the perfect tool to scoot the injured, half dead bumble bee into the grass, where it lay softly buzzing. The children were no longer interested and ran off chasing each other, laughing like munchkins in The Wizard of Oz.  I shuffled back to my red, foldable chair, twirling my whistle, ready for the next rescue on the playground!  :)

Welcome October!

Fall is here finally! We are feeling a reprieve from the exhausting heat of summer and the children LOVE going outside more than ever for recess. Over the years I have noticed several trees that stand out to be more beautiful than others as their leaves change. Therefore to make sure the children observe this process, write about it, and marvel at it as well, they will journal about the transforming foliage in our pretty Fall Booklets that Mrs. Hickman put together for me. :)  I will take pictures of the children with our new class digital camera and they will be included in their reflections also throughout the upcoming weeks. It will be a fun way to take note of the outdoor wonders that take place in fall effecting deciduous and evergreen trees.

Kids say the cutest things...
In class this past week, the students brought money to purchase books at the school Book Fair. Several parents provided the class with books!!! I was also given a couple of gift certificates whereas I selected books for the children. I read the titles of the three books outloud to the class....Camilla the Cupcake Fairy, Dino Racers, and My Dad and I. We took a "picture walk" quickly through each book, then I asked them to predict which book might be their favorite and why. They voted and told me their reasons, which were so cute.
One little girl said "I will like the Camilla book because I like fairies and pink is my very favorite color!"
A little boy said "I will like the Dino Racers book because I think dinosaurs are sooooo cool!"
Another fella said "I will really like the book "My Dad and I" because my dad always says prayers with me when he tucks me in the bed."

ahhhhh, my heart melted.....so sweet!!!!!

September, 2011

What a month it has been! We are getting to know each other and it has been fun! The children are so cute and full of personality! It is a busy little group, all wanting to learn and have fun doing so. That means I am one busy teacher....planning, implementing, differentiating, assessing, and listening to both the students and you, the parents tell me your child's needs, your hopes, and goals for your little learner.

The first nine weeks are almost over. I decided to start a blog to let you in on some of the happenings and funny things that occur during the day that will not be posted on the class website. Sometimes I hear or see something that is so hilarious, it simply MUST be shared. I will leave off names of specific people, so as not to embarrass anyone. This blog is not meant to be negative in anyway, but actually a way of sharing my positive experiences with your children. There is never a dull moment in a kindergarten class, unless someone is asleep. :) Please feel free to share comments back to me as well. Let's have a great time during your child's first year of formal education at Richland Elementary. The BEST school in the Memphis City School system!


KIDS SAY THE CUTEST THINGS:

Last week...
While the children were sitting on the rug for our 'Morning Meeting' we cheerfully sang the song "Happy Talk". As I played on my ukelele the children and I wailed away the words....talk about things you like to do....you've got to have a dream, if you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?.....
Right in the middle of the song, one little girl with a very urgent look on her face, threw her hand up in the air. I stopped, thinking it was an emergency and she was going to ask me if she could go to the restroom. Instead, she very calmly said, "Mrs. Pechak, I like your pink fingernails!"

Lesson learned....remind children to raise hands for questions or comments at the end of a song.  :)