fun friday reading

since we spent every last minute this week preparing for standardized tests, i took the opportunity to read something fun.  if you haven't read this book or "a chocolate moose for dinner", you should.  they were written by fred gwynne, who played herman munster.  it made my test-stressed kids (and me) laugh 'til we cried.

are you gellin'?

like many teachers, i have an affinity for pens.  however, when a coworker stops by to quickly fill out a form and accidentally purloins my pen or a student sees a sharpie she just can't live without, my supply begins to dwindle. that being said, i hoard any pen i can get my hands on. 


recently, a pen famine has struck and i've been forced to use a pencil.  pencils are great if you like getting graphite stains on the pinky edge of your hand and subsequently on your stylish skirt from the limited, but pens are the preferred tool of writing in MY book. 


today, right as school was beginning, there was a knock on my classroom door. 


in walked the lady from the front desk with a basket decked out in easter decor.  "it's from your secret pal!" she announced in a sing-song voice.


i eagerly accepted the gift and the first thing i noticed was not one, not two, not even three, but EIGHT metallic gel pens!  the kind i used as a high schooler to write meaningful notes to my friends in study hall.  i could barely contain myself, but i held it all together in the name of my profession.


throughout the morning, it was all i could do to keep my mind off all the enchanting butterflies and flowing cursive letters i could be creating.  i even considered signing report cards with shimmering purple ink.  knowing that that would be completely unprofessional, i compromised and used every single color of ink to make notes as i conferred with my students.  i'm not going to lie- i also drew a sparkling pink heart on my left hand.

(that is as tan as this hand will ever be)

while getting a pack of pens might not mean much to some of you, i was catapulted back to the days when gel pens were everything and getting a note composed in that magnificent ink could change your entire mood.

Tales From the Classroom: The Freeze Dance

Picture this.

School has just started in the South, there’s a heat index of 115, and the only place your 3^rd graders have to play is a blacktop that is as torrid as the innermost circle of hell. They’ve been inside for four hours, recess has arrived, and they have a serious case of ants in their pants. You can’t take them out, so your only choice is to find some riveting indoor activity to hold their attention for the next 15 minutes.

What’s an innovative, classroom-ridden teacher to do? Why, she pulls out her iPhone, of course, and heads straight for the 80s playlist. It’s time for The Freeze Dance. Here’s how it works. You play a short clip of a song, pause the music, everyone freezes, then you press play again. It’s even more fun when you switch the song on them after the pause.

The first song you select is “Take on Me” by Aha. No one moves. No one is really quite sure how to dance to this epic 80s tune. No worries, you just move on to Madonna’s “Get Into the Groove”, and a couple of students start with a head move that’s reminiscent of A Night at the Roxbury. By the time you get to “99 Luftballoons”, you’ve got about 12 little Captain Kirks bouncing around the room.

It’s time for the grand finale. You can choose another great Madonna song or go for the kill with the Prince of Pop. Tough call, but you decide to go with “Thriller”, which is the quintessential group dance. Within seconds, you have 24 zombies staggering through your classroom and you have no choice but to join in. Forget The Freeze Dance. You’re all engaged in a full-out remake of MJ’s most famous music video. This indoor recess was a Top 40 hit!

(Photo Courtesy of http://latimesblogs.latimes.com)

beatles birthday

there is a 3rd grade boy-not in my class- that loves the beatles. when i say loves, i mean he wants to be paul mccartney. the only problem is, he has the brightest red hair i've ever seen and it's hard to understand him when he sings because he's so excited, everything gets all jumbled up. when he was in 1st grade, i found out that he was a fan of the fab four and we have had many discussions about our favorite songs, lyrics, and beatle. earlier this week, his teacher told me that he and i shared the same birthday- april 2nd. when he found this out, he brought me picture after picture of beatles- related things. here are two of the best pieces of birthday art i've ever received.

this is an octopus' birthday party (notice the underwater SCUBA "helments". this kid is really attentive to details.)

this is jeremy, the nowhere man, from the yellow submarine. i'll get another picture later of the beatles surrounded by the numbers 1-64, a tribute to the quintessential birthday/valentine's day song...

the revenge that never was...

this is a presidential tall tale written by one of my students in february for presidents' day. he researched JFK by himself...online, at the library, in all of the books about presidents in my classroom...and came up with this. here it is in its original, unedited, amazing form...

********

Now everyone knows the story of John F Kennedy- or so they think. But this is the real story. When Kennedy was a kid he got a football injury in his head, so he forgot some things. When he was on his way to Dallas he went to a buffet then he forgot to pay because his injury in football. When the owner Lee Harvey Oswald found out it was too late. He thought, “I’ve got to do something to get revenge.” So he got his gun and decided to go to Dallas. Well JFks football injury caused him to see in the future. He said to his wife Jackie, “let’s go to the car dealership, because the car we have might be a little dangerous.” So he got a hooded bulletproof car. When Lee Harvey Oswald shot the bulletproof car the bullet ricocheted and hit him in the eye. Later, lee Harvey Oswald died and john f Kennedy lived a long life.

tribute to young prodigies...

nothing funny or exciting happened at school today, except that a 3rd grader said i look like megan fox. not sure whether i'm ok with that or not...i'm probably not...

anyway...

these past couple weeks have taught me why i'm a teacher. i've seen so many incredible things come from such young kids. kids that i thought weren't paying a lick of attention to anything i've said for the past two months have really started shining as we've been getting our narratives ready to publish. they are writing with such craft and command of the english language- skills i don't think i had until mrs. bakke taught me how to really write in 10th grade. they are unsatisfied and bored when reading a book alone or listening to a read aloud if an author uses "said" too many times in dialogue. in fact, using it more than once is enough to make a few of them list at least 10 other verbs of vocalization the author could have replaced that dreaded word with. could it be that i'm doing something right? that something i'm saying is actually getting through to them?

stay tuned for something completely different...perhaps a sampling of personal narratives in a polished state? we shall see...

we're all characters...

"'ello miss ellis," said the artful dodger.

molly mcintire with amelia bedelia!

molly mcintire with alexander who has obviously had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...

molly mcintire in an epic battle with the peddler from caps for sale, which will ultimately be won by hermione granger...