So This Happened Today

This afternoon, as I was walking my first graders along the outside walkway to their Fine Arts class, we happened upon a kindergarten class returning to their room after lunch.  My group stopped to allow the little ones to cross in front of us to get to their door. 

Somewhere along the way, one of the kinders ran headfirst into one of the steel beams that supports the overhang.  I could hear the resounding ‘dong’ and figured stitches were in this little dude’s near future.  His teacher checked him carefully and, surprisingly, although he was wailing at the top of his lungs, he didn’t seem to be injured.  As this was happening, the teacher was trying to send another kinder ahead into the classroom due to his increasingly frantic ‘pee pee dance’. 

From my perspective, the next thirty seconds happened as if they were in slow motion.  Pee pee kid reached the door and opened it.  At the same time, the head banger let out a visceral howl and flew the twenty or so yards between him and the other kid, shrieking across the entire distance.  He then proceeded to launch himself at pee pee kid, punching, kicking, and hitting the boy.  Pee pee kid eventually began to defend himself as the kindergarten teacher and another nearby adult pulled the two kids off each other. 

Did I mention that I have an intern for the semester?  She was actually leading my group and I was bringing up the rear so I was a distance away from the action.  She was a little freaked out by the whole thing.  Sadly, it wasn’t the first time I’ve seen something like this.

This type of thing happens at our school more often than you’d think.  We seem to have lots of angry little people in our charge. 

What is the reason for this?  Why are they so angry? 

I’m posing the questions. 

I don’t have the answers.

Respect the Zero

Tomorrow is Day 10 of school, time for this year’s first visit from Zero the Hero. 

Zero the Hero visits every tenth day of school and he always leaves things for the kids to count.    He ‘e-mails’ us to tell us what he’s left for us and instructs us to count them by ones, twos, fives, and tens.  We then write about it in our Zero the Hero Journals. 

The numeral zero is actually a complex concept.  It represents nothing but it also holds the space so that we don’t get place value mixed up all willy-nilly.  I suppose there are other ways to teach the idea of zero.  But celebrating Zero the Hero is pretty fun.

We’re kind of tight, Zero and I.  Tomorrow he’s bringing everyone ten goldfish crackers.  I’m fairly certain Zero will tell us we can enjoy our goldfish after we count them.  He’s good like that. 

Bless His Little Heart

I overheard a conversation between one of my dismissal charges and a kindergarten teacher after school today.  He, being a very observant little dude, initiated a bit of a chat when he realized that she had treats. 

“Can I have one?” he asked meekly.

“I don’t know,” she replied.  “How was your day today?”

I smiled privately.  During lunch I’d heard his teacher bemoan the fact that he was in rare form and had been having a spectacularly un-stellar day. 

“I’ve been bad today,” he sheepishly answered, much to my surprise.

The pair struck a bargain wherein if he has a happy face on his agenda tomorrow, she will reserve a treat especially for him.

I’ll be tucking away this little moment so I can pull it out on one of those days.

I Hit Costco Yesterday

Between Gummy Treats and the odd pencil, bookmark, or eraser from Target’s dollar bins, how long do you suppose five pounds of treats will last? I’m voting for ‘all year’.

Truer Words…

Were never spoken.

Do-Over–Brand New School Year

Here we are at the beginning of a new school year.  All the old is washed away, everything is new.  New kids, new colleagues, a new school grade.  It’s a do-over, a chance to do it better, to use what we learned last year about what worked well and what didn’t.  Here’s hoping for a kinder, gentler year than the last one.  I want to start off this blog with positivity.  I’ll save the rants for later.