Jack O' Lanterns and Monsters... Oh My!

  

Manor, thanks for celebrating Halloween.  Man, it's a good time around here!

Today we got the party started with our MAP pumpkin carving festival.  Room 5, along with the other MAP classes took over the multipurpose room and went to town on dozens of pumpkins.

Of course, this was my first experience with the MAP pumpkin carving extravaganza.  As I gazed at the sea of little kids wielding knives on slimy pumpkins, I had to wonder, "Who's idea was this anyway?"  I had visions of cut fingers and bloodied pumpkins.

Alas, as I wandered about the room, I realized that these kids, paired up with their buddies, did not doubt themselves for a second; they were fearless in their carving.  They were not nervous, and as a result, they relaxed into the activity.  The calm, focused atmosphere, mixed with the creative energy was an experience to be remembered.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day ended with a speedy monster-making workshop in the classroom.  Tomorrow and Friday the kids will perform a short skit called “The Teeny Tiny Ghost” for the kindergarten MAP classes.  The monsters are necessary props, and with only 45 minutes to work, the kids banged out 5 life-sized monsters and whipped the room back into shape in time to go home.  Good job room 5!

We can't wait for the school-wide Halloween festivities on Friday!  We hope to see you there.  It should be frightfully delightful!


P.S. A big thanks to Gideon for capturing the pumpkin carving festivities on camera.  Also, THANK YOU to all the parents who came out to help.  It would not have been possible without you all!

Highlights of a Great Week

Room 5's amazing tightrope-walking-miniature-Halloween-parade!

This week was a whirlwind!  As a few of you probably witnessed, there were a few days when I felt like I was literally blown out of the classroom at the end of the day on the wind of the kids’ boundless energy. 

It must be the fact that Halloween is right around the corner… the mere anticipation of candy is enough to kick the kids into high gear.  Lordy, I can only imagine what it will be like next week. 

We had a few birthdays in our class this week.  Jeremy turned 8 on Wednesday and Brad turned 8 today.  One thing I love about kids is how they revel in their own birthdays and the birthdays of anyone around them.  Birthdays are definitely cause for celebration in room 5.

We did a lot of discovering and learning this week.  During reading workshop, we practiced our reading fluency by reading elbow to elbow, and knee to knee with partners.  We offered our “Praise and Polish” to classroom writers who bravely shared stories from their lives.  We practiced penmanship.  We wrote letters to National Park rangers asking for park resources for our studies.  We explored parks using official park maps.  We made a miniature, tightrope-walking Halloween parade (come see it!).  We tapped into our innate mathematical minds, coming up with all kinds of strategies to add and subtract numbers in our heads.  We had a joint Math Game Day with Ms. Erika's class.  We finished up our fabulous read aloud book, James and the Giant Peach.  We sang songs, practiced our class Halloween poem, shared at morning meeting, and took care of classroom jobs.
And of course, created, created, created, and played, played, played. 

Here are a few things the students of room 5 had to say about this week:
Diego—“My favorite part of the week was today because it was Brad’s birthday.”
Maya—“I liked working on my Yosemite report today.”
Alexander—“I liked playing basketball in P.E. because it is a new sport we are learning.”
Kaden—“The best part of the week is drawing this maze right now, because it’s fun.”
Nancy—“My favorite thing is making this house for Lily.”
Alexander—“I started reading Dear Mr. Henshaw.  To my surprise it is a bunch of letters telling a story.”
Diego—“The best thing I read this week was Geronimo Stilton because it has a lot of funny parts in it.”
Pema—“Partner reading was really good because it was really fun.”
Miles—“It was fun and it was challenging when me made the tightrope walking Halloween parade because it was hard putting the pennies on the wires.”
Tori—“I played Rat-a-Tat Cat, Mastermind, and Labyrinth.  Rat-A-Tat Cat was my favorite because it was difficult thinking which was kind of fun.”
Alexander—“Game day was crowded but every time I didn’t have a game to play, one was open.”
Jeremy—“My favorite part of the week was winning the basketball game today!”
Meleah—“Math today was fun because there was a game that I loved that I don’t normally get to play.  It was a mouse game.”
Anya—“I like playing games.  I liked Frog Juice because it’s about making potions and it’s fun.”
Ruby—“The best thing I read this week was The Odyssey because it’s real Greek mythology.  It’s not made up; it’s the real deal.”
Brad—“The best part was the birthday party!”
Sacha—“I like that I just started reading the Ramona book because it’s really good so far, even though I’ve only read one page.”
Skylar—“I’m really into my book, Loser.”
Connor—“I liked game day because I like games.”
Tori—“My favorite part about this week was when I started reading Guinea Dog because it’s so funny and really, really interesting.”
Sacha--“During game day, I played Rat-a-Tat Cat with Tori and Ella, and a little bit of Mastermind.”
Aidan—“The best part of the whole week was Brad’s birthday treat!”
Sophia—“That’s our rat museum and I liked making it.”



Fabulous Friday!

Everyone loves Friday, right?  We sure do here in room 5. 

Fridays mean an extra-silly greeting at morning meeting. 
Fridays mean a mindfulness meeting with Ms. Alice.
Fridays mean another round of P.E. with Coach Sam.
Fridays mean CHOICE TIME at the end of the day!

Choice time is just what it sounds like: free reign of the classroom to get creative!  Of course, Fridays are not the only days we get creative around here; it's just that Friday's choices are unlimited! 

Today during choice time, kids planted green and purple broccoli in the garden with Deb.  They made obstacle courses for Lily, our pet rat.  They played card games and board games with each other.  They solved puzzles, set up domino courses, sewed, colored, and created. 

The really impressive thing about choice time is that the kids in room 5 can clean up the GIANT mess they make in five minutes flat.  It blows my mind every time.  Parents, don't let your kids fool you into thinking that they are incapable of cleaning up their rooms.  I know the truth.  Oh, and I have a handy little clean-up game called "Magic Scrap" that helps a lot.  I'm willing to share my secret with you in exchange for a bit of chocolate or a coffee, too.  ;)

Getting into the Groove

Parents, I must admit, there were a more than a few days there back in September when I felt that rush of panic that comes with taking on a new job.  There was at least a solid week of feeling totally overwhelmed by the huge responsibility of teaching this group of smiling, squirming, talkative, precious and precocious second and third graders.

So many questions and doubts flowed through my head as I struggled through the “conscious incompetence” stage of my new job:

What do I do with these little ones?
How do I teach them?
What do I teach them?
How can I make sure that they are learning and growing?
How long should they be able to read, write, sit in one place?
Should I be doing more crafts, cooking with the kids, going on more trips, reading more/different/easier/harder books with them?
What can I expect from these kids?  What should I expect from these kids?
Am I MAPPY enough?!??!!!

Yes, I realize that in every new job, one must go through this uncomfortable time of figuring things out.  But it’s not fun!

On a particularly low afternoon while the kids were busy at art, I ran into MAP veteran, Ms. Chris.  I grabbed her arm as she glided through the copy room.  “Chris, I don’t know if I’m doing this right,” I said, on the verge of tears.  “I don’t know how to teach these kids!”  I blathered on for a few minutes, explaining my many layers of inadequacy. 

Chris listened patiently and let me get it all out.  She looked at me with a concerned expression.  I was certain she was going to agree with me, that indeed, I did not know what I was doing and should probably beat a hasty retreat.  “So,” she started, “are your kids reading something everyday?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Are they writing something everyday?”
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“Are they doing some math everyday?”
“Uh-huh,” I nodded again.
“Are you doing something creative with them everyday?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Then you are doing what you are supposed to be doing,” Chris said with a note of finality.  With that we moved along to make our photocopies and collect our kids.

I don’t know if Chris realized what a freeing, changing conversation that was for me.  At the conclusion of that chat, I was able to release the extreme expectations I had lumped on my own shoulders and carried around with me for weeks. 

I was able to remember, that first and foremost, teaching need not be overly complicated.  My students’ needs are relatively simple.  They need to learn a handful of basic skills, like reading, writing, and arithmetic.  I can certainly help them with that.  They need time to play and explore and create.  I can provide them with that.  They need to learn how to work with others.  I can guide them in that.  And perhaps most of all, they need a teacher who cares about them and takes the time to connect with them as individuals.  I definitely try to do that on a daily basis. 

In room 5, we are covering those bases.  The kids are learning and growing.  They are having those basic needs met.  Now I’m starting to see how together, as a class, we are starting to go above and beyond those basics.  Now we are figuring out how to make our time together a uniquely MAP experience.  Take a look for yourself.  Here’s just a glimpse of the daily learning going on in room 5.