May The 4th Be With You!

I am not a Star Wars fan.  At all.  In fact, I have never even seen a single minute of a single movie (gasp... I know!).  But I am a fan of creating special Kindergarten memories.  And when the calendar say "May the 4th Be With You," you can bet we're going to celebrate.

The boys in the class were soooooooooooo excited.  The girls were too.. just not as much.  But when the day came, the girls were just as much into it as the boys were (or perhaps a little more).

So the downfall of this whole plan was that it didn't enter into my mind until May 1..... not leaving me a heck of a lot of time to plan.  Fear not... Pinterest to the rescue.  Add that to some borrowed toys from our dayhome, a talking Darth Vader mask from a friend, a creative volunteer mom and a basket of toys from one student... and we were GOOD.  TO.  GO!

We had 2 toy stations and 2 craft stations that the kids rotated through.  They all had a blast.  We mixed in a lot of time for light saber duels too.  I think that the learning assistants might recover eventually.  I honestly feel bad for all of the things I ask them to endure in the name of awesome.  But it's not about us... it's about the kids.  Right?  I'm already disappointed that May 4th is a Saturday next year (but I'm sure I'll work something out).

Here are more pictures.  Again, the really good ones have kids' faces, so I'm unable to post them.  :(

TOP TEN: Teacher's Convention

Top Ten Things I learned at Teacher's Convention this year:

10.  A session on iPad apps will always be bad if the wifi connection isn't working.  That poor presenter.... what do you do when your WHOLE session is web based?  :(

9.  I still don't know what a MOODLE is... but I probably should... so I didn't put my hand up and ask.

8.  The wraps in the cafeteria are just as awesome as they were in the olden days, you know, when I was in college.  They are more expensive now.... but worth every penny.  I also found out that Betty retired.  She made the best wraps.

7.  "The success of the education system can be measured by whether or not our kids move back into our basements after college."  Profound words from a wonderful session with Yong Zhao (www.zhaolearning.com)

6.  It's not as hard to find a parking spot when you show up 20 minutes early.  Who knew?  I wish I would have known that when I was a student at MHC.

5.  "We are all born leaders.  But the ones that stand out are those who can be leaders day after day, even when nobody is watching."  Thank you Cassie Campbell for your brilliant keynote address.  And thank you for bringing back such strong memories and making my eyeballs sweaty with THIS Olympic montage.

4.  "The professional code of conduct applies 24/7... there is no "on your own time" when you chose teaching.  When you are a teacher you are a role model... of you don't want to be a role model.. don't be a teacher."  Great learning in the E-Liability session.

3.  It's always great when a huge group of teachers come together to learn and share.  It's nice to catch up with old classmates and colleagues... and to see the new faces as well.

2.  I will never get tired of looking at the art displays.  It's a great place to steal ideas be inspired to come up with new and better projects to highlight student abilities.  

And the number ONE thing I learned at Teacher's Convention is....

Recess and lunch are still my favourite subjects (much like my students).  It makes me sad to think that schools put so little emphasis on these lovely SOCIAL times for our kiddos.  

Thank you to all of the people that made the SEATCA 2012 Convention so awesome.  You're the BEST!

Random Acts of Awesome

All school year we have been saving our juice boxes... and Mrs. MJ takes them to the bottle depot and returns with MONEY..... woooo hoooo.  We've been saving up for something awesome.  And today was the big moment.

Random Acts of Kindness Day.  It's my favourite field trip.  Hands Down.

I took our bottle money (OK... I used my debit card.... but the kids don't know that).  I bought 17 medium hot chocolates from Timmy Ho's.  We taped a little note on the top ("Wishing You a Warm Day... From Mother Teresa Kindergarten... Random Acts of Kindness Project").  We broke off into groups.

And then.

The magic happened.

I love my job!

Each child had a hot chocolate to give away.  They were a little nervous.  A little excited.  And a little unsure what to expect.

We walked through the mall.  One child said, "I'm going to save mine for the bus driver."  Awwwwww.  The look on his face was priceless.

  

Another child said, "I'll take it to her, she looks thirsty."  Another insisted that she wanted to take her hot chocolate to the "XBOX Guy" (EB Games store).  And everyone that we met was THRILLED with our project (although some were a little confused).  

We intended to catch people off guard.  We intended to bless strangers.  We intended to make someone's day. 

Mission Accomplished.  

And those short people learned that it only takes a little to make a big difference.  $27 to be exact.  :)

Make Your Mistakes Count

I say it often... "It you're going to make a mistake.... at least make it count."

Today we put that into action.

Let me tell you the story.....

In an effort to save money and create AWESOME experiences for the kids... I decided to use the City Bus as a way to get around town for a few of our field trips.  Now I know that it's not smart to take a city bus to the pumpkin patch out of town or to the opposite end of the city.  But you'd think that a trip downtown to the public library should be pretty simple.  I assured our parents that it would be fun and they'd learn a lot.  I got the transit route map... we phoned to tell them that we were coming... we confirmed our times and our routes... I typed out a detailed (to the minute) itinerary for us... we went to the stop early and froze our butts off.

The kids had a wonderful time at the Public Library... John the Storytelling guy is so incredibly perfect for that job.  He has a gift, there's no doubt.

We met a few interesting characters on the bus.  Who knew that you could fit an entire social studies curriculum into one city bus ride?  One guy had a plastic bag of empties to take back to the recycle depot... maybe he works there too... I'm not sure.  The bag was leaking mystery liquids onto the bus floor.  The guy was practicing his stand-up comedy routine on us.  And telling me how he hopes none of the kids are his... ha ha ha... I assured him that they were all accounted for.  :)  When he stood up, the smells from his bag wafted the area... yucky rotten beer smell.  My little buddy B got SUPER excited and yelled out, "I SMELL BACON!!" Hahahahahahaahahaahahaah...  I think I peed my pants laughing... although nobody noticed because of all of the other liquids on the floor.

In the morning it worked perfectly.  Exactly as planned.

We have 2 classes.  22 morning kids.  16 afternoon kids.

The afternoon... well,  that's another story:


We went to the bus stop early (as indicated by the itinerary).  We stood outside, kindergarten popsicles.  We waited.... and waited... and waited.  Finally I called the Transit line.  My call was important to them. And they were experiencing a high volume of calls.  I hung up after 6 minutes.  I don't think my call was all that important to them.  I saw another bus on the other side of the road.... and I gave him the "what the heck?" signal.  He stopped and told me I just missed the bus.  I tell him that isn't possible... we had been standing out there for twenty minutes.  He says, "NO! you have not." I assure him that we had been and had the cold noses to prove it.  He says, "I tell you, flat out, NO, it is not possible."  I had all sorts of things I wanted to tell that man.... but out of respect for my school and the lovely children entrusted to me... I refrained.

We got onto his bus.  Going in the wrong direction.  But to a terminal that would take us downtown.

Well... Mr. slowpoke rude pants didn't tell me it would take us a whole hour to get downtown.



What do you think happened next?


I bet you're just dying to know.... or you're just dying for the Reader's Digest version.  Either way, you're still here.


We got to the mall.  Instead of transferring to another bus... we decided to make a field trip at the mall.  I called the Library and told John we couldn't join him.  :(  I called the school secretary to tell her that we weren't where we said we would be (that was responsible of me).

We had exactly 8 minutes to get to Santa's Workshop before he left for his afternoon nap.  We HUSTLED to see Santa.  Santa was THRILLED to see us!! We got into the line right before another school group... phew!  Mrs. Clause sang carols with the kids that were waiting.  1 kid sat on Santa's lap and said, "I have to go peeeeee."

It was awesome.  We were rolling with the punches.  We were going with the flow.  We were making lemonade when life handed us lemons.

Then... yes... there's more.... THE POWER WENT OUT AT THE MALL!! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!  It's like the whole day was some kind of joke.

Santa kept seeing kids.  Mrs. Clause kept singing.  The skylights provided just enough light to get the pictures.  Somehow, Mrs. S found a flashlight to take the "I have to go peeeee kids" (there were 3 of them by now) to the bathroom in the dark.

Again, we were rolling with the punches.

When it was all over we left.  Surprise, surprise.. Mr. Polite bus driver was the one taking us back to school.  We met more interesting bus friends.  It all worked out.

The moral of the story:  Do more fundraising.  Book less trips.  Whatever you do... don't take the city bus with a group of kindergarteners on a time limit.

The end.

A New Spin on an Old Favourite

Quick share:

We've been playing an old game a new way in gym.  We call it "What letter is it Mr. Wolf?" (although I'm sure there is a more witty name out there).  The kids really like it.

Just like "what time is it Mr. Wolf?", the kids ask what letter and take one step for each letter.  It forces them to say and move to the alphabet in a rhythmic pattern.... not just following the beat of the ABC's song.  They are starting to realize that elemeno isn't one letter.... and they are learning where letters are placed in the alphabet by seeing how far they go once a certain letter is called and having to choose a letter that is appropriate for the distance (ie.. if they're close, you can't pick 't').  We haven't quite figured out what to say when it's "LUNCHTIME..." for now we say "ALPHABET SOUP!!"

We also change it up by doing crab walks, bear walks, bunny hops or crawling instead of taking giant steps.  Anything to get those little guys sweaty.  ;)

It's not up for game of the year or anything... just wanted to share it with you.

Happy Albhabetting.  :)

Rushy McRusherson

This morning I was driving to work and noticed a guy... a fence-building kind of guy.  He was walking along freshly placed fence posts (a project that started about a week ago).  He carefully took the time to wiggle each post... making sure it was secure.  Then he checked to make sure that each post was level.  Whatever happened next is unknown to me... I kept driving.  I guess I'll see the progress when I drive by again tomorrow.

I started thinking that if I was ever having a fence built, I would hope that the "builder guy" (as Jake calls them) would have that same attention to detail.  I would be upset if they just rushed through the job and my fence blew over in 3 years.

Then, it struck me.... the "AH HA MOMENT!"

In the workforce we want employees that ensure a job is done PROPERLY.  That people are paying attention to those little details.  That things are not rushed through just to get it done quickly.

But in our classrooms, well, mine anyway.... we tend to rush through everything.  GO... pray, GO.... snack, HURRY.... late for Music, QUICK... to the bathroom, No time for a story at the end of the day.... etc, etc, etc.  We even have a fast version of our goodbye song (for when the parents are already there and we aren't quite done).

YIKES!!! How am I training these little TIKES?

What kind of workers will they be?

Will they be rushing the day away task by task, feeling like they haven't really done a decent job of anything.

Is life a series of checkmarks on a to-do list?

For me, it seems to be (lately anyway).  And it's the kids that are missing out.

WERE missing out.

I'm going to change my outlook.  I'm going to focus on slowing down and REALLY experiencing things.  We'll take our time getting to music (the kids can't tell time anyway.... they don't know we're late).  I'll let them glue on that last piece of ribbon, even if I already called for clean-up time.  

If we don't get to everything.... I'm going to be OK with it.  If an idea exists... and it doesn't happen... the kids won't know.  They won't care either.  And at the end of the day I'd rather them have one hundred QUALITY experiences than 62 Bajillion rushed experiences.

Enjoy taking time with the short people in your life.  They deserve it.... so do you.

Plan C

"Plan C" will forever be known as "Plan Carolyn."

This lady is amazing.... and, well, that is a gross understatement.  Carolyn is "the speech lady," but as anyone who knows her knows, she is sooooooo much more.  Carolyn brings excitement and learning to EVERYTHING.  

Let me tell you about how she saved the pumpkin patch day..............

Our initial Pumpkin Patch farm visit had to be cancelled because of a school scheduling conflict.  We begged a local pumpkin farmer (can't name the farm because I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate every Kindergarten teacher in the city calling them for tours and free pumpkins).  The date was set... I couldn't go (meetings)... so "Mrs. F" (the sub) was up for the challenge. 

Everything was set up.  Nametags out.  Bus booked.  Reminder bracelets sent home.  Gardening scissors ready.  Camera battery charged.

And then... it rained.... and rained... and rained.  

I sent the Plan B plans and moved on.... knowing that this just wasn't our year for pumpkins.  :(

And then, CAROLYN GOT AN IDEA (I love when that happens).

PLAN C.

Send 2 moms out to pick up the pumpkins from the farm.

Move the tables out of the middle of the room.

Lay down a giant tarp.

Skipping ropes for vines.

Everyone cut out a paper leaf to attach to the vine.

Read "It's Pumpkin Time."

Kids take a pumpkin and attach it to their leaf.

Smile for a picture.

Read another pumpkin story.

Everyone takes their pumpkin home.

Free.

Easy. 

AWESOME.

Thanks Mrs. Carolyn.  I am so blessed to have you on our team.  

Thankful is an understatement.