T is for Thanks

I usually like to keep my blog posts on the positive side. There are certainly ups and downs of teaching kindergarten and the good things I write about always outweigh the bad.

But occasionally I see and hear things that I just feel need to be addressed. Maybe this blog is my way of venting.

Our school recently held its annual Harvest Fair. It's a nice little tradition where children can bring in a little money and purchase some gently used items from the White Elephant Table, some recycled jewelry, crafts or snacks from the snack table.

Most kids bring a small amount of money to school on that day but there are always a few who just forget or who's parents just can't afford an extra dollar or two. I am always sure to have some single dollars or quarters on hand just for that reason.

I noticed three of my cherubs had no money with them, so I handed them each a dollar. The first two both smiled and said, "Thank you!" One sat and said nothing as she took the dollar from me. I noticed the pout on her face so I had to ask "what's wrong?" Somehow though, I knew what the answer was going to be.

"Just a dollar? That's all? That's not enough."

I was speechless, and what I really really wanted to do was take the dollar back from her.  Instead I gave her my "good manners" speech, and how a simple "thank you" was really a much better thing to say.

Is the sense of entitlement so ingrained in children that being grateful for the things they have is a thing of the past? Or is it simply a question of good manners. Just knowing when to say "please", "excuse me" or "thank you, that was a really nice thing you did for me."

Now I know she's only five and I suppose manners are something you have to be taught. I do my best to model good manners. I say thank you when they hand me their little drawings in the morning. I say please when I ask them to pass me a pencil or crayon. But there is only so much I can do. 

It needs to come from home, after all, a parent is their child's first teacher.

However, being thankful goes beyond using good manners to show it. Being grateful is appreciating the little blessing that come to us each an every day.

What am talking about are the blessings of the people in our lives. Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives. Special friends who are there with a smile or hug,  and teachers who care enough to place a dollar into a child's hand.

I was reminded today how truly grateful I am when I saw a facebook post from a friend who just arrived back in Afghanistan to serve after some time spent at home. He was mentioning how time stands still there, that it hadn't changed, it was the same "dusty and nasty", but in all of that, being away from his family for the holiday, he still managed to find something to be grateful about..."the food is pretty good though."

If that's not thankful...I don't know what is.

Stay safe Brian, God speed...

Thank you.

B is for Butter

Popcorn, baked potatoes, warm bread...some things are just better with butter.  My days are filled with it, little five-year-olds buttering me up. Spreading the little niceties in the form of compliments and lately they are laying it on thick. I enjoy it because it is always heart warming to hear something nice, especially when it comes from the people who matter the most.

Most of the buttering has been coming from one little one in particular. I knew from the minute she walked in the door she was going to challenge me. Cuter than a button, but a tough nut to crack. Just a little bit stubborn...sussing me out, wondering how far she could push me, wondering what she could get away with. She's one of those kids who was just looking for limits and I was sure to set them right away.

She's suddenly become my best friend. Happy to be in school, following directions, and thriving, but she is laying the butter on so thick I can barely taste the bread. Hugs after hugs come my way, sometimes she'll just feel the urge to get up in the middle of a lesson and give me a hug. 

A typical conversation goes something like this....

"Mrs. Collins, do you know who my favorite teacher is?"

"Who Amanda?"

"You Mrs. Collins"

"Thank you Amanda!"

or

"Mrs. Collins, do you know who the best teacher is?"

"Who Amanda?"

"You Mrs. Collins."

"Thanks again!"

and my personal favorite

"Mrs. Collins, do you know who the prettiest teacher is?"

"Who Amanda?"

"You Mrs. Collins!"

"Why thank you Amanda, that makes my heart happy."

Now little Amanda isn't the only one spreading it on thick...My little Tinkerbell has her buttery moments too.

We've been learning all about symmetry and today was the day we painted symmetrical pictures.

I folded their papers in half and instructed the cherubs to paint only one half of their papers.

Tink needed a little clarification...

"Miss Collins, what side do I paint on?"

"You pick, but only paint one side of the paper."

"Just one side? But which one?"

"It doesn't matter, but only paint one."

"Is this side okay?" 

"Yep, that side is perfect, excellent choice!"

So she painted, and then I showed her how to fold the paper, and rub her hand over it so one side of the paper would transfer to the other.

"Okay, Tink, ready for the magic?"

"Ready."

We carefully unfolded the paper...and her jaw dropped. Instant Symmetry!

"Mrs. Collins, you are a genius!"

Sweet buttery goodness.

S is for Security

My cherubs this year are a very young bunch with most of them having summer birthdays.
Their young-ness presents itself in a lot of different ways, I have seen some separation issues, and some difficulties with fine motor skills.

But this year, more than any other, I've noticed a lot of thumb sucking. I am a little stumped as to what to do about it.
Since I'm not a dentist, I don't find myself concerned with what it's doing to their teeth, but I am concerned with its social implications.
The other kindergarteners don't seem to have noticed the thumbs, but if it continues into the upper grades they certainly will. Let's face it, kids can be mean to each other sometimes and although we do a lot to curb that, it still happens.

I've been wondering if it's the newness of their kindergarten experience that's bringing it on. Are they scared? Unsure? Am I in any way causing them to want to suck their thumbs in order to feel more secure?

I've been reading up on the subject, and most everything I've read tells me that school-aged kids who suck their thumbs do because it's become a habit. So if that's true, how do I break the thumb habit in school, and how do I suggest to parents that the thumb sucking at home should probably stop as well?

I pulled my little thumbkins over the other day to have a little chat. I explained to them as gently as I could why sucking their thumbs in kindergarten was not a good idea. I explained about germs, and what a big deal it was to be big enough to come to big kid school! I told them that I was ready to help them to not suck their thumbs if they wanted me to. I wanted to make it a choice, just in case it was some sort of security thing. I didn't want to make them feel any less secure than they may have already been feeling.

I told them, that when I noticed their thumbs I would just give them a quick "thumbs up." I knew this would be discreet enough not to call the other kids' attention to what we were doing. I give a lot of thumbs up in my room and this little gesture wouldn't seem out of the ordinary.

In the last few days we've been trying our little strategy, I haven't seen a huge difference in the frequency, but I have noticed that they immediately stop when I give my little sign. I'm hoping with a little consistency we can take care of this without too much drama. I've been giving a lot of positive reinforcement to these two, and just a few extra hugs too, because there is nothing like a good hug to help a person feel just a little more secure.

C is for Compliment

I love new ideas to help with classroom management, so I thought I'd share one that works pretty well in my classroom.

The kids in my room love to collect compliments!

We talk a lot about what a compliment is. Sometimes compliments are about how we look. Sometimes they might receive a compliment about a good job they did, or my favorite...compliments for good behavior.

We collect them as we travel from place to place. As we visit art, music, science or gym. As we eat lunch, play on the playground, or walk through the hall. We collect them when we've been able to sit for a long time during an assembly or when our 4th grade reading buddies come to visit.

I tell them when I hear compliments about their good behavior it makes my heart happy. They also know that I have to hear the compliment with my own ears and they have to come from some one other than me.

I compliment them a lot, but the notice has to come from other adults or students in our building.

Lately, we've been getting a lot of compliments, so I knew it was time to present....The Compliment Frog!

The Compliment Frog lives in her pond on our classroom wall. Each time the class receives a compliment she hops up one Lily Pad, with a great big "RIBBIT!"







When she reaches the top, they earn some kind of special treat. Maybe a movie with popcorn, make your own sundaes, a choice from the prize box or extra recess!

So far the response has been great! When we are lined up and ready to move about the building, I just need to remind them that we are "collecting compliments" and they turn on the good behavior...and my heart is happy!

A is for Amigo, F is for Friend

A little boy joined my class today. He and his family have just arrived from the Dominican Republic.
He speaks no English. I can't even begin to imagine how this must feel. 
New surroundings, new people, and on top of it all, a new language. How must that feel, not understanding?
I know he'll learn quickly as he's immersed in a language that comes so naturally to us, but is so difficult for others to learn. He has a big advantage  being in kindergarten where the curriculum is so language rich. 
As I struggled to communicate with him, I found myself wishing I had paid better attention during those 6 years of Spanish I took. 
There are words I remember, but with no one to practice with, any conversational Spanish I may have had is now gone.
I was amazed however, at the vocabulary I did manage to pull out of my head when I needed to. 


"Escriba su nombre aquí por favor." "Write your name here please.
"Es hora para el almuerzo." "It's time for lunch."
"Siéntese aqui por favor." "Sit here please."


Do this, do that, go here, go there. I felt for him.


I had the luxury today of being able to spend a little one on one time with him because my student teacher has taken over for the week. We sat together and played a simple card game. I named the pictures in English, he named them in Spanish. He smiled when I repeated what he said, maybe feeling good that he had taught ME something.


My favorite moment of the day came right after he arrived. I think that the other kids found him interesting. Mostly because he was a new arrival to a pretty well established bunch of kiddos and of course because he didn't speak their language.
One little girl decided to be his friend. She told me she'd stick by him and help him out. 
"I can help him Mrs. Collins because I can speak Spanish."
"Really Tinkerbell, I didn't know that about you."
"Yep, amigo, that means friend."


"Well Tinkerbell, I think it's safe to say the job is yours."

F is for First Field trip to the Fair on Friday!

After four solid days of wind driven rain I was starting to have my doubts that this field trip I had been planning since August was actually going to happen.
But I awoke to the sun and all my weather fears disappeared. It was going to be a glorious day!

I arrived at school extra early so I could get organized. Name tags ready, chaperones set. I had emailed the bus company two days before just to confirm.

Jayna, my student teacher and I kept the kids busy for the hour before it was time to leave. We made sure they had used the facilities, checked the lunch situation, ordered bagged lunches for the kids that forgot then lined them up to go.  The kids were getting antsy so I made the decision to wait for the bus outside.
There we sat...and sat. We waited...and waited. Thankfully, I have some moms who are very good at singing "The Wheels on the Bus."

At exactly 9:05 I decided to make a phone call to transportation, only to hear this, "We are unable to take any calls now, but please leave a message and someone will return your call."
So I left a message which basically said, "Hello, we are waiting, where are you???"

A bus pulled up, but sadly, not our bus. I did ask the bus driver to radio in to find out where OUR bus was, was it coming? Did they forget us?
She assured me there were only two buses out that day, the one she was driving and another waiting at Collins Middle School to take those kids to the Topsfield Fair.
"Umm, could it be remotely possible that they sent the bus reserved by Mrs. COLLINS to COLLINS middle school by mistake?"
Nice bus driver relays the message, gets her reply and politely says to me, "we're sorry there seems to be a mix up. The bus will be here in 10 minutes.
Now the only reason I even thought that was a possibility was because last year 10 giant boxes of file folders were delivered to me at my school, but were supposed to go the middle school, but I digress.
Exactly 30 minutes past the time we were supposed to leave, 54 kindergarteners and 15 grownups were on the bus headed for the fair! Hurray!
Because of our late start we hit some traffic. Arrival 10:15, 45 minutes later than planned. This was going to be a world record tour of a very large fair.
We split up into our groups, Jayna and I took 5 kids with us and headed off. The first stop, snack in the arena while we took in a horse show.
While I explained the fine art of walk, trot, canter and posting (yes, I know this stuff) the kids ate their snack. Because if we were going to run through this fair, we needed some energy!

Look how happy they are! (sorry for the smileys...privacy rules and all that.)








We stopped briefly to look at this amazing sand sculpture on our way to the sheep barn.

If you've never had the "pleasure" of smelling sheep, you haven't lived. 

Yes, they are quite cute, and fuzzy, but they are not nicest smelling of creatures. 

                                                             The kids didn't seem to mind though.

It's funny to see kids with farm animals. Some make friends instantly, some aren't so sure. This little girl wanted to take this one home with us.


One of my little guys imitated every animal noise he heard. He baa'd when we visited the sheep barn, until he saw the cows, then he mooed. Until he saw the roosters, ducks and alpacas. I had no idea what sound an alpaca made until I heard the little guy make it.


Funny, no matter how much  you tell a kid NOT to put your hand near an animal's mouth or into a cage, they will attempt it anyway.
These little horses named after the Seven Dwarfs may looks sweet and innocent, but they BITE, and little kindergarten fingers look an awful lot like carrots!

The hit of the fair, as always is the Giant Pumpkin. The kids are always amazed at this thing. Is it any wonder? Three of them could fit inside this amazing orange squash.

But the highlight of the fair this year had to be my friend the animal impersonator, he's kind of a funny little kid.
We saw this...

I said to Jayna, "Here come the duck sounds."
I readied myself for the quack, but it never came. Instead I heard....



"AFLAC!"


It was a great day, and you know you had fun when the kids (and chaperones) fall asleep on the way home! Can't wait for next year!

Recognition

I'm pretty proud to be able to call myself a teacher and even more so to be able to call myself a kindergarten teacher. Not everyone understands how difficult a job teaching kindergarten can be. 

I don't mean to diminish what other teachers do because I know how hard they work. I see it everyday. The planning, the patience, the paperwork and the preparation. The planning of field trips, differentiating instruction, notes to parents, meetings to attend. The school day begins long before the kids arrive and ends long after the kids go home, and more often than not we are working at home too because there are just  not enough hours in a day.

I am not complaining. I love my job. We don't do it for the money or the summers off. We do it because we love kids and it's pretty reassuring to know that we are making a difference in the lives of children.

Even though we know in our hearts we are making a difference sometimes we just need to hear it. Just as we let the kids in our class know when they are doing a good job, sometimes grownups need to know it too.

For  teachers it might come in a note from a grateful parent, a good review from a principal, another teacher, or the best thank you of all...the smile on a child's face.

I'm also really proud of this blog. My own little spot on The World Wide Web. I write from the heart, which is why I don't post as often as I might otherwise. I am thrilled with every new follower both here and on K is for Kindergarten's Facebook Page, and every little comment left. 

Today I received an email message from teachersalaryinfo.com congratulating me on K is for Kindergarten being named as one of their Top Teacher Blogs! I don't receive any actual "prize" for this distinction, but I do get to post a little badge on my blog page. Which is really enough for me, because sometimes all you really need is someone to say,


"Congratulations, you did good."