My last name is 2nd!!!

So, yesterday my class was doing their monthly writing project for the district and as they were finishing their work I was coming around and writing their initials in the bottom corner. I was saying their first and last names out loud and then telling them their initials as I wrote them. So, I get to little Jeffrey who acts very grown up for his age - in fact he is my student of the week for last week because he sets an amazing example on how to behave. Anyways, I sat down next to him and said, "Jeffrey is your first name so J is your first initial and Fahey is your last name so F is your last initial, JC" and then I wrote it on the paper. He immediately jumped to the defensive and said, "Fahey isn't my last name!". To this comment I responded with, "really, what is your last name then?". He replied, "2nd!" I have to admit that I immeditely knew what he was talking about and began to giggle inside but to him it was no joke so I wasn't going to let him feel foolish in any way. So I replied to him, "Oh yeah I remember you are Jeffrey Fahey the 2nd". To this he said, "yeah"! I nodded and removed myself to another table continuously laughing inside. It was soooo cute!!!

Fall Trees

We had our very first art project this past week and I have to say it went pretty well. Thanks to an organized art mom and well-behaved kindergarteners (I threatened them within an inch of their life). I have to say that the projects turned out very cute and very original to each kid. It's amazing how much you can tell about a child by just looking at their artwork - it truly says a lot about who they are. It's also amazing to me how much fun and joy it can bring to their little lives and I can't believe there are school districts out there that will not allow art projects to be conducted in the classroom without a full scale curricular intent complete with lesson plans, standards and how it will relate to what is being taught. Let's just let fun be fun. I think that every time they pick up a crayon, paintbrush, marker, gluestick, scissors they are tapping into their creative ability to imagine and express themselves in order to be comfortable with who they are. How is that not educational?

Alright - I'll hop down off my arts and crafts in the classroom soapbox and show you some pictures of their creations. Keep in mind that they are supposed to be autumn trees - sometimes kinderart is difficult to decipher but that is what makes them so darn cute.

Mr. Alabama

So we were sitting around in a circle and Laura my student of the week was doing a show-and-tell in front of the class. She had brought a postcard that she had gotten when she visited Mt. Rushmore. I was trying my best to explain the concept of Mt. Rushmore to a bunch of kindergarteners but didn't think I was getting anywhere. I had told them that a man had decided that he would like to sculpt some giant statues of presidents in this huge rock for everyone to enjoy. One of my students asked if those presidents that he made were dead and I was amazed that she would pick up on that concept and I told her that she was correct. Then little Ryan spoke up and said, "Mr. Alabama isn't dead". Ummmmm . . . . . I sat there confused for a few seconds thinking of a way to respond to that statement when Jacob replied for me, "It's not Mr. Alabama, it's Mr. Arock Obama." I giggled to myself and told the students that Mr. Obama is not dead and he is our President right now. Of course then my kindergarteners were off topic and they began with an array of comments such as, "that's a weird name", "what's a President?", "my brother hates him", "oh yeah, he's in charge of our town", etc . . . Sometimes when they get off topic I have learned quickly that if I just sit and let them chat amongst themselves that it's quite entertaining.

The ABCs

So - I had to come up with a creative way to fill one center and came up with a hands one way of letting me know if they remembered what we had learned that week and it was the letters A, B and C. So, they had to make the letter A out of popsicle sticks, the letter B out of some string and the letter C had to be done with paint dots. They had a lot of fun working on this project and they look forward to taking them home and showing their parents. I was pleasantly surprised as to how well they did.