Let the Games Begin! The first days of schooooooool! O_o

Every day, my kiddos say things that crack me up. They make me smile. They make me laugh. And quite often, they don't know why. So, here is my first collection of thoughts from Room 23. The land of the 2nd graders. Random happenings and funny quotes from my sweet lil chilluns:

Day 1:
I had students write a paragraph about what they did this summer. To give them ideas, I asked lots of questions. "Who went swimming this summer?" "Who slept in?" "Who played video games?" "Who went on vacation?" "Who ate chocolate?" "Who went sky diving?" Of course, every single time I asked a question, 19 little hands shot up as fast as a blink. They had ALL done EVERTHING I suggested. Everything. Then, when it was time to get down ta writin', half of them could not think of even two things they did all summer. "I only did one thing," is what I heard. All summer long. One thing. I slept in. I didn't eat. I didn't walk. I didn't swim. I didn't play. I didn't talk. I JUST slept in. So, anyway, time's a'tickin', and the kids are a'writing...well at least attempting. And...a hand goes up. "Miss Harris," I hear, "How do you spell D.S.?" (Like...Nintendo D.S.!) I look at her, and I say, "Sorry, but I can't tell you. You're gonna have to think about that one." Then, she looks up, thinks REAL hard, a light bulb dings, and she says, "Ohhhhhhh! Deeee. Essss." Blonde blonde blonde. But I love her.

Day 2:

This is the day of the glyphs. And let me tell you about glyphs. Glyphs are neat ways to organize data. They are really great for the beginning of the year because they can be used as a "Getting to Know You" activity. We made faces. If you are 7, get an orange face. If you are 8, get a green face. If you are a boy, get a hat. If you are a girl, get a bow. Curved eyebrows mean you own a pet. Straight eyebrows mean you don't. Your ears are your favorite color. The number of freckles you have tells me how many people live in your house. Two peppermint eyes mean you have two or more siblings. One spearmint, one peppermint means you have two siblings. Two butterscotches means one sibling. Two spearmints means you are an only child. Your nose tells me if you have ever lived in another state. The shape of your mouth tells me if you are right-or-left-handed. Your hair color represents your favorite subject. That was the glyph I came up with. Of course, you have to have a key, so they can see what each item stands for. When glyphs are completed, you can ask questions about each student: "How old is Asia?" "What is Chandler's favorite color?", etc., etc.

When finished, one of my students turned to another and said, "Hey, look! Mine look like Jo Jo Brown." He was in fact referring to Judge Joe Brown, which I found quite funny.

Jo Jo Brown (a.k.a. Judge Joe Brown)

Thinking the glue was dry, I put the glyphs on the wall outside of our room for all the world to see. That is when all my lovely faces began to cry. Apparently, the glue was very much not dry. So. The next day, I came in the school to find the hallway by my door littered with thousands of peppermints, butterscotches, and spearmints. NOT FUN TO CLEAN UP. And then I looked at the faces. Sweet little eyeless faces with tears streaming down. The glue had streamed and the eyes had fallen off. If you are reading this and you are a teacher, please do not be as silly as me and use real candy. Make them draw the eyes. Needless to say, on day 3, we got to fix new eye balls and scrape off tears. Now, they look all pretty again. And maybe they will be less likely to attract ant friends. Hope so.