mixed messages

I sent a student to the office today. I know. I hate to do it. But he was hitting other kids out on the playground, and when I told him to stop, he hit me. Nope. That doesn't happen. So I hauled him up to the office, called his father, wrote up the PS74 form, conferenced with the assistant principal, and left him there. A little bit later I brought the student's backpack down to the office for when his father came to pick him up. When I arrived, the principal was in full disciplinarian mode, discoursing about respect, ect, and I chimed in, "uh huh....that's right." The principal ended with "Don't mess with me; I have my flats on (referring to her shoes - she wears heels to school but changes into flats when she means business)." Just then I made eye contact with her, and we both cracked up. Big belly laughs, with my student still glowering at waist level. When we quieted, she said, "It's been a long day" which I seconded, and then excused myself. Talk about mixed messages for the kid, especially since the situation really wasn't funny. But I felt better after a laugh. I hope the principal did, too.

name that animal

As part of the theme for this month (In the City, In the Country), we're learning about farms. I thought all children knew the names of farm animals, until I pointed to a chicken and asked Chidiebere what animal it was. His response: "That's a Bock-Bock." Me (horrified): "No, it's not!" As a result, we are focusing a lot more on farm animals than the curriculum recommends, but, hey. They need to know this stuff. Especially Chidiebere, who subsequently called a goat a moose, and then, as if he had just pointed to the wrong animal, called the cow the moose. When asked what noise cows make, he said, "Mooooose. Mooooose." 4-yr-old logic at its best.

learning our letters - the ones in the alphabet

Amaya knows every letter except for Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, and Ii. I haven't figured out how she can learn everything except for that section of letters. I've been working with her for weeks just on these letters, but it doesn't seem to be sticking. So, with this in mind, today goes like this: Me and Amaya, sitting at the small group table, working on letters. I write a letter on the white board and she names it. She then gets to erase the letter with her finger (note: a very powerful reward. She'll do a lot to erase a white board with her finger).
I write 'h' on the white board.

Amaya (glances at it and then starts looking around the room): "I know the animal that starts with that letter."
Me (thinking this is great progress and that she'll say 'horse' and then remember the letter 'h'): "Good. What is it?"
Amaya (still gazing around the classroom): "It's that animal that has two ears.....two little ears....they poke up....."
Me: "Yep, uh huh?"
Amaya (now staring intently at what Cycret is building in the math center): "Two little ears....and a little nose....it pokes out....with a little mouth..."

Clearly she's not going to get it. I write 'e' on the white board.

Me: "What letter's this one? (E E E E E E!!!)"
Amaya: "Oh, that's the easy letter. That's the one that's not in the alphabet."

It's good to make that distinction. Apparently it's easier to learn letters that aren't in the alphabet than it is to learn those that are in the alphabet.

unionizing

I see this sign every day when I drive home from work. It cheers me up. I still haven't come up with any good explanations for when (or why) the bakery confectionery workers and the tobacco workers got together to make a union, but, hey. Whatever.

Happy Bunny Rabbits!

No, this is not some weird meteorological first day of spring ceremony. As a kid, on the first day of the month (any month), Mom would wake us up by saying 'happy bunny rabbits' to us. Apparently she had gotten it from a roommate in college. It wasn't until I was in college and saying 'happy bunny rabbits' to my own roommates on the first of each month that I wondered where it came from. Apparently it's an English tradition that's supposed to bring good luck. So happy rabbits day to everyone!