Overheard in the Hallway

This past year I switched from teaching 1st grade to teaching 3rd grade. About 90% of the time I love the switch, but every once in a while I miss the really little ones. Fortunately I am still in the building with them and I get treated to little moments like this...

Two kindergartners were walking back to their classroom from the library. The little girl was quite a few feet ahead of the boy. She stops, looks at him, and says, "Come on, we need to go."

The boy looks at her and says, "Hold on. I just need a little bit of time. I just need a little bit of time with my dragon. I just need to be with my dragon."

You have to respect a man who knows what he needs!

Jancing

My students invented a new vocabulary word today.

Jancing: the act of dancing and jumping.

Jancing is what happens when you try to say dancing and jumping and one word comes out.

Imagine 8 3rd grades breaking out into a 3 minute jance party.

Happy Friday

One woman

Every Friday I eat lunch with my table winners. I usually get them settled and then take a minute or two to get myself settled and prepped for math before joining my students. Today I had the pleasure of overhearing the following comment...

D: "I wish there was only one women in the world."

(In my head) "Sweetheart that will all change in a couple of years.."

D: "Yeah, then we could all just date her."

(me) hiding my laughter with a coughing fit.

You Have the Best Clothes

" Miss Prinzo, you have the best clothes. My mom is jealous of them."

Fact: I have never met this student's mom.

Fake Mistakes

Today we were working on drafting our family paragraphs. At the beginning of the lesson I drafted an example paragraph with my students. As always, I made a few mistakes. One of my students caught a lot of them, but I told him not to worry I would fix them later during editing. Later we went back to our seats and he asked me, "So we are supposed to spell things wrong on purpose?" Needless to say, he made my day :)

Running in the Hall

Today we were in the hallway and one of the first grade teachers jogged by my class. As she walked by she told the kids jokingly, "You don't see me running in the hallway!"

My kids were fascinated. Of course, they had to know...Are teachers REALLY allowed to run in the hallway? I said yes and one of my students blurted out:

"I want to be a teacher so I can run in the hallway!"

Forget about touching students' lives or instilling a love of learning. The next time someone asks me why I wanted to be a teacher I am going to say that I wanted to be able to run in the hallway.

"Fish?"

My classroom theme is underwater. My students voted at the beginning of the year to be called the "Rainbow Fish." So when it came time for character day I, of course, dressed up as the rainbow fish.

Unfortunately my stapled concoction was not necessarily what my students had in their imagination. Some of my students completely got it: "oohhhh, Miss Prinzo, you're the Rainbow Fish!"

Some had a delayed reaction, "You're a fish? The Rainbow Fish? What's that...OH! Like our class. You are the Rainbow Fish!"

Some missed it all together, "Fish? Miss Prinzo, we are going to have fish?" In his usual fashion, this students ignored my response and instead informed the rest of the class that we were getting fish. I cannot tell you the disappointment I have created now that it is 2 days later and there are still no fish!

"What's on yo' lips?"

E: "Miss Prinzo, What's that pink stuff on yo' lips?'

Me: "It's called lip gloss."

E: "Why do you have it on your lips?"

Me: "To make my lips stand out a little bit more."

E: "Oh, well you should never wear it again."

"What's wrong with your brain?"

"Miss Prinzo what's wrong with your brain?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's wrong with your brain. We know our names."

"I am working hard to learn your names. Sometimes grown up brains take more time to learn."


I did learn this child's name today. Now if I could just get the last few I have been stuck on...

Gold Teeth

Miss Prinzo: Who can tell me what they think a goal is?
Student #1: A reading goal.
Miss Prinzo: Right, we have reading goals, but what does it mean to have a goal? Any ideas?
Student #2: "Gold Teeth"
Miss Prinzo: hmmm...that is a little different. ((tries to explain the difference between the words 'goal' and 'gold'))
Students #3 and #4: "Gold teeth...like this" (points to where gold teeth are in your mouth).

I guess I will just explain it!

It's hatching in your tummy!

I had the pleasure of babysitting today. While we were playing...

A: "Do you hear that?"
Me: "Hear what?"
A: "That noise! There's a baby in your tummy?"
Me: "I don't think so. There is no baby in there"
A: "It's just pretend! I hear it hatching! You're hatching a baby!"

"We need to give them privacy"

I went back to visit my class today and was blown away by the excitement our aquariums has generated. My mentor teacher told me that earlier in the week the Froggers saw a live birth in one of the tanks. Now, my students are obsessed with it happening again. The blue and orange tables were convinced that their fish were having a baby. When it didn't come...

"Guys, we need to give them privacy!"

"Back up, we need to give them privacy. You wouldn't want to have people watching if YOU were having a baby."

"Miss Prinzo, can you tell them to stop looking at the aquarium...the fish need privacy!"


...it felt good to be back :)

BANG!

One of the few things I learned from my Kindergarten practicum (other than how not to treat students) was a game called BANG. It is a really simple game that helps children practice sight words (and I taught the children how to play it using math facts). In the game you have some sort of flash cards. Take a few of the cards (about one for every 5 or 6 cards) and put a small sticker on it. After that you are ready to play!

The rules of the game are simple: You move in a circle. Each child is shown a card. If they say the sight word (or give the fact etc.) they keep the card. If they get it wrong, the next person gets a try until the card is taken. When you get to a card that has a sticker, you get a "bang". If you are right, then you can take a card from another players pile--but only if you can say the word/ give the answer. Play until the cards run out. The player with the most cards win.

Fair warning...you may want to change the name of the game (or get ready to hold in your adult humor)... because you will her things like...

"I am going to bang you!"
"Stop banging me!"
"She is banging me again!"

Dr. Seuss' imagination

Miss Prinzo (after reading the millionth Dr. Seuss book of the week):  "Dr. Seuss had a great imagination, didn't he?"
Class: "Yes!"
L: "Well, actually I think I have a better one."

I don't doubt this. Not for one second.

She's Taking Advantage of My Mother!

" She's taking advantage of my mother!"
" She's taking advantage of my mother!"
" She's taking advantage of my mother!"
" She's taking advantage of my mother!"
" She's taking advantage of my mother!"
" She's taking advantage of my mother!"

After hearing this over and over again for several minutes on our field trip bus ride I had to ask. What does it mean when a seven year old says," She's taking advantage of my mother!"? Stop tickling me. I should have known!

Its SPRING! and other weather related fun

H: "Mrs. Baumann! Miss Prinzo! I know spring is coming...the window is hot when you touch it!"

I sure hope they're right!

...............................................

L: "Do I have to wear my coat?"
Miss Prinzo: "Yes, it is freezing outside! Do you remember how cold it was this morning?"
L: "But the sun is out now!"

Can you tell it has been a very gray, cloudy, gross winter?


----------------------------------
During our synonyms review:

Miss Prinzo: What are some synonyms of beautiful? ((gets words like pretty, gorgeous, handsome))'
T: "HOT!"

Famous

Just so you know... I looked famous today.

H: "M...You look famous today! Why do you look so famous?"
M: "I don't know...I just do"
H: "ooooooo, Miss Prinzo, you look famous today too!"

Famous is apparently when your hair is pulled up into a pony tail...It is good to know that on days like today when I am too tired to straighten my hair, I can still look famous :)

Mom!

W: "Mom, Can I.."
Miss Prinzo (teasing): "What did you just call me? I am telling your mo-om!
W: ((turns bright red, walks away laughing, waits a second and comes back))
      " I meant Miss Prinzo, but I love you too"

"I'm not going to call on you"

Our students give short speeches each month for a monthly project. This month they talked about their dream job (aka What do you want to be when you grow up?). At the end of each speech the other students can ask 3 questions. One of my students was taking questions when...

L: ((blurts out question))
C: Um L, I am not going to call on you b/c you didn't raise your hand. ((calls on someone else who is raising their hand))
L: ((raises hand))
C: L, thanks for raising your hand.

The student is officially the teacher. What a good reminder that students feed off of your words and actions!

Turkey and Chicken

Two of my students were looking at a globe during center time...

(T) Turkey? There is a country named Turkey?
(S) No there's not...wait there is really a country named Turkey?
(T) Yeah! See! (points to it on globe)
(S) Well, there has to be a "Chicken" then.

...and then they spend the next 5 minutes looking for a country called "Chicken" on the map...