Presidents' Week: "Miss Anne, Is This The Good Guy Or The Bad Guy?"

Week 2: Check!

As I thought, this week was definitely smoother than the last.  Not because I didn't have kids with crazy Valentine sugar-highs but because I and the kids are both getting used to how things are going to flow.  The mornings had an added toughness to them this week with not being able to get their bodies outside to play in the negative wind chills.  We made it work, though! And the kids seemed to have had a fun week!

Going from toddlers to preschoolers is a whole new world when it comes to teaching more cerebral, in-depth topics like we learned about this week.  My preschoolers were SO interested in learning about the presidents!

Tuesday, we learned all about George Washington.  I loved teaching about him because there's so much to grab the kids' interest: quarter/$1 bill talk, GW chopping his dad's cherry tree, etc. And I never would've guessed it, but I found this silly little song about the cherry tree story... and the kids wanted to sing it all week long! It probably had something to do with me letting them make karate chop motions during the whole song, but it's a catchy little tune nonetheless.  Here it is!

Cherry Tree Song
(to the tune of "Do You Know the Muffin Man")

Do you know who chopped the tree,
Chopped the tree, chopped the tree?
Do you know who chopped the tree,
Dad asked of George one day.

Yes, I know who chopped the tree,
Chopped the tree, chopped the tree.
Yes, I know who chopped the tree,
Honest George did say.

It was I who chopped the tree,
Chopped the tree, chopped the tree.
It was I who chopped the tree,
I'm sorry, but it's true.

Thank you George, you told the truth,
Told the truth, told the truth.
Thank you George, you told the truth,
Said Dad, I'm proud of you!

Such an awesome opportunity for them to learn about the truth verses lying, while still learning about George Washington, too! 

 Teachable moments are what true teachers live for:
These kids are so smart, they even asked questions that I didn't even ponder before teaching this lesson... such as, "Miss Anne, Why did George Washington want to chop down one of the trees?" Amazing! We had a brainstorm session together, while the whole class pondered this question... we ended up having a tangent talk about how we are so lucky to have heating/air-conditioning in our homes and school.  They realized that GW may have had to cut down trees to make a fire to warm up!  Such job satisfaction to know that they are so interested in our learning to ask in-depth questions and brainstorm like that at age 4-5!

 News Report from Washington's Cherry Orchard! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCWaKIqxYUI

Flexibility is name of the game!
Knowing that we had a Dr. Seuss magic show happening in the middle of our morning on Wednesday, I made plans for a small president-themed open-ended question and coordinating art activity.  Buuuut that plan quickly was moved to Friday... In the middle of our movement activities, one of our little girls got sick in the book area, which left Amy to deal with the the lovely job of cleaning up and caring for our sick friend while I occupied the rest of the class.  Soon it was time to go to the magic show, after a morning of show-and-tell and dancing! Amy was quite the rockstar that morning, for not getting sick herself and taking care of that situation!

Soon enough, Friday was here again and quite the relaxing Friday it was!  With a few friends out with sickness, we were left with only 11 kiddos!  The negative 947 degree wind chill weather was gone from earlier in the week, and we could take them outside too! Such a fun, yet calm day! One of my favorite moments of Friday was teaching them about the many jobs that our president has... then I asked them, "If YOU were the president, what would you do?"  Here are a few of the smart, yet precious answers:

If I was the president, I would...

"...save everybody in the world."
"...feed all the animals."
"...clean up everything."
"...be a leader!"
"...be a superhero!"
"...save my family from getting hurt."
"...watch over everybody."
"...make sure everyone is safe."
"...sweep and clean the floor."
"...be the leader of the army!" --> this one is from the little boy who loved looking at all my president books this week and always wanted to know who the "good guys and bad guys" were in all the pictures!

And... just in case you didn't get your fill of cute kid quotes...

Kid Quotables

Little Girl: "Miss Anne, I'm trying to draw a picture of me being the president and save everybody in the world."
Anne: (pointing to the picture) "It looks great! What is this a picture of?"
Little Girl: "This is Mommy next to the hot lava, and this is me saving her.  Miss Anne, can you help me draw some hot lips on my mommy?"

Anne: "What is your picture all about?"
Another Little Girl: "This is me being a president and a leader.  And this is my Uncle Jason: he has a big head."

(waiting for the magic show to start)
Anne: "Who has a song they want to sing?"
Little Boy: "Let's sing 'Mary Had a Little Man'!"

...and the teacher "Blonde Moment of the Week"
Anne: "Alright, who can raise their raise and remind what we are talking all about this week?" (expecting "Presidents!" to be the easy answer)
Little Boy Right in Front of Me: (pointing up to our letter of the week) "U!"
Anne: "Me?! It's not Miss Anne Week!"
LB: "Noooo! The letter U!"

...and now off to make some hard-boiled eggs for our Tip-Top Teeth week! :)

 

 

"Is It Okay For Somebody To Marry Their Dad?" and Other Stories from Valentine Craziness

One week officially under my belt!  Uff-dah!

After each day during my first week, I had different emotions... what you could probably describe as your typical "Week 1 Teaching Rollercoaster".  After getting through Monday and Tuesday with it going surprisingly smooth, I was wondering when the "Woah, I feel like crying and ripping my hair out a little bit" feeling was going to hit.

Then Wednesday came, and with one of my tougher kiddos coming back to school after some sickness, my test as a new teacher was in full force.  It's funny how one child being in or out of the class mix can make such a huge impact on the other children and how the day flows.  And this is where one of my huge goals as a new teacher comes into play.  A couple of my coworkers gave me some of the wisest teacher words I've ever heard, and the words have stuck with me each day this week:

"You gotta connect before you correct."

I think I need a little plaque with this saying because it could not be more true!  The struggle between putting your foot down right away in a classroom in order to let them know you mean business and gaining their trust by showing you care and love them is such a back-and-forth learning process for both teacher and student.  They are figuring me out just as much as I'm trying to figure each of them out.  The first two days of the week was when they were in awe of having such a new face in the room that they were all so wonderful.  By Wednesday, with a total of 19 including 2 tough little cookies, it was defiance- and tattle-central in our room.  It wasn't horrible by any means, but definitely a different atmosphere than the first two days.  They're testing boundaries: I get it.  I just keep telling myself that with a mix of strict boundaries and love, we'll get through this together!

What I learned about Valentine's Day in a preschool room: NEVER NEVER NEVER have your Valentine ice cream party in the morning.  With me being the people-pleaser I am and also being new in the room, I wanted to make the parents happy with the kids who don't normally come on Thursdays so they could bring in their children for the party only.  Huge mistake.  Next year: putting my foot down and saying only Valentine cards in the morning with the ice cream in the afternoon, so as to use the ice cream to its full bribery potential :) 

I'm in love with the Friday relaxed atmosphere in our room.  After Thursday's Valentine rumble, my wonderful assistant and I were in need of a smoother, less-sugared day.  Friday's morning with calendar, groups, and a little fun time went remarkable, and it was a great confidence-booster going into the weekend. 

Reading all these cute books above love and Valentine parties this week to the kids raised some very memorable comments.  This inspired me to use my blog also as an outlet to remember all these hilarious kids questions/comments for years to come :) I hope you enjoy!


Valentine Week Quotables

• "Miss Anne, I have a question: Is it okay for somebody to marry their dad?" -a little boy during independent quiet reading time, following our circle-time reading of the book The Five Senses of Love
• "Have YOU ever been to Jupiter?" -after answering a little boy's question about which planet that is with the big spot on it
• "When we go in the large muscle room, let's go play with the big pink balls and put them under our shirts, so they can be our pregnancy balls!" - girl-to-girl conversation in the hallway as we walk to play in the muscle room

One last thought of praise and thankfulness I have at the end of Week 1 goes to my wonderful Tony, who listens to all my ups and downs and loves me through it all.  I also have to thank my coworkers, who have given me awesome words of wisdom and support throughout the first part of this process.  Let's see what Week 2 has in store! :)