Tag Archives: school

Dec23

“how many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.” ― coco chanel

Posted on December 23, 2016 by beth

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my class was interested in learning about snow

they knew that it:

comes from up there

falls down to the ground

is cold

tastes like peppermint

and

you can make stuff out of it.

they wanted to learn about snowplows

so we invited our school’s snowplow driver

over for a visit

everyone put on their winter gear

headed outside

where he

showed them his truck

put on the lights

moved the plow up and down

and

pushed the snow around the circle

then

we invited him into our room

to ask him questions

and learn more about him

he told the kids

to call him roger

he was very gentle and kind

he has been here for 28 years

this is his last snowplow winter

he answered every single question

listened to every single comment about snow

they asked him what he does

when he’s not plowing

they were surprised

he lives on 20 acres

has fainting goats, black swans and an aviary of 500 exotic finches

decorates peoples houses for the holidays

is a father and grandfather

and

a horticulturist

who helped to create the children’s garden at our school

he is more than what they saw

when they saw him plowing the snow

now they know him as a person

now they will wave to each other

now they know how he helps our community

now they know how much more there is to his story

when he was finished

and it was time

for him to go back to his work

the children gathered around him and gave him hugs

they know a good person when they meet one.

—
“i hope I didn’t bore you too much with my life story.” – elvis presley

Dec9

cement.

Posted on December 9, 2016 by beth

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when the pre-k friends meet up with their second grade friends

there is much to celebrate and talk about.

—

“friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.”

-woodrow t. wilson

Oct31

the rule of three.

Posted on October 31, 2016 by beth

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happy halloween from paper and her team.

—

‘knife, fork, spoon. rock, paper, scissors.

it’s the rule of three.”

-stephanie meyer

Oct21

good things come.

Posted on October 21, 2016 by beth

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first time ever

on a school bus

on a field trip

looking at the world

passing by

and

full of wonder.

—

“good things come, and i’m not just referring to riding the buses.”

-lionel blue

Oct17

breakfast of champions.

Posted on October 17, 2016 by beth

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two of the grandies

at a fun run

went many, many laps

to raise money

for their school

with snack breaks

from their dish of

marathon-friendly foods

donuts, dogs, n’ cheetos

with a

chaser of cider.

what could go wrong?

—

“food should be fun.”

-thomas keller

Sep23

nap.

Posted on September 23, 2016 by beth

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a scene not unlike my classroom, earlier today.

—

“when the going gets tough, the tough take a nap.”

-tom hodgkinson

—

image credit: googleimages

Sep9

my tribe.

Posted on September 9, 2016 by beth

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i knew it.

i was sure that i had found my tribe

with the arrival of my pre-kinders.

as a follow up to yesterday’s story

(where i discovered that i was a nelipot),

all it took was one recess

for me to find

a fellow

barefoot member

among us.

—

“each tribe has its characteristics, it is true.”

-john hanning speke

Sep8

n is for nelipot.

Posted on September 8, 2016 by beth

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today, as i was walking out to meet our parents and children (most of them for the very first time), at our pre-kindergarten orientation, i noticed that one of my sandals suddenly felt very loose. in a twist of perfect universal timing, it was irreparably broken. i experimented with walking in it, but wasn’t able to do so without dramatically dragging my foot along, so i took them both off.

while taking off my sandals i noticed what i thought was a water mark of unknown origin on the side of my shirt, and that i imagined would ‘quickly dry’ but was actually a grease stain of unknown origin, that happened somewhere between my car and my school and which in fact ‘never dried.’

when i lifted my head up from my sandal removal, i noticed that the entire underside of my hair was now dripping wet, and i was breaking out into some sort of a heat rash on the back of my neck, as the temperature had quickly risen into the humid 90ish degree range.

my daughter texted to see how the day was going and when i updated her she replied,”it seems like i’ve had a text like this from you before.” yes, she might very well be right, as we’ve known each other since the moment she was born, and have certainly survived more than one misadventure in our time.

once the families were settled into our room, i presented my part of the orientation barefoot, greasy, sweaty, and rash-y, the parents were chatty and friendly, and the children were excited and happy.

i realized that one of my hopes this year is to show and teach my kinders to see mishaps more as simple misadventures, to take them as they come, while trying to make the best of them. i’m confident they’ll learn this in no time, as children naturally tend to be open, non-judgemental, and willing to let things, go just seeing what happens. and best of all – we have a new vocabulary word: