I feel like I can also blame my laziness on the fact that we have been in a testing frenzy. Science, math, reading, grammar, you name it, we are testing it! Our poor kiddos are earning their break for sure!!
While we were reviewing for our grammar test, one of my little ones wrote this sentence- it cracked me up and I had to snap a picture!
On a completely different topic, we have been discussing acts of kindness this week. I love all of the ideas floating around. I was really inspired by Stephanie's post over at Third Grade Thoughts.
As a class, we came up with ideas of how we can show kindness to others. I threw in some extra contributions from my Light 'Em Up jar thanks to Judy over at Kindertastic. I printed out her pages of ideas, laminated them, and stuck them in a random jar I found. I used my handy Xyron machine to turn the label into a sticker and stuck it on. Head over to her blog to download your free copy!
It was so nice hearing the kids share all of their wonderful ideas of how they can be kind to others. We made cards for teachers telling them how much we appreciated all of their hard work The kids were so excited when they were able to hand deliver their cards, and hopefully the teachers were, too! Let's see if my kiddos can keep it up for the rest of the week and the year!!! ;)
On another random note, this week has been bitter-sweet for me. As I think about the tragedy that occurred almost one week ago, I am reminded about how precious each and every day is with our kiddos. Even in the most frustrating moments (like when they bubble their answers wrong on their test! ARGG!!) I have to appreciate the charge I have been given- to educate young minds and prepare them to succeed in a world that is rapidly changing. I can only do my best to try to teach them how to be the best they can be and hope that they will carry that knowledge with them as they grow into adults.
As a teacher, especially an upper elementary teacher, it's sometimes easy to get so wrapped up in things like test scores, Scantrons, showing work- you get my drift- that it takes an event like last week's to stop us in our tracks and remind us of our real purpose.
Yesterday, I was finishing up the book My Teacher is an Alien with my afternoon class (an absolutely wonderful book, by the way!). For some reason, I decided to forego my rocking chair and I sat down criss-cross on the floor with the kids huddled closely around me. We sat like that for a good thirty minutes, completely wrapped up in the story. It is those precious moments, those moments when 18 innocent faces are hanging on my every word waiting to hear how the story ends, those moments when the kids are ever-so-slightly inching toward me because the suspense is almost too much to handle- those are the moments that are absolutely priceless. Those moments cannot be planned for, they cannot be forced, but they are the ones that stir our hearts and re-ignite the fire to teach. Sitting there inches away from my class, I had to stop myself from getting teary-eyed. I feel so blessed that this is what I get to do everyday.
My heart breaks for the community of Newtown and the parents of those innocent victims- for the children who will never hear another story read aloud to them by their teacher or their parents, and for the teachers who will never experience another moment like that. I know that I will appreciate every minute I have with my kids even more than before.
I'm going to sum up with this prayer I found at Religious Prayer:
To all of you teachers, take time to enjoy your kiddos these last few days- even through all of the pre-Christmas chaos!
Happy Wednesday!
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