Petey: Part Deux

Last weekend I got the opportunity to see Ben Mikaelson (the author mentioned in the previous post) when he came to visit my school district. The man lives with a 750-pound black bear named Buffy in a log cabin in Montana. His presentation lived up to all my expectations. Awesome Buffy slides and stories and really interacted well with the kiddos there to see him. I'll have to tackle some more of what he's written this summer.

Check him out at: http://www.benmikaelsen.com/

Petey

I recently finished the most amazing read aloud in my class suggested by my uncle who retired from teaching fourth grade not too long ago. It's called Petey by Ben Mikaelson and is historical fiction following the life of a guy born with cerebral palsy before the medical field knew too much about it. He spends most of his life in a mental institution and is such an endearing character. I cried through most of the last chapter (first time I've ever done that in class) and one of the kiddos came up to me at the end and said, "At first I thought you were just making your voice do that to get the right effect for the book. Then I realized you were really sad!"

Thanks for the great recommendation, Unc! I've passed it on to two other classrooms. The kids LOVE it!

Poop Day

I already wrote about Fart Day and today may have outdone it.

He came upstairs swinging a clear plastic bag tied shut with something white in the bottom. I said, "Hey, what's that?" (having a very good idea what it was). He pointed to a hip, confirming my suspicion. When I asked what happened he said, quite matter-of-factly, that he pooped his pants while running. You see, he'd had to go to the bathroom and then... I asked if someone had brought him clean clothes and he said, no, he'd just used what they gave him in the office. I had no idea they had fresh underoos in the office. How nice of them!

Later, after two birthday celebrations today, one kiddo piped up to say, "When we go home, our poop is either going to come out a cupcake or a cookie." Thus, Poop Day!

My EBM (see profile  to the right for definition) asked when teachers start telling kids what they say is inappropriate. I say: This teacher? Never!! Long live hilarious and somewhat inappropriate comments. Why else would I look forward to work each day? *grin*

Valentine's Day

An excerpt from a love note peeked at in another classroom:

"I work out to protect you."

Quite the fourth grade casanova!

Call to Action

I have never had a more scary moment. One of my kiddos was drinking from a water bottle at his desk and started coughing. When it continued, I looked over at him and he had that look of sheer panic on his red little face. It was like the panic leapt from his chest into mine. I ran over thinking, "I've never given someone the Heimlich. Can I even do it?" I got to him quickly and as I did he started to take in breath again. Through more coughs and gasps he made it clear that he was alright. I asked if he scared himself. "Yes," he said with a big nod. "You scared me, too!" I replied. Then he started to laugh (too much adrenaline and emotion, I think). "I coughed everything in me out on my desk! I think I'm going to need a new paper."

Losing a paper I can handle. Losing a student, not so much. Whew!

Law & Order

We had a sixth grader dial 911 from the second-floor copy room the other day. Ugh! Witnesses reported that he covered the phone with paper and used a pencil to press each key so as not to be detected when we dusted for fingerprints. We've refrained from telling how highly he overestimates us!

Well, at least he can spell.

I had a kiddo on my hands today who was "A-N-G-R-Y and M-A-D!" Don't worry I diffused the situation and everything was O-K-A-Y.

Our Latest Addition

Other teachers have the greatest ideas! One just showed me her class virtual pet and we jumped on board the next day. Her name is Phoebe. She's a cute little humming bird residing in California. The kids love her (and her growing baby) and I've never had them more motivated to write...ever! Check her out at cam.dellwo.com.

It's Going to be Okay

One of my favorite stories is one when I walked out to pick kids up from recess and one of my most on-top-of-it students asked me if eating fertilizer would kill you? I could see the tears welling up in her eyes and asked, "Oh no, what happened?" She proceeded tell me that she had found fertilizer on the field and ate a small piece of it. Then all the kids started telling her how you can die from eating fertilizer. I gave her a big hug and said that was only true if you ate a bunch of it.

I told her the story of when I was about her age and came in from outside telling my mom that I'd found these tasty berries in the yard. Mom said they were poisonous and sent me off to wash my hands or something. For days I waited to die wondering why no one else seemed overly concerned. I think that got her to believe me when I told her I could understand feeling scared, but at worst she'd be itchy.

You never know when your life experiences will be useful. :)

Glory Days

Sorry for the absence. I guess I pretty much skipped January. Oops!

Today's conversation brings me back to the blog with gusto.

A kiddo was telling a story that triggered a story of mine:

Me: When I was in high school I had a...

Them: mullet?