From the mouths of babes...

Many mornings, I am greeted by coloring pages and art projects that are "for you Mrs. Barnett!" and I am beginning to run out of wall space in the one area I keep them.  This morning one of my friends came in with a drawing in an envelope and everything.  It was a picture of a house, swing set, and several stick people.  I asked her about the picture and this was our conversation:

Me: "So who are all the people in the picture?"

Her: "Well, that's you, your husband, your two kids, your house and your dog."

Me: "(Laughing) Oh it is huh?  So, I don't have any kids, does that mean I am going to have two kids one day?"

Her: "You DO have two kids Mrs. Barnett.  You have two kids growing in your belly RIGHT NOW."

Me: "I don't know about that.  I don't know if I am ready for TWO."

Her: "Well you better get ready because you are having them."

Me: "Well who is this other person in the picture?"

Her: "Oh, that is the robot that lives in your house and takes care of it."

Me: "Well, if I have two kids, I am going to need a robot!"

Wondering (and somewhat worried) if this child has some strange sixth sense.  Guess we'll find out eventually!

Mrs. Barnett...he said the "S" word...

I can't tell you how many times a day I hear 5 and 6 year olds say my name.  It doesn't matter how many times we practice raising their hands, they still just can't help themselves.  I always cringe a little when I hear my name followed by "he/she did ________" (fill in the blank with some action considered egregious by a 5 year old).  So the other day I was especially nervous when I heard the dreaded "Mrs. Barnett, he just said the "S" word!"  I had seen other veteran teachers handle this, so I quietly leaned over and said "Okay, whisper the word he said so I can talk to him about it."  The child's response was (in a hushed voice) "he said STUPID."  Now don't worry, I did still talk to the child about using the word stupid, but I would be lying if I said I didn't breathe a sigh of relief when that was the "S" word we were dealing with, and not the one that was in my head.  I guess it's all about perspective at 5 and 6 years old.  Innocence is bliss.

Not in the mood...

This morning when we were getting ready to go to PE, I had a little girl tell me this...

"Mrs. Barnett...I'm really not in the mood today.  I don't need anybody bothering me."

Well...okay, then.

Eye Screening Day

So, today was eye screening day for kindergarten.  It is always difficult when you add/change an element of the daily schedule for 5 year olds.  It is especially hard when as a teacher you sign up for 11:20 as your time and the office calls at 9:25.  That's a way to send a room of kindergarteners into chaos.  So, this was kind of how that went down today...

Me: "Okay everyone, I need to you to freeze and turn your listening ears on.  We haven't had a chance to talk about this yet, but we are all going today to have your eye's screened."

Them: Room erupts into cheers, "Yeah, Ice Cream!"

Me: "No, NOT ice cream, we are going to have our EYES the ones that are in your head (pointing to them) screened, that means they are going to look at them."

Them: "But the lady from the office said ice cream!"

Me: "No, no she said eyes screened.  They are just going to check them."

Them: "Are they going to poke me in the eye?"

Me: "No, it won't hurt, and it isn't scary.  I promise."

So yeah, we finally all got lined up and considering it threw their whole day off, they did pretty well.  I would count this as a good day, and I take those whenever I can get them!

First Day of School

Well...today was the first day of school. My FIRST first day of school in fact (well...as a teacher anyway). Thought I would do a little post to kick of the year. If you have ever wondered what kindergartners ask on the first day...here are some of the questions I heard all day....

"When are we going to play on the playground?"

"When are we going to eat?"

"When are we going to rest?"

"When are we going to play with those blocks over there?"

And again..."When are we going to eat? My mom said we were going to eat."

"When do we go home?"

"What bus to I ride on?"

"When do we go home again? I think I'm ready to go home."

"Are you sure we're going to eat?"

So there ya go...all the priorities of a 4/5/or 6 year old!

At least she used a vocabulary word...

Each week we teach our students three "wow" words, which are higher level vocabulary words. To give you a little background to this story, one of our words this week is scurry. So, on the way back from recess one day I got caught up talking to another teacher, so our substitute walked the students back. I hurried to get back to the classroom, and when I came in, this was the conversation that took place...

Boy: "Mrs. Barnett, how did you get back so fast?"

Me: "I don't know, I guess I walked very fast."

Boy 2: "Were you scurrying?"

Me: "I guess I was."

Girl: (With straight and serious face) "Mrs. Barnett, you can NOT scurry. Your feet are TOO big to scurry!"

I guess she put me in her place!

When I Grow Up...

Last week at the lunch table we were having a discussion with one of the girls in my class about what she wanted to be when she grew up. She was telling us what she wanted to be one day, this is how the conversation went.

Girl: "Well, first, I want to be a teacher."

Me: "That's great. I think that would be fantastic."

Girl: "But I want to be something else too."

Me: "Really, what's that?"

Girl: "A McDonald's worker."

Me: "Oh really?"

Girl: "Yep, I am going to be a teacher during the year, and a McDonald's worker in the summer."

Me: "Well, it sounds like you have it all worked out. Why do you want to be a McDonald's worker?"

Girl: "Well, because I really LOVE holding fries. AND when I'm not working, I can just stay and eat there!"

Maybe I should think about working at McDonald's during the summer???