love those kids

9 days until summer break and we're all finished. Standardized testing is finished, grades are being completed, assessments have been taken, the pool is open, and all of us- kids and teachers- are ready to bounce. There are boiling hot days outside the building and inside the building the air conditioning isn't predictable, so you never know if you will be teaching in a tropical sauna, or an ice box. When the kids aren't cranky from the heat they're tired from late nights at the pool, or day dreaming of how fast they can get back in the water after school (and then there are those silly bracelets... but that's for another time)

Yet amongst the drama there are still those moments...

~After reading aloud Amazing Grace, one of my all-time favorite read-alouds in first grade, our friend from Iraq raised his hand. "Grace could do whatever she wanted because she has freedom. In America we are free. In my country we did not have freedom."

~One afternoon I returned to my desk to find a copy of Ramona, The Brave. I adore Ramona books and immediately assumed it was my own copy I'd loaned to a teacher. However, days went by and every teacher I asked swore it wasn't from them. Finally one of my friends came up to me in the hallway.

"Did you get my Ramona book?" she asked. "I got it at the free-book fair at the church I went to last week. It made me think of you since I know you love Ramona books. I thought you would enjoy re-reading it."

This is a little one with nothing. Her family recently lost everything and is homeless. And she wanted to give her free book to me, because she thought I would enjoy it.

Melt.

We decided she should keep the book and that we would read it "together" over the summer- a chapter at a time, and email about how we liked the story. She thinks she'll be able to get email access this summer, so I'm looking forward to my first-grade virtual book club.

~"Mrs. Lipstick, look what I did to my finger when I was playing cricket!!" One of my first graders announced early one morning.

"You were doing what?"

"Playing cricket. You know, the real sport, with real balls, not like baseball. We use real balls. And real bats. It's really hard. Not like baseball."

~ I spend my Monday afternoon duty with three 5th grade safety patrols. Since we do not do much other than yell at children to get off the playground, or remind kids to walk and not run, we have time to chat. I get filled in on all the 5th grade gossip.

me: How's it going in 5th grade?

them: Terrible! We are taking FLE! (Family Life Education)

me: It's not that bad, is it?

them: Yes it is! We have to sit there and listen to teachers say words we didn't even know they knew!

yes, yes, even though you and your friends know those words us silly teachers have no idea about any of that....