Commotion In The Ocean.

Today we read the story Commotion in the Ocean. The book was filled with wonderful creatures near or in the ocean. The children were filled with excitement to learn about all the animals in rhyming thrill. The conversation that occurred next, however, was filled with more commotion than any of the oceans combined. The conversation came towards the end when we reached a page about penguins and polar bears.


With attentive eyes, they carefully examined the bright and colorful illustrations. What stood out to them was not falling penguins or cuddling bears, but rather a tiny black and lonely starfish. I could barely tell what it was and asked, "Are you sure it's a starfish?" They assured me it was because of his pointy stature. In case you don't see it, as I did not, here is a closer look.

Now you see it? Off in the distance of the first picture? I was just as surprised as they were and asked, "Well, what's he doing way out there?!"

The answers were all very logical and Kindergartner-like.

"Walking."
"Playing."
"Maybe he needs alone time."
"Sometimes I need alone time."

"Well I hope he's not too lonely," I replied.

A moment of silence occurred before this enthusiastic soul shouted, "He's gonna jump!"

"Oh no! Why would he jump?!" I asked in shock that a Kindergartner would say something so terrifying.

"To see his family in the ocean," he assured me.
"Yeah, alone time is over," another chimed in.

Clearly, it was my mistake for assuming worse. The innocence and logic of a five year old will never cease to fascinate me.

The Money Machine.

Today we learned about money. To approach the topic of money, we did an overview of the names, values, and purpose of money. Doing the typical Kindergarten thing we sang a lot of cool songs about money. We even clarified a lot of key questions like "Is there a jail on the back of a penny. " I wanted to remind them that money doesn't just grow on trees, so we talked about where it comes from. I mentioned the special machines that make the money. That's where the first question arose.

"What's a machine?"

To be simple I said, "A machine is something that is made to do a specific job for you, like a computer or washing machine." I didn't get too specific with the electrical portion of it.

I went on to describe how it's not something we can own and only specific people (the government) can use this machine. That's where the final question arose.

"What's the government?"

And that's where I stopped. You can only guess why. Hopefully I haven't created a terrible image of the government, but somehow I think they'll end up discovering that on their own.

Forever.

Today we worked more on patterning. This is something that we have been practicing since the start of school, and the kids are starting to get very creative with their patterns. To test their skills, I had the students come up with a pattern of their own and produce it by connecting some colored linking cubes. I mostly had the AB pattern portrayed with these cubes, as it seems to be a favorite, but I got some interesting ones, too, like Katie's for example.

She decided to go all out with her pattern and make it go on forever. Her pattern went something like ABLKASJGKJELKJASJFKLDJSG - no repetition, just a really long line of colors. Being the teacher I am, I had to say something.

"Katie, that's not really pattern if you don't repeat it," I corrected.

Without any thought she boldly announced, "But YOU said a pattern could go on forever!"

I suppose my lesson about patterns repeating themselves "over and over and over and over and over" again really stuck with her. Not quite what I meant, but at least she's listening!

The Discovery of Tape.

Today, one of my dear sprouts learned about the wonderful ways of tape. I'm sure he has always been knowledgeable with how sticky and interesting this stuff can be, but today he learned something new: The more you stick it, the less it sticks.

I am simply amazed with how these little discoveries are made. Through play and exploration we can discover all about our world and the things in it. These discoveries are especially popular in Kindergarten, and can be made with abstract concepts and objects. Even tape.

The discovery of tape started Monday morning when Kevin decided his name plate needed to be adjusted approximately three inches over on his desk. On Tuesday, another adjustment needed to be made, only this time, the other direction. Wednesday rolled around, and a new discovery was made: Every time I touch my desk plate, it moves. I'm sure his thoughts went something like, That's crooked now. I can fix that! As an adult, we are all familiar with the way tape works. So you can only guess what his many adjustments was doing to this fascinating product. By Thursday, curiosity combined with the lack of quality adjustments led to this "name plate" becoming a "name tag." You guessed it, right on the chest. With a sweet reminder from Miss Molly and additional effort to make it stick, the name plate went back on the desk.

Finally, today, when nearly all hope was gone that this name plate would ever stick on the desk, Kevin pulled out his last big idea. Maybe... it will stick better on face! And just like that I watched the little name plate (with barely any "stick") fall from his face... repeatedly.

I intervened. "Kevin, please bring me your name plate."

As he walked over and placed it into my hands, his eyes showed nothing but commitment to the fact that he did nothing out of the ordinary. He boldy pronounced, "It wouldn't stick!"

With this discover made, nothing more needed to be said.

Tangent.

I can always count on my kindergartners to keep me in line. Today, I went off on a tangent. Yes, a tangent. You know those things where you completely stray from your original purpose in conversation and dive into something completely off topic? Trying to place it more under the "teachable moment" category, that was me today. It went something like this:

"A, B, C, D, E, F.... What comes next?" I asked. "Yes, G! This is the letter G. The letter G makes two sounds. Can you say /g/ /j/?"

The class gladly repeated "/g/ /j/."

At this time, I recognized that the second sound came out more of a "dgsh" from one of the boys. I gave this young Russian student some additional assistance. I had not planned on talking about the various languages spoken at home, but when recognizing that the Russian sounds he was speaking at home was mixing with our English sounds, I found it the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject of the diversity in our class. This is where the tangent began.

"How many of you speak a different language at home?" I asked.

Nearly all the hands were raised. This took a minute to clarify that we all speak English, but that some of us speak another language. I found it very exciting that our class varies in different languages such as Cantonese, Russian, and Korean, but apparently I'm the only one. After a couple minutes of setting each student apart and excitedly sharing about each language, I was abruptly interrupted by Daniel with a "You've got to be kidding me" look.

"Can we get back to the ABC's now!?" he shouted.

With a smile I replied, "Of course," and we continued, "A, B, C, D, E, F, G....." If he hadn't have stopped me then, I'm not sure we ever would have finished. These little "reminders" are in my class every year. I'm actually quite thankful for them, because honestly, I don't know what I'd do without them.

I love my job.

As if the title didn't say it any more clear, it's true - I love teaching Kindergarten. You see, what I love best about my job is the power that I have. No, I didn't become a teacher because I get gratification from telling five-year-olds what to do all day. In fact, that can get a bit annoying. The power I have doesn't come from force, but from a sincere desire to influence an individual's life. As a teacher, I have the power to motivate. I have the power to inspire. I have the power to encourage. I have the power to comfort. But most of all, I have the power to make a difference. Everything I do and everything I say has to be intentional. Without intent, my power is useless.

The school year has begun and I have already found ways to use the power to create excitement in even the simplest of tasks, like counting to three. I experienced so much fulfillment while asking my new sprouts to count to three on the third day of school. Easy? Of course. But I can assure you, with as much expression and enthusiasm that I used, counting to three is proven to be quite the accomplishment. If you were in my class, even you would feel special for doing it. :) For added thrill, we even counted backwards - three, two, one. They walked away from our Daily Doodle Bug with bright shining smiles. Let's just say it was a BIG deal, and they felt proud.

I can't help but look at these five-year-olds and sometimes six-year-olds and see nothing but potential. When I look at them I don't see all in which they do not know (for at the beginning of the year that seems like an abundance) Instead, I look at them and see all that they can learn, all that their curious minds want to learn, and finally, all that I know they will learn. It seems like a big task to teach a child who can barely write their name how to write entire sentences in nine months, and even more so to teach a child who can barely identify alphabet letters how to read. I wait in anticipation. The accomplishment of this task is only a portion of the joy that I get out of teaching. The other portion of joy comes through the entire journey of the school year -- a journey that I am looking forward to sharing with a whole new crop of tender sprouts.