Hear Me Roar

I go to work out.

I go to refocus.

I go to let go of stress.

I go to feel better.

I don't go to watch make-out sessions.

Tonight, as I was rounding the track, I noticed the group of kids (middle or high school age) hanging out again together. They had been there the other night and two of them seemed awfully chummy and close. Tonight, they hung out again. She rested her head near him.

Second lap, did I see right? Did he just lean down and kiss her? Yep, he did and went for another. I rounded the bend, headed down the stairs and reported it to the desk. Apparently, others had complained and it was taken care of. Satisfied, I walked back into the gym and was headed back up the stairs, when out of the corner of my eye (stupid teacher scanning), he leans down again and begins another small session.

Upon another scan, I noticed that the younger elementary students in the youth lounge spying on these kids.

Then, Teacher Cathy's voice roared out of nowhere...most of what I remember saying (yelling across the gym) was "completely inappropriate" and "young kids are watching." I stormed out again and back to the front desk telling them that it hadn't been taken care of.

I guess they took care of it, because after walking back up the stairs, the kids were gone. It saddens me that it was not enough of a big deal to carry on this behavior in a very public place. Am I just old-fashioned?

Smiles all around

After talking with my Star Wars boy, I had to write down as he was talking. I just laughed and laughed (inside, of course).

First, he wanted to know what a gizzard was after looking at diagrams of dinosaurs. I read the article off of Wikipedia. He couldn't see to figure out how to open up the Internet. Apparently at his house, "it just poofs up on his computer."

We talked about digestion. He had had salad "with the red sauce" at lunch. I tried to explain how it broke down into smaller pieces so his body could use it and the path that the broken up food takes. He had heard of "instines", which I taught him the correct word for intestines.

I then explained how a bird, at which point he interrupts me and tells me "You need to be specific. What kind of bird?" I guess that's what I get for asking them to be specific with their choice of nouns.

I think at the end of the conversation he knows a little more about gizzards...maybe.

Spelling 101

My talker was very upset because my hater had said the e-h word.

What's the e-h word?

Turns out, they were talking about "down there" and the hater decided that the tunnel should go to you know where (hate typing those words here). I guess they were writing and brainstorming a story/play.

I had a small discussion with him that instead he should say "down there" or point to it instead.

At least he was honest!

Here they go again...

I don't know what it is with this class, but they definitely use the new words we learn. Case in point, dung came up in The Magician's Elephant. One of my boys chimed in with, "My dog's dung is disgusting." I'm glad they are using it, but wow, they make me laugh!

I was teaching about general versus specific. Off the top of my head, I said, "I ate some food for lunch. I ate couscous." I should have known better. Right away, from my talker came "Goose goose?"

We were reading The Widow's Broom and one pictured showed the widow awake and alarmed by what she saw in the kitchen. I asked the kids to infer about her. One of my boys said she looked freaky and my talker said, "She's getting her beauty sleep." I had to grab my blogging book and write it down!

Proof that literacy stations work - While two of my boys were at the computer working on a Storybird, Mr. Unresponsible kept writing sentences that were pretty short and simple. My Young-Old-Man said, "You should do a longer one because it makes us stronger writers." The learning occurred while I wasn't there! Love it!

In The Magician's Elephant, it references orphans and nuns. After teaching about orphans, one of my boys brought up a book that had orphans in it to share with me. I LOVE THIS! Way to connect. However, the class did not know what a nun is. One girl thought a nun wore hoodies. Another thought I had said noun. Another thought a nun was a widow. I tried to explain it as best as I could. Someone wanted to know what a boy nun was (a monk). After explaining that a nun chose to serve God instead of getting married, many of my boys declared that they wanted to be monks. We'll see boys...

I truly wonder what makes them use the words right away in their language. Is it because I model this and use them throughout the day too? Is it just the community that we've established? Is it just because of who they are? Is it a combination of all of these things? Whatever it is, I like learning these words more than the words "suggested" from our basal series.

Oh no they didn't...

Yesterday was AMAZING! We had great sharing, great talking, and great laughter. On my side anyways.

During a discussion about our new book, we noticed that the pictures were from the past (which the kids did our physical movement of in the past - yay!). I explained to the class about how the pictures of a fair were from the olden days. Without missing a beat, Miss Personality said, "Like when you were born?" You could almost physically hear the bud-da-bump of a drum. I just grinned and then wrote it down!

Then, as we were making the -en family, a student said Ken. I wrote it down and tried to give them some context using my schema. I explained that Malibu Ken was the Ken and Barbie Ken. My Who boy chimed in with (providing his own schema), "There's also a Ken in Toy Story 3." When I began to interject, he said, "No, there really is." I laughed so hard inside as I then explained that my image of Ken was the same as his image of Ken. I don't think the class understood...I guess that shows my age!

Frustrating

While many probably enjoyed the days off due to Thanksgiving, I cannot say they were fully enjoyed. Parts were. It's horrible for me to say this, but I think I have finally figured out why the trip to visit with my sister wasn't as great as I wanted it to be.

My mom and I don't communicate well. And by well, I mean hardly at all. I frustrate her and while I would love to hash it out and dig into it, she doesn't want to. Or can't. I'm not sure which it is. It saddened me on my drive back. Most of the car ride was probably spent in silence. We had a few conversations, but they never go deep. And if I try to talk something out, I perceive her tone to be very short with me.

My mom is amazing, please don't get me wrong. We just don't speak each other's love languages well. She has bought so much for my classroom and gives generously to my sister, others, and myself.

I just wish we could talk. I wish she would sound like she listens to me. I wish I could pour out my heart to her and she would hear it.

I know she loves me and is proud of me. I just wish I knew her better. I wish I knew how to talk to and with her without her becoming defensive.

Twitter

So, I'm on Twitter with my students, but I am now also on Twitter as @becomingcathy.

I am going to use this account more for professional development than anything else...so if you are on there too for PD, look me up!