When the Lessons are for You

So today was one of "those" days.  You know, when it seems like you're down to the very last drop of your patience.  When every noise sets you on edge.  When each toy left on the floor seems like a personal vendetta that you and only you can avenge.  These kinds of days always seem to be both a nightmare and a blessing for me.  Just when I think I can't take it for another second, and the smoke from my temperamental Vesuvius starts to fume... my teacher karma sets in.

Case and point:  Due to a short field trip to our local library my class is running about fifteen minutes behind schedule.  Because of this, lunch time seems to be a whirlwind of chaos as we try to get everyone served and fed in as little time as possible.  The children are serving themselves at the normal glacial speed that four year olds only seem to adopt for things that you need done quickly.  In my haste I announce that I will be pouring their drinks and begin to fill their glasses.  Of course I'm thinking 'I'm on top of things now, I'm the in control adult'.  And thats about the time I notice that I have poured almost an entire pitcher of water onto the head of the student sitting beneath me.

Yes, I am the in control adult.

And right there, right in that moment when I think maybe I have really lost it for the day.... this little boy puts his hands on his hips, looks at his friends at the table and declares "Well I think I'm getting a shower!"  And we laugh.  I mean really laugh.

Teacher karma... I say so often is probably the best saving grace of this job.  I honestly believe teaching is one of the few jobs on this planet where you can be having the worst day and in a single act/word/ look from a child suddenly be thinking "this is the best job ever".  The moment where a child says "I love you" for no reason, or you hear them humming a song to themselves that you taught them, or they sense your grouchy mood and tell you 5 minutes worth of completely nonsensical knock knock jokes, or they walk up with that piece of artwork they've been slaving over for the last 20 minutes and announce that it was made for you.  What other job has these moments?  Teacher karma...sometimes the lessons are for you.  Take a deep breath.  It's not the end of the world.  Stop taking things so seriously.

Patience is supposed to be the teachers superpower, but everybody has a day of kryptonite.  I'm always curious how other teachers deal when their emotions get the better of them.   Parents and teachers alike, if you have any suggestions or stories I'd love to hear!!

Until then I'll just keep humming my old Follies backup "It's like I'm losing my mind" and remember that karma never sends us storms without a little sunshine after.

Teach on!

What I Like About You

So Monster week is over, but the lessons remain.  At the beginning of the week I read a book to the children called Most Loved Monster by Lynn Downey.  In it a Mamma monster puts all four of her baby monsters to bed by telling them what makes each of them uniquely special.  Of course it's funny because what makes you special in monster world is not exactly the same as human world.  Afterwards I gathered my students around and one by one had each stand with me in front.  I asked the remaining students to say what they liked best about the student standing with me (not necessarily what made them special, because at such a young age a child may be singled out for a disability rather than a quality).  I wrote down each child's answers on a chart to hang in the class.

I'm sure many of you have heard of this lesson in different formats.  Who can hold back the sap tears when reading of the teacher who did this with her elementary students, giving each child their own page of notebook paper, and finding out twenty years later that most of her students not only have kept their pages but carry them everyday?  It's an easily expandable and adaptable lesson that may carry a bigger impact than you ever imagine.  Personally I was surprised and delighted to hear my students complimenting each other for the rest of the day, a few of them are still doing it weeks later!

The Most Loved Monster book is a great jumping off point, but incase monsters aren't really your thing I've heard that the book You're All My Favorites by Sam McBratney has a very similar theme using forest animals.  Whatever book you choose to use I truly believe this is a lesson that should be used as soon and as often as possible.

Teach On!

Book Club: Monster Mash

And we're back!  Seeing as we're nearing the season of things that go bump in the night, I thought it might be fun to do a Monster theme week.  My excitement for it fueled by the chance to read one of my favorite books of all time. Although I do not yet have one for it, Leonardo the Terrible Monster is an amazing book for launching a lesson on making good choices and what it means to be a good friend.  Most people might remember Mo Willems for writing the Pigeon books (previously used for a lesson below).  He has many other hilarious and worthwhile series and characters, but none have quite touched my heart like Leonardo.  You see, Leonardo is a terrible monster... terrible at being a monster is really more like it.  He can't scare anyone, and when he finally is able to make a little boy cry, it isn't his fault at all but rather the outcome of a really crummy day.  After the little boy vents his frustrations to Leonardo, he decides that maybe being a wonderful friend is better than a terrible monster.  It gets me everytime!   Like all of Mo Willems books its funny in a way that both children and adults can appreciate, and really whats better than laughing right along with your students at storytime?  The illustrations are simple and cute, writing and grammar are great, and moral of the story is perfect.  


But wait!


While rummaging through my local bargain book bin I found this little beauty.  I picked it up simply for the beautiful cover, but oh my am I glad I did.  Are there really few things more exciting than stumbling across a new and amazing book?  Something you should know about me...I'm a book snob.  I mean grade A, fine toothed comb, must be flawless book snob.  This rule applies not only to the adult sized novels I read, but probably even more so to the books I decide to share with children.  I guess I take it a little seriously that I might be garnering a love of reading every time I sit down to storytime.  I can still remember the way I felt about certain books as a child, as if they were magic.  I know without doubt that illustrations have helped carve the way I see the world.  I know Dr. Seuss helped me grow a love of words and ways to use them, I know Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs helped mold the stretches of my imagination, and I know that Theodore Mouse Goes to Sea sparked a light of adventure in my soul.  Like I said, I take books very seriously.  In my dream classroom I don't own a single book that I don't believe will nurture some expanse of my students minds.  When I choose books now it's with an empathetic mind, always asking myself if I were a kid, would this book stick with me?  Does it have the magic?  The Monster Princess by D.J. MacHale, brings me back to that place.  The writing, complete with beautiful rhyming, has an old school fairy tale feel to it.  It weaves a story with an actual plot (something difficult to find these days), and ends with a moral that almost chokes me up (but then again I'm a sap).  The best part about it?  It's a story about mean girls, a theme that I feel is cropping up sadly early in children's lives now a days.  How many pre-school teachers can already identify queen bee's in their classrooms?  Sad but true, these small diva's sometimes boggle me with their aptitude towards adolescent cruelty.  
Which brings me back to the book, where a small monster (Lala) attempts to live her dream of being a princess among the three sisters who live in the castle.  At first they seem kind as they dress and make her up for the ball that night.  But when she is humiliated during her grand entrance she realizes that she was really only the butt of their cruel joke.  She flees back to her underground home only to venture out one last time to return the dress they lent her.  As she is traveling back to the castle she stumbles across a monster even larger and more fearsome than herself who is about to eat the three princesses.  Thinking quickly Lala distracts him so that the princesses might escape.  Afterwards they are so grateful they tell Lala that she indeed is a princess and may live in the castle with them.  But Lala says thanks but no thanks, she's realized she's happy being just who she is and would rather return home.  
This book is as beautifully illustrated as it is written and provides a lesson I think we are never to young to begin learning.  Even though I don't have a lesson for it yet, I did ask several questions while reading.  Was it nice for the princesses to trick Lala?  How did it make Lala feel?  I have to say I was almost surprised to see the sad faces on my students as Lala was humiliated at the ball.  They felt for her, and their answers showed their disappointment in the three princesses.  I would love to one day find a full blown lesson to go along with this story, but for now it will simply have to be happy with a permanent spot on my classroom shelf.  


Be kind to each other


and Teach on!