Blog Discoveries/Meeting Students Today

Multiple times. Plural. And while my blog-reading and blog-posting schedule will have to change a bit now that I'm back to work, I couldn't resist subscribing to the following:

Confections

Raggedy Old Annies

The Shabby Nest

A Fanciful Twist

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Once I finish reading through the latest Artful Blogging, I'm sure I'll have more blogs to recommend! I'll also be pruning and updating my blogroll before school starts on Monday.

This afternoon our students get to visit with us in our classrooms for a short time! Yay! I'll be taking their photos so I can make their center tags this weekend (having them for two days before school starts will also help me learn their names quickly), and getting contact/email/parent teacher conference schedules taken care of with their "special grown ups." I'll set out a coloring page for those students who want to take their desks and chairs for a test drive, and will be making quick observations and mental notes like the ones I mentioned here.

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Crayons! Thanks Sesame Street!

Are You Ready? Back to School...Lunchtime Tips

... because it's just around the corner!

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If you have a kindergartner gearing up for the first day of school, it's time to put yourself in his/her shoes in regard to LUNCH.

*Soggy sandwiches aren't fun to eat, so try coating both pieces of bread with peanut butter with some jelly in the middle to avoid jelly-soak-through.

*Orange chips stain clothes. Yes, kids still wipe their hands all over their shirts and pants, ignoring the cute napkin you included in their lunchbox. Lunch time is social time so kids are too busy chatting, visiting, and listening in on conversations to remember the good manners you taught them.

*Those little plastic wrappers on the straws for juice boxes don't always have a slit cut into them. Juice boxes tend to be easier to punch straws into than the pouch style drinks.

*Though teachers discourage it, food bartering/swapping still takes place at lunch or snack time. Please remember that some students have food allergies, occasionally severe. It's important that your child knows he/she is still a good friend even though s/he won't share peanut butter cookies (or offer "just a taste" of some other treat) with classmates.

*If your child likes to save leftovers for a snack later in the day, please practice fastening those plastic storage lids or ziploc baggies NOW, otherwise, be prepared for very messy spills and mountains of crumbs in backpacks or lunch sacks.

*If you send a thermos with lunch, make sure your child knows which way is "up" when it comes to putting the thermos back in the lunch box, otherwise s/he will be back in Leak-and-Spillsville.

*Not every classroom has a refrigerator available, so if you live in hot climate, plan on skipping the mayo and milk.

*Snack packaging (the wrappers on cookies, chips, graham crackers, trail mix, fruit snacks, etc.) isn't always easy for little hands to open. Cut a small slit in the top of each to help ease your child's frustration. The same goes for the tips of bananas, or the peels on oranges.

*Yes, teachers are happy to help your young ones learn how to open milk cartons and lunch wrappers, but children feel such a sense of accomplishment, independence and helpfulness when they can do it on their own and teach their friends the "tricks of the trade" as well. Small milk cartons are available at most grocery stores if your kindergartner would like to practice before school starts.

*Not every child knows that you'd rather not open a lunchbox full of wrappers, banana peels, or used juice straws at the end of every day. Additionally, kids don't always know that you might want their plastic containers returned home! Decide and discuss which items morph from "food wrappers" or containers to disposable trash, and which don't. You'll keep a lot of your Tupperware collection intact if you address this sooner rather than later. Ditto for silverware!

*Make sure you write your child's name on that lunch box or lunch sack, because there's always at least one classmate who will have the same one, or one similar looking enough that mix-ups will occur.

*If your child will purchase lunch at school each day, make sure you find out the "routine" in advance and see if you can prepay so your child won't panic or experience a meltdown if lunch money has been lost on the playground.

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Do you have any tips or helpful hints for lunch time? Please share by commenting!

Separation of Confusion and Bewilderment

This was in my daughter's backpack, discovered as she cleaned it out in preparation for her return to school this morning:




When I asked where the sheet had come from, she replied that multiple copies of it had been passed out during lunch at school before winter break. When I asked who had passed them out, she said "adults" at school. I then asked her if they were adults she recognized from school (teachers, custodians, administrators, volunteers, etc) or strangers visiting. She told me that they were adults she saw regularly, and thought they were teachers though none she has for any subjects this year.

I'm a bit confused, only because our own family life is very categorized. "School things" happen at school, "church things" happen at church. My daughter attends public school, and does NOT belong to any religious youth groups that happen to meet on campus after school hours. I haven't found religious practice required in any of the curriculum requirements and standards for her grade either. And what is with the "I am also going to pray for this myself: yes, no?" Guilt much?

Explanations? Ideas?

You *might* be a teacher...

Not sure if Jeff Foxworthy really added a list like this to his joke repertoire, but it's fun to share and contribute to:


You might be a teacher if...

You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one
belongs to the child out of line.

You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.

You walk into a store and hear the words 'It's Ms/Mr. _________'
and know you have been spotted.

You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time
or another.

You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.

You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct
times of the day: lunch and prep period.

You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you
can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the
classroom.

You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a
margarita machine.

You want to slap the next person who says 'Must be nice to work 7
to 3 and have summers off.'

You believe chocolate is a food group.

You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says
'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.'

You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their
behavior when you are out in public.

You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own
children.

You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least
five items!

You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a
'good choice or a bad choice.'

You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened
pencils.

You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer.

You have an overwhelming urge to nod and say, "Now
I understand why your kid is the way they are," after
meeting the parents.


You believe "shallow gene pool" should have its own
box on report cards.

You hand pieces of paper to your friends and make
them spit out their gum in front of you.


You correct a total stranger's grammar errors.


Any sustained loud noise causes you to impulsively
flick the light switch on and off.

You think it's normal to go through four years of
college to earn a salary that's below the poverty
line.

You send another adult to detention for using
four-letter words in public... and they go.




Don't tell me you're not laughing! Now add to the list!