Ten Things I Have Learned from Teaching

Here are my (Tanya's) 10 Things I Have Learned about Teaching!

1. It is OK to get super excited when the school supplies start appearing on the shelves at Walmart!!!

2. Even the worst days in the classroom are better than the best days in the office!

3. Laughing from your gut every day for some reason or another IS GOOD MEDICINE!!!

4. The child who is the worst behaved is NEVER absent!!!!

5. You are never REALLY immune from all the bugs and sickness!!!!

6. Sometimes you are the only positive thing in a child's life!!!!

7. Be appreciative of all the people who make your job easier - the custodians, the maintenance worker, and in my case, administrators!

8. There is a crayon monster in the classroom that mysteriously steals crayons and/or eats them down to the nub!!!

9. Having your children dance for you will tell you a lot!!!

10. Even though I do not get paid what I feel teachers are worth, I would not change jobs for anything in the world!!!

Ten Things I've Learned From Teaching

Rowdy in First Grade is hosting a linky party! I have loved reading the lists that have joined the party so far! All of them are soooo true!

Ten Things I Have Learned From Teaching..

1. Sometimes, after that first parent-teacher conference, you get the saying, "You understand the jell-o after meeting the mold" very well!

2. Often, it is impossible to hold in a laugh. No matter how inappropriate the behavior was that caused the giggle.

3. People hold teachers to higher standards when it comes to grammar, spelling, speaking, etc. I know that this should be the case most times but, sometimes you just gotta take off the teaching hat and let loose! I yelled out, "You was robbed!" at my son's baseball game referring to a player that was sooooo safe at home and called out. I did it to lighten the mood and make the player laugh. I got a little slap on the wrist from someone because I was a teacher and used bad grammar. WHATEVER!!

4. Nothing melts my heart more than when the shyest little one in the class finally takes my hand while walking down the hall or tells me, "I love you, Mrs. Hutter!"

5. You can learn a lot about a student from reading their writing journal.

6. It never ceases to amaze me when parents say, "I can't believe you can get him/her to read, follow directions, sit still, behave, etc. They won't do that for me at home." That usually translates into "My child is the boss at our house."

7. You never know exactly how much you influence a child for the rest of their lives. The babies that come into our classroom everyday are only 5 and 6 years old but, even the smallest thing I say can stay with them forever. There are times when I wish I could take back a look I gave or a word I spoke too quickly.

8. It breaks my heart when a former student stops waving their hand off at me or stops getting out of line for a hug when they see me in the hall, lunchroom, etc. Since I teach kindergarten, the crazy waving and hug stealing last while the students are in first grade but by the time they hit third grade, I sometimes get a hand flipped up quickly as an acknowledgment. Although, this never happens with the ones that made me want to beat my head against the wall while they were in my class. Those are the ones that nearly tackle me for attention!

9. My job is FUN!!! It is my hobby, my passion, and I believe I was truly called to teach. I think I would do it even if I didn't get my poor little pitiful paycheck at the end of each month. (My husband wouldn't be too thrilled about that, though!)

10. Nothing beats the feeling of sharing a big "a-ha" moment with a child. The look on their face when he/she realizes that they can do something is PRICELESS!

Help Wanted!! I need some ideas!!

For the next two weeks, we will be doing our farm unit. I purchased several packs of the "Grow a Farm Animal" capsules a couple of months ago from Target's Dollar Bins. I remembered reading something on someone's blog about using these kinds of capsules in math and graphing their growth. Who was that???!!!! Also, does anyone else have some ideas on how to use them?? PLEASE SHARE!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and I will take pictures and let everyone know how things worked out. THANK YOU!!

The ABC's of Tanya

A- Age: 43

B-Bed size: King!!

C-Chore you hate: Cleaning the toilets and cleaning out the closets!

D-Dogs: 2 - Lady our 15 year old Jack Russell Terrier and Bear our 3 year old Jack Russell/Toy Poodle Mix

E-Essential to start your day: Prayer on the way to work and a smoothie!

F-Favorite color: Green

G-Gold or silver: I love both!

H-Height: 5'4

I-Instruments you play: None!

J-Job title: Kindergarten teacher, what else is there?

K-kids: Joshua, 18 and graduating from high school this May! I will be the parent of an Alabama undergrad this fall! Chris, 15, sophomore, getting ready to start driving! Lots of changes in our house, but it is all good!

L-Live: Helena, AL

M-My mom's name: Phyllis

N- Nicknames: None!

O-Overnight hospital stay: Hysterectomy 3 years ago!

P-Pet peeve: Things left in the sink at night!

Q-Quote: "If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun" Katherine Hepburn and "The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards" Paul Bear Bryant

R-Right/lefty: Righty

S- Siblings: I am the oldest of 3. I have two younger brothers, Shane, who will be 42 in June and Chad who will be 39 in June.

T-Time you wake up: 5:00 am

U-Ultimate Vacation: Any beach trip with my best friends and hopefully, one day, a trip to Greece!

V-Veggies you dislike: Beets, brussel sprouts, carrots

W-What's your favorite thing to teach?: Reading!!!

X-X-rays you've had: Back, teeth, hand

Y-Yummy food you make: Chicken Salad - this is the request of everyone at the beach! I have to make 2 batches - one with celery and one without!

Z-Zoo animal: Panda Bear!

The ABCs of Me (Cindy)

Heather over at The Ladybug Learning Spot posted this really fun "get to know you" kind of thing. It is The ABCs of Me. So, since it is Spring Break for us, I thought I would play along. You all should do it too so we can learn more about each other.

The ABCs of Cindy

A/age - 42 (shhhh, don't tell anyone!)

B/bed size - queen

C/chores you hate - cleaning bathtubs and toilets (YUCK!)

D/dogs - We added our Welsh Pembroke Corgi to the family this past Christmas. She was a gift to my 16 year old daughter. Her name is Roxy and you can see a picture of her on an earlier post.

E/essential to start your day - COFFEE!!

F/favorite color - I love turquoise, orange, and brown.

G/gold or silver - I like both. My wedding set is gold. But I like silver jewelry, too.

H/height - about 5'6 (so glad you don't have to put your weight on this!)

I/instruments you play - I played the clarinet in the middle school band. Probably couldn't play one note on it now!

J/job title - Kindergarten teacher, best job in the world!

K/kids - Erin, my beautiful and brilliant daughter who is 16 and Will, my handsome and talented athlete of a son who is 13. Can you tell I am a little proud of them?

L/live - Alabaster, AL

M/mom's name - Shirley (you don't hear that name anymore)

N/nicknames - I am known as just "Hutter" to some.

O/overnight hospital stay - both times I had my babies

P/pet peeve - parents who don't put a priority on their children's education and fake people

Q/quote - I have two favorites and they are both from Dr. Seuss (imagine that!). "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." And, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." I am going to have to tell myself the second one over and over again next school year when my daughter graduates from high school... :-(

R/righty or lefty - righty

S/siblings - I am the youngest of 3 girls. I have 2 older sisters. Elizabeth and Penny, who spoiled me more growing up than my parents did.

T/time you wake up - 5am

U/ultimate vacation - BEACH!! I would like to visit beaches I have not been to. Maybe Hawaii or Grand Cayman...

V/veggies you dislike - I love veggies but there are a few I can do without. Beets and sprouts, YUCK!!

W/what is your favorite thing to teach? - math and unit (science and social studies)

X/x-rays you've had - hand, toe (the only bone I have ever broken), teeth, chest, and sinuses

Y/yummy food you make - lasagna, baked beans, and I am always the one to make the sweet tea when a group is together.

Z/zoo animal - Otters, they are so cute and fun to watch!

Some Very Cute Journal Entries

Miss A wrote, "The president is George Washington and he was the first president but he died and that is so sad."

She also wrote, "Dr. Seuss is the one who made green eggs and ham and fox in socks and cat in the hat and one fish two fish red fish blue fish."

Miss MM wrote, "The president is important. They are smart too. President Obama lives in the white house."

Miss L wrote, "I like March because flowers grow."

Mr. C wrote, "The president is a symbol of America like the Statue of Liberty."

He also wrote, "Dr. Seuss is very very good at writing books like green eggs and ham."

Pets Linky Party

ladybugsteacherfiles.blogspot.com is having a pets linky party! I would not have been able to participate a few months ago but, Roxy came into our lives as a Christmas present to my 16 year old daughter, Erin. She is a Welsh Pembroke Corgi. She is almost 5 months old. She is spoiled rotten! Everyone loves her! We take her to some of Erin's school tennis matches and the girls have decided she should be the team mascot. When we take her to my son's baseball games, she gets lots of exercise from all the little brothers and sisters of the players taking turns walking her around. She has stolen our hearts and we are so glad my husband came up with the idea to surprise Erin with her best Christmas present so far! Look at how much she has grown!

Wrapping up Dr. Seuss week

On Thursday, we wore "crazy glasses" and my daughter, Erin read The Eye Book to our students.

They loved the book and of course, their favorite page was the one that mentions seeing "pink underpants"!!

Our bulletin board was really cute! I think it was our favorite!

We had another treat, too. Our ELL teacher read The Cat in the Hat to the students in English and Spanish. Our ELL students thought that was great and our other students liked it, too. It was really neat to hear the book in both languages.

On Friday, another one of our assistant principals read I am NOT Getting Up Today to our class. The students wore their pajamas. I forgot to take a picture of the bulletin board for Friday.... :-(

On Monday, we are going to display the poster I made from each day/book and allow the students to vote on which one they liked the best. We will display that poster and the results from the voting on the bulletin board. It was a great week of celebrating a great author! Our principal liked our dress up days and wants us to suggest them to the whole school next year.

"Cat in the Hat"

Today, our students wore black and white. We made red and white striped hats. One of our assistant principals, Mrs. Simms was our "mystery reader" and she read The Cat in the Hat. The hallway bulletin board was my favorite so far! We have been doing Dr. Seuss math stations all week. While reading a biography about Dr. Seuss, Mrs. Wildman was walking around the room showing the students a picture of him. We heard, "He's old" and "He looks like my grandpa!"

"Fox in Socks" and wearing silly socks!

Tuesday was our Fox in Socks day! The students were seriously looking at me like I was speaking another language when I read that book to them. You really do have to be careful when you are reading it. A few of our "silly socks" are shown above.....

Our "mystery reader" was one of our PE coaches. Coach Spain loves the book The Sneetches. She did a great job reading and she left the book in the classroom so the students could read it during the independent reading station.

Our hallway bulletin board told everyone that we were reading Fox in Socks, that we were wearing "silly socks", and that our "mystery reader" was Coach Spain.