Snapshots into the life of a preschool teacher

"I'm a cowboy. Will you be my cowgirl?"


Ready to leave the table after lunch: "May I be miscused?"


"That's an E. Hey, my name starts with an E the backwards way." In other words, his name ends in E.


Found out one kid punched another. Pulled him aside and asked him what happened: "Did you hit her?" "Well, she said I wasn't spiderman!"


Kid calls to me from the bathroom: "the water won't go." I look in the toilet only to discover approximately half a roll of toilet paper in there. Me: "that's A LOT of toilet paper." Kid:"I had A LOT of poop."

He was selfish... or so fast.

Yesterday at lunch, one of my preschoolers (child 1) took a very large portion of oranges (our lunches are family style serving and for the most part our kids serve themselves). He easily took 1/4 of what was there and we had 7 kids left to take from the supply. I couldn't make him put them back but I talked to him about how that wasn't fair to the rest of the kids. Well, lunch went on and before I knew it, without asking, "child 1" had taken a second serving of oranges-this time cleaning the bowl. "Child 2" asked for seconds on the oranges and I when I went to pass him the bowl I saw it was empty. Before I said anything "child 1" proudly admitted to cleaning the bowl. I looked at him and said, "because you took all the oranges, nobody else can eat any more. You were selfish to take that many." Child 2: "Yeah, yeah. He was so fast. And now there's none for any of us. "

Overheard in the preschool classroom...

"I don't think my boots work on the stairs."

"My front teeth are long and sharp. Long like a snake."

Child: "I think my mom needs to get a new Christmas tree. Last year ours fired up."
Me: "yikes! Did anything else in your house catch fire?"
Child: "Nope. The tree just fired up one night. Nothing else. I slept right through it."

Sweetheart

One of the boys in my class has a little sister that he calls "KK." The other day one of the assistant teachers in my room asked him what his sister's real name was. He thought for a minute and then very seriously stated: "KK's real name is 'sweetheart.'''

Maybe we all could use a little more love...

It couldn't be more true. Every teacher knows it.

One of my preschoolers has really been giving me a hard time lately: behavior that is really tough to deal with and that wears my patience thin. Today I was tying the child's shoe when the child said, "I love you, Britta." And all I could think was that was exactly what that child needs from me: love. Some days it's just as simple as that.

All about lips

One of the kids in my class has had really, really chapped lips all week. This dialogue unfolded this morning in my classroom:
Child 1:  Hey, how come your lip is bleeding?
Child 2: Because I picked it off because there was too much lips.
Child 1: Yeah, when I was a baby I picked my lips off.
Child 2: Yeah, now you don't have any.

I feel the same way about driving across the midwest...

While driving to our farm location field trip today we passed one of the main interstates in Iowa and one of my preschoolers said: "That's where you go to get to Omaha. You get on that highway and it's a boring trip...for a few hours. And then you get to Omaha!"

And I completely understood what he meant about a boring trip - for a few hours. The midwest is a great place to live but it doesn't make for the most scenic of drives.

Hugs and country music

My favorite part of the day: One of my 4 year old boys started the habit of giving me a hug every morning. And it's usually an all out sprint to me when he sees me for the first time that day. Many of my other kids have caught on and I'm often mobbed with hugs in the mornings. Kids have the power to make you feel really good about yourself and what you're doing. They make me want to pull my hair out some days, but it's all washed away when they wrap those little arms around me.

On an unrelated note - a few days ago I was sitting at a table coloring with a few of my kids when I heard the girl beside me humming a familiar tune. And deep down I was very proud of her music selection. I listened for a few minutes before joining in singing "So rock me Momma like a wagon wheel..." She turned and looked at me with a giant grin on her face. It's a special bond that country music lovers share.

You never know what they'll say next...

I overheard the following in the bathroom the other day:
3 year old to his teacher: I'm getting big. And when I get bigger and bigger I'll be a grandpa and a grandma.


Yesterday we went to an apple orchard and we got to go for a hayride (which the kids absolutely loved). The tractor driver said before he left he wanted to see a smile on every person's face. One of my preschoolers sitting beside me, look at me and said, "You have big teeth like a rabbit." Um, thanks?

What I want to be when I grow up...

And here's what my 3 & 4 year olds have to say about their career choices:

• mom
• teacher
• construction worker
• pilot
• animal rescuer
• singer
• gymnast
• doctor
• dentist
• pirate or police officer
• mermaid
• spiderman
• big spiderman
• witch
• cowboy
• princess
• And my personal favorite: dinosaur

Growing up

One preschooler to the other: [girl] "When I grow up and have my own house do you wanna come over?"
boy: "Why?"
girl: "Because I'll have lots of cool stuff. Like lots of toys and lots of dress up clothes."


Tonight we had a parent open house and the kids were encouraged to take their parents around the room to different centers. One little girl and her mom were working at the drawing table. The preschooler drew something on the chalkboard. Mom: "What's that?" girl: "It's scribbles." And that settles that.

Let the good times roll...

...and the laughable moments continue.

Whether it's 5th graders or 3&4 year-olds, there's never a dull moment. Why? Because kids just say the darnest things. I have a feeling the days ahead working in a preschool will provide many laughs. Today was a strong start.

Teacher: "If you don't hold onto your water bottles during our walk to the park, then we're just going to have to go back to using a big water jug."
Preschooler (said to another preschooler): "I've never heard of water juggles before. I wonder what those are."
Kid, you've successfully combined water bottle and water jug. Well done.


While walking out the door for our afternoon outside time I only caught the tail end of a conversation one preschooler was having with another but I did hear the word "habitat." I hope their knowledge doesn't exceed mine too much at this point.

Dinner time discussions

I had the opportunity to babysit for one of my former babysitting families in my hometown tonight. The following conversations took place during dinner:

4 year old (who was born just weeks before I graduated high school and moved to a different state to go to college): I remember you! You used to babysit me when I was a little kid.

And then this one:

6 year old: I don't understand why people would want to leave their family and move away to college.
8 year old: well, I want to be a dairy farmer when I grow up so I don't really need to go to school for that.
6 year old: I think I want to be a singer when I grow up.
4 year old: When I grow up I want to be in college!

Reason #67 why I love my job

They take our woods games very seriously.

Meet Carson

Lunchtime is one of my favorite times of the day because that's when the stories come out. This story is brought to you by a 6 year old, first grade boy:

"My dog, Carson, is a baby bunny eater. And guess what? My cousin's dog is a baby bunny eater too. One time there was a mommy bunny and 6 babies in our yard. And we let the dogs out. And then there was only the mom and two baby bunnies left. Our dogs ate the bunnies. They're both baby bunny eaters."

Everybody needs a title

Camper: Are you in college?
Me: No, I'm finished with college.
Camper: Are you in high school?
Me: No
Camper: Are you a random citizen then?
Me: Yes, I guess you could say that.
Camper: Do you have a job?
Me: Yes
Camper: Yep, you're a random citizen!

Can I quote you on that?

"I'm allergic to animal touch. Well actually, I'm allergic to frog skin."

"I got to hold an injured hulk! I mean, hawk. I got to hold an injured hawk."

Pick up lines at camp

So after arriving at the pool today, one of my 11 year old campers called out my name. As I turned to face him he pulled off his shirt, flashed a smile at me and said, "Heyyyy, you come here often?"

It was all I could do to not burst out laughing. 

let's talk about eyeballs

While eating lunch with a few campers the other day, two 6th boys were going back and forth for an extended period of time: Camper 1: "Humans are basically stars because stars are made up of atoms and humans are made up of atoms." Camper 2: "That's ridiculous. Why would you even say something like that?" Camper 1: "Well, it's true." Camper 2: "Um, no." And it went back and forth for some time. Finally, I asked the boys to find a new topic of discussion. A 1st grade boy sitting beside me said, "Eyeballs. Let's talk about eyeballs!" The rest of lunch his sentences starting something like, "My eyeballs think..." But my favorite was: "My eyeballs think that your eyeballs are goooood lookin'." Well, he successfully found a new topic.

Summer days are meant to be spent at camp

Well, the weather might not agree, but summer is finally here. And summer days should be spent at camp. This past week was just a sneak peak at what's ahead for the summer. And hopefully many fun and hilarious stories to come. A few of my favorite quotes from the week are as follows:

Camper: "Here's a mystery word combination: Tic Tac, like the candy you put in your mouth, plus toe, like, your toe."
Me: "Tic tac toe?"
Camper: "Yeah. Well that was kind of an easy one."

While on a bike ride, I apparently just do some things subconsciously, but I amazed one particular 8 year old: "Britta, that's so cool how you scratched your leg while you were riding your bike."

I will argue that I have the best job in the world!

the finale

I walked out of my last day of school with letters from my 100+ students and I couldn't have asked for a better going away present. Here some of my favorite quotes:

 

• I hope you will make a lot of new teacher friends.

• I hope you get a job at a fancy school.

• I hope you become a great teacher. Let's just hope you get to become a teacher.

• I now know more than I used to know.

• I also wanted to say you will be a fabo (awesome) teacher.

• You've always been a good friend of mine. [Yeah, we've known each other for a solid 4 months]

• Don't take this the wrong way but I'd be selfish if I was sad that you're leaving because then I wouldn't let any other kids get to know what a great teacher you are.

• The most important thing I have learned from you is how to spell your last name.

• We will miss you because you were here for a long time and we love you.

 

 

So there you have it, sappy and all. I absolutely loved my semester with these kids!

The Dreaded Goodbyes

So, tomorrow is my last day of student teaching. I've been dreading the day I would have to walk out on these kids and they haven't made it any easier. The following are comments I've received from them in the last 2 days:

"Are you going to come back and visit? Like, ever?"

"You don't have to graduate."

"What are we going to do without you? You can't leave us. You can get a job here. We'll ask [the principal] to fire someone and hire you."

"Miss Sjoberg, you're leaving before my birthday!" [her birthday is on Friday]


You'd think since I move states a few times a year that I'd be used to goodbyes, but I always hate them -tomorrow will be no exception.

She doesn't suspect ANYthing

My stress level has been higher in the last couple of weeks than it has been all semester, mainly because my biggest projects for the university side of student teaching have been due. But, my students have been very complimentary and sentimental these last few days. As always, I've found humor in what they say and do.

I've been teaching less and less as I approach my final days. This week I'm only teaching 2 out 6 class periods a day. I also missed a day because of a seminar on campus, so some days I feel a little out of the loop as to what's going on in my classroom.

Yesterday a student comes up to me: "Miss Sjoberg, what do I do with this letter?"
Me: "I don't know. What letter is it?"
Student: "The one we were supposed to write."
Me: "For science?"
Student: "No, not for science. (a light bulb in his head goes off). Noooooo, not for science. And you're not teaching us anymore so nevermind! Just don't worry about it." Student walks over to my cooperating teacher and whispers, in a rather loud whisper voice: "I almost gave it away. I almost gave this to Miss Sjoberg. She asked if it was for science, and then I realized maybe she didn't know. But I was smooth. She doesn't suspect ANYthing." Student walks back to me: "I just forgot you weren't teaching us anymore. Don't worry about the letter. It wasn't for science."

How old ARE you?

I had my final observation today and as I was teaching, my supervisor (a 72 year old professor) asked if she could do an activity with my kids. She told my students she just misses working with 5th graders. One of my students said, "You look like a fun teacher!" She told them that she began teaching a long time ago. "Do you know how old my very first class of students is now? In their 50s." I looked at the sea of faces in front of her, awestruck. One student said, in genuine shock, "How old ARE you??"

Daily Battles

Welcome back from spring break! We were celebrating spring here in Indiana anyway last week. Mother nature gave us a good size snow storm and plenty of 30 degree days.


At any rate, here are just a few of the daily battles I face in 5th grade:

• Do you count "averates" as correct when the answer should be "evaporates?"

• There was a huge gap in the line as we walk back from lunch so I inquired as to why one particular boy was distancing himself so much. He points to Girl A and Girl B: "I'm scared of her. She likes me." Me:"Which one?" Student: "Both of them. I dated that one for a week and the other one..." Followed by an expression of bewilderment.

• What's the difference between mass and weight? Student: "Weight is like what happens to you when you eat McDonald's all the time."

• Homework assignment asks for an example of a solid. Student answer: "Stamche." Which I'm pretty sure is "stomach" and what does one even do with such an answer?

Of course you have to let it preheat!

Student walks into my class late after I have already begun teaching:
[holding a wet paper towel on his forehead] "Miss Sjoberg, I just have this migraine and I haven't been able to work for the last 2 hours. It's just awful. See, I'm trying to hold this wet cloth on it. And my forehead's been preheating for 2 hours."

I'm not sure what it means for a forehead to be preheating, but it sounds like it's awful.

Favorite 5th grade quotes

"My back just really hurts. I need a little person to walk on it."

"I was just wondering if I could eat this Starburst. My throat's really been bothering me."

"Cotton Eyed Joe" played on Just Dance during recess and my kids convinced me to dance to it. One student: "Miss Sjoberg, you gotta put some hip action into it!"

Me: "Unless by some miracle the internet starts working we're not going to be able to watch the brainpop video. But we have other things we can do!"
Student (said somewhat quietly): "We need a miracle."

Oh, the creative minds!

The following was are writing prompts with the student's response:

It was just another day on the moon when I looked out the spaceship's window only to find...
..."a 10 foot alien saying, 'take me to your leader.' I say, 'what is that thing?' It had 6 arms, blue and red skin. It was so ugly I passed out. When I woke up I was in some building. I was being examined."

..."Abraham Lincoln."


I was sailing on Saturn's rings for a relaxing two hours when I got a call on my spaceship's radio...
..."so I listened and it said 'I'M GONNA GET YOU!' I said, 'what a weird day.'"

..."to help a stranded astronaut. I turned on my ship's engine and raced to the scene to help the astronaut. I saw the astronaut so I pulled him in. I laid him on the floor and pulled off his helmet. It was love at first sight..."

The Maine Way

The life of a teacher is not only busy, but I've found the busier it gets the harder it is to truly appreciate the little things my kids say. But this one was simply unforgettable. And I got a good laugh about it.

Student A: Miss Sjoberg, how do you write so neat? Your handwriting is so good.

Student B: Because she's from Maine, so she writes nice. My brother dated a girl from Maine and she had good handwriting too.

That's how we raise 'em folks!

It's easy for YOU!

As my students prepare for ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress), we have been working on skills to help them on the testing. Last week and this week we have been reviewing what it means to draw inferences (specifically from a text, as they will see on the tests). Today we played a game that solicited some great responses from the kids. I had a stack of index cards with emotions on them (i.e. worried, afraid, excited, guilty) and one student would come to the front and sit in a chair. Another student would hold the card above the first student's head and the classmates would call out things to help the student guess what the word was. For instance, guilty: "I feel so bad about what I did." "The judge might say this to you in court." You get the point.

So one student has the word joyful above his head. I admit, this is a tough one, but they asked for a hard one. We gave him hints such as "synonyms for this word include: cheerful, happy, excited." He was struggling so I started to hum "Joy to the World" and several students joined me. He was still clueless. Finally one of the students said, "It's so easy. She sang the song to you!" He replied, "Sure, it's easy for you. You're LOOKING at the word!"

I probably got the best participation I've ever had from my class playing this game. And they had me laughing pretty hard at times.

Studying the solar system

Identify the following planets [pictures of planets] and how you are able to identify them:
"Sun - only planet on fire"
"Sun - it is the first hottest place"
"Earth - I live on it"


Describe the features of a comet:
"Here's a description of a comet: there's to tails and kinda in the middle theres a sun type thing."


Draw a picture of an object that might impact a planet. Label and describe the object.
"The sun would destroy the moon because of the hotness."
"The asteroid would hit a planet or moon because it does not know where its going."
"This is a piece of space junk. It could hit a planet or moon if it was in front of it or behind it."
And this one gets my vote:
"A shoe could impact a planet because the wood, metal or plastic that's on the bottom could indent it. There's proof because a shoemaker did this once."


So astronomy might not be their strongest subject [grammar might not be for that matter] but they're persevering through this unit.

Grade these essays with a straight face

Here's what my 5th graders have to say about a good teacher and a good student:

A Good Teacher...

• should assign no homework (who saw that coming?)
• maybe sometimes they will play a game if students are good
  
• helps you when you are confused
• most of all should be educational
• it would be nice to not be mean to the students
• should not be a grumpy bear
• always respects her students' wishes (Is that a wish?)
• makes us smart
• gives her students an A+ every time on their report cards

A Good Student...

• friendly to their pears (that's a direct quote from a journal entry)
• will be no slacking at NO time
• thinks all day
• should not yell
• does not talk about nasty stuff
• make sure they try to get good grades
• always amazing and outstanding
• never bosses anyone around
• needs to read

Okay, so there were some really good essays, and many of them expressed themselves very well. But these were just classic.

Spelling Bee

I sympathize with these kids, I really do. I was that kid that always tried to get out in the classroom spelling bee so I wouldn't have to go on to perform in front of the school. Spelling is also an area of struggle for me so believe me when I say I don't judge these kids in any way. Nor do I intend to make fun of them. I just really enjoyed these spellings.

Word: end
Student: "end. e-d-n. end."

Word: join
Student: "join. g-o-i-n. join"

Word: explode
Student: "explode. e-x-p-l-o-d-e-d. explode."

That tricky English language. You never can trust it.

Educated? guess

These guys make me smile:

1.) Student is telling me about how he made his necklace with kite string and how amazingly strong it is. "It won't break!" as he yanks on it and it falls into his hand - broken.

2.) We are still working on the crime scene investigation played much like the game CLUE. One student is writing his hypothesis: "It's not really a hypothesis. It's just a guess. There's no 'educated' part of my guess. It's JUST a guess!"

Crime Scene

Tuesday morning my kids walked into a crime scene in the 5th grade science room. A poor rabbit lay in the middle of a very small forest- he had tragically lost his life. The animal's habitat had been taped off with "crime scene do not enter" tape. The students have spent the last 2 days trying to solve the crime - what animal did the killing and what scavenger cleaned up?

Well it turns out the rabbit was something my cooperating teacher had found in her back yard over the summer. When the students found out it was real they either thought it was really cool or really disgusting.

Today one of my students said to me, "You know if you touch a dead rabbit you can get rabies. Like if I touched that right now I would have rabies."

I guess I hadn't thought of rabbits as being a real threat when it comes to rabies. And certainly not a rabbit that's been dead for 8 months. But you can never be too careful these days, I guess!

Pep Talk

There haven't been any quotable quotes in my classroom the last couple days, but this video is definitely worth watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

Studio 67 Design

Shout out to my sister Colleen for the new teacher bag. I'm super excited to pack it and take it to school on Monday!
Check out her creative ingenuity at http://www.etsy.com/shop/studio67design

Go Inventing!

Growing up in the Sjoberg house, "Authors" was a much loved card game. Using an old set my dad had, we played until the cards were nearly worn out, at which time we acquired a new set of cards. "Inventors" is another version of the game and was brought into the Sjoberg house but it's popularity was no competition for Authors. While home at Christmastime I snatched up Inventors thinking I could possibly incorporate it into my classroom. If you aren't familiar with the game, it's essentially "go fish." Sets of inventors faces and names are placed onto a regular deck of cards. Four cards of a kind makes a set.

I introduced the game to three of my students yesterday at recess and they immediately got into it. Names like "Guglielmo Marconi" and "Johannes Gutenberg" didn't exactly roll off the tongue, but those kids unashamedly gave it the best pronunciation they could. In the first round one student said, "Since it's like go fish, but with inventors I guess you say 'Go inventing!' to the other person when you don't have the card."

This morning I was excitedly greeted by two students who were hoping I remembered to bring Inventors back. I'm pretty thrilled that they're spending their recess throwing around names like Archimedes and Michael Faraday.

And this is just one of the reasons why I love what I do.

Inches or Feet?

Talking about food chains today, we were discussing a possible oceanic food chain. The science text mentioned a bass eating a minnow. One student very excitedly declared, "My sister caught a bass one time. It was 12 feet long! [pause] Or maybe it was 12 inches."

I'm just going to take a guess here and say that it was probably 12 inches.

Also, I received my first teacher apple from a student today - that seems like a milestone in my pursuit of a teaching career.

An Unexpected Embrace

In my homeroom class there is a set of identical twin sisters. I decided on the first day that I needed to figure out a way to tell them apart. Early on everyday was a guess, but I started to get the swing of it before too long.

Yesterday morning, like every other morning, I was standing outside my classroom door greeting the students as they came in for the day. At this point I was feeling pretty confident with identifying the twins. Well, I greeted the first one by name and to my surprise she threw her arms around me in a full embrace and thanked me for getting her name right.

It's the little things, I tell ya!

What teamwork means...

In discussion with a student today I had asked him to join a group that he is not normally part of and help them with the project they were working on. Apparently I should have said "contribute" rather than "help" because his response, as serious as could be was: "If I do everything, the others won't learn."

And with the above statement, I'd have to agree.

*Don't worry, we talked about what an acceptable contribution to the team looks like and he did just fine.

Worries, we've all got 'em

My cooperating teacher gave this short prompt to our students back before they left for Christmas break. While passing them back to the students today I couldn't help but notice how they deal with the worries in their lives.

I worry about... "the end of the world." When I worry, I will..."Pray to God that the end of the world never happens."

I worry about..."my brother." When I worry, I will..."go to sleep."

So there you have it.

Persuasive Writing

My cooperating teacher gave a persuasive writing assignment to our 5th graders. They designed a prosthesis and wrote a "to whom it may concern letter" to a company, trying to sell their product.

The following are taken directly from their letters:
"Do you want these kids to live without an arm? I have something that can make those sad, one armless kids into happy, new armed kids with the Hand Helper 1000.”

“If people buy now they will receive a free tool box. They’ll need it for if [the Hand Helper 1000] gets broken or needs some work. Of course, there is a 50/50 percent chance it will get broken or needs fixed.”

“The Prosthetic Beauty 3000 is stylish, comfortable and full of awesomeness.”

“We will make some deals with you. We’ll throw in an extra Ziploc baggie full of extra nails for each Prosthetic Beauty 3000 you get.”

I'm Not a Kid Anymore

I step through the doors for my first day of school and remind myself that in this place I am not the student - I am the teacher. I take a deep breath and start down the 5th grade hallway.

My professional attire and teacher introduction secure my place as an authority in the classroom - that is, until one of my students asks me if I go to Blackford High School.

At 5'2" and standing eye-level with several of my students, I'm determined to represent these 22 years of life experience!