Pumpkin’s progress April 30, 2010

Ahh, Pumpkin.  He continues to be delightful every day.  And he’s not quite the same person he was in September; he has come a loooong way.

Today in the blocks corner he was with Raspberry and another girl, both of whom hate to put away the blocks, and move so slowly that it makes me crazy.  They did much better than usual at cleanup time, but Pumpkin ROCKED.  He was so mature, so independent, picking up blocks and putting them away in exactly the right places, doing it happily, doing it quickly….I was so proud of him.  When we gathered on the carpet for story time I gave him a star on his hand for being so great at cleanup time, and he crowed. “Wow!  Yay!  I got a star!  Whoo hoo!”

At writer’s workshop yesterday, however, he reminded me of his old self — the one who could not hold a conversation to save his life.

“What’s your story about, Pumpkin?”

“This is me.  My mom hit me in the face.”

“She did?  Was it an accident?”  (There is no way his mom hit him in the face on purpose.  Seriously.)

“No!  She hit me in the face!”  He was grinning as he said it.  I replied, “That sounds like a very serious story.  What else goes in the picture?”

Pumpkin didn’t answer, just forged ahead.  Here follows his narrative, with the ellipses standing in for my weak, confused, useless responses.

“Here’s me.  I hit her in the face!  And my mom hit me in the face….And I didn’t get ice cream.  But my dad did, he had ice cream….I didn’t get ice cream.  There was a contest and I didn’t win.  My dad had ice cream…Here’s my dad, here’s me.  I had ice cream.  There was a contest, but I didn’t win….But there was another contest, and then I’ll win….Here’s my mom, she has ice cream….Here’s my mom and my dad and me and we’re eating ice cream…And here’s the flag….And here’s the hot lava!”

Lockdown drill April 29, 2010

We had a “Code Red” practice the other day.  The Prince let me know about it in advance, so I was able to prepare the children.

“Remember when we had a fire drill?”

“Yeah!  That was loud!”

“Was there really a fire in our school?”

“No!”

“Right, we were just practicing in case there ever is a fire in our school.  And you know what?  The whole time I was in school, there was never ever a fire in my school.  So I don’t think it’s going to happen here, either.  Anyway, we are going to have a different kind of drill.  It’s called a lockdown drill.  We’re going to practice what to do if a bad guy ever comes into our school.  We’re going to lock the door, turn off the lights, shut the shades, and be really, really quiet.  We’ll be hiding.  And eating goldfish.”

Every year when we do this I forget how I did it in the past, so as not to scare my class.  This is what I did this year.

“Okay, now let’s be really quiet.”  I whispered.  Miss Slinger passed out the little cups of goldfish — if you want to keep preschoolers quiet, put some food in their mouths!  “If there was a big pink dragon in our school, could it find us?”  The class chorus-whispered “No!”  I said, “Right, because we are hiding.  It couldn’t find us.”

Then the children started raising their hands, to whisper questions like, “What if a giant stag beetle was in our school, could it find us?”  And the response was always, “No, because we are hiding.  It couldn’t find us.”  They also wondered what if a giant caterpillar was in our school, a giant beetle, a giant bunny….

And nobody found us!

teacher talents April 26, 2010

I have been selected in a meme by Organized Chaos, on the things teachers can do that don’t exactly go on a resume.  Here is my list of hidden teacher talents:

• can instantly tell when a child returning from the bathroom didn’t wash his/her hands
• can tell when a child needs to go to the bathroom, even if he/she doesn’t even realize it yet
• can recite Where the Wild Things Are from memory (I have actually done this at parties)
• can read upside down with ease
• can spot problems before they even happen
• can get twenty four year olds to walk in a quiet line through the halls
• can make up a lesson plan on the spot
• can read a children’s book aloud so skillfully that the children are rapt with attention
• can “laminate” with contact paper without any bubbles or wrinkles
• can give animated, detailed lessons on how to put a cap on a marker, how to clean up the floor with masking tape, how to pee in the potty instead of on the floor, how to wipe, how to wash hands, how to blow your nose, how it’s not okay to pick your nose, how germs are spread, how to put on your jacket (the Preschool Flip!), how to put your napkin in your lap, and many more
• can get through a lockdown drill without anybody getting scared
• can do marvelous things with construction paper, tape, rubber cement, scissors, and markers

I’m going to meme five more talented teachers, to find out what their hidden talents are:

1. Don’t Put Your Boogers in Your Neighbor’s Cereal
2. Kindergarten 3 R’s
3. Teacher Tom
4. Miss Brave
5. Progressive Early Childhood Education

Let us know your hidden talents, and meme five other talented teachers.

Cherry’s idea April 23, 2010

So now EVERYONE who goes to the house corner is “pregnant.”  Usually they use a bowl from the house corner dishes under their shirts.  Yesterday it was a bunch of other girls — today, even the boys were expecting.

school mommy April 22, 2010

We had an intense morning, and Miss Slinger and I weren’t sure when it was over what exactly had happened.  It wasn’t like anyone was terrible, but there was a fair amount of not listening to my directions, quite a bit of wandering around, a few kicks and elbows in the wrong place, a lot of noise in the hall when trying to line up, and an unusual difficulty with buckling down and just DOING some work, (even if that work was in the block corner or the art center).  Maybe, come to think of it, the children were weary of not having recess (older kids have been testing, and they are all outside taking a break and running wild during our normal recess, so we haven’t been able to go outside).  At the end of the morning we had recess, and it was lovely, so maybe tomorrow will be better.

Anyway, when I got back in after sending the ducklings home, I told her, “doesn’t feel tiring to be their School Mommies?”  But Miss Slinger pointed out — quite rightly — that I am their School Mommy, and she is their School Cool Auntie.

It’s totally true.  I’m the one who puts them in the take-a-break chair, I’m the one who makes the rules, I’m the one who makes them clean up, or sit down, or do work.  She’s the one they get lots of attention from, and she’s often the one they go to for hugs.  The girls love hanging out at her table and chatting with her when they are supposed to be doing something else.  They love her so much that they often call me by her name, as if “Miss Slinger” comes out more naturally than mine.  Miss Slinger freely admits that she prefers to be in her position, and is happy to leave the hard stuff to me.

And, frankly, I’m happy with where I am, too.  First of all, I have a Miss Slinger, so I could not be more fortunate.  Assistants like her must be somewhat rare.  Second, I get to do the intellectually challenging part about figuring out what they need to know, researching the best way to do it, and planning the lessons.  Third, I do the hard stuff, but I get lots of rewards for it.  I love being their teacher.

Even on the intense days.

child protection April 22, 2010

Yesterday was a bit of a stressful day.  One child came in with a note explaining that his/her absence for the last two days was because of visits to Child Protection.  I was shocked — could not imagine there being a problem in this child’s family.  I was still trying to connect with our social worker, because she found out that another child had witnessed violence at home, including mom covered in blood, and because I wanted her to talk with a third child, who told our volunteer a garbled story about hitting and mom maybe getting hit by her boyfriend.

I was already feeling tense because at our mentor meeting before, we looked at test data that showed most of the classes in 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th did worse on their winter testing than they did in the fall — the percentage of children way below standard was actually growing!  And the response of some of my colleagues was to make excuses.  Which kind of made me sick.

Anyway, I finally did connect with the social worker, in a busy hallway for two minutes, where we spoke in code about each child and learned that the first one’s family is fine — mom brought her child to CP because of someone/something that happened outside the home.  The second one’s story about mom covered with blood is true, but it happened a long time ago, not recently.  This child is in counseling, so not sure what else to do.  The third one, the social worker will look into.  The thing is, the third child is super happy and relaxed all the time, so I’m not sure it’s a continuing trauma.

house corner is always exciting April 20, 2010

During centers today I wanted to listen in on the interactions of the maybe-on-the-spectrum child in the house corner, so I sat at the adjacent art center and listened in.  Then I pulled closer and asked some questions.

Mrs. X:  Who are you?  What are you doing with the food in the corner?

Child A:  I’m the cat.  I’m storing food.

Mrs. X:  How about you?

Raspberry:  I’m the mom.

Mrs. X:  And who are you?

Child B:  I’m the random homeless guy.

*************

(Child B later explained, “there was a flood, so I had to run away from it, so I ran into their house, and I made them watch tv, so they could see the flood, and they’d understand.”)

Later, I found Raspberry and Cherry under the table, with a baby doll.  “Hi guys, ” I said.  “Whatcha doing?”  “We’re hiding from the flood,” they said.

Over in the corner, Child A and Child B were behind a barrier of cradles and chairs and lots of food.  “What are you guys doing over here?” I asked.  “We’re hiding from the flood,” they answered.  “See, we built a wall so the water can’t get in.”

************

A few minutes later, I returned to the house corner.  Cherry had a pillow under her shirt.  “Cherry’s having a baby!” they all exclaimed.  We had a pregnant teacher visiting the room that day, so I can see where that idea came from.

the spectrum April 17, 2010

So I have a kid who might be on the autism spectrum.  If it’s true, it would be at the very high end of the spectrum.  Here are some of the things that have gotten me wondering:

• The child’s communication skills are just a little bit off.  The voice is mostly one note with less variation, expression, and intonation than other children.
• For most of the year, the child has raised his/her hand at morning meeting to make comments about things that he/she was interested in, rather than on the topic at hand
• For a few months earlier in the year, the child was told “you’re not my friend” by another child, and couldn’t get over it.  The child kept pestering the other child, asking “are you my friend now?” and following the other child around the room, so that the other child was actively avoiding him/her.  The child kept talking about it with me, the mother, and out loud to him/herself, over and over, almost to the point of perseverating.  Not sad, but anxious and bewildered.
• The child finally made a friend, and it was with one of the most immature and poorly behaved girls in the class.  The two of them play together often, and do talk to each other,  but often it’s like they’re still doing parallel play.
• The child then made another friend, with a boy who has some special needs and some behavior that is spectrum-y also.
• The child is not behind academically — arrived in my class able to count to 100 and able to name all of the letters of the alphabet already.

I asked for advice, including from the autism teacher at my school, and learned that yes, I should talk to this child’s parent.  Gulp.

I am now taking notes and observing, and trying to figure out what I will say when I call the mother to request a meeting.  Any advice about how I should handle it?

Miss Brooks April 16, 2010

Today I sat down at morning meeting and said, with a look of incredulousness, “I have a great book to read to you.  It’s about a little girl who DOESN’T….LIKE….BOOKS!”  The children laughed.  I replied, “I know, it’s hard to believe.  How could anyone not like books?!”

Miss Brooks is a keeper.  The kids loved it, especially since Miss Brooks dresses up like the Very Hungry Caterpillar on one page, and we’ve been reading that in class for our Insects unit.  Shrek features prominently in the book, so now I have to get that — the original book, of course — and read it to the class.

I particularly like the way the main character dresses — fisherman’s hat, overalls, and glasses — and I loved the part with the warts.

I found this book through my searches for great kids’ books.  Anyone have websites or blogs for new children’s and YA books that you want to recommend?

outburst April 15, 2010

Today a student in my class suddenly went completely out of control.

She was late to class from breakfast, and I had already marked her absent.  I told her she’d need to go to the office for a late pass (that’s how they know who is late, not absent, and can mark the attendance accordingly).  She shook her head no, so I thought maybe she was too shy.  I gave her a friend to go with her; the friend was perfectly happy to do the talking.  Again, no.  So I said, “I’ll take you,” and she said no and started to back away when I took her hand.  I tried walking toward the office, but she was pulling away, and I didn’t want to hurt her.  I ended up carrying her the short distance to the office.  Once there, I told the Spanish translator that we needed a late pass, and would he please call her mother?  Then she ran away, back to the classroom.  This was her second day in a row of not listening to me or being willing to do what I asked (yesterday refused to go to gym class), so I called the behavior room.

A staffer who speaks Spanish, and knows this child, came downstairs to take her for a walk in the building and talk to her.

Next thing I know, the behavior lady was calling me, with screaming in the background, to tell me that my preschooler had attacked the staffer — hit, kicked, and BIT him!  And now she was in the behavior room, screaming bloody murder.

She was sent home with a social worker.

I told Miss Mellow, who had originally had the child in her class, and she told me that Mom had requested a behavior evaluation!  She was having terrible behavior at home.  I never knew this.  Apparently there is some paperwork somewhere, on hold, because in both Miss Mellow’s class and mine, she has been mostly fine.  I’ve had some moments where things just didn’t seem right, but it was always kind of nebulous.  Now, that paperwork needs to be found and other options looked into.

But it is exhausting, and sad.