There are no bad kids...

So some of you are like no... you are wrong... I know at least 3 kids who are BAD through and through.

I used to be one of those people but I am slowly learning that its just not the case.

All kids want is attention and they learn to get it in different ways. Some by excelling, some by actually saying "LOOK AT ME!!!!!" and some by misbehaving. These are good kids who choose to do bad things, not bad kids!

listen to this story...

The most disruptive kid in my class is **** but I know he is not a bad kid because of this beautiful thing he did just Wednesday.

While the bell rings I have to stand in the hall to catch my kids as they go by from carpool and my kiddos have an activity to do while we wait. Sometimes its reading a book (looking at pictures and making up a story), putting together puzzles, or playing with plato or the boxes of happy meal toys they brought. Well during this time the most fingers get smashed because of the shuffle of chairs and on Wednesday Sarah's little fingers got in the line of fire. But Little Matty whose chair did the smushing didn't realize that his chair was still on her fingers!! ouch!!

She cried and I consoled her and dried her tears, kissing those little fingers and making sure nothing was broken and then after she calmed down and went back to reading I returned to my post.

Of course **** wasn't in his seat but this time I let it slide because of what happened next. He walked over to Sarah and patted her on the back and asked her if it was ok. He then looked at her fingers and said "They look ok. Look, (while putting his fingers right where hers were when the accident occurred and pulling Matty's chair tight around his fingers) My hand is ok." and then he kept reassuring her she would be ok and walked away!

Want to talk about breaking a teacher's heart!

What **** didn't know was that I still watch the classroom while I stand at the door. and I saw the whole thing. It was just precious and I will be writing him a Gold slip on Monday!

These kids are so silly! and I love them!

I've been laughing at this all week.

Sarah, one of my really cute, sassy little girls, asked, "What are we having for snack?"

I asked back, "What would you like for snack?"

Sarah: "Crawfish!" (While slightly jumping out of her seat with excitement!)

Me: "What!? We don't have any crawfish here!"

Her: "Yes you do!" (While pointing with her hand on her hip)

Me: "No we don't! (she is still nodding her head insisting that there are crawfish on the shelf) Go show me where they are."

Sarah then walks over to the shelves where the snacks stay. She takes a long look and then I see a sense of realization come across her face. She realized she meant GOLDFISH and not CRAWFISH.

But to save face she just turned around and simply said. "I guess your out!"

It was so funny! and we laughed about it all day. and it brings a smile to my face every time I think about it!

Note to Self: Elastic is good

Some of you are looking at this and thinking "What is she talking about? She has lost her mind."

No, In fact I haven't.

I work with 3 year olds, most of them can't button a button, or snap a snap, and those little flat hook things... you can forget about it! So, when they have to potty, one of 3 things happens. They stand silently at the door just staring at me, say my name 20 times very loudly or they don't quite make it. So I spend at least 2o minutes a day buttoning and unbuttoning britches around those chubby little bellies. I usually don't mind but today about 5 of the 8 that showed up had some sort of closure they could not undo.

One even thought she would be smart and just zip up her pants and not snap them back on, and got by for 30 minutes without me noticing. But something happened that she didn't expect. While running and playing on the playground, those little jeans fell down and the world got to see her princess underpants.... and she just kept running, pants around her ankles until I could catch her (about 10 seconds after it happened). I said "Anna, Why did your pants fall down?" She just laughed and said "Cause I didn't button them, teacher." It was funny and not a big deal but here is the note to self:

>Send your 3 year old to school in elastic pants. The lack of style doesn't matter. She's 3. She will pee on herself if she can't pull her pants down.

(name has been changed to protect the innocent)

The Secret Weapon

For my Friend MoW...

So here is a photo of the secret weapon:

Thats right... Skittles.

You may think that I am nuts and that all of my kids' parents will be very surprised when they get to the dentist in the next few months but I'm not. It works.

You say "Chelsea, how do skittles make children, especially 3 year olds, sit quietly?" It is simple my dear. Ever heard of Pavlov's Dogs? :)

Here are the steps to a quiet classroom:

1. Put your skittles in a nice clear jar so that everyone can see them and hear them when you pick them up.

2. Find the kid who is being respectful, quiet, listening or whatever trait you want the others to get quickly.

3. Walk over to that child and hand them a skittle and say "Thank you so much for being quiet (Insert name here) I appreciate that."

4. Walk away and sit the skittles on your desk.

5. When the other students say "I want one!", you say "You must obey quickly for a skittle. I will come back around in a few minutes and if you are doing as I ask until then you may have a skittle."

6. When one or 2 start talking say "Someone is about to lose their treat." but you have to mean this. If they don't quit talking you don't give them a treat.

7. Do go back around and give them their deserved treat. You may just stand at the door as they leave or if some need a wake up call earlier feel free to do it when the class gets the loudest again but only give it to the ones who obey.

(Only allow your hand in the jar... that could get really nasty if no rules are set)

This really does work. My class along with my neighbor teacher, Mrs. G's Class, are the most well behaved group of students in the school. They know that if I say you will lose your treat, I mean it and they stop. Now all I have to do is pick up my jar and the room gets quiet, and though a few may still be talking I at least have their attention with out saying a word.

Another example of how well this works happened just last wednesday during the afterschool program. Those 5th 6th and 7th graders were WAAAY too loud in the hallway so I quietly went to my classroom, grabbed my skittles and walked by and gave the ONLY silent kid a skittle. Of course they didn't know the rules so I explained it to them and sure enough that hall got SILENT and they were allowed a skittle as they left with their parents.

Thanks to Mrs. G for teaching me this trick! I am so blessed to have her as a mentor!

Pants on the Ground

So my kids have started something new this week.

They have started walking out of the bathroom and around the class with.... their pants on the ground... both boys and girls... not sure what this is about but its weird... too weird... and it all started this week. I think that they are really proud of the characters on their underpants and want to show their friends... but I just hurry them back to the restroom and say "Pull up those Britches!! We don't need to see those underpants."

(note: these are not my students, photo from google images)

Its kind-of funny when they pull their undies out of their backpacks and hand it to me with their folders in the mornings or when another kid says, "What's This?" while pointing to an abandoned pair in the restroom (which is in our classroom) and I have to figure out who they belong to. (Which its usually Matty... remember him?)

I hope this little story put a smile on your face!

Until the next attack of the K-3 Krazies!!

Note to self: I Can't

So I've been teaching for 4 weeks and the 2 words that I've really begun to hate and refuse to accept in my classroom are "I CAN'T" .

I hear it at least once a day right after a see a very very pathetic try at something, really really simple things like coloring the whole paper or putting on a clean shirt.

Solution:

I have been making it a point to stop when I hear these words and show the child how to do it and then make them do it themselves. It is amazing how empowered those little faces get when they do something they insisted that they couldn't, simply because they haven't tried it yet.

Here is the note to self:

• Never let the words "I Can't" have a place in your home. You can do anything that you set your mind to, and teach your children that as well.
• Asking for help is not a bad thing but instead of "Help me, I can't" teach your children to say "Will you show me how?"