Heaven

Today's Religion Discussion: Jesus died on the cross because He loves us so much.

My students' contributions to this discussion:

Student 1:  When a person dies, they get to come back to life for a little bit and then go to heaven.

Me:  Uh, no, only Jesus was able to do that.

Student 2:  If a person is like 100 years old and still living, then they should just walk to heaven and go through the gates.

Me:  How would they know how to get there?

Student 3:  Heaven is right by my house.

A Lost Tooth

Its that time of year when more and more students are getting wiggly teeth.  One student came in this morning with a special bag labeled for his loose tooth which was sure to come out at any minute.  Sure enough, during our snack of Handi-Snack breadsticks and cheese, he came over and told me he had lost his tooth...literally.  "I can't find it anywhere" he said.  "Have you checked your stomach?" I wanted to say, but refrained.  After much searching and locating many tooth-like breadstick crumbs, I concluded that most likely he had swallowed it.   I explained to him that he could write the tooth fairy a letter explaining what had happened.  After writing mom a letter explaining what had happened, I offered to help him write his letter to the tooth fairy.  He, of course, wanted me to do it for him and started telling me what to write:  "Tell her I want a train set and a ...." I cut him off, "Um, you do realize this is not Santa Clause and she does have to put it under your pillow, right?"  I decided to let mom help him write the letter.

A Student Walks Into the Classroom...

So, a student walks into the classroom with a magnet picture frame from his locker which houses a picture of two teenage girls in their orange and hot pink prom dresses. The girls are hugging and the prom dresses are clearly from the past decade (there is not much too them). He wants to hang it on my desk. I inform him that I do not know the girls and that it would make more sense for him to ke...ep it in his locker. Curious, I ask who the girls are, thinking they are probably his cousins. He explains that his mom has two moms and this is a picture of them. "Oh, so those are your grandmas in that picture?" I try to say with a straight face. He would not confirm this nor did he see the ludicrousness of this whole story. But he did go on to explain how his dad grew-up before his mom did, so his dad had taken this picture. And then he was born, and he's five now...

I can't wait to bring this up at conferences!

But I Can Spell It!

While on Christmas break, I missed out on having conversations such as this:

Me: Did your mom have her baby yet?

Student: Yep!
...
Me: So do you have a new brother or sister?

Student: A new brover.

Me: Awesome! What's his name?

Student: Uhhh...Uhhh...I don't remember it, but I do know how to spell it! It's J-o-n-a-h.

Me: Jonah, that's a nice name.

Student: Ya, that's it. I would like to go home now so I can see him.

Me: I'm sure you would. Why don't you bring in a picture of him tomorrow. I would love to see what he looks like.

Student: Okay, but only if I get to be the Shining Star.

The Best Things In Life are Free

Now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, and lots of clothing, gift cards, and toys have been given and received, I have had time to sit and enjoy my favorite gift.  It did not cost any money - just some paper, some crayons, and the minds of 27 kindergartners.   This year, in addition to a generous gift card, my class made me a paper chain comprised of drawings, good tidings, and their favorite things about me. While being showered with gifts is always nice, being showered with kind words and praise is somehow more fulfilling.  Here are a few of my favorite links on the chain:

• "I like that Mrs. Q. never yells at me."
• "She makes sure you are safe."
• "I like homework."
• "When Mrs. Q. stops my bloody nose."
• "Mrs. Q. teaches me math sooo good." (but apparently not English)
• "I like walking to my bus with Mrs. Q."
• "Mrs. Q. lets me go to the office when I get hurt."
• "Mrs. Q. helps me not break the rules and be listening in my class."
• "I like when she gets balls for us!"
• "Mrs. Q only puts stars on our papers if we are correct.  If we don't, we get an X.  I like stars."
• "I like Mrs. Q because she has a nice smile."
• "Mrs. Q helps us because he's our special teacher we love."

My Wish For You Is

Tomorrow, along with putting on our 15 minute Christmas spectacular, we must say goodbye to two of our students who will be moving to Texas.  I am truly sad to see these two sweet girls (twins) go as are all of their classmates.  Today, as a going away gift and reminder of their awesome kindergarten class, we made a book for them in which each student illustrated and completed the sentence "My wish for you is ____."  As each student dictated their sentences, there were very nice and common sentiments such as "that you have a fun time," "that you come back and visit," and "that you enjoy the airplane ride."  One girl, who is particularly compassionate and close to these girls, took a while to decide what she was going to write.  Finally, she indicated that she was ready and in her broken English (Korean is her first language) she explained that her wish was that she could lift up our school and put it in Texas.  With a grin on her face, she continued to explain how an airplane could carry it or she could throw it there, but at least we could all still be together.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but I do know that those twin girls will always cherish that page in their book. 

My Love-Hate Relationship with December

The arrival of Santa Claus at the end of the Thanksgiving Day Parade signifies the start of the Christmas season in the real world and the start of "super hyper mode" in the kindergarten classroom.  The students are on a constant high from excitement (made worse with the occasional sugary Christmas treat).  The schedule is thrown out the window because of special events, parties, and programs and with it goes the students' good behavior (which wasn't even necessarily that good to begin with).  This results in a teacher that feels and acts like the Grinch by the time Friday rolls around:

     Student: Mrs. Q, will you call us for lunch using your Santa voice?

     Mrs. Q:  No! Not until you listen to me using my real voice!

     Student:  I got a video on my computer from Santa and he actually talked to me!                  

     Mrs. Q:  Great...did he remind you stay in your seat at school?

     Student: I like your Christmas tree.           

     Mrs. Q: Don't touch it.

     Students:  Can we play the Rudolph hot potato game?

     Mrs. Q: No! It's too noisy!

Luckily, the weekend gives me time to reflect on all the things to love about spending the holiday season with 27 five year olds. Their excitement can be contagious and they help me get into the Christmas spirit as we create Christmas decorations and presents, practice Christmas carols, and countdown using our Advent calendar.  There is always a Christmas video to show or book to read if you have too much time on your hands (or can't take the talking one more minute).  I also get a ton of enjoyment hearing what their parents have hiding under their bed for me, or the "secret" project they are working on for us.  Or, the student who thinks he will be spending Christmas with me at school (sorry, sweetie, but no).  And parents, you aren't the only ones who can use Santa as a threat.  He is always watching, you know, and I have his email addresses...all 27 of them. 

And finally, there's always that one student who shows the real spirit of Christmas and reminds everyone, including me, that Christmas is about being selfless.  This year's moment came as two girls who share the same name were disagreeing over which ornament belonged to who.  They both claimed to have made a red glitter ball, but we had one red and one gold.  As I tried to think of ways to appease them, none of which were working, one boy came over and offered his ornament, which was red, stating that he "decided he didn't care what color his ornament was."  Both girls now wore smiles, and this Grinch's heart grew three sizes that day.  And that boy, well let's just say I talked to Santa about him. *wink*