Why didn't I think to teach reading during the school day???

Three weeks into the new school year, and it feels like I've known these kiddos for years. It's amazing how quickly you can become acquainted with someone you are with for 7 hours a day. But I have a very bright, energetic, creative, fun little group. They are definitely individuals, and they say things that make me think everyday. Here's a story from one of my very smart, and majorly funny kids. We were working on a writing assignment that required them to make a list brainstorming to help them write a story later. The students were asked to trace their shoes on paper and list places their shoes have been recently or in the past. Most kids wrote about trips they went on recently or local places they had visited. This particularly humorous child wrote that his feet had been on "his dad's butt". While I totally believe this to be true, I'm not sure that he got the point of the assignment. Or more probable, he understood the assignment, but decided he could make it better. And he did indeed write a story about kicking his dad's butt. It is going to be an interesting year...

I also had a moment with one of my little girls that makes me wonder if I have been teaching at all these first few weeks. She asked when we were going to start having reading class. I said, "Huh?" thinking I must have understood. You see, we have reading instruction for 2 1/2 hours EVERY DAY. She repeated the same question. I hated to tell her that we HAD already been having reading class and I was sorry she had apparently missed it... Yikes!

One more story also relating to writing. I had a couple of kids getting a little bit rambunctious one day during my guided reading lesson, so I pulled them over for a little "chat" afterwards. And by "chat" I mean "I talk and you listen". Anyways, I told them in a fairly quiet but severely fierce voice that that behavior was completely unacceptable and that if they continued these choices, they would be working by themselves at their desks. Stations are a privilege, after all. Later during free writing time, one of these students decided to journal the event. The topic he chose to write about was things he wonders about. It went something like this. "I wonder if Ms. Hannah will yell at us again. I wonder if she will get mad and yell a lot." It went on for a while in this manner. But my favorite part was the picture. It was me and I had a speech bubble that said "YELL!" So funny. I was telling a coworker and she said she couldn't imagine me yelling. I kindly told her, that is because I wasn't actually yelling. But to his little ears, that is how my fierce voice was perceived. At least he got the message, I suppose.

On a separate note, I had a little creative time this summer and made this awesome jewelry board. I can not even begin to take credit for this as it was a pinterest find and all my friends would have seen it too. But I can not emphasize enough how much I LOVE this board with all my jewelry every time I walk into my bathroom. It makes me smile. Here are before and after pictures.

On a completely unrelated note (because I am not sure what this could possibly relate to) I am attaching a picture I took while on vacation a couple of years ago. We were doing some shopping and this sign was posted in the back of the store. Really makes me want to step up my teaching for my EL kids, I'll tell ya! There's some motivation!