Why I Love Being a Kindergarten Teacher!

It's hard to believe that just a few months ago these four students were only learning the sounds of the alphabet. Now they can read books all by themselves! Every morning they break up into groups and take turns reading stories. Seriously, it is my favorite part of the day! I love watching them coach each other along, helping their friend when they get stuck on a challenging word.

Our *SECRET* Field Trip

When I heard that the Elementary students would be going to Bounce U if they were on Honor Roll, I asked if the Kindergarten class could tag along. With the word "bounce" in the title, I just knew it would be a great place to take my kiddos! :-)

Because it was a surprise field trip for the Elementary, I didn't want to tell my kiddos anything in case they would accidentally say something to one of the older students. It was fun keeping it a secret! For one thing, I wasn't pestered with questions every day wondering when the field trip was going to be!

Of course that all changed yesterday morning....

No sooner did I enter the classroom, and I was bombarded with questions! "Are we going somewhere today, Miss Follett? Are we going on a field trip? Why did we have to bring play clothes along? What are we going to do? PLLEASSE tell us!!!" Apparently, they had heard some rumors from some of the older students! :-) I tried acting all nonchalant and everything, but I do believe that all 4 of my kiddos will end up as either detectives or lawyers!

I finally told them that IF there was a surprise, I would tell them after all our papers were done. I was then asked, "Couldn't you just give us a little hint after each paper is done, instead of waiting till the end?" {Smile}

As the last paper was turned in, all 4 kiddos looked at me expectantly. There was no way I was going to hold them off any longer! When I told them that we were going to go to Bounce U with the Elementary, they literally started bouncing up and down right there, shouting "Yay! Yay! Yay!" {how ironic - yet confirming it even more that this was the perfect place to take this bunch!}

Oh what fun they had! There were big slides, little slides, bouncy balls, "rock" climbing, obstacle courses, ball tossing etc....they all had the time of their lives! It was a great place to take students with ages ranging from 5 - 12 years old! (although I must say it was quite noisy & crazy in there for the grown-ups ;-))

Don't you just love their facial expressions in these pictures?!

Showing Initiative

Towards the end of the school day, I was taking turns having some one-on-one reading time with each of my students in a room nearby the Kindergarten classroom. The rest of the class was working on cutting out an art project, and finishing up their Social Studies papers. Once, when I came in to get the next student for their reading time, they were all at the chalkboard writing out all the special sounds they have been learning in Phonics class. The chalkboard was literally covered with words! Although I knew it would take a long time to erase everything, I wasn't about to stop them from practicing their special sounds. :-)

As the clock ticked closer and closer to dismissal time, and I was still doing one-one one reading time, I began thinking about how messy the classroom surely must be by this point. I had piles of stuff all over my desk. The art project the children were working on was probably just tossed somewhere since I wasn't over there to organize everything.

Suddenly, as I was listening to my last student read, I started hearing my other 3 kiddos whispering loudly and giggling about something in the hallway. I heard the classroom door shut, and I was thinking...Oh no...what are they up to now?!

When I walked into the hallway, I noticed that all 4 lunch bags were lined up perfectly on top of the shelf. The backpacks and coats were hung neatly on their hooks. Normally, this area looks like a tornado struck by the end of the day! My teacher antennae raised when I saw this...something was up!

Taking a deep breath, I opened up the classroom door. There were all my kiddos standing at attention, with huge grins plastered on their faces. I looked around the room in astonishment. It was spotless. Everything was in it's place. To the point where one of the charts hanging on the chalkboard was still slightly crooked, so one of my kiddos quickly ran to straighten it. Their art projects were laid neatly on the front table, in straight little piles by name. The papers and folders on my desk were all in stacked piles. The chalkboard was totally erased. Needless to say, I was shocked! Who would have thought that they were capable of getting the room THIS clean and organized without any instruction?!! It made my day!

Of course, there is always that hope that Miss Follett will give some "positive reinforcement" for completing a task such as this. :-) At this point in their young lives, positive reinforcement plays a big factor! Although I don't want my kiddos to assume that every "good deed" they do in life will earn them a piece of candy or some extra treasure in their glass, I do want them to realize that I appreciate their effort, and that showing initiative is a great character quality!

In Memory of My Pop-Pop

It's hard to believe that today marks one year since my Pop-Pop went home to be with the Lord. In a way it feels like much longer, but then again it feels like any day now he will walk in our front door.

Just like old times.

I will hear his voice, and just enjoy his company as he talks and shares stories from the past. Before he walks out the door, he will give me a hug, and for about an hour after he is gone, I will smell like his favorite aftershave. Oh, how I miss that smell! I am so thankful for home videos where I can hear his voice, and for pictures where I can see his smile, but certain things - like the smell of his favorite aftershave - can never be brought back.

Memories are a wonderful thing though. Sometimes they make you sad, and you feel like crying, but other times, you remember a crazy incident that happened and you just have to laugh. Laughter is good medicine for a hurting heart. :-)

I put together a video of pictures from my Pop-Pop's life yesterday in preparation for today. Although I realize that these pictures may not necessarily mean much to you because no memories are attached to them, they mean the world to me! I love and miss my Pop-Pop so much.

Fun in the Sun

This morning I received a hug and a "Miss Follett, you are the best teacher in the whole world!" from one of my students. Why? Because I told my kiddos that they each could pick a game, and in the afternoon we would play them outside. Who would have thought that this suggestion would warrant such a reaction?! :-)

And what a gorgeous afternoon it was! It was soooooooo great to be outside, and to just let my kiddos run, run, RUN! Something that they had been missing after being cooped up all winter long.

We attempted playing games on a blanket, but as you can see, it was rather bright and windy outside (and of course, all 3 games selected involved objects that could easily blow away in the wind!).....

Because they were thirsty, we took a break and went inside. Since the sun was so bright, we made a quick stop at my car to get my sunglasses. Of course, that meant that everyone else wanted sunglasses too! Gotta love those star sunglasses I found in our prize box! (which stayed on about a minute after this picture...guess it just wasn't their style?) :-)

Oh yes, I am looking forward to more days of fun in the sun now that spring is upon us! It has been a LONG winter. :-)

Good Start + Good Ending = Good Day :-)

A Good Start -

This morning when I arrived at school, I walked downstairs to the Kindergarten classroom, and saw all my kiddos' backpacks and coats hung up. I figured they were probably upstairs waiting to be dismissed to the classroom.

I opened the door to the classroom, and this is what I found.....

There were all my kiddos in a dark classroom at their desks, sitting up straight, hands folded, with HUGE grins on their faces.

Here is a picture of them with my camera flash on, so you can see their cute little faces better. :-)

They love seeing my reaction when they do something like this! :-) Of course seeing this type of stuff makes me quite happy because who would have thought that this wild little bunch would be capable of quietly sitting still that long??!!

A Good Ending -

I told my kiddos last Friday that I would be ordering ants for our ant farm. Needless to say, there has been great anticipation this week wondering when the ants would arrive.

When my Mom delivered the package to the classroom this afternoon, and they realized what was inside, my kiddos started jumping up and down and shouting "Yay, Yay, Yay!!!" They could have spent the rest of the afternoon just watching the ants through the magnifying glass. I finally told them that we had to let the ants have a private meeting to discuss how they were going to build their tunnels in this new, strange environment. :-)

Okay ants...get busy digging your tunnels!
Your enthusiastic audience is anxiously waiting to see them!

Fear Not Tomorrow

I found the following song awhile ago on Youtube, and it was being sung by a family who goes around to different churches and places, serving the Lord through music. Just a couple of weeks ago, my friends, Nina and Selena, sang this song at church, and I was again reminded of the amazing truths inside this song!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In this age of uncertainty, questions come to my mind.
What is waiting ahead for me and the rest of mankind?

Fear not tomorrow, God is already there.
He's charting the course you'll take
He sees each hidden stair.
He's waiting to guide you,
through each burden and care.
Fear not tomorrow, God is already there.

Are you troubled o'er things to come?
Is your future unsure?
Are you dreading the coming dawn
A long day to endure?

Fear not tomorrow, God is already there.
He's charting the course you'll take
He sees each hidden stair.
He's waiting to guide you,
through each burden and care.
Fear not tomorrow, God is already there.

Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand,
oh but I know, who holds tomorrow,
and I know, oh I know, yes I know,
Who holds my hand.

Fear not tomorrow God is already there!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Here is a video clip of the Collingsworth family singing the song.....

Teacher Appreciation Day?

I can't remember what started it this morning. Oh, wait...now I remember! We were reviewing our classroom rules. We hadn't done that in awhile, so I thought we needed a good refresher. One of my students then informed me that when she was a Kindergarten teacher, she wouldn't have any classroom rules. One thing led to another, and before I knew it all 3 of my girls were planning their future teaching careers in MY classroom. Oh yes...it soon turned into a full fledged argument over who would be teaching Kindergarten first! Poor Aidan was the innocent bystander while I tried to inform the girls that there would be other schools they could teach Kindergarten in, so they could all be teachers at the same time. However, they told me that they didn't want to teach anywhere but at this school seeing how that is where their children would be attending Kindergarten. Yep, they had it all figured out. :-) Finally, it was decided that they would take turns teaching different subjects each day. Relieved that their futures were now secure, we were able to proceed on with our morning routine.

Daily News happened to be the next part of the morning routine, and there definitely was a "teacher appreciation" theme going on!

Suddenly, my kiddos got into a huddle....

Curious, I asked them what they were doing. I was informed that they were having a "kid meeting". Teachers have "teacher meetings" and kids have "kid meetings". I still have no idea what they were discussing, but instead of worrying about what devious plans were possibly being produced during their short "kid meeting", I took a picture. :-)

Oh, yes, it was an interesting start to a cRaZy Friday with my kiddos!!

Never Too Young!

Today at rest time, my kiddos were watching an episode of "The Storykeepers." They are 30 minute stories about Christians in Rome who were persecuted during the time of Emperor Nero's reign. These Christians had secret meetings and told stories about Jesus when He was here on earth. They are filled with adventure, and my kiddos LOVE watching them.

This particular episode was about Emperor Nero's birthday. He was having a rather large statue of his face erected in honor of this special occasion. Everyone was going to have to bow down and worship this statue, seeing how Nero considered himself to be a "god."

My kiddos are quite the inquisitive bunch. We never get through a Bible story, a regular storybook, or a movie without them asking me tons of questions. Today was no different!

Here is part of a conversation I had with Grace during the course of the movie:

Grace: Why did Nero think he was a god?

Miss Follett: He thought he was the best at everything and he was very proud {we had already had a discussion about what pride is earlier in the day!} He listened to Satan and Satan told him to do bad things because Satan is bad. Nero didn't really know about God.

Grace: {shocked voice} He never went to Sunday School?!!!

Miss Follett: No, no one ever invited him. {trying to keep it simple!}

Grace: {SHOCKED voice} Why didn't any one ever invite him to Sunday School?!! People are supposed to spread the Gospel!!!!!

Seeing how our church just finished up mission's month, I thought this was really neat to hear coming out of a 5 year old's mouth.

You are never too young to be missions-minded!

{Believe me...the conversation did not end at this point! This is just an excerpt! :-)}

The Greatly Anticipated Ice Cream Party

Every year our school participates in the Boxtops for Education. To make it fun, the Elementary students have a competition. The grades are split evenly into 2 teams. Each team brings in boxtops throughout the first months of the school year. Which ever team ends up with the most boxtops at the end of the competition gets to have an ice cream party.

At the beginning of the year when I explained all this to my Kindergarten kiddos, they were beyond thrilled that they could have an ice cream party if they won. Never have I had a class so anxious to win a boxtop competition! Every time one of my kiddos would bring in a bag of boxtops, they would ask me, "Are we winning? Will we get ice cream???" This has been going on since...well...it feels like forever! :-)

As the competition neared its end, it was rather obvious that my kiddos were WAY in the lead, and would most likely win the competition. My Mom (the school secretary) was in charge of this competition. Every time she would walk in the door, my kiddos would bombard her and pepper her with questions. "Are we winning the boxtops? Will we get ice cream?!"

Finally, the competition was over! My kiddos (along with their 1st & 2nd grade team members) were the winners!! Now the questions became..."When are we having ice cream? Is it today?" Oh, yes...questions never end, do they? :-)

I put a little note on our calendar so they could see when the party was going to take place. Every day when we had calendar time, they would count down the days till the party.

Today was finally *the* day!

Needless to say, the excitement/energy level was over the top ALL...DAY....LONG....:-)

{selecting their ice cream}

{putting on the toppings}

{Oh, boy...LOTS of sugar!!}

{I just LOVE Aidan's beaming face in this picture!}

{The winning team with their Boxtop certificates -
Just these 7 students brought in over 900 boxtops!}

{Altogether our school brought in 3,896 boxtops! At 10 cents per boxtop, you do the math!}