Introducing....

Angel-May Nemo-Bob Peter!!!

Our class pet has arrived! You may be wondering how he got such a wonderful name (hee hee) and I owe it all to my funny, cute students. I had them write their "favorite" name on a piece of paper (they were not allowed to write their own name) and then we put them all in a fish bowl and I drew out three...then they decided they wanted five names, so I drew out two more...and there you have it....Angel-May Nemo-Bob Peter (the hyphens were their idea too!) We had to adjust the first drawing of his name, because it was inappropriate (not horribly, but I'm not taking any chances at either having peeved parents or a peeved principal), so we drew another "first" name. The students already love him and can't wait to see him every day. So far he's done swimmingly well in first grade. =) The tank is easy and portable, so at the end of the year whoever wins him, will have an easy time taking him home.

Am I really going to do this again???

Class fish time...yep - here we go again.  However, things will be different this year, because #1) there are only 6-7 weeks left of school - hardly enough time for the fish to die, right?? (who am I kidding?) #2)  I am using the fish as a classroom incentive...turn in your homework, get your classwork done and you're entered into a raffle...I will pull a name out of a fish bowl the last week of school and voila - that student is the proud owner of our class fish.  (Don't worry - I got parental consent already!)  

The reality of the situation is that I'm a sucker.  My kids are cute...I'd do anything for them...and they've been SO good they deserve something totally fun to look forward to, besides summer. =)  If I do goldfish, maybe I could get two...we'll see.  They realllllly want a betta tho.  So, stay tuned for the introduction of our class fish...I'm sure he'll make his appearance later this week.  

laughter...pure joy

Yesterday was one of those days that I both love and hate teaching...but mostly love :o)  My kids were SOOO happy...no special reason...just because....and they could NOT stop laughing...at everything.  So much so that I finally gave up on trying to teach math and took them out and made them run two laps around the field.  They were gasping by the time we got done...and it was good. =)  We finally got some math done...

Some days you just have to laugh...

(ok, maybe there was a little tickling involved...but they started it!)

13 stitches...and the persistent movie date request

That was the final count for my little guy from last week.  He was back in school today with 13 stitches and a wonderful attitude.  What a little trooper!! =)  I'm happy to have him back and so is the rest of my class.  We made him the CUTEST get well cards on Friday...I hope he keeps them forever.  My husband keeps commenting that when he was younger, probably a first grader himself, that he got really sick and his whole class made him cards.  He swears his mom still has them tucked away in a box somewhere!  It's pretty amazing the love that exudes from these little ones.  I'm sure glad he (my student) wasn't hurt worse...I don't know how the rest of the kiddos would have taken it.

"Ms. Eklund?  Will you come to my house after school to watch a movie?"  

(I'm sorry honey, I can't, I have an appointment tonight.)  

"Well, what about tomorrow night?"  

(Sorry sweety, I have an appointment tomorrow night too.)  

"Then what about Wednesday night...or Thursday night...or Friday night?"  

(I'm sorry honey, I just can't come over to your house and watch a movie.)  

"Well, I'm going to keep asking, because I know some day you'll say YES!"  

(Look honey, here's your Mom!)  Phew!   

Persistent little feller, isn't he?

By far the worst injury of the year...

Imagine a 7 year old running in hallway...now imagine someone opening a classroom door...now hear the impact of a head and a door...blood everywhere.  Welcome to my world this morning!  One of my students (who knows better, by the way, than to RUN in the hallway) was running in the hallway and someone opened a classroom door.  He has a pretty decent sized gash above his left eye, about 3/4 to 1" long.  His mom came and we directed her to take him to the ER immediately as he was starting to get drowsy already, which is a good indicator of head trauma.  So...off they went.  I am hoping to get an update later today from his mom.  Poor little guy.  I did, however, use him as an example for the rest of the class about the perils of running in the hallways.  

What a day!

too funny not to share...

Yesterday, I got out my big role of tape so that I could tape a student's nametag down on her desk.  As I was getting out the tape and ripping off a piece, one of my students comes up to me, puts his hands behind his back (like he's being arrested) and says, "It was me...I did it...take me to jail."   Hilarious!   I just looked at him in disbelief trying really hard not to laugh out loud, because the first thought in my mind is about his Dad...was he arrested?  Has he seen someone arrested?  All of that.  So I asked him and he said he watches a lot of tv...and that's what they do on tv.  I didn't bother asking how using tape as handcuffs factored in.... =)  And let's not even get into what a horrible crook this kid would be (that's a good thing) seeing how he automatically gave himself up!  lol