Category: Learnin’ ‘Em Kids

I teach. Most of these posts are password-protected.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

P.S. Both a friend and my brother worried aloud to me today that I might get dooced.

Of course I might. I think about it all the time.

But what I told both of them is that I value my self-expression more than I value any job. This blog has been transformational for me over the last year. (By the way, my blogiversary is coming up! Gifts welcome! I’m registered at Lord & Taylor! No I’m not!) So if I get fired because of what I’ve written here, well, that will suck big hairy goat balls, but so be it.

Can You Use It in a Sentence, Please?

Having always been a champion speller*, I find kids who can’t spell fascinating.

Today we were discussing class jobs. I wrote them all on the board, and we talked about what each one entailed. Then I gave the kids index cards and told them to write down their top three job choices.

This is what I got (and remember, all the jobs were written on the board):

  • sweper
  • bord worsher, bored washer (Ha—what would that person do?)
  • pencil sharpiner, pensel sharpiner, pencil sarper, pencel shapener, peneil shanpener (That last one sounds like a burning sensation you should see your doctor about.)
  • libraren, liydeary (Oh dear, someone has dyslexia.)
  • resekliler (Can you guess what this one is?)

*Cove Creek School champion, 7th grade—beat out my eighth-grade brother and cried because I didn’t want him to lose. Went to the district spelling bee, and got out on the word ‘abstain’. I didn’t know what ‘abstain’ meant (go ahead—make your funny jokes), and the way the lady pronounced it, it sounded like ‘obtain’ to me.

Why I Do My Job, Part 6

Tina was also one of my third graders from the 2008-2009 school year.

Here’s the body:

Dear Ms. Scott,

Thank you for helping me to learn writing. You also taught me the story map. At first I thought that writing was lame so that’s why I was so bad at writing stories, but after a while of hard work with writing you inspired me to write stories in all my lifetime. I understand how important writing is now.

Next up is the read aloud. I know you try to pick the best books for us and I appreciate that. Also you have a great voice for that. When you read you say it so dramatically that I feel that I’m actually there and when you talk like Bradley Chalkers from There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom or Byron from The Watsons go to Birmingham I feel like I can actually hear them because when somebody exclaimed something I actually felt that somebody exclaiming that something.

Thank you for the cool Scott’s sixties mixes*. I listen to it almost every day. I loved when we went into poems. I loved poetry night. My favorite type of poem was the limericks and the haikus.

Once again thank you for this whole year of joy and fun.

Love,

———

P.S. Mommy didn’t help me at all!

I love this. Especially the part about somebody and something.

*While I read aloud The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (which everyone should read, by the way), I teach them the Motown songs that are mentioned in the story and others from the same period. After we’re done with the story, I give each kid a CD called “Ms. Scott’s Sixties Mix” with all the tunes on it.

Perfect

In preparation for the move to my new job, I’ve been cleaning out my classroom. Amongst other things, I found a bunch of cards from my students from when Boonie died.

Here’s one, written by a third grader. (I taught a 3rd/4th combination class last year.)

The front: Sorry About Your Dog, with hearts and pressed flowers
The inside: Dear Ms. Scott, I'm so sorry about your dog. I don't quite know how it feels. I've been thinking about you. I really hope you feel better soon. I just want you to know I care. Love, K---

If you ever need to write a condolence card, this is how it’s done.