Today was pajama day! Ms. Wink called me in the morning to tell me that she had emailed parents last night to let them know that it was pajama day. So fun! Sadly, because of the dress code at BC, I'm not allowed to dress down - but I decided to bring my Snuggie just in case there was a moment that I could whip it out!
I got to school early to plan with Ms. Wink, but I ended up getting pulled in to help out Dr. Morse with a craft project. YES! Glue sticks are like an additional appendage for me! By the time I finished, it was the beginning of the school day. Planning postponed.
The students were so psyched to wear their pajamas, and Ms. Wink told them that there was a surprise for them later in the day....what will it be??
Math was fun today! Dr. Morse and Mrs. Callahan dressed up like the deputy and the sheriff to explain how to do 2x2 digit multiplication. The deputy (the ones digit in the multiplier) lassos the ones digit above - drops the ones into jail (under the equal sign) and carries over the tens. Then the deputy lassos the tens digit, adds the carried value, and drops it in jail. Then the sheriff comes back to town and puts the deputy in the hole for taking over her job while she was gone ("0" place value hold in ones column under the deputy's product). Then the sheriff does her work, carries numbers and places values in jail. At the end, all of the numbers are added up to create the total product. It was a cute show.
Ms. Conrad was absent today, so Social Studies was just a focus on math work. Students worked on "math boxes" which are problems to work on in their Everyday Mathematics workbooks. As I was helping students, I realized a few things: 1) students don't know how to divide. 2) students don't know their multiplication facts. 3) they were taught these wacky ways to multiply that are screwing up their thinking when it comes to traditional algorithms. I'm all for students getting the conceptual understanding of math, but not at the expense of them being able to complete a simple math problem. I was doing this stuff in 3rd grade, and knew how to complete long division problems by the end of 4th grade. I'm a little worried that they're not going to be ready for algebra, geometry, trig, and calculus.
Because Ms. Conrad was absent, I was sent to co-cover her classroom for one period. It was mostly a transitional period that consisted of me taking them to PE, recess, and my favorite part of the day - journal buddies with the kindergartners! I entered Mrs. Bella's classroom and fell in love with the Ks! They are just so little and cute!!! I also loved Mrs. Bella's classroom - it was perfect - every corner was meaningfully decorated with words, visual instructions of how to construct numbers and letters, a painting station, a pumpkin investigation station, student self portraits and crafts areas that were just perfect. Everything was perfectly organized and neatly put away in its own spot. I had a very nice conversation with Mrs. Bella - I complimented her on how inspiring her room was, and she was grateful for the compliment. She said that she had been teaching for 35 years and that it took a while to get things right. I also said that I fell in love with the students, she smiled and said, "It's hard not to - they are just so darn cut at this age!" She and I continued to to talk about the profession, and she asked me what grade I wanted to teach. I said that I liked the older students, but after visiting her room, it was hard to not want to stay. She laughed, smiled and said, "It takes a special kind of person to work with the Ks - not that I'm extra special - just a certain kind of patience. If you're looking for the give and take of conversation, you really do need to go 3rd or above." Such great advice. I do want that give and take, so it will be important for me to look for jobs with grades 3 and above. The Ks are so cute though...
When I returned back to Ms. Wink's class, she announced the surprise - Movie Day! The students were given a huge kudos by being allowed to watch a movie! Ice age 2 - The Meltdown! The students were so excited and loved every minute of it. Watching the movie with them reminded me of just how young they still are. They laughed at things that were more slapstick than funny, but it was cute to watch. Some of them are so tall, it's easy to forget just how young they are.
Ms. Wink and I ate our lunches in the background, planned for next week, and ate slices of my left over birthday cake. It was perfect!
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