I knew I was strange....

So I'm eating my lunch one day and all of a sudden one of my little boys goes, "You're odd." I looked at him with a puzzled look on my face I'm sure and then looked at one of my other boys as if to say "You think so too?" He just smiled and shrugged. After pausing for a minute, the boy said, "Yeah, we're all even, except for a couple of kids. I'm 6, so I'm even, right? But you're odd." Man, was I relieved. Not only did he actually understand the concept of even and odd, but he also apparently remembered my age (23). At least he didn't think I was truly strange!

Como se dice... in English?

I have one child in my class who came into school knowing no English whatsoever. When we started school, she had only been in the United States (she's from Mexico) for a month! Talk about culture shock... she barely had time to adjust to a new country before she was thrust into school. During the first two weeks, she cried every single day. It was really hard because I was told to just let her cry. One day I had to teach over her wailing for forty minutes. Luckily, I have done a fabulous job retaining a lot of the Spanish I learned in my three years of high school and semester of college. I have been able to communicate a lot of what I need her to do through what I remember. I keep meaning to get in touch with my high school Spanish teacher and thank her! I think some of the first things we learned in her class (other than hello and the alphabet) were school supplies. Boy have they come in handy! She has now started picking up English phrases, especially since she started ESOL classes a couple of weeks ago. She gets really excited when she knows the answer to something. The other day she was reading a book and came to a picture of a child holding a dog. She asked me "Como se dice in English?" That was just so cute because she had never asked me how to say something in English before, and the fact that she said "in English" instead of "en ingles." It is such an amazing experience being able to watch her go through the process of learning another language. I feel very privileged and excited to be part of that journey!

(I apologize for the lack of accents where they are supposed to be, but I don't know how to put them in.)

Background Check

Figured I'd give you all a brief overview of my class and school so it will put everything else in perspective. I am a first grade teacher at a Title I, arts integrated magnet school in a suburban school district in South Carolina. I have fifteen students in my class: nine girls/six boys, eleven African Americans/three Hispanics and one Caucasian. There are two languages spoken in my classroom: English and Spanish, with one student speaking almost exclusively the latter. I have two repeaters and most of my class is either on grade level or below; I only have one "higher level" student," if that's what you'd like to call it. At our school, children participate in Spanish, Art, Computers, Dance, Drums, Music and P.E. They may also play string instruments if they are accepted.

Welcome to first grade!

It would obviously be more inviting if my eyes were open, but don't I look excited?!





















It still seems weird to see my name in print like this:
















Here is the calendar, etc. area of my room. There is much more now that school has started!
















This is the fabulous reading area. It is by far my favorite part of the room.
















These pictures are from the beginning of school, and already my room looks quite different. I will try to post more at some point when I get a hold of a camera. This is just a little introduction to my blog. When I get a little extra time, I will start posting stories of my adventures with a group of six year olds!