Some of the little moments:
I went to do a home visit when teaching in Leavenworth. There were two LARGE iguanas just strolling across the floor! Um…No!
I was being observed by the principal. It was in October and we had been talking about “spooky” animals; owls, bats, black cats, etc. The students were cutting out bats to hang from the ceiling. One of my little boys made a squiggly line between the bat’s ears. When the principal asked him about it, he said, “That’s to show it’s using its echolocation.” Yeah, buddy!!
To say the least, the principal was shocked!
I was a member of Building Leadership in one of my buildings. We had just been introduced to PLCs-Professional Learning Communities. Every time our grade level met, we had to fill out a form about what we discussed and questions that we had and turn it in to the principal. My teaching partner and I had the feeling the sheets weren’t being read. After one meeting, I wrote on the sheet, “A margarita machine in the staff lounge would be a good solution.” It was never addressed, confirming that our sheets were not being read.
Guest Teaching (Substituting) when my own children were younger was always an experience. One day I was teaching in our son’s elementary classroom. You need to know that our home was “The Hangout.” I knew all of his friends…well! Well, his friends were acting like they were hanging out at our house, my son was trying so hard to behave that he ended up with a headache. From that point on, I would not teach in his classroom. He deserved the opportunity to be himself and not try to behave himself because I was in the room.
Another day, I substituted in a high school math class. Math is not my strong suite. One of the stocky football players came into the room. He asked if I was my daughter’s mom. I told him that I was. He told me that she told him to be nice to me or she would kick his butt. Seriously?? She weighed all of 98 pounds, dripping wet! He said, “Yeah, but she’s scrappy!”
At the beginning of the school year, I started my preschool classes with a Pete the Cat theme. For those of you who don’t know Pete the Cat books, there are many. The first one applies to this story. Pete is walking in his new, white, shoes and continuously steps in something (strawberries, blueberries, mud, water) changing the color of his shoes. It’s a great way to check for color recognition! After reading the story, the class discussed what other things Pete might step in and what color his shoes would turn. Next I gave each student an outline of a shoe and asked them to color it and then tell me what they stepped in. One of my friends decided to color her shoe multiple colors. When I asked her what she stepped in, she proudly announced, “A pile of rainbows!” What an imagination!!
