A Day in the Life

It is very hard to believe that we are now just a few weeks away from the mid-point of the school year. Inevitably, the first half of the year always seems to move much more quickly than the back half. But still, could we really be this far along?

When I was in grade school myself I used to hate to see the school year end. I was far from being a teacher's pet or even a "good" student. I goofed off a lot and paid attention very little. But I enjoyed being there. I distinctly remember being asked by a classmate on the last day of sixth grade if I was crying. I was. Despite having the world's worst teacher that year I still hated to see school end.

Being a teacher is much like this but even worse. Not only do you say goodbye to the daily routines and conversations that you love so much but you say goodbye to some of the best friends you could ever wish to have - your students. And you're always positive that next year's group couldn't possibly be as special as the bunch you're watching walk out the door.

So, seeing the year inch toward its midpoint - closer and closer to that dreadful day - I decided, on Friday, to keep a list in my teaching journal of all my favorite parts of the day. I told the kids I would be carrying it with me everywhere so that I could jot down all the treasures of teaching and living in our classroom and our school.

Here is what I noted...

1. When we first pulled into the parking lot the kids quickly yelled out "Mr. O isn't here!" Sure enough, his car was not parked in its usual spot along the side yard of our campus. We walked into the building worried about where he could be. He had never not been there when we arrived. And this was the first item for my list - comforting predictability. Every day Tim (Mr. O) shows up first and unlocks the door, puts out the newspapers for us, and heads to his room to work. Everyday I poke my head in and say "Good morning" before going about my own preparations. It's as much a part of my day as any other and definitely one that I always look forward to. Thankfully, he made it in just a bit later and we all felt a sense of relief.

2. As I unpacked my book bag the kids asked if I needed them to do anything for me. They are always so happy to sharpen pencils, record the date on the board, staple papers, or do anything else that needs to be done. As hard as it is at times to concentrate and get ready with the four of them in the room, the day will come that I will greatly miss these mornings together.

3. One of my students (whose mother is also a teacher at our school) came over to ask if Muluken and Ty wanted to come over to his mom's room for a "play date." They were both extremely excited to do so.

4. Just before school Tim and I had a great conversation about wonderful books to read during the holiday season. Not so much books that speak of any one holiday or tradition, but books that deal with friendship, caring, etc. I learned about a Cynthia Rylant book of short stories that I had never even heard of. I made plans to borrow the book.

5. Every Friday, as our students meet before school in the Gathering Room, Lyn or Beth comes in and plays music so the kids can dance. This is a big hit. And even though it is unbelievably loud and not even a closed classroom door can help you escape it, it's one of my favorite parts of the week. The kids have a great time dancing and laughing arm-in-arm. The fun always winds down to Randy Newman's sweet song "You've Got a Friend in Me." I love coming out of my classroom to run an errand at 7:58 each Friday so that I look out and see all those kids gathering up their bags and coats excited for another day together. No school anywhere has the sense of community and friendship that CFI does.

6. My class came in, unpacked, and headed off to one of their favorite parts of the day - Explorations. During the first 25 minutes of the day they select for themselves what they would like to engage in. Some choose to play chess. Others head off to the board to create different algorithms for the number that has been written there. Some choose to write in their writing notebook or to play a math game. But the most popular choice tends to be the science table. Friday was no exception. We've been exploring magnets the past week or two and the kids LOVE to experiment with them. On Friday I pulled out a science kit from our cabinet and the kids noticed magnet cars in it. These cars were no more than a rectangular piece of plastic, two long pins, and four plastic wheels. Still, you'd have thought they struck gold. A group of about eight kids quickly assembled the cars, mounted magnets on top, and then grabbed more magnets to push the cars. The purpose of the cars was to demonstrate how the like-ends of two magnets repel one another. The kids absolutely loved it.

7. The next part of our day is always a Morning Meeting. On Friday, Brandon brought in his electric guitar to share, three people shared a book they had purchased at the Book Fair, three more shared coin collections from home (some sorted by year just as we had done the day before in class),and many others told us about newspaper articles they had been reading. Daniel's article was about a two-headed python. After he finished, Madison called out "I loved that article!"

8. Later in the morning I read one of my all-time favorite books, Silver Packages. It's a book that consistently makes me cry on the final page. It's not a sad story but definitely a very touching one. I felt myself starting to crumble by the third page. At page ten I stopped to explain that this story sometimes makes me cry. As I read on I kept an internal dialogue with myself to hold it together. But as I turned the last page I knew I wouldn't make it. So I bailed out. I held out the book for the class to read the final line - the one that chokes me up. Ah, I robbed my kids of an opportunity to see how the written word can move someone to really feel something in a very strong way. I promised myself afterward not to do this again.

9. During writing, Edwin came up to me and said "I'm going to publish my latest song." He then held it out for me to look at and explained "I want to fade out on the last word." Sure enough, the last work was written smaller than all the rest. My favorite part of this interaction, though, was the fact that he referred to it as his latest song. He obviously sees himself as a songwriter. How cool is that? It made me wonder what I saw myself as when I was in second grade. Edwin has many identities by which he sees himself. I was just so happy that a writer was one of them.

10. During math we considered which would be more - a 1" stack of pennies or a 1' line of pennies laid side-to-side. The kids made predictions, we measured them, and then counted the monetary worth of both the 1" stack and the 1' line. Afterward, the kids went off to work on doing the same thing for nickels, dimes, and quarters. While the kids were working to make informed predictions, carefully measure the coins, and then count each group of change accurately, it was the fact that we had so much fun that caught my attention. I remember a debate during one of my graduate courses about whether or not it is necessary for learning to be fun. I certainly have my own opinion but it means very little because ultimately I want to make sure that teaching is always fun.

11. Because the other second grade class was away on a field trip today, we were able to join Mr. O's class for recess. The kids were so excited to get out and play O-Ball (a dodge ball game) with the third graders. I had a lot of fun as well. It was hard to keep myself from becoming too competitive. There were a lot of laughs and not one single argument. This is definitely a game we'll have to adopt for ourselves.

12. At the end of the day our class met in book clubs. Over the past week they had been reading a book with a small group and meeting from time to time to discuss it. Since everyone was finishing their books on Friday and chatting about them for the final time I decided to bring in refreshments and make a big deal of it. We had a blast. As I moved from group to group I was amazed by the wonderful discussions taking place about characters and plot and illustrations and so on. I wish I were half as smart as these guys when I was in second grade. I am so incredibly lucky to spend each day with them!

The best thing about this list is the fact that I've actually left out a bunch. I didn't mention Patton giving away the necklace that came with the set of books he purchased at the Book Fair. He explained that he really just wanted the books anyway. I also didn't mention how Kayla wrote a great comic or how Jenna worked with a timer to revise the song she's writing so that it'll be about two minutes long. I failed to mention the brand new set of books that Charee, our intern, bought for us and we added to our classroom library. I didn't say a thing about how much I LOVE wearing shorts and a t-shirt to school every single Friday no matter how cold it is outside. I omitted the poem I wrote about learning to play the guitar and the observation from someone in the district office that went well enough. So much to mention and all in just a single day. That's the best part of being a teacher.

There are 179 more.

Childish Adult (Dad)