Diva

For the past couple of weeks we have been preparing for our Kindergarten "Spring Musicale" (thanks High School Musical) and it has some developed some interesting characteristics in some of the five year olds I see every day.

First of all, they think they are just fabulous (which, of course, they are). I mean, your first time standing on stage in front of hundreds of people, singing at the top of your lungs, trying your best to get those adorable choreographed moves? Point to the audience, hands on your hips, snap in the air, bouncing back and forth. That is all a big deal.

In preparation for the big night, we have been practicing in the classroom. While the majority of them took it as an opportunity to be ridiculous, some of them took it very seriously. I wish I had this on videotape, but even if I did, I couldn't put it on here for ethical and legal reasons, although You Tube might pick it up. But one little boy is so devoted to the quality of the musical performances of Center Point Elementary, that he has decided to add his own improvisations to the end of each song. Think Whitney, think Mariah, think Beyonce, and even a little Jennifer Hudson. All from a little five year old boy voice. He even has the hand motions down and everything. And the best part is, he is channeling his inner-diva at the end of songs such as "My Backpack," "I Like School," and "The Months of the Year." I told him I would get him his own dressing room and bedazzled microphone.

When the performance night actually got here, they all arrived in their very best outfits. We the teachers quickly learned that little man vest outfits (pretty much the components of a tux minus the jackets) are all the rage. And they come in all different colors! Silver, gold, purple, you name it! I haven't seen that much synthetic material disguised as formal wear since I was in a department store in South Korea. But they were adorable. As we started to line up, the stage fright definitely set in. While walking my class into the gymnasium, one of my little boys took one look at the crowd, grabbed my head and said "Ms. Teegarden…." in the most worrisome and apprehensive voice I have ever heard him use, as he nervously eyed all the mamas and grand-mamas that he was about to perform for. I was more amused than anything, and of course just put him up on the stage with the rest of them. He eventually warmed up to the crowd.

And then, once all the kids were in place, ready to sing, the real fun started. For a good five minutes straight, all the mamas and aunties and daddies and uncles came up and literally stood right in front of where their child was standing, and just took pictures. It was like our own little version of the paparazzi or the red carpet. And even when the music was cued, and our precious music teacher began directing above the heads of the photographers, they didn't budge. Forget concert decorum. They were getting that close up picture of their baby. And the kids ate up every minute of it. They had their game faces on. They knew they were stars. And as entertaining as it was, it makes me wonder about this generation we are raising. Maybe a generation of divas.

Class of 2009-2010

Here they are!

Stuck

This actually did not happen to a student of mine, but it was so entertaining I felt like I had to share it with the larger Internet community. Or the six people that actually read this, half of which are my immediate family members.

A little bit of information before the story starts: the school that I work at is a Title 1 school, which means we, the teachers, are privileged (or required, depending on who you talk to) to do many, many hours of professional development. This often requires us to leave our precious little angels with substitute teachers anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. You can imagine the kind of shenanigans that occur, especially when us leaving for said meetings has lately become like a bi-weekly occurrence. . .

Side note to this story: The principal came in my room to observe me teaching the other day, and some of the kids automatically assumed that she was there to teach/watch them while I left (they told me this afterwards, thank goodness). I actually think they were a little disappointed that they had to put up with my teaching for the rest of the day.

So, imagine a room full of 5/6 year olds with someone who is not their regular teacher. What would you do? Of course, you would try to get away with everything you KNOW you would not be able to get with if your beloved, regular teacher was present:

Dance in line and in the hallway instead of walking? That's a given.

Steal glue sticks and pencils and anything else you can find that is somewhat inconspicuous and take them home? Why not? Maybe you can sell them to your siblings and friends.

Tell the sub that you ride the bus when you actually are supposed to stay in the after school program? And then end up wandering around your apartment complex by yourself? That's a really good one.

See if you can climb through the hole between the back and the bottom of your chair? Absolutely.

And that is exactly what happened.

To a kindergartener, that small foot of space is apparently THE place to be. If you were of a certain size, wouldn't you want to see if you could fit in such an appealing hole? Wouldn't you want to see if you could actually wear your chair like you wear your clothes? Wouldn't you want your teacher to come back and be absolutely amazed at the feat you just accomplished? Wouldn't you want for all of the custodians and the computer teacher to come in and see if they could figure out a way to get the chair off of you? Because, bonus, it's a really old chair that simply won't come unscrewed.

Maybe other teachers and maybe even the principals would come by to see what you have done! Maybe someone will take a picture of you! Hopefully, if you're lucky, a first grader will stand outside the door and tell everyone who passes by your story—that you have defied the odds. And then, if you are really lucky, perhaps all of the adults in the room will finally come to the conclusion that they are going to have to cut the chair off you, much like victims of car accidents are pried from their vehicles with the Jaws of Life. How cool is that?!? If I were 5 years old, and had my whole life and career in front of me, getting stuck in my chair at school would be a pinnacle experience that I just would not want to miss out on.

One of my favorite sayings is "It's funny because it's true." And all these things are funny, because all these things are 100% true. I love my job.

 

New Year, New Class, New Stories

So the first few days of the school year in Kindergarten are what I like to call the 2 Es. Exhausting and Entertaining. Here are a few highlights from the first couple of days with my new sources of material:

· My children lovingly refer to the classic character “Humpty Dumpty” as “Hunky Dunky.” I didn’t really catch it when we were reciting the nursery rhyme together, but became aware of this pronunciation problem when I asked what happened when Humpty Dumpty was sitting on the wall and got the response “Hunky Dunky had fell!”

· The first four or so days I wore my contacts (per usual) but on the fifth day I
switched it up and wore my glasses to school (not so much for fashion purposes but because I have been so EXHAUSTED that I haven’t been taking my contacts out before I go to bed. Sorry Dr. Brown). As with all kids who see an adult they are used to in glasses for the first time, they were a little taken aback and stared, but no one really said anything. UNTIL we were having our morning meeting. In the middle of the story, one of my girls raised her hand and said “I think you should take those glasses off now.” Great.

· In Kindergarten we learn to say the days of the week in order. We even have a little song that goes like this: “There’s Sunday and there’s Monday, there’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday, etc.” One of my little boys hasn’t quite gotten the memo that we are singing the days of the week and he sings the song like this: “There’s Monday and there’s elephant, there’s Tuesday and there’s monkey…” It’s all I can do to not laugh at this while I’m teaching.

· I really have a sweet class this year. When I went to pick them up in the gym one morning, they all applauded when they saw me coming. I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before, not with little people or adults.

If the first seven days are any indication of how the rest of the year will go, I’m sure the hilarity will keep on coming.

Class Photo

Here they are! The source of all my material.

Reading Buddies

**I just made the decision today to make my blog mostly about the crazy funny things that happen in my classroom at Center Point Elementary. The tale that I am about to tell has become a classic, especially with my family, so I figured I needed to make sure it was included. **

Back in the fall during Read Across America Week, we had a special day where the kids could bring a stuffed animal or "Reading Buddy" to school for the day. Now you would think that most 5/6 year olds would have some sort of very cute and cuddly animal or doll to bring to school, and for most of my class, that was the case. However, one of my precious little ones broke the mold just a little bit.

As I was walking into the gym that morning to pick them up, the teacher that was on bus duty caught my eye as soon as I walked in the room, and her look told me that something ridiculous was happening. I got over to her and she said "Look at what one of your kids is holding." And sure enough, there he is cradling..... A Chucky doll. That's right, Chucky of motion picture, mass murdering fame. I didn't even know what to say. All of the other kids in my class looked terrified, including my "difficult" child, who has said things a lot scarier than Chucky.

We get back to the room, and as the plan was to let them keep their buddies at their seat, I couldn't very well leave this child out, so Chucky came to Kindergarten. All day, all of the other children were eyeing this doll as if any moment he was going to come alive and torture them. And honestly, I don't blame them. And the funniest part was that the child that brought it treated the doll like any other child would treat a baby doll or stuffed animal, hugging it and playing with it.

I, of course, immediately instant messaged all of my co-workers to tell them what this child had brought to school, and they all wanted to see it for themselves, so I let him bring Chucky to lunch. We showed him to the other teachers and then just put him on the table. I noticed that one of my girls was not eating her lunch but just looking at the doll. I asked her if she was ok and she responded "Miss Teegarden, that doll is makin' me itch."

It was an eventful day.

Musical Frame of Reference

I have found that the music my children fall asleep the best to is Christian/Praise and Worship music, so that is what I play. And it works out for me because usually by nap time I need a little encouragement. We have been listening to the same playlist for a while, but just the other day, one of my boys (who usually falls fast asleep) was awake and decided to give his opinion on the music. The song that was playing was a Jill Phillips song (If you have never heard Jill, here is her website. Check her out, she is amazing. Also, it will help you understand the story more.) So the song is playing and here was our conversation:

Him: Ms. Teegarden, this is Hannah Montana?

Me (holding in the laughter): No sweetie, it's not.

Him: Are you sure? I heard this song in her movie.

Me: Yes I'm sure, it's not her.

Him: It sounds like her. She can sing this song in her next movie?

Me: She just might.

As you probably know, Hannah Montana doesn't really fit into the acoustical singer/songwriter genre that Jill Phillips is classified as, so I found this hilarious that his only frame of reference for a female singer was Hannah Montana. Especially since he is my boy that usually gets in the most trouble for "boy things." like fighting, saying inappropriate things, etc.

As a side note, we had a Dance Party as a part of our May Day Field Day last Friday, and this child sang AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS when Hannah Montana came on, and he knew every single word of the song.