warping tiny (and possibly not so tiny) little minds

I am loving the first grade. My research group (and I along with them) is learning where rubber comes from (Trees! how did I make it to 25 without knowing that?). We built an awesome (if I do say so myself) rubber tree in the classroom. I will post pictures when I find my camera (did I get jacked by a 5 year old?)

I have also learned that deadpan humor is at best lost on children and at worst might warp their mind. This was an exchange I had at the end of the day yesterday:

Cute-Little-Wided-Eyed-Girl-Who-Trusts-Her-Teacher-As-A-Source-of-Truth-And-As-Someone-Who-Would Never-Ever-Mislead-Her (not her real name): Who invented the backpack?

Me: John C. Backpack the Third.

CLWEGWTHTAASOTAASWWNEMH: * blink * *blink*

I had to explain that I was joking and she had a few followup questions including a bunch on why I chose the name John for which I had no answers and eventually I just told her she needed to find her line partner and get ready to go downstairs and then I ran away.

So I have stopped having panic attacks about going into school and genuinely enjoying the classroom I am in and the first grade in general just in time for it all to end at the end of the month. In November I am getting a new placement and it looks like it's going to be in the 5th grade.

5th grade!

They are giants and almost hormonal and nowhere near as adorably trusting as first graders. I have begun to talk in the overly enthusiastic cheesy way that first graders eat up with a spoon but I have a feeling won't fly with 5th graders. Plus the NYCBOE are much more up your ass about hitting standards for testing in upper grades so possibly no more building rubber trees :(

OK memory lane: 5th grade:

we got binders and assignment books and had to start keeping track of multiple subjects and writing essays.

On that essay writing note: I had a mental breakdown writing a science essay on magnets on my birthday and my dad and mom helped me write it and we STILL got a C. Which was the first time (but by FAR not the last) I heard my dad call a teacher a "petty tyrant."

I think girls began wearing bras ... I got boobs that year.

Periods? I think some of us got them.

I began wearing jeans instead of leggings

I had a HUGE crush on Harry

I think I became obsessed with Ace of Base

I secretly listened to LoveLine (A call in sex question show) at night. I understood about a quarter of what was said but thought most of it was hilarious.

Help me out...what do you all remember?

"Tuck" internal combustion.

The first grade classroom I am in uses the inquiry method of learning for social studies. The children choose a topic and spend the semester investigating it in smaller research groups. I was put in charge of a group interested in investigating "vehicles". Today was our first meeting where we had to narrow that topic down. For some reason I wanted to try to persuade my group to investigate sanitation vehicles (I am still not sure why... I became momentary fascinated with street sweepers).

They did not go for it.

Instead they want to know how engines work, something I know less than NOTHING about. So I am now frantically reading about spark plugs and pistons and trying to figure out how to translate that for 6 year olds. I am planning of buying myself some time and starting with bikes but it turns out I know nothing about them either. Though, thanks to a very nice bike shop on the upper east side, I have a bike chain and two sprockets which I shall attempt to base a lesson around.

Also, today a reminder of how 6 year olds minds may be in the toilet (poop is a huge theme) but they are not yet in the gutter:

Today while learning about the sounds certain letter combos make the teacher asked this question:

"Who can tell me another word that rhymes with 'duck' that your parents do when you go to bed"

Every child in the class immediately knew the answer is 'Tuck (you into bed)'.

you dirty pervs.

Back to school!

I did not update this blog this summer as much as I wanted.

My excuses are work, finding a new apartment and moving in with my boyfriend (!), and taking a two week vacation with my family where we drove from San Francisco to Vancouver (which was awesome) none of which had very much to do with museum education.

But now... I'm back in the thick of it. Today I have homework I should be doing and the sudden urge to procrastinate...er, I mean, be vigilant about my blog has struck me.

The biggest news is I started student teaching in the first grade this week.

For the first day I wanted to fit in and wore what I consider to be the universal uniform of the Progressive school elementary teacher:

Note the interesting vaguely indigenous/ hippie patterned shirt over black pants of irregular length and clunky black shoes. I felt the part. Now the task is acting like it.

Also, the first pearl of wisdom from one of the 5 year old boys in my classroom:

"Don't say 'stupid' because it's a bad word and if you say it no one will like you and no girl will want to marry you and you'll end up crying for the rest of your life...with your parents."

words to live by.