Elbow, knees, dreams : boys

My New Cast of Characters

kiri8 — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:35:01 GMT

This has been, as I’ve mentioned, a slightly more difficult start to the school year than I’ve had in recent years. However, it feels like it’s about me rather than the kids. This class is very sweet, with no major behavior problems, unlike last year....(read more)

I’m in the right place

kiri8 — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:04:27 GMT

One morning, not long ago, one of my brightest little boys made my day. His bus arrives early, so every morning he peeks in through the window on our door, sometimes jumping up and down with excitement. If he sees one of us moving around the room, getting...(read more)

I know how to write the letter Q

kiri8 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:38:45 GMT

Not too long ago, the letter of the week was Q. I introduced it, and then demonstrated how to write it on my big chart paper. First I wrote capital Q correctly, a few times, and then I showed how to write lowercase q. “Now I’m going to write it the wrong...(read more)

Touching the octopus and other acts of bravery

kiri8 — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:31:34 GMT

Yesterday was another hard day. Our one child is in a tailspin, presumably because things are very bad at home, and brings to our peaceful little classroom a tornado of terror, rage, and stress. The three adults are barely coping, and it feels terrible....(read more)

hands

kiri8 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:35:41 GMT

Today we went to the auditorium with the whole school for an assembly about Black History Month. The featured speaker was wonderful, but his words went over the heads of my small ones. Nonetheless, they were very patient and good, and they enjoyed the...(read more)

I have a daddy but my daddy hates us

kiri8 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:50:05 GMT

Today was our first day learning about our February theme, Families. We talked about different people who are in a family — mommies (I said, “some families have a mommy, but not all”) and daddies (I said the same thing), and sisters, and babies, and brothers,...(read more)

what does why mean?

kiri8 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:16:54 GMT

Today Crow hit a little girl at the beginning of the morning, at journal time. It came out of nowhere. I put him in the take-a-break chair. “Crow, did you hit her?” He nodded. “Why did you hit her?” He looked blank and nodded again. I started to think,...(read more)

bad guys busting through the windows

kiri8 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:48:15 GMT

I’ve got a new friend in my class. He is very much like one of my other boys, in appearance, behavior, curiosity, and temperament. However, the original boy has a really stable home life, considering that he was once homeless. The new boy….maybe not....(read more)

triumph in the block corner

kiri8 — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:50:16 GMT

Almost every day, I have been sitting in the block corner at centers time with my little blocks-challenged friend. (On the days when I haven’t been there with him, my special ed teacher has been.) And each day, he has learned a little bit more. Let’s...(read more)

the boy who doesn’t know how to play with blocks

kiri8 — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:37:44 GMT

One of my developmentally delayed sweethearts is a little boy who knows all the letters, and a lot of sounds. He knows numbers, colors, shapes, and that sort of thing. It’s obvious that he has difficulty with verbal communication — he will repeat what...(read more)

four year old bully

kiri8 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:57:34 GMT

My parent conferences are over, and they went extremely well. Everyone showed up except for one, and I think they were home with a sick kid. Almost everyone (including Little One’s mom) reported that their children love school so much they want to come...(read more)

what I found myself saying to my little Harry Potter fan today

kiri8 — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:45:43 GMT

“Honey, shhh. You can speak Parseltongue once we get outside.” (Yes, I am a big enough Harry Potter fan that I could tell what that whispering noise was, when we were in the hall getting ready to go out.) Read More......(read more)

I’m beautiful. But so is our big, macho gym teacher.

kiri8 — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:59:26 GMT

A little boy in my class raised his hand at story time the other day, and piped up, “Mrs. X, you have a beautiful face.” I melted, naturally. ”Oh, honey, what a nice thing to say. I love you, too.” A few days later he said it to my Americorps volunteer....(read more)

breakfast can be terrifying

kiri8 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:29:21 GMT

It’s like Lord of the Flies downstairs in our cafeteria every morning. Last year was the first year that our school breakfast became a madhouse, and it’s even worse this year. The kids get off the bus, come in the door that’s closest to my classroom,...(read more)

Roo’s progress

kiri8 — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:05:46 GMT

He’s still bouncy; nope, haven’t figured that one out yet. I talked to his mom and she was puzzled. Apparently he’s pretty calm at home, like he used to be in class. She said, “He really does love school, though” and I told her, “yup, he bounces in with...(read more)