Dare I Say It?

I think the kiddos are getting the hang of this whole school thing. Today went wonderfully. Granted, it followed on the heels of a Terrible Tuesday in which a Bus Evacuation Drill, chock full of Important and Useful information that the five year olds neither could nor should understand, took up the best part of my reading time and threw me and the schedule off for most of the day. I mean, really, do we want the kinders operating the special yellow emergency brake button? Should they use the CB to call anyone, and if so would they remember to a) say specifically "bus 86 to base" and b) take the finger off the button when they're not talking so they can hear this mysterious "base", whatever that is? No. The answer we're looking for is no they should not. No problem, though, because they didn't understand anything other than that I wouldn't let them sit anywhere they wanted and it Had To Be Three To A Seat.

Digress much? Now that I've got that out of my system, on to the Good Day that was today. No, when I teach writing conventions we won't put Random Capitals throughout an otherwise charming bit of writing.

Today the kids came in in the morning, put their homework folders in the correct color-coded boxes (no one forgot and left it in a backpack!) went to their tables, and immediately began writing in their journals. Which I'd cleverly set out with pencils before they came in. This without me reminding them what to do next, or describing what quiet writing looks like! I was such a proud mama duck!

I've taken to thinking of myself a bit as a mama duck because the little ducklings have imprinted on me as Teacher (which, at the kindergarten level includes a little bit of Mama too). (Just a little though. I have daughters of my own thank you very much.)

The day continued thusly, with a general theme of cooperation and good will. My squirreliest little trouble maker even made, and kept, a promise to be good all day. He was rewarded with a coveted Red Ticket, even though I maintain that learning is its own reward, we don't always get goodies for just taking care of our responsibilities, natural consequences, blah blah etc. Red tickets work though, and in truth he didn't even kick anyone all day, let along give me his sulky "you've wounded me by insisting that I sit on the rug right now for a story" stance. Not loving that stance, by the way, but deciding to catch more flies with sugar or whatever. Poor guy probably gets shamed enough at home, so maybe if I accentuate the positive, what there is of it, we'll see more good behavior. At least the fella can excel academically if he wants, unlike most of his peers at this point!

On the cuteness scale, though, they all excel.