It's All Greek?

My fifth graders are working on book talk projects. One group made a film yesterday and wanted me to help them with a pronunciation before they started rolling.

A group member came to get me saying, "We don't know how to pronounce this word. The book has a lot of Greek in it."

The book they are book talking is part of the Percy Jackson series, so I was thinking they needed help with the name of a god or monster. You know, a word that was, as they said, Greek.



The word was "celestial."

Now, I totally get that a fifth grader might not know what this word means right off, or how to pronounce it. But their rationalization that it was hard because it was Greek, although a good guess given the context, was a little off.

(It comes from Latin.)

(Yes, I am a nerd.)

Communicating

Virginia is getting better at communicating her wishes. She says a few things like "hi," "nanana" (banana), "ball," "mama," "dada," and "nama" (for food).

She is also good at gestures. She waves, blows kisses, and plays peek-a-boo. Yesterday I put a hat on my head and when I took it off she patted her own head, urging me to put it back on. When I did, she smiled.

The most astonishing gesture, however, is something else. She will tap her chest twice and then point up. I have been interpreting this as a desire to be picked up. That is what it looks like and she seems to do it when it would make sense for her to want to be picked up, like when she is done eating. I thought this was baby sign language (which I don't know) and I thought perhaps she had learned it at day care.

I found out today that they do not teach baby sign language at her day care and they did not teach her that "sign." She made it up herself.

Is it just me or is Virginia frighteningly brilliant?

Go Ahead, Make My Day

As Virginia and I were coming up the stairs from the underground parking the other day she was making noises and I was making noises back at her. Then I heard someone else coming down the stairs and I thought, "Oh great! This person is going to think I am weird."

Well, of course, once Virginia realized there was someone coming down the stairs she turned toward the woman and flashed her a big grin, showing off all of her four teeth. The woman smiled back, pinched Virginia's cheek and said, "You just made my day!"

I am so lucky to live with a day-maker like Virginia every day!

Peep this cuteness from last weekend:

Freedom of Speech Fail

I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire

In case you were wondering what I think about this. (The first, and probably last, time you will see a link to Fox News on my blog.)

If this book offends you: don't read it. It really is as simple as that.

You have no right, however, to dictate what other people can and can not read.

I'm sure some people might wonder how, as a mother, I can defend this book. As a mother I want my daughter to grow up in a country that honors the free flow of information. I want her to be able to say whatever she wants to say and read whatever she wants to read. As a mother I plan to teach her how to be a responsible consumer of information. I plan to teach her how to look at all sides of an issue so she can determine for herself what is right and what is wrong. You see, the way to fight bad information isn't to make it disappear (you can never make it really disappear) it is to offer lots and lots of good information. She may read things from time to time that make me uncomfortable, but I will take comfort in knowing that there are other books out there that can counter any argument.

As far as I am aware, Amazon has given in and removed this book. And I want you to know that the people we have really hurt are ourselves. Enough is Enough thinks that this book will make people think child abuse is normal. What this book makes us all realize is that there are already people who think child abuse is normal. Isn't that something you want to know? Isn't that something you never want to forget? Facing these facts can make those of us who are disgusted by child abusers better able to combat child abuse. By sweeping this book under the rug we run the risk of becoming complacent, of thinking we won because we silenced one voice. We don't need to shut anyone up. We need to talk louder and talk smarter (not hard to do, did you check out this guy's spelling?) in this case, and in every other case, we dare to think isn't really about free speech.

Are You My Trough Helper?

In the lunchroom the majority of teachers and students get their food items plate by plate, possibly in multiple trips. This is because our school no longer uses trays in an effort to be more "green." (I guess the idea is that if you don't use the trays you don't have to wash them.)

However, the balancing act is too much for the Kindergarteners so they do use trays. The Kindergarteners also need help separating their trays, paper trash, silverware, and plates at the "trough." There is always a teacher on trough duty when the Kindergarten is getting done with lunch.

I am assigned trough duty on one day of the seven day rotation beginning in January, so I have not had the pleasure of this experience yet.

I say all this to explain what happened earlier this week when I went to eat lunch at a slightly earlier time than I normally do.

I finished eating at the same time as the Kindergarten students. As I put my dirty plate on the conveyor belt I was surrounded by zombie children wielding trays. "Where do I put my tray? I don't know what to do with my tray? What should I do with my tray?"

Somehow I was the only adult around and something was amiss with the set-up for the trays. Telling them, "I don't know, I'm new at this" wasn't really cutting it.

I looked one child in the eye, partially shaking him out of his zombification, "What do you normally do with the trays?" He pointed to a low wheelie cart (I think they are normally used to transport things like milk in food service) that was just inside the door to the dish washing room.

"You put them on this cart?" I asked. He nodded. The children crowded closer.

I stepped into the room and started wheeling the cart out. The zombies descended on me, setting their trays down.

"Let me out!" I cried, trying to wheel the cart out into the cafeteria. Inch by inch I got out the door, all the while collecting the trays of tiny zombies.

"Where does it go?" I asked, hoping someone, anyone, would answer.

One zombi looked up, shaken from his mission of depositing his tray on my cart for one moment. He pointed beside the conveyor belt and continued moving toward me. I slid the cart over to its place and darted from the cafeteria.

Amazing Things My Students Said

I saw two third grade classes yesterday and students said amazing things to me in both of them.

In the first class there is a boy who sometimes struggles with being on task and also struggled a little with the group work we are doing the first day we started. I talked to him and his group about everyone contributing in their own way and things got better. The last time they visited the library he did a lot of book-finding for their research. I noticed that he really knew how to find books using the call number (something that continues to be difficult for many students), and I complimented him. Yesterday he told me, "Ever since you told me I was good at finding books, I've gotten even better. I just helped four people find their books!" Then he wandered off to finally look for his own books.

Then, in the second class, one little girl told me that library is her favorite thing and she loves the research project we are doing right now, and she loves checking out books. Then she gave me a hug.

I'm a new teacher and sometimes I wonder if I'm doing all the right things with my students. Yesterday, I knew I had done something right.

More Songs for Virginia

Virginia Doodle

Miss Virginia went to town,

Riding on a Socrates,

Put a feather in her hat,

And called it macaroni and cheese.

Miss Virginia keep it up,

Miss Virginia baby.

Mind the manners and the step,

And always be a lady!

(n.b. One of our cats is named Socrates.)

London Baby

London baby falling down,

Falling down,

Falling down.

London baby falling down,

My fair Virginia!

Virginia, Hey Girl

(A very special song created by two of the ladies who watch Virginia at day care.)

Virginia, hey girl!
Virginia, hey girl!

(When one of the ladies starts singing this song, Virginia looks at the other one to see if she is going to join in.)

Snail Hat!

For reasons unknown I suddenly decided to crochet Virginia a hat. This was a ridiculous idea because her head is growing and she probably won't be able to wear the hat again next year. Also, I hadn't crocheted in a while (years?). Also, even when I used to crochet I only did rows, no circles.

And yet, I felt the need to do this thing.

Like a good librarian I checked out a book (with pictures) from the our school library. It's a kid's crochet book, so it's easy to follow. It has a whole section on circular crochet including how to make circular pillows and hats.

After many failed starting attempts I finally got the hat underway (circular crochet requires counting stitches - not one of my strong points). I decided to crochet ear flaps and ties since Virginia is pretty good at taking hats off.

Then I decided the hat needed decoration. I used a snail pattern from the pillow section, and put the snail on the hat!

Then I added tassels.

Behold!