Twas the Night Before Birthday

 I might have forgotten to do this the past few years, but I'm remembering this year! 

• How old are you?
  24 (tomorrow)
• What is your favourite thing to do?
  Reading, teaching, playing with kiddos, and dog dog watching with my boyfriend
• Where do you work?
  I am a first grade teacher, going into year two!
• What is your favourite food?
  Ice cream, or possibly Bahama Bucks
• Who do you like to spend time with?
  My friends and Bryce
• What do you do really well?
  I'm not sure...hopefully my job
• What makes you laugh?
  Silly things small children say when they are being very serious
• What is the best part of the day?
  Coming home from work and seeing Bryce
• What are you afraid of?
  Loud noises
• What do you love to learn about?
  Languages and theology
• Where is your favourite place?
  Pagosa Springs
• What is the last book you read?
  Finished: Six of Crows
  In process: Eragon

Teaching Year One

"In learning you will teach

and in teaching you will learn.

You'll find your place beside

the ones you love."

"Son of Man" by Phill Collins

The end of the school year is here. The end of my first year teaching in my own classroom. I said good-bye to my twelve wonderful students and sent them on their way for the summer. While I will see most of them again, it was still quite bittersweet. There were tears on both ends and many, many hugs. 

Looking back at the school year, I am quite sure those twelve little ones taught me more than I thought they could. They tested my patience, kindness, humility, and knowledge of all things. Every day they asked hard questions and expected easy answers. Sometimes the answers were easy, and other times they were not. Even though I have spent years with small children and watching them develop and grow physically, emotionally, and spiritually, this was an entirely new experience. Overall, I had thirteen students this year, and each one taught me something about life, God, or myself. These thirteen kids became my own as my love for them grew deeper. I invested everything I had into their little lives and loved every second of it. There were definitely hard days, especially as the end of the year grew closer, but we all came out on the other side stronger and closer. That little room became a family of sorts and all the complications that came with it. 

I honestly can say these past few months have been hectic and crazy and stressful, but I am thankful for it. I am excited for next year and all the joy and challenges it will bring. Although, I am definitely also grateful for the break to enjoy a real New Mexico summer, since last year was, different, to say the least. 

Firefly and The Magic School Bus

Even though we had a short week this week, it was rather eventful! 

For three of the four days, I had 12 students, which was quite exciting, but also crazy and I had to say good-bye to one of my kiddos, which was quite sad. The students are starting to have a bit of Spring fever as well, so they are full of energy and are not sure how to get it out appropriately. 

Firefly decided to try out dying but decided he did not like it, so he is still alive. I came in Wednesday morning, to what looked like a very dead fish. I took all the plants and such out of his tank and went to scoop him out of the tank so the kiddos would not see him, but when I scooped him up, he was quite alive! My only theory is that he was too cold by the window. He now lives under the heater vent and seems to be much happier there. When the kids asked what happened to Firefly, because he was not in his usual tank when they got there, I told them what happened, and they started coming up with all sorts of theories too. 

A little backstory: at lunch this week we have been watching an episode of the original Magic School Bus series. Since we alternate science and social studies each quarter, this is all the science they are getting right now, and they love it. I've offered to let them watch other things, and they always say "NO!" and beg to watch Magic School Bus. 

After talking all morning about Firefly's mysterious resurrection, the students still could not figure out what had happened to Firefly. Together they came to the conclusion that we needed to go into the Magic School Bus and shrink down, because something must be wrong with Firefly's water. Since fish breathe water, that would make him sick if something was wrong with the tiny things in the water. (Only being in first grade, they do not know what molecules are.) I explained as best I could a few different things that could be wrong with the water, but that I thought it was just too cold. The kids agreed this was a good hypothesis, so we talked about the best place to put his tank, so he would not get that cold again. 

Firefly is now very happy where he is living and has been amusing us for the past few days by swimming backward and in little circles at very high speeds. 

I have a classroom full of little scientists who love to explore. Instead of being sad that Firefly had (somehow) died and come back to life, they wanted to solve the mystery and fix the problem. They are like this with everything, but I love letting them explore their world and letting them solve problems by getting messy, making mistakes, and taking action. :) 

Random Thoughts and Stories

 Usually, my posts have a point. Today it does not. While every day is full of craziness, there are a lot of things that happen that make me smile and make every not so enjoyable moment, worth it. Today I give you a glimpse into the tiny details of my life that make me smile. 

Sean the Goose

One of my students, when he is feeling particularly sad, will come and sit next to me during recess instead of playing with the other students. One day, he was talking to me using his hand like a duck. I laughed and asked him for his duck's name. He simply told me, "Ms. Short, it is a pretend duck. It is really just my hand." I did not have a good response to this, so I let it be. I began talking to him with my hand though, and it became one of his dear friends, named Sean. Sean is a goose. Sean only comes around when my sweet little student is having a rough day. He will address Sean, rather than me. Sean is asked for what question number we are on. Sean is told the silly stories. Sean is asked to play games at recess. Thankfully, Sean hasn't been around much lately, but every time this student takes my hand while talking to me, I smile. I know this silly little game means the world to him, so I play along, even if it means he doesn't say my name all day. Also, Sean cannot talk. He can only honk. Thankfully, for me, this means I do not have to come up with silly responses. Just honk. 

New students and new games

This past week I have added a few new students to my wonderful class. This comes with some new territory for everyone. Since we are still following COVID regulations, the students have to sit six feet apart while waiting to go to the bathroom. They are sitting in the hallway, which also means they are not allowed to talk. Most of the time, in the past, they would sit quietly and mind their own business, but with the addition of our new students, this is not so anymore. They have started to come up with games they can play without talking or getting up. Some go with classics, such as rock, paper, scissors, and some come up with new games. It makes me smile to see their creative little minds at work and to see them making the best of every situation. 

Nine months doesn't seem that long

Anyone who has known me the past 11 years or so, knows I have been around the same set of kids for quite a while. Typically, I am babysitting or nannying for the same kids for at least 4 years. When you are around someone and playing and interacting with someone every day (or almost every day) for four years, a strong bond will ensue. I miss my sweet kidlets every day. They were my world for so long. Now I have a new set of kids, but I only have them for nine months. Compared to four years, that is almost no time at all. At first, I thought this would make me more detached from them, but it is quite the opposite. I have become very attached to my eleven students and am having to face the reality of my attachment while preparing to say good-bye to one next week. While I know good-byes are hard, I am not sure it is going to be any easier after nine months than it was after four years. 

Well, there's a glimpse into my thoughts lately. It's not a whole lot, but my kiddos make me smile, and I thank God every day that I have the privilege of calling them my students.