Charpie's Travels

Kindergarten Phonics dealt with phonographs today. I want to know how many adults even know what a phonograph is. For one question, we were supposed to find words containing "ell". Elizabeth, my quietest girl, raised her hand rather quickly. Her word? Hell. Judging by the smile on her face afterward, I'd say she was pretty pleased with herself for that answer. My fourth graders wanted to open a window because they were all hot. I protested because I was cold.  Hanna and Kevin pulled out their coats, draped them over my shoulders, pulled the hoods over my head, and even buttoned them around my neck so as to keep them from falling off. No one ever got around to opening a window. At least then we all roasted together. One of the mothers bought smoothies for all the teachers today. Just for the record, that's a lot of smoothie. I happened to get a tomato smoothie. It was more bizarre than last week's "fruit salad" (tangerines, sunflower seeds, grape to...

Jaden couldn't decide where on his sticker board to put his sticker, so he played eeny-meeny-miny-mo. It seems the winning spot was not, in fact, a good spot. So he tried again. This time he eeny-meenied all out of order - and only to select spots. And he definitely paused and planned his move before pointing his finger the final time. I'm not sure he grasps the concept of the game yet. I'm just happy he made a decision in under 90 seconds. 

The Good - Sleeping later than 8am - Church - Lunch in Buddha's Belly - Three variations of rice in one day - Post-lunch vanilla frappe - Pre-dinner caramel macchiato The Bad - No unni visit today - Complainer Quota exceeded - Watching drunk man collapse after being kicked out of restaurant The Stellar - Coconut beef curry - Coat-free temperatures - Clear blue sky - Exploring downtown with Bethel - Dinner with Amy - Mouse (rat?) scurrying through floor-seating restaurant - Being given a rose - Hearing two people say "shimmy" in one day

Some kids seem to think their intelligence exempts them from homework. Ryan informed me, when he started first grade, that he didn't have to do the homework because it was "too easy." Sunwoo is a fourth-grader with a steady supply of words and jokes and random trivia. While he didn't tell me he was too smart for homework, I pegged him as having that mentality. He did, however, complete the three journals that I assigned for writing class. And he didn't just write them, either. He wrapped the three pages individually in green X-Files paper, and he wouldn't let anyone near them except me.  "These are for the queen!" he announced as he proudly presented them. "Do not let anyone else see!"

Today in first grade science, we drew pictures of ourselves. Then we labeled body parts and discussed how they help us. In the middle of this discussion, Robin pointed at me and announced, "you are a princess." Not certain how that pertained to body parts, I asked how he figured. Hyun-Joon looked at Robin with this odd smile on his face and explained, "you are pretty girl." And since, apparently, I left my crown at home today, Yeji rolled up her paper to make one for me.  I still don't know what any of that had to do with body parts. But if you ever want to feel better about yourself, feel free to come visit me in second-hour first grade!

My kindergarteners drew pictures today and wrote about what they want to be when they grow up. Annabelle ,  Henry  and Kelly  want to be doctors. Annabelle is going to help "pepple" and Henry is going to make people "batter." Ellizabeth plans to be a ballerina. (No, I didn't typo. She really spells it that way.) Justin  is going to be a thunder fighter. If anyone could pull that off, he'd be the one.  Jini wants to be a princess. Andy wants to be a shooter. I was a little nervous about that one at first, but he's a hardcore good guy. He just really wants to fight the bad guys. Maro is going to be a singer, and Ann wants to be Snow White. Peter  will be a gamer. JunSeo wants to be a baseball player. My favorite is Jaden . When he grows up, he wants to be a dad.

Every morning, I write my kinder kids' names on the board. They earn smiley faces for good behavior, following directions, or whatever I feel like giving smiley faces for. For every three smileys, they earn a sticker. The threat of losing a smiley face holds incredible sway over these kids.  We discussed feelings in speaking class. This is a dangerous topic to address with a dozen exhausted kindergarteners. Nevertheless, we talked about things that make them happy or sad or excited. When we got to angry, I received an education in how these kids treat each other when teachers aren't watching. I also learned that Peter accidentally broke Justin's toy gun hours earlier, and Justin still was not over it.  A few minutes after this conversation, Peter raised his hand.  "Teacher, take my happy face please and give to Justin." Peter is my tallest kinder kid, and he's high on the list of energetic and loud students. I forget sometimes that he's also my mo...