"...I named her Pregony"

In first grade, I have the opportunity to teach my children to write stories. This can be a hard task. Some of them get the concept. Others.... well, it can be challenging. The story our class is now working on is about butterflies. I want to write one of the stories that one of my students wrote. Here goes:
"The beautiful butterfly laid her eggs and flew away. I see a butterfly and I named her Pregony and I took care of Pregony when she was a baby caterpillar. She liked me and ate a lot of leaves, and she was cute too."
I thought that was cute. She named the butterfly after me. This is the same child that has been mentioned in previous posts that has called me "cutie pie" and her "BFF." I thought this was sweet and had to share what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

My Most Interesting Experience as a Teacher

I have been a first grade teacher for now finishing my 6th year. I love it! There are so many things I love about teaching! If you know me, you probably have heard me talk about my kids and experiences often- maybe even too often. Being a teacher for a while, I have seen a lot of interesting things happen- some funny and some not so funny. This week I think I saw the most interesting thing I have ever experienced in my teaching career. I wanted to share. Something interesting indeed did happen! :-)

This story made me laugh a lot! I cannot believe it happened. I have shared it with several people since. If you are familiar with the layout of the school I teach at, that will help you with making the story even funnier for you. Promise!

Being a first grade teacher, we have bathroom breaks. One afternoon I took my children to the bathroom. Before they enter the bathroom, I always go in and check it. I check it to make sure they have toilet paper and that the toilets aren't clogged and things liked that. Well, that day I did that. I had sent the girls into their bathroom and the boys into theirs-- two at a time for each. Well, then I stepped into the school office to ask the secretary a question. Then, I walked by the boys bathroom. I keep the door open a little bit, so I can see where little feet are. When I walked by, I noticed that the mirror and paper towel dispensers were wet. I was just in there checking the bathroom. I hadn't noticed that before. So, I asked a boy if he knew anything about that. He just stared at me. I asked again. Again, he stared. I then asked if he did anything to make this wet. He said, "Yes, I peed on it!" I said, "What? How did you do that? Where were you standing?" This is where if you know the layout of our school, it helps with making the story funnier. There is a partition that separates the sinks/mirror from the urinal. The partition has to be about at least 6 feet tall-- its taller than me. I asked the child where he was standing. He was standing at the urinal. So, somehow, he had problems and went on the mirror. I was just flabbergasted how this could happen. Evidently, he was playing!

I'm not trying to be crude! But, I just thought it was hilarious. I kept my composure in front of him, but I then went in the office to get someone to disinfect the mirror and paper towel dispensers, then I lost it. I just think it is so funny! I thought this, indeed, was the most interesting thing I have ever seen in first grade. This is the most interesting thing I've seen a babe do.

"My hair is making me hungry"

The other day one of my girls raised her hand. I called on her. She said, "My hair is making me hungry." I said, "What?" She again said, "My hair is making me hungry. " I asked her to explain. She said she used coconut shampoo, and her hair smells like coconut. Now, the coconut is making her hungry. I then told her I use coconut shampoo, too! I thought that was funny what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

"No Job"

Today in our phonics workbooks, the kids had to complete a section with opposites. The book listed words and the children had to list the opposite of each word. Some of the words were: walk, dark, and outside. There were more words. Another word listed was "work." The answer is to be "play." Well, one of my children put "no job." I thought that is cute! With how things are going in our society, it is true! I had to laugh and wanted to share what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

"...Drives Planes"

This story may not be one of the funniest entries that came from "out of the mouth of babes." But, I did think it is cute, and I'm posting it in honor of one of my friends, who will know who it is when they read it.
One of my reading groups was reading words that have two syllables and the vowel before consonant which begins the second syllable is long. Well, one of the words they had to read was "pilot." If the students have words to read that they may not normally speak in their everyday talk, I try to see if they know what it means and explain it to them if they do not. I asked them if they knew what a pilot was. I was curious to see what they would say. I was pretty sure they have heard of one. But, I wanted to see how they would explain it to me. They said, yes. One of the kids said, "A pilot is someone that drives planes." I corrected the child and said pilots fly planes not drive them. It was cute and made me smile. I wanted to share what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

Stuck

I teach at a Christian school that has a dress code. A part of the dress code is that the boy's shirt tails need to be tucked into their pants. Well, the other day one of my boy's shirt tails were untucked. I told him to tuck it in. He obeyed and did. Well, it was taking him a while, and I asked him to hurry up so we can start our reading group. The reason why it was taking so long was that his hands got "stuck" in the back of his pants. I had to pull his arm to help him get "unstuck." I tried not to laugh, but I had to because I was amazed that something like that could happen. I have seen a lot being a first grade teacher, but I have to admit that this was a first for me. I'll tell you that life being a first grade teacher is NEVER boring! I thought it was funny, so I wanted to share something "babes" do.

Letters to the Teacher

For first grade, I have a curriculum I follow. My kids have seatwork to do while I am in reading groups. My curriculum tells me what to put up on the board for the children to do. One day this week, my kids had to write a letter to their teacher.... that's me! They were sweet! I wanted to post some.

I am typing them the way they wrote them. Good luck on deciphering them. If you need help in translation, post a comment and I'll help you :-)

One said, "you are my cutedpie! I love you are the knisest teacher!I have ervey met! Love you!" This child has called me "cutie pie" several times. She is also the same girl that told me I was her BFF-- posted in a previous post.

Another note said, "I love you. you are sweet and you are pretty to me. your games are beautiful. you are my nice teacher. your canddy is goo to me." She wrote this note at school to me. I think that night she wrote another one to me and gave it to me the next morning with a ziplock bag of the cereal Apple Jacks. Here is the other one she wrote. "I love you. you are pretty. your my best teacher. you are nice to me and I like it win we play." How sweet my kids are!

One last note I wanted to share. "I love you and I I'm sure you love me too. you are my bff! you aer a good teacher.too. theys a haet around us. you like pekey I like pekey." I will "translate" this one; this one is harder to follow. She said there's a heart around us. I asked about that. You know how you can get picture frames with hearts. Well, there is a heart around us because she loves me... too cute! The last part, the "pekey" is pink. She said, "you like pink I like pink." That's true.... I love pink!

Even though being a teacher can have some hard times, it is such encouraging when you get hugs, coloring pictures and encouraging notes like these. I love my kids! I am so thankful to God for calling me to be a teacher! I wanted to share with you what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

"You are Important"

Today, Sunday, my older brother and I taught Jr. Church for 1st-3rd graders at our church. When it was his time to start his lesson, he apologized for not being there last week. He told the kids he missed them. He explained that he wasn't there because he was in big church sitting with his fiance' and her parents from CT. I think he asked the kids if they missed him. Most of the kids said, "Yes." One little girl said, "You are important." I thought that was sweet on what came from "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

"George Washington"

On Sundays, I have the privilege to be a Sunday School helper in the K-4 Sunday School at my church. Today, the Sunday school teacher was teaching about when God created man. She was teaching them how God used His hands to make man. She asked the kids what was the name of the first man. One kid said, "George Washington." I thought that was a pretty good guess from a four year old. I thought that was quite humorous on what came from "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

"I want to be 21"

Today I was outside at recess with my first graders. One of my girls said to me, "I want to be 21." I asked her why. She said, "My mom told me I can date when I'm 21." She is only 6 years old and thinking about dating. Wow, this is starting young! I was surprised and wanted to share what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

Handsome

During one of my reading groups this week, my children had to read words that contained certain special sounds. After the words were read, there were also sentences that contained some of the words. One of the words that was in a sentence was the word "handsome." The sentence read, "Handsome means good looking." One of my boys read that sentence. I asked him, "Are you handsome?" He said, "Yes." I then asked, "Who told you that?" I was expecting something like his mom. He said, "I did!" By the way, he is a cute kid! I just laughed when he said he told himself that he was handsome. The grin on his face while he said that made it just the more cute! I thought it was cute and precious what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."

"Esau"

I have to share a story that happened several months ago. But, to me it is one of the best teaching stories I have. Remember, I teach at a Christian school. In Bible class, we were reviewing the Bible stories about Jacob. My kids were playing a review game. I asked one of my boys the question, "It is Jacob's wedding day. He has worked 7 years for Rachel. He gets married. He lifts the veil. Who did he see?" Well, if you are familiar with the Bible story, you know the answer is Leah. Well, my boy said, "Esau." The kids, and yes even the teacher, giggled at this answer. Of course, I corrected him. But, it was funny what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes."