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Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

3/3/2015

6 Comments

 
Today I got to do something that I LOVE to do but have not been able to do for two weeks. I got to teach again! Now, some of you might be wondering what I have been doing for two weeks if I haven't been teaching. Well, part of that time was spent at home. (Due to the extreme temperatures our school has had to use an abundance of calamity days this year.) The rest of my time has been spent doing something that just sucks the joy out of me. I have been administering state mandated tests. (By the way, testing is STILL going on so I am not 100% back to my regular intervention schedule yet.) Anyway, while I wasn't able to work with all of my kids the few that I was able to see today brought some joy back into my teacher's soul. 

My first, second and third graders (that I was able to work with today) all expressed how much they had missed me and, of course, I shared how much I had missed them. After catching up with each others lives we got to work. We read, we discussed, we shared our thinking and we wrote. The lessons weren't amazingly inspirational by any means, but they were meaningful. We worked as if we hadn't missed a single day together. Then, sadly, I had to send them back to their classrooms. What I didn't realize at the time was that the best part my day was about to happen with my kindergarten students.

First of all, if you have never worked with kindergartners you have missed out on some seriously hilarious experiences. Kindergarten is an adventure to say the least and one day is never like the next. For example, in one afternoon I witnessed a twin going all WWE on her sister in an effort to help her pull up her pants up so that her butt crack wasn't showing while a small group in the drama center was playing out an elaborately dramatic story filled with a level of misery and mystery that was way beyond their years. (By the way, when I asked the drama center group why their story was so dark their response was, "Well, this IS the drama center." I couldn't argue with that.) One of my favorite stories is when I was challenging a student to write different words. I told him that the last word was REALLY hard. He pushed up his sleeves, sat back in his chair, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Lay it on me." 

Today I walked into the Kindergarten classroom and pulled my two students over to a table to work on saying words slowly and writing down the sounds they hear. For one of the students this has been a particularly difficult activity. Not today though. She owned those words. She was doing such a great job and had a confidence that I had not seen before. I asked her how it was so easy for her now and she said that she'd been practicing at home. Then she went on to explain to me that somethings can be really easy for some people and really hard for other people; that everyone has something that they are good at. She said that she just needed to work on words until they were easy peasy lemon squeezy. My heart has been smiling ever since! THIS is why I teach.
6 Comments
Maggie link
3/3/2015 04:25:31 am

I have had a rough day with a few of my students and even processed with some of my other classes and coworkers, and I am still feeling not great about why the heck I chose a job tat isn't always rewarding. Thanks for the reminder about the small moments that matter!

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Samantha Marquardt
3/3/2015 05:09:52 am

I love this story!! And you are right--kindergartners are hilarious and the things they say--well, you just can't make that stuff up. :-)

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Robin link
3/3/2015 06:10:21 am

Oh those crazy k kids! I teach k and get to experience those funny moments every day! They are the best! They are the fuel that fills my tank! Enjoy the moments!

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franm
3/3/2015 06:30:18 am

I hope you will capture these kinds of teacher joy-moments often in your writing! My favorite is the boy pushing up his sleeves...
We need to remember how hard these little guys work for us!
And the magic of that sweet phrase- easy peesey lemon squeezy. That little girl is working as hard, she just has confidence now that she is capable. And a little song to keep her efforts company :)
Thanks for sharing these precious moments.

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beth krause link
3/3/2015 08:27:27 am

So sweet. Thank you for sharing! As a preschool teacher, I can relate to those wonderful little moments where you laugh like you're one of the kids.

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cshuler link
3/3/2015 08:36:53 am

I love your student's choice of words! What great figurative language and from one so young! I love the "easy peasy lemon squeasy." I think those are words to make anyone's heart sing!

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    My name is Jennifer Hay. This is my tenth year teaching English Language Learners (ELL)  in one of the largest public school districts in Ohio. I love learning new things and have a real passion for teaching.

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