Oh Me, Oh My

File this under things that make me laugh! Kurt Browning never fails to crack me up.

I think the Charlie Chaplin moves are hysterical and kudos to this girl for being willing to get out there and have a ham like him follow her around.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

What do you do when the temperature hits a low of 66?

If you're the teacher, you throw on your hoodie, happy as a lark for cool weather and a day without sweat.

If you're the student, it's time to break out your......

leggings!

I got a great kick out of watching the little people huddle in a group beside the door this morning proclaiming their longing for the bell to ring - wishing, hoping and praying that their teacher would have mercy on them and let them stay inside the warm 80 degree classroom. Not a chance friends! Go run, play and get your blood moving!

Expectations

In your mind you plan out a lesson and you have certain expectations of what your students might do or ask and what might happen during your lesson. If you see any potential bad ideas you normally try to point them out and mention that they are not allowed. Some days kids meet your expectations and other days they just bust right out of the box of expected thinking.

We're studying matter and today we were learning about how matter can change states from a solid to a liquid and back to a solid again. So I paired the children up and explained that I would give each pair an ice cube and they could do whatever they wanted to try and get it to melt quickly. My expectations: they will sit it in the sun, rub their hands around it or break it into smaller pieces to get it to melt quickly. Yes, they tried all of those things along with sitting on it and even putting it in their mouth to help the process along...both fairly decent ideas. But then there was the kid who busted out of the box and decided to melt the ice cube by sticking it into their underwear. Oh my! Forgot to cover the rule that says you may not stick the ice cube into your undies....Dear me! What will I do with you little first and second graders?

As Seen on the Bridge

My neighbor, Laurence, was saying how great it would be if we could just have a camera in the tip of our finger. This would be handy here in Niger for taking pictures unobtrusively and for those moments that just crack you up and you wish you had your camera with you. Tonight was one of those moments. I just had to laugh.

This is what I saw. Can't you just picture the scene of the accident?

"What do you mean, Officer?

There's no way I had an obstructed view!"

One of their Favorite Things

Acting is one of their favorite things to do. This is the second play that some of this group has gotten to do this week alone! Bright, as the only boy, got to be Abraham as they reenacted the story of Abraham and his three visitors and the eventual birth of Isaac. I wish the picture was a little bigger so you could see their expressions....funny!

Baby Hedgie

A while back I was reading a magazine in the U.S. that listed the price for a hedgehog as around $100. $100 dollars seem slightly steep for somehting I used to pick up in my backyard on the compound at Galmi and keep in my room as pets...that was, of course, until I realized that they were awfully stinky especially when you don't clean out their cage very often. Well, in all my "days" (and they were short) of keeping hedgehogs, I never had the chance to see an itty bitty baby. The other night the kindergarten teacher, Lori, happened upon a hedgehog and decided to catch it and bring it into school. Overnight, said hedgehog gave birth to this cute little thing.

...wow, nice timing! Lori said that when it was just born it was pink but by the end of the first day it had white needles. Here "Hedgie" is two days old and the needles are starting to turn gray. It's eyes aren't open yet. Ahhh! Doesn't that face just make you want to go out and pay $100 for a little hedgehog! So cute!

How Soon They Learn

Yesterday my class delved into safety signs and their meanings...first sign up - the traffic light. The discussion on the traffic light began with a heated argument between E and K over the meaning of the yellow light. E maintained the position that the yellow light meant slow down and stop. K argued vehemently that the yellow light means speed up and get through the light. Hmm, seems to me that someone is wise to the ways of drivers facing yellow lights. Isn't second grade a little to early to be picking up on that?