Is it just me...

...or is there something slightly obscene about this drawing?

I had given my class red, yellow, and green materials to make pictures of apples this week to go along with our Farmer's Market theme, and this is the drawing that one of my girls came up with. Very thought-provoking piece of art, no?

Sometimes they surprise you

"Ms Amber, do monster trucks have monsters inside them?"

Eww. Just. Eww.

This story is not for the faint of heart. Those with weak constitutions should avoid reading this post. You have been warned.

This afternoon I was out on the playground with my class when one little 3-year-old ran up to me to tell me "I pooped." Yes, in his pants. Less than 10 minutes after I sent him to the bathroom to try to potty before recess.

So I get all of my little ducks in a line and take the class inside to deal with the issue. I send the little boy into the bathroom and get his extra clothes out of his cubby. It took less than 30 seconds.

In that amount of time, the child had pulled down his pants, stuck his finger in the poo, and pulled a chunk out to show me. Oh. My. Goodness. Children are nasty.

winter by a child's hand

how does your garden grow?

When I got to work this morning, the kids were playing on the playground. I noticed a couple of the boys from my class sitting off to the side and digging in the woodchips, so I headed over to see what they were up to.

Me: Whatcha doin'?

Hank: Planting a garden.

Me: What kind of garden?

Ryan: A veg-e-table garden.

Me: What kind of vegetables are you planting?

Hank: Carrots.

Ryan: And peas...and macaroni.

Maybe I'm the worst teacher in the world, but I didn't correct him. If he wants to plant macaroni in his garden, who am I to dash his dreams?

workin' girl

Yep. I survived my first full week in the workforce here in Arizona. I still don't know for sure yet, but I think I'm going to like the job. It's definitely better than being bored at home all day everyday.

I know it seems odd that I've worked a full week and still can't say whether I really like it or not. It's just that I really haven't been doing my job yet. And I won't until Wednesday. See, La Petite Academy doesn't just throw teachers into a classroom and wish them luck. They want to make sure the teachers know what they are doing first. So I won't completely take over my class until after a full day training session on Tuesday. I was supposed to go to the training this past Tuesday, but it was cancelled because I was the only one going. So this week my class has been combined with the early preschool class and I've been kind of standing back and watching how the other teachers do things.

While I appreciate not being thrown into a class and forced to figure it all out for myself, this whole wallflower bit just really isn't me. At least, not in a preschool. I like being in control. I like being able to run things my way. I'm a bit more of a..."structured" teacher than others. And I'm ready to have my class to myself and away from the early preschoolers. So I'm very much looking forward to Wednesday.

The good thing about this wallflower role I've been playing is that I've had a chance to watch my kids and get a feel for who they are. I've got some really neat kids. And I'm really looking forward to working with them.

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