tick tock tick tock

i started a new rule where i only ask the kids once to sit down and be quite. from there i just watch the clock, and for as long as it takes them to quiet down, thats how much recess time they owe me. so yesterday, after about a minute and a half, there i stand at the front of the room...waiting.... when all of a sudden a boy with a look of sheer agony on his face, slams his fists down on his desk and yells:

"what does it take!!!!!!!!!! to gets some peace and quiet around these parts of town?!"

well i will have you know that it worked. he sure did get our attention. and there was a moment of utter silence. it only lasted about 3 seconds before everyone busted up laughing...including myself....
but seriously, where do these kids come from? haha

run forest run

kid running in from recess yesterday:

'miss ward!!! you never know what you got until your legs fall off!'

clearly his legs were still attached...he was just tired.

mr robot-o

during math today, we were grading our times tests as a class. i had the answer key up on the screen, and as i recited the times table, the kids recited the answer.

we were about half way done with correcting it, when we get to 8 x 6

the class in unison belts out 48

...

except for one kid.

he yells out 14.

 ...

so we all paused, and i clarified that 8 x 6 is in fact 48, and we get ready to move on,

but he stops me and says "sorry miss ward. my tongue is tired and we sound like robots."

oh the excuses you get in the 4th grade...

seriously crack me up.

pure talent

during a very quiet silent reading block in class today, H raises his hand and says:

"miss ward, if you look to your right G over there is doing the disco."

look to my right and sure enough G was stand by his desk, doing a little dance.

he responded only by saying:

"that's right, i got skills"

talk about awkward turtle

this week i was in charge of the PE rotation for all 4th grade classes.

so M-Th i teach PE to someones class while another teacher takes my class for art, or computers etc.

well, on this particular day, I took one of the classes that I have not had any previous interaction with.

i didnt know these kids, never seen them before, nothing.

well, as i round the corner, one of the students says quite loudly,

"MISS WARD! LOOKIN' GOOD"

um...dude thats weird, you are 9, but thanks! appreciate it!?!

vote for me

each monday my kids get to choose a new classroom job. i added a few last week, so that there were more selections and so that other things got done around our classroom.

this past week i added 'classroom messenger' to the job chart. they are in charge of sending things to the office or going on giving things to other teachers when i need them. after i finished explaining, i let each of the pick which job they want that week.

i called on one little friend, and in a very sophisticated voice says 

"i want to be the new messenger. why? because i like the name, and i think i will be good at it!"

oh brother....

we've got spirit how 'bout you

during a mini review on the water cycle, i asked the class 'what are all the different things we need to form a cloud?'

i get several correct answers like water vapor, air, pressure etc etc

then i called on one little with a waving hand in the air, who takes in a deep breath, sticks her fist in the air, and with an over dramatic facial express, and head jerk yells out 'spirit'!

i paused and said 'as in "go team go?"'

and she says 'yes! i believe we can make this cloud!'

wow. cheerleader much?

my point your point

i have a classroom point system, where every day they earn more points than i do, they earn a letter that eventually spells out our class reward. my kids voted on trying to earn a pizza party, so they have to earn all 10 letters in pizza party. 

it works really well because i dont have to ever remind them to be quiet, i just go up to the board and give myself points and eventually they catch on.

well the other day i was talking to another teacher, and not really paying attention, they were super chatty, and as i turned around and started walking to the board, one little boy literally stands up and screams

"BE QUIET! MISS WARD WON'T ALLOW IT!"

thank you sir. not the way to handle the situation, but hilarious non the less...

cool word finder

during guided reading groups the other day, we were having a discussion about using context clues to understand words we dont know.

each student was asked to find one 'cool word' in their assigned reading.

we discussed each word and were able to figure out their meaning based on reading the whole sentence.

but then, one girls raises her hand and said 'miss ward, i still dont understand what this word means, even when i read it in the sentence!'

so i asked her what the word was

she says 'stand-a-fish'

i looked at her confused and asked her to find the page the word was on and read the full sentence to me.

she read it, and i about busted up laughing.

the real word was 'STANDOFFISH'

oh 4th grade how i love you...