About a month ago, I asked the kids to think about their best part.  Was it their head, their hair, their eyes, their heart?   I gave them some time to talk and asked them to be sure and think about why it was their best part.   We shared their thinking on the carpet and I told them that they were going to have the opportunity to write it down and Charlie Jane's mom, Krissi would illustrate their writing with photographs.   Krissi Beeksma is not only an amazing mom and  our class volunteer coordinator and room mom she is a brilliant artist.   On Friday this book will be auctioned to raise money for our school.  I got to preview it last week and I have to say that it is stunning!   I talked to Krissi about the idea but she did all the work.  She sat with the kids while they did their writing.  She took beautiful  photographs and she spent what had to have been hours and hours putting it all together.  (Not to mention she funded the whole project)   Krissi captured the personality of each and every one of your kids - it says something about her that she was able to connect and capture their spirits in just one photograph.  And when you look at it as a whole you are reminded about all the possibilities that lie ahead for our children.  And that truly they are the future.   Thank you Krissi! 

Most of you know that we have a representation of our neighborhood in the classroom.  On the day before our "snow vacation"  I had stapled candy wrappers, kleenex, bandaids, newspaper and even crumpled sticky notes all over it.   I wondered how long it would take the kids to notice the "trash" that was now covering our replica of Queen Anne.  I think it took about 5 minutes before someone said " Ms. Meck,  why is their stuff everywhere?  It looks horrible."   There wasn't much time for discussion because we were dismissed two hours early and didn't come back to school until this morning.  This weekend I got an email from a parent who told me that his daughter was so worried about our "garbage problem" that she had created a recycling truck so that we could start to clean up our project.   This afternoon the kids and I finally got the chance to talk about littering.  First we talked about our feelings - sad and mad were at the top of the list.  Then we talked about how we notice litter everywhere and sometimes we are often guilty of dropping something and thinking "that's ok" someone else will pick it up or "no worries, it was just a tiny piece of trash.   We then started talking about how we notice litter everywhere, in our classroom, in our school, in our neighborhood, in our world and we don't always stop to do anything about it.   I'm not kidding when I say that some of my 6 years olds were talking with real concern about their planet.  We did some role plaiying and the kids came up with some rules for our neighborhood.  No Littering, No Smoking, and " Don't be Lazy - Pick it up, were our top three.  It was time for Math but the kids were still talking about their enviornment and  I just so happenned to have a few trash bags in my purse.  So,  we decided to walk the block around our school and see if we could make a diffference- picking up litter - and we did.  The kids didn't pick up tons or even pounds of garbage but they did work together to make their neighborhood a better place.   I'm really proud of them.  

It has been a long time since I blogged about anything.   And of course I am promising to write more in the new year.   In fact, I started to write about an hour ago and decided  I just didn't know what to say and then I read my last post and I had to chuckle. So here goes -  
  If you look below you will see the part about me still trying to figure out how to rearrange the desks to keep the noise level down. That was back in September and I think I have changed the desks at least a half a dozen times since then.    Well it's a new year and I'm still struggling with seating in my classroom.  But, I'm not complaining anymore.   I have a classroom filled with talkers - kids who are smart, happy and who love to share experiences and information.   And while they do get off task every once in a while, and the noise level does get higher than I'd like, I am listening to what they are saying more and more. My students are talking about books , and snakes, technology and odd and even numbers.  They are talking about family and friendships and games they are playing on the playground.  They are talking about their  school, their neighborhood and the world around them.  They are talking about ways we can all make a difference.  And while I am still waiting for some different desks to arrive so that I can change the room just one more time ... I'm resigned to the fact that this is never going to be a quiet classroom and I'm okay with that because I  so like what I'm hearing. 

I think the best thing about having our classroom pet is that it brings other children into the classroom.   I have met so many kids across grade level that have just come in to say hi and take a look at Cornelius.   That is cool.   It's been a busy week.   Curriculum Night was Tuesday and I spent a good part of last weekend getting ready for the parents as well as trying to figure out how to change my desks so that I could keep the noise level down.   ( I did change them but I"m not sure it made a difference)  I think I just have a group of very chatty kids and I'm ok with that.  Today they amazed me during our Math Workshop.  All of them were working in groups doing some really cool activities.  I saw letters, dragonflies and a beautiful peach made from pattern blocks.  I saw kids building a city with unifix cubes and I saw a group of girls set out to make a very long snake from unifix cubes.   Eventually the snake spilled out into the hall and  most of the kids started measuring it with their own feet.   It was long - our best estimate was that it was somewhere between 60 and 80 feet. :)  But remember they have very small feet.  Small feet and Huge Hearts.    

It's Monday.  And I have to admit that I was a little bit leary about our first full week of school.  After all, there is so MUCH to do.   So MUCH we have to learn, so MUCH we still don't know about each other.   I got to school really early and started working on plans for the week - today's the day we kick off our Reading and Writing Workshops.  It was also our first Monday morning meeting - the first time to come together as a school community.  What a great way to begin each week.   Mr. Elliott made us all feel welcome, new students and new teachers.  We celebrated birthdays and had a moment of silence in remembrance of all that happenned ten years ago on September 11th.  The ten year anniversary was hard - so much was lost that day.  But I am lucky, I have children in my life.  My own are 11 and 14 and I know they have the power to change the world.  My class is filled with six and seven year old's and I know that they have promise as well.  I am so lucky to do what I do because children are incredible teachers  and they are full of love, hope and possibilites.  So yes, it is Monday, and it's the first of many Monday's this school year.  I can't wait for each and every one! 

I am so excited to start my first blog as a teacher at Queen Anne Elementary School in Seattle, Washington.  This is my first year at Queen Anne and today was our first day in the new site on Queen Anne Hill.  I always am nervous about the first day of school but for some reason I calmed down rather quickly.  Maybe it was the ribbon cutting ceremony where students, parents, teachers and staff celebrated a new beginning.  Maybe it was that goofy song we sang to the beat of the old Flinstone theme song or just maybe it's that I have found myself teaching in an amazing place were teachers can collaborate and share, where every voice is valued and where kids come first!  Speaking of Kids - I think I have 24 of the smartest and kindest first graders in the world!   We are just starting to get to know each other but I left today believing that I made some great friends and that together we are going to have the best year!