Edition 2

Fairytales Edition 2

August 25, 2017

1.   I had a mother approach me after dropping off her child in the morning. She wanted to share the conversation she had had with her son the night before and that morning. She said that Jose (not his real name, obviously) asked her the night before if he had a grandpa at school. She said “What are you talking about?”

      

      “There’s this teacher at school that everyone calls “grandpa. Is he my grandpa?”

      His mother told him that he is probably just a teacher that your friends call “grandpa.”

      “So, he’s not really my grandpa.” 

      “Well, he is your school grandpa.” She answered him.

      The mother then told me that as they walked through the gate that morning, they saw me

      standing there greeting the students as they came on campus.

      “There he is, mom!” Jose shouted.

      “There who is?” Mom replied.

      “That's grandpa…right there.” And he pointed in my direction.

      They both smiled and greeted me as they filed back towards the classroom room.  The

      mother then told me that as Jose was getting ready to go into the classroom, he turned

      and faced his mom and with a very serious look on his face he asked, “Do you think my

      real grandpa will be mad if I call my school grandpa, “grandpa?”

      “I think both grandpas will be perfectly okay with that.” She told him.

2)   During the after school program from 3:40 - 6:00 I take about twenty 2nd graders to one

      area and I read them a story.  On Wednesday I was reading them a story about Duncan

      who realized that many of his crayons had been lost over the years and he was trying to

      gather them back together. He had discovered that some of them had actually wandered

      off to far away places…or they seemed to think. Duncan received a postcard from one of

      the crayons who said that he was in New Jersey visiting the Great Pyramids. I broke from

      my story telling at this point and reminded the students that we all know the pyramids are

      not on New Jersey. But, instead of just telling them where the pyramids are, I asked if

      anyone knew where the pyramids were really located. My question was met with wide eyed

      blankness…except for one quiet girl sitting in the back row. She slowly raised her hand as

      she looked around at her classmates. 

      “Do you know where the pyramids are located? I asked her, fully expecting anything but

      what her response was.

      “Yes, they are in Giza, Egypt.”

      I was in shock. “Giza?” I stuttered.

      “It’ a small village outside of Cairo.” She answered.

      

      I couldn't help but wonder how many educated adults I know that could give me that

      answer.

3)   Today, Friday, I subbed for an aid in kindergarten. Ms. Mainland was the teacher and she

      was a joy to work with. I was in awe the entire day at her ability to control and engage

      those little munchkins. “Class Class…Slanting!” Even with Damien…and EVERY class has

      a Damien, she had perfect control and never missed a beat…a serious “shout out” to Ms. 

      Maitland. 

      During my tenure of kindergarten aid, I did enjoy a couple of precious moments.  There was

      one young girl that was waving her hand frantically toward me. I finally made my way to her

      side and she shared with me that Bobby “not his real name” poured his milk into his cereal! 

      I asked her if there was a problem with that and she just looked at me and said, “ In his

      cereal?!” 

      Makes me wonder what she puts in her cereal.

4)   I had to laugh a little at myself today. I never…ever imagined myself reciting the days of the

      week acting as if was a lion, with one class, and as a dinosaur in another class. The kids

      loved it…so did I (but I will never admit it).

5)   Finally,  as a teacher in the after school program, I'm not real sure as to the point of this

      game, but I certainly understand the need.