Five for Friday - September 25

Hello and Happy Friday!

First of all, I want to share a cute book with you. It's called Dog vs. Cat. The author is Chris Gall. This book was a hit with my kiddos today. Our guest reader, a parent, read the book, and my kiddos were giggling all over themselves. Dog and Cat have to learn to compromise in order to live together. I think you'll like it. Give it a look!

Last night, as I was about to shut down my computer for the night, I caught a glimpse of Amy Lemon's blog post about reviewing addition and subtraction strategies. Her Doubles Dude's picture was so cute that I had to take a closer look. 

And... this morning, we made them! The photo, below, is one that I snapped as the kiddos were putting them on our table to dry. It looks like a pile of arms and legs with some D's thrown in, but I promise they are cute! It's basically an uppercase D with eyes, arms, and legs with the doubles facts written on them. They're hanging on our clothesline now, but I didn't think to take a better picture. I'll do it Monday. 

Our duck and chicken eggs are still chugging along in the incubator. We should have ducklings next weekend. Cross your fingers! Our chicks should hatch a few days after the ducklings. We're going to be one excited bunch of kiddos (myself included) if we have success with hatching. 

I have a new Facebook page! Be sure to like it, because I have three new or updated products almost finished. You don't want to miss a freebie! 

Finally, I want to share some thoughts about nurturing children. 

I don't remember where I was when I heard a comment about nurturing children, but it stuck in the back of my mind. We are six weeks into the school year. The majority of children have a pretty good grasp of the classroom routines. Wouldn't you agree?

I had two experiences, this week, when students didn't know something, and had the courage to admit it to their classmates and me. That 'nurturing children' idea, that had been floating around in the back of my mind, rose to the top at the right moment, because I had to do some full-on nurturing.

I use the word courage to describe my students' choices, because I think children know that, "I don't know," is probably the worst answer a child can give in class. Not knowing something is scandalous. It is embarrassing and disappoints the teacher. 

It wasn't a coincidence that the idea of nurturing it stuck in my head. It was put there to be used when I needed it and when my children needed it. I have been teaching for more than twenty years, and I have had many opportunities to nurture children, but these two instances resonate with me. Why? I think it's because I've been charged with some students who really need to be nurtured. I also believe that I needed what they gave me. They gave me a reason to express extra kindness and patience, to take on a more human face with them, to be seen as a person who cares and who also happens to be their teacher. Whatever the reason, these two sweet kiddos needed a little extra love from their teacher and their teacher got a little extra love in return.

So, if you're ever feeling like I feel at times -- that I must push, push, push to cover material and make every second count -- just pause, take a breath, exhale, and think about my experience. Nurture your children. Not because you don't already do it, but because doing it is vital in a healthy classroom. I'm thinking of this piece of advice as paying it forward. I hope you see it that way, too.