Thankful

After going to the dentist yesterday and hearing about the troubles of small business and the unhappiness of people in the business world, I went to work this morning very thankful that I have a job that I love.

One of my favorite things about my job is listening to my students when they don't know I am listening, or when they are in with another teacher. Today was no exception:

While my students were in art I was sitting in my classroom planning. The kindergarten rooms are an open classroom plan, so my room connects to the other kindergarten room. I could hear the other teacher introducing a book that addressed the issue of lying. She was doing a wonderful job of setting the kids up to talk about why lying isn't good. She asked the students to share why they thought it was bad to lie:

"Because you will go to hell."

There is was. The simple and honest truth as perceived by a five-year-old. Lying=bad, bad=go to hell. Duh. Oh my goodness, I could not stop laughing! The little girl said it so casually and honestly. It was so funny! I don't think my colleague anticipated that response. :)

It's funny to hear the perceptions and interpretations of kindergartners. Today we had a lock down drill and as we were all crammed into a tiny space I heard the whispers of my students to each other: "The monster is going to come in." "Shh, the ugly guy will hear us." "Move over, I'm scared of the dark." "Me too! Hold my hand." (These voices, to my surprise, came from under a desk that I thought only housed 3 terrified kindergartners, but in actuality was home to no fewer than 6).

These comments are great especially when you put them into context with the actual conversation I had with them about lock downs prior to the drill. A few days ago we had a real lock-out (we have to stay locked in our classrooms but can go on with class as usual, but there is a threat outside of the building--in this case a suspected armed man in the neighborhood.) After the lock-out was lifted the principal came on the intercom to tell the staff and students that we were safe and that there had been a "scary man" who we needed to make sure we were safe from. Well, you can't say "a scary man" to kindergartners because they think of a villain from some horror movie and for the rest of the day operate under the assumption that there is a man who looks like Freddie Kruger running around outside of the school, chainsaw in hand. I had to try to explain that no, there was not a monster outside, just someone who was not making safe or wise choices. It's hard to explain to a five year-old that some people make choices that can lead to hurting others. They are so innocent that they cannot imagine anyone wanting to hurt someone else on purpose, so they just assume that it is an actual monster. :)

On the plus side, my kids are now very practiced at lock-outs, lock-downs, and lock-ins. They are also really, really good at fitting into small spaces. I can proudly tell you that I can fit 20 students into one bathroom stall. I can also fit 6-7 under a teacher desk, 4 between a wall and filing cabinet, and if challenged, could probably fit all my kids into a space that is only 3X3 feet. Yeah, we are that good. :) I had no idea that my extraordinary packing and organizing skills would come in so handy as a teacher!