True Heroes

I have been waiting what seems like forever to be able to post these darling messages written by my little firsties.  Way back on Veteran's Day we did a lot of discussing about Veterans and what they mean to us.  We talked about heroes and I showed my class various pictures of my trip to Hawaii to visit my brother who is an officer in the Navy.  Well, now my kids just think the world of my brother {a man they have never met :)} and we wrote thank you letters to him.  They are truly written from the hearts and words of my 6 and 7 year-olds, and boy are their sweet notes special.

So now that he has received his letters and the surprise is over, I can finally write about it!  Ahhhh they are just the cutest!!  I sure hope they made his day brighter when he received them!  

Here are some of the messages my brother got to read: (I only wish you could see their pictures they drew on the back of the papers.  They were just as sweet, I promise!)

This one is my favorite :)

Dear Chris, Thank you for serving our country.  Hope you sleep well.  How do you get air?

Dear Chris, Thank you for helping our country.  Do you like the Navy?  Do you like the submarine?  What do you do through the day?

 Dear Chris, Thank you for saving our country.  Do you like the see?  (see/sea, what's the difference??! :))

Dear Chris, Thank you for saving our world.  (Heart dotted i and everything!!)

Dear Friend, Do you like saving the day?  That you so much.  Yes you are nice.

Dear Chris, Thank you for serving our country.  What do you do up there?  What do you do in the submarine?  Do you hunt other submarines?

So, as you can see, their hearts are made of gold.  I am one proud teacher!!!

**A teacher's note: I am super impressed with their writing so far.  This is typical writing that I get on a daily basis from them and that's just after a little over 2 months in first grade!  For those that don't get to see a 1st grader write regularly, just think about what all they have to do while writing... they are not only thinking of ideas for their writing, but their sounds of the letters, how to form the letters, spelling patterns, capital letters (which obviously need work :)), and punctuation.  So much going on in their brains at a time!  I've gotta stick up for these little ones and just let you know how proud I am. :)

I have to also show you the soldiers we made in class.  Are they not the cutest??!

And finally, here is my brother, a true hero! 

For the Love of Mondays

What an ordeal, folks.  Fiiiiiiinally I am sitting all situated and ready to write.  I was looking forward to this moment since I left work {which was 4:15 by the way.... the earliest since needing to leave for my friend's wedding in September, I believe!!  I'm so proud of myself.  Baby steps.} What a night.  I ran my errands, got my veggies and fruits for the week, {and I didn't even pick up the chocolate donuts.  I may have glanced at them, well more like gazed, but I didn't even touch!} and bubbles for my kids' Valentines since those kids just make my heart pop. :)  Well, then after all my errand running, I decided to hit up Starbucks, with my computer, and sit and write my heart out until I realized the Starbucks I pulled up to was closed.  Yes, at 7:15 it was closed.  Hmmm.  So off to the next one I went.  There, they put whipped cream in my drink, and since I can't have it, I had to complain.  Ugh.  Then I went in to plug in my computer and realized that I brought my brother's charger which didn't help my battery with 6% life left.  Then I thought that the studious coffee-goers probably wouldn't want to be around my germing the place up.  So obviously I wasn't meant to be there!  But this is the sweet little face I got to come home to, so I couldn't be too sad. :)

So anyway, as I cuddle with my little puppy, I just sit and reflect about how much I just love Mondays.  I feel that I am so opposite of everyone.  Monday is the day that I get to reap the benefits of the hard work from the previous week of planning and late stays at school.  I also have a renewed mind and wide open heart for all the love of my kiddos.  It's like the stress of the week hasn't yet taken over my mind yet. Toward the end of the week, things build up and become so unbearable.  I really need to work on letting things go and being okay with things not being perfectly set in place.  Our principal gave us some great advice.  To choose one word at the beginning of the year to reflect upon throughout the year.  My word I chose is "simplify."  I am going to work on simplifying my lessons, prep work, and in the grand scheme of things, life in general.  I've gotta do something, cause this teacher isn't going to last much longer if I don't!  So there you have it, my goal in one word: simplify.  I even wrote it down to display so I see it every moment I am at my desk. {and of course it is complete with a polka dot border...gotta keep it in theme with the classroom, right?!}

What's new with my firsties??  Today one of my students randomly came up to me, while we were walking back to our classroom, and said, "Ms. Johnson.  Sometimes you are so funny!"  Well, I'm glad they think that.  Their sweet little comments just make me so happy.  No matter what, the love they have for their teacher shows so much.  They are so trusting which brings such great responsibility.  Sometimes I wonder how I was given charge over 20 precious little lives.  It's such a responsibility to know that the words I say, how well I teach, and how I make them feel can impact their lives.  Oh my golly, also I said the word butt in front of my whole class.  And, to make matters worse, I tried to cover it up, and they all had this huge delayed reaction of bubbling laughter.  Oh goodness.  I am so glad I didn't get any emails or calls over that one!  I was explaining the greater than/less than signs <,>, and I said that the alligator wants to eat the bigger number and its butt faces the smaller one.  Oops.  We had a good teachable moment on "slips of the tongue."  I feel like teaching has allowed me to learn to be more understanding and forgiving upon student mistakes and errors.  We are all human, after all, even when we are 6 and 7. 

We also did this adjective activity where we had to describe one another and their words to describe me were: crazy, funny, and strict.  Haha.  I can handle those words, I guess!  

On a side note, I am about to sign up for my first 5k in May!  AND I got my fabulous phone case in the mail today!  Ahh, it just makes me smile looking at it. I've jumped on the chevron stripe bandwagon.  Oh, and mint green is my new color. :)