I tell my kids, reading is breathing in and writing is breathing out. Quite evident!

In Humanities, we were learning about Ancient Civilizations - Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, Ancient Greece and Ancient China. Students had to research and create a scrap book for their civilization. They were given a rubric for the same. This girl's illustrations for Ancient China amazed me! #magicalfingers

There's A Boy in The Girls' Bathroom - Louis Sachar (Novel Study)

The bathroom was set, the toilet paper was rolling and it was time to relieve ourselves with the most awaited novel of this academic year.

All you need is cardboard, pink chart paper and toilet paper rolls to convert your classroom into a bathroom.

A novel which changes the dynamics of the entire classroom and is a personal favourite of the teachers and students.

Bradley's unbelievable stories makes this book believable, engaging and entertaining for the children. For teachers it's an insight into a child's world.

We began the novel by introducing the children to the various cover pages and asked them to predict what the story is about based on the clues from the title and the pictures on the cover.

The responses were marvellous:

1. The boy was probably curious to know how girls do their business.

2. His first language wasn't English and he couldn't read that it was the girls' bathroom.

3. He entered the bathroom because it was a dare.

4. He was new to the school and was quite nervous, so he hid in the girls' bathroom and came out only at the end of the day. Also, he left his toy inside by mistake.

5. He was curious to know if boys and girls have the same fancy equipment in their bathrooms, so he wanted to inspect.

6. He wanted to know what's inside the girls' bathroom, so he dressed up as a girl.

As a teacher I was amazed at how aware my students were when one child came up with the word 'transgender' to describe the picture on the blue cover. An interesting discussion about being open minded and accepting the differences around us, respecting the fact that some people are not happy with their gender which is a natural gift and might have a gender identity, or gender expression, that differs from their assigned sex.

Chapter 1

When we read Chapter 1, we stopped at the following point:

"I have been to the White House," Jeff admitted.

"If you want , I'll tell you about it."

Bradley thought a moment , then said,

I asked the kids what they thought was Bradley's reply. While most of them suggested that Bradley must have lied about having been to White House, they were on the edge of their seats as they waited to hear Bradley's reply. 

"Give me a dollar or I'll spit on you."

3 pages were enough to stir their enthusiasm!

The skills which we focussed on while reading the book were:
End of Chapter 1: Summary Writing
End of Chapter 2 and 3: Writing a Diary entry as Bradley Chalkers - his thoughts and feelings, his worries.

WELCOME TO THE MESSY WORLD OF BRADLEY 

Everyone enjoys giving their two penny bits, including my 9 year olds. Jeff is confused about being friends with Bradley. 

Enter - Our expert advisers (at the end of Chapter 8)

Chapters 9-22 were all about discussions and deep thoughts. 

• He was amazed by how young and pretty she was. He had been expecting an ugly old hag: Students shared some hilarious names they had used for some of their teachers. 
• 'Can I break something?' he asked                                                                                             I asked the students what they'd like to break in class if they were allowed to. Smash, came the reply- windows to break free, the lock to the I-pad trolley for unlimited access, the teacher's laptop so that she couldn't teach anything, tear the jotters- no homework, the teacher's watch so that she can't start the lesson on time
• 'When you tell a lie, the only person you're lying to is yourself'                                               We were working on measuring angles in the Maths lesson. Since most of the students had finished their work, I wrote the answers on the board for them to correct their own work. A student walked up to me and suggested that I erase the answers because some students were still working, and they could copy the answers. Another student overheard this, and responded immediately - 'If they do that, the only person they will be lying to is themselves'

Let's hear it from Bradley

Students wrote a poem as Bradley describing his feelings and thoughts.

Moments that Matter

Time flies, especially if you're surrounded by a cute bunch of monsters v/s aliens.It all started on 7th August 2016 when I got my cohort of 20 cuties who I like to call 'My Kids'

A teacher is all I ever wanted to be, not just because I enjoy teaching children, but because I am fond of interacting with them, listening to their thoughts and ideas. 

Adults are more guarded when they talk; with children it's more honest and transparent.

I'd like to share some of my memorable moments #momentsthatmatter through this post:

1. When our school was celebrating book week, one of the events was reading with family and friends. Most children had their family members come in to read. Some of my kids asked me if I could invite my mother/sister to read and I told them that I had asked my sister, but she refused as she didn't like reading to kids.

Pat came the reply (in chorus) - HOW RUDE AND MEAN

2. We were discussing about habits and I shared with the children what my teachers shared with me. How habits remain forever, if we don't make an effort.

Remove the H from HABIT- ABIT remains

Remove the B from ABIT - BIT remains

Delete the B and IT remains

'If you don't change habits, they remain'

As  a teacher I preached this for quite a few days. One day my kids started saying 'Miss, habits!'

I often use my hand to clean up the white board, instead of using the duster and it was turning into a habit. To help me overcome this, the little ones came to my rescue and every time I reached to clean the whiteboard with my hand, one of them would pop up with the duster , while the others echoed - HABITS:)

3. Noisy Class - 

    Teacher : You DID NOT JUST interrupt your teacher. Do you want me to       turn into this

    Little C: Yes, then I'll catch you and put you in the zoo

    Teacher: I shall escape

    Little C : Wouldn't be that easy, I'll catch you again!

4

                                                             On the very first day of school, I introduced my kids to these 6 levels and discussed what they meant. Most of them were eager to work towards level 6. 

The real treat was when I told the kids, that a particular piece of work would earn them a sticker if presented well, and what I heard next in unison was : Miss, but that's level 2 behaviour:D

I love these adorable little creatures, they call 'kids'

It's a joyride every single day.

5. On the last day of the term ,while saying our goodbyes:

Me: Am I not getting a goodbye hug from you guys?

While some of them did, most boys had this expression on their face - eeew, yuck, no way

Shy and cute - #littleboys

 I will believe everything you say, but please don't tell me that you added or subtracted mentally using the column method.
Kids: Miss, why is so difficult for you to believe? People can do column in their heads.
Me: Wait till you grow up and realise that you were using some mental strategy all this while, counting up or counting back:P

Yes, it's Friday and I dare not touch the board!