Getting Back into the Groove

After a snow day and Veteran’s Day, I returned to the classroom. I feel close with the students and able to pick up where we left off. Most came in sporting snow pants and boots, but there were a few that looked underdressed and it makes me wonder about their home lives. There has already been mention of beer during breakfast. Three boys insisted that their milk was beer; they would drink some then cheers and say, “We are drinkin’ beer.”

I felt unsure of how to respond. They were simply mirroring something they had seen somewhere outside of school. I know pretending to drink beer in school is not the wisest choice, but at the same time, I did not feel that they were out of control or being disruptive. I didn’t say anything, but continued to observe them.

One boy also mentioned that he knew what smoke was. He said it was something that goes into a pipe. Again, I couldn’t help but wonder what these children experience in their homes. We all grow up thinking our upbringing is normal, well, at least I did. I know I assume most children are supported, loved, and well cared for because that is all I knew growing up. I am beginning to see that this isn’t always true. I will leave my ponderings on home life there.

Today we worked in centers. I worked with students using Goldfish crackers to model one digit math problems. One boy ate all of his crackers right away and distracted the rest of his group throughout the lesson. I felt annoyed and tried to ignore his behavior, because I have seen that reprimanding him has had little effect. After that group switched, the remaining groups impressed me with their ability to follow along and work out the problems. I would say that half of them knew what an addition sign was and with little help, could solve the problems.