I know I keep saying this, but I am so happy at work! After 10 months in my position, I feel like I have a lot of stuff figured out and I'm feeling confident in my role. It's a good feeling. If only I could feel like this with all the other parts of my life... :)
But anyhow, I wanted to share two things that made me happy last week. One was when I was reading Eric Carle's book "1, 2, 3 to the Zoo" to my kids. It's a book about animals riding in a train to a zoo. On the first page, 1 elephant is in a train car, on the second page 2 hippos, and so on. The last page is of all the animals at the zoo (1 elephant, 2 hippos, 3 giraffes, etc.)
While looking at this page of the zoo, that same blonde mentioned in my last post asked, "Why is there just a mommy elephant? Why isn't there a daddy elephant?" I said, "That's a good question. What do you think happened to the daddy elephant? Where did he go?" To which another little girl in the class enthusiastically responded, as though very proud to know the answer to the question, "At the office!!"
And the second thing that has made me very happy not just last week but for the last several weeks is what many of my children keep themselves busy with during our outside time. They walk around searching for "flowers" in the grass. These flowers are actually weeds, but if you look close enough, you can see there are tiny little blossoms in them. I would never have noticed all these tiny colorful blossoms, but my children do!
There are white, yellow, pink, and purple "flowers." They pick a handful of these blossoms and then bring them to me, proudly giving me flowers. And I have to say that close up, these blossoms are very pretty! I am so lucky to be given flowers every day! And I try to show my kids how much I appreciate their kindness.
I love how children see beauty all around them. Beauty that most adults overlook, are too busy to notice, or are too practical to appreciate. These flowers have brought so much joy to my life, and I am so grateful for my children for helping me notice and appreciate the beauty around me.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Today's Funniest Moment
I'm reading a book to 12 three-year-olds about our bodies, and before the page about our brains, I ask the children, "What's inside your head?" After much probing, I realize none of them know. So I tell them that their brains are inside their heads and that they use their brains to think. One of my students, a beautiful girl with blonde hair and big gray eyes raises her hand and says very innocently and emphatically, "But Ms. Abbi, I don't have a brain!" Hahaha.
It was one of those moments when I couldn't keep myself from laughing out loud really hard. And so of course many other students join in happily, "Ms. Abbi, I don't have a brain!" Oh dear.
So I get myself together and say very seriously that everyone has a brain and without a brain we couldn't think or do all of the many things we do at school. But my blonde girl wouldn't have anything of it, she insisted that she did NOT have a brain. She said, "Ms. Abbi, I can think without a brain!" I finally had to drop it. I still don't know why she was so adamant that she did not have a brain. I'm glad about it though, because it made me laugh inside even after I had changed the subject.
It was one of those moments when I couldn't keep myself from laughing out loud really hard. And so of course many other students join in happily, "Ms. Abbi, I don't have a brain!" Oh dear.
So I get myself together and say very seriously that everyone has a brain and without a brain we couldn't think or do all of the many things we do at school. But my blonde girl wouldn't have anything of it, she insisted that she did NOT have a brain. She said, "Ms. Abbi, I can think without a brain!" I finally had to drop it. I still don't know why she was so adamant that she did not have a brain. I'm glad about it though, because it made me laugh inside even after I had changed the subject.
Friday, May 21, 2010
"My Brother"
I have twin boys in my class that I absolutely adore. They are so sweet to each other and to the other students in the class. I am so glad they are in my class because I love them soooo much!! They come from a great family--their parents and older brother are all so polite, respectful, and kind. I have been so impressed by the fact that these twins never fight with each other like you would expect brothers to fight. And to the contrary, they often help each other. Today I witnessed a very touching moment of them today that I wanted to share.
During circle time all the children sit on carpet squares. Sometimes it's a struggle for them to stay sitting on their carpet square for the whole 10-15 minutes, and so their favorite part is Weather, when one of them gets to walk over to the window to see what the weather is and then tell the class. It's a real treat to be able to get off your carpet square! :) The way I pick on a child to do this is by singing this song:
"Oh dear, what will the weather be?
Oh dear, what will the weather be?
Oh dear, what will the weather be?
[Enter name here], what will the weather be?"
When I start singing this song, all the children sit so nicely because they want me to pick on them. And after I say the name, there is always an immediate chorus of "Why didn't you pick ME?!"s and "Ms. Abbi, you didn't pick ME!!"s. And every day I have to tell the children that only one person gets to do the weather each day, and they will have their turn a different day.
Well today for weather I picked one of the twins, and right after I said the name, before any of the other children could even start complaining, the other twin brother punched his hand into the air in celebration and said with glee, "YES! MY BROTHER!" He was clearly extremely happy that his brother was picked for this special assignment.
That really touched me. It was a very powerful example to me of charity and selflessness. A* was able to forget himself for a moment and take joy in his brother's happiness, even when it meant that he was deprived of something he very much wanted. He wasn't thinking in terms of "me," he was thinking in terms of his brother. His brother's happiness was his happiness.
How difficult that can be for us, children and adults alike! We so often feel envious, resentful, or threatened by the success or good fortune of those around us. But we don't need to be. We can be like A* and think in terms of our brothers and sisters rather than ourselves. Their happiness can be our happiness. And because we are all part of God's family, we can exclaim like A*, "Yes! My brother!" (or sister) whenever someone around us is blessed or succeeds. I want to be more like A* and be able to say this easily and from the heart as he so evidently can.
During circle time all the children sit on carpet squares. Sometimes it's a struggle for them to stay sitting on their carpet square for the whole 10-15 minutes, and so their favorite part is Weather, when one of them gets to walk over to the window to see what the weather is and then tell the class. It's a real treat to be able to get off your carpet square! :) The way I pick on a child to do this is by singing this song:
"Oh dear, what will the weather be?
Oh dear, what will the weather be?
Oh dear, what will the weather be?
[Enter name here], what will the weather be?"
When I start singing this song, all the children sit so nicely because they want me to pick on them. And after I say the name, there is always an immediate chorus of "Why didn't you pick ME?!"s and "Ms. Abbi, you didn't pick ME!!"s. And every day I have to tell the children that only one person gets to do the weather each day, and they will have their turn a different day.
Well today for weather I picked one of the twins, and right after I said the name, before any of the other children could even start complaining, the other twin brother punched his hand into the air in celebration and said with glee, "YES! MY BROTHER!" He was clearly extremely happy that his brother was picked for this special assignment.
That really touched me. It was a very powerful example to me of charity and selflessness. A* was able to forget himself for a moment and take joy in his brother's happiness, even when it meant that he was deprived of something he very much wanted. He wasn't thinking in terms of "me," he was thinking in terms of his brother. His brother's happiness was his happiness.
How difficult that can be for us, children and adults alike! We so often feel envious, resentful, or threatened by the success or good fortune of those around us. But we don't need to be. We can be like A* and think in terms of our brothers and sisters rather than ourselves. Their happiness can be our happiness. And because we are all part of God's family, we can exclaim like A*, "Yes! My brother!" (or sister) whenever someone around us is blessed or succeeds. I want to be more like A* and be able to say this easily and from the heart as he so evidently can.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Expressing Love
I have been counting my blessings this week, because I have so many. My heart is overwhelmed by the love I feel for my kids and the love I feel from them. It is one of the most amazing blessings in my life. In my previous jobs there was a policy against saying, "I love you," but there is no policy against that phrase at my current job. And what a difference it makes in my day!! Some of my kids are so good at saying, "I love you, Ms. Abbi" and they will say that to me at the most random times of the day. I love it and try to show them how much I appreciate it when they tell me that. And I try to tell my kids often how much I love them as well. My life is beautiful because of this, that we frequently and openly express love for one another. These three words have a powerful affect on an environment when they are used often. I am so grateful for my kids and the love I feel when I'm with them. I am blessed beyond measure.
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