Bye Purple Room, Hello New Jersey

At our final "meeting" in the Purple Room, the students offered their most cherished moments of Summer Camp as I recorded their words on chart paper. My personal favorite Purple Room moment was probably this final meeting; listening to the little ones remember the small things about our six week camp felt so special as a first time "teacher." I especially liked the little stinker who responded "Everything" because he just couldn't pick one thing that could be his "favoritist."

Some close runners-up for favorite Summer Camp memory:

1. Giving the children special treats, and more specifically, their reactions...

On getting surprise hot dogs for lunch: "This is the best day ever!! I haven't had a hot dog this good in years!" 

And I believe it too. He's only had five years to try hot dogs, so I bet this one was pretty dang good.

On replacing Quiet Rest Time with a Dr. Seuss movie: "What? No Quiet Rest? YOU MEAN WE CAN REALLY SIT WHERE WE WANT? I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!"

During our Pizza Party: "Ms Palensis you're my favorite teacher ever ever ever. You know why? Because you look like a princess and you gave us pizza."
Aw shucks. Believe it or not, replace "teacher" with "girlfriend" and I've heard that exact same sentence from my boyfriend. 

2. Cleaning up accidents (some not so accidental... can you say attention deprivation?), examining behinds ("Excuse me teacher my butt feels raaashy"), diagnosing minor pain as discomforts ("My penis hurts." Um, why do you think that hurts? "From walkin'." We only have two more minutes left, I'm sorry the lining in your Superman bathing suit does not protect against chaffing but you will survive.) 
...OH wait, these aren't my favorite things about Camp. Sorry. I'm just scarred for life. 

3. Pool Days. Because over the course of 6 weeks we got 8 children (all aged 5 or 6) to take the swim test. 6 out of those 8 had never been in water over their head, ever. It felt good to be a friend to play with and a coach to learn from at the pool. The parents really appreciated it too, which was nice. 

Overall I have so much to be thankful for after these six weeks. I'll never forget my first "classroom." Throughout the duration of camp I came across countless challenges and frustrations, but all were outweighed with smiles and happy memories :) I miss those kids already. 

Now I'm home, with little to do but reminisce on summer camp and relax. I think six weeks of chasing kids around a playground have caught up with me - I've only been home for a day and a half and I've already taken three naps. I half-heartedly partied at the annual block party last night, struggled through my first TRX workout in over six weeks this morning, and have been pleasently unproductive since. You ever get that feeling where you just don't want to do anything? Yeah, that was today. And probably the next two weeks until I start my next teaching adventure: Student Teaching (dun dun dun) Sixth Graders at Hollywood Elementary School. 

Until then...

The Amazing Adventures of a Crayfish

As a culminating activity, the Purple Room decided to author their very own book.  Using construction paper, markers, binder rings, and a round-robin brainstorming of material, the students completed a story to show their parents with a little help from their (patient) teachers. It goes a little something like this:

The Amazing Adventures of a Crayfish by the Purple Room

(The Abridged Version) 

Once upon a time there was a crayfish and he ate leaves.  The crayfish went under a rock to look for food. Then I put a big rock under the pond and the crayfish fell asleep under the rock.  He woke up and he looked for food. 

 Then after the crayfish ate he went for a little swim.  After he went for a little swim, he went to find some friends.  He was crawling around. 

Then the next morning I put in a shiny black rock and it was so small that the crayfish couldn't get under it. He scraped the rock and it broke and something magic came out of it. 

 And then he shared with his friends. And he lived happily ever after.  

Have we taught these kids well, or what? All good things come from sharing and lives will always go on happily ever after. The end.

Here's one of the students showing his Dad the book. I didn't take any solo shots of the book, and I can't post my kids faces on the internet.  Maybe tomorrow I'll remember to scan in pictures of the book for your enjoyment. Probably not though, because probably no one cares, and that's fine. 

Bathroom talk is for bathrooms

I almost forgot how naive, uninhibited, raw and well, childish, the humor of a five year old can be. Lately we've been faced with a bathroom-talk epidemic in the Purple Room. 

The boys of the class have recently discovered the phenomenon that is making fart noises with the convenient pairing of a hand and an armpit.  They also discovered it doesn't have to be your own armpit to make this magical music. I anticipate this habit will end shortly after the first boy develops odorous sweat glands, but I have faith and hope that it will end sooner.  

Nothing is funnier than when someone passes gas during meeting.

 "I don't know why you're laughing, this happens to everyone. Please put bubbles in your mouth and continue listening to the story," I say.  

They look at me as if I'm nuts. Maybe I am. I have to suppress my giggles too. 

Two students were laughing to themselves in Dramatic Play. "What's going on over here?" I ask. 

"Nothing." Followed by more giggles.

I glare.

Dennis (the Menace):My brudder said naked.

Lil Genius: Yeah and I know what it means.

They continue to repeat the N(aked) word back and forth until I decide this is a battle I'd rather just walk away from. 

Yesterday we were on the carpet playing Build-a-Person, the politically correct and therefore preschool friendly version of Hang Man, when a student guessed the first letter to the Builder's four-letter word. "P." There were two.  For the love of God no one guess an O. 

One of my students decided it was acceptable to pull his pants down mid-tag to urinate. On the sidewalk. Next to the slide. He proceeded to pull his pants down and continue running from whoever was "It." Not okay. 

Whenever a student feels the urge to use "bathroom talk" I ask them to go into the bathroom. Bathroom talk is for the bathroom, please only those words there. However, sometimes they simply can't bear to wait for the bathroom. Walking back from the pool today I asked two misbehaving students to stop their "not nice words" and separate. The boy whose hand I took looked straight at me with a sly grin. "Butt. Butt Butt Fart. Poop!" There was nothing I could do; the words were said, and there was no bathroom for me to send him to between the pool and the CYC. Boy, did he have a S-word grin on that face! 

Stupid is the S word for five year olds, in case you were wondering. Except for Mr. Know-it-all... he'll correct any tattle-taler when they complain someone called them the "S word."  I constantly have to make some obviously loud clamor to protect the innocent ears of his peers... Sometimes I question honest parenting. 

Who am I kidding? Bathroom humor isn't limited to five and six year olds. It's still damn funny otherwise I wouldn't be blogging about it. 

Purple Room Fun Facts

My students are a lot like Snapple Caps; they hold a lot of information for their kindergarten-sized containers, but it's hard to say which info they spew is phenomenally true and which is indubitably false. 

My students are clever. They are talkative. They are certainly intelligent. And nothing makes them beam more than making a teacher interested in something they have to say. With that being said, they often vie for my attention with countering their peers' stories. 

Luckily for them, nothing makes me happier than absorbing their lessons (fictitious or not.) 

Today, lunch time: 

B*: Did you know what Pope Benedict's favorite drink is?

Me: Um, no, I don't.

B: It's Fanta. He loves Fanta. It's like Orange Juice but way better.

Yesterday, Morning meeting:

Me: What can you tell me about WATER?

Lil Genius: It can go in your lungs and then you will suffocate and die. I won't go in the pool you can't make me.

Me: Huh... fair enough. 

Monday, Pool time:

Diva: Do you know I can jump so high?

Me: No way.

Diva: Uh-huh. One time I was in Florida and I jumped in the pool so high I scratched a bird.

Me: Wow. I bet you jump really high Ms. Diva.

Diva: Yep.  I kept it's feather. 

Me: You're so silly! Are you telling me truth or telling me a story?

Diva: It's true!! You don't believe me? Ask my cousin. He told me to keep it for my collection. So I did. But I asked him to hold it for me first because I needed to pet my neighbor's dolphin. They have a dolphin in their house. 

Me: Ok. 

Don't tell me it's an easy job distinguishing the honesty from the farce. It certainly is not. 

 

Some days I leave the CYC feeling more like a student than a teacher. I learn a lot from these kids, even if it's just a refresher course in using my imagination. 

*Once again I have changed names to protect the wit and intelligence, and ultimate identity of my Purple Roomers. 

A Year Ago Today...

I was spending my first day in Spain.  (Read about it here. )

Today, instead of getting settled into a hotel in Madrid, getting acclimated to strange breakfast foods and meetings new friends, I am preparing myself for my first Open House (!!) for summer camp and packing for a girls weekend in Ocean City.

Not quite as adventurous as touring a foreign country, but still exciting nonetheless.

I'll be back Monday with a recap! Wish me luck meeting the parents of my Purple Roomers!!

Have a great Weekend,
Ms. Yelencsics ;)