Chalk-A-Bration November 2013

Happy Chalk-A-Bration Day! It is chilly here in Michigan. Glad I bought lots of chalk before the warm weather turned off.
So today marks a first for me on Chalk-A-Bration. My kids and I decided to chalk at night on this long weekend away from school.

Here is Elliot doing a little star gazing.

Here is Elliot's poem about a bat.

Bats bats

how they fly.

All around in the sky

I see a mosquito

then I don't.

The bat it flutters

in the night.

I like to watch 

them eat the bugs 

on this really great night.

Janie hard at work.

Here is her poem about a butterfly.

Butterflies butterflies

first a caterpillar.

Butterflies butterflies

they dream of nothing.

Butterflies butterflies

they munch munch

and crunch crunch.

Butterflies butterflies

sleep in your chrysalis.

Butterflies butterflies

wakes up in the morning.

I'm a butterfly.

I fly high high high high high 

into 

the sky.

Night chalking was fun. It was a little twist on something we do so often at my house, making it a bit more exciting! When I told my kids we were going to do night chalking I should have had my camera ready. Their faces lit up confirming for me this was a good idea. 

night stillness

night beams

night noises

night dreams

Evidence

Why do I tempt her? Why is it even within reach?

My husband, Shawn, collects typewriters. Yep, he does. We have four of them. He's always looking for one that is more ancient than the last one he's purchased. One of the typewriters sits in our living room and is "untouchable." Shawn will occasionally type on it but otherwise it is basically a decoration. Last night my daughter was plucking away at it and we reminded her not to touch. She stopped and we thought it was handled.
After the kids went to bed we noticed a paper next to the typewriter. An old large sticky note with several typed letters. At first I thought, "Was it my son this time?" Um, no it was little Jane. She had typed JHubb in several spots on the paper, basically labeling the evidence that she had touched the typewriter AGAIN. Then I looked up and noticed what was at the top of the paper, "mmoomm I Love you." Kinda made it hard to be upset with her...how do they manage to do that?

A Classroom of Love

Celebrations, thanks and gratitude...I have them all. 

I celebrate my students everyday but what I love the most about each of them is the tolerance they demonstrate on a daily basis. We have a lot going on in our first grade classroom:

A student who screams because it is a release from all the sensory stimulation we cannot relate to, but is loved.

A student in a wheelchair battling a disease, but is loved.

A student who goes under the table because he is overwhelmed, but is loved.

A student who interrupts, distracts and disrupts, but is loved.

A student who is very hands on with peers, but is loved.

A student who is difficult to communicate with because of a neurological disorder, but is loved.

All these students and their needs are tolerated, embraced and accepted in a classroom of love. What could be a better celebration? I can't think of one.