Student of the Month

Ok, so my little guy that I chose as student of the month has been super helpful the last 2 days. We eat breakfast in the classroom this year and the cafeteria staff brings a milk bag and a food bag. There is a little slip of paper where we have to write how many people are eating. He has taken it upon himself to be the breakfast helper. Every morning when we finish eating we have to set the bags outside the door to be picked up. Today my mind was all over the place and I was forgetting to do things (thanks mom!). He reminded me to take the breakfast count and put it in the bag, made sure I had my breakfast and get everything packed up and outside the door before I even knew what was going on. I thought it was so sweet, I gave him a pat on the shoulder and said thanks for helping with breakfast. His response, "no problem, Mrs. Barnes, I'm here to help". I couldn't believe it, it made the morning go much more smoothly. The best part is that he doesn't know he is the student of the month, he is just being wonderful because that's who he is. I definitely made the right choice for the month of August!

I forgot one from last week. Last Monday one of my tougher kids came in first thing and said, "I'm glad to be back in this classroom to see your smiling face, Mrs. Barnes". He has a tough home life so I think the comment stemmed from that but it was still sweet.

In other news, I ordered 2 books from Amazon that are filled with math folder games for grades 3-6. I got the first book today and have started on the 15 games from the book. I'm super excited to use them in centers and small groups as skill practice. I also interviewed to teach a 5th grade remedial math class before school so they will be useful there, too! I have blisters all over my hand from making games lately, but it's totally worth it, the kids love them and they are so beneficial. I have 1 file drawer full of games so far and after I'm done with these 2 books I will probably have a 2nd drawer. I also have a bucket of games that I have made from the Kagan training I did over the summer. I had one of the games on the schedule for today and the kids were excited to whole day. They kept looking at the clock waiting for 2:40 to roll around. They are so funny sometimes. :-)