Smile Sighting #15

I'm sitting on the floor next to "T" and he's reading to me.  His voice is the ONLY thing you can hear in the room.  His head is literally right next to a girl's "rear" sitting in a chair.  I'm sitting close to him on the other side.  All of the sudden, I hear this HUGE fart.  I looked at him, he looks at her and then back at me.  I laughed REALLY loud (because honestly, farts are the funniest thing EVER).  T says, "Who did that?!"  The teacher says, "It's okay... keep working."  Apparently we aren't supposed to react to really loud gas emissions.  I stopped laughing and we continued to read.

However, I couldn't stop.  The fight to hold it back lasted easily 20 minutes.

Smile Sighting #14

This one requires some background information.  The boy I've been working with for 2 weeks now, we'll call him "M," has been failing math.  He is a sharp kid.  He's funny, witty and surprises you with random knowledge constantly.  He's taken to me.  He runs up to me with a high five or hug daily.  Every time I go into the classroom, I'm greeted with enthusiasm (what more could you ask for, right?!).

He gets frustrated when he doesn't know the answer right away, though.  He asks for help or says he doesn't get it.  I say, "M, I know you know this.  You did this problem perfectly yesterday.  You can do it again."  I've taught him little tricks to remember things (like what an acute angle is... what an Isoceles triangle is... rhymes for remembering multiplication answers, etc).  He catches on very quickly, especially when somebody instills some confidence in him.

They had a math test on Thursday.  I told his teacher I wanted to do something special for him and the other two kids I've been working with if they got a C or above.  I really thought a C would have been an accomplishment by itself.  I checked in with their teacher twice on Thursday to see if they had been graded, but no luck.  Today, I went out for recess.  When the fourth graders came out, M came running full speed at me!

He gives me this HUGE hug and says, "LIZ!  I GOT AN A ON THE TEST!!"  I thought he was pulling my leg for a second, "REALLY?!"  He says, "Yes!  And when I finished the test, I knew I did well so I said, 'ALL because of Liz.'"  Is that not the SWEETEST thing?!

Honestly, I nearly cried with the amount of pride I felt for him and the other two I've been working with (they got B's... which of course it amazing, too... however, they were still not satisfied with themselves). I also nearly cried because ALL they needed was TWO weeks of special attention.  That's it!

What is great about my job other than all these Smile Sightings?  WATCHING my hard work pay off.  Finally, something I'm doing shows marked improvement in somebody's life.

Smile Sighting #13

Little girl comes out for recess today.  She's talking to her friend very seriously about how she's "allergic to the sun."  This is because, "Every time I come outside, I sneeze a lot."

Smile Sighting #12

Three boys were standing in a triangle just KICKING each other.  I walked over and said, "Hey!  No kicking guys!"  One boy asked, "Why?"  I said, "Because, you could hurt somebody!"  He says, "Oh, I didn't know..." and runs off.

Smile Sighting #11

It was a little windy today at recess and a bit cold.  One kid found a corner that was especially warm.  He said quietly to himself, "Oh!  It feels like an oven over here!"  Then, ran over to a crowd of kids and yelled, "Hey everybody!  It feels like a pot pie over here!"  

Smile Sighting #10

There's this thing called "Fill the Bucket" at school.  I didn't know what it was.  While pondering a new way to get my kids motivated to do their math, Tia suggested I give them "Fill the Bucket" slips.  Miquel explained that when they do something that makes me happy, I give them a slip, they fill one out and stick in on the board.  I said, "Yeah, but every DAY I get to see you makes me happy, even when you don't do your work."  He says, "WHY?!"... like I'm totally insane.

Smile Sighting #9

All the doors (with the exception of the front door) at the school are locked at all times.  Usually, somebody puts something in the door during recess to let kids in that need to use the restroom/go to the nurse.  A kid ran up to me today with a stub for a pencil and says, "Here!  I found this in the door!"  Thanks for locking us out kid.  :P

Smile Sighting #8

James got in line to go inside from recess today.  He also got OUT of line, much like he does every day.  He nabbed one of the big plastic tubs we keep sandbox toys in, crawled underneath it and hid.  I lifted it and told him he had to line up.  I asked him if he would hold my hand when we got in line.  He agreed.  We walked over to the back of the line (about 10 feet away) holding hands the whole way.  Another kid runs over to hold my other hand.  When I looked back over at James (who is STILL holding my hand), he is now standing inside the same tub we just walked away from.  All I said was, "Wah?  How did you... ?" I couldn't even be mad... it was amazing.  He's the new Copperfield!

Smile Sighting #7

It was super windy and cold at recess today.  A hoard of girls discovered that huddling together in one particular corner reduced the unpleasantness.  A boy come trotting over and decided to get in on the action. He starts to put on a over sized hoodie (seriously, it was big enough to fit two of ME in there).  He says, "Hey ladies!  Anybody want to get in here with me?"  All of the girls reply, "NOOOO!" followed by some "Ewww!"  Nice try, bud.

Smile Sighting #6

One boy asks another to go play on the monkey bars.  He replies, "I can't.  I got a flu shot today and this arm is sleepy!"

Smile Sighting #5

I had to grab the tether ball from James today because he wouldn't line up to go inside.  I reminded him and he said, "You're wack!"  I said, "What?!" (while laughing a bit)... he paused and said, "I said you're RIGHT!  Let's go!"

Smile Sighting #4

I gave a kid a push on the swing today to get him started. When I pulled him back, he farted... ON me. I said out loud, "Nice, Ricky." Girl on one side said, "What? What did he do?" Boy on the other side said, "Ricky farted." And that was all.

Smile Sighting #3

Kid refers to somebody's pitch (during dodgeball) as "Smooth as putting carmel on a carmel apple." I said, "So, there is double carmel on the apple?" He looked at me like I was crazy and walked away.

Smiles Sighting #3

Girl asks me to "play with her" at recess. I ask what she wants to do. She opens her tiny hands and I see 5 orange seeds (presumably from lunch). She want to plant them so we can have orange trees on the playground. So, we did.

Smile Sighting #2

James lining up to go inside WITHOUT cutting. Too bad he was in the wrong line. :P

Smile Sighting #1

My recess buddy, James, accidentally grabbed my boob when trying to tickle me back today. I informed Josh, my husband, and assured him he had nothing to be jealous about. :) However, Josh reminded me that trying to tickle me WITHOUT an accidental boob grab is quite difficult. Darn genes.