after care

Every Tuesday after school my cooperating teacher and I watch a few of the littles until their parents can come and pick them up. So today I tell them to all find something to play with and about two minutes after they start they ask, "Miss Reed, can we practice our math with the fraction circles?" Music. To. My. Ears. "Yes!!! Of course you can, loves!" So now I'm can't stop laughing because they're taking turns pretending to be me teaching them math.

Here is the how I talk during math according to my second graders:
"I love how Jenny is sitting so quietly."
"I know your birthday party is tomorrow, Sam. Yes, I'm coming to the park for cake!"
"Who can  help me with this fraction?"
"I love how you're sitting."
"Go move your name down, Liam."
"Maybe you can try the fraction this way."
"I like the way Ben is sitting."
"Here is your prize for doing fraction circles and listening."
"Go put your name up to 'Outstanding' because I love the way you're acting today!"
"You can go out to recess now!"
"Wait! It's present time! Here is one for you, and you, and you..."
"I love the way Carly is sitting."
"Yes, you can have a hug."



And my favorite "Miss Reed" quote:
"I brought pizza for the whole class!!!"

You learn a lot when kids play teacher!!


*All names have been changed.

sweet and silly

There is a little in my class who is always saying the sweetest and silliest things. These are his top 5 very funny, adorable, and a-sharing-must quotes from last week.

                                  FIVE.
(While holding his nose) "Miss Reed, can we please move back to our seats? I kinda tooted and it smells pretty gross over here in my spot...."
What do you say to that?! Yes.

                                  FOUR.
(Before standardized testing and after being told to use scrap paper to doodle when they're done) "Miss Reed, I'm gonna draw you a picture of my house so when you come over you know what it looks like. Oh and can you come over and okay at my house?! My mom will make us good and I have so many fun toys... At least for boys!"
He picture included his balcony and a clear distinction in the different paint colors on the steps and walls.

                                  THREE.
(Randomly during the day) "Miss Reed, I'm gonna miss you when I go to America but I can come visit you because we'll both be in America! But I don't know how far Utah is from Pennsylvania so here is a map to find me in case I can't find you!"
I think he's giving me a great excuse to travel out West!!

                                  TWO.

(After a Bible lesson) "Miss Reed, can you come over to my house so I can read you Bible stories from my Bible??"
YES!! YES!!!! YESSSSS!!!!

                                  ONE.

(After getting hurt and sitting on my lap to until he felt better) "Miss Reed, I prayed to Jesus and asked him to make my back feel better and it worked! But can you pray for me too?"
Every single day I do, bud. Every. Single. Day.

a walk in the park

Today I took my littles on a walk outside because they worked so hard all week, and our week was not exactly a walk in the park. But today our walk was wonderful and very educational! We were on a mission to look for what rocks make in our world. So off we went to the park! And my littles were shocked to find rocks all around them. We even saw cement being made which uses gravel! There are learning experiences all around us :)

Then I let them play in the park (which they did have to earn with good behavior and discussions). It was so much fun to chase them around and take some pictures of them giggling and having fun!! I love these littles and had the best time with them today :) They manage to make me melt every single day. I'm so blessed and honored to be teaching them!

My favorite moment was holding their hands while we walked; I would give their hand a little squeeze and they would squeeze back and smile!

For those of you who loved the quote "every storm runs of rain," here's the song by Gary Allen.

hide-and-go-seek

Today one of my precious littles was sitting all alone at recess. He didn't want to play in the sandbox because he hated sand in his shoes; he wanted to play football (soccer) but the balls were all taken; so he sat all alone in a little house. Heart breaking. So I sat with him and we talked about his new house and how he was wearing all blue and what other games we could play together. Then another little came up to me and said he was bored too... perfect!!!

So we started to play hide-and-go-seek.

At first it was just me and the two boys. But by the time I counted to 20 about ten more littles had joined in! I had the entire group of littles, first through fifth grade, playing a huge game of hide-and-go-seek with me by the end of recess. We ran around and hid in bushes; we giggled and laughed until someone found us; we ran to the base to win the round. But the best part was all the memories and smiles we shared! :)

So even thoughI have a bad day every now and then, these are the days that remind me why I love what I do and why I continue to travel the world to teach littles. I just love my littles and all the joy they bring my life! I think I could be a little at heart forever :)


And as if my day couldn't get any better... today was Poem in My Pocket Day! So my littles have been working on their own poems all week, and today they read them for the Elementary School students and parents. They wrote wonderful poems and used their big voices! I was so so proud of all of them and clapped my hands off for each of them! Heart melting.

bad days

We all have bad days.
Littles do. Teachers do.
But the thing about bad days
is that we need to think about
how to make tomorrow an
awesome day! So we reflect.

We talk about the truth and
how today was not a good day.
Then we talk about the specifics:
unkind words, not listening and
other things that made the day bad.

Reflecting helps us to realize
what actions and attitudes
need to be changed tomorrow.

So how do I handle bad days?
I put on my very bright pink
running shoes and I hit the
pavement for a solid hour.
And I pray that God will
help me show love, patience
and kindness with my littles.

And then I wake up and
tell myself to make it a better
day for me and the littles.
I pray for wisdom and
each of my littles in the am.

And the next day is
always much brighter
and I get smothered in
hugs and laughs all day!

Because... every storm 
runs out of rain! -Gary Allen

"i forgot..."

top 3 things my precious littles forgot today...

1. to keep their shoes on
2. to try before asking for help
3. that I don't speak Russian


it was a funny day with them :)

their precious hearts

All nine of my littles warm my heart every single day.

I love seeing them waddle like penguins down the hallway to stay quiet.

I love it when they ask to hold my hand and give it a squeeze while we walk.

I love how they bring in rocks to show their friends because we're studying rocks.

I love hearing them giggle and smile ear to ear about something funny.

I love watching them swing their feet on a chair because they can't touch the floor.

I love how "nicely" they remind me to say or do something I forgot.
I love when they hand over all the items in their pockets with just one look.
I love playing outside with them (I even get out on the field and play soccer)!

I love when they tell me they want to read because Miss Reed likes to read! ;)

I love their minds and how they try to express their feelings and thoughts.

And as if it couldn't get any cuter than that...

I love how sweetly they sing songs to Jesus and dance all over the room.
I love when they tell me Bible stories and ask thoughtful questions about God.

I love how they fold their hands and talk to God so innocently during prayer time.

I love their little hearts and how much they love each other every day.

These things make the bad days a little brighter and the good days wonderful

because these nine littles know the way right to my heart. <3


And just to make you laugh this was a conversation between me and 2 students:
Student: "How old are you Miss Reed?"
Me: "Old enough to be your teacher."
Student: "Wow! So you're ten?!"
Me: "No... I'm older than your sister." (Who is ten)
Student: "Oh so like 20?"
Me: [thinking... now what?!] "No. I'm old enough that I'm almost done college."
Student: "Okay. I don't know how old you are in college though."
Student #2: "She's like 40!!!"
Me: [in horror] "Um no. I'm not 40 bud."
Student #2: "Okay... so 50?!"
Me: "I am NOT 50 years old! But I'm older than you." (changed subject)


My littles have no concept of age so I won't hold it against them that they said I was 50 years old! And it definitely made me laugh :)

welcoming number nine

Today we welcome number nine into the mix of littles. The boys are beyond thrilled (and the girls are too). I'm excited to watch him integrate into our class and see the littles show him kindness today. And he loves rocks so I know we're gonna have fun!

Now I have nine little minds and hearts to teach. Answering God's call to teach them is such a blessing but it's also a huge responsibility. I hope I can make a difference in their lives no matter how small it might be.

the calm before the storm.

just keep swimming

"They say" (and no one really knows who they are) that a teacher is a "jack-of-all-trades!" And after today, I would have to agree. I didn't know what to expect with today's plans but it turned out to be a great yet interesting morning.

Today the littles went for their monthly swim at a public pool. It is about a fifteen minute walk from the school. The whole way there I'm thinking to myself that my great hair day won't be ruined because I'm just going to put it up for an hour and if it gets a little wet that's fine plus the kids have an instructor in the pool teaching them so I'm basically just on kid watch and an extra set of hands when needed.

You know where this is going...

Well...I successfully looked like a drowned rat when the hour was up. Every inch of my head was soaked because the instructor didn't actually get in the pool with them - that was our job! So there I am using every minute of my private swimming lessons from over 13 years ago and all my knowledge of swimming to teach these cuties how to swim on their backs and float with their chins up not tucked down (you sink that way) and I had so much fun! The instructor gave them fun things to play with and tips to improve their swimming but another teacher and I were the ones getting splashed and kicked in the face! Nonetheless, I'm glad that I was able to swim and laugh and race these kids up and down our one lane in the pool with only a few minor collisions along the way. And even though I now have a mop of a head of hair... I had the best morning teaching my kids to swim today!!

The joy of our bonding moment came to a screeching halt when we got into the locker room and I had to wrangle together all the girls to get them showered, dried, changed, packed up and hair dried before heading back to school while I still looked like a drowned rat with wet clothes that were only getting wetter by the minute thanks to my soaking wet hair and body.

But then I sat there drying their hair and braiding it nicely and having little conversations about how well they did swimming and all the fun things we learned about rocks yesterday...and all the chaos of wet hair and clothes flying around the room became meaningless.


"Just keep swimming," I whispered to my self with a smile.

where did you go?

So asking my students how their ten day Spring Break was turned into one of the most interesting questions. Here are a few responses from my first and second graders:

"I went to Italy! Rome was fancy."
"I went to Turkey! I got American lollipops."
"My friend came to visit from France!"
"I went to see my family in Poland!"

And my response... "I went to Vienna, Cesky Krumlov and explored a lot of Prague!"

Well dang!! I've never heard of going to so many countries over a break but 'tis the lives of international kids living in Europe. And I've never had a more exciting Spring Break either!

I guess it's like going to Florida or California for Spring Break... only a bit more fancy :)

week one

So yesterday I posted all about the background of the school I'm in and the class I'm teaching. But what I didn't tell you was what we have been doing during this week. Adventures. We have gone on lots of adventures and it has been quite the first week for me!

                    Monday's Adventure: meeting each other!

This was an adventure for everyone because I'm new to them and they're new to me. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other, playing, and learning how the class does things. In my class I have students that were born in America, Poland, Italy, China, Czech Republic, Russia, and Romania. I had a wonderful time meeting all eight littles and love their precious hearts so much!

                    Tuesday's Adventure: ice skating and the tram!

The Elementary school, grades 1-6 that consists of 32 students, went on a field trip because they collectively read 1,000 books! So the school took them to go ice skating for the morning. The teachers and some parents walked all 32 children on a 30 minute walk through the snowy and wet streets and parks of Prague. It was quite eventful because of the snow and the lack of shoveling that had been done because most people just take the public transportation. I had four little bodies crawling all over me as we attempted to walk down a million snow covered steps in the park so eventful is an understatement!

However, we all made it to the rink injury free. The kids had a blast skating around and I loved helping some of my kids conquer their fear of getting on the ice! After a morning of skating, we took the kids to the tram stop outside the rink because the walk back was up very steep hills. Somehow we successfully managed to get all 32 kids on 2 different trams and arrived back to school in a half hour. The littles were starving and pretty tired so we had an easy afternoon. Overall, it was a great chance to get to know them better and have some fun :)

 

                    Wednesday's Adventure: in service day for me and the teachers!

I'm still getting to know many of the teachers so it was fun to get to the know the staff better and have a little relaxing day sandwiched between two insane adventure days! I brought them some Hershey's chocolate so we're all best friends now. I also ventured out and was able to get around the city by myself which includes getting off trams and getting on others! There are over 20 trams that go in a million different directions and only go to certain areas of the city so getting around requires some planning and timing. But I think I'm really starting to get the hang of it now! Below are pictures right outside the school.

                    Thursday's Adventure: a science museum in Plzen (Pil-sen)

As if my week couldn't get more interesting... today the Elementary school and Middle school took a day field trip to a science museum in Plzen which is about an hour and a half away. We wandered through all the very interactive exhibits today and had a blast together! They had spy games, laser rooms to wiggle through carefully, airport security, trains, light maneuvered in various ways, blocks and so much more! My littles had so much fun trying so many different games today and they even learned a lot. 

   

 

These kids just melt my heart and are the reason why I'm here. I can't wait to teach them shortly and learn more about them!
                    Friday's Adventure: culture day!
Tomorrow the kids will share projects on various countries that they have been working on and then participate in different cultural games and activities. We have Chinese numbers in math, sorting and speed challenges with chopsticks, coloring flags, and pin the name on the continent! We'll also wrap up the Easter story and finish our Bible craft that traces the events of The Holy Week. It is going to be a packed day of fun and learning!!

Then...SPRING BREAK!!! I've tried not to be too jealous of everyone going to cool beaches the past two weeks for Spring Break but now you can all be jealous of me spending my 10 tens off in Vienna, Chesky Krumlov, and Prague!