Between Classes...

While presenting JA classes, I often arrive at the school a few minutes ahead of time or in the case of St Emily's, have two or more classes the same day with some time between each. There are a couple of church pews and a few chairs adjacent to the office at St Emily, so if the time is short, I typically sit in one of them and go over some of the upcoming lesson plans. During this time students often pass by for numerous reasons - two occasions in the past couple weeks were bloggable - hence the stories below.

The first episode is about two twin girls in the Pre-K class at the school. Both of them tend to walk on their toes and the front of their feet, so the Phys Ed teacher at the school spends two days a week with them to correct their habit. This involves both of them walking around with their socks on - he tapes some kind of metal cap to their heels and tells them they need to make sure they hear the click when they walk; they walk on the stone tile hallway floors. He leads them around the school running several small "errands" while they follow him. What is so much fun about this is listening to the banter between the girls and the teacher. They're constantly talking, asking him questions and making observations. My favorite comment was when they were following him past the front door and he said "I don't hear any clicking", to which both replied in unison, "We're on the carpet!" I told the Phys Ed teacher that their adventures are worthy of videotaping.

The most recent episode involved a first grade student, Nathan, who went to the office to get a lunch that day. While he was waiting he talked to me a bit, as I had finished their JA lessons about 3 weeks earlier. Next to where I was sitting was a three-panel display that one of the older students had done about their grandmother's immigration to the US from Germany in 1956. At the bottom of the center panel, there was a cut out map of Germany opposite a drawing of the United States. Between the two were some drawn waves and a ship akin to that of the Pilgrims - not the type that one would have sailed on 55 years ago. Nathan took a look at the illustration, then with a deadpan expression on his face asked me, "did the Mayflower come from Germany?"  Quite an observation from a first grader!