College Opportunity Friday

The end objective of NHA schools is to make students college-ready. A few weeks ago, we had the the big U of M v. State game and everyone here is a fan of one or the other. We capitalized on the event by taking the opportunity to promote college awareness. The students were allowed to wear shirts from their favorite universities. Nearly every one of my students who dressed for the event wore U of M shirts, but my brother's good friend is a QB for State, so guess who was the odd one out? The kids loved wearing their college shirts and talking about what they want to be when they grow up, the extent of which ranges from police officer to teacher to nurse to astronaut to heart surgeon. Oh the places they'll go!

Drama in the Aquarium

Miss Post: Do you have a pet? How do you take care of your pet?

Amulya: I had eight fish.

Miss Post: Were they nice?

Amulya: Seven were nice, but one was NOT nice!

Miss Post: Really?

Amulya: Yeah, my mom bought him because she thought he looked cute, but actually he turned out to be pretty fat. Once we saw that one fish was just gone one day... but there were some bones at the bottom.

Miss Post: Uh oh. I think I know why the fish was fat.

Amulya: We also had an eel...

Miss Post: WITH your fish?

Amulya: Yeah, it was bad times for the fish!

Harvest Day

As per NHA standards, we don't stray very often from our curriculum, but last week Friday our principal blessed us with an hour to celebrate the autumn season. From 2-3pm on Friday, the first graders rotated classrooms between an activity center in which they decorated treat bags and miniature munchkin pumpkins; Farmer Dale's center in which we invited another teacher's parents to talk about their life as farmers and church butter (which the kids hesitantly tasted); and the snack center in which we had so much food that the kids each took home a sandwich bag of extra snacks and we still had buku left over! All the kids and staff even dressed like farmers (read: WORE JEANS) which of course brought joy to everyone's heart.

How cute are these two?

The kids had a great time and it was so good for them to learn about something outside of the standard objectives. Only four my students said they had ever ridden on a tractor. None of them knew what wheat or soybeans looked like. They were even excited to touch ears of field corn. My favorite anecdote from our Harvest Fest goes like this:

Farmer Dale: Who has a question about the farm?

CJ: How do you make chicken?

Miss Post: Farmer Dale, do you want to field that one?

Farmer Dale: Yeah! Uh... [assorted comments about chickens and eggs]

Maddie: Ooh! I know! You get a chicken, and you shoot it with a bullet and it dies and you take off all the feathers and chop it...and...then you get chicken!

Entire room of adults: [shocked and speechless]

Yikes! Sometimes, you just don't see it coming.