I told my first graders yesterday that I would not be back at SBA next year because I am moving to Atlanta. They were very interested in what school I would be teaching at in Atlanta. When I told them I am still looking for a teaching job one of my precious kiddos said, "Miss Kenimer, you should just work at Publix!" 
They clearly have faith in my ability to find another teaching job.


My favorite response of the day to this discussion was, "You have to come visit all the time Miss Kenimer because you are my favorite teacher ever!" (=

One of my sweet first graders comes in from the playground today with the saddest look on his face and tells me his tummy hurts. I ask him if maybe he ate too much of his cupcake(that we had for  a birthday treat) and then played soccer too hard. After resting his head on his desk for a little I decide to send him to the office to rest and check his temp. He comes back before he has time to get to the office to report to me he suddenly feels much better. At first I thought he just did not want to miss out on working on his campaign for social studies (something the kids are all very excited about this week). He responds, "No, Miss Kenimer I really do feel better I think I just had to fart!"
I'm just glad he farted on his way to the office and not in my room (=

bLoG #2!

I have created my second blog (and to think I use to make fun of blogging) to share classroom ideas and activities. Maybe next I will learn to post units to teacherspayteachers.com (= 

Click the link below to see what we have been up to in first grade this year!

http://ellenkenimer.blogspot.com/

"Miss Kenimer, you have some gray under your eyes today....that means you are REALLY tired!"


If you want to know the truth spend some time with six year olds (= They are some of the most honest people I know. 

The Best thing about Spring is....

This morning my first graders morning work was a writing prompt that said, "The Best thing about Spring is...." 
As I was reading these tonight I came across my favorite one. It said:


"The best thing about Spring is mostly about Spring Break. And also Easter. And the smell of lawn mowers in the air."


This made my day. These kids are funny!

The big city

During social studies we were discussing the responsibilities of the President. The book we read, Duck for President, said that Duck had a huge headache after being president. One of my sweet kiddos says, "oh that happens to my dad a lot at work." I responded, "Where does your dad work again?"
He replies, "You know...in the big city in the new building." 
It took me a minute to remember this specific child refers to downtown Nashville as "the big city". Love that! haha

"Orock Orama"

In social studies this week we have started our government unit where in the end we will be having our own 2012 election. To start the unit we talked about what the government does for our country and who our current president is. Their assignment today was to write about what our president does for us and draw a picture of him. When one of my kiddos was turning their work in another teacher was in my room to ask me a question. The student wanted to show me their picture prior to turning it in, so I asked if she could tell Miss Bates who we were learning about. She responds, "Oh, this is Orock Orama." haha too precious. My first graders make me smile,  love them!

"My so small brain"

After starting a writing activity today one of my precious kiddos comes up to me and says, "My brain is just so small because I am a kid, so I can't remember what I am suppose to write about can you help me?" 
After letting him know that his "so small brain" is a very smart one I helped him out and sent him on his way to write an amazing animal story. 


I love my first graders. They make me smile everyday! (=

Go Tigers!!

In the middle of Vol Country I have taught my first graders to be Tigers! War Eagle! (=

AuThOr DaY!

I know my blog is usually for funny kid stories, but I just have to share what we have been doing in first grade lately....
My kiddos have been working hard the past few weeks on stories for the PBS writer's contest. To celebrate this writing unit we had an Author's Day on Friday. The students enjoyed a special snack while they listened to their friends read their story. I also made them tshirts with their individual stories on the back of the shirt. They turned out so cute! Here are some pictures from our Author's Day!

 The kiddos front of their shirt.

 Miss Kenimer's author day shirt

Happy authors!

stories on the back of their shirts!

Bell Pepper baby!

I have a student that just recently found out her mom is pregnant with her second child. Randomly in class out of the blue this student says, "my mom has an avocado sized baby in her tummy!"
Yesterday I was asking her how her mom's baby was doing and she replies, "well it's a bell pepper baby now!"
Later I asked her if she was going to name her mom's baby Bell Pepper and she says, "No...well IF it's a boy I might!"

Whitney Houston

As I was spending some time after school tutoring one of my firsties we somehow got on the topic of Whitney Houston (prime example of how you can be teaching a 6 year old yet their mind is somewhere totally different.)
student: "Hey! Miss Kenimer did you watch Whitney Houston's funeral?"
me: "No I think I missed that one, did you?"
student: "Oh yeah, that's all we watched. Did you know that when she was a teenager she looked JUST like a boy!?"
student: "Yeah, and when she looked like a boy they even had gray T.Vs too..isn't that awful?!"

"they got skills!"

I have an "I'm finished jar" in my classroom with an assortment of activity cards my students can work on if they finish their work early. The activity cards tend to be seasonal, so I change them out pretty often. For winter I have had a lot in there about polar bears. One was a question and answer activity to get the children to think logically and use what we have learned about animals recently. One student's activity card question said "Why do you think polar bears walk on four legs?"
 He responded on his paper "because they got skills!".  (=

Miss Kenimer is MISSING!

In November I went to a conference for 1st grade teachers and left my kiddos with a sub for two days. One of their writing activities while I was gone was to complete a writing prompt about me missing. I did not tell the kids I was going to be absent so that they could do this writing activity. My sub(who actually taught my kiddos in prek) told them I was missing and that they had to write about where they think I was. Here are a few of the funny ones....

"I think Miss Kenimer is having surgery on her leg. She didn't want it. If you find her call first grade!"

"Ms. Kenimer is lost. I think she took a taxi to Hawaii. And rented a house forever and had a great vacation."

"Miss Kenimer is missing I think she went out on a date or is on a business trip."

"I think she is in the bathroom hiding in a stall. She looks like well she has brown hair and she has a dog. She loves Auburn."



These kids are funny! I seriously could not make this stuff up if I tried! (=

Love is in the air!

First graders LOVE writing their teacher notes, cards, letters or pictures to tell them they love them. It brings a smile to my face to walk in and find a special handwritten note from one of my kiddos just because! I was running out of room on my desk to hang all of them so I decided to start a "love notes" binder to keep them in. It makes a great coffee table book at my house too! (=

For Vday today I decided to repay them for all the sweet notes by leaving them one with a donut hole.

You know you teach first grade when.....

* You once neatest hand writers are all the sudden writing their names illegibly because they are attempting to write in cursive with no formal instruction. 


* You have considered changing your name to anything other than what it is because if you hear Ms. _______ one more time in one day you might scream. 


*You have at least 1 Dr. Jean cd


*You have ever pulled out a loose tooth...and then get just as excited as the student when the tooth actually comes out!


*On the same note: you silently go crazy every time a student repeatedly gets up from the carpet to get a tissue to wiggle a loose tooth. 


*It is not abnormal for you to say "please get your fingers out of your nose!!" at least once if not 20 times a day. 


*You go through no less than 422 glue sticks a year.


*You get just as excited as the kids do when a Scholastic Book Order comes in. 


*If you had a $0.50 for every question you answered in a day you could retire at age 30.


* You have a closet full of clorox wipes and hand sanatizer in your classroom. 


* Your heart smiles when you hear firsties read, smiling at the fact that you are responsible for that. 

Boyfriend?

student: "Miss Kenimer, do you have a boyfriend?"
me: "No, I do not have a boyfriend right now."
student: Oh..well Giri is my boyfriend because he told me so...but the BEST part is we still get to stay with our OWN families!" 
-She was so excited that she could have a boyfriend and still live with her parents. haha!

Smart kiddo!

 Pajama Day..this was my favorite pajamas one of my kiddos wore. 


"Miss Kenimer, I'm going to be the next Cam Newton!"

We matched!! (= War Eagle!

100 days smarter!

To celebrate the 100th day of school we dressed up as "100 year olds"

One of the best parts was watching them walk around like old people all day.

"Miss Kenimer, I think I'll be good and dead when I'm 100" 

Here our some of my favorite pictures from the day.....

excuses

I have been a MAJOR slacker at updating my blog lately so I am making a point to add something to it at least once a week at the same time no matter what! No excuses anymore....

Speaking of excuses yesterday I asked one of my kiddos why he had not done what I asked him to do yet and he said he forgot then looked at me for a moment and said..."I'm full of excuses Miss Kenimer!"

At least he is honest! haha