{pants on fire}

so, i may have fibbed a little to my small friends... (i know what you're thinking... and who works at a catholic school?)  but before you start shaking your head and giving me the "tisk, tisk. shame on you"  face, let me just say, it was ALL for the sake of learning! 

here's my story:  i had planned a FABULOUS, if i do say so myself, lesson on cause and effect.  it was complete with an excellent read aloud picture book that supported the cause (and effect... ha!), partner problem solving activities, higher order thinking questions, and included some rockin' guided learning modeling too.  FABULOUS.  as i introduced the lesson i needed something epic that my small friends could totally relate to and that would stick to the sole of their shoes.  answer: puppies.  no kid can resist puppies. 
WALLAH!  so came the fib:  "this weekend when i was visiting my best friend i left my shoes out by the front door and her puppy chewed up my shoes.  beCAUSE i left my shoes out the puppy chewed them up.  cause and effect, anyone?"  you should have seen those hands shoot up.  (insert angel choir here.)   teacher's dream.  the munchkins nailed it.  before we could move on however, the story (of my best friend who does NOT have a dog)  started to unravel. 

lovely child number one, "oh, so is that why you are wearing different shoes today?"  (what?  boy friend, you've memorized my shoe collection?)

yours truly:  "oh, no... he chewed up my tennis shoes."  i busted out, trying to move on.   

lovely child number two, "oh no!  not your nice tennis shoes that you wore for the marathon!?"  (dude.  why are these children paying attention to my feet?) 

yours truly:  "hum... no, it was an older pair."  (okay... are we finished?!)

third lovely child, "what kind of dog was it?" 

(okay... i can't stop now!!) "she just got it.  it's an adorable black lab." 

all of the children at once: "oh... one time our dog..."

hum.  you're probably thinking-- why didn't you just tell the truth?  they probably would have still grasped the concept and you could have just moved on with the lesson.  that's where you are wrong.  it's all about the magic, people. to them, it was real-- they made a connection-- they got it (and came up with hundreds of other cause and effect examples that included their pets, i might add)! i bet if you ask any of my kiddos for an example of cause and effect they'll bring you back to the scene of that gosh darn cute black lab that chewed on my old pair of tennis shoes.  it's all in the presentation that learning occurs, people.   

as for this liar, liar... i suppose it's a good thing my class is heading to confession tomorrow... because my pants are on fire. 

{so... you want me to run?}

today was the best. day.  ever.  EVER.  it was our school marathon day where my little athletes and i set out for a day of walking, running, skipping, and... well, complaining of feet aches. as we ventured out to the camping area out of town, i was a little skeptical of how i would survive my kiddos would keep up.  but it was WONDERFUL.  not only did i get to enjoy the beautiful fall weather, but i got to participate in hilarious kid discussions including puppy pimples (i don't even know..), retirement, and halloween decorations, AND i witnessed my fourth grade boys singing and dancing to taylor swift, children practicing math facts-- willingly!, and kiddos with hot coco mustaches (some were more like beards!)  my 15 kiddos and i reached a stellar combined miles of 205.  SUCH ROCK STARS.  i've never seen my crew work so hard.  i am SO proud. 

oh, and i didn't even get to the BEST PART-- i got to wear sweat pants to work!  (YAHOO!)