First Day

First day of school today... I am too tired to write much, (see above picture) but it was really great. The kids are wonderful, and I was so happy to be able to put faces to the names I've written over and over on workbooks, nametags, stickers, etc.

A few of today's moments:

1.) My class is SO diverse. My kids are black, white, asian, middle-eastern, hispanic, and whatever else. In fairly equal proportions. I've never seen anything like it. Two of the boys, Ze and Mo, are fasting for Ramadan. After explaining to Mrs. C and I why they didn't want to participate in snacktime (yes, even in fourth grade), they volunteered to tell the class about what the holiday means to their families and their faith. Talk about a teachable moment. The rest of the class seems to be mostly Jewish and Christian - and they were SUPER interested in learning about another faith tradition.

2.) El loves Led Zepplin. Seriously. She can name songs, band members, and concert dates. She is also a math whiz and a reading superstar... and when she finishes her work, she moves right along to helping any other members of her group who are struggling. Awesome.

3.) Ru said today: "I think that new crayons are my favorite thing in the whole world." I told her that they are my favorite thing too!! I think we're going to get along just great. I have never seen anyone as excited about new school supplies. (Other than myself, obviously)

4.) Ra started crying today around noon today because she was so hungry (our lunch period is very late -- they don't eat till 1:10pm). She said she didn't get breakfast because her mom left the house at 5:30am and she had to take a taxicab to school this morning. And will have to every morning. She is a little melodramatic, but seems seriously concerned about her mom and the idea of taking a cab every day. Mom told Ra that she's at risk of being fired at work - so Ra has to come to school hungry and worried in a taxi. One of the counselors reminded me that cab fare is cheaper than day care.

5.) De LOVES to write. When Mrs. C asked the class to get out their journals, he let out an audible yelp of happiness and said, "Writing is my favorite subject!" The topic of the day was as follows: "Today is your first day of fourth grade. How are you feeling? What are you thinking?"
Many of the kids wrote a paragraph or two -- De wrote a whole page and a half, with great detail and thought. Here's the issue... just about all of it was spelled wrong and grammatically incorrect. Then I have to consider - is it better to write a perfectly correct paragraph, or a totally incorrect but enthusiastic page and a half? I don't know. I will be interested to see how Mrs. C works with De on his writing this year. I don't want him to lose his enthusiasm.

I am going to bed now. I am exhausted. :)