Okay, I admit it.  I like being in charge. 

I’ve also been known to assert my authority once in awhile.  

“I’ll be the teacher, you be ‘Joey’.” 

This is my subtle reminder to those not so subtle children who make a habit of correcting others, and in the process annoying those children that they are attempting to correct.  

Usually it works.  

Usually.

Until I had  a particularly bright child who finally decided to let me be in charge and finally allowed me to correct the children, but still felt the need to inform me of the many wrong doings that I was so obviously missing.

“Teacher Boss, Teacher Boss!  She is budging in line”

“Teacher Boss, Teacher Boss…”

Maybe I should’ve been insulted.  Instead I laughed. 

Hey, if the name fits…

I think that it fits quite well, actually. 

Only a Teacher Boss would use the line “Hey, don’t make me use my bossy voice” to a group of slightly out of control children to grab their attention, and have the children respond by sitting and listening.

A Teacher Boss knows when to use her bossy voice, and she can use it well.

I am Teacher Boss

I am in charge.

So don’t make me use my bossy voice. 

Mrs. V

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 82,000 times in 2010. If it were an exhibit at The Louvre Museum, it would take 4 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 13 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 159 posts. There were 33 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 11mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was October 28th with 1,871 views. The most popular post that day was Hope your Halloween is Boo-tiful!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were teaching2and3yearolds.blogspot.com, search.aol.com, stumbleupon.com, kiri8.wordpress.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for halloween, reading, halloween pictures, about me, and elmer.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Hope your Halloween is Boo-tiful! October 2008
3 comments

Because it is late, and I am tired… August 2008
8 comments

Reading Readiness June 2009
10 comments

The “I” meme August 2008
10 comments

Elmer the Elephant July 2008
6 comments

What more can I say?

I am flattered.

Mrs. V

During the first two weeks of preschool we really emphasize the importance of proper hand washing. 

We read the book Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but…Invisible Germs by Judith Anne Rice.  This is a wonderful book with great illustrations on what an earache germ, a headache germ, a sore throat germ, a fever germ and the most downright disgustingest germ of all, the throw up germ, just might look like.  Rosa, the smart little girl in the book, knows how to get rid of those terrible germs and she sends them whirling, twirling down the drain.  We read this book over and over again. 

We practice coughing and sneezing into our elbow.  We show how germs spread by using glitter and shaking hands.  We talk about the proper steps for hand washing.  You know the drill… wet, soap, scrub (sing a little song), rinse and dry.  We are even growing germy bread for a science experiment. 

What is germy bread?  It’s a slice of bread (preferably one that doesn’t have preservatives) which everyone in the class touches with their dirty, moist little hands.  Gross, right?  Wait a week, and then you can be completely downright disgusted by those not-so invisible germs.

We should have those germs well under control, right? 

Sure.

Except that I’m the one who now has the sore throat germ, the headache germ, and the earache germ.   

Irony, preschool style.

Mrs. V

On Monday, I will not be surprised if I get asked by a student if I forgot to wash my hands.

I’m ecstatic.  I know all of my students’ names. 

Well, at least today I do.

Please don’t ask me outside of the classroom if a particular child is a morning or afternoon student, because that is a question I probably won’t be able to answer just yet.  Some things will take a little extra time.

I have many students with names that start with the same sound.  Imagine having a *Cindy, Sarah, Suzy, Savannah, Sandy and Saul in one class, for example.  Maybe it is just me, but my brain starts to mix up those names.  I will say Michael when I mean Matthew, and I will say Jessica when I mean Jennifer. 

I also have many names that sound similar like McKenzie and McKenna, for example.  This is yet another speed bump for my brain and more names to stumble over. 

Add to those obstacles the chance that I might call a student by their older sibling’s name, and it is amazing that I can correctly learn any child’s name, ever.

But I have done it.

Now the goal is to remember all of their names for the next school day.

Keeping in mind, of course, that on most mornings I have to run back into the house to grab my forgotten lunch. 

Mrs. V

*All the names used in this post are fictional and not the actual names of any of my students.

anticipating

alarm shockingly ringing

school year beginning

Mrs. V

The week before the new school year begins, I receive my very important class lists.  These lists contain the names of my 20 students in the morning, and my 20 students in the afternoon, give or take a few, depending upon enrollment. 

While some of the names are familiar because they are repeat students or repeat families, most of the names are completely new to me.

I hold my lists in my hands and look closely at the names and try to picture what these children might look like, how they might act or how I will ever learn to pronounce or even spell their names.

The lists are a clean slate for me.  These classes will create a unique story for this school year.  I relish this thought.

Then it’s almost a dreamy, blissful, wishful state of mind that I enter. 

It will be a great year, these children will line up, they will sit for group, they will be brilliant, they will be kind to one another and they will, of course, adore me. 

I will remember their parents names, their siblings names, and what part of town they live in. 

I will have the best preschool year yet!

I enjoy that feeling of hopefulness.  I am, after all, an optimist.

Those lists make me feel like I am actually holding a great school year in the palm of my hand.

Let the new school year begin!

Mrs. V

Outside I hear the rustling leaves.

I have things to do and places to be.

Projects to finish and people to see.

But I feel my summer slipping away,

As I anticipate the first school day.

Of course I’ll have new students to meet,

And my teacher friends I’ll want to greet.

So my ninth year begins with a favorite friend,

Who’ll be in my classroom until it ends.

Hello dear Hedgie. 

It’s so good to see you again.

Hedgie and Jan Brett’s book Hedgie’s Surprise will be the theme this year in my classroom.  Hedgie was my classroom theme in 2007. 

I think Hedgie is adorable.  Don’t you? 

Mrs. V

Such as a watering can that looks a little like this:

Except that our version is kind of creepy, in a beat up, 30-year-old sort of way.  Since it is a watering can, there is a hole at the back of the head and the hat is the spout.  It is one strange looking thing, and if I dwell on it too long I might have nightmares.

Anyway, when we cleaned out the toys I just didn’t have the heart to toss it out.  Maybe I was having a little nostalgia for those strange, little and blue cartoon creatures at that particular moment, who knows.

Fast forward to the next school day.

Prince Valiant, an observant, verbal and imaginative student of mine was digging through the sand toys looking for something to play with.  Suddenly he stopped, pointed at the Smurf head watering can, looked at me, and asked with a hint of disgust ”What is that?!?” 

I picked it up and replied that it was a Smurf.  Prince Valiant’s precocious response was “I know it’s a Smurf.” 

 Then he paused to think a little, and firmly added “It’s a Smurf head!” 

I laughed and asked him if he thought it was creepy as I dropped it back in the box. 

He agreed that it was creepy, but then he looked at me quite seriously and asked in a very stern voice “Did you chop off that Smurf’s head and put it in that box?” 

I reassured him that no, I did not chop off the Smurf’s head and put it in the toy box, while desperately trying not to laugh. 

I was confident that he was satisfied with my answer, since he headed back to play in the sandbox.  

My confidence did not last long because when he arrived at the sandbox he announced to his playmates that the teacher (me) had chopped off a Smurf’s head and put it in the toy box.   

A few of the kids just gave him a look as if to say “Dude, what the heck is a Smurf?”, and the rest just went about their play . 

And that my friends, is the Legend of the Smurf Head, according to Prince Valiant anyway.

I still declare my innocence.

Mrs. V

So after months of thinking about it, I have come to a decision about this blog of mine.

I’m going to keep it.

Are you thrilled?

But in order to do so, I need to do a little remodeling, revamping,  and well, re-whatever it needs.

I hope to be finished by the start of my 9th year of teaching preschool.

Mrs. V