Friday, September 19, 2008

"I have to water Samantha"

So Ms. Swamp the Younger, my little sister, is a first-grade teacher in Brooklyn. Her class has a plant. That's their pet. (That's about as much pet as a first-year teacher in a first-year school should have, I firmly believe.)

They named their plant Samantha. They had a vote about it.

Today she kept a few kids behind at recess to talk about their behavior and to stress the importance of doing the right thing at school. (This is something many of them need to work on.) The talk had a big impact on one student, whose job this week is watering Samantha. All afternoon, he talked about being good in school, and listening to the teacher, and he wrote about it at Writer's Workshop time. He wrote, "I have to be good in school. I have to listen to the teacher. I have to follow directions. I have to water Samantha."

:)

2 comments:

  1. What do you MEAN no pets are a good idea??! I have a student whose job is zookeeper, who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the zoo to commence her job!

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  2. That's awesome, a zookeeper job.

    I knew you wouldn't like it that I said that, but even after 7 years of teaching, I'm not sure about my ability to keep another living being alive in my classroom.

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