CHAPTER 6: EXCITING MOMENTS
As Mrs. Cooper was walking around the classroom, everyone was working very diligently, busy writing (was a little too loud though) while enjoying the discussions working in groups.
Here is how the discussion went in our group:
Carl: So guys we have to select the categories that will be used to award the “Weekly Star Awards”…any thoughts?
Jaime: These are quite a lot to choose from….
Diana: Yes, but I think we can go about it this way, what good deeds or positive things would students do in class and for their classmates that would help them get the “Weekly Star Awards?” Does that make sense?
Cynthia and Chris: Ah….OK
Jaime: I get your thinking Diana.
Alright so let’s take all thirty six rules again, eliminate the ones we selected as classroom rules and let’s see what we have left.
1. Share new ideas
2. Keep your workspace tidy
3. Be kind
4. Always do your best
5. Be a good friend
6. Share with others
7. Finish your homework on time
8. Have a good attitude
9. Contribute to discussions
10. Be respectful of other’s ideas
11. Cooperate with your classmates
12. Be creative
13. Be honest
14. Be proud of your work.
Diana: Alright, so after eliminating the rules, we have fourteen left. Now, let’s look at each one of them and decide which ones or maybe all of them could be used for the “Weekly Star Awards”
Cynthia: Wow, this is great what you did Diana, it actually narrows it down and easier to select.
Chris and Jaime: Nice work Diana!
Carl: Nice!
Diana: Thanks guys.
Cynthia: When I look at the list (interruption from Diana)….
Diana: Sorry guys should cross out number 2 ‘keep your workspace tidy” (crosses it out) that ought to do it…now we have thirteen
1. Share new ideas
2. Be kind
3. Always do your best
4. Be a good friend
5. Share with others
6. Finish your homework on time
7. Have a good attitude
8. Contribute to discussions
9. Be respectful of other’s ideas
10. Cooperate with your classmates
11. Be creative
12. Be honest
13. Be proud of your work.
Cynthia: No problem, thanks Diana. Alright, so when we look at this list, all of them can be used to award the “Weekly Star Awards”. What do you think guys?
Carl: Can we combine number 1 and 9: share new ideas, and be respectful of other’s ideas? Or we can say, ‘Be respectful when your classmates and others share their ideas’
Jaime: That could work, because when we have to share ideas doesn’t matter if they are good or bad ideas, we have to respect them, right?
Diana: I agree.
Chris: I agree as well.
Diana: Alright, so let’s write them as follows:
1. Be respectful when your classmates and others share their ideas
2. Be kind
3. Always do your best
4. Be a good friend
5. Share with others
6. Finish your homework on time
7. Have a good attitude
8. Contribute to discussions
9. Cooperate with your classmates
10. Be creative
11. Be honest
12. Be proud of your work.
Diana: Alright how does that look? We now have a total of twelve “Weekly Star Award” categories.
Cynthia: Looks good
Carl: I am good with the list.
Jaime and Chris: No problem.
It had been more than 10 minutes since we started this activity and it was already hitting lunch time.
Mrs. Cooper: Alright, can I have everyone put their markers down, stop writing and face me please. Thank you. We are five minutes away from lunchtime, so what we are going to do is clean up and prepare to go for lunch in the cafeteria. Once you have cleaned up, if you brought lunch go get it from your locker, if not line up at the entrance door please. If you plan on buying lunch from the cafeteria make sure to take your ID card and some money to load into your card in order to buy lunch.
Diana: Thank goodness I remembered to put my money in my pocket (let me check)….yup still in my pocket, phew!
Mrs. Cooper: Alright, looking good, we have cleaned up, I see students holding packed lunches all lined up. Turns off the classroom lights and leads the students down to the cafeteria.
As we were not allowed to take the elevator, we had to take the stairs to the cafeteria, this also included going to the playground, going to the gym, pretty much anywhere we needed to go to we could only use the stairs.
We reached the cafeteria door and Mrs. Cooper walked us to our table which had our classroom number label on the desk 3C which stood for grade 3, Mrs. Cooper’s class. There were no seating assignments so could seat anywhere. Those who brought lunch sat and begun eating; others like me needed to buy school lunch, but first had to load money into the school ID card then buy lunch. Mrs. Cooper showed us where we needed to load the money; I put $500, and then went to see what was being served for lunch.
Diana: Wow, they have great food up here, pizza, spaghetti, rice, meat; chicken, vegetables noodles, fruits, and drinks from juice to water to yoghurt etc…tough choices in deciding what to have for lunch.
Jaime: I know, but decisions need to be made or will starve myself and I am quite hungry.
Chris: Exactly. What are you going to get Diana?
Diana: I am going to go with the spaghetti and meat sauce and apple juice. You guys?
Chris: I will get rice with chicken and apple juice
Jaime: I will probably get the same as Chris.
So we line up say what we want, get served, go to our seats, and eat our lunch. I thought the food was going to have a different taste; on the contrary, it was delicious.
Diana: Guys this spaghetti and meat sauce is so delicious.
Jaime and Chris: The chicken and rice is also quite delicious as well.
Having said that we ate, enjoyed, not speaking as we were just too hungry ha ha ha, after enjoying such a delicious meal, we cleared our table, returned the plates, and off we went to the playground for recess time. We had another 20-25 minutes of recess before beginning our last session for the day.
Jaime: I am stuffed, that was a great lunch
Chris and Diana: I am stuffed too, lying down on the sand but we quickly got up and started running around and playing tag.
We were joined by other students and soon it became a large group of grade three students’ playing tag, quite funny, but was great fun, and sweated a lot.
We heard the whistle blowing which meant recess time was over and was time to head back to class. We started running only to hear “No running, we are walking please”
We got back to our classes, found Mrs. Cooper sitting by her desk, working on her computer. I had to clean my face as it was sweaty and hot. We needed like about five minutes to clean up before settling down for our final afternoon class and before ending our first day of school.
Mrs. Cooper: Alright, once you have settled down, we will continue with activity 2 that you were working on before lunch time. Each group will now choose a representative to present their work.
Diana: Chris, can you present for the group?
Chris: Sure.
Almost all the groups’ presentations had very similar ideas and thoughts as our group had prepared, so we were on the right track. After each group presented, we clapped for them, I must say each group had great presentations.
Mrs. Cooper: Alright, and the final group, yes, who is presenting for your group?
Carl: Chris will be presenting for our group.
Chris: Alright, so our group… (He spoke for almost six minutes and did a great job!!)
Diana, Jaime, Carl, Cynthia: Nice, giving each other high fives!! Well done Chris!!
Chris: Thanks guys.
Mrs. Cooper: Well done to everyone for a great presentation, let’s all clap for each other for a job well done. Now from what all of you presented, we all seem to be in agreement with pretty much which categories will be used to award the “Weekly Star Awards” Here is what I can see:
1. Be respectful when your classmates and others share their ideas
2. Be kind
3. Always do your best
4. Be a good friend
5. Share with others
6. Finish your homework on time
7. Have a good attitude
8. Contribute to discussions
9. Cooperate with your classmates
10. Be creative
11. Be honest
12. Be proud of your work.
Mrs. Cooper: Does this look correct to everyone?
Everyone: Yes
Mrs. Cooper: Well then we shall use these twelve categories to award the “Weekly Star Awards”. These categories will be placed on the “Star Chart” and every time you receive an award, your name will have a star next to it, at the end of the week you will receive a certificate. Does anyone have any questions?
Everyone nodding their heads, no questions, which meant all, was well understood.
Mrs. Cooper: Alright, let’s put that aside and talk about what will be happening tomorrow as you begin your second day of school. So tomorrow being Tuesday your schedule will look like this:
08:00- 09:10AM: Language Arts including literacy
09:10- 09:30AM: Social Circle Time or Meeting Time
09:30-10:45AM: Foreign Languages: Spanish and French
10:45 -11:45AM: Art, Physical Education and Computer (alternate on weekly schedule)
11:45 -12:20PM: Recess and Lunch
12:45-2:15PM: Math
2:15-3:15PM: Science and Social Sciences (two days on one subject and three days on another each week)
3:15-3:40PM: Writing
Mrs. Cooper: This schedule is only for tomorrow as it will change every day, however, you will have math, science, language arts and foreign languages every day. You will have P.E., art, music and computer every other week. After you finish every class, you will get a break; this is the time you prepare your books and other materials for the next class. You cannot be late for your next class, which means you will have to be organized, prepared and on time….remember if you want to be awarded the “Weekly Star Awards” this is just an example of what you will need to do to get this weekly award. Every day during recess and lunch you will have a quiet reading time where you are allowed to relax, read a book from the classroom library or you can bring and read your own book or you can work on something else in the classroom. The most important thing is that you are doing it quietly and not disturbing other students.
If your last class of the day will not be held in my classroom, you will need to pack your bags with your homework, reading materials to take with you as once you finish your last class, you will not be coming back to our class but going directly to take the school bus to go home. If you end up forgetting something and you wish to come back to get it that will be difficult as you may end up missing the school bus and then you have to call your parents to come pick you up or you will have to wait for the next bus which leaves at 4:30 PM to take you home. I can’t say how important it is to train yourself to learn how to be organized, disciplined and responsible for your belongings and your studies, this is very important.
Mrs. Cooper: Does anyone have any questions about the daily schedule? OK, no questions, that’s good. Oh yes, one more very important thing, do not lose your ID card as that is not only your school card, but it is also your library card in case you wish to go to the library to read or borrow books, and it is also your lunch card, which means it is your responsibility to make sure you have money in your card at all times. If you don’t have money, that means no lunch for you, so every time you buy lunch, always check your balance, once you know you have little or no money left in your card, tell your parents to give you money thus you can be able to buy lunch or snacks the next day, otherwise you will go hungry with no food and that will not be good at all.
Mrs. Cooper: Alright I think that’s it, what time is it now? We have five more minutes before the bell rings. So we are now going to start preparing to pack and head on to the buses. I am going to give each student a folder which has information for your parents to read tonight, you are to make sure to bring back the folder tomorrow as it will be used to put any given homework, announcements and other documents that you will be taking home every day. Please get your backpacks ready, pack your lunch boxes, your folders, and other items or materials you will need to take home. Once completed, get back to your seats and wait for the others.
Everyone started preparing their backpacks, packing things, getting their folders and putting them in their bags, jackets and other items as well. We were all packed and ready and were now asked to line up at the door entrance.
Mrs. Cooper: Let’s line up, checking to make sure that everyone packed their folders and nothing was left on the desk. After checking everything, Mrs. Cooper escorted us to our school buses, but for Jaime, Chris and me, our parents were coming to pick us up, so when we reached downstairs we walked to the left as our parents were waiting at the elementary school entrance, the rest of our classmates went on to the right to where the school buses were waiting for them. We all waved good bye and went separate ways.
Jaime, Chris, Diana: Hi mum
Mrs. Anders: Hello Jaime (hugs and kisses)
Diana’s mum: Hello Diana (hugs and kisses)
Mrs. Peterson (Chris’s mum) Hello Chris (hugs and kisses)
We each went with our mums to our cars, waved goodbyes and got into the cars. Our mums waved to each other and also got into their cars. Of course you can imagine what our topic of discussion was going to be for the evening: “First day of School”.
I got into the car, mum got into the drivers’ seat started the car and off we drove straight home.
Mum: How was your first day of school today?
Diana: It was super great, Jaime and Chris and me are in the same class.
Mum: Really?
Diana: Yes, it was great seeing them again. And our classroom teacher is Mrs. Cooper; she is so kind, nice, and friendly and likes to smile a lot. We didn’t have any classes today, spent the day in our classroom doing group activities. We had to come up with classroom rules, talked about the most important classroom rules, and categories that will be used for the “Weekly Star Awards” and finally Mrs. Cooper talked about our schedule for tomorrow what subjects we shall be learning, recess and lunch times. Oh and I got my new ID card which is also my library card and my lunch card. It was good you gave me money for lunch today otherwise I would have starved to death and would have been quite embarrassing.
Mum: Wow that was a pretty busy schedule you had on your first day of school, but I am glad you enjoyed yourself. Were you given anything to bring home?
Diana: Yes, we were each given a folder that has important information to give you and dad, but I have to return the folder back to school tomorrow.
Mum: That’s OK. Were you given any homework?
Diana: No homework today…..Surely mum, we only started school today…..
Mum and Diana: laughing together!
We arrived home shortly at around 4:30 PM and when we got home, Chris and Jaime had also arrived home as well. We waved at each other and walked home.
Dad had not arrived home from work, I took off my shoes, took out the folder Mrs. Cooper had given and placed it on the table and went to my bedroom and put my backpack next to my study table. I don’t know why but for some reason I was feeling quite exhausted, was maybe because today was the first day of school lots going on and played too much during recess. I decided to have a bath and a nap with the hope that I would be feeling better before dinner.
I must have had a very long nap because the next time I woke up was when mum was waking me up to have dinner and that was around 7:30 PM, by that time dad was already back home. I went to the living room and rushed to give dad a hug.
Dad: Hello Diana, how was your first day in third grade?
Mum: She had quite a lot to share about her first day (as mum was setting up the dinner table)
Diana: It was great. Guess what dad?
Dad: What Diana?
Diana: Jaime and Chris are also in my class. When I saw them in my classroom, we all jumped and jumped with excitement.
Dad: That’s really cool. Who’s your classroom teacher? How is she or he?
Diana: Our classroom teacher is Mrs. Cooper, very friendly, nice, and cool and likes to smile a lot. I had spent the entire dinner time raving about how my first day of school was, my classmates, the activities we did today, how delicious the cafeteria food was and how we ate so much that we were so stuffed and found it difficult to even have fun in the playground (both dad and mum laughing as I am telling the stories). I also told them about our class schedule and the subjects we shall be learning in grade 3. By the time, I finished talking, had completely forgotten about my dinner as I was so excited talking about my day, only had a few more bites, drank some water and was completely stuffed.
Dad: Wow, what a full exciting day you had, you even forgot to finish your dinner, but I am glad you had a wonderful start of the first day of school. Now remember, you are to focus on your….
Diana: I know…. (Both dad and Diana in sync) my studies, no getting into fights, if I have problems or questions should look for my teachers, if I am bullied should report it to my teachers. Dad, mum I have all that stamped in my head, all will be OK and I promise to be a great student this year. Oh and Mrs. Cooper gave us a folder with information for you to read, I placed it on the table.
Dad: That’s my girl (mum watching as we both hug each other).
Dad and I helped mum clear up the dining table and took everything to the kitchen. Dad went to the living room; I went to my room as it was already past 9 PM and soon would have to prepare for bedtime. I started preparing what I would need to take to school tomorrow. I remembered we were going to have P.E. class, so packed a pair of shorts, sneakers and a t-shirt. I also packed the story book that I had been reading during the summer for the quiet reading time after lunch. I started yawning and felt tired which meant it was my bedtime so went downstairs to find my parents to tell them goodnight.
Mum and dad: I am going to sleep, feeling quite tired.
Mum: Alright sweetie, (give hugs and kisses) good night, sleep well.
Dad: Come here, (gives hugs and kisses), good night, sleep well.
I went back upstairs, entered my bed, switched off the lights and tucked myself into bed and slept.