Sleep, A Dog, Calf Poop and A Cupcake

No matter what season it is, I love to sleep.

Not naps, good long nights. And now that it is cold outside (and inside) I love sleeping even more.

So, lately I've been sleeping instead of writing about what is going on at my school. Tonight I have to stay awake, because some really cool things happened, and I want to make sure I can remember this day.

My sister-in-law is awesome. She trains dogs to be therapy dogs. And she wants to use my classroom as part of her dog's training. Oh yeah, bring him in!!

Aunt Bev brought Harvey in this morning. First, she talked about when she got him, how she is training him, and then we got back to work.

During our working with words lesson, Bev and Harvey made the rounds in our room.

This group of students is also amazing. **Don't hate me when I say that I can not even tell that Christmas is coming, and I have no Elf watching out for good behavior to report.** They kept working, except when it was their turn to pet Harvey.

As I was cruising the room, I found this note. My kids love writing notes, and this one is going home, she wanted to remember what she wants to tell her mom at the end of the day. 

When we got done, we sat around, talking, petting and practicing kindness.

Harvey and Bev stayed until lunchtime. I had my kids writing for part of the time, and either they have grown as writers, I did an incredible job explaining the task, or Harvey created a wonderful environment for working, (maybe all of the above, including an outside recess), because I was not needed to give support during this time. I sat helpless beside Bev, wondering, "what am I supposed to do when these independent first graders are writing?"

Our second recess is near the animal pens. Mrs. Jones got the idea to grab some of her first graders, and scoop calf poop.

These two kids loved spending their time in the pen. And there were 3 kindergartner students hanging on the fence, just hoping that Mrs. Jones would let them come and scoop as well. Go figure!!

All smiles while comparing who has a bigger scoop of poop.

And I ended my day with a delicious birthday cupcake.

My school has a tasty tradition. The birthday kid almost always brings more than enough treats, so then, the birthday kid takes the extras around school to deliver to other grown-ups. I love this tradition. This cupcake was from a kindergartner. How does a kindergartner know the tradition?