my christmas "getup"

Merry Christmas y'all from Sunny and WARM North Carolina!!!

:)

a "grinch free" Christmas...

This is my bulletin board for the Christmas time. It's been a big hit with the kids! I thought you would enjoy seeing it too!

the "cricket"

Today during my K5 art class, one of my students discovered a “cricket.” He immediately starting shouting, “Miss Vasso, Miss Vasso, I found a cricket!” He was extremely exited, as were all the other students. Almost immediately the class had encircled the boy, and giggles and squeals came from every direction. In the 10 seconds that this took place, I was thinking, “there was no way a cricket could get into my room”. I then realized what I was up against! As I got to the center of the mob, I saw it… a HUGE COCKROACH! It was the biggest one I had ever seen. I was doing everything in my power to stay calm. I didn’t want to alarm the children. And if they realized what it was, who knows what might happen next. And what do you know, one of the girls yelled out, “It’s a cockroach!!!!” There was instant chaos! Of course with all that noise and movement, the cockroach made its exit. I then screamed and jumped. It was a total mess! After I got the class back in order, I kept referring to it as the “cricket”. It seemed to calm everyone down. Well, it’s hours later, and I still haven’t seen that cockroach, I mean, “cricket”, and I’m not feeling too calm…

things I have heard in my art classes...

"Will this paint come off my hand before I am 21 yrs. old?"
~ 3rd Grader

"You're my favorite Art teacher!" (I'm the only one!)
~ All ages

" Isn't my painting beautiful? It looks just like that! (She was pointing to a reproduction of one of Monet's Paintings...)
~K5

how dare he poot!

Today, as part of my lesson plan, I was reading a story about a little fish named, “Swimmy.” Whenever I read stories, I have my little kiddies all circled around me on the floor. I was reading all about how Swimmy lost his family, traveled the ocean, saw many wonders, and saved a school of fish. What an exciting life for a fish. And between reading the lines, and showing the pictures, I had captivated the class. Well… I was in the middle of showing one of the pictures when a student’s head popped up as he POOTED! How dare he poot in my class!!! Well, I completely lost everyone's attention, and I did my best just to finish up the book!

for everything else there's mastercard

I require all my students to have an art shirt for my class. At the beginning of the year I encouraged them to decorate it and make it theirs. Well one of my 2nd grade girls showed me her shirt today and this is what it said...

1 Pack of Markers: $3

1 Pack of Crayons: 50¢

Art with Ms Vasso: Priceless!!!

...

Now that's what I call creative!!! :)

What a Day!!!

You would not believe the day I had today! All the things I had happen today usually happen over the span of a school year... well, today was the exception!

First of all, the area I live in had torrential down-pours all day... we ended up getting 5 inches! My classroom is a modular, so it isn't adjacent to anything. In my first class I had a girl throw-up... that's always fun. A few classes later I had a four year old completely whip-out two steps from the ground as she was leaving my classroom. She landed on her head and lost both shoes. Oh, and it was POURING!!! So what did she do? She got herself back up, and standing in a deep puddle with nothing but socks on her feet, she starts screaming. She doesn't run for cover, she just stands there and screams! I'm already outside with an umbrella holding the door as the students leave. So I take my shoes off (the sidewalks were flooded) I grab the little girl's shoes, and then I grab her and make a dash for the main building! (yeah, pretty sure I was soaked!) AND THEN, an hour or so later, I'm walking around in my room and discover a significant leak. Water is seeping in from the floor. Ah!

Now all of this happened in addition to the wet squeaky shoes, smelly wet bodies, and this being the first day of art for everyone!

WHAT A DAY!!! :)

treated like royalty

As I was dismissing my K4 Boys the other day ... I started by saying, " All right boys, let's go... " and then I changed my mind and called them, "Gentlemen". Well, one boy took me too seriously, and as he exited the room, he grabbed my hand and kissed it ... I mean he gave a Big, WET smacker!!!

Well, I smiled at him until he was out of sight, and then went to wash my hands!

:)

“boofanda”

My hair has always been a great conversation piece. In high school, I was the girl with the “bush”. That changed after a birdie from a badminton game got suck in my hair. It was now Woodstock’s home! During my college years, I worked two summers at a Christian camp, and had a cheer written about the girl with the big hair.

Well, after last Friday I am able to add another story to this collection. I had just started one of my fourth grade classes, when one of the girls raised her hand. Now we weren’t talking hair, but when I called on her, this is what she said:

“I know what your hair style is, it’s a boofanda!”

She was so pleased with herself for figuring it out. I didn’t know my hair was something to figure out! Well, “boofanda” it is! I kind of like the sound of it.

a "heaven sent" proposal

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching one of my K5 classes when one of my students looked over to my computer and saw my friend's twin girls' picture on the screen. She raised her hand and asked if those were my girls. I told her who they were, and that I wasn't a mother because I wasn't married. Well one of my boys piped up and said, " you should marry us!" I told him that couldn't happen either because they were too little. I then told him that I had to marry some tall. I motioned with my hand above my head to show how tall, and another student asked, " Will he be from Heaven?" I replied, "He sure will!"

day one on the blog...

People have been telling me for a long time that I should display my work online. Well, today I finally did! And after all the work of setting up my blog, the pictures are only 1''x 2''. Not quite what I had in mind...

Still, I think it's a good start, and I will be able to share my teaching experiences to more friends this way. Hopefully this will be an easier way to keep everyone updated; just check my blog!

Tell me what you think!