Oct 4th, 2007
Desk Dumps and Duck Calls
I did my first stint as a volunteer parent in my son’s 2nd grade classroom today. I don’t get to do it often since I’m a working mommy, but on the days I can, I’ll gladly do it. Anyway, I got to go in from 9:00-10:00 and help the kids with English stuff . . . right up my alley being the technical writer that I am 
It was fun to see all the kids and meet them so I can put faces with names I hear from Jason . . . it was interesting to see the wide range of levels of knowledge . . . does that make sense? All the kids were very polite and fun and worked hard. I must say that this is a very ACTIVE class . . . lots of boys and lots of personality. God Bless Mr. Krich and every other teacher out there because I don’t know how you do it all day every day! THANK YOU!
We are soooo pleased with Jason’s teacher. We really wanted him to have a male teacher and were lucky when that happened his first year in public school. Mr. Krich is awesome - he makes the classroom so much fun for the kids . . . they don’t even know that they’re learning! For example, they have a VIP jar. Mr. Krich filled this jar with marbles the first week of school. All the kids got to guess how many marbles were in the jar. On Friday, the one who got the closest won the contents of the jar and is the VIP the next week. That next Monday the VIP brings in the jar filled with “something” and the guessing starts again. The kids love it and really look forward to the guessing and finding out who is the VIP for the week! Of course there are lots of jobs in the classroom for everyone to do as well.
Another fun thing is the tooth contest. There are 2 huge mouths, void of teeth, on the front wall under the whiteboard - one for the girls and one for the boys. Each time a child loses a tooth, Mr. Krich gives them a paper tooth to write their name on and they put it in the mouth and will see who lost the most teeth at the end of the school year.
Another fun thing is the nacho party they are having on the 10th. For each timed math test they pass (0/1, 2/3, 4/5, 6/7, 8/9, 10/11, 12/13, 14/15) each child earns part of the nachos. They each have a blank piece of paper on the wall and get to paste their next ingredient on the paper . . . plate, napkin, chips, beans, cheese, sour cream, black olives, salsa. Now that each child has passed all the timed tests (2.5 minutes to complete 30 problems for each set) they get to have a nacho party. They’re doing the same thing for subtraction with ice cream sundaes - what a great idea!
Last Friday Jason told us about something “new” that Mr. Krich did - he called it a Desk Dump. Mr. Krich expects the children to help keep their classroom clean and neat and also expects the kids to keep their desks organized. So on Friday he had a surprise desk inspection. He looked in each child’s desk and if it wasn’t organized he dumped it on the floor and they had to organize it. Jason was proud that his desk was the most organized and didn’t get dumped - I told him surely this couldn’t be true because I SEE HIS BEDROOM every single day 
He was also a little disappointed that his desk didn’t get dumped because he thought that looked like fun, too. Hey - maybe I need to find a new name for cleaning up toys . . . like Toy Box Boogie . . . turn on some tunes and tell them to boogie while they pick up their toys
I must say that one of my favorite things I witnessed today was how Mr. Krich gets the kids’ attention. Rather than yelling for the kids to quiet down or ringing a bell or something, he gets out his duck call - which being from a midwest hunting family I thought was great! When it’s time to change work stations, he gives a “quuuuuuaaaaAAAACCCKKKKK” with the duck call. Every one of the kids, without missing a beat, says in unison “yyyeeeeeEEESSSS?” At that point they’re all quiet and he gives them direction. I LOVED IT!
So, I’m actually looking forward to my next volunteer hour in the classroom. The hubby gets to go in on Thursday morning this week. It’ll be fun for him to see all the kids, too!
What fun things do your kids’ teachers do or do you remember that YOUR teachers did?
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I go in every Tuesday morning and read with the kids. I really like being able to meet them and say to myself, “Oh, THAT’S her!”
Megan’s class also has the guessing jar and it works very similar. Each student is a “Star Student” for a week and they get to bring the guessing jar home and fill it with something. Then the kids get to guess throughout the week and they count the items together. Last week she came home with a new bouncy ball.
Hey, I may have o borrow his nacho party idea. I am having a hard time getting my kids to pass their addition and subtraction fact tests. Maybe that is the motivation they need. So glad you got to volunteer….I can tell you from a teacher standpoint that it is so helpful to have parents come in and lend a helping hand. So glad school is going so well and you are so pleased with your son’s teacher. That really does make for a great year when your child and the teacher fit well!
He sounds like a great teacher! I love his ideas- if I ever go back to teaching I’ll keep his ideas in mind.
Sounds like a fantastic teacher! What a great intro to public school. Here is how I got my students’ attention back in my formal teaching days. As their noise level got too loud, I began to whisper as softly as I possibly could. 1-2 kids would see my lips moving and realize they couldn’t hear me and began to shush their classmates. It was amazing to hear the ripple effect!