Let it Snow!

What do snowmen do at night?
Most of my kids have never seen snow, much less have built a snowman, but they all came up with some pretty creative things that snowmen might do at night when no one is looking. Among many crazy ideas, my 4th graders said they sing Stayin' Alive, steal cookies, have a dance party, and join a neighborhood baseball game.

Here was a morning journal we had this week:
Have you ever seen snow? What do you think about it?

Here are two of  the responses:
"No, I haven't seen snow. I think snow is soft. I think I want to eat snow. It tastes cold. That would be so cool."
"Well, kind of. I saw snow when I was two years old. I think snow is like clouds. But melted clouds. They are very fluffy."

My dad (by the way he rejected my horse request) emailed me some pictures of the Omaha snow. I showed them to my kids and they freaked out. It makes me smile because I hate hate hate the snow. Yes, I think it is beautiful when it falls and when it covers Christmas lights, but that's it. I do not miss cold toes or frozen car doors or gray slush. My mom sent me some fake snow that we are going to try out at our Christmas party this week. I told the kids about it and they keep pestering me about it. Is it snow day? When are we going to do the snow? Did you already do the snow at your house? (Why would I do that??)

In unrelated exciting Nica news, I got my cedula. This means I am an official resident of Nicaragua! I had to leave school to go get it done, and so I had a substitute. I didn't tell my kids I was leaving, so some were unsure of where I went. The next morning when one girl in my class saw me, she bolted across the room and gave me a huge hug. This girl is not normally a hugger, so I was a little surprised. She looked up at me and said, " I thought you were in jail, I am so glad you are here." I had no idea what in the world she meant by that, but figured she thought I would go to jail if I didn't get my cedula or something. At the end of the week I read her morning journal. One of the prompts was about whether or not they remember their dreams and asked them to describe a dream they remembered. Turns out this girl had had a dream the day that I got my cedula. She had a dream that I had to miss school because I was arrested and got thrown in jail. They got a new substitute who didn't teach well and found out they would never see me again. She wasn't sure if the dream was real or not and only figured out when she saw me the next morning that I didn't actually go to jail.  I love my students. Never a dull moment.

Much love,
Laura