I am well aware that I am writing this post to avoid writing my good-by letter to my class. With that acknowledgement in mind, I will proceed.
Little boys are totally cool. With my move to third grade also came an increase in emphasis on mathematical and critical thinking skills. Up to this point in life neither of those have been my forte but it seems that boys exceed in this area. I have enjoyed getting inside their heads all year and figuring out their thinking strategies. An 8 year old can explain these things in terms that I can understand so it has been a great starting place for me. This is not to say that I like my boys any more than my girls. I am just a little mystified by them because they function so differently. Today was our Reading Buddy picnic. We were very clear in our agreements that they did not have to spend the entire afternoon with our first grade buddies so by 1:15 the 3rd grade boys had taken off on their own to explore the sandbox area. It wasn't long before they were discovering ways to build tunnels and then interconnecting tunnels and finally little underground villages. I was fascinated watching them with the full length of their arms underground. This of course meant that their head (including their ears and hair) were plastered agains the sand. They discovered things about how deep you have to go to keep the sand above stable, the reason that the sand beneath remained cool and wet, ways to use water to suport the underground structures and strategies to cooperate to build those connecting tunnels. What were the girls doing? Swinging on the swings, rolling down the hill, chatting, laughing, kicking around a soccer ball and repeatedly shouting, Miss Allen, come look at this. You just gotta love those boys.
