Sometimes They Just Make Me Smile

I looped up with my students this year. About 2/3's of my class was with me for Kinder. I knew there were pros and cons of that scenario going into it. One of the cons is, I think they have gotten too comfortable. I will dismiss them to their seats and there will still be 7 of them there talking to me--um, hello???? But they know by now I'm no Viola Swamp. And sometimes I will fall for it, especially if they can get me talking about my Ruby.

One of the benefits is, we certainly know each other very well. I've mentioned before that my favorite part of the day is our chapter read-aloud. The time varies because we can never keep to a schedule. Sometimes we have time before lunch, sometimes it's right after-but the routine is always the same, come in and make a circle on the carpet. Today we came back from lunch and the kids went in, another teacher stopped me in the hall to ask a question. A minute later I walk in my room to find this in a space left between 2 students  (presumably my seat) who were part of a perfect circle comprising of the rest of the class:

Now I know that doesn't mean much to you. That's the read-aloud book, a reading response journal (which I usually reference before we read so they know what I'm going to expect them to write about after the chapter) and my iced tea. :) It was just so cute. They just had everything all prepared for the next step in our day--- ready to go teach. You gotta love 'em!!!!!