How to Survive Camp Finley…

Wow! I’m so stinkin’ tired..I can’t sleep! So what I do? Blog. Gee whiz, I really need to get a life. Apparently this is my new way to kill time, especially when I don’t want to do what I should do…don’t worry I’ll still be waking up at 4:50 AM!

Camp Finley is back in business! It was so great to see all the little rascals today! They really do make my heart do a square dance! Every time we go off-track and then track on we usually go over the classroom procedures. It worked out especially well today because we got a new student. I asked the class what thing’s our new student needed to know to survive in Camp Finley…this was their response. For those of you that haven’t been in a classroom for a long time this might be humorous, and for those of you who know a teacher all too well, just skip this and read my other blogs, I don’t want to bore you with my teacher stories☺.

Straight from the mouth of babes…

What you need to know to survive Camp Finley (this is a compilation of responses from various students, they are direct quotes…we wrote them on the white board☺)

1. “When the fire alarm goes off you need to hurry and line up!” (I found it odd that this was their first response to the question. Safety first I guess! It was a great lead into our language arts lesson…we read “Officer Buckle & Gloria” by Peggy Rathmann. It’s a story all about safety tips. It’s an easy read, I’m sure you could all pick it up at your local library, LOL.)
2. “When there is an earthquake you need to hurry and get under your desk, then cover your head with your hands.”
3. “He needs to know the rules!

• “Make sure your eyes are on the teacher…or you’ll have to pull a card.”
• “No put-downs!”
• “You better raise your hand…or you’ll have to pull a card.”
• “TCOY” (Take Care Of Yourself)
• “Line up quietly, with your hands and feet to yourself”

4. “He also needs to know that when you’re doing something you shouldn’t do, that’s a warning…next time you have to pull a card!”
5. “Raise your hand, that one’s really important, don’t forget it.”
6. “He needs to know that when he goes to the bathroom he needs to ask by using the sign language toilet sign, then he needs to put the boy toilet paper role on his desk.”
7. “When we’ve been playing outside for a little while and when you hear the bell or a whistle you need to line up.”
8. “Always be quit in the hallway.”
9. “Don’t slip on the ice, that means no playing on the ice.”
10. “Walk in the lunchroom.”
11. “You have to be nice to others.”
12. “We learn life skills here.”

• “To keep at it! What’s that word again?” (Perseverance)
• “Caring.”
• “Friendship.”
• “Respect.”
• “Organization, that’s Miss Finley’s favorite skill!” (That’s what I tell them…I hate cleaning up messes☺)

13. “When the teacher says “Peanut Butter”, we put our hands up in the air like this (hands flat like pressing against a wall) and we pretend that we are stuck in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We she says “Oreo,” we put our mouth like this, like we have an Oreo in the back of our mouth (you can talk like a whale doing this). And we she says “Chocolate Chip” we put our hands like this (in the shape of a triangle), like we have a Chocolate Chip on our head.”

14. “Oh and if you haven’t noticed Miss Finley likes camping!”

So I guess this is your little peek into a second grade classroom…maybe someday I’ll put some of our very dorky but very fun, songs on here! Tata for now…I must force myself to sleep.