I know, it's been a long time since I've posted...sorry about that. To sum up the year thus far, my class is awesome. I love 'em. So great.
I am up to 22 kids. I have 20 full time and 2 who join us part time for calendar, math, science, social studies, sight word exploration, and play time. They are both in the deaf and hard of hearing class. It's so awesome to have them in my class. I am loving getting to use my sign language again - I had pretty much forgotten all of it - and my kids are picking up on lots of it as well. It's really awesome.
We went on a great trip to the fire station last week (check out the picture!). It was a fantastic trip. The fireman leading the tour sat my kids down and started talking to them about what to do if there's a fire in your house. "What's the first thing you should do if there's a fire in your house?" he asked.
One of my girls raised her hand, "Get out 'cha house!" she exclaimed.
"Yes!" he said, "So everyone, what's the first thing you should do?"
And the whole class yelled, "GET OUT 'CHA HOUSE!" Oh what good English we have...
He proceeded to be very impressed because, he said, most often, kids don't say this. They usually say, "Call 911" or "stop, drop, and roll." I felt very proud of my smart kiddos.
Later, we got a chance to ask questions, and the fire fighters got a chance to be impressed again. The captain noted, after we finished our questioning, that he'd never seen kids ask such good questions. Typically they just tell you about how their uncle's sister's friend's brother saw a fire once. They did a great job, though. One said, "I wonder what's in a fire extinguisher that puts out a fire, because it's not water." They all looked shocked. Then the captain stepped forward to answer that one. Later, when we were back in the classroom that afternoon, I asked the kids what they learned. He raised his hand and said, "I learned that inside a fire extinguisher is a chemical that takes the oxygen out of a fire."
I'm telling you, my class is SMART.
So at the end of the trip, I asked the fire fighter if he would put on the gear for us. He looked at me all sly and said, "Why don't YOU put on the gear for us?" My face turned a nice deep shade of red, and I started sweating, while trying to explain my germaphobia. He promised that it had just been washed, so they helped me into the gear, all the while sweating and continuing to turn all colors of the rainbow. "I don't have cooties!" he tried to convince me.
"Everyone has cooties when you're germaphobic." I explained. But man, I love 'em, so I put it on, [unwashed] helmet and all. 
