this week while my chickadees are at science camp i am subbing in a 2nd grade classroom at the same school.
oh the drama and glory of the 2nd grader!
everything is magnified. intensified. injustice lies around every corner! someone talked about someone who stepped on someone's something.
the classroom has no windows and no ventilation save for one rickety fan. miss moss is dreadfully hot.
in other news…
during this week's facetime art session with sister i finished 2 robin pages.
at recess i bought a box of thin mints. i sat in front of the fan. for a few cool minty moments i forgot about the inner lives of 7 year olds.
i read a story about an alligator who works in a department store after lunch. everyone sat at attention and didn't make a peep. at the end everyone clapped. i have books lined up for the whole week.
after school one of my students who didn't go to science camp (and is in another class for the week) brought me a note.
i read it on the way to my car. when i got home i put some bottles of water in the freezer for tomorrow. i put my note on the fridge.
i hope you have someone in your life who specializes in flattery and exaggeration. no?
here i'll write a note for you myself:
thanks for coming by for a visit you clever witty awesome person. you are good at everything. everyone likes you. and you're cute. happy monday!
love love love.
Oh how did you know I needed just those very words?!
I just love your joy, enthusiasm and spirit Mary Ann Moss! Hope you have a creative, happy weekend!
What an amazing group of kids to think of you, miss you fiercely and then take the time to send you such an awesome, affirming note! Obviously, you have made quite the impression on their young lives. Having had a teacher or two in my life who left scars on my psyche, it is comforting to me to know there are teachers like you working every day to teach and prepare your students for the education they will need to succeed in life. And more than that, you go above and beyond to instill a love of learning and to prove to them that not only is it useful, it can be FUN! You, indeed, are an Awesome Queen!
Oh, kids who have good taste!!
Like my nephews!!!
Also: my cat literally runs to the back door when I come home.
And she’s already been fed by then!
it is to blush.
jan i couldn’t agree more!
it’s idiotic to design a school with interior rooms that have NO windows and no controls for air. the big minds at the top like to focus on the really important things like testing and surprise GOTCHA visits.
fortunately my regular classroom has giant windows and plenty of air with a handy dandy fan switch.
HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE to have a classroom with no windows and no ventilation!?!? Oh yes someone else mentioned that….I read this post and all the comments a couple of days ago and have been thinking about this a lot. A fan is not ventilation, it just moves whatever air might be there? Can we all say sensory deprivation?!? I am really sounding snarky, but I am so sad for any children that are required to be in that kind of environment so many hours a day! They are missing the changing light throughout the day and throughout the seasons, and sounds, and so many many things that add to and stimulate our learning and creating abilities. And sad for their teachers. Teachers ARE so awesome. I agree with everyone who wrote that the kids are lucky to have you…they really are!!! Thank you so much for giving us this view into your teaching world….You are The Best!!
I LOVE THAT! You should frame it, but then the back would be hidden. What a difference you are making in children’s lives. That must be so satisfying.
Thank you! I like this! It’s so nice to be appreciated. Love you back!
What an adorable and sweet note. I’m grinning ear to ear. You are the best Mary Ann and those kiddos know what we all know; that you are pretty darn special 🙂 xoxo
Ahh, there is a reason you received that wonderful note. You *are* a terrific teacher and Princess Jesseca recognized it. Hope it’s not as hot in your windowless room tomorrow. Thanks so much for sharing your life with us voyeurs out in the inter webs.
Mwahahaha. Very funny! Yes I am awesome and cute and I stopped by your blog, you awesome, cute, funny, stupendous teacher.
I am sorry to hear about the room with no windows! I love second graders. How lucky they are to have you as their sub! The note was just precious. You’ve made all of your readers smile. Thank you for sharing these tales. You are wonderful, as always.
who ever thought that a classroom with NO WINDOWS was a good idea.How can they BREATHE, daydream, see the sky or a tree , be inspired by clouds or streetlights. No wonder they tittle tattle.Does the school have garden?Can you bring plants to the classroom?Or a fish tank?Thankgoodness for stories that take them away .Well done Queen Moss!
Just the other day I was wondering how your teaching was going.You really do have super powers cause you could read my mind! I love your stories about the kids, they make me laugh. I was a “lunch lady” for a couple of years while my kids were in school, there is A LOT of injustice that goes on at that age. I would like to sit on the floor and listen to you read a book also, it must be great, unfortunately it’s not pretty when I get up, if ya know what I mean.
thank you and the same to you, you are the best and I love your blog!
Oh my gosh, you have a blessed life….there are people at your work place that like/admire/miss/write you sweet notes.
At my work place there are phone arguments with crazy people who blame you because you didn’t ask them to fix the correct thing on their website so that your work will be correct even though you had no idea what was broken on their site because THAT IS NOT YOUR JOB. I had to eat dirt and grovel and apologize for not knowing how to do her job because I need her to do her job so that I can do mine….and this is the 4th time I’ve asked them (but only the first time I’ve asked her she pointed out to me) to fix the problem.
Thank you for the nice note. I feel much better about myself because of it.
Adorable! You are an awesome all powerful teacher person. You have mad super powers! Lucky kids. Lucky you. Happy day. Thanks for sharing that!
Hi. I’ve got a fifth grader & a third grader (both loud, dirty, sweet boys), and whenever I must care for a cousin or friend who is younger than my two, I always feel huge relief that we are past “that stage” whatever it may be. I love following my boys where they’re at.
But what I really want to know is: gouache or gouache/watercolor? It looks like you’re exploring state birds–have you seen the gorgeousness that is the Alabama yellowhammer? They wear polka dots!
Well deserved, Ms. Moss!
i love that they love you even when they raise the ruckus to you with injustices at the ripe ole’ age of 7 having stepped on so -in-so’s something dear…
These little notes make it all worth it. Just a great big tickle in your day to make you smile bigly.
Oh, Ms. Moss, you crack me up while taking my breath away with your gorgeous paintings. So glad I visited your blog today. Sister’s imagery also looks great.
Awesome notes! Keep reading to those 2nd graders! Love your bird sketches.
Aloha, Kate
Lovely notes, both theirs to you and yours to us! It makes me so happy to know that there are so many children whose lives you are touching and they will remember you always. Love your robin and chickadee. Tell Carol I really like that cool lamp that is sprouting from her head!
Love the note you received, and the one you wrote just to me wasn’t bad either…xox
What a great post and a great note – OMG, you can run on that fuel for weeks! What a sweetie.
Are you testing us? Is your lovely sister trying to take a picture with the lens cap on? hMMM…or maybe it’s the lighting. In any case, I love that you guys have a set weekly time to FaceTime and art. Fabulous idea, extraordinarily smart, stupendously interesting….I’ve run out of exaggeration.
Everybody knows that seven days without Queen Moss makes one weak.
I have a question: what does the alligator do before lunch? Does he work somewhere else, or does he sleep in? (You read a story about an alligator who works in a department store after lunch.)
No exaggeration or flattery insight,
you really are that good!
So there! ♥
I love you.
Everybody else loves you too.
You were born with amazing powers.
No exaggeration.
xo
Oh how I needed your note today! Thank you 🙂 kas
Me encantan las notas de sus colegialas! , han puesto una sonrrisa en mi cara toda la mañana . Y me imagino la suya , Señorita Moss , con su corona de Reina o con traje de héroe de comic con Super Poderes ,y en su pecho el slogan :
“BECAUSE YOU ARE BORN WITH SOME AMAZING POWER”…….ILOVE THIS SOOOOOO MUCH!!
Gracias por compartir esas cartas tan adorables!
Fabulous. Just fabulous. 🙂
If I got to spend my days being taught art and read books by you, instead of going to the office, I d write you notes too. As it is, I m going to write you one anyway. Missed your posts the last couple of weeks, and the waiting for the spring in grey Bavaria has been that much more tedious without your colourful posts! Thank God spring finally came and you did resurface. Thank you for this post, with as always, that great art-humour combo – Queen Moss’ special.
That kid knows what’s in the combo! Queen Moss rules!
‘Are you born with some amazing power because you teach us so well’ Absolutely priceless. <3
Ah, you brightened an already incandescent day by sharing your wonderful note! I got a great note today, too. It reads:
“I love you, Grandma Shelley, because you <3 me and art." And I do, oh, I DO!
XO
Thanks for the compliment! I needed that after a day of Wholesale/Retail Monday where NO ONE in the universe can live without ceramic tile for one more day! I would so enjoy sitting in the group this week listening to those books you are going to read.
I love your birds and the bird pages, they are so alive. It is still very snow covered here, and not too many colorful birds yet, so once again I have come here to channel beauty and your wonderful art and humor!
i’m going to print out your note and put it on my fridge!!
jeanne
You Are The Best Teacher-Queen EVER !!!! Thanks soooo much for your note, I needed it today this day that my nose and eyes have been a total DRIP all day with allergies UGH UGH UGH UGH !!!! your wonderful little birdies cheered me up then your note – thank you : ) Those lucky little munchkins – wish I was one of them : ) I think I’ll hop over to sister’s site to see her birdie : )
Blessings, Sandra in AZ : )
I can’t stop laughing….how sweet and adorable. And these children know the truth…you are awesome, smart and funny and very often you make my day…like today! Thanks so much for being you. These children are the luckiest children.
What a fun post combined with lovely art! Thank you for sharing with us!
best teacher in the universe BY FAR! xoxo
I love that you read to the chidlers in your care!