Second Grade Moments

So. Second graders. A big switch to go from eight-year-olds at the end of third grade down to six-year-olds! Second graders do things like kiss their Reese's peanut butter cup that came in the Lunchable because they know that candy is not allowed at school. Before putting it away until after dismissal, they pucker up and give it a big, "until we meet again" smooch. And they are not embarrassed by this.
   Second grade classes also have some different kinds of problems than third grade classes. Don't get me wrong--hogging the markers, kicking under the table, and calling names are all issues that plague second grade just as they did third grade, but in the first week of second grade this year, we also had a problem of too much hugging. A boy came up to me, arms out wide one day, and gave me a hug. About 5 minutes later, as the kids were walking over to line up, he was headed my way again, in search of another cuddle. "We just hugged." I had to tell him, putting my hand out in front of me in a crossing-guard-type 'stop' gesture. "Maybe again later at recess."
   Second graders are also still just catching onto phrases and figures of speech. On the P.E. scavenger hunt, the kids had to find a classmate who had traveled to another country, who wore glasses, or whose birthday was on a holiday. Lots of kids filled in Jack's name in the "has broken a bone box," and when we shared out some of these fun facts at the end of P.E., Coach asked Jack if he had broken a bone. "Sure! I've broken a wish bone lots of times with my dad!"