Things that Make Connor's First Grade Teacher Awesome

1. Every time I have seen her she's had a Starbucks coffee cup in her hand. It makes me feel like we're on the same wavelength. And, can we all say "easy teacher gift" together? Thank you, universe.

2. She sent a note to Connor welcoming him to class. I thought it was super sweet.

3. She named her classroom HerLastNameVille. The letter she sent had a return address of HerLastNameVille. I love a teacher who owns her room. And I presume she has assigned herself to be the Mayor of HerLastNameVille. I mean, why else name your class HerLastNameVille if she's not going to stake out some good turf in it?

4. Today, a day before everyone else was to go to an open house, she hung out with Connor for over a half hour talking about things he did over the summer, the mosquitoes in our backyard, the class garden, the koi fish that died, the koi fish that got released into someone else's pond (with their permission), and really, just about everything under the sun. And she used real words that real people use, not talking in some weird jilted language that teachers often use with young people.

5. She has the book "Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon" in her class. It's a favorite around these parts. And a comfort to see at school.

6. She told Connor his mom was awesome for purchasing the prepackaged school supplies. In this case, "awesome" could easily be code for "lazy" or, to put it in a nicer light "efficient". Our school's PTA has a fundraiser where you can go online, indicate which class your child will be in, give them a credit card, and then magically all the supplies your child is supposed to bring to class are awaiting him when he arrives. I pay the regular price for them, the PTA is actually purchasing at a discount, so the difference becomes the PTA's. I save time, they get money.

The one mistake she made? She reminded Connor about a game that the children play at the end of the year (which he saw when we visited last year) where they get paid money to do work, and then they get to go to the class store which is full of prizes and stuff the children have made to sell and buy stuff. She told him this as soon as he shared his latest obsession, which is Monopoly, Jr. His eyes lit up. My guess is that he will ask her approximately once daily "is it time for the store yet?". Because this? This is really speaking Connor's language.

Tomorrow we go back for orientation to meet everyone in the class. I'm thrilled that one of the little guys Connor met at an after-school program run by the PTA last year is in his class. Connor was super excited about this as well.

Elaine