Happy (Much-Belated) 100th Day of School!!!

(This has sat in my "to-post" box for awhile now... I think we're on the 120th day of school now!  But with all the great pictures, I couldn't pass up posting about this fabulous, exciting, exhaustingly-insane day!  Happy reading!)

Yes, I know for most Americans, last Thursday (February 14) was all about Valentine’s Day.  But here in Musoma, we focused on something a bit different.

Happy 100th day of school!

Up till now, I've always hung out and been surrounded with teachers.  So the concept of 100th day was absolutely expected and normal.  But here in Musoma, that's not the case.  The fun thing about living and working with so many non-teachers here in Musoma is that everyone I’ve mentioned it to has said, “What?  You actually celebrate that?”

And the answer is yes, yes we do.  In kindergarten and first grade classes across the United States (I don't know about the rest of the world...), teachers choose this day to culminate a study in place value, digits, tally marks, stickers on a chart, and every other imaginable way of representing the number of days of school we’ve completed throughout the year.  And besides, in the snowy depths of winter, it’s a good time of have something to celebrate, right?

Our day came a bit later than the usual here in Musoma, partly because the snow forgot to come ;P, or maybe it was because the schedule looks a wee bit different here.  It was also an interesting count… up? to the 100th day as half my class only started coming after Christmas.  So every morning, during morning routine, our discussion went a bit like this. 

“What’s the date today?”
“What’s the weather like?”
“How many days of school have we had SINCE ALEX, our lone kindergartner, began school in AUGUST?”
                                                                         And so went our routine.

Besides recognizing for the first time that the hundredth day of school is a big deal, the second question I’ve been asked a lot recently is, “What exactly do you DO on the 100th Day of School Celebration?”

Well, we count to 100.  A lot.  A lot a lot.  Till the teacher’s head hurts.

Our To-Do Charts for the day looked a bit like this :)

We played games, like “Roll to 100” and “Tally 100” with dice and a hundreds chart.

 

 

We estimated, then tested, how many times we could … jump up and down, sit down and stand up, say the ABCs, blink, and several other random activities in 100 seconds.  (Did I mention counting to 100 until the teacher's head hurts?)

Clapping!

Standing Up and Sitting Down

We made super-cool 100 glasses, with hearts (had to do SOMETHING to recognize the 14th, right?)

My kindergarten, first, and second graders

We wrote 100 words, then read them... made stacks of 100 unifix cubes... imagined ourselves at 100 years old... and even made a few valentines during break times.

So THIS is what 100 looks like?  Good to know!! :)

And then, we all went home and fell asleep.  Or at least I did.  The kids were pretty exhausted from all that jumping around, standing-up and sitting-down, and doing 100 of everything too, so maybe this time it wasn't just me. :)

Happy 100th Day!!!