What I've been up to

Dear Bloggy Friends, 
I haven't blogged in over a week. There are some reasons. First there was this:

 







 

Then I've been getting ready for this:



for my daughter

and just to add to the mix, we did this:

pictures


and tore down this:
 







which actually looked nothing like this picture, but was really falling down so bad, that when the guy pushed on the roof, the building separated from the floor.

So I'm taking a



No, no, no - that is one of my favorite movies, but I'm really just



to do final preparations.  

Enjoy your












After Saturday, I'll be a proud parent of a High School Graduate!

Sara

Teacher Nerd Here

Only a teacher nerd would grab this:

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's a wasp's nest. And double YES, it is in a plastic baggie. I used the handle of a hoe to get it down, and put it right in the baggie. I'm pretty sure there weren't any wasps left after the winter. Anyway, I'm pretty sure my kids will be sufficiently grossed out/ thinking that's too cool when I show it to them tomorrow.

I have tomorrow, a full week and four days. I spent some time today trying to plan the last week of school. Don't tell anybody, but I really don't like the first week of school and the last week of school. For the last week, I want to do fun things, but I don't want them all getting waaaayyyy out of control. 

Our 2nd grade team is planning a fun day for one day that last week. Really a fun day is just extended recess with a popsicle somewhere in the middle :)  I'm also planning a free time - legos, games, computers - whatever they want to do.  

I'm also going to have the kids do "Awesome Awards." I got the idea from the Teacher Idea Factory (how appropriate!). The kids draw a name and make an Awesome Award for that student. She also had an idea for Sphere Races - and I'm going to try that. The kids make a sphere and then roll them down a ramp. They are trying to see who's will go the furthest.  

If the past years are an example, our principal will ask us to at least do something that involves language arts during our reading block. That's where I'm stuck. Any great ideas from anyone? Or just in general, what are you doing for your last week of school? 

Happy Friday tomorrow - Sara  

A look back at this week - 5 for Friday

Well, I was trying to count up and see if I could think of enough good things that I would have 5 to share. I think I do - so I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching. {HeeHee - just thought of the last one, so I'm good!}

1. Our school had 2 merry-go-rounds at the beginning of the year. And then they were gone. I was on recess duty that day, and it was really kinda weird. At lunch, they were there and at the afternoon recess, they were loaded on a truck. The kids' faces were so sad as around the corner on the back of the truck went our merry-go-rounds. Well, like 6 months later, we got these new things. They are these little stands that stick up various heights. And they are far enough apart that the kids have to jump from one to another. So can you guess what happens when we get new play equipment? Ummm, yes - lots of "discussions" about how to use said equipment. 

So I snapped this picture when I was going to write about how well the kids were problem solving. 

But just moments later, I realized I would have to revise my perception when I had 3 sets of kids separately come and tell me: so and so is being bossy, or mean, or cutting in line. Blah, new equipment is closed - try again on Monday {when I'm not on recess duty!}{And the kids told me the teacher who will be on duty Monday won't let them - ah, poor little babies.}

2. Just entered a Scholastic Book Order. Yeah for my parents - I have one in particular - that place orders. I had enough points to get their latest Knowledge Quest set of books - on the Earth. This is a set of 8 books and a teacher's guide about a certain topic. I've gotten the insects one and the water one, also. 

3. I finished our unit on Dinosaurs today. We read about dinosaurs - carnivores, herbivores, T-Rex, triceratops, and fossils. And today, we made fossils {well, you know, fake fossils, duh}.  First of all, I made some homemade clay last night. I made two batches. Today, it was apparent that one of them was a good batch and the other, well, it wasn't so good. One was great and the other was a sticky mess. And I never even thought to bring some flour to school to help fix things. My idea was for the kids to play and create for a while. Then flatten out their dough and make impressions with different things like paper clips, bottle lids, tongue depressors, etc. Well, some worked, some didn't. They are sitting out drying this weekend. We'll see what they look like Monday.

4. We started a unit called "The Best Part of Me." I got the idea from HERE - a Scholastic blogger named Genia Connell. Her kids made poems about their best part of themselves. My kids are mostly writing paragraphs - but it's good. They decided on the best part of themselves, then told me how they wanted me to photograph that best part. Now they are writing. And lastly, we'll put the photo and the writing together on construction paper. 

Here's a couple of no-face photo examples:

 The top guy is writing about his muscles, the next his hands and the girl is writing about her brain. 

 5. My fifth one was going to be that I get to see my hub-bub tonight after his trip out of town, but by the text alerts I've been getting, I'm thinking he might be spending the night in Dallas. Hopefully I'll find out soon. - OH YEAH - my hub-bub's connecting flight has been delayed 20 minutes - maybe that's enough for him to get on the plane. 

Happy Weekend to you - Mine will be filled with graduation plans and yard work - but the kind I like. 

Sara

Book Study - Teaching with Intention

Yes, I've read the next chapter in my personal book study "Teaching with Intention." Just didn't follow through with my intentions to post about it last week. {ha, ha, ha, I'm so funny :)} I have computer issues - my teenager limits how much I can use it. 
Have you ever had kids do highlighting on something? Did you ever say something like - Don't highlight everything or nothing will be important? That's how I feel about Chapter 4, Creating Classroom Cultures that Support and Prompt Student Thinking.  I felt like I was trying to highlight everything! I kept tell myself to focus on the really important stuff. 

Then I started a post - and boy, it sounded blah! But since then, my one thought on this chapter is something Debbie Miller suggested. She says, "I keep a notebook with me when I teach." And then she captures or writes down, things the children say. She calls them insightful or poignant things. She does add that this might be awkward at first. 

Umm, yeah. I tried it today. I only made it through the morning. On a little 3 x 5 notebook, I had about 3 pages of things that kids said. I didn't just do insightful things - I did some behavior things, some encouraging words little friends shared with each other, and so on. I am finding that the end of the school year is the perfect time to try some things to see if I like how they go - before I implement them next year. Does anyone keep a notebook with them to record things that happen in their classroom? What do you record? How does it go? 

And just to keep things in perspective - this is what we woke up to this morning:

And no, I don't live in Montana, or North Dakota. I live in SW Kansas! Crazy! It was 80+ degrees on Monday and Tuesday - and this on Thursday. It has already melted, of course.
This has been a good week, but I'm so looking forward to Friday. How about you?

Sara
 

PS - Oh wow - when I went to post this - I noticed this is my 100th post! How exciting for me :)

Peace, Hope, Love and Kindness

I have been wanting to share this idea for a while, and I saw this linky party and thought it was the perfect time. The linky party is called Peace, Hope, Love and Kindness. The idea is to share a "something good" that has happened, or that we've done. 

Last year, our librarian was rather insistent that we stay with our kids while they were at the library. I didn't have much to do but sit there, so I started writing what I call "Good on You" notes. {I haven't been as good at it this year - boo hiss.} My idea was to write 4 or 5 of these notes a week. They are quick and simple - and Target is so nice to have these perfect sized notepads in their $1 section. Here's a couple examples:

I try to notice something that one of my kiddos has done - for example, the first one, this little gal is such a hard worker at centers - and seems to love to write and write and write - so I wanted to acknowledge that. My second student - doesn't like to write. So for him to even get started {and not spend his whole writing time sharpening his pencil} is a victory! 

I keep track of students I've written notes to and when, so that I can make a real effort to get around to all my kids. Sometimes its a little hard to think of something for a specific student - but if I write their name down and try to watch them during the day, something pops up that is perfect. These are just for little things - maybe treating a friend nicely, sharing a pencil, encouraging a classmate, helping me with something and so on. 

But - here's the biggie - my students LOVE getting these! When I say I've got a Good on You note for so and so - they are up to my desk in a flash. Sometimes I see them still in a child's desk. Last year at parent teacher conferences, a parent told me her daughter had taped my note to the refrigerator and went back and read it occasionally. Wow! 

Anyway, this is just a little way that I show my students I like what they are doing. If you have a Something Good - why don't you share it at the Peace, Hope, Love and Kindness Linky Party. 

Sara

Random Thoughts about my week - Five for Friday

{OK, I really, truly was writing this on Friday, but Firefox kept shutting down on me. I finally gave up when my daughter and a friend came home, but I was thinking about it and realized it was the way I was trying to add pictures. So here's try two, a day late.}

How was your week? How was your Friday?
My week seemed long. And my Friday started on a sad note. I was in a meeting this morning when I found out I didn't have the sub I had planned for so I could do DRA testing with my kids. {I don't have to tell you how much fun it is to make sub plans and then have no one come.} All through the day, my kids kept asking when the sub was coming. They just didn't understand why no one was coming. Crossing my fingers and hoping for Monday.

 But here are some good things:

1. Watercolor and Salt paintings - I wrote about this earlier, but now I have pictures! This project went along with our story Half Chicken. Half Chicken only has half of everything, that's why most of the chickens only have 1 leg. Anyway, we drew the chickens on one day, then watercolor painted the chickens on the next. After they had painted, the kids sprinkled some salt on their painting. Most of them didn't work out as well as I had hoped. I don't think their chickens were wet enough for the salt to suck up part of the liquid to make a textured look. Next year. The next day they added backgrounds. I let them do whatever they wanted on the colors because the illustrations in the book were pretty bold.

 2. Dinosaurs - I'm taking part of Deanna Jump's dinosaur unit and adding some of my own things and books that I have available. Of course my kids are enjoying this. And I've made some learning charts. I should say, we've made some learning charts. {This idea is from the Teaching with Intention book.} After almost everything we've done, I've had the kids write on a sticky note and we've added the sticky note to a chart. {As usual, pictures to come, I guess, since I didn't take any.}

3. Subtraction - I've used Math Coach's Corner's Regrouping unit and Hooray! in my low math group, almost everybody "gets" it! I think I'm down to 3 or 4, and quite frankly, that's 3 or 4 out of the whole 2nd grade (since we've grouped them by level). This is such a hard concept - I didn't realize until I started trying to teach it!

4.  I hope this isn't too silly - but I think the end of the year is getting to me. The behaviors - ack! Anyway, I've made a conscious decision to try to enjoy my students the last couple days. To laugh with them. To take a minute to notice something. To put a hand on a shoulder.

5. Happy Anniversary to us! I was thinking this morning, my hub-bub and I have made it through lots of thicks and lots of thins - and we still enjoy each other. To celebrate - a nice lunch out and the movie 42. Looking forward to spending the day with him.

I'm linking up at:

Have a great weekend - Sara

Book - Teaching With Intention

I'm continuing to read Debbie Miller's book, "Teaching with Intention." This week is about environment, or the physical space, in our rooms.

 

Its hard not to think the grass is greener. When I student taught, my mentor teacher had three huge built in cabinets, and a long row of bookshelves, also built in. My current school doesn't have that - and I've just got to make it work :) {As a former co-worker liked to say, "It is what it is." Too true.}

Miller gives an idea - "Step outside your classroom door and look back in, as if for the first time. What do you see? Do you want to go back inside?" 

Ack! I say. I can think of pictures I've taken of my kids, and yuck, there in the background is a brown box, or a stack of books, or.... You name it.

But, tomorrow, I plan to take this step. I'm going to go in my room tomorrow morning, put up my coat and bag, and step back out of my room and back in. What catches my eye - in a good way or a bad way? And for me, some photos might help me as I think through this summer how I want my space to be. 

I'm also thinking of really being brave and asking a couple of my sweet students what they think about our room.

This is an awful time for me to be reading about physical space. I have WAY too many things that I just haven't taken the time to put back after I've used them. Or that need to leave my room :) But I've also been able to find a few pockets of time lately to do a little something - for example, my closet - the part that looks straight at me when I open the door. 

Anyway, wondering about you - when you really take time to look and see - what do you see? Do you want to go back in? Do you care to share?? 

Tomorrow's Friday and I'm testing. Hoping to get it all done! Have a good one - Sara