Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List - I did this last year - and as I looked back to find the link for that {here it is, if you are interested - ha!} I realized I actually got all but one of those done last year. Yeah Me!

So this summer....What do I want to do??

1 I want to NOT worry/think/plan school stuff until at least after July 15. 

Blog Stalking and any other FUN stuff doesn't count. :)

2 That being said, I want to do two things - FIRST, I want to think through my math for at least the first 9 weeks. We made the move to Common Core last year, and our district gave us a curriculum map, but I felt like I was playing catch up all year long. We use a Houghton Mifflin math book, but our 2nd grade team decided not to purchase the student workbooks for next year. They have 6 workbooks, and to follow the district's guidelines, we were hopping all over in them and between them. Our principal has also purchased Mountain Math for us to use - so I want to explore that this summer.
SECOND, I want to have a calendar of things that I want to do with my kids through the year. For example, I really wanted to do a book study on Patricia Polacco books, but it just never happened. And at the end of each 9 weeks, I want us to look back and see what we've done so far - I've wanted to do this for 2 years, and it just doesn't happen. So I'm thinking I need a master calendar. {Of course, you might be saying, Duh, what teacher doesn't, but sometimes I’m slow.}

3 Exercise – 
 

why is it the last 2 weeks – or Gasp! the last month of school, exercising falls by the wayside? At least it does for me. So I want to get back into a routine.

4
I want to do some Pinterest crafts – or not pinterest, I don’t care. I used to be a crafty person, but I just haven’t done much of that lately. So I want to make some things – for me, for my house, for school, I don’t care – I just want to create!

5 
I want to spend some time with this girl who is leaving in 90 days to go to college 6 hours away {yes, I’m such a dork, I counted how many days!}

How about you? What do you want to do this summer? To start my summer, we’re celebrating my daughter’s birthday today! What a great beginning! Happy Memorial Weekend to you! Sara

Baby I'm Back!

"School's out for summer!" - well, I was going to quote that, but then my hub-bub told me Alice Cooper sang it, and I thought better of it... but as you can see, I snuck it in anyway! {OK, is snuck not a word, because I'm getting a red squiggly line under it - whatever!}

Last week - um, did I tell you I don't like last weeks? Well, this year went pretty smoothly.  
Monday - I guess I was the only nerd that went ahead and did a reading block and centers. But really, it keeps some structure, and it is very UNstressful for me. My kids had been practicing reader's theaters, so we listened to about half of those for whole group and the centers were games with a small amount of reading involved. One was read the room - with words from phonics patterns we had been studying lately. I used The Teacher's Cauldron's Ahoy Matey packet 

 
 
 
and also her Ouch packet, plus some of my own that I threw in. Another center was supposed to be Mel D's Candy Land game for diphthongs, 

 

but ahem, I couldn't exactly find my cards I KNEW I had already laminated. So I improvised, and use the Candy Land cards with old vocabulary words - they were supposed to read the vocabulary word and then do whatever action the Candy Land card told them to do. {I'm not sure they all did, but hey, it's the last week, just stay engaged and happy and I'll be happy!} The last center was some synonym and homonym puzzles I had. 

Monday afternoon was movie time.

 

 





They picked a good one - I was even chuckling as I worked on my room while they watched. 

Tuesday, we had our 2nd grade fun day. We went outside right after our specials and we played some



We let them eat in our rooms. We played some big group games and let them have some free time to play, followed by the ever popular freezer sticks.


{I don't know - what are these things really called???}

Wednesday - did reading block again, - we finished the Reader's Theaters, and in the afternoon I was lucky enough to have Art, so my kids went there and then to recess. Then we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned the room. Those little dorks were asking what else they could do.

Thursday - our school wide fun day. And I even had time for them to make Dirt Pudding - so enjoy that. And make paper airplanes and watch them get a Thrill out of flying them all over the room. Our school wide fun day is a bunch of outdoor games - they go to each for about 15 minutes. Why oh why do I always have some that fight or whine? It's FUN day! 
Then we came inside for the last hour and all but one of mine ran off to get autographs from other teachers. That's fine by me. 

Then hugs and good-byes and we're done!

I'm off to do some relaxing. 
Have you had your last day yet? What was the best part?
Sara

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 :)