F4F on Saturday, Thanksgiving, a Rant, and more....

Okay, I have not blogged in longer than I care of be accountable for, and now I am going to try to cram 3 or 4 posts into one post. So bear with me.

Head over to Doodlebugs and read about the everyone's week! 

1. Tis the Season to think of others. Here are the causes near and dear to me.
Operation Christmas Child. Pack a shoebox people. Spread the gospel. Just do it because it is the right thing to do. I don't really care why you do it, just do it. It's a good cause and it spreads hope and joy in a little shoebox. Go to Samaritan's Purse to find out about how to pack your box, and drop off locations. Don't delay, your box needs to be at a drop off by Monday, the 25th. CrossRoads Church in Salina is a collection center.... just sayin'.

Salvation Army.  Drop your change in the bell ringer's bucket. Salvation Army saves lives, both literally and figuratively.  I personally know people who relied heavily on Salvation Army in dark times.  It is one of the best organizations to contribute to because most of the money goes to the cause. There are some organizations that make a lot of money off of our donations, so be careful.

Hurricane Sandy survivor

What organizations are near and dear to you? What do you contribute to or aspire to contribute to?

2. Make a conscious choice to be grateful. I love the idea of being "thankful" for something every day. I think it should happen every day of the year. Sometimes I can't even wait until November to start my Thankful posts on Facebook. Some days, I am grateful to come home and put my feet up and enjoy my warm home.  Some days I am grateful that we have clothes to wear. Sound petty? There are some items in my closet that have needed replacing for years. I am grateful for those who help us when we need it. I have a lot to be grateful for.

(I love the way that Susan Boyle sang this, and so I posted it, I didn't have anything to do with the graphics)

3. Visiting the panhandle....
We took a mental health day last week to visit our friends in the OK panhandle. It was good to see the ladies I worked with, the students I taught, the school, my colleagues new baby, and more. We drove out Thursday night so I (we) could visit the schools we were at while they were in session. Interestingly enough, when we can back from lunch (at Sonic.... this is probably it's own post sometime), there was a fire in the block over from Academy C, and also in the block where my friend and fellow teacher lives! What ended up happening was that the Kinders at Academy C got a fire safety lesson. One of the Kindergarten teachers (my replacement), is married to a fire fighter. So she had her honey come to the school and talk to students about his gear, and fire fighting.

I got to help students with some seat work and then they were to read in their phonics readers. One little guy read in the book Stan's Pigs. He described the picture on the cover. He pointed to the farmer and said, "He is going to kill those pigs." What? Wait a minute. I have been gone too long. I forgot that Seaboard is the largest area employer. Okay.... deep breath.... "Does your Dad work at Seaboard?" Big grin, "yes." (Lightbulb goes on for me, Seaboard Farms raises hogs for production). Next question: "Is he (the farmer) taking the pigs to Seaboard?" Big nod. Ah.... gotcha. Not an emotionally disturbed child, just a kid whose family member works at Seaboard.

I got to see Kelly's new baby!! My colleague/friend/co-worker left Guymon the same weekend I did to move to Florida with her new husband. Their little bundle of joy arrived in September and we planned our visit so we could meet the baby! The precious baby is in the arms of the other Second grade teacher who was Kelly's teaching partner before she left!

I got some time with my children and grubbed up on getting a little time with my girl who is going off to college in the fall. I love any time that we can spend together that she is not working, sleeping, doing homework or hanging out with friends!

I didn't take any pictures with my friend who was my teaching partner, Mrs. Lewis. I love her! She and her husband showed us some amazing hospitality.  I hope to return the favor one day.  I was grateful to see the only friendly teacher in the 3rd grade hallway, Ms. Bandy Barton.  I got to see Mrs. Harris from the library, Mrs. Pierce from the computer lab, Mrs. Watson my principal (love her), and many more people I didn't realize I missed so much! Okay, that was a very personal and probably could have been it's own post, but like I said, I am cramming several posts into this one.

4. Unconditional love. The dog went to the spa, er, I mean the vet, while we were gone and we missed his little wienie self! Our cat patrolled the house and has been super affectionate since our return. I love them both.  And they love me in a sick and obsessive way in which I spend more time being irritated with their undying affection than I do taking the time to enjoy them. But they can change my perspective and outlook with their looks, licks and motor-mouths.

It's impossible to get a good picture of Sam with his eyes open, he
closes them because of the flash.... every time! 

5. Reading! Were you wondering if there was going to be anything teachery (yeah, I am pretty sure that "teachery" IS a word) in here at all? Well, here are the pictures my first graders drew and the sentences they wrote.  We read The Bus Ride this week.  Then they drew their own character getting on the bus and wrote a sentence to go with it. It was awesome to see the connections and their enthusiasm.

1. A zebra got on the bus. 2. A guinea pig got on the bus.
3. A dog got on the bus. 4. A dog got on the bus.

The "real" victory is in regard to fluency.  My intervention kiddos are growing my leaps and bounds and the progress monitoring is showing real progress! Did I really give the reading specialist a high-five. Yes, yes I did. And I'll do it again.  I am primary to the bone and I am not ashamed.

This is actually from LAST week before our trek to Oklahoma, but my Third graders had to research foods from other countries relating to our story The Duke's Banquet.  We learned about foods, countries, banquets, feasts, and more! We also learned about research, "textbook jargon", and how to use our own words! They learned about presenting information and persuasion. Aw.... and here I was thinking our project was not that successful! But look at all we learned! The teacher probably learned more than the students! I learned what worked, what didn't, and some things I can change next time! And did I mention a connection to real life? They were supposed to bring a recipe from home that they might have at a feast or banquet.  I made one of the recipes.... Special Deviled Eggs.  See.... eating IS educational!

Presenting her tri-fold brochure that promotes her
country of Russia and tells about foods from Russia.

Presenting about Japan and the foods that are native
to Japan.

Presenting about the country of Niger and it's foods.

That was fifteen things wrapped up into five. But you can't say I didn't warn you.
Now for a smallish rant.
I am super offended by the new Audi commercial and it's portrayal of people putting their car keys in the donation buckets, that imply that they are donating their less-than-cool cars to Salvation Army. What?! But wait?! I would take any $40,000 car (or more expensive). I would happily trade it in for cash and donate that to homeless and hungry people! But seriously?! I think it trivializes the condition of many in our nation in these economic times and I think it is in poor taste. I think it is made by rich people working for a rich car company thumbing their noses at the average American and especially those who need the services that Salvation Army provides. Okay, that is all. Bad Form. Okay... now that's all. Till next time. And then I just might rant some more.