Gratitude

Thanks Michelle for this linky! I love this!

My friend Michelle at BTL (Big Time Literacy) is hosting a gratitude linky. What am I grateful for? Oh where to begin....

1. I am so grateful for my job this year. It is 1000 times more of my teaching dream that what I did last year. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful that I had a job and I totally believe in project-based learning, but having a team of teachers and admin who stand behind me and support me makes me want to be the best that I can be.  And let's face it.... I LOVE Kindergarten!!!

2. I am grateful for..... gratitude. Sound corny? Of course it does. But practicing gratitude gives me the ability to change my life in immeasurable ways. Did you know that practicing gratitude makes you happy? content? and more able to learn? Truth.

I am not one of those people who naturally sees the good in life and always sees the bright side.  But guess what? After years of practice, I am starting to become one of those people? Last week, we hit a deer. Our van is toast. But here's what I'm grateful for: if Mr. Buck would have hit our car a little more centered we probably would not have been able to drive off and get to work on time, and the chances that he would have come through the windshield and the thought 1000 lbs. of buck coming at our faces.... well, freaks me out. I'm also grateful that I did not sell the car. I have had offers. I kept it because you never know when you'll need a 2nd vehicle. lol. Now I have a car to drive. I don't love it. Because I love, love, love my van. But.... I am so grateful for these things. Also.... near death experiences (real or imagined) really up a person's gratitude for the things that matter, like the kid that was sitting by me in the car.

3. I am grateful for my checkered past. I makes me a better teacher and a more compassionate person who cares about not only my students, but their families as well. I could expound on this to great length but I will just say, I am so grateful for the families and kids I teach and that I don't have to adopt the attitude that so many teachers (in my past anyway) have adopted: teacher vs. parents/families. "Their Mom/Dad/grandma (insert family member name) doesn't care whether their child learns to read or not because they don't sign their reading log every night!" Etc. I don't have to buy that. And I'm grateful for that. I'm so glad my families love their kiddos, and if they can't meet my expectations every night and practice reading skills, I know it is because they have life stuff going on, because I've been in their shoes (like yesterday, or last week).

4. I'm grateful for new/old ways to relieve stress. Like coloring. Adult coloring is making a comeback in the world today and did you know that coloring relieves stress? Duh. Here's a free turkey I found and downloaded. Okay, I lied. I can't find WHERE I downloaded and it is bad form to just provide the download without the credit, so I am just putting in a link to my search results, which were awesome!

Getting ready to color with The Punky-girl! 

Okay, I just found this and had to add it.... Look HERE for Christmas coloring papers!

5. I would be remiss if I failed to give thanks for my home. I am grateful for my H4H house and the warmth and laughter it provides us. My house payment is REASONABLE and makes it so I could afford to a) go back to school to become a teacher and live off those student loans when I needed to, and b) to drive to my job and still pay my house payment, and c) live in a nicer, newer house than I ever could have dreamed possible! Love, love, love our home.  Thank you God and McPherson Area Habitat For Humanity.

There is so much more to be thankful for: good friends (I have had low-quality friends and high quality friends, I know the difference today), a good cup of coffee, my pets who love me when no one else does, electricity and running water, clothes that fit and shoes that keep my feet warm. If you focus on gratitude, it changes your heart. The truth is, WHATEVER you focus on increases. So I leave you with this quote: "I must keep my magic magnifying mind on my acceptance and off my expectations, for my serenity is directly proportional to my level of acceptance. When I remember this, I can see I've never had it so good."

A Peak at Our Week

I didn't get posted in Five for Friday. At all. But I haven't blogged for awhile! So I thought I better catch everyone up! Here are some highlights from our week.

 1. We celebrated our Cool Beans behavior chart getting filled! $.97 package of balloons and ten minutes of balloons and music (they wanted some 50's music). You would have thought they were in heaven! They had SO. MUCH. FUN! It was delightful to watch them.

2. This note from Tom Turkey went home on Monday. I have looked and looked to see who I got it from and here it is! I found it! I got the editable letter from: Hide Tom Turkey by Teacher's Take Out on Teacher's pay Teachers.

When I got the copies back from the copy center, I also got a Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. too! (Thanks Jane for playing along with us!)

Our first returned student project: Batman. Who is NOT a turkey! 

3. Addition Bingo! It was fun to watch their minds work! The card gave them an addition problem, but the Bingo sheet only had numbers on it! Some students used white boards, some used connecting cubes, some used their bingo counters. But everyone was working hard to join the numbers!

Here are a couple samples!

Dry erase boards work well

4.  Teacher Love!

 

I got this from a student one day. I ask her what it is for. I am thinking maybe milk money or lunch or books, who knows. She says to me, "It's for you. To pay you to keep being my teacher. You are the best teacher ever!" Aw. I totally wanted to keep and frame this crumpled up dollar, but I gave it back to her and tried to explain that I can't take her money. 

One the same day I then got this picture! I love you too little learner! I love them all! We've been focused on more hugs this week. There have been a few hard times in our room this week and hugs go a LONG way to righting the wrongs.

5.  We read the book "Thankful" that finally came in our Scholastic Book Order. (Yay for Scholastic Books)! We have already learned the sight words: "I" "am" and "for". I put the word thankful on the board. Students were supposed to use their resources (they have been practicing spelling these sight words for a while now, as well as being on the word wall bulletin board) to write "I am thankful for..." and then finish the sentence by writing the sounds they hear when they say the word they want to use. Many students said they were thankful for family, Mom or Dad.

I am thankful for rainbows.

6. Some classroom needs. We need snacks. I love my kiddos, but it hurts my heart when I am telling my daughter to put things back in Walmart because we have to "be very careful with our money" and she watches me purchase classroom snacks. I feel like I am sending a message to my child that my students are more important than she is.  If you are a teacher, you know what I'm talking about, because it may not be snacks, but this has happened to all of us at some point.

1 box = 2 days snack. 4-5 boxes = 2 weeks.

1 box (family size)= 4-5 days

1 box = 2 days

This is what we serve snack in. A package of 200 lasts about a month.

Super-size bag = 3 weeks! Whoot! This is the best value by far!

I hate to be a beggar. But my Kinders still need a snack and my paycheck needs to start being used to take of my own family first, and students next. Not the other way around.

November starts now

November Currently. A monthly linky from Oh' Boy Fourth Grade about all things Current. Okay, maybe not ALL things. Read and link up!

Listening.... My daughter has discovered "Lab Rats" on Netflix. enough said.

Loving.... I love fall. And quite frankly, I love the gratitude focus on fb this month.

Thinking.... yes, apparently I do NOT have enough candy and sugar in my house.

Wanting.... peace. For myself, but for my students and their families. So much unrest and difficulty. Breaks my heart.

Needing.... nothing at all. Life is good today.

Yummy? I think the last section is supposed to say yummy. So I went with that. We usually have cheesecake around the holidays. And I love cheesecake! <3