Start of Summer....

I was going to say "my week in review" but I really want to cover more than just one week. My life since I have not gone to see my students every day....

First of all, since school got out two days early (unused snow days), and we were contracted to work those days, we had professional development. Loved it. Seriously. A lot of colleagues said they wished they could be working in their rooms (okay, I had PLENTY to do in my classroom), but I was just happy that we could get paid and increase our knowledge. We are adopting a new math program, we adopted Envision 2.0. We had a day of instruction about the new curriculum one day and we did pacing for our grade level on the other day. I have heard plenty of mixed reviews about Envision but I am very excited for some structure in math and for the guidance and support materials!

I also had the chance to learn more about PLC's, Professional Learning Communities, and what they should look like if they are running smoothly and as they should! I can't wait to see how this plays out this year and the difference this makes in our teams!

Next, I took advantage of the opportunity to learn about ways to document interventions and to facilitate conversations that help children become or remain calm. We used the ERASE model. I am looking forward to using it and continuing to learn more about students who need the extra structure and need to be taught the skills to succeed.

My district offered a morning of paid Professional Development to restructure, refine, tweak, revamp, fine-tune our classroom management structures and practices. Maybe we just needed to change a few "little" things, maybe we wanted to revamp our entire system. And of course, it should match and complement our behavior structure (PBIS) program. We use CHAMPS and I think if we can really implement it with (sorry to say the F word) FIDELITY, we'll see a huge difference in our schools over the next 5 years as structures remain in place giving kids stability and continuity, some things that our high-risk/high-needs kids really need in place to feel safe and to thrive.

Wow. I've been so busy. I didn't even touch on packing up my messy, unorganized classroom, flipping the teacher closets with the classroom I am moving to, moving all my stuff, making sure I got everything moved, marked, centered, etc. for the big event of moving rooms, end of year cleaning and packing and so forth. I believe that I do not have photographic evidence of this. Trust me, if you know me, you can imagine how cluttered and unorganized it appeared. (If you know me, you know that is in part a ruse.... I am organized in a way, but that way is messy. Most of the time I know exactly where that whatchamacallit is located under the pile or other whatchamacallits amid the mess of every day life). Documentation of the mess is not necessary, it was scary messy. Now it's not. End of two-long-days story.

Now for the summer rejuvenation part....
Yesterday I met up with some of the members of my teacher tribe. And yes, I love them. We laugh, we plan, we share what we did that worked, we share heartbreak, we share the professional and the deeply personal. We have declared the meeting of the tribe to be a safe place and what is said there, stays there. Thank goodness because I have shared the deeply personal more than once. And let's face it, for me, the professional is also deeply personal. I love my students and their families and their success is personal to me.

Tribe members. These girls make my heart happy! 

On this journey yesterday I was initiated into the teacher store world. We went to Bizzy Bee in Wichita. My first time to go there. I practiced restraint. I bought myself a new planner. It is not Plum Paper, or Erin Condren, or Bloomz. But I think I am going to love it. It has 8 periods and my planner last year only had 7 so I had to double up in one section. It's not bulky, but it's complete. I am really excited about it.

I have been carving out some time for my daughter, the Punkin, who has magically and mysteriously grown up recently. I look at her and think.... what happened to that little girl? This young woman has curves and moods to match. *sigh* But we are loving our back yard, which is truly ours again thanks for a privacy fence to define our space and give us a sense of security and safety.

This part where the gate is, is temporary. Eventually it will extend past the sidewalk and up to the front corner of the house on the North side

*ah* Beautiful privacy!

A girl and her dog.

She got me to braid her hair during our "watch the game" night at Grandma and Grandpa's

Selfish, self-centered, reading for fun. Don't expect it to make sense....

And reading to better myself. As a person. As a mom. As a teacher. As a lover of children who wants to treat them with respect and teach them to respect others at the same time.

So in the two weeks that I've been without students, I have been lazy, busy, hard-working and in pursuit of fun and fellowship. It has been great. I miss my kiddos. I think about them. I say a prayer for them. I remember their hugs. I look forward to the kids I will meet in Fall.

The Final Five....

This is my final Five for (Friday) of the year. Probably not EVER. But as the 2015-16 year has drawn to a close for my students, it is a officially summer. Ironically enough it is chilly in Kansas and we have not had any 100 degree days yet. I don't think we've even hit the 90's yet. I know I thought it was oppressively hot when it was in the mid-upper 80's last week. But I digress.... once again, I am late to the party and I'm posting on Saturday. But I'm joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for the May 20th Five for Friday linky. This means posting five "random" things from my week or day. So here goes....

1. Last week we learned about Frogs! We read from Tadpole to Frog and then we also read some Froggy books. This made a nice end of year display for my now First Graders!

2. Bubble day! We practiced at home to make sure the bubbles turned out.

Then we tried it out at school. Students got to try out the homemade bubbles, store bought bubbles, and just had a great time together!

Giving everyone a turn to try to make a giant bubble.

One of my students even used their hand to make bubbles!

 I had so much fun working with the students and helping them blow bubbles that I didn't get any pictures of the BIG bubbles!

3. Family fun! I made myself a couple new coasters while teaching my daughter how to put them together.

My Punkin is making coasters for an end of the year gift for her teacher, who loves anchors.  She bought the material with her own money. I love this girl's heart.

4. First grade preview! We buddied up with one of the first grade classes and had a giant morning meeting where we shared how we do morning meeting, then they shared how they do morning meeting! Afterward we paired up (or made a trio in some cases) and toured the first grade class while the first grade buddies explained procedures from first grade to our Kinders!

5. We had a shirt signing party! We had shirts from our trip to the zoo so we put them on and signed each other's shirts to start off our day! This was a really fun way to remember each other!

I hope and wish the best for these kids as they head to first grade. But we have grown quite close this year and I will miss them tremendously. I always look forward to the next year and to meeting my new class, but it is so hard to let these little learners go and grow up! It was an amazing year! 

Five for.... well, I managed to miss Friday again!

Five for Friday on Saturday (again)! But I still wanted to post five things from our week and link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

This week I am posting five random things from my week. I don't always feel like they are all that random and I remember when I took pictures throughout the week with this linky in mind! This week, I have an eclectic mix of home and school.

1. Sight word practice! We've learned our 27 Trick words for Fundations. We added some words we "just needed" to be able to be good readers, we learned our color words and we know number words for numbers 0-10 (and we are familiar with 11-20). We recently added a sight word center for end of day centers that involves turning over a sight word flashcard, saying the word, writing it in shaving cream, erasing it and doing it all over again. This is a crazy-fun center. I have had a lot of fun with it and after I smooth out the shaving cream that has been sprayed on the table, I like to give high 5's. Sometimes shaving cream gets in our hair and, well, everywhere. Maybe this is why we love it. (I even corrupted some of our 5th grade technology helpers one day)!

2.We are learning about Frogs and life cycles! They are working so hard to write a sentence about what they learned about the life cycle of a frog and then add a picture with details and five colors that matches what they wrote. This is a Kindergarten writing standard and they are giving their very best!

3. My fur babies! My youngest put bandannas on the dogs the other night. They are so much a part of our family! The little dachshund is named Hundley and the terrier mix is Alice! We've had Hundley for almost 8 years and Alice for 1 year!

Alice is not good at holding still for photos! 

She is even wiggling in this picture!

4. Mother's day gifts! We gave our mom's an impatiens in a decorated cup and a card that read: Dear (fill in the blank-- one friend filled in Dad's name since Dad is his primary care giver): My love for you grows and grows. Love, (sign your name).

I love these! As a Mom, this would be favorite gift because of the hand print!

5. Well, I don't really have good pictures for this one! I'm just throwing a few personal/family things together as one! Thursday, my youngest had an MRI of her head and had to hold perfectly still in that tube for over 30 minutes! She did an amazing job and we are waiting to hear back from her doctor to see if we can solve the mystery of her frequent headaches. And my 19 year old (almost 20, oh my) is home this week! I didn't snap any great selfies! But we got up early on Friday even though I took a personal day and we got in line for Hurts Donuts! We had to get the maple bacon long johns too!

Someone asked if the maple bacon ones were even good.... they were amazing! I am, however, postponing the blood work I was supposed to get done this week so my arteries have a chance to recover!

In summary, I am blown away by what my Kinders handwriting looked like at the beginning of the year and the difference I see now! I also marvel at the vast diversity in their progress! I love their willingness to work hard and persevere when things get tough! Pencil grip, letter formation, letter spacing.... they are learning so much! And they will be Firsties in a few short days!

May 2016 Currently

It's time to link up with Farley for the May post of Currently. I was saddened to read that this is the last month to join the Currently linky. Read about everyone's day.

I needed a new show. So I just started watching "The Catch" on hulu. So far I like it.

Loving life. My life has been good for awhile, but I finally feel like I'm starting to relax and enjoy the goodness. And there have been so many "little things" cluttering up my mind that I have started to let go of. Ahhhh....

Thinking.... well, I am finally looking forward to summer break (if you want to call it a break, I have so much to accomplish before the next school year). But mostly I think about how much I still want to accomplish with these little guys before they are officially first graders. And sometimes I worry about them over the summer. I have such a hard time letting go. So, it's a miracle that I am finally looking forward to summer and not worrying so much!

Wanting some alternative seating and if it could appear by magic that would be great. Thanks.

Needing a different car. A reliable car. Bummer.

Truth: I have not been enamored with my blog recently. Mostly because it is so easy to just post stuff on the facebook page.