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.

Currently..... April 2016

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'....

It is already the 3rd and I am just now getting to my "Currently" post. Currently is a link-up hosted by the fabulous Farley and it takes us out of the classroom for a minute to ponder whatever is going on in our lives currently.

I guess it's not really silence then. But I am thinking about the splendor of no tv or music. Just house sounds. And the song "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel is going through my head.

Loving.... that when I focus on the the good, the good increases. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Thinking about grad school. I was just accepted into grad school. I am excited beyond imagination. But I am still direction-less. I don't know what the next enrollment step is or how to get ready for the upcoming year. I love school. It keeps me busier than I-don't-know-what, but I like it.

Wanting.... I am considering moving away from a home I love. I want to live where I work. My desire is to work in this district for a very long time.

Needing... a car. There are more things wrong with my little clunker than I can afford to fix. I need another clunker.

This morning I am thinking about my own life as an at-risk kid. And how I was pushed over the edge by the very people who wanted to keep me close to them and prevent my tragic demise into a world of less-than, and no good. What a long journey to claw out of that. And thank God for all the good people along the way who repeatedly saw the good in me.

A recap of our week....

This week we celebrated LOVE!!!

Students brought boxes or bags from home to receive Valentines from their friends! I forgot to take a picture of all their hard work! Yikes! We talked about the love of friends and the kind of love we have for our class family. We don't have a "smoochy" kind of love at school. (Then we all pucker up and make smoochy kiss sound.... lots of fun).

Writing! I loved, loved, loved this little writing activity! We cut out our hearts, tore up pieces of paper, and wrote about who we love to pieces and why. A couple of my faves were students who love their step-dads.

I love my Jake to pieces because he tucks me in.

I love my Mom to pieces because I can lay with her.

"I love Dad to pieces because he protects the world."

Another one read: "I love Ethan (stepdad) because he makes me laugh." The little one on the bottom, he didn't get his heart finished yet but his dad is in the army and lives in another state.

Phonics! We started out tapping out some words, which evolved into talking about word families. Then students gave me a thumbs up if they knew it was a real word, they put thumbs down if they knew it was a nonsense word, and half-way if they were not sure.

 

We went through and circled the real words and X'd out the nonsense words. We had a conversation about how quat sounded like quack! That is why you see the word quack up there! These kids are great learners and hard workers!

 We earned a Cool Beans reward again! WE just celebrated last week Friday! This week we ate lunch in the classroom on Friday to celebrate again. One way that we are working on learning about tally marks is setting a goal each day of earning beans in our cool beans can. Every time we earn a bean, we get a tally mark. If we meet our goal, we also get a big bean on the board.


Special gifts! My little valentines gave me special gifts and so in this digital age, we took selfies together! :)

I wanted a picture of a cookie that I got from our district (thanks for the cookies, they were amazing), but I had a room full of photo bombers!

So.... this happened! I was "Super Hero of the week!" I have until Wednesday to name a new hero. I am supposed to choose classified staff, and classified staff chooses certified staff.... 

The neon sharpies are so much fun!!

Splurge? Necessity?  I injured my shoulder because my bag is too heavy and too full every day! So I sprang for a rolling back pack! Whoot! So far I love it.

 This was a very rewarding teaching week for me and some things I will "announce" later. I feel confident that my kiddos will continue to excel, grow and learn! I love teaching and feel proud to be part of my district. I blessed to work under a principal who wants the best for kids and understands that poverty isn't just about the money. He also understands that judgment never invites positive change and growth. I am where I belong.

Five for Friday (on Friday!)

This week on Friday I am posting my five random things! I love linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching and then reading about everyone else's week!

 

1. This week we learned about graphing in math and also about comparing numbers. One day each table had a different number of unifix cubes to graph. Then we compared results and learned about greater than, less than, and equal. We also learned an action and used our alligator voice to say this phrase, "The alligator always eats the bigger number." Then we compared numbers! 

2. We learned about groundhogs on Tuesday and had a groundhog snack and made Groundhog hats. I forgot to take a group picture with all of our hats on.

Pudding with crushed oreos and a teddy graham to represent the groundhog.

I almost forgot to take any pictures! But one little learner forgot his hat and I snapped a photo after school! 

3. We did a groundhog roll and cover game! Students have to roll two dice and add the numbers together. If they get the same sum as their partner, they can "bump" their partner off and cover the number with their own color. When the board is covered the person who has the most of their color wins. As always, we work on social graces during math game time and the loser Congratulates the winner and the winner encourages the loser. They are such a caring class!

I am appalled when I see this photo! I try to encourage students NOT to "W" sit.

One student didn't have a partner so she played the game "Put the kids in order."

4. Today we celebrated our 100th day of school! We talked about how 10 groups of 10 is 100 and when you group numbers like this it is called multiplication.

 I can't believe my horrible grammar, BUT.... I MEANT "Things I want 100 of" and "Things I do not want 100 of." My students understood! :) One student told their carpet partner that they want 100 dogs while another told their carpet partner they did NOT want 100 dogs!

Making 100th day hats is messy business! Ack!

 100th day snack! Students put 10 pieces of 10 different snack foods in a bag and had a 100 snack!

A snack made up of 100 pieces of snack food

 

Making the hats was messy (and boy do I have some better ideas for next year), but they sure turned out great!

5. My non-school random thing.... last week my sister and I had a sister day! She has young children, so this was a rare moment! We had a lot of fun! We went to Lindsborg and ate mexican food and then walked around Main street. Then we drove back. We laughed and talked and had a good day as sisters.