Happy 4th of July!!

 

Just like many of you wonderful teachers out there, I am a huge scrapbooker. I have a wonderful group of friends who do our darndest to scrap once a month together. We even have been known to go away for long weekends scrapbooking. My sides always hurt from laughing when the weekend is over. Anyway, have you ever heard the saying, "If it's not in the books it didn't happen"?  That is so true for us. This top picture was taken because we found the funniest Red Solo Cup scrapbook paper and we had to have it. For that reason we just had to take the picture. You scrappers out there know what I'm talking about.

 

Here are some of my favorite Americans. My son is the one on crutches (torn ACL). The other guys in the picture are all my nephews (a good lookin' bunch, huh) and my neice in law ( if that's how you say it).



 

Another neice and cutie!!

 

More neices enjoying the parade!

 

My daughter (the hippie) and her girlfriend (the flapper).

 

Waiting for the firework show to begin. We are extremely lucky because our town does their firework show directly across the street from our house. Therefore, we have a huge crowd of friends and family who come every year for some great eats and treats and a great firework show.

 

Sorry I don't have any school related stuff to post. However, I have been making tons of new center games, decorations, and what not from teacher blogs or TPT since getting out of school. A teacher's job is never done!!

 

Enjoy the 4th!!



Book Signing!!

 
So, do you recognize him? I was at a book store and "Weird Al" was there signing his newest childrens book. Of course I had to buy the book, get in line and have him sign it. It really is a cute story and I will most likely read this one on the first day of school (along with a bunch of other great first day books). 

 

Well, I have done nothing but blog hop looking for some awesome first week activities and behavior management ideas. I have a real rambunctious group coming in to me in August and I need to have a new plan in place. So far I've seen most teachers using the clip chart where the kids can move up and down throughout the day. The management system I currently use and have used for the last 14 years is very much like it. However, the kids could only move from a Happy, Not so happy or Sad face. At the end of the day I gave them a Happy Gram, Not so happy gram or a sad gram depending where their clip was at the end of the day. There was no moving their clips back up once they were moved. This has always worked well for me but I really think I need more for the next bunch of kiddies coming in. As of now I am going to try the clip chart everyone else is using. I really like the idea of rewarding the kiddies who are do exactly what they are supposed to be doing. And, letting them bling out their clip every time they reach the top is a great incentive. Anyone have any other suggestions please let me know. I'm always in for more ideas.

 

Bulletin Board Overload

We have such cute bulletin boards outside the primary grades that I wanted to share them with you. This first one is outside my own classroom (I ran out of black border).

 This cute one is outside a second grade class (sorry about the yellow tint of the pic).

This one is also outside of another second grade class. The kids wrote some things they learned in second grade on the numbers.

This one is outside the kindergarten classroom. My firsties got a kick out of it.

This one is in the main hall. We were looking for a summer board that is going to stay until we return in August. I saw several versions of it on Pinterest.

This one is outside another first grade class. This is the hardest board to decorate because of the fire alarms. This teacher cut out the cutest bees from our Cricut machine and added them to the boards. It's really much cuter in person.

Trying to fill every minute of the day at this point in the year can be challenging. I came across this cute writing activity and had to do it. The firsties wrote about what they are planning on doing over the summer. Some of their answers are a riot. They have some pretty big ideas, if only their parents had the same plans.

Now tomorrow is our field day. The kids are so excited. This is the day (I'm sure you can relate) they live for all school year. We've had some pretty wild weather this week so we are praying for no rain. These activities just aren't the same indoors. 
By the way, I have to mention how bizarre yesterday was at school. As we arrived in the morning the principal just received notice from the village hall that there was a watermain break and they were turning off our water. So instead of cancelling school a porta-potty was brought in and the kids stayed. We couldn't believe it. So my kids managed to hold it until 2:00 when the water was turned back on. There was no way I was walking my class over to a porta-potty and they didn't want to use it either. Strangest day in my 25 years of teaching and I pray it will never happen again. (I'm sure you are wondering why school wasn't cancelled, so am I.)  Seven days left, but who's counting!

When Life Gives You Lemons....

Now, I know I haven't been around for a loooong time and It kills me not to be blogging, but I have several good reasons. First of all it's prom season. Here's a great pic of my son and his girlfriend and some of their other friends. They all looked amazing. I can say that I didn't see one inappropriate dress this year. They were each more beautiful than the next one. You can't tell but it was in the low 50's and quite cold for these girls. Their school runs a well oiled machine when it comes to the prom. Each student who goes must get on the bus after the prom and go downtown Chicago to Navy Pier for an after party on one of the yachts. They are then brought back to the high school and must be picked up at 3:30 a.m by an adult. The kids had no time or means to get into any trouble. All of us parents are very greatful for all this planning. The kids had awesome time and loved the boat ride. We are very lucky to have Navy Pier close to us. So now we are on to graduation.

    Now among all the prom and graduation celebrations we had to throw in a heart attack and a blown out knee. The Saturday after Easter my husband had a heart attack and had three stents put in. He is doing much better and is going to cardia rehab. Then last Tuesday my son, (yes, the one in the prom pics) blew out his knee during a baseball game and will now have surgery on June 5th to rebuild the knee. Then on to rehab. This will make for a long summer vacation (for me).  I think by the time all their rehab is over I will be desperately  in need of therapy, on a beach with drinks in hand and with my very own cabana boy (of course).



I have managed to go to school and teach a lesson or two.  This is a homophone activity we did. I found these on Pinterest and mixed up a few ideas I found and this is what we came up with. The kids loved doing homophones. It's amazing how big of a list they came up with without my help. I have more pics of our summer bulletin boards and will be posting them soon. Thanks for stopping by and sharing all your wonderful blogs and freebies. 

We've been busy in First Grade

Here are a few projects we've done in our class. You may recognize them from other blogs and I am so thankful for all the sharing they do. My class has a blast doing all these projects. I do have a few more projects to post but they have the kids pictures on them and I'm not sure how to blurr out their pictures. If anyone knows of a website that blurrs out pics (since picnik is gone) please let me know so I can post more projects. 

How many of you have a birthday week and not just a birthday day? Well, my daughter turned 21 this week and the celebrating hasn't ended. Thank God she goes back to school tomorrow so I can get some rest. We did have a great time celebrating but enough is enough (for this old lady) She came in to my class on her birthday and the kids even sang to her. It was a hoot!

Now, on a sad note. It has been an unbelievable sad and difficult week at school this past week. Our dear Pastor of our parish suddenly passed away. He was only 61. School was canceled yesterday because the wake was right in our church which is attached to our school and right outside our classroom. I have never gone to a wake or funeral for a priest until now. It was amazing. The line just to get in the church to pay respects was throughout the church, out the door and down the block. Unbelievable. During the mass there were 45 priests in attendance including 2 bishops. It was truly a beautiful mass and a beautiful farewell. Fr. Pat was a well loved and respected man and will be dearly missed.

Working in a private school may not make me rich by any means but it sure does have other advantages. When this happened everyone went into action and really pitched in. It was amazing how the students were reverent throughout the week. The parents were incredible with all the help they offered (pitching in to help clean the building, set up a room for the family to take a break during the wake, and hosting a reception for anyone after the funeral mass.)  Fr. Pat would be proud to see his church and school come together so quickly and effortlessly. We have a week and a half  before springbreak and it will be well deserving and needed. Like I said, I won't become rich working in a private school but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Happy February!

Here are some pics of the some of the projects we did so far this month. I'm sure you recognize many of them from pinterest or other blogs. The flower vases of hearts is one of my favorites. I have been making this project for years (many) since they turn out really cute and it really is easy for the kiddies to make. The Clifford bags are another one of my favorites. We made the weaved hearts for the first time today. Half my class caught on with the weaving while the other half (and my aide) had a hard time. All in all, they also turned out great . I don't know about you but this week was a crazy week and today you would have thought it was the day before Halloween. They were wound up. Maybe it was the beautiful weather we had and they were able to go out for recess. Whatever it was, I am glad it's over and ready for another day. Have a Happy Valentine's Day with your kiddies!

Happy Birthday!

So, today is my son's 18th birthday. I told my kids yesterday his birthday was going to be today. Later in the day I was asking them the "question" of the day ( they earn a sticker every tiime they get the question of the day correct). The question was, Whose birthday was today? Every child in the room said it was Dan's birthday except one. That child said Abe Lincoln. I couldn't argue there, he earned his sticker. Happy Birthday, Danny and Abe!!

100 Year Old Portraits

I just had to post this picture. These are the portraits my kiddies did of themselves when they are 100 years old. You have to take a close look. They really look like old people. Nevermind all the stuff around them. We did several other projects but they have already been sent home to make room for Valentines Day and President's Day.  It's a short post but thanks for stopping by. 

Picture Overload

This is Catholic Schools Week so we started the week off with open house. I thought I would share pics of our room and some of the great projects we have been working on. I'm sure many of you will recognize these projects. I like to say my room is blogified. Thanks to all the talented teachers out there who are willing to share their creations. I realllllly do appreciate it.  Enjoy!

An Awesome "Must" Read

Last week I attended a workshop on the top 100 children's books. Well, this was the number 1 book the presenter said is a must read. The story is about a little boy who was born with facial deformaties. He has been homeschooled until 5th grade. Many of the children are not very nice to him except for a few kids. Anyway, when it was time for the principal to hand out awards at the end of the school year, this boy and his friends receive special awards for choosing to be kind. It's an unbelievable story about bullies and kindness. I read it in two nights and now our 6th grade teacher is reading it to her class. If you go to the author's website you will find alot of great info on the story. Your class can also sign a pledge on line to Choose Kind and receive certificates with it. If I taught the middle to upper grades this is the book I would be reading to them. Check it out if you have a chance. 

Now on to Catholic Schools Week. Tomorrow is the beginning of Catholic Schools Week. We have a ton of fun activities planned for the kiddies. They are so excited. We start off with open house tomorrow, so I'm going in early to take pics of all the wonderful projects the kiddies have been working on. Pics will be posted soon.  

We also have a huge celebration coming up this Friday. It's the 100th day of school. Our kiddies will be coming to school dressed like they are 100 years old. It's a riot. Our class and kindergarten will parade around the school so everyone gets to see the old people who are in school. The older grades love to see the kids. As soon as we celebrate and take pics I will post those too.

Now, on to blogging and pinterest. Thanks for stopping by!