Back in the Swing of Things

So, I spent a good part of the day in my room setting up all the furniture. I think I have that part done, at least I thought I did until I started blogging and saw a million wonderful ideas from all the awesome teachers out there. Blogging is soooo addicting! I'm hoping to get back there tomorrow, however, I do have a college bound daughter who needs to get shopping done before next week so that may be how we spend the day.
I'm hoping to get some pics posted of my room real soon, so be sure to check back.

The Heat is on, AGAIN!

OMG! I don't know how we are going to do it. Just these 2 days in our classroom and the temps are in the high 90's . I haven't even looked at the classroom thermometer. I don't want to know. I'm sure in December we'll be begging for heat again. Ahh, lovely Chicago weather!!

Pet Peeves

Alisha over at the Bubbly Blonde is hosting a linky party about our pet peeves of teaching ( why, I can't imagine having any pet peeves with these little darlings!) I have read about some real good ones and most of them fit into my own pet peeve catagory but here are a few more of my own. Enjoy!
1. When I ask a question, their hands go up, I call on someone and then they have to start thinking for the answer and then we are waiting for them to come up with an answer. This drives me crazy. They don't get it that they have to have an answer and then raise their hands.
2. When we take a washroom break together. They want to run down the hall like they can't hold it anymore, insead they immediately line up to come back to the room. They want to be the first one in line to come back. Then  once we are back in the classroom it never fails, within five minutes those are the same kids who need to use the washroom.
3. Slamming the lockers is another pet peeve. When I ask the locker helpers to make sure all the lockers are closed out in the hallway I can hear them slamming each and every one. It drives me nuts!
4. And, among others, pencil sharpening. When I am teaching a lesson to the whole class or reading them a story one of the little darlings decides to get up and sharpen their pencil.

I 'm sure there are  many other pet peeves (like ridiculous announcements over the speaker in the middle of a lesson) just give me a few weeks with the kiddies and I'll remember them. Be sure to hop over to the Bubbly Blondeand check out the other wonderful teachers' pet peeves.

                                   

Colorado Vacation

What a beautiful part of the world. My daughter and I flew out to Denver to spend some time with my sister and we did a lot of sightseeing. This is a picture of the famous Stanley Hotel up in Estes Park, Colorado. If you haven't been there it's a must. This hotel overlooks the Rocky Mountains and is just beautiful! Not to mention HAUNTED! This hotel is the place that Stephen King got his inspiration for the movie The Shining.
It is supposed to be haunted. They even give a "haunted" tour of the hotel, which we had to do. It was awesome and we got a ton of great pics. Anyway, yesterday when we developed the pictures we saw something interesting in the picture of Casey standing in front of the door where Stephen King stayed in and wierd things happened to him in there. It looks like a face on the door. Is this really a ghost or something? I can't explain it and am not too sure if I believe in ghosts but this picture is really creepy. What do you think?
Have you ever been there?  I guess I am trying to believe it's a ghost but I'm just not sure of it.
So, that's what we did last week and now on to more school planning. We start summer school next week for 2 weeks. It's more of a refresher for these kids.  Hope everyone is having a great summer. I've seen a ton of awesome units planned for the new year. Thanks to everyone for sharing them.  Have a great week!

Freebies Galore!

Be sure to check out http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/07/freebie-linky-party.html  for a linky party for a ton of awesome freebies. What teacher doesn't love freebies!!
Have a happy FIREWORKS day!

Happy 4th!!

I hope all you wondeful teachers out in blog world are having a great summer. I feel like mine just started even though we were out of school June 8th. I just finished my grad class for the summer so now summer officially starts for me. However, I have been reading Debbie Dillers books and now will start to create.
Woo Hoo!  Anyway, have a great holiday!

Welcome Summer!

Ok, school has only been out several hours and I am already thinking about next school year. Don't tell my daughter, she will think I am the biggest nerd. I haven't even finished packing up my room yet. The temperature has been in the high 90's and we don't have air conditioning so I had to leave early and hopefully tomorrow will be better. Any way, I hope everyone has a wonderful summer.

First Grade was a Slice!

And I mean it. This was one of the better years I've had. The kids were great. I had a good mix of highs and lows. I truly didn't have tears this year when it came to fighting. They all got along well. And to top it off, I didn't have any problems with parents. That's awesome! I've been teaching for 24 years and have had some interesting classes. This is one of my favorites and hate to see them go (don't get me wrong, I'm ready for summer). So, here is our last bulletin board of the year. I hope your year was just as wonderful as mine.
Now, on to more summer classes. Thanks for stopping by.

Why I Teach First Grade

Okay, here's another reason I teach first grade. The class was lined up to go home today and one of the kiddies said, "Don't for you have to go to school tonight." I said, "Yep, I have just enough time to go home, take a short nap, have a snack and head to class." Well, one of the girls said don't forget to take a shower first and I told her I don't have time before class and why, did I smell stinky? She responded  with, "Well, you never tell us when you take a shower and you're supposed to so you probably haven't had  a shower yet this school year." We all were laughing with that one. Kids say the darndest things!

Out of this World

This project turned out great. We have been doing a unit on the solar system so we painted the earth. First they sponged painted the land and then they sponged the water. After it dried we painted pearlized paint over the whole picture and when it dried the whole picture was covered in glitter to look like the stars. They were so meticulous painting the earth, it was cute. Another easy project to do.

So, I just had to show you this picture. For mother's day my daughter and her friends did a breast cancer walk in Chicago and one of the houses on the route decorated their garage. It was so funny, everyone was
taking pictures. We had a great time, and the weather was perfect.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by.