3 men and a little lady!

A Brand New Year

I hope everyone's school year is off to a great start!  Mine has been full of changes and lots of adjustments. I have mainly been doing 3 things:  assessment, paperwork, and reading long manuals about various assessments that I will administer in the future.  I know.  It doesn't sound too fun, but it's definitely necessary.  Along the way, I have also been helping out teachers with a few things here and there, but I have to say as of right now. . .I sure do miss my 22 little firsties!  I know that things will pick up soon, but boy oh boy do I miss the fun and excitement of the classroom.

I am very excited that on Friday I get to teach some classes who are coming to visit me!!!  I'll have a couple of kindergarten classes, 4 first grade classes, and 2 second grade classes.  I have some fun literacy activities planned for them!  I have also been working on a few documents that you might like.  One of them is just for a reading coach or specialist.  The others can be used by anyone who teaches reading.  You can check them out below.  

With my kinder and first grade students I wrote down their goals for them.  They drew the pictures and decorated their pages  My students from the upper grades were able to complete this independently.  I really see the value in finding out as much about the background of students as possible before diving right into reading passages and comprehension strategies.

Reading Survey and Goals K_1 Version

Reading Survey and Goals 2 _4 Version

Reading Specialist Survey

Hello blogland. . .I've missed you so!

The past month and a half has been CRaZy busy!  I wanted to make a quick post to show a few pictures of my classroom and say that I'll be back to regular posting starting in September.  The last time I posted I said I was going back into the classroom as a first grade teacher or a reading specialist.  I'll let you take a look at the pictures to let you see which path I chose. . .

I feel like I haven't shared any pics of these fellas in a long while. . .here they are. . .SO big!

I hope your school year is going great.  As you can see, my room is still a work in progress.  More to come soon!

Exciting News!

I am SO excited to say that I'm going back into the classroom next year!  Christian starts kinder, and I'll either be going back to the same school where I taught before as a first grade teacher or as the reading specialist!  SO EXCITED. . .and sorry for the long lapse in posting.

1, 3, 5. . .

Good morning sweet friends and readers!  We've been up quite a bit over the last few weeks/weekends!  We went to "family night" at the boys' school to watch them perform.  It was adorable!  

Here's Christian doing the zombie walk and the monster twist. . .his class performed a few songs about "monsters."  My favorite song was "God is bigger than the boogie man!"  They also did a fabulous job reciting 2 Timothy 1:7 [For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind].  This little guy can really move his body!  I was so happy that my 84 year old grandmother and my parents were able to see the show too! 

Sol's class performed a song called "He's Still Working on Me!"  Isn't that the truth?  The older I get, the more I realize that God still has so much work to do in me and through me!  I am a complete mess, but because of His grace I have come so far!  Sol pretty much stole the show!  We got so many compliments about his performance.  He's the oldest one in his class this year, and it has really helped him to develop his leadership skills.  So proud!

Sol also turned 3!  We had a "Brown Bear" party at Chick-Fil-A.  It was one of the easiest partiest I've ever hosted!  All I had to do was order the invitations and the cake!  We got kids meals, ice cream, nugget trays, and a fruit tray.  It was easy peasy!

Jaxon had a great time at the party!  He's got 3 teeth now, and one more bursting in [which is driving both of us CRAZY] so he's able to chow down on waffle fries and shredded nuggets. . .yummy!

I love this little tradition that we do every year. . .the birthday donut with candles!  It's pretty exciting for all of us because donuts are a pretty rare treat for us.  The birthday person gets a fancy donuts, and everyone else celebrates with donut holes and pigs in a blanket.

My absolute favorite birthday tradition is the "birthday book."  Every year each of my kids get a "book" for their birthday.  

Right now it matches the "theme" of their party.  Christian had an "ice cream" party for his 5th birthday.  I completely missed out on posting the pictures.  I think it's because February is such a short month with so many wonderful events and holidays crammed into it!  So back to the books. . .all of the guests sign the book, and I take a picture of them to add to the inside cover.  As they grow, they'll build their own library of personalized books.  Of course as they grow, the books will change to be more appropriate for their age.  I started this last year when Christian turned 4.  He has two books so far, and Sol has two books now (actually a puzzle and a book).  Jaxon turns 1 next month so he'll have a complete collection for all of his birthdays.  His party is going to be "Curious Jax" because he reminds me so much of Curious George.  He gets into everything, and he means no harm.  He just wants to explore and learn!  In about a month I will officially have a "1, 3, and 5 year old!"  I hope you're having an amazing week.  My week has been pretty amazing so far.  God continues to knock me off my feet! Every single day!  

Mom Moment {Monday}

I snapped these pics in the backyard this weekend.  I would LOVE to be a photographer in real life, but I have many many many things to learn.  

While I was snapping these pictures I got a little bit sad.  It seems like just as fast as the camera can flash, these boys have grown up. I had a complete "mom" moment. Where in the world does time go?  I'm praying that God will help me to savor each moment, and keep these precious memories tucked away in my heart!  

Right now I'm so torn between staying at home again next year or heading back into the classroom since my big guy will be in kinder. . .praying for wisdom and guidance!  

Rainy Day Inside Learing & Play Ideas

We have been rained out for the past few days, and no outdoor time plus the combination of no recess time at school has helped me to get creative!  It's either get creative or go crazy. . .little boys who don't get to run around and play have to release their energy in some way.  Aside from our "daily dance time" where they can run around, jump, and dance wildly we've been up to some pretty fun stuff!  April is known to be rainy so if you're looking for a few activities, you might like these!

Our rainy day snacks. . .

I read books about rain and rainy days while the boys gobbled these up!

We counted raindrop m&m's. . .

We waddled like ducks and make some cute little ducklings.  The template for this pattern is from Learn Create Love.  It's an amazing site!

We made some letter "u" umbrellas and decorated them with dots.  Of course, Christian had to make a pattern.  Sol's are all over the place!  That just about sums them up!

Here are a few templates and writing pages that you can use!  It's not as rainy today, but it's very chilly and windy.  Looks like I'll have to get creative once more!

The adorable umbrella graphics are from KPM Doodles. . . love her stuff!

Rainy Day Poetry

Umbrella Math

Raindrop Math

Umbrella Math

   

[egg]citing stuff. . .5 great activities with plastic eggs!

1.  Name Hunt
Write one letter of your child's name on each egg. You can fill the inside with a treat of any kind.  After they find all of them, encourage them to spell their name using each of the eggs.  Then they can open up the eggs and enjoy the surprise! This was a great use of our afternoon because the weather was gorgeous, and the boys got to run wild and fancy free in the backyard!

Jax had fun just exploring the texture, rolling them around, sniffing them, and biting them (you have to taste or bite anything and everything between the ages of 3 and 12 months)! 

He can do this independently.  He's so proud!

No big deal for Christian. . .he was done in like 2 seconds (literally).

He LOVES holidays just as much as I do!  I know this is unrelated (well it kind of isn't), but check out this card that he made for me. . .

I love the spelling!  Even though I get a card at least once a week, this is definitely one of my favorites.  He tried to encompass all of his favorite holidays.  

2.  Secret Message
Write out a secret message on small sticky notes or index cards that have been cut apart.  Color coding the message will make it much faster and easier (if you're going to write several different messages).  Just can add a colored dot with a marker on the index cards if  you don't have any colored paper.  After all of the eggs are found, help your child read each of the words and reveal the secret messages!  Once again, another opportunity for little boys to run wild and crazy!  I look forward to trying this out this afternoon. . .another beautiful spring day!

3.  Egg Painting
Get some large aluminum pans from Dollar Tree.  Line the bottom of the pan with construction paper.  Add two or three eggs and a few blobs of paint.  Your child will love shaking the pan around to create a new masterpiece.  This is so easy even an almost 10 month old can do it (with a bit of assistance of course)!  Jax had a great time with this. . .it got a bit messy but that's o.k.  His creation turned out wonderfully.  The noise was fascinating to him, and he just had to touch the paint for himself.  That's egg-actly why we use crayola washable paint!

4.  "Egg"stremely Easy Math {facts}
Write out a few basic math facts with a sharpie on one side of the egg.  Mix up the sums on the other side of the egg.  The eggs can be twisted or turned, or for strengthening fingers (and fine motor skills) your child can practice pulling the egg apart and snapping it back into place.

5.  "Egg"stremely Easy Math {one to one correspondence}
Write a number on the outside of each egg.  Use jelly beans, m&m's, pom poms, or any small object that will fit inside.  Your child can practice counting the objects and placing the correct number of them inside each egg.