Photo Dump of Christmas Vacation (so far)

I'm just going to put it out there - you might have seen some of these pictures if you are following me over on Instagram.  It's been a pretty busy couple of days!

So excited - I'm seeing my BFF in just a couple of days.  We are heading to Legoland (we surprised the boys on Christmas morning), and her family is going to meet up with us on New Year's Eve.  We haven't ever really lived near each other - we met back in college - so I'm SO EXCITED to see her!!!  

Yes, I broke the washer.  I know it was me since I'm the one that tried to wash 2 kids' comforters and towels at the same time.  It threw the basket off balance, made a horrible sound, created a burning smell, and completely died.  It was a good washer - lasted 10 1/2 years with our family of 5.  So last night we had to take the boys and go washer shopping.  Found a great deal on a top ranked model that fit our price range.  It'll be delivered next week… so today I'll be hauling our laundry to my parents (just like I used to do back in college - but x5).

This is my word wall in my kitchen.  A couple of new things were just added - that "Do Small Things with Great Love" was a gift from a student.  Hubby also added a hook to hold up the aprons - yes, plural.  The boys have camouflage ones for those messy spaghetti dinners and when they help me cook,  and then I have my apple and sunflower ones.  The aprons have just been hung on a pushpin before now - I love how it took me 10 years to think of something so simple.

All 3 boys had their first official brother sleepover last night.  My youngest was so excited that he was finally big enough to join them.  I didn't wake them up when I took the picture.  :)  These past days have been so busy keeping them occupied and trying to clean.

This was us on Christmas morning.  The kids rushed downstairs (after I made them wait until 7… 5:15 was just too early!)

For Christmas I was blessed with a lot of Massage Envy gift cards.  It was the only thing that I really had on my wish list (if you don't count a flat iron).  A while back they were having a special - buy 2 gift cards get a free one, and my dear husband and parents picked up the deal.  So I had a "free" one yesterday, and will have another "free" one in January - (the free ones expire in January).

The days have been filled with Legos…

Here's our official Christmas picture.  Little bits did NOT want to get in the picture.

We also had fun painting the extra glass ornaments.

… and my oldest has been cooking us dinner.  

I'm loving this family time!  Hope you have a great day!  

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Can You Help My Class?

I uploaded a couple projects to Donor's Choose the other night and I would love your help to fund them.  Both of these projects can have donations matched through December 29th.  Please make sure to use the code, "DISNEY" to double your donation.  Please help!     

Project #1 

Non Fiction Books Needed

I have a lot of fiction books in my classroom, but not that many nonfiction.  I would love to get a bunch of these Who Was series books for students to learn and research with.  I just need some help though!

   

Project #2

Technology Needed - An iPad Please!

My students have been blessed with one iPad through Donor's Choose - the issue is that it takes a LONG time to make it through a student rotation.  I've seen how great it works, how much it helps students, how motivated they are to work at their own pace.  I just would like another one to help the rotation go faster.  

If you are able to help out, please click the links above.  Remember the matching code will work until December 29th.  I would love to send you a thank you gift for donations over $5.  Just email me afterward and let me know which one of my new products you would like me to email you.  

When I Grow Up 

or What a Small World.  

Thanks so much for your support!  Have a great Christmas!  

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When I Grow Up! {Giveaway}

When I was little the only thing I ever wanted to be was a teacher.  I'm sure many of you can relate.  You might have "taught" your dolls and stuffed animals… perhaps your younger siblings too.  I'm know my sister appreciated it (I'm being totally sarcastic). 

I knew about the teaching profession because my mom was a teacher… and my aunt… and my uncle… I understood what it would take to become a teacher, and the hard work involved after I got my first job.  Was I prepared?  To a certain extent, Yes!  Was it still a challenge, especially that first year?  Of course!  

This year my school implemented College Mondays.  Every Monday we wear our college spirit shirts - allowing students the opportunity to see all the different schools that are out there.  The point is for the kids to see different options, and to let them dream about their futures.  I wanted to take that idea and go further with my students.  I wanted to give them opportunities to dream about their future professions, but give them a realistic view of how it takes hard work to reach those professions.  

I have asked my different student parents to come in and talk about their jobs.  Over the years the students have learned about what it takes to be a fireman, work in an office setting, work at NASA, be a nurse, an EMT, a lab tech, etc.  I always ask the same questions to the parents - What do you do everyday?  How long did your training take?  What skills did you need to have?  Where did you go to school to learn your career? Why do you think this is a good career?  The kids get a good grasp of the hard work, but also why it's a fulfilling profession.  

So I upgraded the binder paper my students usually use and created this journal for students to fill in as they learn about different careers.  

 This journal contains 11 different careers.

 It also contains a student cover.

 Students will research the information (I do it together in class), and record their information into the journal.  A blank journal sheet is included for additional careers.  

I want kids to dream about their futures - just like we did.  I hope this Student Created Career Journal helps you in your classroom too!

Want to win it?  Just leave a comment below with your email address and I will send it to a lucky winner on December 26th.

Have a great day!     

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My Store is on SALE!

Good morning everyone!  Just a FYI to let you know that I put my TPT store on sale for today and tomorrow, just in case you are planning for the future and need to pick something up.  :)

Hope it helps someone!  

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Yesterday was a Busy Day!

Oh, what a lovely Saturday morning.  As many of you, I am now on Christmas vacation.  Here are some moments of a fun filled yesterday.  Linking up with Doodlebugs to share my 5 for Friday/Saturday.   

I had joked with the kids about needing staples, and I actually did get them.  I actually did a happy dance after I opened it up.  The kids still thought I was crazy.  

I loved this gift sign.  I'm going to leave it up all winter long…  I don't live where it snows though, so it's all just wishful thinking.  

Yesterday the kids created their Sugar Cube Missions.  I think I've done this now for 5 years… and every year I tweak it a little to make it a better experience.  This year I had the kids sit on the ground on a huge roll of butcher paper.  Boys were on one side of the classroom, girls were on the other.  Each group had the same amount of supplies and I limited their time to 30 minutes.  I also only supplied the spice drops (bells), licorice (adobe roofs), and candy canes.  Less mess, no headaches.  It was a competition - anyone that could lift and carry their mission won.  

I popped 10 bags of popcorn for our Polar Express movie then carried it all to school in a big trash bag. While watching the movie the kids compared the book to the movie using 3 train cars.  I made this up at the last moment, so I'm sorry it won't really help much for this year.  It's over on Google Docs.  During the movie, every half hour or so, we had an "intermission" and they wrote down some notes on their papers.  

This week we also tackled finding the prime factors of numbers.  I love doing this right before Christmas so we can make Christmas trees.  We covered a piece of paper front and back with examples… the kids enjoyed making their own Prime Factor Christmas Tree Farms.  

Words can not express how I loved having a PJ day yesterday.  This was the first year that I had one as part of my party.  I'm so glad I did.  I might have another one today too!  I was so exhausted last night and my almost 4 year old kept waking up - his tummy wasn't happy.  

Hope you have a wonderful day!  All the gift are now wrapped… maybe I might do some baking, I might watch a Christmas ABC Family movie, I might just blog hop for a while.  :)  Love the feeling of vacation!  

 

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A Bunch of Kindness (RACKs)

My class completed a bunch of RACKS this week. We couldn't help ourselves, it was addicting.  We used this free pack of notes by Diamond Mom - mainly since there were 9 per page (and I wanted to save on copies).  We took a bunch of new books, wrapped them up, and delivered them to different grade levels with a RACK note.  

Then we took more RACK notes and taped them to a bunch of pencils to deliver to the primary students.  Other students were writing notes to our school parent helpers to put in a basket in the office.  Then we took time as a class to make cards for our Reading Buddies (added a little candy cane to them), and wrote thank you notes for the office.  It was a little bit of chaos, with a huge helping of fun.

Today we made posters for the middle school teachers with the saying, "We can't wait to be in your class when we grow up." The kids signed and delivered them too. They also signed cards for their PE teachers and gave a candy bar. 

The fun part was seeing the smiles and random thank you emails of staff that had been RACKed, and they didn't know who was behind it. The kids were tickled hearing the emails. :) So glad that we were able to do something to reach all 9 grade levels. 

After all of that, we did a little RACK for each other.  I had a bunch of these gingerbread men that I've held onto for the past 5 years… since I used to do the Me Doll project back in 2nd grade…  anyhow, the kids chose a person and wrote their name on the person's belly.  Then the kids flipped them over so the backs were showing on their desks.  I gave them 15 minutes and they walked around with their pens, writing compliments or adjectives to describe their classmates.    

I collected them, hole punched, and tied some yarn to the top.  These are now high above our carpet area as a reminder of all the kindness in our classroom.  

I hope this helps you in some way!  Have a great day!  

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Cute Art Projects

Proud mommy moment. I love preschool art projects. I also love how they give me ideas of things that my own students could tackle without as much hands on help. 

My youngest brought home a large paper grocery bag filled with all these art projects. Automatically I went aww... and then started thinking of what I could move around in my schedule tomorrow to create something else in class. 

I keep saying I'm done with art projects - I'm up to my neck in construction paper, scissors, glue, and paint... But I love this time of year. Maybe there will be time to add another project to the schedule. 

Have a great night! 

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