A Comical Review of Last Week

Waking up at 7:30...

 

Sitting down to enjoy a cup of coffee and homemade cinnamon roll...

 

Working out at 9:00 instead of 5:00 (and yes, I realize if I'd skipped that cinnamon roll, the workout wouldn't have been as necessary - HA!)...

 

Plans to go absolutely NOWHERE in our icy/snowy weather...

 

Those are the small things I enjoy about Christmas break! And, boy, did I need it after last week!

 

We started the craziness on Monday afternoon with a movie reward for all the hard work the kids did on the Christmas program. Each teacher brought a different movie and the kids would get to choose which movie to go to...after some debate, I chose to offer Snow Buddies. I truly thought this would not get a big response (my other choice was Lion King) and was really hoping the Kindergartners would choose Toy Story (the K teacher) or the other Christmas movie (the 1st grade teacher - can't remember the name of the movie). No offense K teachers, but they still exhaust me even after teaching them in music for one semester.

 

We gathered in the gym...all 62 kids. Yes, that is our whole school K-2. Isn't it awesome? Then we announced the movie choices. I knew I was in trouble when there were many "oohs" and "aahs" over Snow Buddies. Finally, we told the kids to line up behind the teacher with the movie they wished to see.

 

That's when it happened...a stampede led by all those Kindergartners I had hoped to avoid. I shook my head and smiled, but I will admit I felt a small amount of envy as I watched at the other two teachers with maybe 6-8 kids each heading off to their movie. Then I herded my group of 40ish kids to my room and quickly started the movie.

 

I stopped the movie twice in the first half-hour to tell the Kindergartners that they had to be quiet in a theater so others could hear the movie. Oh, and people can get kicked out of the theater, you know?

 

Thank goodness for coaching basketball though. I got to make my escape before restroom and popcorn break!

 

On Tuesday, I started on parent gifts. It went so well, my friend/para posted this on Facebook that night:

 

 

This is what started it all: 

 

Isn't it cute? And it looks so easy! It even says easy in the description. See for yourself here.

 

Easy? No...not if the marshmallows won't fit. We tried rolling the marshmallows on desks to make them skinnier (with some success).We tried pushing them through with a pencil, which created an ooey gooey mess and then NO marshmallows would go through the hole. Then one little kiddo poked the pencil clear through the ornament. Okay, bad idea with the pencils... Next?

 

This pic shows the mutilated marshmallows.

We ended up with two broken bulbs and one that I just threw away because we couldn't get any marshmallows in it, so I had to buy another pack of twelve bulbs. Fortunately, this pack had large openings and the kids were able to stuff with no problems. See below:

 

No mutilated marshmallows.

I felt so bad about how some of the snowman turned out, we made another ornament the next day. Kristi and I made this one last year so I knew it would be cute...and EASY (truth - not like the easy of the marshmallow bulbs)! Foam snowflakes, sticky pictures of the kids, glue and glitter. Perfect!

 

Hey, check out that table above the snowflake. It is the kiddo's schedule during Daily 5. I know, I know...I'm supposed to let them choose, but this is what works for me. I made a PowerPoint and click through the rounds each day to tell kids where to go. I found that there were days the projector wouldn't work or when I had a sub, it was just easier for them to have a copy on their desks (laminated and attached w/ a velcro dot). Worked pretty well when I was gone recently. :-)

 

 

 After the excitement of the ornament making on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday was Polar Express Day. We read the story, rode the "train" to the North Pole (set up on our stage by the 1st grade teacher - very cool), had hot chocolate and watched the movie. Best part was wearing my PJs to school! :-)

 

Finally it was Friday...we went caroling at the local gas station in the morning. I was a little nervous about this since I was responsible for having the kids ready to sing. They did great...it was over way too fast...literally. Came back to the school and "winged" it until our early lunch. The same gas station provided pizza for the kids, followed by our Christmas parties, and loading the bus by 12:30. I was completely exhausted!!!

 

I hope you are enjoying your break! Merry Christmas!!!