Wisdom for Wednesday-Thank you God

Welcome to:

How true is this?  So easy and quick to thank God.  So I begin to ponder if it is that simple, why have I missed many days to thank him?  There are many things that I am thankful for in my life and I should be thanking him daily for those things that he has provided to me.  I remember someone saying one time:  "If God were to take away everything you didn't thank him for today, what would you have left?"  This made me realize that I had a lot of things to be thankful for and because it is simple and fast, I should make the effort every day to thank him.  

Have a great day!

Making Rain Experiment

My co-teacher and I get our classes together every Friday for about 30 minutes to do a Science experiment or some Social Studies.  Last week, we talked about the water cycle.  Our science experiment was making rain.  We had a cup of water and put shaving cream on top of it (clouds) and then the kids used droppers to drop food coloring (precipitation) onto the shaving cream (clouds).  Once the shaving cream (clouds) couldn't hold the food coloring (precipitation) any more, then it started to come down to the bottom of the cup which looked like rain.  The kids were so excited about it and couldn't believe it when their food coloring started to drip down from the shaving cream.  It's always fun to watch them do science experiments because they are always excited about them!

Have a great day!

Take a Peek into 2nd!

Happy Friday!

I'm joining up with some of my second grade friends to "Take a Peek into 2nd" and hopefully introduce you to a new friendly face. We are planning to do this once a month for the next several months. Hopefully, when we're done you will have found some fantastic new teaching blogs to follow!

Here's a little more information so you can really get to know Jackie:

I have been teaching for over 5 years in Fairfax County, Virginia!  I was born and raised here and attended FCPS schools myself.  Most of my experience is in the primary grades, but I will admit teaching 2nd grade is my favorite!  I love teaching! Creating engaging lessons is my passion.  I believe that learning should be hands-on, meaningful, engaging, and collaborative! We can't learn alone, we learn the most when we work with others! Believe me, my classroom sure isn't the quietest one on the hall because we are constantly up moving, learning and interacting!

Outside of school I am a wife to a wonderful guy and a mom to our new baby girl born in May of 2015! I love working out, spending time outside, and being with my family. 

I got the name for my blog because it is teachers that are neat, sweet and hard to beat! Teachers make this world go round! Teachers are the most caring, creative and kind people I know!

 

I just love how she came up with her blog name! :-)

 

Jackie's passion for cooperative learning is found in the products she carries in her TPT store. Check out this fun little mixer she uses to build classroom community. 

 

 

It doubles as a great tool for persuasive writing. Students choose a card and then write why they would choose "this or that." 

Jackie has put this on sale for the weekend, so you can snag a copy for only $1.60! You can't beat that!

Wisdom for Wednesday - Prayer

Good morning!

I hope you're having a great week! 

My computer problems are partially fixed, so things are going much better than last time I checked in with you.

I have internet again in my classroom! Woohoo!

I can print, open documents online, and even check e-mail. My kids can do MobyMax--which they love. And we're going to start Book Adventure this week. Yippee!

My projector problem is going to be fixed soon. They had to order a part. I teased about having it the next day…but I'm hopeful that I'll be up and going next week. I literally use my projector ALL day so not having it (or it not working reliably) has been tough! How spoiled I am! I can't imagine teaching before all this "nifty" technology. ;-)

Okay, on to the reason you're really here today.

I know I have done many quotes on prayer, but that is because I know it is an area of my life that continuously needs work. Take a look:

I don't want to be a woman of little prayer, but there are days…

I usually start the day with my Bible study and prayer time, but sometimes I don't "take it with me."

I go throughout the day--busy and distracted--with little or no thought of what I studied. I "forget" to talk to God throughout the day. I make my own decisions. I go with the flow. Maybe something frustrates me and I talk to a friend instead of talking to The Friend. 

You get the idea...

At the end of the day, I think back and realize that I hadn't talked to God any during my busy day (and usually it has been an awful day if that is the case--just saying).

Our pastor just finished a series of messages from the book of Ephesians. In the final chapter, we read about the armour of God and the importance of prayer. It truly does "fasten" the armour. We can't fight the battles we face in life without prayer--and not little prayer, but big prayer. 

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Ephesians 6:18

Wishing you a prayer-filled day!

Friday Fun and Today!

I will have to admit that I really like to have structure so I went beyond my comfort zone on Friday.  Here is why:

1.  We had been discussing the constitution all week long and my co-teacher and I decided for fun we would have the kids write with a feather and paint one of our rules.  They had a great time with it!

2.  We have an extra fun thing on Fridays.  The kids that have all of their work done and have had good behavior throughout the week get to participate.  This week we did blow painting.  We used paint mixed with dish soap and water.  I made little blow tools out of pipe cleaners.  The kids blew painted bubbles on to paper and made a painting.  They thought it was really cool.

3.  Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of this one.  To end our day we had what we call Family Groups.  The whole school gets together and each teacher has a student from different classes and we do an activity together.  We made little owls (our school theme) to put on a wreath.

I will have to say that by the end of the day I was exhausted and was ready for a little structure.  

Today, I had a meeting in the morning so I had to have a sub for the first time this year.  I got back right after their lunch time.  I am ready for a normal day with some structure (for me) tomorrow.  Although, tomorrow is our first day of Daily 5!!  :-)  Hope all goes well!

Have a great day!

Five for Friday!

Hey there!

This week felt like a roller coaster ride.

The ups and downs and twists and turns just about did me in!

In fact, if you had heard me yesterday during my too short 20 minute break in the afternoon...I'm pretty sure you would have said something like this:

"Stop whining!"

"Be quiet!"

Or maybe you would have had mercy on me and said:

"You need a nap!"

Ha!

Seriously though.

I was without internet for three days.

In a row.

That makes things difficult when you plan for kids to use internet based programs on the iPads or when most of your files are saved on OneDrive or when you can only connect to a printer at the school via internet...you get the idea.

And then my computer to projector is not working right (this has been since I got a new one on the first day of school--so a month--but it is getting worse now...). 

For Kindergarten science, I had planned to watch a video about science safety. The five minute video must have "shorted out" 8-10 times. It would come right back up, but you know Kinders just can't handle that sort of thing...so when I got to break time I was DONE. :-(

I took my computer to the office--everyone else in the building had internet yesterday, I'm the only one without now--and tried to print some things I needed for next week. The poor secretary had to hear me complain for a good five minutes as I worked. #notproud #beingreal

I really am flexible and can go with the flow...for a couple of days. Third day apparently is all I can take! Guess I need to work on that!

Okay, on to the pictures!

1.

My son has been waiting and hoping to see my Acadia reach 100,000 miles. Ha! He missed it, so I took a picture 3 miles too late. Hubby was driving, don't worry!

2.

We are rocking Daily Five! So excited to get going and see the kids doing so well with it!

3.

Remember...ups and down?

This class keeps me on my toes, but they are so kind hearted!

They have really gotten into filling our classroom bucket!

4.

Friday's recess entertainment. They decided Mom was carrying Baby so we went with that! One of the Kinder boys insisted I take a picture!

5.

Volleyball is keeping me busy! 

In fact, I'm on my way to a tournament as I write this. Last week, we got 2nd at our home tournament. Going for GOLD today! 

Our varsity is 10-2. JV is 4-2.

That's my daughter Harley with the headphones.

That's all I've got! ;-)

Have a great weekend!

Wisdom for Wednesday-Life's Tough Situations

Welcome to:

I think this is some great advice.  There have been times that I have asked, Why Me?  Unfortunately, there are things that just are out of my control and I can't fix myself.  Instead, I should look at it as God has put me in this position and I should be asking him how I can handle it.  With God on my side, I should be proud and brave enough to say in these tough situations:  "Try Me!"  Therefore, instead of asking "Why Me?" in those tough situations, know that God is behind it and he knows what he is doing and why he is doing it.  He has the right plan for your life.  

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Jeremiah 29:11

Have a wonderful day!

Daily 5 Excitement!!!

I have to say that I am getting very anxious.  We are so close to being ready to start our Daily 5 rounds-YAY!  We practiced today doing:

1.  Read to Self-Everyone was reading the whole time!!  :-)

2.  Read to Someone-Great job EEKING!!

3.  Word Work-All of them worked very hard!  We do our spelling, handwriting, and write it build it pages during this time.

We will be doing our Listen to reading during our computer lab time due to a lack of time in our schedule.  Tomorrow we will be practicing all of the above plus work on writing.  I'm hoping our Daily 5 rounds will start soon!

Have a great day!

What's in the Bag?

 Any guesses what all I've brought home today?

I hate bringing work home, but this is the first Saturday that I *won't* be working since school started. I'll be coaching at our first volleyball tournament. So excited!

My homework this weekend...

Book order

Grading handwriting 

Grading placement assessments

New science curriculum

(need to plan for next week)

After last week when I had so many pictures, I couldn't share them all...this is the ONLY picture. :(

Short weeks always seem so much harder to me! 

Here's a quick rundown of our week (without pictures):

We practiced Daily 5 rounds--ready to rock and roll on Monday (I hope)!

We continued our Addition Strategies unit and started on Subtraction Strategies as well.

Speaking of that...kids love the simplest games. Give them two dice (one with larger numbers) and let them roll. They write a subtraction number sentence and solve. Happiness all around. :-)

We learned the "rule of 5" for illustrating. Not sure where I got this, but the kiddos have to make sure their illustrations have 5 details and 5 colors.

We studied The Pledge of Allegiance in K-2 social studies and made these books from Sliding into Second. 

And finally, I was adventurous this year and ordered some stability balls for my class. I only got 5 for now--wanted to try them out. I'm drawing names for now and making observations as to how it helps--or distracts--my kiddos. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of them! I promise I will soon.

Have a great weekend!

Wisdom for Wednesday - Clouds

Hello there!

Happy Wednesday!

This week's quote is kind of a sad reminder for me… Take a look and then I'll explain.

Let me start by saying I love this quote because it reminds me that there is purpose in the "clouds" or trials. The "clouds" increase my faith. They help me to grow spiritually and walk closer to the Lord.

The sad part…

Why do we need the "clouds" to remind us of how much we need God? 

 We are so willing to turn to Him, to seek His face and help when we are in trouble…when things look cloudy.

My goal is to seek Him always--not just when things are looking cloudy. 

What about you?

Word Work

We have started training for the Daily 5 and the kids are loving their choices for practicing their spelling words during the word work time.  I added more choices this year and this is what I have for it:

1. 

I found these colored pencils that write in a combination of colors.  They were at Dollar General for $1.  I don't know what it is about the kids this year, but instead of asking if they can use markers on stuff, they are asking if they can use colored pencils.  They were thrilled when I showed them these because not only are they colored pencils but they have a variety of colors when you write with them.

2.  

Gel Pens-these were at the Dollar Tree (I love the Dollar Tree).  They are like neon colors when they are on paper so the kids thought they were cool.

3.  

This was made by Gracehopper on TPT.  So, I printed it off and put it in a plastic sleeve.  

4.  

This could be one of my most daring ones that I've done this year.....yikes.   I'm pretty controlling and like to play things safe so this was a tough one for me.  It is a zip lock bag with washable paint in it.  It is sealed tight and the kids use their fingers on it to practice their spelling words.  We had a very long discussion about how to care for these and I will say that they have done very well with them.  

5.  

This was another daring one for me, but probably easier for me to do than the paint.  It is just some sand in the pencil box.  The kids love this one as well and no messes so far.....fingers crossed!

6.  

OK, the final and most popular one.  I didn't expect the kids to pick this one as their favorite but this is the one that is done the most.  They take a white crayon and write their word.  They can't see it because it is in white and then they use their marker to color it in and the word magically appears.  When I showed them, they thought it was magical.  Many said that they went home and showed their siblings and parents this trick.  Here is the end result:

I hope you are having a relaxing Labor Day!  Enjoy the rest of your day!