Wisdom for Wednesday - Trust

Hi there!

I hope you're having a great week. I'm struggling a bit to get back in the swing of things…and so are my kiddos! WOW! So talkative and getting some of them back into routines...

WOW!

That's all I can say.

Well, that, and I'm a little worried about what my first week back after Christmas break will be like! Ha!

On to the reason you are here on a Wednesday...

Check out this quote from Oswald Chambers about Peter's walk on water:

Isn't that true? 

It is so easy for us to trust God in some areas of our lives, but "…then self-consideration enters in and down we go." 

Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, June 18) writes about how if we are recognizing God for who He is, we can't help but trust Him. It is only when we focus on the circumstances around us that we become overwhelmed. 

And why should we? 

God doesn't panic! And neither should we!

We can trust Him with every aspect of our lives, not just some of them. Not just the easy things.

I love the way Chambers says it… "Let actual circumstances be what they may, keep recognizing Jesus, maintain complete reliance on Him."

I know, I know. Easier said than done. Why do you think I have to keep reminding myself? ;-)

Thanksgiving and TPT Cyber Sale

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving.  I actually cooked a turkey meal this year at my house and I didn't burn it....YAY!! 

I did eat way too much of course and you know after eating how you get tired and need a nap.  Well, after dinner, I was looking for my dog and found her taking a nap.  LOL!  I guess our pets feel the same way!

I was really excited to see that TPT is having their yearly cyber sale starting today (Monday-Tuesday).  I'm ready for it and am excited to get some good deals.  Don't forget to check it out!

Have a great day and happy shopping!

Five for Friday - Precipitation, New Student, and Daily 5!

Hi there! 

It's been awhile since you heard from me. 

Mostly because when it was my turn to blog, I was having computer/internet problems. I think I've got that all sorted out now. 

And more recently I've been a little consumed with getting my online presence started for my book. Things are really falling into place fast now! Eeek!

Linking up with Kacey at Doodlebugs!

Now for a random peek into the last couple of weeks:

1

We've been learning about the water cycle in science, so I was looking for some quick and easy experiments we could do. I even took some pictures, but when I went to put them in here... I must have deleted off my phone. :-(

Anyway, here's the pin (and pic) that inspired our experiment and the kids thought it was pretty cool. I loved how many times I heard the word 'precipitation.' Ha!

2

If you do not have new student bags, you need them. I found out late last Friday that I would have a new student on Monday (odd for a new student to start on a two-day week, but hey...). My new student bag was a LIFESAVER (old pic). 

3

Since we only had two days this week AND a new student, we spent some time reviewing and practicing our Daily 5 procedures. I miss using my PowerPoint (I don't give "choice" until 2nd semester).

My technology problems have not just been at home, but also at school. We have had internet problems--still can't connect our iPads. :-(  

I've also been without my projector for about a month. I realize I am SUPER spoiled, but I miss it. A LOT. We are "this close" to me having a working projector again. Cross your fingers? Say a prayer for me? ;-)

4

My son (17 years old) first started asking to take piano lessons when he was 4 years old. I put him off for three years because I did not want to have to make him practice. He has played the piano for ten years now and I have never had to make him practice!

In fact, his desire to practice far exceeds my desire to listen! Please understand, I love to hear him play, but the piano is in the living room. We have only one television in the house, so we are constantly running him off the piano when we are ready to relax. In fairness to him, I know he plays the piano TO relax so I had a crazy idea...buy him a keyboard to have upstairs in his room.

It took some trial and error, but we found one he likes at an affordable price. 

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to him! 

He is thrilled. 

We are thrilled. 

Everyone is thrilled. :-)

5

Last, but certainly not least.

Here's where you can follow along with me and my writing (hoping there will be more than one book someday):

Twitter

Facebook

Website/blog (not active yet, but getting there)

I attempted to use WordPress instead of Blogger based on several recommendations for authors. It has been a learning process! I think I'm almost there, but still a few tweaks to make. 

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the extended break! 

Wisdom for Wednesday-Thankful

Welcome to this week's:

This is a quote that I need to remember daily not just during the holiday seasons.  I personally can focus on things that I feel like I don't have and want when in reality, I have a lot and sometimes forget to be grateful for what I do have.  I need to remember to be grateful daily and what I have will be enough.  

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Monday Madness!

Happy Monday!  I had to title this one Monday Madness because I have random things that I am posting about so hang on for this madness.  :-)

1.  Connect Four Game-my kids love playing connect four games.  Here they are practicing their sight words with the connect four game.

2.  Dice solution!  I'm not sure why it took me so long to figure this one out.....but it did.  I personally have a hard time listening to dice rolling around in the room on the floor or tables.  I finally realized that if the kids had a folder to roll it on, it would be a lot less noise.  I also told them that if their dice goes off the folder then they lose a turn.  Boy are they really careful when they roll their dice now.

3.  Sight Word Prize-In one of my earlier posts, I told you how my co-teacher and I had given a pinwheel to the students that practiced and learned their 1st nine weeks sight words.  I'm excited to say that this second nine weeks they are trying to earn these pencils.  I love how first graders think things are the best.  When I showed them the pencil that they could earn if they practiced and learned their second nine weeks sight words, they were so excited.  

4.  Finally, I had a student come in to the classroom in the morning and hand me this note.  He told me that he had written the note to me the night before because he knew he had to leave for an appointment early and that I was going to miss him.  He said that he hoped the note would make me feel better since he had to leave early.  I love these notes!

Have a great day!

Writing Frames

I have to admit that I am not the best writer and I have a hard time teaching writing.  I'm always looking for ideas.  We have learned a little bit about Anita Archer.  She does a lot of explicit instruction teaching and has talked a lot about writing frames.  If you haven't watched her, you should check her out.  

She talked some about writing frames and how they are good to use still with kids. Using writing frames with kids seems to actually improve their writing according to what she has researched.  I was excited when I learned about it.  Therefore, I have started using writing frames once a week.  We do the Daily 5, so for most days the kids get to do free writing but one day they do a writing frame.  The writing frame gives them parts of the sentences to write and they complete several of the sentences with their own thoughts.  The kids love doing them and my one kids that have a harder time with writing get so excited to show me what they wrote.  I love using them.  

In reading, we had a story called On My Way to School.  In the story, a boy is late to school because he keeps running into different silly animals.  Our writing frame this week was about our story.  The kids had to come up with their own silly animals.  They did a good job on it.  Here they are:

This one got cut off and says, I see a red crab.

Have a great day!

Five for Today! ;-)

Happy weekend!

I CANNOT believe how fast November is going! I like to do a Scholastic News once a week (and my kiddos love them). Yesterday I realized I would need to do one of the Thanksgiving ones on Monday in order to get them both in before break. Only one full week and two days! Yikes!

That also means I need to get busy cleaning and planning for Thanksgiving dinner at my house as well...

Anyway, let's jump to my pics for this week's Five for Friday.

1

The way we reorganized our day this year gives me a short prep time before I teach science. I love it! The last few years as we cleaned up from math, I sent my 2nd graders out the door to their specials and the Kindergarteners were already waiting for me in the hall. Ugh! 

This way I have been able to prep some more fun activities. The 1st and 2nd graders have been learning about the Solar System, so we finished off the unit by drawing it. I was pretty impressed with how they turned out!

2

In Kindergarten we've been learning about living things and how they grow and change. We spent a couple of days specifically talking about the frog life cycle. 

3

I'll be the first to admit that this presidential election was kind of tough for me to be excited about. To keep this from getting political, I'll leave it at that. BUT I wanted my students to know how the process worked and that we could be thankful that the citizens of the United States of America have a voice in choosing their leader. I also wanted them to know how important it is to respect the opinions of others whether our chosen candidate wins or loses--something I wish the protesters would acknowledge at this point. Again, with the politics. So sorry. We studied the branches of government, the election process, U.S. symbols, and the office of the president leading up to Election Day. It was a great way to move into Veteran's Day yesterday!

4

This just made me laugh. :-) The directions said to write the compound word, but once this was turned in, I could totally see the macaroni. Ha!

5

No picture on this one...just one word!

THANKFUL!

December 19, 2016

and

February 27, 2017

If you're a follower of our blog, you know that I have a Bible study being published. It has been a long back-and-forth process, but I finally have the official release dates. The first is my author release date. I can't believe I could be holding my book next month! EEEK! The next date is the official release date. 

So thankful that the Lord has allowed this and that the publication process is nearing an end!

Have a blessed weekend!

Wisdom for Wednesday-Have Faith

I'm extremely guilty of thinking, wondering, imagining and obsessing over many things.  I love this quote because it reminds me that I often do just need to breathe and have faith that God will work things out for the best.  Sounds easy and simple, but for me is hard to do at times.  I have to really tell myself to let some things go and let God take them.

Proverbs 3:5-6- Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

Have a great day!

Time Saver Tip!

I decided a few years ago that I find that my mind seems to spin after school thinking of all the things I need to do.  So, I would start on one thing and think....."Oh I need to do this" and would stop and go to something else.  In the end, it seemed like nothing got completely done and I was staying very late after school.  The other thing that would happen would I would sit there and try to come up with all the things that I needed to get done.  I wasted a lot of time doing this because after teaching all day......my brain was on slow mode.  I finally decided that I needed a daily checklist that I could have out and do each thing and cross it off as I finished each task.  (I really needed one that I kept in one spot because I would make them on paper and would lose them :-( LOL!)  

I made up a list of things to do every day of the week and put them in a clear pocket.  I use them every day of the week and can just mark off each task with an expo marker when I get it done.  After using them I erase and use it again the next week.  This way I don't have to run a copy of it every week.  Having this daily check list has saved me a lot of time and wasted minutes.  I don't know why but I haven't used them yet this year until just recently.  I finally decided it was time to get them out and start using them.  I wish I would have done it sooner because it has saved me a lot of time.  (Not sure why I took so long to start them this year, but I'm glad that I am doing them now.)

Here is a picture of what it looks like:

Have a great week!

Five for Friday - Peek at my Week!

Happy Weekend!

I'm linking up with Kacey again to give you a peek at my week.

1

I missed last week's post, but I think I had a good reason. Our volleyball team (I'm the assistant coach and my daughter plays) made it to the state tournament! We played pool play Friday and advanced to Saturday. We lost a close one in the semi-final match and then played flat in the 3rd place match to come away with 4th. It wasn't the finish I had hoped for, but I'm still thankful for a fun 40-5 season with these girls!

#6 is my niece. She missed the Saturday games because she was running in the state cross country meet. It was tough on her and the team! The girls carried her jersey around all day and took pictures with it.

2

After such a big weekend, I was feeling pretty rough on Sunday and Monday. I was exhausted, fighting some sinus bug, and my back was out either from sleeping in the hotel or cheering so much for the girls. Yes, that last one reminds me of how old I really am. ;-)

Even though I was feeling awful, I survived the Halloween party on Monday! I dressed up as a "coach" so I could be comfortable in sweat pants. #Lame #ButSweatsMakeMeFeelBetter

Check out these cute Capri-Sun drinks one of the moms brought:

3

And this is me the next day...it was the first day I had to "dress up" for work in a week (thanks to Red Ribbon week and Halloween) and I was definitely struggling. Ha!

4

The election is fast approaching (I'd love to end this sentence with an exclamation mark, but I don't think this election has left most American voters--including me--too excited.). I've spent the last couple weeks teaching about our government, election process, and the U.S. Symbols. We will have a mock election on Tuesday and then keep right on moving into Veterans Day activities this week.

These activities are from this Social Studies interactive notebook pack. I'm glad I figured out a way to use them even though we don't do INBs for Social Studies!

5

 This is the mess I make when I'm preparing for a sub. Ugh! 

I'm headed to an Autism Conference on Monday. I'm very excited to learn more about how to help autistic students be successful in the classroom. 

6 or Bonus, I guess...

I was so excited to sleep in and have nothing planned on a Saturday that I had to snap a screen shot of the time when I woke up. 

I love coaching volleyball, but I miss my Saturdays at home! We had tournaments every Saturday (except for one) since the beginning of the season so this was long overdue! :-)

Have a great weekend!