Five for Friday - Building Ramps, Counting Races, and More

Good morning!

I'm headed out to watch some of my kiddos in their little league basketball games today, but I thought I'd quickly share some VERY random pictures from the last couple weeks first.

1

Counting races in Kindergarten science! I know...not necessarily science, but we were needing a little break and it was pretty fun for me to see how they could do at this. We counted by 1's and 10's.

2

The 1st and 2nd graders are learning about energy, force and motion so we spent a couple days building ramps for our toy cars. SO MUCH FUN!

And easy prep for the teacher...I'm thinking I need to come up with some more of these types of experiments!

3

We had conferences last week. I took this screen shot when I got home after teaching all day and having 15 back-to-back conferences. Can you say tired teacher? I know you understand. :-)

Yep, that is my handsome hubby and his favorite toy, I mean car. ;-)

4

I know I've posted before about my fixer-upper house...the latest project is finishing up the laundry room. I'm wondering if I need this shelf...

I told you...VERY random!

5

The weather here has been insanely warm for February. I enjoyed my quiet time on the porch last Saturday with temperatures in the 70s. Today it is 25 degrees. Really.

6

Last, but not least, a little feedback that made my heart happy. This teacher just "gets us" and why we love games in the classroom. 

 

This feedback is on our all-time best seller - Time to the Hour and Half-Hour.

Well, that wraps it up for today! As always, I appreciate the Five for Friday linky from Doodlebugs! 

I'm off to support my kiddos who have been begging for me to come to some games. Enjoy your day!

Wisdom for Wednesday - Don't Panic!

Well, good morning! 

I thought about my Wisdom for Wednesday post all day yesterday and still somehow laid down for the night and realized I hadn't actually posted it! Forgive me…my husband said it could be called Truth for Thursday. ;-)

This week's quote again comes from my Bible study, There's a Fly in my Tea! (to be released Monday--eeek!) It is so familiar to me that I had to go back and do a search on the blog to make sure I hadn't used it before. I found that while I have referenced this idea, I have never highlighted it as the quote. Take a look:

I first heard this during a message taken from the account of when Jesus calmed the sea in Mark 4:35-41. Jesus tells the disciples, "Let us pass over unto the other side." The great storm arises--and I do believe it had to be great to cause these fisherman to panic--and the disciples find Jesus asleep on a pillow.

Asleep on a pillow! Can you imagine?

Jesus knew the outcome! He had already told them they were crossing to the other side. 

My study goes on to say, "We panic and overreact to things in our lives because they are a surprise to us. However, God is not surprised by any of it…He knows what is going to happen in our lives before it happens, which means it is part of His master plan. And if it is part of His master plan, we can TRUST Him for the outcome."

Trust.

It seems so simple.

Yet I have to remind myself often to simply trust. 

How 'bout you?

P.S. If you're not already following along with my writing blog or Facebook page, I'd love to have you join me on the journey!

Valentine's Day Party, Minute to Win It, Sight Word Musical and Missing Subtrahend

We had our Valentine's Day Party this week and the kids had a blast.  I think that the kids get more excited for the Valentine's Day Party more than any other parties we have throughout the year.  They played a game where they had to try and blow q-tips through a straw into a bucket.  Then, they had time for a snack, passed out Valentine's Day cards and then looked at what all they got from everyone.

We practiced our spelling words using the game minute to win it.  I found this cute game at Coconut Cutie's Classroom.  The kids loved it and it was a great way for them to practice on their spelling words for the week.

To practice our sight words this week, we played musical paper plates.  I wrote all of their sight words on a paper plate and put them around the room.  I played music and when the music stopped they had to find a paper plate and  they had to read the sight word.

In math this week we worked on finding the missing subtrahend.  So, I pulled out the skittles and used them as our math manipulative this week.  If they followed along and worked hard on their page, they got to eat the skittles when they were all finished.  

I hope you had a great week and have a great weekend!

Wisdom for Wednesday-Love

Welcome to another week of:

Such simple words, but how often does it really happen.  I read somewhere that our society has gotten so stuck on technology that we have gotten away from the actual human communication and connections with one another.  They said that people can have 100's of facebook friends online but they are the loneliest they have ever been.  People will often text more instead of having a conversation with someone on the phone (I am guilty of this one!).  I saw this commercial and thought it was really neat because it showed how others do care about each other and how interaction with one another is really needed in this world we live in today.   The interaction can also bring more happiness and joy to many people.

Have a great day!

Matter, Fractions, and Letters From Kiddos

More amazing weather! Eeek! It is 73 degrees!

Of course, I had to spend some time outside, but then I had to come in to get some work done. :-(

I'm linking up short of Five for Friday...just forgot to snap pictures, but hopefully have some fun things to share.

1

Do you survey your students? Or ever ask them to write to you about the classroom? If you don't, you SHOULD! It is so helpful to me as a teacher to know what they are thinking. 

This particular assignment: Write Mrs. R an opinion letter telling me what we need to spend more time on or something you are struggling with in class.

Fluency is this little kiddo's biggest struggle.

This one cracked me up a little bit because of that last sentence. She is the secretary's daughter, a perfectionist, and has had a little bit of trouble with the Number of the Day in our HOTSHOTS. Fortunately for her, the pack comes with more than we could ever do in class so I was able to send some home for her.  :-)
I didn't think she was having too much trouble, but obviously it has been bothering her so another reason I love getting the kids to tell me what they are thinking!

Keeping it real... Here's one from one of my kiddos that struggle. The victory in this is that up until a month ago, I could barely get two sentences out of her!

 2

Matter, matter, matter! 

We have been studying matter for awhile in 1st/2nd grade science and I am always looking for ways to supplement the text book. A Venn diagram comparing solids, liquids, and gases was perfect. Students had to work together, use their text to find answers, and review all we had learned about the three forms of matter.

3

Fraction fun! 

Our fraction unit was fun AND the kiddos rocked it. In this picture, we are playing a Kagan game called Quiz, Quiz, Trade. Students "mix," pair up, and read each other's card correctly. Then they trade cards and continue mixing.

We also played the "I have...who has...?" games from Kristi's fraction pack. I just realized that her memory game card pieces would be perfect for Quiz, Quiz, Trade!

4

And finally...a sad, but happy picture of my table.

Sad because it was taken this morning which means I had to work on a Saturday--I have really been trying to avoid working on the weekends this year (and have been mostly successful).

Happy because it is all clean and my teaching materials are ready to go for Monday!

We're gearing up for parent teacher conferences this week.

 Basketball (I'm the high school assistant) is winding down--or up depending on how you look at. Big games ahead.

And I just made a hair appointment for spring break.

Doesn't. Seem. Possible.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wisdom for Wednesday - Good

Good morning!

How's the weather in your neck of the woods? We actually had kids showing up in sandals, shorts, and tank tops yesterday because the high was supposed to be 70 (record breaking here in KS). Let's not forget that when they left their houses it was still in the 20s though! Today the high is back in the 30s. Wonder how many of my kiddos will still be dressed for 70…

I am definitely a warm weather kind of girl, so these winter months often seem to drag on. Those Spring teaser days are nice, but just make me more impatient! 

Anyway, on to it a bit of wisdom to help us through the week.

You may remember that I was attempting to memorize Psalm 119. I started out really well, but once I got about 60 verses in… Well, let's just say I have not given up, but I'm taking it a lot slower now.   

This has always been one of my favorite verses. It goes on to say, "…that I might learn thy statues." I've had it memorized for years, but this week I've been studying verses 65-72 as a whole.

It struck me how many times the word "good" is used. 

Take a look:

"Thou has dealt well with thy servant…" (verse 65)

"Teach me good judgment and knowledge…" (verse 66)

"Thou art good, and doest good…" (verse 68)

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted…" (verse 71)

David could say with confidence that it was good for him to be afflicted because he knew God was good. All the time.

He also says in verse 67, "Before I was afflicted I went astray…"

As much as we do not enjoy affliction, it has a purpose. It draws us nearer to our Lord. It teaches us more about Him and ourselves. 

I realize this knowledge doesn't make it easier if you are in a time of suffering, but I know that it gives me a hope that helps to carry me through. 

God is good.

All the time.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD...

Psalm 27:13

100th Day, Place Value, Read to Someone and I Have Who Has?

We celebrated the 100th day of school on Tuesday.  The kids were so excited.  For the 100th day, we dress up like we are 100 years old.  The kids always look so cute and they play the part well.  I had one that just made me laugh because when we were in reading groups, I said spoons in the bowl and in an old lady voice she said, "Where's my bowl?"  I couldn't help myself from laughing!  Here they are:

I told them that we couldn't do our normal Gonoodle since we were 100 years old, so instead we did a chair exercise break!  :-)

This week, we have been working on place value and being able to find the number in the ones place and the tens place.  After going over it, we played a game called swat it.  I had the students think of a 2 digit number and write it on their desks (I love it because we have desks that we can write on with dry erase markers).  Once they wrote the number on their desk, I played a place value song and they walked around like musical chairs.  When the music stopped they found a desk and I called out either ones or tens place and they had to swat the number in that place.  If they got it right, then they stayed in the game and if they got it wrong, they had to sit out.  It was a lot of fun and a fun way to practice place value.

I have to say that these 1st graders are rockin in read to someone in Daily 5.  I was able to snap a couple of pictures of some of them!

In small groups, we have been playing some of our I Have Who Has Games.  Every time I get them out, the kids say "Oh, I love this game!"  I love it because they love it and they are having fun and learning at the same time.  We have been practicing and then timing our game and trying to see if they can beat their score each day.

I hope all of you had a great week and have a great weekend!

Wisdom for Wednesday-Falling Down!

Welcome for this week's:

Well, this is a great saying but so hard to do at times.  There have been several times this year especially for me that I feel that I have fallen down and have had a hard time getting back up.   I heard someone saying the other day these 2 things:

1.  God has a purpose in your pain.

2.  God is present in your pain. 

Knowing these 2 things can help one actually get up in those hard times that you may face in the various seasons of your life.  So, when you are facing those hard times, always try to remember that God will always be there for you and get you through it!

Have a great day!