Catching Up with Pictures

Good morning! Yep, you guessed it. I am officially on summer break. :-)

I know I have been MIA on the blog lately so I wanted to catch up and pictures are the best, so...

My kiddos have kept me extra busy for the last month or so. I'm very proud of them and their accomplishments, but I can honestly say I'm most proud of their humble attitude in the midst of it all.

Harley's drawing was featured in the Kansas Congressional Art Competition and on display at Mark Arts in Wichita, Kansas. This was titled "Cosmo" which was her horse's name. We still miss him! 

Chaz (in the middle) graduated along with two of his cousins. He was valedictorian of his class and kept us busy with a Governor's Award ceremony, filming for Top of the Class award, graduation parties, and finally, the graduation. If you're curious about where he is headed and how this mom is feeling about that, check out this blog post on my author site. 

I had the privilege of speaking at a "Mothers and Others Luncheon" on May 5th for a church in Dexter, Kansas. Many of the ladies had gone through my Bible study, There's a Fly in My Tea! It was fun to meet the ladies and the picture above was my table of supporters who went with me. Pictured L to R: my niece, Harley, my mom, my mother-in-law, my sister, and me.

The Dexter ladies had such a sweet spirit. These flies were a fun gift they gave me! :-)

 Harley turned 17! She will be a senior next year!

These signs were made by a kiddo in what I would say was my most challenging reading group this year. They kept me on my toes, but we had a good time. And as you can see, we became best friends forever. ;-) I had these kiddos as 2nd graders so it was fun to have them again.

I've been doing a Proverbs challenge on my author Facebook page. Feel free to join us!

After 22 years of marriage and remodeling two different homes, my husband is finally getting the garage of his dreams. Yes, I took the picture through the window. I didn't want the workers to think I was a weirdo snapping pictures of them!

Exciting school news! We are getting a preschool next year! Hip Hip Hooray! I cannot even begin to explain how needed this is in our rural community. However, to make room for the Pre-K, we are doing a lot of rearranging. This will be my new space. I'm excited for the window, but not the necessarily the work to set it up. I literally moved my stuff in, shut the door, and left it. Ugh! Once it is painted and I get some storage shelves, I'll start trying to settle in.

When people ask me what I'm doing this summer...homework? At least for the next four weeks. My summer Masters classes already started and they are fast paced. Maybe ask me again at the first of July??? ;-)

Here's wishing you a wonderful summer filled with rest and relaxation!

2 Days and End of Year Book

Wow, when I look back this year has really gone fast.  We are down to 2 days left.  It doesn't seem possible that school is almost out.  We did our awards with our kids last week and it was exciting to announce names and have them come get their certificates for various things.  They were so proud and they were smiling ear to ear!

This week we are going to do our end of the year book:

What all do you do on the last couple of days of school?  I have always wondered what others do the last couple of days.

Hope you have a great week!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope all of you had a great day!

Classroom Dojo and Monster Theme

Right before Spring Break,  I decided to incorporate Classroom Dojo.

If you aren't familiar with it, it is a great classroom management tool that is free and it encourages good behaviors.  I have been using it along with my behavior clip chart.  The kids earn points for following the rules (that simple).  Then they can lose points for not following the rules.  The cool part about it is that when you give a point to a student the computer makes a ding that they know is for something good.  When a point is taken away it makes a different ding and they know that someone needs to make a better choice (that little ding was amazing.....it was so quick and every kid made sure they were doing the right thing when they heard it).   The kids are so excited about it and are always excited to see how many points they earn each day.  

At the end of the day, I pull up a graph that Classroom Dojo shows that shows the percentage of how they did in class.  It breaks it down by each rule.  We talked about what rules got a lot of positive points and what rules lost the most points.  Many students tell me daily that they are going to try to be the top point earner the next day.  :-)

If you haven't seen Classroom Dojo, make sure you check it out.  It is very easy to use and has very clear directions as well. 

My co-teacher has also used it this year and loves it as well.  We have talked about using it more next year and starting to use it at the beginning of the year.  Since we have decided to do that, we decided that we are going to have a monster theme.  I am so excited because I plan to use the Monster Theme Pack that Crystal made.  It is so cute and I am excited to decorate my classroom in it next year! 

Have a great week!!

Wisdom for Thursday!

Welcome to this week's:

Well, it is that time of the year when I feel like I am so busy and can't keep up.  So, today is Wisdom for Thursday since I missed it yesterday.  I believe this quote says it all.  Whether you are facing a tough, good, easy, hard season in your life this quote applies to everyone.  It also applies to this time of the year for a lot of us who are tired and very busy.

Have a great week!