Hopping in a Winter Wonderland!

It's here! It's here! It's here!

Okie, dokie. Time to get started. Grab a cup of cocoa or coffee (or if you're like me, mix them together for a Cafe Mocha) and get started hopping!

 

Thanks to Tori at Tori's Teacher Tips for hosting our hop. You'll start on her page and hop, hop, hop! Look for this tab when you get there:

 

 Here's a peek at what you'll be getting from us:



I have...Who has...? Game - Telling Time to the 5 minutes (one hour later)

I'm super excited about this game because my kiddos have been struggling with the concepts of one hour later and one hour earlier. The hop inspired me to do something about it! I wanted a great new freebie to give away and my students love I have...Who has...? and Connect Four games so I created a Telling Time Mega Pack!

Includes 12 games designed to give your students a fun and engaging way to practice telling time.

6 Connect Four games

•Time to the hour

•Time to the half hour

•Time to the hour and half hour

•Time to the 5 minutes (3 different game boards)

6 I Have…, Who Has…? Games

•Time to the Hour and Half Hour (our all-time BEST SELLER)

•Time to the Hour and Half Hour – Who has one hour later than…?

•Time to the Hour and Half Hour – Who has one hour earlier than…?

•Time to the 5 Minutes

•Time to the 5 Minutes – Who has one hour later than…?

•Time to the 5 Minutes – Who has one hour earlier than…?

Happy Hopping!

 

 

Coming This Weekend...

 

 

It's another Facebook Freebie hop!!!

 

I was so excited when Tori e-mailed wanting to put together another 2nd Grade hop. Last time, I snagged loads of great resources from some very talented teachers (and many of them were good for other grade levels too). I will say that you won't want to miss the freebie we've put together! ;-)

 

Check back on Saturday morning for directions on how to start hopping! ;-)

Wisdom for Wednesday-New Year

Welcome to another Wisdom for Wednesday!

Lord I have no idea what's going to happen in this New Year but all I pray is that you will guide me, and help me! Please help me to look to you always, and through everything that I do, May I bring praise and glory to Your name, I thank you Lord for another year. Amen. -Andrew Guzaldo

Happy New Year to you!  This is a little reminder to myself that I need to let God lead and guide me through this new year and remember that he will be with me through everything.

13 in '13 Linky

Well, since Kristi linked up her resolutions the other day, I thought I'd jump in with Thirteen in '13. Looked like fun and my mind is not back in to school mode yet! Thanks for a great linky, girls!

 

 

 

13. Favorite article of clothing:

 

Hoodies...

 

12. Favorite movie you watched:

 

Catching Fire

(this is the only movie I went to see this year...usually wait for things to show up on TV)

 

11. Favorite TV series:

 

Person of Interest

Blacklist (close second)

 

10. Favorite restaurant:

 

Chick-Fil-A

(P.F.  Changs, Gen Ghis Grill, Red Robin...I could go on!)

 

9. Favorite new thing you tried:

 

Teaching 2nd grade! :-)

 

8. Favorite gift you got:

 

Christmas 2012 - Ninja (blender) - I use it every day!

 

7. Favorite thing you pinned:

 

Favorite...I don't know. But my most recent that I have plans to make in the very near future...LOVE bookshelf. I'm excited to put it in my newly remodeled bedroom and put some of our wedding things and favorite pictures on it.

 

6. Favorite blog post:

 

The cupcakes...a total nightmare, but took Pinterest by storm. Kind of cool to see your own things popping up now and then. :-)

 

5. Best accomplishment:

 

Surviving my first semester in a new school, teaching a new grade (2nd), and teaching K-2 music!

 

4. Favorite pictures:

 

 

3. Favorite memory:

 

Big 12 Tournament! Some friends took hubby and I to the Big 12 basketball tournament last March. We watched all the games - the best part being KU winning the championship! Kicked off my March Madness (obsession with NCAA tournament). ;-)

 

2. Goals for 2014:

 

Spend more time in prayer...

Remember what is truly important...

Stick to the budget...

Stay healthy...

Organize more...

 

1. One Little Word:

Prioritize - I really want to stay focused on what is truly important this year. My relationship with the Lord. Enjoying my family and friends. Sometimes I get too wrapped in what keeps me "busy." So prioritize...a reminder to keep my priorities in line.

 

Hope you enjoy your week...oh, and look for a little Facebook action coming soon. :-)

New Years Resolutions!

We have linked up with 2014 Resolutions at A Peach for the Teacher.

I can't believe that it is already almost 2014-WOW, this year has went so fast!  So, I have made my New Year's Resolutions and I'm very excited because one of my resolutions is not to procrastinate and to get and stay organized!!!  YAY-it is Dec. 29 and I didn't wait until after Jan. 1 to do my resolutions so I have already worked on one of them!  :-)

Here they are:

Make sure you head over and do your resolutions for the new year.

I hope all of you had a great Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!

Merry Christmas (Wisdom for Wednesday)!

 

 

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

Isaiah 9:7

 

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 

Luke 2:11

 

No one says it better than that...Merry Christmas!

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!!!