10 Day Countdown, Checking in with Customers, and Organizing!

Yes, it is that time of year! 

I have my 10 day balloon countdown up and ready for Monday morning. 

The kiddos will be so stinkin' excited!

Oh, who am I kidding? 

I'm so stinkin' excited!

 

I know I have shared this every year, but you never know who might be new to the blog...so...

Each morning, I will pop a balloon. 

Inside is a piece of paper with a fun activity or treat written on it for us to enjoy.

I have two simple rules for the balloons that help tremendously with the final days craziness.

1. If you get in trouble, you don't do/have the next balloon activity/treat.

2. If you complain about the activity or treat, you don't get to enjoy it.

The activities/treats change from year to year, but include things like ink pen day, bubble gum day, kickball game, ice cream party, movie, extra recess, etc.

This next thing I tried to share on Facebook, but since I called my students my customers I'm pretty sure FB hid the post from most of you. :(

I love to check in with my 'customers' this time of year. 

This week they were to tell me what I definitely needed to keep for my next 2nd grade class. I love reading their responses! Here's some of my favorites:

This one cracked me up...still waiting on shoulder surgery and the kiddos know it. :-/

The most popular things are definitely ball chairs, Moby Max, Showbie, and Class Dojo. I was happy to see several things about math rounds and Daily 5 too. 

This was probably my favorite though! This guy struggles in math, but has come to enjoy our Hotshots!
Makes my heart happy!

Lastly, I've spent the last couple weeks before school in our teachers' lounge/work room. There is such great storage in there, but it was in need of some cleaning out and organization.

These pictures make me smile. :-) 

Now I need to focus on tidying up my storage closet!

I also like to get as much done as I can for those crazy first few weeks back to school in August...lots to do to wrap up the year!

Wisdom for Wednesday-Well in my Soul

Thanks for joining this week's:

I had the opportunity to go to a simulcast of Priscilla Shirer this past weekend.  This is the 2nd time I've been able to hear her speak.  If you have never heard her and ever have the chance to hear you, I would highly recommend it!  You won't be disappointed.  

This was something she said that really stuck with me:  

Even when it is not well in your circumstances, it is well in your soul. Unfortunately, on this earth we all go through tough times in our lives and we aren't always in the best circumstances.  The great news is that it is well in your soul.  This means that no matter how much you may be suffering physically, your soul remains 100% well.  Also, no matter how difficult things may be going in your life, you remain in the hands of God.  Everything in your soul is well no matter what is happening around you.  I would say that is some great news!  So, when your facing those tough circumstances in life, remember that your soul remains well!

Have a great day!

Reality and Fantasy

We have been working on reality and fantasy in reading.  I found a mirror template several years ago (not sure where I found it) and I made a copy of it and put on the front handle reality and on the back mirror handle I put fantasy.  In class, we talked about the difference between fantasy and reality and did some examples of stories that would be fantasy and reality.  Then I gave each student the copy of the mirror.  They were to pretend like they were looking into the mirror and draw a picture that was reality (what they really look like) and then fantasy (not what they look like).  They had a great time with it and probably liked the fantasy part of it the best because some added 3 eyes, 4 noses and 6 smiles.  Check some of them out:

Have a great day!

Outdoor Fun, Painted Shoes, and Games Galore!

Hey there!

I just got back from a little day trip with my family. 

My daughter made it to state vocal competition and sang at Baker University. That was only an hour from City Market in Kansas City which may be one of my new favorite places. My husband and I had been wanting to take the kids there, so today seemed like the perfect day.

So I'm linking up with some very random things for Five for Friday...a little school and a little real life. That's how it is this time of year as I count down the last 15 days of school!

(Yes, I am secretly counting down the days. And no,that does not make me a bad teacher. Just want to clarify after I recently read some nonsense about that.)

 

1

This week we used one of our I Have...Who Has...? games in small group. My kids love to play and wanted to teach our new friend who started with us on Monday. 

  

And because you may be needing some games or even a little HOTSHOTS to finish out the year, I decided we're having a TPT sale! Head on over to snag some things at 20% off now through Tuesday. 

2 

My daughter is playing softball...first time since 2nd grade. She's doing pretty good and has been alternating between catcher and 2nd base. 

 

My son and I watch from the concessions stand.

3

Speaking of my daughter...she's pretty artistic. In art class, she made herself a pair of Captain America: Civil War shoes--one Iron Man and one Captain America. Then she decided to make some for me! Love these!

 4

In an attempt to put new art supplies away in our teacher work room, I have began a major clean out process.

I can't even begin to describe it, but I think I will need to take some before and after photos...

Anyway, I found this grid paper. LOTS of grid paper. The high school math teachers were pretty excited about it and called dibs as soon as I sent out the picture. Ha! 

5

 Our brilliant first grade teacher took her kiddos outside to practice spelling this week. Now why didn't I think of that?

Maybe this week...

6

Ahem...too many photos? Who is this person who has taken over the blog post? 

Our kids are loving the newly painted four square box? areas? games? What do you call these things? 

7

Last one, I promise. 

My hubby is a car guy... He can fix any vehicles, but he definitely prefers Chevys and we have quite a few "project" cars which I call toys. Anyway, each time I've been to the City Market, I see this tag art and think I need to get it for him.

 Today was the day! 

If you like it, the company, KC Tag Art has a lot of choices and I think even does custom work. Check them out!

Okay, that's a wrap!

Wisdom for Wednesday - Spiritual Sluggards

Happy Wednesday!

Thanks for popping in for a little...

I have to admit that I picked this quote out months ago. It struck me then and it still speaks to me now, so I figured it was time to share…and to carefully consider how it applies to me.

When I think of a sluggard, I think of someone who is lazy…not "pulling their weight." 

But what about spiritual sluggards?

I would assume that it means being lazy in our work for the Lord. 

Maybe a person...

Not involved in church?

Not reading the Bible?

Not praying?

Not witnessing?

Now before you go throwing stones, let me share the part of the quote that spoke to me the most. 

"We are all capable…"

Yep. Right there.

As with any other sin, we are all capable of it. 

We are all only one small decision away from going down a path that God never intended us to be on. That is what I constantly tell myself when I hear of someone who has "fallen into sin" (as people often call it).

It could be me.

I am not to judge, but instead to guard my own heart and worry about my own sin.

Anyway, back to being a spiritual sluggard. 

I think it is deeper than what we can see on the outside.

I am very active in my church.

I read my Bible.

I pray.

I attempt to witness when given the opportunity.

But I think I can still be a spiritual sluggard--and honestly, sometimes I am.

How? 

It's a matter of the heart. 

The question of why I do the "spiritual" things that I do.

If my motivation is not pure…

If I am just going through the motions to check it off a list of some kind…

If I am not living out the things I read in God's Word…

Then I would say I'm being a spiritual sluggard.

It kind of hurts, doesn't it? 

Now you know why I waited months to really consider how it speaks to me! I don't want to be a spiritual sluggard, and I'm hoping this can be a reminder to me (and maybe you) when I start to get a little "lazy" in my walk with the Lord.

P.S. If your students are getting as crazy as mine (17 days left!!!), hang in there. The weekend is in sight!

Telling Time-WE DID IT!!

We have been working a lot on telling time.  First graders favorite game to practice with is our I Have Who Has Time Game. 

I like to time them each time we play it.  Well, when we first played it, it took us 5 minutes 22 seconds.  It seemed like a long time.  Then each day we played it our time got better and the kids were so excited because we were beating our time every day.  Today, we played it one last time because we are moving on to something else.  I didn't know if they could beat their time because their best time was 58 seconds (which was really fast).  When we were getting ready, I could see how intense they were about this game.  They were ready!  Everyone was looking at their cards because they were determined to beat it!  I wish I could have captured their faces when they found out that they did beat it!  They got 56 seconds.  They were so excited and begged to do it again.  :-)  

They were a little disappointed when I told him that we were out of time and couldn't play it again today.  Then when I told them that we were going to have a new one tomorrow on ten more, they cheered and they are now excited to try a new one tomorrow.  

I'm excited to see how fast they can get at this new game tomorrow!

Have a great day!

Big Heartland Bloggers Spring Fling Meet-Up

Happy Sunday!

It's a rainy day here--it was perfect for my Sunday afternoon nap! And believe me, I needed it! 

Kristi and I left on Friday right after school for a little get away trip to Kansas City that ended with meeting some fantastic other teacher bloggers at the Big Heartland Bloggers Spring Fling Meet-Up.

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodlebugs in an attempt to share the fun we had!

Friday night, Kristi and I headed to Legends for a little shopping. 

We were headed into Target to pick up something for the meet-up goodie bags and talking about how we would attach our new business cards to the gifts for a good five minutes before I realized I had left the business cards at home! 

Aren't they so cute?!?!

 I was so bummed, but we made it work.

And it gave Kristi something to laugh about for the entire weekend! ;-) 

 

The Dollar Spot had some cute 'Thank You' cards that we thought everyone could use.

We then headed into downtown Kansas City to find our hotel. We had to take a little detour and get some cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory. Can you believe Kristi had never had any?

The next morning, we headed down to the City Market for a little bit before heading to the meet-up. If you are ever in the KC area, you need to go the market. It is awesome!

Our meet-up was at Houlihan's in Leawood, Kansas. 

I'll be honest and tell you Kristi and I were a little nervous about the meet-up. It was our first one--and talking to "strangers" seemed a little scary! Turns out, it was fun to put faces with blog names and the ladies didn't really seem like strangers at all! :-)

We walked in to find GoNoodle and Teachers Pay Teachers had contributed some "swag." TPT also sent some gift certificates for three lucky winners (not us)!

 

Katie from Resources by Mrs. Roltgen and Kristi.

Our goodie bags! So many fun things in there!

 

Crystal with Whitney from The First Grade Round-Up and Lisa from Lisa Taylor Teaching the Stars.

Kristi and I attempt to take a selfie...

 

Group photo - In this one I am between Megan from Mrs. Baker's Dozen (the amazing organizer of this event - thanks Megan!) and Christine from Level Up. Kristi on the back row is between Alisha from Missing Tooth Grins and Tessa from The Krafty Teacher.

It was so fun to spend time with Kristi and meet all these lovely ladies! We are definitely looking forward to the next meet-up!