Tuesday, 4/30/13

We had an interesting turn of events in math today. We were doing some measuring and adding of the measurements and I was asking, "Who thinks the answer is....." "Who thinks the answer is....." etc. For one of the choices, only one person raised his hand. He then looked around and slowly put his hand down. Ding, ding, ding---that's a moment I can't create, so everything stopped.

I pointed to a poster in my classroom that says, "Stand up for what is right, even if you're standing alone." Granted, the message is more meant in a situational manner than a mathematical one, but I ran with it regardless because it contains the same lesson. I let the kids know that no matter what, whether making a good choice in a "bad" situation or being the only person who believes that 30 is the answer in math----it is important to ALWAYS stand up for what you believe in. ALWAYS!!  When it comes to math, you may not always be correct, but you just might be, so when one believes something to be right, that person deserves to be strong and proud in that belief.

And, as it turns out----the sole person who chose 30 as the answer---he was right!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully some part of the lesson hit home.

See you all at the Board meeting tonight----5:00 at Peacock!!

Monday, 4/29/13

Happy Monday! If you check your child's mail today, you'll see what I spent the better part of two hours doing yesterday (maybe more than 2, I didn't keep close enough track)----GRADING!! With everything that went on last week, the grading of papers had to take a backseat. Heavens did I regret that yesterday! It felt great when it was all done, but eek--that was A LOT of work!! I had the pile of papers on top of the mailboxes this morning and the kids, because they are hilarious..... decided that I did not do enough, I should do more. Luckily--we've been working on critical thinking skills all year because finally someone brilliantly pointed out that, if I have more to grade, it's because they had to do more work. LOL!!! Genius children!! I love them so much! I will miss laughing with them, that's for diggity darn sure!!!

So, dare I mention that we only have 3 Mondays left this year?? Does that make anyone else shutter the way it does me? Okay---here's what it's like for me-----think of the movie "The Lion King." This is one of my very favorite lines from any movie: it's where the hyenas are talking about Mufasa and how powerful he is and one says, "I shutter when I hear that name." The other says, "Mufasa..." So then the first says, "OOOOhhhh (and shutters)--say it again!" That's how I feel: only 3 more Mondays?? Shutter! Say it again!! LOL! "The Lion King" total classic!! If you ever get the chance to see the Broadway version of it----PLEASE do! It's, and I promise I'm not overstating here, UH-MAY-ZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I first saw it from the nose-bleed section, then when it came back I got tickets to bring my parents. For that time I got orchestra seats. I know that my parents probably thought it was going to be some cheese-ball show, but I had one of my very favorite moments in life when I got to watch my parents' faces as the show started and they saw what it was. It's one of those moments when you know you're a "grown-up" because I was able to do that for them. Pretty cool. Isn't it ridiculous that I can start a paragraph talking about how many Mondays are left in the year and it morphs into a personal memory?  I've always said that I'm so lucky that I don't teach high school because I'd totally be that teacher that all of the kids would know how to get off of the topic that they were to be learning about. ;)

Ask your kids about when we moved the chrysalises into the butterfly net today. Pretty cool conversations came from that activity (and...AND! they even stayed on topic---proud of me??? I am!! HAHA!)

OOOHH-in case you haven't heard, there's a School Board meeting tomorrow night at Peacock at 5 p.m. Try to come if you can. Like I've said----getting the knowledge first-hand is always best.

Have a good night. I'm off to get a pedicure and then come back for the PTO meeting. I can't wait to get out into the 70 degree weather!! Finally!!!

Thursday, 4/25/13

What a day! I spent from the time I woke up agonizing about what to do about the Nature Center field trip. The "feels like" temp was 33. The wind was blowing so briskly that the flags were all horizontal. It had clearly just rained AGAIN an hour or two before, and I'd seen pics of Mother Nature's affect on it just one week ago---not good.  Then I finally spoke with Chris. I needed to know if it was as bad over there as I pictured. She told me that the lessons my kids would be doing were mainly off of the trails, and everything off of the trails was wet and muddy so the kids' shoes would most certainly quickly become wet and muddy. I just couldn't have the kids in ruined shoes (you know how much I love good shoes!! LOL!), squishing all the way back to school in brisk weather and then sitting in wet shoes, socks and pant bottoms all day long. It just wasn't worth the risk of them getting sick. Ugh! Sometimes it completely stinks to be the grown-up. So, I finally made the decision, and then I had to tell the kids. I tried to soften the blow by promising a few minutes of a movie that we love this afternoon, and I had them begin on a top-secret mission (and by mission, I mean project). They handled it well. On of the bajillion reasons why I love them so much! As the morning progressed I felt better about the decision because the sky quickly filled with big fluffy clouds, so even if the sun was beaming down warmth to us, we wouldn't have felt it. Like I said, sometimes it just stinks!

The good news is, the kids seemed to enjoy their top-secret mission and many have theirs near completion. I see on the kids' classroom calendar (which recently changed from tracking how many days we've been in school to how many days we have left-----aka my own little pocket-chart of anxiety) that we only have 23 days left. OMG I can't even handle that! Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much to do, not near enough time----never enough time!

But! Tomorrow is Friday and it's finally supposed to feel like spring, so there is plenty to look forward to!

XOXO

Wednesday, 4/24/13

This will be brief---my eyeballs are stinging like crazy (if you were at the meeting last night, I know that you are sharing my affliction) and looking at the computer screen is not helping. :/

Today is Administrative Professionals' Day so I want to use my space here to send out a special shout-out (see how hip and trendy I am???) to the ladies who run our school office. Anyone with half a brain (which right now I'm not sure I qualify as) knows the real deal anywhere are the people who run the office; the rest of us just work here. Penny and Domenica are the ladies you see when you come to pick up your children, who you speak with when you call to ask a question and/or call your child in for an absence. That is what it may look like, but let me tell you what really happens. When the staff are losing their ever-living minds (I mean, so I've heard..that doesn't happen around here...), those ladies are who are our sounding boards. I will speak for myself when I tell you that, on the rough days they let me vent, cry, talk nonsense, whatever is needed so that I can return to my kids and teach them without carrying whatever emotions I'd previously been feeling. There is no judgement from our office warriors. They listen to my every "oh my gosh, I have the BEST story" stories when one of my kids does something that blows my socks off. They don't ever tell me that everyone in this building has amazing kids, they let me go on thinking mine are the bees' knees. (uh oh, there goes my hip and trendy thing right out the window!!) I could go on for literally pages about what they do for me/we the adults, but I think it's important to mention what I witness them doing for our children on a daily basis. In the midst of (wo)manning the phones, assisting the adults, constantly fixing the copy machine (should I go on??), they welcome the kids as they enter the building, they watch over the children who are late to be picked up while talking with them and calming their little nerves. They give sweet smiles and tender comments to children who are not feeling well. They know every child's name, most of their siblings' names and often-times----even pet's names. Those ladies protect us from anyone who dares to enter our pure sanctuary of a school. They monitor that front door like SWAT team members, as many of you know--you must prove yourself to get past the "drive-thru" window, as we lovingly call it, and get buzzed into our world. And, AND, they do it all while making it look like it "ain't no big thing." It is said that those who do their jobs best make it look easy. They make it look EASY, while living in a world of non-stop interruption and "emergencies" (and that's just when I walk in!!). So, as I said, let me take this moment to publicly thank Domenica and Penny. They are angels among us, and we who enter this building, be it once-in-a-while or once every single day, should thank our lucky stars that we have such amazing women running the joint!

I said I'd be brief huh???? Well, at this point in our journey together you probably knew what that meant when I got started......settle in, she's about to ramble on!!

Have a good night! Sending out love to you all, especially if you are the lady or fella who runs an office. =)

Tuesday, 4/23/13

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out to Celebration of Learning last night. It was great to see you. I wish I could have chatted with many of you for longer. C of L is always such a whirlwind--people buzzing in and out. I try to at least say hi to everyone, but I just wish I had more time to chit chat. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed hanging out for a bit.

Today we went to Peacock to see a dress rehearsal of their play "Guys and Dolls." OMG--if you can squeeze it in this weekend, you really should go and see it. Mr. Travis and his team do such an amazing job with the kids. To see tons (and I mean TONS) of middle-school kids up there singing and dancing is such a tribute to the quality of work that goes into the Peacock shows. I'm a smidge biased because I taught many of the kids, but when I take off my teacher hat, the production, scenery, costumes--everything, every little detail is covered and it is a quality show. I can't say enough!! I kept telling my current 2nd graders that I can't wait until the day that I see them up on that stage!  I swear, I will blink and it will happen. Uber exciting!

I'm off to clean up, go home and clean my messy self up and head to the School Board meeting. Hope to see you there. Have a good night!

Friday, 4/19/13

Holy moly what a raukus week this has been in the world. I write this not knowing how things have gone down today in Boston, but feeling a sense of awe that the organizations which are designed to keep us safe have such brilliance that they had narrowed the location of one suspect to a single house before I'd left for school this morning. Amazing! My heart breaks for those in West, TX. I heard on the news this morning that today is exactly 20 years ago that everything went down in Waco, TX, which is right by West aparently. And then there was our craziness yesterday. I hope that you all escaped the water and enjoyed a day off. I woke up at 3:30 to my sump pump's alarm going off. Never good in the middle of the night!!! That being said, I came out of the day far luckier than most. I had some seepage in several spots in what I call, "my someday basement" (because it's always in the middle of being finished---which it will be...someday). I mopped up for an hour--just when I'd get one spot done, another had puddled up. Once I got it under control, I was able to go lie down for about an hour. Then I went down and mopped again and then read on Facebook about some friends' schools which had closed. Jealous! I got ready for school, went down to do one more mop up, and mid-way through my thoughts of planning to run home at lunch then again right after school (at which time I'd run back to school to get work done) and then run back home for another mopping before Celebration of Learning began,  glory of all glories-----the phone call came: No School!!!!!!!!!!! My stomach could stop churning with nerves and the thought of possibly catching some sleep during the day came with a wave of relief!!

Today was a whirlwind with the kids: math test, pen pal letters, Flat Stanley check-ins and that was just the morning! In the afternoon the kids took their DOL quiz ("But how Ms. Mitchell??? How can we do our DOL quiz when we didn't get to do #4 yesterday??" Somehow they survived-----builds character, right???), journal reading, author visit and computers.

And I will leave you today on one final note:

I only left the house once yesterday for about 15 minutes. This is what I saw when I opened my garage:

I don't know if you can tell---but it is, without any doubt, the largest earthworm I've ever seen in my entire life!! I tried to find something to put next to it to give perspective of its size, so that's a roll of twine with a little piece sticking out next to it. This picture doesn't even do it justice--I jumped when I saw it. Oh, and, AND----it had a friend! I swear to you, I think they came up from middle earth!! Worms do not bother me---I'll often grab one that's lost its way and toss it back to the soil, but not these suckers. I used a push broom to send them back to the yard. Ugh---I shutter to think of it! Blech!

On that note: Happy Weekend!!! =)

....follow up from yesterday...

I just realized that I mentioned Thursday's meeting, but didn't elaborate. There is a special School Board meeting on Thursday, April 18th at 8:30 p.m. at the Village Hall. It's purpose is to further address the concerns and possible solutions to the 25 RIFed staff members that the community raised at last week's meeting. There are currently many, many, MANY statements, thoughts and comments being tossed around. Some are very true, while others are not. I, personally, find it beneficial to seek the truth is situations such as these----and I prefer the truth from those who have the facts. It is for this reason, I encourage all who can make it, to attend Thursday's meeting. You want to be certain that you are getting the facts, not someone's interpretation of the facts, and most certainly you don't want to be one of the final people in the "telephone" game. You wouldn't know if you were one of the last and getting skewed information, right? So again, perhaps consider stopping by the meeting to hear the information directly. Take it from me, outside of getting the facts, feeling the energy and passion of this community is something that should not be missed! You will be inspired by your neighbors, fellow parents and friends. After the events that occurred in Boston yesterday, some inspiration and examples of the GOOD in humanity are not to be passed up on!!!

Monday, 4/15/13

HOW COOL IS THIS??????????????????????????????????????

There is a special School Board meeting at the Village Hall on Thursday at 8:30. The parents and fellow members of this amazing community have come together is a way that far surpasses my wildest dreams. I can't even begin to put words to the feelings that I have about the hope that has risen in an unprecedented time of difficulty for our district. I feel like this is all I've been talking about; it is certainly what has been taking up most of the space in my thoughts and yet what consistently abounds in every conversation and thought is gratitude. For a girl who'd never heard of Itasca before getting a job here 17 years ago, I immediately fell in love with this town. I've said it before, and I'll say it again---I've lived in 6 different zip codes in my life, but Itasca is my HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And this is why. I've never seen anything like the pulling together of people as I've seen in the past week. I've heard of it-seen it on tv, it's what I always imagined I'd see from this town, but never dreamt something would surface to manifest my imagination. Low-and-behold it's been manifested into something even my (wild) imagination could not create. I feel beyond blessed to bear witness to such faith and dedication. It brings tears to my eyes just writing this. I adore this school district and what it does for its students, and the thought of it becoming so severely disassembled has nearly broken me more than a few times in the past week, but how can I possibly entertain those thoughts any more. Nope---nothing but positive energy, support and visions of our district looking no different in one year from today than it does today. Let's get this taken care of people! Plus--------I'm going to get an uber cute t-shirt out of it all. (it all comes back to fashion and cracking a cheesy joke, doesn't it??) It will be a great token of a time I will always reflect on with pride, and a constant reminder of people who stood tall in their convictions and beliefs--my inspirations!!!!

4/11/13: The day after...

To all of my parents who attend the meeting last night: THANK YOU!!!

To my parents and former student who spoke: WOW!!! THANK YOU!!!

To the mom who caught me mid-way through the ugly cry, hugged me and said "It's not over" as we walked down the hallway: THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tend to be an eternal optomist. I was slightly shaken on Tuesday, but last night restored my faith.

YOU ARE AMAZING PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<3 <3 <3

Tuesday, 4/9/13

Happy Local Election Day!! I love our amazing democratic process,and local elections are when I know that my vote can truly make a difference in my community. I hope everyone got out and voted. It's an important day for Itasca.

The big map I wrote about yesterday was a hit today! Before I even talked about it, I saw some kids looking at it and exploring. I hadn't even noticed, until they pointed it out to me, that there the flags of every nation shown on the bottom. I LOVE hearing them talk about what they see. They're taking charge of their own learning, and they don't even know it's happening!! LOL!! Back to the map... it's highly cool!You'll see next week when you come visit me during Celebration of Learning. =)   Toward the end of the day was the big reveal regarding the map's purpose. I shared all of the Flat Stanley letters and pics that we've gotten back, and the kids whose Stanleys we heard about put push pins on the map showing where he'd visited. The people who received the Stans from our class members really went all out and did an amazing job with him. I was very touched when I read the info that the folks had sent back to share with our class. It was the perfect way to end the day.

I'm off to finish up my work and anxiously await election results. I get emotional every time I think about it. I pray that I will have tears of joy in a few hours!!! Fingers, toes and curls crossed!!!

Monday, 4/9/13

Well, as you can see, I'm still here so I didn't get my chance to run off with a rockstar like I'd hoped. Oh well, there's always next time... LOL!!

I hope you all had a great day yesterday. I love those spring days when we get "peeks" of what's to come------sun shining, kids outside playing, birds chirping, general happiness and merriment all around. Now, of course, it's set to rain all week, but that's okay. Get those flowers up and those buds on trees during the week, then bring the sunshine back next weekend. ;)

I just put up a gigantic world map in our classroom so we can start going through the adventures our Flat Stanleys have had and mark them on our map. I'm excited to see the kids' reaction when they come in tomorrow and notice the big map. I love geography, so I've always got a lot of maps up around the room. It gives me great joy to see the kids use their "spare" time to investigate the maps. This one is BIG and COLORFUL, so I think they're going to look at it like it's got brand new info on it.

That's it for today. I have a table full of work to get done and I'm dying to get outside into the warmth of spring time!! It's still warm out, right??? I ran out at lunchtime. It was warm but crazy windy. I swear it almost knocked me over! Now I'm looking at the flag at the park district and it's not moving an iota. Where did the wind go? The super cool clouds that were in the sky earlier aren't out there anymore either. What a crazy weather day. I kind of like it---keeps us on our toes, right?  Haha! Have a great night!!

Friday, 4/5/13

It's report card day!!! Unbelievable that we're this far into the year!! I'm going to prop my eyes open with toothpicks because if I don't, I'll blink and it will be the last day of school. I could use about a zillion words to describe this class's journey from August until now, but the one I feel most honestly is 'family.' There have been many changes in the kids and their relationships with each other; we've been through good and bad together, and just like in life--those are the circumstances which bond people together. It's no different in my classroom. We are bonded and it's hard to think that there will come in day in the not-too-distant future that we won't be spending every day together. Too sad......moving on.......

Be sure to ask your child about the assembly we had today in honor of Arts in Schools. It was the Hubbard Street Dancers. Oh my gosh, they were so amazing! We had something around 300 three-through-eight-year olds in our gym, and yet you could have heard a pin drop! Such talent and beauty! And such a wake-up call that our children truly need that exposure to the arts to open their worlds, their minds and to inspire and awake their senses!! It amazes me the number of studies which show how greatly the arts impact children's brains, and yet it is the first thing to lose priority in our culture. Such a shame! Thank goodness for our teachers of the arts (Mrs. Kozakis and Mr. Whitney) and the IEPTO that our students were able to have such a wonderful exposure to music, dance and art. I hope that it inspires families to find cultural experiences for their children. There are many right here in the suburbs.

And then just when this day couldn't get any more exciting----we had an author visit. Joe Jurek, who wrote They Don't Make Books About Uncles came and spoke to the kids about the creation of his book. And, just because he's an incredibly dedicated author----he arrived to Benson with four minutes to spare before his presentation because he'd been downtown at the hospital where his niece had just been born a few hours earlier!!! How about them apples?? Pretty impressive!!

I keep thinking, "Phew, it's finally the weekend. My house needs a deep clean after having had house guests for a week, I'm so glad I have tomorrow wide open." Then I think---hang on, no I don't because I'm going to the MAROON 5 concert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hello Adam Levine....how you doin'???? I'm so excited! I was never a huge Maroon 5 fan until a few years back when I went to one of their concerts just on a whim, at which time I became under Adam's spell and have been a fan ever since. It sure doesn't hurt that he's the face of The Voice now too. Hubba Hubba  ;)  Don't worry, if he meets me and falls deeply in love, I'll finish out the school year before I join the concert tour with him. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, 4/3/13

Before spring break, we began a chapter in math about counting money. It is certainly not an easy an concept to pick up, but I've been very impressed with how well the kids have been doing. Unfortuanately, the chapter is only 5 lessons long so almost as quickly as we've begun the chapter, we're already taking the test.  As I've been teaching the technical skill of knowing coin values and counting coins, I've also snuck in some info about the little details that make American money so cool. Somewhere in the conversation we talked about money from different countries, and many of the kids said that they have coins at home from other countries. On Friday, with permission from their parents, some will be bringing those coins in. I have a great book that tells the process of how our coins are minted, so it should be a fun day of learning and exploring various facets of coins while also reviewing how to count the little buggers.

Tuesday, 4/2/13

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful spring break and, if you celebrate, a lovely Easter and/or Passover!! As you might have been able to tell from my Friday-before-break post, I DESPERATELY needed time to rest and relax. Luckily, that's just what I got, and I'm back better than ever. It's 4th quarter, and I'm ready to conquer!!

I think I dodged a bullet when the district decided to give us the Monday after Easter, aka April 1st, off to compensate for Good Friday having fallen during spring break. Awhile ago some of my little ladies told me that they already knew what they were going to do to me for April Fool's--I proudly told them that we didn't have school on that day! (the HA was implied!!Lol!!) Of course, within a second of thinking they, as they often do, had a smart retort for me---that they didn't care, they'd just do it on April 2nd. Well, it's April 2nd, and knock on wood, I've escaped prank free.....  Now, those of you who may be parents of little ladies, remember, we're in this together, so don't be telling them tonight about their little plan that they've now forgotten. You're on my team.....my side......TEAM GROWN-UP, REMEMBER?????? Have my back!!! I know I can count on you!!  ;)

My parents came in town for Easter and aren't leaving until tomorrow, so I convinced them to come visit our class for a little while this morning. They've only come to school a handful of times in the past, so I think it was fun for them to see this group of kids I always talk about and watch how school runs "nowadays." I can't wait to go home and hear what they thought. It was their first time seeing a Smartboard in action. My dad is an electrical engineer (retired) so he was quite into seeing how it operated within the classroom. I'm surprised he didn't jump up and take over. My mom is the one who just plain adores the kids, and I heard her many times pipe in to talk to them. It was cute. One of those experiences I'll always hold in my heart. <3