Thursday, 11/22/13

I have a small window of time between my first conference and then the string that will take me to the end of my evening. What a great experience conferences is. I get a little bit of time with the parents of the kids that I hang out with every single day. Just when I think that I know the kids pretty darn well, I meet their parents and find out a little bit more about them. I've said it before---parent/teacher conference days are loooonnnggg but they are so incredibly worth it! I really do enjoy that brief time when I get to see the kids and their parents and we all sit around a table talking about their education: the good, the bad, the uncomfortable and the celebrated. It's pretty priceless!

Well, that's what was on my mind tonight. I need to go give myself a final swipe of lipgloss to get me through the next few hours. =)  Thank goodness tomorrow's Friday!! 

Tuesday, 11/19/13

What a weekend! "Wicked" rocked! I am truly like a little kid when I see it. I have a smile from ear to ear, and I also shed a tear or two (or a jillion) throughout the show. I just get a little overwhelmed by the acting, the music, the beautiful theater, being downtown---it's all amazing!! Then there was Sunday. When I was teaching the kids about urban/suburban/rural communities recently, I told them about where my best friend lives down in central Illinois. She grew up in a small farm town of 2,000 people--no McDonalds or Target for as far as the eye can see---not even a stoplight in the entire town! She now lives right outside of the town in the middle of a cornfield, so anytime I hear of storms down there, I tend to get a bit uneasy. I happened to be driving home from a post-church shopping trip when the insane wind and sideways rain hit here. I was terrified, to put it mildly and had a long, out loud conversation with my maker asking Him to guide me home safely, which He did! Once I'd stopped shaking from that experience, I sat down for the game, which of course was preempted by the weather reports. At 12:01, I texted my BFF when I heard the name of the town she grew up in, the town she lives in now and two others on the news. I then did not move a single muscle until 12:46 when I finally heard back from her. Meantime, the news about Washington came out--a name which I recognized because she'd taken me there for some shopping (see how it always gets me into trouble??) so I knew all of that destruction wasn't too too far from her. Yikes! What a day! By God's grace, her home and all her family's homes are safe. They have no water or electricity, but all are safe. Her brother-in-law's sister's home however, which is in the town she grew up in, was leveled, as was a home down the road from her. Scary, scary, scary how closely it touched! I'm sorry to prattle on to you-----frequently I find writing to be quite therapeutic (if you haven't noticed-haha!), so I think I had to get all of this out of me. I'm so grateful that they are all safe and sound, but from what I can tell, the emotional piece of all that they've been through is starting to take a toll. What I wouldn't give to be down there to help out. I wish I could think of something we could do from here......hopefully something will come to mind.

In the meantime, I was out at a meeting all day yesterday. I was very happy to come back today to good news from both the sub's note and from Ms. Edwards' report. Not too surprisingly, the kids brought up the tornadoes at some point during the day today. I was thankful that we'd recently talked about our tornado drills, and I'd assured the kids that most frequently what we have around here are strong winds, but rarely an actual tornado. To be honest, I'd forgotten that conversation until one of my darling little girls told me that I'd been right, we didn't get tornadoes, just strong winds. Phew!! Thank goodness one little mind could be at ease!! I never ever ever want the kids to have to think about their safety or have any worries when they are at school.

Okay--enough therapy for one night. Today the kids did some writing about what they are thankful for and I'm dying to read it!! They did an UH-MAY-ZING project (and by amazing I mean cute and funny) project yesterday, so when I have my act together, I'll get their writing attached to the project and send it home for your Thanksgiving decorations. You can thank my later... LOL!!!! Trust me, it's a good one!

Friday, 11/15/13

Happy Friday!!! Thank you so much to everyone who attended our parent/teacher/student conferences last night. Those nights make for a loooonnnnggg day (interesting sentence, but you get me, right?), but it is so worth it when I get to spend such quality time talking about my amazing students! I made it through most of today not feeling the effects of yesterday---it hit me at about 2:00, but I've got my blog and some more work to accomplish before my stinging eyes and I can head home and crash on the couch. I lead such a wild life, don't I??? But, that being said, I will share with you that tomorrow I am heading downtown to see one of my very favorite shows, "Wicked"!!! I'm sooooo excited! Tomorrow will be my 10th time seeing it!! And it's "Wicked"'s 10-year anniversary!! And I'll be sitting in the 10th row!! So, now you see why I need to get home and get rested up. =)

Before I sign off, I have to just share with you that today we had our first full rehearsal of the 2nd graders' winter music program. It is CUTE WITH A CAPITAL Q!!!!!!!!!!! (if that doesn't make sense...think of how the word cute sounds in the beginning, not how it's actually spelled LOL)  The kids were patient and darling while our music teacher worked out the little arranging details that the first practice comes with. Oh my gosh, I just can't wait to see the whole show when it's all put together. It's going to be killer!! Watch out "Wicked," you have competition for my heart!!

Lastly-----let's get this going this weekend: GOOOOOOO BBBBBBBEEEAAAAARRRRRRSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS---Ask your child about the new game we learned in math today. It was called Thanksgiving Bump and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, 11/12/13

There are some people who are number people, and there are some who are not. I fall in the "number people" category. Mind you, this does not mean that I am a MATH person---no no no! I mean, I'm not the world's worst~ I love logic, so where it can be applied (like algebra), I love it. Where it cannot be applied....(like in geometry with all of its proofs....ugh...I shutter to remember....) I don't love it. Now, all of you geometry lovers, no hate mail please. I'm sure that in some fashion, in some bizzarro world, some people would say that geometry and its proofs are logic-driven, but after all of my years on earth, I'm going to choose to ignore such rubbish. ;)

So, why am I drudging up these painful memories of high-school math you ask? I do so to point out that today is one of those days which we number people totally (and geekily) dig: 11-12-13. And since there's only one more to come in this century, I am cherishing it all the more. So there it is: I've exposed the uber-nerd inside of me. Not to worry, I'm certain that if you give it a minute, my inner uber-dork will surface and all of the universe will be restored!

On an unrelated topic: A note to anyone who reads my posts early after I've published them. Many days by the time I'm sitting down to collect my thoughts and debrief my day (aka conduct my own form of therapeutic writing), my eyes are quite weary, not to mention my brain. I point this out in hopes that you all will cut me some slack in both my composition of thoughts and the grammatical rules which I often break while composing. Occasionally in the evenings I'll go back and reread what I've written. Often I find many mistakes and do my best to fix them up, all the while hoping that my readers have not yet checked in on me and discovered my lack of proofreading skills (I write as I'm proofreading this for the third time!). Last night, I wasn't at all happy with the randomness of my writing, so I went in and did a mini-overhaul. I point all of this out, simply to let you know that if there are errors or thoughts which appear cuckoo for cocopuffs....well, now you know why. It has nothing to do with my inner cuckoo, just my brain's feeble attempt at slowing down!! =) On that note.....enjoy the evening!

Monday, 11/11/13

Happy Veterans' Day!!! What an amazing day we have to think about, honor and show our gratitude to some of the most important people in our country, our veterans! Today we had an assembly where our local veterans came to speak to the kids about their service. From the minute they entered the gym presenting the flag, my eyes welled up. I can't help but think of my grandfather who was a WWII vet. My family is originally from upstate New York, so I didn't have the privilege of growing up with my extended family. We would visit every couple of years and when I was on my own, I went out to see everyone as often possible. It was in those last few years of my grandfather's life when I finally wised up enough to ask him about his service and write down every word that came out of his mouth. I cherish those memories and notes. Upon his passing, I was sure to take his military uniform home with me. Seeing those "grandpas" come into our school each Veterans' Day always gives me a moment to feel my grandfather's presence and honor his memory.

As I reflect on the service the veterans have given, I can't begin to imagine the impact that seeing combat takes on one's life. I can't imagine that they can possibly come home as the same people who left, but I will be forever grateful and humbled by those who, at some point in their lives , saw it beneficial to put others before themselves.

Below is a picture from today. Such sweet and beautiful men. They had fun chiding each other based on the various branches of the military they served. It was so cute! Toward the end of the assembly, they thanked us for having them come to school, and then we heard one little voice say, "Thank you." That opened the gates for many, many more little voices to call out their thanks and, well, forget it----holding back the tears was a lost cause at that point. It was a touching end to a special event at school.

God bless our veterans and those who currently serve, as well as their patient and loving families! 

Friday, 11/8/13

For as long as I can remember, I've stared into the night sky, almost as though hypnotized by it. Add to that, my dad is very into physics, so my whole life he's been telling me of the newest discoveries going on out there in that land of beautiful mystery. So when I started teaching second graders about the constellations, it felt like destiny. It is for this reason, and this reason alone that I can get on board with the whole daylight-savings shenanigans and it getting dark so early. And now that it is officially nighttime by the time I leave work, I find myself thinking of my students and their parents very frequently. The moon for the past few nights has been extremely cool and each night I've thought, ooooohhhhh, I wonder if the kids have seen this tonight!!?? If you happen to be outside at night over the next week or so, please take a moment with your child to enjoy the beauty of the night sky and the changing moon phases. If you look closely, you can easily see the entire moon, even the dark parts, and if you can wrap your brain around it, it's highly cool to think about the fact that the part we're seeing is all because of the sunlight that is being reflected down to us. Additionally, there are some great constellations which are easily seen this time of year. Cassiopeia is one and Orion is another. Both of which the kids learned about at length in the Starlab. If you're familiar with the night sky, I know that I often see Pleiades, the seven sisters, this time of year as well, however they're a bit harder to find (if you're a Jimmy Buffett fan, I wonder if you're singing one of his songs right now along with me.....)

So, go stare at the stars and moon with your family, and while you're looking, please visualize a BEARS VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great weekend! 

Tuesday, 11/5/13

Oh gosh, the kids sure came in talking about that Bears game last night!! I was at the IPTO meeting for the beginning of the game, and when I got home THEY WERE WINNING!!!!!!!!! I was beyond shocked (not that I doubted, but those smelly Packers are so darn good. Humph!). So------because I couldn't be a jinx, I immediately changed the channel. I was dying to watch the game and see how things had been going, but when you have a smidge of superstitious tendencies, well, you stop at nothing to help your team win. So, I "sacrificed" with a little Adam Levine eye candy and flipped occasionally and quickly for a score update----then finally saw the final score and could breathe again!!!!!!!!!!!! Happiness across the land!!!!!!!!!!!!! Check out our classroom graph: It's starting to look more and more beautiful, huh?

Today in writing there was one of those lessons that I wish so badly you could see. Your kids are just amazing and are growing exponentially before my very eyes. Let me premise my story by giving some insight--I've never been one to talk "baby talk" or "little kid talk" to my students. I talk to them using my normal vocabulary that I'd use talking to anyone. Sometimes I have to explain a word or two, but the reason that I bring all of this up is that I'm always impressed when I see the kids start to rise to the occasion and start using bigger vocabulary themselves---AND THAT HAPPENED TODAY! Okay, so my excitement is not so much over the vocabulary itself, but rather how one student expressed himself in an interesting set of circumstances. Let me set the scene: We were doing a writing lesson on "bold beginnings." The page we were looking at gave 2 choices of beginning sentences: one that was deemed bold and another which was not. We went down the line, one by one, for all four sets following the same formula: I'd ask the kids to decide which of the two they though was the bolder, then the students who chose choice A were to defend their answer and those who chose B were to defend theirs. When we got to the fourth set, only one child chose A, while everyone else chose B. As we went into our dialog, the one student defended his answer and a few who chose the other defended theirs. Then something amazing happened----one of the kids (who'd chosen choice B) began to explain why it was "okay" that the initial child (who'd chosen A) made his choice. With all of my heart I wish I could have recorded how he stated his feelings, it was so eloquent and "grown up." It was something to the effect of, "I understand why XXX made his choice and he was right to tell use his opinion." That's not really how he said it, but it was something along those lines and it was UH-MAY-ZING! It made my teacher heart melt as well as beam with pride. I can never say enough about this age level and how, given the opportunity, the kids have the capacity to exceed any and all "little kid" expectations. They may be miniature-sized humans and have little, unsoiled minds, but their brains are GIGANTIC and growing every second. My mind was blown today, and I can't wait for it to happen over and over and over between and now and June!!

Friday, 11/1/13

Happy November! One of my favortie things to do is turning over the calendar to a new page. Throughout each month, the llittle boxes get sooo booked up, by the end of hte month the calendar looks like it's been trhough a war. Then I turn to the new month and, while it has some things writtne down, it still looks so calm and pleasant. And November is especially lucky because it has Thanksgiving written on its page!!

Today went surprisingly well. The day after Halloween always goes one of two ways: the kids are super sugared up and still hyper from the holiday or they're on their sugar crash and feeling mellow. Today was a bit of a ride down the middle of the two. The kids came in wanting to talk a lot about last night, which is great, but then were able to focus and get down to business. I, on the other hand, am having one of those "I'm hanging on until 3:20" days. I cashed out early on the couch last night--the kind of sleep where you wake up and can't figure out where you are or why you're there. Then I decided to stop fighting it and just go to bed, and of course, then couldn't fall back to sleep.

On top of everything, today is report card day!! I always give the kids a little chit-chat on report card day to remind them of a few things. First being: report cards are important, but at this point, we are in a new quarter. I ask the kids to talk over their report cards with their parents and make some decisions: what they liked and hope to maintain and perhaps, what they'd like to improve upon. Even a student with the highest marks possible needs to work to maintain them and everyone should always always work toward improvements. Secondly: report cards are private; they are between the kids, their parents and me. I tell the kids that they are not to open their report cards unless they are with their parents, even if a babysitter, someone on the bus, a play date's parent, etc ask to see it. I tell them that I've given them the rule that they are not to open it until the are with their parents. At that point, if their parents want to share the news, that is their business, but kids should not be letting others look. Finally-we discuss the importance of not bragging. We talk about pride vs. bragging and that it is very special and important to feel proud of one's accomplishments, but not to the harm or hurt of others. The kids responded very well to our conversation, and I'm certain that they will handle themselves with the good character and grace that I've grown accustomed to witnessing every day in my classroom.

Have a wonderful weekend! Mitchell out....