Thursday, 6/5/14

Are you ready for the rest of the readers' theater??? My little actors and actresses are so incredible! Check out the details in their props and costumes; and again, I did not give a single suggestion--this is all them!!

Here we have the classic tale of The Cheetah and The Sloth (based on The Tortoise and The Hare) . The players include a Sports Announcer, Sloth, Cheetah, Racing Judge, Commercial Voice and Audience

Behold: Goldilocks and the Three Bullfrogs featuring a Narrator, Goldilocks, Papa Bullfrog, Mama Bullfrog and Baby Bullfrog

Finally we have the cast of Slurping Beauty: Narrator, Wicked Fairy, King, Prince Charming, Prince Alarming and Slurping Beauty

Wednesday, 6/4/14

Today was a momentous day for many reasons. Today was field day, which always marks that we're coming to the very end of the year. Unfortunately we had poor weather, but fortunately, we have the world's best gym teacher, so she planned fantastic indoor activities for the kids. We also started taking things down and cleaning things out in our room. It's always so heartbreaking to see the walls slowly becoming bare and the "personality" of our classroom starting to slip away. It's not a good vibe for me, so I put it off for as long as I possibly can. And today was the last day for one of our classmates. He has plane reservations for tomorrow, so who am I to stop him?? Even though I'd really really REALLY like to. The kids have been working on readers' theater plays, so we were sure to do his group's today, before we were missing a crucial role in the show. The class has been working for two days on making props and costumes. Spiderella was today's presentation. The characters include a narrator, First Ladybug Stepsister, Second Ladybug Stepsister, Spiderella, Fairy Godmoth and Cicada Prince. Is that the cutest thing ever, or what???

Below I present to you.......Spiderella:

If you look closely, you can see the tiaras, crowns and "wireless" microphones. I gave the kids absolutely zero direction on their props and costumes; they did it all on their own, and impressed me every step of the way.

Monday, 6/3/14

What a day!! It was an unconventional one, to say the least, but look at how it ended:

Some of my sweet and amazing moms coordinated with some other wonderful parents and look at the result:

It's a shoe!!!!!!!!!!! A SHOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Along with gorgeous plants that were done by these special folks and then they had the kids come in and decorate the pots with their fingerprints! I am so honored and touched-I can't even believe it! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed and worked to make this gift come to life. It's so precious!

Wednesday, 5/28/14

I don't have much to report on today, so I thought I'd show you something that we came up with yesterday. On the first day of each week, we do a spelling "preview" of the new words that are to be learned that week. The kids try the new words on their paper, and I have a copy of what they fill out on the Smartboard. When we're done with the list, we correct the words together. Well, yesterday the Smartboard was being less-than-cooperative, and I wasn't sure how I was going to do the correcting portion with the kids. I am forever talking to the kids about being a problem solver, so I looked around the room baffled as to how to solve this problem, and the following is what I came up with. I must admit, I was pretty proud of myself. And then, major bonus....I was INCREDIBLY proud of the kids because I started out with the blinds open and the lights in the room on. Then I tried closing the blinds, which helped a great deal and then the kids suggested we turn off the lights and it was PERFECT!! So-here's how we did spelling, on the windows, for lack of a better idea---but sometimes lacking turns into loving, as it did in this case:

Friday, 5/23/14

Today was a big, big day for me. Throughout the year I run "small" assemblies for our students to celebrate the Character Counts pillars that they are learning about and demonstrating. Typically we say The Pledge of Allegiance together, some kids come to the microphone and read writing they've done about the month's pillar and then we all shake our groove thangs to a song called "The Character Counts Shuffle." However, at the end of the year, I present a much larger assembly to the students body to celebrate all of their great work in developing their character and being such a great kids. Each year I find a theme for the assembly, find a book that I can share with them that will support it (I display it through a PowerPoint) and the grand finale of the slide show is pictures of all of the Benson students (taken in little groupings) that I've put to music and show on the gigantic screen we have in the gym. In between those two things I do some story telling and some "wisdom imparting"  as  best I can. It's a lot of planning, and I'm always nervous I'm going to forgot something, but by the end, I'm incredibly pleased. If nothing else, the kids get a kick out of seeing their pictures on the big screen, and I get a kick out of seeing how happy they are. If there's a little gleaning of a lesson in there somewhere; that's the best bonus I could ever dream of! Today's didn't go exactly as I had planned, but after I'd cleaned up and was making my way back to the classroom, two second graders told me 'Good job.' That made it all worth it!!!!!!!!!

Happy Memorial Day to all! Thanks to those who have served and/or are serving and their families for their sacrifice! Sometimes we take it for granted, but we truly do have the privilege of living in the greatest country on Earth!!

Wednesday, 5/21/14

Last week I was getting a bit concerned about how the remainder of our school year together was going to go down. The weather was still cold, the kids were still in for recess and the fact that school was less than a month from being over was starting to take hold. Classroom management became a challenge, and I had to put in place some of the tricks up my sleeve that I'd used at the start of a school year. At one point I remember telling the kids that we didn't have much time left, and I really hoped that our time together would be lovely and fun, rather than frustrated and "strict."

I don't know what miracle happened, but they must've picked up on what I was trying to tell them. My day, well my week really, has been full of moments that I have tried to take "mental snapshots" of (is anyone thinking back to Alec Baldwin's episode of "Friends"? I sure am!). My students have been demonstrating the love, understanding and compassion for each other that I have intended to foster all year long. They have been cute and clever. I have watched them put into practice the problem solving skills that I've worked to teach them, and I have heard them use the terminology and phrases that I tend to repeat. I can nearly feel my heart swell as I write all of this. This year has been a true journey and it has been my honor to be on it with this particular group of little humans. I'm not wrapping up my blog for the year, even though it may sound that way, I'm just having a bit of a moment. <3<3<3

Friday, 5/16/14

 Here are our newest members of the Benson Primary family. The pictures don't quite do justice to the cuteness. Our little chickies often huddle together and then fall asleep on top of each other---it is the definition of 'AWWWW!!'

And look at the napkin one of the kids gave me earlier this week. How funny is that? I had to hang it up in honor of our current unit-of-study. ;)


That's it from here. I'm going head home to shovel. Just kidding, but can you believe that it snowed today?? I was walking around the room singing, "I'm dreaming of a white Memorial Day." ;)

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, 5/14/14

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Check out what I got this morning!!!!!!!!!! Lilacs!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to my sweet little D.C. for bringing them in. They've brightened up this gloomy day and they've smelled amaizng all day!!

Add to that the fact that our first two little chicks hatched from their eggshells today, and I'd chalk this up to a good day for Mother Nature and her miracles!! I'll post pics later in the week when more of the chickie siblings arrive. =)

Happy Spring!

Monday, 5/12/14

Happy Monday----Happy Spring (finally!) and Happy day-after Mother's Day! I hope you all had a great day relaxing and being catered to! From what I hear, that's not typically how Mother's Day rolls, but I can still hold out hope for you all. The kids were excited to tell me about giving their moms the books that they made for them in school. I usually find time to read them because they are usually so cute and funny, but I time escaped me this year.  I hope they were wonderful and you all loved them. I'm all about the keepsake gifts that have more heart and humor than razzle and dazzle, so I sure hope you found the joy in them that the kids had while making them.

I'm so incredibly excited that the trees are finally blooming, and I might even have lilacs on my bushes at home one of these days! They've usually blossomed and gone away by this point in May, but to be honest, I don't mind waiting for them. As long as they eventually appear, I'll be happy! On the downside of this sudden burst of spring----the dandelions in my yard are out of control! I've never had this many before, and I swear the stems are more like hoses with how thick they are. I spent a lot of my weekend outside spraying them. It's me against the weeds, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not totally confident that I'll come out of this war victorious! The joys of home ownership I guess----it's just that I'm a bit of a girly girl, so when I'm out pushing the fertilizer thingee or spraying weeds, I'm so far beyond my comfort zone, it's not even funny. I'm counting on one of you to find my knight in shining armor (I'd settle for a knight with a shining lawnmower) for me! ;)

Well, that paragraph sure took an interesting turn, huh? Lol! Perhaps I should take it as a sign to hit the Publish button and get my work done for the afternoon. Have a good night----hopefully there will be a sign of lilacs when we all get home! =)

Friday, 5/9/14

I know that I wrote on Wednesday about our amazing IPTO and the luncheon they'd provided on that day, but I feel I need to write another humble and sincere thank you to the members of our Parent/Teacher organization. As Benson's  "T"  in the IPTO, I know first hand, and behind-the-scenes how blessed we are to have such dedicated parents supporting our efforts for our kids, but this week, they hooked us up! We felt love everywhere we turned, from the luncheon, to a magnificent breakfast, to chocolates in our mailboxes and capping the week off with an array of desserts and sweets in our lounge today that would put the finest bakeries to shame! Our jeans' waistlines may be a big tighter this week, but our hearts are FULLER than we could have ever imagined. Next week we can get back to our salads and workouts, but this week we felt love and appreciation and nothing but gratitude to the families in our community. We are abundantly blessed, which is something we are acutely aware of every single day, but this week the IPTO outdid themselves and, as you can tell from my rambling sentences, there are no words to properly say thank you-----but THANK YOU!

Add to that the love that I've been showered with by my precious students and their fabulous parents, and I am a spoiled, but insanely happy chick this week!!!!

And then there was love demonstrated in a different way in my world today: my class released our butterflies into their forever home, Earth. The kids who wanted to were able to hold a butterfly and feel it flutter in their hands as they carried them from our classroom to our school garden, at which point they were released. It was one of those bittersweet life moments when something we've seen grow from when they first arrived as teeny tiny caterpillars had to be released to go and life their lives. I know the kids didn't like to let them go, but they did a good job of letting their little friends go. As I'm writing this I'm finding it all too similar to the emotions I've been feeling as the month of May flies by me and the days I have left with my little ones are rapidly disappearing. They came to me as teeny tiny little caterpillars and they are now the most amazingly beautiful butterflies I could ever imagine. I hate the thought of having to let them go and fly on their own, but I know it is what is best for them. I guess this is what they'd call "Life imitating art" in the school world. <3

I  was able to capture some precious moments as they did:

Tuesday, 5/6/14

Before I write anything at all about our excitement of the day, I must send a gigantic THANK YOU to anyone and everyone who is involved in the IPTO. Today their Teacher Appreciation committee provided the most amazing lunch for our staff. I've been very diligently watching what I've been consuming lately, but that all went out the window today. Tree Guys catered and it was AMAZING! I wish I could go back for more and more and more it was all so yummy! Thank you thank you thank you---any and all who contribute funds, time and/or talent to this wonderful organization. They do such incredible things for our kids and today made each of us feel extremely special!!

Now--on to the Room 16 excitement: BUTTERFLIES! Right here in our room! We've been waiting so incredibly patiently ever since the teeny tiny caterpillars arrived. We watched those caterpillars eat and grow, eat and grow, eat and grow. Eventually we saw their final molt as their metamorphosis transformed them each into a chrysalis. And now, the moment we'd all been waiting for, their final emergence into the beautiful Painted Ladies. The kids noticed first-thing this morning (I hadn't even noticed yet!). At first they were concerned because the butterflies were not moving, so I had to remind them that they were brand-spankin new to the world. By lunchtime I was getting excited reports that some had opened their wings. It's so fun to watch the kids run to the net every time we return to the classroom. I love hearing them talk to each other and use the vocabulary that I've been exposing them to throughout this science unit. They make me so proud!

Monday, 5/5/14

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!!  Just writing that is making me crave tacos!!!

Today was our spring trip to the nature center. I must admit that I was a bit concerned about the weather, but the sun came out and we all had a blast (which made up for the fall when we were rained out!). The activities that Ms. Chris led the kids through were so incredibly cute and I was grateful to the moms who joined in for the fun. I've attached some pics of the "mother birds" and "father birds" as they built their nests for their future babies. Throughout the afternoon, the "birds" then protected the eggs that wound up in their nests from the predators (the chaperones), later found food to feed to their babies (the chaperones) and ultimately we all wound up inside where we washed up and Ms. Chris gave all of my little birdies a gummy worm for their hard work.

Friday, 5/2/14

Ugh--another week that has flown by. I need more time in my days to be able to blog!! Isn't that what we all wish for... more hours??? =)

Today was a big day in our second-grade world. We made a trip over to Franzen for the kids to see their new school! The second graders have been pen-pals with third graders this year and today they got to meet them in person! They met in the third-grade classrooms and were able to talk and hang out for a bit. Then the kids had lunch and recess together. After that, the third graders went back to class and the second graders gathered in the library. Half of our kids then went on a tour of Franzen with Mr. Taylor while Ms. Wit read to the other half. When the tour was over, the kids returned to the library and the groups switched. Our time at Franzen ended with the second graders all coming back into the library and doing a brief Q and A session with Mr. Taylor. The trip was a great success, and hopefully has put the kids' minds at ease about transitioning to a new school in the fall.

They look ready, don't they? (I'm not ready for them to go, but they sure are!)

Monday, 4/28/14

I feel like it's been forever since I've written. This time of year moves at a rapid pace, mostly because of the exciting things we have going on, but the rapidity (I just made that up!!) causes my blog to be forgotten by the time I'm getting kicked out of here at night.

Today we went to our middle school to see their production of "Aladdin." Oh my gosh, I might be slightly biased, but seriously only slightly, when I say they do the most amazing job with middle school students! The true testimony is the sheer number of students who volunteer to be involved. There are stage crews, light crews, the actors/actresses, make-up and hair--the whole thing! They work for months and months in preparation, and it shows. It is nothing less than stellar each year. Kudos to the staff members, parents and MIDDLE SCHOOL kids (it's a little mind blowing to me that so many kids of this age are so involved in their school's play--like I said, to me, that's testimony enough to what a quality production is created year after year). And, of course, then there's dorky me in the audience nearly in tears watching my former students up on stage lighting the place up. I'm a proud mama bear, that's for darn sure!!

That's it for today. My mind is a bit of a bowl of mush. I'm not sure why, espeically since we spent the afternoon enjoying the arts, so perhaps is the rain, but nonetheless, I'm taking it as a sign to say good-night, so Good-Night Gracie!

Monday, 4/21/14

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and a special Easter (for those who celebrate). I loved every second of the weather. I got a pedicure and dug out the flip flops--there's no turning back now, so Mother Nature better have dug out her flip flops as well!!  I also got the car washed. It was a very cathartic, done-with-winter weekend!!

On Wednesday we have the first of 4 field trips over the next three weeks. We're headed downtown! Hopefully the kids will all heed my warning of limiting their "liquid consumption" in the morning before we go. There's no bathroom on the bus and who knows what traffic will be like, so it's always best to err on the side of caution when the bladder is involved. =)  I'll write with a full report on Wednesday. I hope the weather is nice and we have a lovely day together. And above all, I hope that I have some priceless photo moments!

I hope you heard all about our recent class visitors. They've already grown tons and tons and tons...if you don't know what I'm talking about, ask your favorite second grader. ;)

On that note...I'm out for now. Have a great night!

Friday, 4/11/14

Happy Report Card Day! Earlier in the week I received some report cards of my own. This class cracks me up with that--they gave me report cards at the end of 2nd quarter too. Luckily, I showed some improvement from then until now. Lol!

Today was a big day. First, it was our "Day of Stars." I set a timer in the beginning of the day and whenever it went off, we dropped what we were doing so 5 or 6 randomly selected students could present their quilt square to the class and were able to answer questions from their classmates. Once the initial crew was done, I reset the timer and when it went off, we did the whole thing again with a few more kids. It was very exciting, especially when it went off smack-dab in the middle of our DOL quiz!!!

In addition to that excitement, we'd also received some more Flat Stanleys this week, so we learned about where he'd gone and added them to our map. Our map is getting quite full and looks super cool.

And above all else, my little pumpkins were finally able to go outside on a nearly 70 degree day and run around like crazy. Thank goodness! They were cooped up indoors for entirely too long this winter. They definitely deserve this weather!!

With that said, I'll leave you with some of my report cards to look over. I hope you get a smile like I did. Enjoy the weekend!!

Monday, 4/7/14

The first day back from spring break and we all survived! You never know what life will be like after everyone's been gone for over a week. I must admit, it was nice to see all of my favorite little faces! I have "door duty" (aka hang out with the kids from the time they first arrive in the morning until the bell rings) on Mondays. Today's was especially nice because I got to see the kids right away. It's funny how much you grow to enjoy seeing someone (or several someones) everyday, so much so, that even having a week off of school can make you miss them. 

Today is the first day of fourth quarter, which translates to the first official day that I start to fear the last day of school. Fourth quarter is always a blast because all of the work that we've put in all year pays off in dividends, plus there are just a ton of fun activities that occur, but it is very bittersweet because living in the back of my mind is the knowledge that my time of hanging out with these amazing little humans is nearing its end. So, I block that out and we just enjoy every single day we have together. Like today:

Nothing extraordinary except the announcement of our upcoming Day of Stars!! On Friday, April 11th, I'm going to randomly set a timer. When it goes off, regardless of what we are doing, we will drop everything and learn about a few of our star classmates. The kids were sent home today with a "quilt square." It's simply a piece of paper now, but by Friday will become a square which represents each of the kids in our class. I will put them together to form our class "quilt." Once we've learned about those first few kids, the timer will be reset, we'll continue on with business as usual until it beeps again--at which time we'll learn about some others, and so will go the day until we've been through all 23 of my shining stars. Some have a wacky Wednesday, we will have a free-for-all Friday!!  I'll fill  you in on how it goes! 

I'm off to finish up report cards! It's so hard to put into one little number or symbol what 9 weeks of academics, problem solving and growing looks like, so my favorite part is where I get to write on the bottom. That's the part I'm working on tonight. Good thing I seem to be in a writing state of mind. ;)

Happy Monday!

Thursday, 3/27/14

You know when someone has a project that they've created and so it holds a special place in the person's heart; the kind that's often referred to as one's "baby"? That's Kids Teach Too for me, and it was today! About 60 of Benson's students developed and created a display about something they find interesting, which they then taught about to their peers, Benson staff members and a variety of parents and volunteers. It went swimmingly, and I could not have been prouder of how well our students conducted themselves and how brilliantly they taught others.

Check out the cutie pies from Room 16 who rocked KTT today!!

 I am utterly exhausted, but these faces make projects like this 100% worth it! Great day! Congratulations to all participants!!

Friday, 3/21/14

Another 2nd Grade Career Day is in the books! 21 amazing presenters + 110ish second graders = a morning of learning, memory making and fun!!!

Here's a little window into our morning.....

Mr. B's 3rd time as a Career Day presenter!!

Everyone loves a chef!

Mr. P amazing the kids with his artistic skills!

Mr. T----the kids' future principal!!

A farmer in a bee suit; how cool is that??

The Itasca Police come to Career Day every year! 

Mr. K demonstrating that safety always comes first!

Grandma K, a nurse of 38 years! What a blessing!

Mrs. K showing what many Benson staff members would look like with new hairdos! So fun!

Mr. W helping us dream of future parks (and entertaining his son!!) 

Itasca Firefighters are also yearly visitors to Career Day!! 

Mr. B from the Itasca Bank. He's been a part of Career Day long than I have and is always a hit!