Thursday, 2/27/14

I haven't had a moment to spare this week, but the kids have earned a popcorn/movie party, so I'm taking a moment to finally check in with you all (specifically with the 3 people who check in on me each day---I don't know who you are, but I love you tons for making it feel worth while to continue this blog--thank you!!!).

I don't know if any of you were at Trivia Night last week, but it was such a blast, I have to tell you about it. Sadly, the state capitals were not a part of the night. I was sooo ready, but it was so much fun regardless. I loved seeing tons of my former students' parents. I felt like it was a big family reunion. Peggy Kinander was the MC for the night and she was uh-may-zing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My team's theme was #flashbackfriday  We each had t-shirts with #flashbackfriday on the front and our own personalized hashtag on the back. Mine was #mostlikelytotakeontheworldinakillerpairofheels   In addition, our table was decorated with old pictures of us, our yearbooks, graduation hats/tassels, etc. I can't say enough about it. The organizers did a great job and I'm counting down the days until we get to do it again! Kudos D10 Education Foundation!!Thank you for all of your hard work!!

Today our library teacher put together an incredible event in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday. Parent volunteers came in to read their favorite Dr. Seuss books to the kids. They got to eat their lunches "picnic-style" in the gym while being read to. What a special event!!

Have any of your heard of Roselle's Rose Queen Pageant? This year is the 55th, so if you are a Lake Park alum, you probably have (it's open to any high-school aged Roselle resident or any Lake Park student). Anyhow, about 2 years ago Mrs. Reuter, her daughter and I were asked to take over the running of the pageant when the ladies who'd done it for 20 years were ready to pass on the tiara. ;)  The pageant is tomorrow night. It's very cool because we're able to provide some lovely ladies scholarship money toward the college of their choice. Hopefully someday I might see some of these little ladies of mine in the event!!

Unlike most, I haven't completely hated this winter's weather. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely over sending checks to the wonderful person who plows out my driveway, but the cold and snow have not gotten the best of me. That being said, I'm done now. It's nearly March.  I took down my snowman gel clings and put up a spring tree---leaves, tulips, baby chicks, all the joys of spring. Bring it on Mother Nature. I've been patient, and I hear you're planning to dole out another dose on us this weekend, but it's time to be done!!

Well, that's it from here. Enjoy the looooonnngggg weekend. Think of me -- in my meetings -- while you're at home in your pjs. LOL!! Have fun with your kids!!!

Monday, 2/24/14

Last week I told the kids that I was going to have a treatment done to my hair that probably result in it being straight come Monday. I've never, ever come to school with straight hair (in fact, it's only been straightened 3ish times ever--I don't have the patience, so it's only happened if the gal doing my hair decided it would be fun to straighten it). Low-and-behold, I came to school today with straight hair. I was a bit nervous, but the kids were so cute about it. It is quite shocking. If you don't know or don't remember, I have long, curly, extra-large (80's style) hair. This morning the kids kept asking, "Are you Ms. Mitchell?" I told them that I'm her evil twin---the straight-haired teacher. Of course, I couldn't hardly keep that facade up for very long. I was only able to manage it during writing time, at the end of which, one of the boys told another to use his magical words and bring the nice Ms. Mitchell back. LOL! Classic!  By the end of the day I kept feeling kids touching the back of my hair. It is so very different, I have to admit, I've felt it many times too. It'll be back to curly tomorrow, but it was fun while it lasted. =)

Today we celebrated George Washington's birthday (which was Saturday) buy doing a super-cool activity that I have that's called "Picture History with Me."  I read from a script that teaches about old Georgie, and then each part of the script gives a direction to draw on the paper that goes back to what I've just read. For example, I read to them about his crossing the Delaware River, and they are instructed to draw a "river" on their paper. I'm also demonstrating what the river should look like on the Smartboard, so it's not some random river, and by the time the story is over, viola!, we have ourselves a George Washington picture. It's really very clever and cute, especially to listen as the kids start to piece together what we're doing and what the picture is becoming. I feel like February is so rushed, trying to fit in and teach about all of these American Heroes that I love talking about -- I wish that I could slow down time during February (but speed up the passing of the winter weather). I also read to the kids today about Jackie Robinson. I grabbed the wrong book--so I'll be reading them my favorite tomorrow. It's called Teammates and it's about Jackie and his teammate Pee Wee Reese. They have a cool story together and it not only demonstrates a bond between teammates, but also the strength of character that both of these men had during extremely difficult times, which is a timeless lesson to teach to the kids.

Anyhow, on that note--I've got to get going so I can get home and wash my hair so that the Ms. Mitchell can return to her class tomorrow. LOL!! It's been a fun day causing even my closest of friends to do a double-take when seeing me, but it's time to go back to the big hair girl that I am!! (I'll always be an 80's girl!)

Friday, 2/21/14

At the end of the day today we had 5 spare minutes. So, what's a girl to do?? I grabbed my United States flashcards and had the kids quiz me. Why??? you ask?? Because in a few hours is the D10 Education Foundation's trivia night. One of the possible categories is capitals, so I've been boning up all week. That's right, people, if you're going to trivia night and they do state capitals as a category, prepare to have the floor swept with you!! I know, I know, I'm all sorts of Tommy-Big-Talker and more-than-likely there won't even be a capitals category (or if there is, it will be international not just US), but I'm so excited, I don't even care! Plus, our table has an extremely fun theme, so if nothing else, we'll look cute!! =)

I can't write more--I have to go and try to memorize the presidents now.....

Good luck to all who are also trivia-ing!! And thank you to the D10 Foundation for putting it together. You all are UH-MAY-ZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3

Tuesday, 2/18/14

I hope you all had a great Presidents' Day weekend. I had the house all cleaned and my schoolwork done by Sunday afternoon, so yesterday I just had a few errands to run before the snow hit and then I enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing. I'd dvr'd a program about Thomas Jefferson, so I figured that was a pretty legit way to spend a part of my afternoon. Did you know that both he and John Adams passed away within 5 hours of each other, both 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence?? How amazing is that? They said he was in severely failing health and kept asking if it was July 4th yet. When he finally got the answer of 'yes,' he passed on. Fascinating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, to prove to you that I'm not the complete nerd that the original paragraph may have painted me to be, look at where I was on Sunday night:

No big deal, just hanging out with Justin Timberlake!! Fantastic seats, beyond-amazing concert, even great parking and no traffic. Overall, a great time was had by all! ;)


















Back to reality today~ We came in this morning to discover 3 snowmen had been built in the front of our school. How fun is that? It must be crazy warm out because by the time I had a prep time this afternoon, the poor little guys had drastically shrunk.

The rest of the day was a combination of coming down from the sugar residuals of Valentine's Day and getting back to the grind. I had the kids make a get-well card for one of their classmates, and I was so touched by some discoveries as the kids started giving them to me. At first I noticed that a lot of them had monkeys on them, so I asked if he likes monkeys--turns out he does. Then it came to me that there was a LOT of orange, so I asked what his favorite color is. Sure enough, they told me orange. How incredibly is it that these kids knew those details about their friend and all made sure to incorporate them into their cards????  I am an incredibly proud lady today after having witnessed that!!!

Friday, 2/14/14

Hi my friends! Happy Valentine's Day!  What a crazy week it's been. I completely lost my voice last weekend, so decided to make a little doctor visit on Tuesday. I got some sort of prescription along with the suggestion of staying home from work again on Wednesday. Clearly, this doctor and I had never met or that suggestion would not have been spoken--but I was a good girl, I compromised and took Wednesday morning off to rest it, but then came back to work for the afternoon. =) So, I apologize for my absense. If you know any teachers, you know that it is a zillion times more work to miss a day than it is to be at school, so I've been catching up all week.

Now onto the import stuff....Valentine's Day!! Here you go:  Enjoy!

My Valentines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how I ever got so lucky! <3

Just because it's fun, I thought you might like a little insight into the great Valentine exchange inside a 2nd grade classroom. Chaos, fun and childhood memories all blended into a wonderful afternoon! 

And let me wrap up with picture proof,  (or so I'm told) of one of my students baking me cookies. She and I have a running joke that she says she bakes and I tell her I'm convinced her cookies really come from our local bakery. She had her mom send me photo evidence of her making Valentine's cookies. I'm still not 100% certain that the proof is legit, but shh..don't tell her that! (LOL!! Hi G!! Is your hand on your hip right now????)

G putting Kean's cookies into the oven to try to convince me that she's actually baking. ;)

Friday, 2/7/14 The 100th Day of School

I don't know if I've ever shared with you my love of numbers. Now, don't get my wrong, I'm no "Beautiful Mind" or anything like that--far from it, but I love when I write things like 2/7/14 and it immediately pops out to me that 2x7=14. Nerdy? Very. Unimportant? Probably. One of the goofy things that makes me, me? Most certainly. So there you go, your little wacky Ms. Mitchell fact-o-the-day.

Speaking of fun numbers........Happy 100th Day of School! Had there not been all of the snow days, we would have celebrated on Monday. I like a good Friday celebration way better than a Monday one though, so it all worked out for the best. It'll be pretty business as usual around here, but I do have some fun things up my sleeve. Speaking of which, I'm decided I'd get my writing started early since it's going to be a bit of a crazy day, but I'd better hit the 'save' button and get to thinking about the day before that dreaded bell rings. Until later friends....

Here's what the kids came in to find hanging on our classroom door this morning. It made me so happy to hear how excited they were. Such a simple little thing, and yet it created such joy-----this is why I adore this class. Not only that, but once the kids were in the room, they were thanking me for making it for them!! There is nothing in the world more powerful (in my humble opinion) than the words "Thank You," and if they're in written form, forget it~ I usually get choked up. Oh, but I digress. Back to the banner-in the midst of all of the kids' excitement, the subject of how I made it came up. Those are my favorite conversations because I rarely speak: I want the kids to do some critical thinking, and without fail, they always figure things out. Listening to the process of how they get to the correct answer is never less-than entertaining and impressive. Today's conversation began with, "How did you write on it after you'd cut it?"  And from there, the thinking and problem solving began. Magical!!

It's hard to read---I should have made the cuts bigger, but it says "Happy 100th Day of  2nd grade!"

Tuesday, 2/4/14

It seems that every spring and fall when the weather changes I become afflicted with some nasal issues that are a complete and total nuisance. I thought I'd escaped them because this past fall I didn't have it, but as everything else is bizarre with this winter, it started to hit yesterday. Today I have a drastically deeper voice (last year I had no voice for the entire time between Thanksgiving and Christmas--can you imagine? ME with no voice??? No bueno!!) and some sneezing. I've worked to combat it with all of the tools in my arsenal; I will not let some disgusting mucus win!! So, why on earth would I share all of this? It's to tell you of a cute story that came as result of my inadequate vocal skills and how the kids handled it as they (ny vocal chords) changed throughout the day. First off, right after lunch I said something to the kids one of my little boys walked by me and very nonchalantly said, "It sounds better..." Sure enough, it wasn't scratchy or raspy, it sounded more normal. Sadly, that didn't last very long, so by the time we were checking DOL on the board, it was bad again. One of the kids suggested that I should let them come up and be the teacher so my voice could rest. Not one to back away from a second-grade challenge, I sat down at an empty desk and offered the Smartboard pen to the student who'd suggested it. He clammed up, but there's always another second grader ready to take the chance. He came up and, without missing a beat, picked up exactly where I'd left off. He even asked the kids to "defend" their answers, the same as I always do. I'll tell you what, some days these kids blow my socks off!! (is that the right phrase, or is my head too stuffed to think clearly right now?)

I took a pic of the board when he was done so I could show you the cuteness! To die for, don't you think? I did the original sentence, written in blue, and the V that is circled, he did everything else. My kids are so perfect!!! <3

Monday, 2/3/14

What a Super Bowl, or I think  some may say, a not-so-Super-Bowl! You know me, if the Bears aren't playing in it, then what's the use? Well, I guess a great Bruno Mars concert, enough junk food to feed a small nation and time with great friends make it a fun day. I saw a tear-jerking story about the Seahawks' quarterback (at least I think it was the quarterback) before the game, so I decided to root for them. I guess I'm lucky to be a sucker for a tear jerker, because then "my team" (at least my team of the night) wound up winning. LOL! But of course, I then felt bad for Peyton Manning and all of Denver. We know all-too-well what it's like to be on the losing side of a Super Bowl. Hey wait! When we were on the losing side, it was all because Peyton Manning was on the winning side. Hold the phone! Suddenly I'm not feeling quite as bad, still bad of course, but that realization just took a tiny bit of the sting out. Listen Peyton, no one knows better than us that there's always next year!

Today I am writing my blog while sitting at one of my (absent) student's desks. Typically, I try to at least get it started while the kids are writing in the journals. The kids are writing, I'm writing, it's all nothing but creative harmony in the room at that time. However, recently one of the little folks decided I shouldn't be blogging while they're writing. Let me edit that, it was fine with him that I was blogging, but just not writing on the computer, rather I should be writing on paper like the kids were. I tried to explain that I don't have an option, in order to "publish" the blog, it had to be done on the computer. Nope, no dice. He wanted me writing on paper. So I, of course, got paper and sat close to him to write. That was not good enough. He would have liked for me to go and sit next to my computer and write. It's all part of the fun back-and-forth that we have going all day, everyday, in my classroom. I try to set a good example of problem solving and respect, and I always want the kids to be able to respectfully express themselves, so sometimes it winds up resulting in writing my blog entry on paper and then transferring it onto the computer. If it means the kids are learning to look at their surroundings, question them and problem solve, then I'm down with being the consequence. ;)

So, now that I'm done transferring my thoughts from paper to computer, I'm going to hit publish, clean up and go home to my left-overs from last night's indulgence. Have a great night!

Friday, 1/31/14

**Saturday morning note: I woke up in the middle of the night realizing I'd written this, but never hit the publish button before running out of work to get the weekend started. Those short weeks take a larger toll than you'd ever suspect. ;) Here goes.....

The kids have officially begun writing their persuasive pieces. I can't wait to read them!! I wonder if I'll be persuaded to either have a beach day or take the kids out to play in the snow. I'm hoping there are more compelling arguments for beach day than snow day, but I know how these little minds work, and I may have opened a door for myself that I can't step back from. ;)

Today is the first-graders' informance. We saw the audience coming in the front doors when we were walking back from music. The kids in the front of my line asked when we get to go and see the informance. I had to break it to them that second graders don't see it. As you can imagine, that went over like a ton of bricks. So......what did my teacher brain tell them......to write a letter to Dr. Turner to persuade her to let us see it!! I don't know if I'll have anyone actually take me up on it, but I like that I can now use their newly acquired knowledge of persuasion to translate into an answer to the never ending questions of "Can we....." Try it at home, I think you'll like it!! =)

Have a fun and safe Super Bowl weekend!  Go whoever.......if it's not the Bears, who cares?! I'm looking forward to fun with friends, hoping there are still some commercials that have yet to be released and most of all, THE PUPPY BOWL!!! You've seen it, right? On Animal Planet?? If not, you must check it out. It is clever and painfully adorable. In the past it has started in the mid-afternoon and they rerun it all day. Trust me, it is not to be missed!