VACATION

   Yippee!  It's vacation week.  We had a super fun day today and I'm sure everyone is glad to be starting vacation (well parents maybe not so much).  I hope everyone has a fun break and wish you all the best for the new year.

 

Crafties

     What a fantastic day.  We were super lucky to have four moms come in and lead us in some great crafts.  The children made cool snowmen and a beautiful hanging snowflake mobile.  Everyone loved it. Me most of all, because these ladies did all the work from planning, implementing to cleanup.  I sat back and drank my tea.  That is MY kind of craft.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!

     This afternoon we "played" in three different learning centers.  We added candy cards with regrouping, wrote long silly sentences and made words plural.  By 2:40 I felt like the poster child for a calgon commercial--"Calgon take me away"--but to be honest, I wouldn't trade a second of it.

     I'm pleased to report that Dasher the elf has been behaving beautifully.  He has even surprised us a few times.  He put festive, sparkly, warm fuzzies in our jar and left some holiday pencils for us.  I'm sure that he's been reporting only good news about us to anyone who cares to listen.

     Friday is a half day and PAJAMA DAY for the whole school.  So wear your pj's and pack your robe and slippers.  We are also having our class party so don't forget to send in a snack and drink.

     Now is a great time to replenish your child's school supplies.  It's amazing how short lived crayons, scissors, markers etc. are in a second grade classroom.  I wonder if some creature comes in and eats them after dark?  HMMMMM
 

Home Stretch

     We are coming to the home stretch.  A few more days until Christmas break and excitement is mounting.  I hope everyone feels relaxed, ready and peacefully enjoying the season.

     We have an exciting week planned with all sorts of fun crafts and activities.  Tomorrow is our day to shop at the Holiday Workshop.  Gifts (for immediate family members only) will be on sale for a dollar each.  Wednesday we have some parent volunteers leading us in a craft or two.  Friday morning we will be joining Ms. Cotter's class for our party and sing/dance along, which is great fun.  The children will have to bring in their own treats and drinks.  Dismissal is at 12:30 and our party starts at 9AM so keep that in consideration when you are packing a party snack.  I suggest a donut or muffin, but it's your call.

     We went to the computer room today and played a telling time game.   I hope the children learned something new.  I did-I learned very few of them can tell time.  Please practice at home.  Click here and here for the games we played today.

     Be sure your child keeps plugging away at xtramath and finishes all his/her homework this week (wink wink).  I thought you'd appreciate the room cleaning and household help.  That's my little holiday gift to you.

   

On Broadway

     We were TERRIFIC!!!  What a show.  I'm so proud of the children.  They did a fantastic job.  I hope that when they are older and accepting their Tony or Grammy awards they remember this day and thank their second grade teacher for all she's done.  (Although, the music teacher taught them the songs and I really had very little to do with the performance at all)  It would still be exciting to be included in an acceptance speech.

Books Galore

     We have been reading like crazy.  There are so many books that I want to read and that the kids want me to read that we just can't keep up.  We've been trying hard to get to them all.  Ask your child to tell you how similar all the Anansi stories were.  They were crazy excited when they made the connections.  We finished Stink today and we've been reading holiday books.  I promised that I'd get to some snowman stories that the children are begging me to read.  It's it FANTASTIC.  EVERYONE is super excited about READING.  YIPPEE.

     We have quite a few fun writing assignment that I hope to tackle before the break.  We finished one titled Santa's Stuck.  It had a fun crafty to go with it.

Here are some other random photos.

     Friday is our Holiday show and gym.  Please dress for the show and not gym.  We want to look our best.  You can pack your sneakers in you backpack.

     Dasher the elf has been TOTALLY well behaved.  I am one happy teacher

Best Day Ever

     Yesterday was my birthday.  I know what you are thinking.  Aren't you at an age when you stay in bed all day and hope no one notices you are a year older?  ABSOLUTELY NOT.  I love my birthday.  Let me tell you why.  I received a stack of love notes, hearts, pictures, and cards from students who worked on them all day by "sneaking" their creativity as soon as they had a free second.  I was visited and sung to by THREE classrooms.  I was surrounded by children who appreciate the fact that you should feel special all day on your birthday.  Best of all, when I told them I turned 22 MOST of them believed me.  One students who questioned it said he knew for a fact I was 32.  Everybody was ON BOARD with that.  It gets even better.  When I admitted to 32 and proclaimed that "I look WAYYYY younger than that."  Thirteen little heads nodded in absolute sincere agreement.  What's not to love about THAT?

     We had a gingerbread kind of day yesterday.  We sorted gingerbread sentences.  We grouped gingerbread synonyms and we colored by reading our ordinal numbers.  Some students got to create gingerbread cookies on the computer.  We ran out of time so click here for the link so your child can play at home.  Our computer room got new lap tops this week-YIPPEE.  I promise the children we'd hit the gingerbread site on Monday in the computer lab as well.

   Our elf, Dasher has been a bit mischievous.  He made a mess-TWICE.  Thank goodness for my birthday he was VERY WELL behaved.

     We're still reading Anansi stories and started Stink.  Ask your child to tell you all about them.  We have also been practicing for the Holiday Show which is next Friday at 1:30.  I'll send the songs home next week so your child can practice some more.

Science Guy

     We had a special assembly today.  Keith the science guy came.  He was wonderful.  He cracked a bull whip, the first tool to break the sound barrier.  He suffocated a candle, showed (faux) scat from different animals.  The kids loved that.  He dissected an owl pellet.  We got to see the bones and of course the best was saved for last.  He made slime.  This is definitely on my agenda of things to do.  I just need to find time to find the ingredients.  FUN FUN!

     It's the first week of December and we had a VERY SPECIAL guest visit our class.  He was hanging out in my marker basket.  Be sure to ask your child who it was.

     You may have noticed a change in our spelling list and homework.  We are going to spend another week on Anansi.  Our spelling words coincide with our reading series, so if I stall in reading, we have no spelling.  I thought it would be fun to create a math word spelling test.  Hopefully your child can explain all those words to you.  These words won't be found in spelling city.  As far as the homework goes, you can thank my son Derek for the easier packet.  He and I had a knock down drag out last week about finishing homework and doing it correctly.  I was trying to explain he had one wrong answer and OF COURSE I didn't know what I was talking about because "that's not how his teacher does it".  I further tried to explain that I teach SECOND GRADE and clearly SECOND GRADE teachers know more than FIRST GRADE teachers.  He wasn't having it.  It reinforced to me how DREADFUL homework can be.  So hopefully you will now find our packets more user friendly.  You are welcome.

     We didn't start a new chapter book last week like I had hoped.  I hope to start a STINK book this week.  He is the main character in a series of chapter books.  Although, I have only read one, it was adorable.  I know the kids will love it.  Stink and his friends are on a mission to find homes for over 100 hamsters.

     Remember, tomorrow is a half day and Wednesday is WALK TO SCHOOL DAY.   There is a big push to get another class to steal our trophy.  I'm not worried.  That baby is OURS.

     Next Friday, Dec. 14th, is our holiday program in the afternoon.  Mark your calendars.

Starting New

     Thanksgiving is officially over, time to pack up fall and start CHRISTMAS.  YIKES.  Where does the time go? We have to start decorating our classroom for the holidays and winter.  If you are curious as to what school is like the month of December, just compound your child's holiday excitement by 13.  It sounds awful but it's actually FABULOUS. The pure joy and wonder is just FANTASTIC.

     The weatherman is calling for snow tomorrow which is PERFECT because we will be starting our science unit on weather as well.  I LOVE snow days snow.  I'm a weather junkie and check it a thousand times when they are predicting a storm.  I think a weather woman is what I'd be if I wasn't a teacher.

     Today in the computer lab we decorated houses with lights.  The children enjoyed it.  Click here for the link.  Check out the rest of the site also.  It's great.

   This week we will read Anansi and the Talking Melon.  It's a great story.  There are lots of different Anansi stories.  He's always a trickster.  I hope to get to the library to see if I can find some more stories to share.  I think we will start a new chapter book this week too.  I haven't decided which one yet.  Ask your child to let you know when we do.

Sneak Peek

      I was lucky enough to be the official Festival on the Common tree decorator for the Wyman School.  So YOU are lucky enough to get a sneak peek.  Our tree is sports themed and it looks great.  (I realize the top could use an ornament or two but I could only reach so high.)  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

 

Feast Day

     Today was our Thanksgiving feast.  We baked cornbread.  Set up our classroom for our guests (Ms. Cotters Class), wore our Native American headgear and dined with friends.  It was great fun.  I think everyone enjoyed it and the cornbread and grapes were delicious.  Thank you for sending in supplies on such short notice.  Thanksgiving just snuck up on us.

     I sure you've all heard the rumor by now and I admit it's true.  I teared up in class today.  The kids laughed at me because of it.  I warned the students I would.  We read The Rough Face Girl, a beautifully written Native American Cinderella story.  I've always been this way, I can't help it and I've learned to embrace it.  :-)  ......if you watch carefully you may find a tear or two at our Christmas day program.

     Today was the 50th day of school.  I can't believe it!  Remember that Wednesday is gym day and a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:00 and no lunch will be served.  I wish you all the Happiest of Thanksgivings.

   

7 Continents

     Tuesday is our continent test.  Click here for a website to practice.  Our test will be set up exactly the same way.

Report Cards-DONE!!

     PHEW, that is my sigh of relief.  I have submitted our report cards.  I'm telling you it is no easy feat.  I agonize over every bit of it.  I love to celebrate successes.  I'm your child's biggest cheerleader, besides you of course, and the way the report cards are set up don't always allow for that and it pains me.  But they are DONE and I feel a weight lifted.

     We have started reading Native American/Thanksgiving stories.  On Friday we read The Legend of Bluebonnet right before dismissal.  One student was so moved by the story that she was talking about it as soon as she came into class TODAY, four days later, and just HAD to read it again.  I even saw her writing about it WITHOUT BEING TOLD.  I'm telling you it's a teacher's dream.  Another student illustrated Scaredy Squirrel for me over the weekend.  They are motivated-LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.

     We will be continuing with the Thanksgiving theme straight on to next week.  We will even be reading some legends from the Aberjonian Indians about Horn Pond and Rag Rock.  Here is our bulletin board about what we are thankful for.  FYI, I threatened "no being thankful for video games" before they started.

     Wednesday is fitness day.  I'm not 100% sure what that means but I know that the WHOLE school is going to be active from 11-11:30.  I guess I'll HAVE to wear sneakers and gym pants.  YIPPEE.

    A special CONGRATS to the Redskin flag football team for winning the Super Bowl over the weekend.  The team was fantastic and they deserved to win.  YAY REDSKINS

   

Vote Me President

     Yesterday we did some voting.  We voted to do reading before math (which is how we always do it).  We voted unanimously to have a nap time (we haven't quite fit that into our schedule yet and they keep asking) and we voted Obama for President.  We also brainstormed and wrote why WE should be elected president.

     

     Although results aren't officially in, word on the street is that we have held on to our "Walking" trophy one more month!  WHOO HOOO!  Every single student in our class walked to school.  

    Scaredy Squirrel is a success.  The kids are loving him.  Ask your child to tell you some of the things Scaredy is afraid of and ask about some of his crazy plans.

     Be sure to return the form letting me which conference day you'd prefer.

Scaredy Squirrel

     Halloween is officially over.  We have a full "normal" week of school (thank goodness).  This week is Scaredy Squirrel week.  Scaredy Squirrel is a character created by Melanie Watt.   We will be reading and playing Scaredy Squirrel games all week.   Scaredy is simply adorable.

     Tuesday is Election Day and Trotting Tuesday.  Walking Wednesday has been changed to Trotting Tuesday due to the unfavorable weather forecast.  We want to KEEP THAT TROPHY.  So strap on those sneakers, bundle up and walk to school.  Also, don't forget to get out and vote and send in some $$$ if you would like your child to attend the bake sale for treats or raffle tickets.

     Our school is collecting food items to share with those less fortunate during the holiday season.  Second grade was assigned stuffing, jars of gravy and crackers, but any food item would be great.

 

Spider poems

Pumpkin heads

          Remember your XTRAMATH.

Spooky Web Sites

     Stuck in today with electricity (hopefully).  Check out this blog Technology Rocks. Seriously for some fun Halloween web sites.

Halloween Party

     What fun.  Mrs. Fishlin and the rest of the PTO did a FANTASTIC job with the school Halloween party last night.  The children looked great in their costumes and had a blast dancing with DJ extraordinaire Fred Flintstone, AKA Mr. Stevens.  We even had one of our students win a dance off.......nice moves.

Oopsies

     Well I did it.  I told you I would.  I messed up the gym day.  We had gym on Wednesday even though I wrote Friday on our homework packet.  I explained to the substitute gym teacher that if anyone was not wearing the right shoes it was my fault and everyone got to participate.  Sorry.   I do ALWAYS double check, it was just a matter of time.

     Exciting news, our winning classroom will be featured in the district newsletter for winning the Walking Wednesday trophy.  Keep your eye open for that.  It should be coming out shortly.

     Our Halloween party will be on Halloween.  Each child will bring home a decorated lunch bag to bring back on party day with their special snack and drink for the party.  This can be whatever you choose, but it is something just for your child, not for sharing.  This is in addition to their morning snack.  We will begin our party after lunch.  Don't forget to pack your child's costume for the parade at 1:45.  Please label your child costume and leave your axes, guns, swords etc. at home.  Also, have your child practice putting his/her costume on by themselves (an hopefully over their cloths).

     We are reading up a storm, lots of Halloween books.  After reading about Spookley, the square pumpkin that discovered it's good to be different, we made these different pumpkins (without scissors) and labeled them with adjectives to describe them.

     Don't forget to practice rhyming at home.  We did some this week and it wasn't pretty.

Busy Busy

  The Woburn school community raised over $5,000.00 for the Fisher family.  Our class alone raised $69.  I think that's pretty remarkable and thank you all.

      We're in full swing and ready for Halloween.  Wicked witches were made last week in art and we've been reading some Halloween books.  Today we made a chart of facts we know about bats and read Stellaluna.  Ask your student to tell you all about it.  We then created a venn diagram comparing bats and birds.  We watched a short video with a little (tricky) quiz at the end on the phases of the moon.  Click here to check it out.  We watched a school house rock video on nouns.  I remember them all so well which is surprising because they were on TV wayyyyyy before my time.  Check it out here and a fun Halloween song that you can see here.  The children really liked the song.

     Did you notice our spelling list is up to 14 words?  They are getting tricky.  I went easy on the homework this week to give your child more time to practice them.  Please don't forget to do your xtramath and check out spelling city if you haven't.  We visited that site today in the computer lab and the children were really enjoying it.

PUMPKIN PATCH & GREEN DAY

     A special thank you to Mrs. Miller, who came to school on Wed. with pumpkins and decorating supplies for the WHOLE class to celebrate her daughter's birthday.  SUPER FUN.  Here a picture of our pumpkin patch.  

   Here is the picture of our planet paragraphs that I promised.

     I felt super special when a former student invited me to the Boys and Girls club for "Feature a Teacher" Day.  I got the grand tour from her (and a few others) a delicious cupcake, and a goodie bag that she made.  I was thrilled that she wanted to share all that with me.  The club seems like a VERY FUN place to be.

     Friday is Green Day.  Wear green to school on Friday and donate a dollar (or more) to support the family of Allen Fisher, whose life was tragically cut short when hit by a car after his son's football practice.  Such a heartbreaking story.

     On a lighter note, the children were asked to complete a sentence that started like this:    Things I like about our school ....... There was maybe one or two that liked the nice teachers.  Most kids wrote recess, lunch, gym, snack or something like that.  One boy went as far as listing it all.......health, art, gym, library and music.  EVERY SUBJECT THAT I DON'T TEACH.  My feelings were hurt for a second but I'm POSITIVE  it was just an oversight.

Loving Compliments

     WOW.  I heard a few things that got me super excited this past week.  First, not one, but TWO parents commented to me on how much their child is enjoying READING.  WHOOP WHOOP.  That is music to a teacher's ears.  The second thing was that someone told me they LIKED MY BLOG~~YIPPEE.  I was tickled pink to hear that.  I'm just glad someone is reading it.
   We started reading Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots.  As I predicted, the children love it. The students at the Baily City Elementary School have reason to believe that their teacher is a vampire although she's been very nice. We are still hopping along with Frog and Toad.  Our planet homework has been turned into paragraphs and posted on the bulletin board (I'll post a picture of it later this week)
     Here is one of the websites we visited in the computer lab this week http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/clubhouse/index_pre.html .  It's about identifying different sentence types.  Not everyone got a chance to check it out so if you can, let your child give it a go.
   

Unity Day

     This Wednesday is Unity Day.  A day to take a stand and unite against bullying.  We have been asked to wear orange to show our support to this worthy cause.
     This week we will be starting to read Frog and Toad stories.  There are many different stories in this series and they are fun.   Perhaps we'll even have time for a frog/toad craft.  We finished reading Amber Brown is Not a Crayon and will now move on to Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots, a Bailey School Kids book.  I'll do all the reading in this chapter book because I only have one copy.  It's a fun story about a class that thinks their new teacher is a vampire.  I have many different titles in the Bailey School Kids series and I'm hoping that they will be inspired to read more of them after this one.  It's always a class favorite.
   
   

WE WON!!!!!

WHOOP WHOOP    I told you......it's FANTASTIC!  We can proudly display this in our class for the ENTIRE month.   We won by a landslide.  We had an astounding 92% of our class walk to school today. (I rode my bike)  We were ecstatic and wrote about it in our journals.  We also had art for the first time this week.  It was an exciting day.

Walking Wednesday

     One Wednesday a month will be "walking Wednesday".  Children are encouraged to walk to school that day.  If walking is just not an option then carpooling is encouraged.  The class with the highest percentage of walkers will get a SUPER COOL trophy to keep in their class for the month.  I'm not going to lie........I WANT THAT TROPHY.  I'll post a picture of it soon.  It's a beauty.  We have a whole year to win it and my fingers are crossed.  Lets hope the weather cooperates for walking tomorrow.
     Tomorrow is spelling challenge test day and the last day to return pledges.  We had another lucky raffle winner today.  She'll be enjoying a movie at Showcase Cinema with her free pass.  Mrs. Reybitz  visited and played memory today with both classes.  We practiced our words and everyone won 2 prizes.  Be sure to introduce yourself to Mrs. Reybitz if you get a chance.  She is fantastic and new to Woburn.
     We have started our science unit on space today.  I sent home a calendar to fill in the phases of the moon for the month of October.  This isn't for a grade.  I'm hoping the students check out the moon enough this month to see the pattern in the changes.  Certainly, if they bring it in at the end of the month, they will get a sticker and big smiley face but if it gets lost in the shuffle, no worries.
       In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.  You know what that means?  Monday is a DAY OFF.  A special shout out to Christopher for believing the world was not flat.  I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend.

Spelling Challenge

     We have a winner!  One lucky student in our class won a gift certificate to McDonalds for bringing in his spelling challenge pledges.   The forms are due on Wednesday but tomorrow they will be having another raffle for anyone who has already passed them in.  Mrs. Concannon was our special guest this morning.  She played hangman with the combined second grade classes to help us practice our words.  It's was super fun and we were thrilled to have her.  Our spelling challenge test will be on Wednesday and I'm CONFIDENT we will all get perfect scores.

Guest Reader

     As part of the school spelling challenge, 2nd grade was treated to a special guest reader. Mrs. Alison Wackrow read three books to the combined second graders.  She did a fantastic job and the students really enjoyed it.

     We voted on which "wear a word" shirt I should wear Friday.  There was an overwhelming vote for a Patriot Tee.  I'm sort of disappointed, I was pushing for the Clemson one.  It's SUPER comfy and they are playing BC  this week.  I may have to make an executive decision and override the vote.

Say Cheese

      Another reminder that picture day is this Thursday.  It's been a crazy week.  I always have BIG plans and the week flies by with me only denting the list.  We have been reading Mr. Putter plays.  Not sure the children this year love reading plays as much as in the past.  I think they are wanting to perform.  Not sure I have the energy time for that.  We'll have to wait and see.  We read a lot of plays during the year.  As their reading improves, they will be able to READ more in character and hopefully that will be enough for them.  

      We also started reading Amber Brown is not a Crayon.  Actually for the first half chapter we started listening to it on CD.  The narrator was AWFUL.  So we stopped the CD and I took turns with some students reading aloud.    We have finished two chapters about Amber and her best friend Justin.  It inspired us to write and illustrate a paragraph or two about our best friends.  

      In honor of the spelling challenge, Friday is "wear a shirt with words" day.  I've narrowed it down to either my Red Sox, Patriot or Clemson Tiger tee.  (Easy to narrow seeings how those are my only wordy shirts).  It's a tough decision.  Maybe I'll have the kids vote on it tomorrow.  The principal also gave the whole school a challenge to spell MASSACHUSETTS correctly.  I'm proud to say that I was the star speller one student came so close.  He just forgot to double the last T.  I think that is super impressive.  Now I know who my go to speller will be when I get stumped.  Don't forget to keep plugging away at xtramath.  Memorizing those facts will make life easier.

PICTURE DAY

     This Thursday is picture day.  You know what that means.  I'll oversleep and rush into school with bed head and yesterday's make-up on.  It aways seems to be the way.
     We just finished up a great week.  We have been reading Poppleton stories.  Ask your child to tell you what I love most about Poppleton and the Grapefruit.  I laugh every time I hear that story. Next week we will continue reading more stories from Cynthia Rylant (Poppleton's author).  We will read lots of stories from the Mr. Putter and Tabby series. We'll even become characters and read them as plays.  That always seems to be something my students have enjoyed.   She is also the author of the Henry and Mudge series, all easy to read beginner chapter books. We also plan on reading an Amber Brown book by Paula Danziger, another series that is at a reading level step above Cynthia Rylant's.  I have that book on CD so we may do some listening from that.
     I hope everyone is enjoying this blog.  My hope is that this blog will give you a peek at what is going on in class.  I know how frustrating it is, as a parent to ask "What did you do at school today?" and get the answer "nothing" or "I don't know".  Hopefully, this will give you and your student a springboard for some great conversations.  Happy first day of fall.  GO CLEMSON

Computer Time

Today we went to the computer lab and started our XTRAMATH journey.  The children took their online placement tests and should be playing at the right level for them.  Hopefully, you received your instructions on how to set up XTRAMATH at home.  XTRAMATH is a timed math program that progresses in difficulty as children master facts.  After addition, it moves onto subtraction, then multiplication and even division for those who are up for the challenge.  It's important that you sign up correctly because your child can earn certificates and get credit from the reports the program generates for me.  One of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for math is to memorize math facts up to twenty.  This program will certainly help do that. 

Spellingcity is another fun site.  This one is for practicing our spelling words.  Search for POTAMIS in the search teacher window and our lists are there for you to explore.  The links to both spellingcity and xtramath are right on this page under links for easy access.

Reminder: Wednesday is an early release day.  Dismissal is at 12:30.  Thursday is OPEN HOUSE NIGHT from 6-8.  Please make every effort to attend.  I have so much to share. 

Big Week

Well it really isn't a big week but it IS the first full week of school and we are jumping right into it.  Hopefully we all make it through.  Today we started in on some of our reading and workbooks.  I can't remind you enough to READ with your children EVERY NIGHT.  I'm telling you, it will make a WORLD of difference.  We also went to the computer room.  We had a firedrill and worked on cool posters that we will hang out in the hall for all to view on back to school night, which is next Thursday, Sept. 20th from 6-8.  Don't forget to mark your calendars.  Wednesday, we have gym and this Thursday, the Woburn Police Department will be presenting a program on bicycle safety to the first and second graders.  BUSY BUSY BUSY

Here's a little something that made me smile from last week.  The children were asked to write what they were most looking forward to this year.  Some wrote recess, others wrote math (yippee).  There were two that had me giggling.  One student was looking forward to the last day of school (can't blame him) another was looking forward to third grade.  Apparently, that student can't wait to get out.  hee hee

First Day

Phew! We all survived. It was a great day! We played a get to know each other game. We had to ask classmates questions and they put their initials on our sheet if it matched them. Apparently, I was the the only one who wears glasses so I got to fill out that square on everyone's paper.  We played an I Have, Who Has game to see how much we knew about the school.  We then read a book titled First Day Jitters.  Ask your child about the surprise ending. We talked about things that may have made us nervous before school started and even wrote about a few of them.  I told them I was afraid the children would be mean.  We had recess that EVERYONE thought was much shorter than last year (it wasn't).  The students wrote a bit about themselves and what they enjoyed this summer.  We even had a practice fire drill.  Our classroom had to double as the lunch room today because of elections.  It was a fun day. Hopefully everyone is willing to come back tomorrow because we have GYM (always a class favorite) so please wear appropriate shoes.

Help Wanted

Today was the first "official" working day for teachers. I'm exhausted but pretty close to being ready for the children to start on Thursday. I hope they are excited.

I could use a little help. I would appreciate if someone was willing to do some cutting out at home. It's not a lot, I promise. Just some game cards I laminated. I also would love if someone would be willing to tape up some notebook covers, about 6 of them. I know that sounds weird but it's another easy task. Don't need any of it back until Monday. Please shoot me an email if you are interested. On back to school night I'll be doing some more recruiting so get ready.

Getting ready!!

I've been a busy bee. I've spent a few days this week setting up our classroom and preparing for the first 2 days of school. I knew I would be unable to get into school next week so I HAD to do it this week. I still have A LOT to do but I'm feeling on top of things. Here are some pictures of what's been going on.

SHOPPING

DECORATING

SETTING UP

I think i might rearrange the desks into groups of four. What do you think?

***Remember to follow this blog to get up-to-date info about what's happening in your child's class.

Where is summer going?

Starting to panic that summer is slipping away!!  YIKES

Class lists

Class lists are out. Very exciting!

day two ..........i can't wait to figure this blog world out.  Graphic by melonheadz!