Sometimes the Truth is Best Said in a Cartoon

Kidfamous Fads

Silly Bandz are the new Pogs

Bieber is the new Hanson

Flamin' Hot Cheetos are the new Surge

Losing and Gaining

Working in a "high-mobility" school such as mine, I've learned to not get too incredibly attached to a particular student, because at any given time they could very well leave with little to no notice.
In some cases, a student may casually mention on the last day before a break that they're not coming back afterwards. In most cases, they just stop showing up to school one day.

I've also learned not to be surprised when I hear a knock at my classroom door, and open it to find a new student standing with their parent staring (sometimes smiling) back at me. Their arrival is always unannounced and rarely at the start of a school day - they usually choose to show up more like 2 hours in. Like right when I'm in the middle of teaching a lesson.
It helps to always keep an extra desk on hand.

Here are my stats for the 2010-2011 school year thus far:

August (after the start of school)
Gain 1

September
Lose 1
Gain 1

October
Gain 1

November
Lose 2

January
Gain 2

February
Lose 1

March 
Gain 2
Lose 1

I've mentioned this before on my blog but, again, flexibility is key here, folks.

It's difficult to easily and quickly assimilate a new student into a pre-existing environment… Reteaching procedures, reviewing expectations, AND recreating materials each time a fresh face shows up can be tedious and, frankly, inconvenient. (I may sound insensitive, but I'm just being honest.)

My goal for next year is to be better planned for this inconsistent flow of students, and have some specific things prepared in advance to help newcomers feel immediately welcomed and adopted into our classroom.
I will expect the unexpected :)

Staycation

I was torn between traveling over Spring Break or simply staying at home to relax...
But since I didn't get around to planning any phenomenal vacation, I made sure to treat myself to a few out-of-the-ordinary pleasures :)

Massage Therapy

It soothes the sole.
Beauty colleges are the way to go - half the price, and if you request a student who is well into the program then you are still in for a good quality massage. I got mine here.

Retail Therapy
Amazing Le Creuset find at TJMAXX!!
A steal of a deal people.

Exercise Therapy
A bittersweet reunion with Boot Camp.

Spa Therapy

I took advantage of another local beauty college - $10 manicure, $15 pedicure. Can't beat that!

Baby Therapy

It certainly wasn't my initial plan to spend time with little people while on my break from little people... yet somehow I ended up with these two cuties quite a bit, and I can't complain about it :) Spending time with these girls warmed my heart.

sisterly love.

sleepy head.

Naked baby.

little feet!! couldn't help but capture those footprints!

Lots of therapy…huh?

Guess I needed it.

Here's to the first week back. 

To finding joy in my job. 

And not yelling at my kiddos.

It Feels Good to be a Winner

It was announced today that our class won first place in the door decorating competition! So exciting!!

For pictures of our classroom door, see my previous post :)

Literacy Night

I finally got my spring-themed bulletin board up just in time for Literacy Night at my school. I was able to get away with leaving the snowflakes up through February since we received so much snow, but having a friendly snowman displayed into the month of March was pushing it… 

Inviting a surge of parents into the school for a special event certainly has a way of motivating one to update the hallway decor!

On the center of each flower my students printed the title and author of their favorite book :)

This year for Literacy Night each grade level chose an author whom we feel our students especially enjoy the works of. We had a school-wide door decorating competition in which students and their families could tour the hallways and then vote on their favorite door! (Now, we all know this really turns out to be a game of numbers since most everyone will vote on their own door, regardless of artistic quality; but it was, nevertheless, a fun idea!) …I'm realizing as I type this that I forgot to vote…oh well.
Third grade chose the Magic Tree House book series written by Mary Pope Osborne. My class decided to decorate our door based on the book Midnight on the Moon, a space adventure in which the main characters travel through time and explore the moon's surface in an effort to find the fourth and final "M" thing, which they must collect in order to free a sorceress from a magic spell. Here's how our door turned out:

My students' faces are inside each of the miniature astronauts! :)

Here are a few other door displays from around the school:

Notice the beastly monster hands creeping out from behind this door - love it!

It's been a full week of hurried laminating, trimming, di-cutting, and pasting (on top of all the usual craziness of teaching) - and I couldn't be more ready for SPRING BREAK!!!!

What's in a Name?

Apparently, there was a study (possibly several) on the ability of a person's name to predict their future level of success in life. For example, what names are most likely to land people in professional jobs vs. those which will most likely land you in the kitchen at Mickey D's (or worse places, like jail).

That being said...

A first grade teacher at my school once had a student named Female. Pronounced Fah-mall-ee.
When she first saw the enrollment form, she asked the mother how to say the child's name (thinking it was a mistake).
The mom confirmed the spelling, saying, "F-e-m-a-l-e. Fah-mall-ee."
Ms. S politely asked, "Oh, how'd you come up with that?"
The mother replied, "Well it was on her bassinet in the nursery."

Parent Teacher Conference