Tuesday, May 27, 2014

EOY Ideas!

We'll I finally went out this weekend and purchased the rest of the supplies needed for my end of the year parties! This year to celebrate the end of the year, I've decided to throw my kiddos a party every day for the last 5 days of school! 


Can you guess what some of our parties will be?? My kiddos don't even know either! They know we are having a party the last five days and they'd better be on their best behavior......bribery heehee{just kidding}......but that's all they know!!!

Each day I will choose a student to open a secret envelope that will reveal that day's party!!!
I did this to not only create suspense for them and make it more exciting.....but for another reason! Call me stubborn if you will, but do you have students that have excessive absences, but make sure they come on the days there are fun activities!?? Drives me crazy! 

I have this one student in particular that has missed over 50 days of school this year....but you can bet he's there on field day and when we take a field trip!! He heard me mention that one day we may go to the park for an end of the year picnic and to play in the park's fun water fountains! He keeps asking what day it will be so he can make sure he is at school that day!! RIGHT?! Today he tried to leave 30 minutes after arriving and once finding out there was no party today!! He claimed his sunburn was too itchy! Really?? So call me stubborn if you must, but this little kiddo is going to have to sweat this one out and come to school every day if he doesn't want to miss this one!! One way or another, I will get this child to school!

So here's our secret reveal lineup for our 5-day countdown.....

Thursday
And we are going to make it the old fashioned way with REAL popcorn kernels in a pot! Bet none of my kiddos have done that!

Friday

Monday
We'll also have a seed spitting contest!!!!
Tuesday
The students will make their own PBJ sandwich and pack their own sack lunch with goodies provided by me! What else makes this so awesome is that our park has this awesome play fountain that the kids just love!!!!

Our park is right beside our school and accessible by trail!

Wednesday....LAST DAY!
This is a 1/2 day!! After yearbook signing, we will view our end of the year slideshow, make mini english muffin pizzas, and while those cook....I will present our class awards! I will also be surprising my 3 transitioning middle school students with a surprise farewell cake after we enjoy our pizza creations!!

I just love the awards I'm presenting from "Teacher's Clubhouse." I also used these last year and the kids loved them!!
So fun!
Each award is presented with a matching trinket from Dollar Tree, which also serves as an end of year gift as well!
This is just a snapshot of 1/2 of my class awards! The set includes 30 different awards to choose from! I'll be using only 13 of them!

I'm also working on some fabulous gifts for my 3 assistant's and my DVD cover for my end of year slideshow that each student will take home! Stay tuned for a post on these ideas in the next couple of days!!!

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Sunday, May 25, 2014

Summer Plans Linky


Hi folks!!! Only 6 1/2 more days left! Well with students....that is! 7 1/2 days left 'til my summer break officially starts!! It's time to start thinking about summer plans, so what better way than to link up with Deanna Jump for her summer linky party!

Normally by now, my brain is already flourishing with ideas and things I want to do for next school year and projects for the summer....but that really hasn't been the case this year! Last summer, I really outdid myself! 

I painted my teacher chair I had always wanted.


I made my bench seats I had always wanted.


I created a whole new classroom theme that I plan to use again this year!


I implemented a new center rotation system at the beginning of the year that has worked soooooo well, that I don't plan to change it up one bit!

So, I see a pretty relaxing summer in my near future!


I'd like to revamp my "Ladybug Life Cycle Unit." It is one of my best sellers, but the very first insect unit I ever created and I know I can make it so much better now!



We had so much fun doing science experiments this year! Through lots of searching, I managed to pull off a science experiment with my kiddos nearly every single day this year!!!That's almost 180 science experiments that I'd love to compile into a teaching resource for others on TpT. It's going to be a BIG project, but I think I can pull it off!!


I'd love to create some engaging social/life skills lessons to do with my kiddos next year! It's so hard to find engaging activities for this block of time! I want to have more structure in this area. I really want to create some problem-solving picture cards too, if I can find the graphics to do this! We'll see!!


I'd like to organize how I will teach the unique curriculum next year! I just received this fabulous program in February and never really came up with the perfect system to implement it each day! I want to design a 20-day lesson plan that I can follow each month....that works for my students that use this program.


Non-school related!!!

I've been thinking about opening an Etsy shop for some time now! I think I may just do it this summer! My son has been my inspiration! I have made lots of baby shower items, wreaths, invitations, etched glasses, and personalized cups that he thinks I should sell on there. 


Yes, I want to cook!!! 
I want to actually make some of these recipes I have been pinning, but never make! This summer I plan to MAKE them, rather than just pin them! 




I want to spend some time on the beautiful Colorado River that is practically right outside my back door! I literally live 5 minutes from here....and don't get to enjoy it as much as I'd like!! I'm thinking maybe we will even rent some kayaks this summer!



I want to spend some time relaxing and hanging out at my girlfriend's pool! 

9 and 10..................

REPEAT 7 and 8!!!!!

You can link up your summer plans on Deanna's blog {here}

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Monday, May 19, 2014

Teacher Appreciation Surprise & A Recap

DAYS LEFT!!!!

Today was our last staff development day for the year and "Bubba Gump Seafood" dropped in with a big surprise!!!

They brought in a spread of the most delicious appetizers to show their appreciation for us teachers!!! How sweet!


They even brought along their mascot!!! We had no idea they were coming....but my principal did! Nice surprise and great food! 
Thanks Bubba Gump Shrimp......you rock!!!

I haven't blogged in over a week, so here is a little recap of our last week or so!

I know Mother's Day is old news now, but here are some ideas you may want to tuck away for next year!

For our mommas, we made Mother's Day cookbooks! Just love this idea and how they turned out. This super easy and loveable class project is from "Fourth & Ten" and you can get it {here}. I too, got this idea last year AFTER Mother's Day and was so excited to finally use it this year!!!

What better to go along with a cookbook than a potholder!

These are made from bathroom/kitchen tiles purchased at Home Depot for only 20 cents a piece.....very cheap craft! The flowers are all hand painted by each student using nothing but their thumb!! I used a green sharpie for the writing.

We put felt super sliders on them first.

 After they were done, we sprayed them with a thick coat of polyurethane to seal and protect them! 

After our mother's day projects were finally done.....just in the nick of time....WHEW...we relieved our stress with a little science!!! My students LOVE Science time!

We made a paperclip actually float by creating surface tension!!!
Lots of oooo's and ahhhh's from the kiddos! 
Just love their excitement during science!!!


And Friday was............


And boy was it H-O-T!!!!!!
I never figured out why a school in the desert would hold field day in May when it's 100+ outside!

But our principal thanked us today for being "Hot Tamales" by placing a little thank you and a box of "Hot Tamales" in our mailboxes!!! 

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Monday, May 5, 2014

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week & Summer Countdown Freebie

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all of ya'll!!! 

Does your school or PTO do anything special for you during this week?? I must say....my school never lets us down....they are spoiling us once again!!


Here's what they have planned for our week!!!
Yes, a massage!!! How sweet is that?! 
I'm signed up for tomorrow at 2:40!!

THANK YOU PTO!!!!

There's so many fabulous giveaways and discounts going on everywhere this week for teachers!!! Just love all the deals! And don't forget about the big TpT sale tomorrow and Wednesday!!
Use the code below to get 28% off of participating stores, including mine!!!



How many days do you have 'til summer break?? I have 19, so we will be beginning our 10 day countdown in just 9 days!!!
Woohoo!

If you'd like to use this countdown for your class....it's FREE!!!

Classroom Freebies Manic Monday
Tomorrow we will begin working on our Mother's Day gifts!!! Can you guess what we will be doing with these???

We will also be making these for our moms from "Fourth & Ten."
Such a cute idea!!!
Mother's Day cookbooks made by the students! I purchased this last year after Mother's Day, so I'm really excited to finally get to use it!!

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