Silence for Sandy Hook

In the Face of Tragedy

My heart is so filled with sadness as I think about the awful tragedy that happened yesterday.  We were on our way out to recess, I stopped in the teacher's lounge and the school secretary who was getting her lunch told me about the text alert she got from our local WFSB news station that alerted her to the breaking news of a school shooting at an elementary school in Newtown.  As I'm sure was the case with all who heard, I was shocked and totally heartbroken.  When we came back inside after recess, I was even more shocked and more saddened to hear that the death toll was thought to be in the double digits.  Although my heart was broken, I had to finish my day with my kids.  Once I got home WFSB had special coverage on, and that's when the tears really started to flow.  The pictures and videos of children walking to safety with such fear on their faces, parents grieving or getting their children and hugging them tight.  It's so hard to understand what would make someone OK with hurting precious, innocent children.  Not only were 20 precious children killed, but 6 adults as well, the principal being one, the school psychologist being another.  Another was a teacher who got all of her students safely hidden in closets and cabinets and told the gunman they were not there, but in the gym, he then shot her and moved on.  In the face of tragedy the principal, psychologist, and all of those teachers were true heroes!

Victoria Soto, 27, the one who was shot after hiding her students and telling the gunman they were not there.


Praying earnestly for the families of the victims, the teachers, students and community of Newtown!  May God grant His peace!

If any of you would like to send cards, the school address is:
Sandy Hook Elementary School
12 Dickenson Drive
Sandy Hook, CT 06482

What to Post??

I'm sorry I've been so awful about posting!!!  I'm actually back in the classroom full time this year....and LOVING it!!  I have a panda theme that I love, I've never done it before, and pandas are my favorite, favorite animal!!  I may post some pictures, but it didn't turn out exactly the way I would have liked.  Teacher's Orientation week started two days after mom's funeral, so I wasn't able to get as much done as I would have liked, and I had some great helpers, which is hard not to do it myself.  I'm so thankful, though, because it may not have gotten done without them.  It's been a pretty good year so far.  Sorry this isn't anything educational, I haven't quite known what to post lately because I still feel like I'm trying to catch up with myself and school and life.  But I wanted to at least post to say hello and let people know I'm still here.  Hoping this post will help get things flowing for me again.  It's been hard to sit and blog and even hard for me to have time to blog stalk lately.  So, I am not sure what to even post.  But this week is Spirit Week, so I hope to at least post some pictures from that.  That's a start to hopefully more posts.  Tomorrow is Super Hero Day, I am thinking of going with a few different looks, and even some education questions tacked on me...people will look at me and wonder who I am trying to be....so....I'll be Wonder Woman!  Is that dumb??  I loved Wonder Woman, she was my hero when I was little, and how fun to put a spin on her, because I definitely can NOT try to look like her, lol.  Well, I'm still not sure, either that, or I'll be Fashion girl, or Bling Woman, or Purple Girl, because I love bling and purple.  I will let you know what I chose in my next post. Well, if anyone took the time to stop back by and read this, thank you!  Hope to be keeping in touch more. :)

A Moment to Catch Up

I just wanted to take a quick moment to catch up with everyone and let you know what's going on. Sorry I have been MIA for a while, but mom was getting worse and I was busy taking care of her and keeping up with my other blogs that deal more with my everyday circumstances. I've missed reading your posts and keeping up with you all. I hope I haven't missed too much! But just quickly wanted to share that mom went home to Heaven on Friday morning. I got to be right by her side. She was still here at home with me. I had wonderful chances to hold her hand, talk to her, sing to her, pray with her, and read scriptures to her. My Mom's sister was also here and we were both by her side. It was a hauntingly sad, but beautiful moment when she was finally able to be at peace from the pain and suffering. Thank you to the many of you who have thought of and prayed for us the past few months. Wake and funeral are Friday and Saturday. Again, i'm sorry I've missed catching up, but hopefully will be back to normal soon. Thanks!

Award

I have to say a HUGE thank you to Darleen at Third Grade Love, for sending me some "third grade love"!!  She awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award!!


What a wonderfully sweet surprise!!  She has such an adorable blog that you should definitely check out!  Thank you so much, Darleen, you totally made my day!!!

The rules for this award are as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you

2. Include a link to their site

3. Include the award image in your post

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award

6. When nominating, include a link to their site

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated

So, 7 random facts about myself, hmm...

1.  I LOVE cereal!!!!  No, seriously, I could eat it all day every day, and never get tired of it.  I usually have at least 2 bowls a day! 

2.  I finally got the dog I always wanted at the age of 35!  Love my little Bella!!

3.  I love snow!!!!!

4.  I am an only child taking care of my mom at home who has Alzheimer's.

5.  I'm obsessed with accessories, rings, bracelets, pocket books, scarves, etc., etc., etc!!! :)

6.  Thunder storms freak me out, not a fan!

7.  I'm definitely a night owl, but have to get up early to take the dog out and help get mom up....so...I'm also a napper!

Now for the blogs that I would like to give this award to...

1. Mimi, from 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules
2. Samantha from A Teacher's Looking Glass
3. Allison from A Work of Heart

4. Felicia from Adventures in Teaching: Learning as I Go
5. Michelle from Apples and ABC's: Adventures in Kindergarten

I'm going to have to leave it at 5 for right now, things have still been quite busy with mom, and if I don't do it now, I'm not sure when it will get done.  I will try to get back and add more.  Thanks again, Darleen!!  Check out her awesome blog and the others that I have here, you won't be disappointed! :)

Currently July

I can't believe it's Currently July already!   I had to join up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade and do the July Currently! Sadly I have missed a couple of them, but I desperately want to get back into the swing of things!  I was hoping to do this early enough so I wouldn't be the last one, and could hopefully get some comments, but man, you all are so quick!!  Oh well, hopefully someone will come back and see my link way down at the bottom, lol! :)

Yes, part of the reason I didn't get this done earlier is because mom is back in the hospital again.  She has an infection and is dehydrated, she's been pretty weak lately.  Prayerfully she will get stronger!
And yes, you read that correctly I have a new (to me) car!!  My pastor's wife called me at 11:15 on Sunday night, and asked if I could come over to their house, because they had a gift that they wanted to give me face to face.  This was pastor's last Sunday because they left early Monday morning.  He was headed to an Air Force base in Alabama for his basic training.  His wife and 4 kids are spending some time with her sister, and then meeting up with him in South Carolina some time later.  Anyway, it was so sad to say goodbye to them at church, the morning service was pretty emotional!  Well, back to 11:15.  I had to get mom taken care of and to bed first, then I headed over and got to their house about midnight.  After some conversation pastor went over to a kitchen cabinet and handed me some money.  They wanted to give me some, so I could get an oil change for my car.  Of course I bawled, that was so kind of them.  Then pastor and I talked about the car, he asked when I had last had my oil changed, I told him I couldn't remember.  I just knew the little sticker said I needed to at 123,000 miles, and I was at about 127 or 128,000.  Then we just ended up talking about the car, telling him that it was a '96 Toyota Corolla, it was loud (he said they could hear me driving up to the church), it was low, hard to get in and out of, but definitely not the best for mom, because it's so low, and some other things.  But I also said how thankful I was to have my little car, it gets me around, I don't have a car payment, it still runs.  He just kept letting me talk, until finally his wife tells him he is taking too long, and she walks toward me holding a key, I backed away from her asking what she was doing, then bawled some more.  They said they wanted me to have their 2005 Honda Accord because he was going straight to basic training and she already had their minivan that she would be traveling with.  So the money he said was actually really to help me get the car registered under my name and for me to get plates.  Talk about speechless!!!  And emotional!!  I'm still having a hard time believing it!  So I didn't get home until after 2 Monday morning, and finally got in bed by about 3...too excited to sleep.  Then yesterday mom went to the hospital about 7:30 at night, she was in the ER  most of the night, I finally left her about 2:30 a.m.  She was still in the ER, and was getting ready to go down for an MRI, so the nurse told me to just go ahead home.  So, it's been a busy few days...again. But thankfully I got to join the party tonight! :)
I have so many favorite read aloud books, but Treasures of the Snow was read to me in 4th grade, by my favorite teacher!  I fell in love with the book after she read it, then bought the book sometime after.  I have had the book, and read it every year to my kids, and they all love it, too! And of course, Ron Clark is awesome, and I try to reread The Essential 55 every summer.
Well, I'm off to check out some others! :)

And the Winner Is.....

Just a quick post to announce the winner of the $25 Amazon Gift Card giveaway!  Congratulations to AmyandScott Marshall!!  I'll be sending you an email soon!  Have a wonderful day and a terrific 4th of July!!  Enjoy! :)



a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Made it to the End of the Year (Obviously)...and Y'all Helped!

I love this commercial!  I think it's the strong Southern accents of the kids that I truly love.  When I thought about this post, all I kept hearing was, "Mom made Shayyke n Bayyke, and weee heyulped!".  So, I had to find this commercial, just in case you had no idea what I was talking about.  I know I pretty much aged myself there, but it was worth it to share this cute commercial!
The interesting thing is that I was thinking of this post way before the school year was done.  The idea came from Hilary at Rockin' Teacher Materials. She has a great blog and the post that brought this to mind is here.  You should definitely check it out!  You should also check out her stores, she has the neatest Math Mysteries that I love, and my students also loved!!  And if you look closely you will see how long I have been thinking about this post....since March, but never got around to it...until now. :)
This time last summer was very difficult for me.  I had just ended my 15th year of teaching 3rd grade.  I love teaching...and I LOVE teaching 3rd grade!  I eat, breathe, sleep, and bleed teaching!!  But because of decreasing enrollment, and since there were only going to be 2 students in the 3rd grade, and because the secretary had given her notice that she would no longer be working with us, I was told (in front of the 1st and 2nd grade teacher and the 4th grade teacher), that my job position was going to change for the 2011-2012 school year.  My heart dropped in that meeting, and I struggled with even knowing what to say.  The administrator didn't want to have to get rid of any other teachers (he had to let the 1st grade teacher go the year before).  So, this was the best plan they could think of.  I was going to be the school secretary, but would teach two 3rd grade classes, to the two students I would have, and the 4th grade teacher would have a combined 3rd and 4th grade class.  Everyone kept saying that this was great, and at least I would get to keep my job, and I know that is so true, but this was just so unexpected.  I was hurt because I think the decision may have just been made as a quick fix.  I had been at the school 15 years, and the 4th grade teacher had only been here about 5 years maybe, and had only been teaching about 7 or 8 years.  Since we are a small Christian school, the number of students does make a difference as to whether they can keep a teacher and afford to pay.  Two students does not bring in enough to pay a teacher for the year, which is why I was going to help in the office.  This way they wouldn't have to pay another secretary.  So, I spent the summer reluctantly training with the secretary before she left.  There was another lady from my church who also started training because she was interested in helping at the school, so she was going to man the office for the couple of hours I would be teaching.  I tried and tried, but just couldn't muster up any excitement for the upcoming year, but I would try to my best to do a good job where I was placed.  I spent much of the summer in tears.  I was not looking forward to the school year at all for the first time in 15 years.  I sound like a spoiled brat, crybaby, I know, but it really affected me to not be able to be who I felt called to be...my heart's desire.  As the school year started, I somehow put on my smile and tried to make the best of things.  The other lady who was going to help when I started teaching was asked to come in a little before 9 when I would start teaching.  Then she was asked to come in by 7:30, just in case I couldn't make it in at that time because of taking care of my mom at home.  So we were both there and trying to both keep busy and not get in each other's way, but there was only one desk, and one computer, etc.  So it got a little awkward.  Then halfway through the first quarter my administrator called me in to tell me my schedule was going to change, he now wanted me to teach four 3rd grade classes (Arithmetic, Reading, Language, and Spelling), then wanted me to help out with 9th grade keyboarding, and help out in the business office, and to do 5th and 6th grade handbells.  So, I found out they were weeding me out of the office.  I was so glad, but annoyed that it was part way through the quarter, that I had finally gotten settled in and then things were changing on me again.  Plus, one of my two students didn't really enjoy being in my classroom.  He would often say things that would break my heart.  It's very difficult to only have two students to teach.  I felt more like a glorified tutor than a teacher.  I felt lost in the one place that I loved so much!  How do I motivate two students, especially when one hates Language and the other hates Arithmetic?  We can't play all of the fun games that I would normally play, or do some of the fun motivation moves that I normally do with a full class.   I was feeling very defeated and lost....UNTIL...somehow this Christmas break I happened upon teacher blogs.  I already had a blog, but didn't do a whole lot of searching of other blogs, so I'm not sure how I even happened upon teacher blogs.  But, I'm so glad I did!!!!  You have had such a strong impact in helping me to find my love for teaching again, you inspired me, you made me want to be better and do more, two students or not.  You challenged me to not settle, you challenged me to change my thinking, you challenged me to be more creative, to not just do things the way I've always done them, to find new ideas, and keep two students engaged and loving 3rd grade even if there were only two of them.  So the year ended with me in a much better mindset, with my students telling me they liked 3rd grade and liked me, and having fun.  I am truly grateful for the new perspective I gained!  Next year should be somewhat back to normal, except that I'm supposed to have the combined 3rd and 4th grade class, and the 4th grade teacher will be doing what I did this past year.  I'm actually looking forward to the new school year, and look forward to learning more from you and sharing more with you!  So...I made it to the summer....and boy did y'all heyulp!!!  Not only are you amazing teachers for your students, but you are inspirations for other teachers as well!  Thank you!

Had to steal this because I just love it so much!  You're my super heroes!
You still have time to enter my $25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!!!   :)
If any of you have had similar experiences with teacher blogs, please share, I would love to hear them!!

Summer Amazon Giveaway Time!!

I think everyone is finally enjoying summer vacation now!  Ah summer...lots of open days to make great memories and enjoy some sun, some fun, and lots of family time hopefully.  As my last post said, things have been pretty busy here with mom, trying to take care of her and her needs.  We have had lots of great help the past week, and she has been OK with it all, which is a wonderful blessing!  I will be getting a lot of help, which I am thrilled about.  Mom has even seemed a little better the past couple of days.  I am also trying something new that I read about to help her with her health...coconut oil!  I just bought it yesterday, I have used it as a spread for our toast, and I cooked with it this morning.  I even used it on both of us as a moisturizer for our skin, it's pretty amazing stuff that you can do so much with.  I may not get to some tropical getaway or vacation this summer, but let me tell you, the smell of coconut oil permeating the house sure feels like it!  So, I'm planning to enjoy time with mom, and make memories with her, enjoy our Bella, and enjoy the smell of coconut oil and hope to keep mom healthy and well!  With all of this excitement at home, and excitement of reaching 100 followers, it is definitely time for a giveaway!!  I'm so excited to give away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!!!  I hope you'll take part in the giveaway!  I am trying Rafflecopter for the first time, hopefully it's as easy to use as it seems!  It starts today and will end July 3, so you'll have something to look forward to for the 4th! There are three ways to enter, follow my blog and leave a comment that you do, share your summer fun...your plans for a wonderful, memorable summer, and blog about the giveaway. Enjoy! a Rafflecopter giveaway Hope you all have a wonderful summer and make wonderful memories!

Interesting Times

I totally thought that with summer being here I would be back to my normal blog stalking, joining linky parties, participating in giveaways, attempting to make school related and fun pinterest ideas, while spending lots of time reading and relaxing.  Well, things don't always go as expected.  The day school got out, May 31, mom started showing some more struggles with her health.  She is requiring more assistance from me.  So, I haven't been able to get on here much or do some of the other things either lately, which makes me sad!  I really enjoy reading your blogs and I want to get to know everyone better.  But some things can't be helped.  My aunt came to visit last week, which meant that I had to do the entertaining since mom really can't anymore.  Then mom was in the hospital for a few days, so my aunt and I were there all day with her, except for the little getaways I would take to take the dog out or head to church on Sunday.  She was OK, by the way, all the tests came back negative.  I think she gets a little dehydrated and weak.  I have seen it before, but my aunt hasn't and she was worried, so we decided to do the hospital to just check to make sure all was OK.  It was a busy week, and now we have visiting nurses and physical therapists and social workers coming.  It has been a bit crazy!  Very thankful for all the help, though!
But today was such a neat day, because early this morning I got a message on Facebook from a friend telling me she was thinking of me and praying for me today.  Then another friend sent me a text message later that morning telling me she thought of me and prayed for me this morning, then one of my former kids who just finished her Junior year of college texted me to let me know she was thinking of me today!  Wow, could I feel more blessed?!  Mom was a little worse today than she had been the past couple of days and struggled more with getting around and taking care of herself properly, so it was a busy day for me.  But what a blessing to remember people had been thinking and praying for me today...it helped so much!  Today was also super hot here.  It was in the upper 90's, but felt like it was in the 100's!!  I don't do well with heat! :)  There was a heat advisory, the weather man said it felt like 102 outside, and boy did I feel that when I took Bella out!  We didn't stay out for long today.  I finally was able to get on the computer, and I finally got over here to my blog to see what...if anything was going on.  Well, I was blessed again to see that I now have 100 followers!!     It had been in the 90's for a while, so that was super encouraging, even though I have been MIA for a while. So, on this super hot first day of summer, with random people sending me sweet thoughts, and mom struggling, and the excitement of 100 followers, I think it's time for a giveaway!!!! :)  I was thinking earlier that maybe I would do an Amazon gift certificate.  Do you think that will interest people?  I hope so!  Not sure when I will get it all together, if I get the chance it will be this week...so stay tuned!  And thank you to those who have stayed with me, and for my new friends.  Sorry this blog has been a bust so far this summer, but hope to do better when things are more settled with mom.  Happy Summer!

I Love the 80's!!

I happened upon an amazing giveaway, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.  Jenny from Owl Things First and Dana from Fun in 1st Grade are having a Totally Awesome 80's Giveaway!

They are giving away like, a totally awesome 80's Glam Pack of Sharpies with fun color names, AND and $8 Gift Certificate to Starbucks!!  How totally tubular!  This was too much fun not to join in!  I love the 80's and this just brought back so many memories, with the pictures and ideas of some 80's fun!  They asked for comments on everyone's favorite things from the 80's.  That got me to thinking of all of the totally rad things I loved!

Even though I had to wait for mine because they were all sold out for Christmas.  But my birthday is the beginning of February so I didn't have to wait too long for my Sabrina Joy. :)

Loved this movie so much!!

Yes, that is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game in my hand, I still have it. :)

Just a few examples, I couldn't resist!  What are some of your favorite things from the 80's?  Please leave a comment here to share so I can have fun and reminisce some more!  Then head on over to both Owl Things First and Fun in 1st Grade to join in the giveaway.  You still have a couple of days left.  Don't miss out on the fun!  And again, please leave a comment for me to enjoy your 80's memories! :)

Obsess Much?

Why, yes....yes I do!  I obsess over many things, but I'll just share a few.  I just had to join up with Bonnie at Living a Wonderful Life for her fun linky party!!

So yes, I have obsessions...many!
1.  I am obsessed with accessories!!  I love scarves and hats and headbands and of course....jewelry!!  I love all kinds of jewelry, but especially RINGS!!

I took this picture in January for a previous post, so obviously by now there are several more that have been added to my "collection"!
2.  I love, love, love shoes!!  Definitely an obsession, I have a "few" pairs, not sure how many.  Sadly, I don't have these, but have obsessed over them since the first time I saw them and tried them on in Payless.  I should have gotten them then, but I couldn't think of a good good enough reason to get them.  Sigh, so I'll just enjoy looking at them!

3.  I love reality TV, but not necessarily all the popular ones.  I love shows like Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, The Singoff, The Voice, Undercover Boss, Say Yes to the Dress, and many more like this.
4.  I have recently become obsessed with all things Sea Salt and Caramel!!  This is a bad one, because there are drinks, dark and milk chocolate, and even gelato! Oh My!

5.  I am obsessed with my little not so little pup, Bella!

I love to find cute clothes for her, too!

6.  I'm obsessed with bling and glitter.  My kids always find blinged out things for me each year.  This year one of my former kids found a purple (my other obsession...LOVE purple!!) pair of blinged out scissors!  Loved them!
7.  Last, but definitely not least, and definitely not really all (but I'm sparing you:)...I love pinterest!  I have spent many wonderful hours on there!  I have tried some yummy recipes and great craft ideas and can't wait to try more!
Well, now on to my new obsession since school is out....sleeping, so I can wake up later tomorrow and enjoy my other obsession....blog stalking!
Thanks, Bonnie for a fun linky party!

What's Been Up?

Wow, it's been a crazy few weeks getting to the end of the school year!  Thanks for sticking with me even though I have been little MIA! What has been going on with all of you?  I feel as if I have missed so much lately!
Well, I figured I would just give you a little insight into what has been going on here.  So here it goes.

Here are our Mother's Day gifts.  Taking an idea from Action Adam, I had the kids make Action Mom, or as you can see Super Mom.  They wrote action verbs about their moms.  The girl's says, My mom...Feeds me, Cares for me, Loves me, Drives me places, gave birth to me. 

And the boy's says, My mom cleans my room, makes me lunch, makes me breakfast, makes me dinner, buys me clothes, cooks for me, gives me shelter, helps me. :)

We also had our school play this month.  It was Beauty and the Beast and was very well done by our Jr. High and High School students!!  Several people pitched in to help with makeup and costumes which also turned out great!  

The next week was the Jr. and Sr. Banquet.  That usually has nothing to do with me, but a couple of days before the Junior advisor asked me to go with her since her husband wasn't able to go.  Oddly enough the same thing happened last year, fun for me!  Love getting to see the kids all dressed up and enjoying yummy food and great fellowship for a night.

The next day I had a vendor table set up at a Fashion Show/Fundraiser.  It was for a great cause to spread awareness and raise money to help stop child sex trafficking.  I was proud to be a part of it!  The start of the show honored Amy Fine Collins, Vanity Fair columnist that wrote the story of a sex trafficking ring right in our state, and it also honored Officer Skate who was the one to expose the ring and had these people prosecuted.  So thankful for these women and this great opportunity.  It was a wonderful day!

What I looked like that day, with my new It Works! shirt to match my table. :)  Have also had a couple It Works wrap parties!

The next week there was a surprise Bridal Shower at school for the 4th grade teacher.  One of the parents made these amazing cupcakes.
The next few images are from our Spring Concert last Thursday night, it was a very fun-filled night!

Sorry it is sideways, I asked one of the Senior girls to video tape it for me.  This is the 5th and 6th grade handbell group that I direct.  We pretended to mess up and then put on Lone Ranger masks to help us, then I had the music director come up and put a mask on, too. :)

Jr. High handbells playing Under the Sea, with bubble machines and bubble blowers in the background.  They all have leis on. :)

Sr. High handbells playing Pirates of the Caribbean!  They all wore pirate hats.  The director wore an eye patch, a hat, and one of the girls put a big earring on him.  Then he directed them with his sword!  I think they did an awesome job!  There was plenty more wonderful music throughout the night!  It was a terrific concert.
In between all of that I have been going about once a week to a friend's church for a zumba type exercise night.

Then also once a week trying to get to my ballroom class, and also trying to take good care of mom and Bella, so... pretty busy.
Now, we're all caught up, and this week is our last week of school.  We are done on Thursday, very excited!!  What have you been up to since I have missed so much!  Hope you are all having a super Memorial Day and remembering the wonderful men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms!

12 on the 12th Linky Party for May and Voting Starts

I get so excited to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her 12 on the 12th Linky party!!  I think it helps the months go by faster and easier, because I'm always looking forward to the 12th!  So, even though it was a Saturday, I still found things to take pictures of.

Yes, you are seeing correctly, even though it was Saturday I had to get up early, by the way, this is actually a half an hour fast.  So it was actually about 5:45, don't ask me why I do that, because I'm not exactly sure, hee hee.  I had to get up to get to the school to monitor an SAT Prep class for some 11th graders from 9 to 1.  Oh the joy! :)

This is what I needed to help get me through.  Hazlenut coffee light and sweet, with a Big and Toasted sandwich!

 

While I monitor, I usually read, do some things on the computer, or grade papers.  This is what I found on my little boys paper.  He's got a funny, quirky personality!  Not sure if you can see exactly what he did, but the sentence says: That store sells shoes, socks, and hats for children.  He changed it to: That store sells shoes, socks, and hats, for and children.  Hahaha!!

After monitoring, I went over to the Nail Studio to get my nails done.  The last time I had them done was before Easter and some were starting to lift, so needed this little trip!

Here they are!  Just wanted to do something a little fun and different this time! :)

I had to stop off at Michael's Arts and Crafts store to get some flowers for my vendor table for the Fashion Show/Fundraiser on Saturday.  I'm so excited to share It Works! with people! :)

I couldn't get mom to come get her nails done with me, but was able to get her out for a drive when I told her I was going to get something to eat.  Taco Bell was calling my name.  And coming up is the reason why....

I had to try this Dorito Taco!  Yummy!!

Before we went home I had to stop off to pick up Milk and Half and Half from Fast Freddies.  ( I won't mention that when I got home I totally forgot them in the car........allllll night!!! Ugh!)

Proof that mom was with me! :)  Getting some fresh air and sunshine.

And this is how we're greeted at the door, can barely get in....but look at that face! :)

Yummy treat that mom got from her sister for Mother's Day!  I LOVE Edible Arrangements! 

It was a great, busy, crazy, beautiful day!  

I was also shocked and excited to be nominated for the 2012 Fascination Award!  I totally don't feel worthy of this award, there are so many amazing blogs out there!  It's such an honor, and after this crazy year, it means so much for my little blog to be recognized for a post.  So, if you don't mind and would be so kind, I would love to have you click on the link on the top left hand side of my blog and find my blog name 3rdgradetimesinct.blogspot.com.  3rd Grade Times is in one of the 1:25 pm spots if that makes it easier to find me.  I know there are many wonderful blogs to choose from, but would love if someone would show me a little love. :)  Thank you all for being such a blessing and inspiration to me.  I feel so blessed to have found this wonderful world of teacher blogs!  You all have made such a difference in my teaching this year!  And I will be forever grateful!  

And Here They Are!

The kids were so excited when they walked into the classroom to see the updated versions of Action Adam and Being Ben!  That always makes me more excited!!  So without further ado here they are:

Here we have Being Ben on the right, now with arms to go with his body.  His smart look compliments his character of just being Ben, we'll take a close up of Being Ben in a little bit.  But now on your left you have the updated Action Adam.  If you look closely you'll see that he now has a nice little off to the side swept hairstyle which gives him a fun, youthful appearance.  His "do" says he's ready for any adventure.  You will also notice that he is styling an "A" on his outfit to show that he is Adam the man of Action.  This is a nice match to his cape.  Then we can't leave out his most interesting new feature....the Verbinator!  This is a very important, cool part to his costume that he must not be without.  This is the magic that helps him to be able to capture all of those action verbs!  He is ready to go out and conquer those verbs!  Both looks are great and work well for these characters to do their jobs of finding action or being verbs.  These are the must have looks for the verb season!

Just wanted to get a couple of closeups of Being Ben in his great-looking plaid shirt, don't miss his pocket design with the pencil, pen, and calculator.  Yes, those are all hand drawn lines on his shirt!  With this look he is ready to be all he needs to be!

I Love New Ideas!

Big thank you to Laurie from Chickadee Jubilee and Melissa from The Dalton Gang for suggesting names for my Action???Man!  Today I gave my kids the name ideas and had them choose the one they wanted to name Action???Man.  They liked the name Action Adam.  I liked all the ideas these ladies gave me...Verbinator, Action Adam, or Adventurous___________!  Since I didn't want to see the other great ideas die away, I think I figured a way I can incorporate them into this whole verb plan.  One of my kids said Verbinator sounded like a machine.  So the idea came to me....how fun would it be for Action Adam to use a Verbinator to travel around sucking up or collecting action verbs?!?!?  Then, after Action Adam flies around and collects action verbs, my kids can write "adventurous" tales about all the amazing adventures Action Adam had!  Thank you ladies for being an inspiration in my quest to make teaching verbs even more fun for my students!!
I have been teaching my kids songs from a play we used to put on years ago called The Case of the Missing Parts of Speech.  It is such a great play, and the kids learn so much about the parts of speech from it!!  I still use some of the songs to help my students.  I taught them the two noun ones and the verb song.  The kids love singing the songs!  My little girl said she was singing the verb one in the car on the way home and her older sisters were begging her to stop! Haha!  We just learned it so she doesn't even know it that well, so I can only imagine on their 45 minute car ride what that must have been like, lol.  The other thing that made me laugh today was when I was quizzing the students on their knowledge of subjects and verbs and diagramming them.  As I was at the front of the room I complimented them that they were diagramming the correct way that I had taught them.  They were shocked and wondering how I saw them doing it correctly.  My little boy said I'm freaky like that! Haha.  They said a couple of days ago I was talking to a High School student who had come in, and as I was looking at and talking to the High School student, I quickly turned to my little boy and told him he was not doing his Math problem correctly, then finished my sentence with the High School student.  They said I have freaky eyes that can do that, lol.  I love that!  I also had a funny experience at recess this week or last.  I was watching the kids on the playground and a little 1st grade boy who I know well, not just from school, but also from my Sunday School class, and our Pee Wee class on Sunday night, he was walking past slowly and looking at me a little funny.  I didn't even notice him at first, but when I did, I played it cool and said, "Are you supposed to be doing what you are doing?"  He said, "No, I'm sorry Miss Monroe!"  I said, "OK, just choose to do right, you know better."  He said, "Yes, ma'am."  After he left I cracked up laughing with his teacher who was out with me....I told her I had no idea what he had done, the only thing I knew is he looked guilty!  I love that, too! :)

Action ???Man and Being Ben

I still don't have a clever name for Action???Man. :(  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!  I introduced Being Ben today, my kids saw him next to Action???Man and knew he was Being something.  They were calling him Being Boy or Being Man, I liked Being Boy, but I think I'll stick with Being Ben.  I had words all around the room....but not just action and being verbs, I also had other random words.  I don't watch Price is Right much anymore, but I started thinking of the game where contestants had a certain amount of time to change the prices to the correct spots.  With a little change on that idea, I gave the students one minute, they could only get one word at a time and bring it to put under the correct character.  Then I had a spot marked "Other" where they would put the words that were not verbs.  I had them go one at a time to see who would get the most words on the board, but also who got the most correct.  We did a couple of rounds and they enjoyed it!  Both got most of the words correct with just a couple incorrect, which gave a great opportunity to talk about those words and what they were.

I made up lots of words, so I will choose some different ones for tomorrow,and we'll have some fun again!  It was great to get them moving and motivated first thing in the morning!
I decided to start making some bodies for the guys since they were a bit creepy as just heads.  I still have to finish, but I like how things turned out so far.

Looking forward to more fun with them tomorrow.  Just still hoping for some inspiration for Action???Man.

Who Is That Masked Man??

Boy, it's been a while since I have done an educational post!  Sorry, I've been a little sidetracked with some fun things...and some craziness.  Last week was the craziness...starting with my dog waking me up between 2-5 every morning, except Thursday!  Ugh!!  Then we had our Stamford Achievement Tests all week, every morning from 9-11.  Then in between those times, lunch, and recess, and by 1 p.m., I would have to try to get in the four subjects I teach.  So, I didn't have the time I usually do for each subject.  But we did get things done, and new concepts learned.  The fun came from having a giveaway, taking part in linky parties, and playing tag!
Now I would like to ask for a little help.  We are learning subjects and verbs.  Today I introduced Mr. Action Verb Man.

But......I wanted to think of a more clever name for him!  I thought of Action Arun (a run), I know that's a little ewww, cheesy, weird.  So, if you can think of a clever name for him that would help us remember he stands for our action verbs, that'd be great!! :)  Please leave a comment if you think of anything, I would be ever so grateful! :)  Tomorrow I will introduce Being Ben (been).  I thought that was a teeny bit maybe, almost, sort of clever....maybe???!? Thanks in advance for your help!

12 on the 12th!

I'm finally linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for her 12 on the 12th Linky Party!  I really love this party, and couldn't wait to wake up and start taking pictures of my day.  Then sadly there were a few things going on where I didn't get the chance to post until now.  So here it is!

I saw the beautiful red balloons on the front page of the paper, then read to see that it was a picture of the balloons the community sent off to remember sweet, little 6 year old Jeffrey Bourgeois.

The sweet note I found on my board after our restroom break, from my boy!  Awww!  What a surprise!

My super yummy lunch...shrimp salad!!  Mmmm....mmmm....good!

One of my other responsibilities this year, since it's a weird, crazy year for me....I help out the financial secretary a couple of days a week.

Another one of my responsibilities this year...directing the 5th and 6th grade handbell group.  I'll let you in on a fun secret if you promise not to tell. :-)  I have only told a couple of teachers, I'm not even telling the music director!  Feel special you're getting the inside scoop. :) The spring concert is coming up next month, we are going to be playing the William Tell Overture.
Of course they won't be able to play it super fast or anything, they're only 5th and 6th grade, but they have gotten it to a decent speed that we are all pretty proud of.  One boy suggested that at the concert I have them play it slowly first and then fast.  I told him that it's not really meant to be played slowly, but then that gave me an idea! (That's rare, I don't get those too often!)  I shared it with them and they are so excited.  So...for the concert they are going to go start playing the piece, I'm going to direct it a little slower than we know how to play it.  They are going to start with me, and then we have choreographed it so that some students start playing faster and some slow down.  Then they are going to start looking at each other and then me, to see what to do.  I'm going to keep directing them and "try" to get them with me, but at one point I'll stop them, apologize to the audience, then ask the kids what is wrong.  I'll say something about not knowing what is wrong, and why they are playing that way because they know the piece they have played it really well before.  Then........!!!! I am going to say, I know what the problem is....and I'm going to pass black masks to them to put on....you know, so they look like the Lone Ranger!! Then, we'll play it the right way (hopefully, lol), at that decent pace.  Doesn't that sound fun?!?  I'm so excited about it!  But remember, don't tell! Hee hee!

Taking our kids out after school to go to their rides, we get to see this beautiful tree!  This is my favorite tree to take pictures of each spring!

This is what the sky looked like when I pulled into my driveway.  It was a perfect example of what I drove home in.  It was raining on one side of the highway and in some spots and sunny on the other side.

I reluctantly had to sub for 6th grade the next day, so I had to bring the Language book home to study to make sure I knew what I was teaching.  (Then I won't share the fact that I left the book at home!!! Ugh!)

I had to add this, because I got home and mom was sitting in the living room, as she usually is.  At some point she wanted to get up and told me she didn't know where her cane was.  So, instead of relaxing and reading, I got up to look for her cane.  I looked in her room, under the bed, in the living room a couple of places, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, I even looked on the porch.  All places that she would go and would make sense for me to look....the porch because she takes our pup Bella out, so she could possibly have left it out there.  But when I ran out of all the practical places two or three times, I finally looked in the front hall closet, where the coats are, and look what I found!  She usually has her coat on the back of a chair in her room, so normally would not have thought to look there, thankfully I did!

I got a text earlier that my ballroom class was cancelled for the night :-(, that was disappointing, but... I decided to still....Just Dance on my Wii.

Relaxing with computer and TV time...LOVE The Office!!  Love how after many tries to get a good pic I caught a classic Dwight face! Haha!

I had to get my catalogs ready for my big wrap party Friday night!  I love It Works!!!  Detox, tone, and tighten in a healthy way, and many times lose inches as well!  I was so excited for my first party!  (** It went well, by the way, there were about 10 ladies that wrapped and all lost some inches, from 1 to 4 inches!  Fun stuff!)
I have seen a couple of the link ups, but look forward to checking out the rest of them!  I love seeing everyone's pictures!  I'm so glad to finally be linking up!