End of the Year, and the Start of a Big Adventure!

We finished school a week ago, but so much has happened since then! I'm going to cheat on Five for Friday and show you 5 photos from our last week of school.

It's simple, but my kids loved getting to read in our nature center for 20 minutes. I let them each enjoy a freeze pop, and popped around to get an individual photo of each kid for their end of the year gift.

The next day, the kids used adjectives to describe each other in a game of Scoot. Since my kids mostly thought of different ones, I had them do an extra round where they voted for 2 others, and then I put the results into a Tagul word cloud to finish up their end of the year class gift, just like last year.

Once I got the basic Tagul settings set up, I just retyped things for each student and I probably had these printed and ready in about an hour. They would look great framed!

Our grade level took the kids to a bowling alley for our end-of-the-year party. For $3, each kid got to play two games, and they LOVED it! (This little guy had never gone bowling before. Check out that form!)

My kids got a chance to give their teacher a report card, which they just loved. If you're still in school, you can grab a copy of the teacher's report card here.

You can link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching here!

It was a very busy end of the year, but this past week has been REALLY huge for my family.

Last weekend, I threw a party for my husband to celebrate his birthday and graduation, and yesterday, on his official birthday, he accepted a job in the Cincinnati area (where he's from, and we both have family).

So... I'M OFFICIALLY MOVING!

We are both excited, but I am really sad to leave my current school and job. If anyone has job searching tips, classroom moving tips, or any connections that might help in the Cincy area, I would be forever grateful!

Memorial Day Memory

Both of my grandfathers, one of my uncles, one of my cousins, my brother-in-law, and other loved ones have all served in the military, so I really try to take some time to remember the true reason for this holiday.

For me, that means re-reading The Road Home, re-watching some Band of Brothers, and reminiscing about one of my most memorable days as a teacher.

 

You can read about it here.

Thank you to all who have served.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Mother’s Day Gifts- Last Minute and EASY!

Whew- exhausted! I’ve been sick since last week. I’m on antibiotics, but this sinus infection is just not done with me yet. I’m getting better, though!

Are you like me, and just now working on a last minute Mother’s Day gift with your class?

These flower pens are easy to make in a day, especially if you work with a small group at a time, and they’re pretty cheap.

What else have we been up to?

Well, long-term followers might remember that my class ran a lemonade stand for charity in May last year. You can read all about it here.

We’re preparing to run the second annual lemonade stand this Friday!

Today we analyzed some advertisements with a simple freebie from last year. (You can pick it up here- it’s great for author’s purpose in depth in the upper grades, and really engaging in those last couple weeks of school!)

Oh, and this week we’ve also had state testing, chicks hatching in our room, an author visit, and lots of time finishing up our books for Young Author’s week.

We’ve been so busy that one of my kids told me today, “Are we going to have our reading rounds in the afternoon? I actually kind of miss reading.” For some kids, that would be normal… but for this guy, it made my heart sing to think that he is finally loving reading!

Weeks like this are why I love teaching- SO much fantastic learning (state testing aside)- but they wear. me. out! I’ll be ready for the weekend for sure :)

Week of Doom Approaching, in 3, 2, 1…

Some weeks you try out a new pin, and it works.

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This was my Pin of the Week. I started with a sore throat Sunday night, and got gradually worse until scrambling for sub plans on Thursday to get myself to Urgent Care.

See, I didn’t get anything ready because we just have too much going on for me to be absent. But, well, my body didn’t really listen to that, but let the sinus infection take charge.

Once I was medicated, I came back to school but didn’t eat a big enough breakfast, so my medicine did not agree with my stomach. Friday morning I had a lovely Teacher First and, well, got sick right in front of my class.

Yeah, nothing helps kids focus on their work like their teacher over a trash can in the back of the room.

I went home at lunch.

(Please tell me I’m not the only one who has traumatized her class in this way? They were so concerned. Of course, they were so concerned right in the moment when I needed them to be independent for just a minute please, but it was still sweet.)

ANYWAY.

Everyone else seems to be excited that we are almost to the end of the year. For me, there are FOURTEEN days left. And while I’m ready for a break, holy cow. There is WAY too much to get done in fourteen days. Plus, I might be moving away from my school this summer and I’m not ready to be done teaching here. I’m a nerd, but… I love my job, and I love knowing I’ve done it well, and I need more time for that!

Surely I’m not the only one who feels this way?

Next week we will be doing our state testing (which should have been done last week, but the testing company our state paid $95 million to had major computer issues). As a member of the social committee, I’m also helping with our retirement celebration on Wednesday. On top of that, it’s our Young Author’s Week- we will have a visit from an author (Keiko Kasza) and share our (unfinished) books with a first grade class. The rest of the week will be spent finishing our books, creating our Mother’s Day gift, and getting ready for the lemonade stand my class is running on Friday during a schoolwide running event, after seeing an orchestra performance in the morning and enjoying the pizza party they earned on the same day.

So yeah, sinus infection, there is NO TIME for you.

Oh, and my husband graduates college that same night and his family is coming to visit for the weekend.

(Hence all the question marks about my summer/ future. Husband is still looking for a job, so… life is sort of up in the air until that one falls into place. Crossing my fingers that I don’t have to work this summer- I’ve never done gone a summer without working!)

I have been a terrible blogger, but I plan on posting tomorrow to recap some ideas from this time last year (because most of you weren’t following me then, which is actually pretty awesome).

I super hope that your life is a bit less crazy right now. To be fair, other than the sick, most things in my life are going really well and are super exciting- it’s just a lot at once! :) Make sure you link up with your Currently with Farley!