Gratitude

WOW!!!!! SO SO COOL! My little old blog has received an award! I was so excited to log on this morning and see that Andi from Pencils, Glue, & Tying Shoes awarded me the Versitile Blogger award! Thanks Andi! A great compliment coming from you!

Here are the rules of the award:

*Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

*Share 7 things about yourself.

*Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.

SO....... 7 Things About Me!

1. I am slightly addicted to crafting. Pinterest has been a huge motivator to try new crafts and I actually feel that I need "crafting fixes". Is there an official diagnosis for that?

2. I was the elected Band President my junior and senior years of High School. I represented the band on the student counsel. I am proud to have been a band geek!

3. I do not like to bake. I LOVE to cook when I have the chance but baking is way too precise a science for me.

4. I love to read. My ideal day is starting a book in the morning and having it be so engaging that I finish it before closing my eyes to sleep that night. I do not often find books that are that engaging but when I do, I kinda check out.

5. I have always wanted to be a teacher. My report cards always talked about how much I talked and how I was always helping the other children with their work. I would love to go visit all of those teachers that thought that was a "Bad" thing. Bet their report cards said the same thing when they were little.

6. I have a secret dream to work in radio. Any person that has seen me with a microphone will not be surprised by this....Also, I love to talk. Go figure.

7. Even though I dream of traveling, I have never had the desire to live anywhere other than where I live. I went 2 hours away for college but did not explore any opportunities to move away to teach because I wanted to stay in Rochester and be close to my family. I did not grow up with extended family close by and wanted to raise a family where my children would have access to their grandparents and cousins. (As I write this, my kids are playing with their cousins!)

The last rule of this award is that I have to pass this award along to 15 other bloggers so here you go...15 blogs that are inspiring to me. Go visit them and become followers.

Hayley over at Bishop's Blackboard

Mrs. Wheeler over at Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade Tidbits

Jena over at Mrs. Saylor's Log

And for a soul-inspiring blog visit Amy over at The Poem Farm. You will want to visit every day!

Now I am off to figure out how to make myself a button!!! Suggestions?????

Bee the Change~

Never Forget

My mother says that she remembers the day that Kennedy was killed. 1963. I bet that she remembers the clothes that she was wearing, the class that she was in and the hours and days following the assassination. I bet if I talked to others in her generation, they would be able to tell me the same thing.

I was talking to a friend at lunch about this and she was telling me that she remembers what she was doing and where she was the day the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. 1986. I remember too. I was a junior in high school and I remember my teacher crying while we watched the coverage on TV. She was crying, no doubt, for one of her fellow educators that was on that voyage.

1990. I came home from a dinner out with friends to find my Mom and Dad glued to the TV watching as Desert Storm began. I remember thinking the my Dad, an Army Reservist at the time, would not be called up and months later I was home from college helping him pack.

2001. I was a substitute teacher that did not get called in to work that day. I dropped my 2 year old son at Daycare and went home to watch Good Morning America. As I was driving home I remember thinking what a beautiful day it was. As I watched the events of 9-11 unfold LIVE on television, I could not believe my eyes. I cried for days. To this day I can pull up the exact feeling that I had when I watched those towers fall. I remember going to St. Helen's Church the next day to join with strangers in a novena for peace.

Every year when the coverage of 9-11 comes on TV I am jealous of my children. My children, one of which was born 9 months to the day after 9-11 ask me "Why would people fly those planes into the buildings if they knew that it would kill people?" How do I answer that? Is there an answer that?

As I write this, my wish for my children and the children of the world is that they will never sit and write a post like this. That they will never cry at the thought of events that occurred 10 years ago. That they will never have to endure the pain and sorrow that so many Americans endure today. That they will never have to stand in a church, hold hands with strangers and say a novena for peace.

Never forget? If you were alive and old enough to understand.........it is impossible to forget.

Bee the Change~

The Power of Words!

I tried an activity that I found on Blog Hoppin' that had to do with building your classroom community. You know how sometimes you see an activity on one of the great blogs out there and you think "that would NEVER work in my classroom"? I was a skeptic but I was WRONG! This lesson was powerful and thought-provoking for the children.

We started by reading Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I read it the first day for pleasure and the next day as a teach piece. (Personally I was surprised by how few children in my class had read this book). This story is about a little mouse who LOVES her name. When she goes off to school, some of the children tease her about her very long and very flowery name.

The next day we read the story again and talked about the words that we use that are kind and make our heart feel good.

On the second heart we wrote words that hurt. The children were VERY HESITANT to tell me bad, hurtful words because they have been trained to NOT say them. I had to give them the OK to share and said that it was OK to say them when we were learning what NOT TO SAY. Once I gave them the go ahead, the floodgates opened. As we read back the hurtful words, I folded up the heart. We talked about how using hurtful words hurts the heart. Their eyes were riveted to me as I folded it. Using the word "wilted" from the story made it all the more powerful. I had the children give me the words that would make the hurting heart feel better and I unfolded the paper. We talked about how the heart was big again but still wrinkled. Even saying "I am sorry" will not make the heart all better.

One of my students suggested that we keep the heart with the kind words on it but throw away the one with the hurtful words on it. One of my other students suggested that I rip up the heart with the hurtful words and throw it away. Great idea! Unfortunately, I was not using my BLOGGER brain and forgot to take a picture of the wrinkled heart before I ripped it up. It would have ruined the dramatic factor anyway!
It was a great lesson designed by a great teacher (Thanks Deanna) made greater by terrific kids!

Bee the Change~

First Day Hooray!

I love the first day of school. I love that I get nervous the night before the first day after MANY years of school. I even love the piles of papers, late busses and 10 minute lunch break!

We had a great day....you know.....lots of talking and not having a solid schedule, getting to know you activities and sorting school supplies.

I gave them outside recess in between raindrops today because I thought that they would like to get outside to play but a few friends were disappointed that we did not have inside recess. I suspect that they were interested in finding out what I had in the blue recess buckets on the shelf! I felt guilty about denying them....right....and we played a little at the end of the day.

I love watching children play. They had the buckets of toys out, dropped and picked up the Lego box that got dropped on the floor, ooo-ed and aahhhh-ed over the transformers, matchbox toys and McDonald's toys that were in the buckets and one friend even read a book that he found in the classroom library.

I really loved watching the girls explore a bucket of shells......

..........a wonderful day indeed.

What was your favorite part about the first day?

Bee the Change~

Aha!

I think that I may have figured out why I am having difficulty getting back into the swing of things! I have not started one of my favorite back-to-school rituals. Every year at about this time, I read 2 books that have influenced my teaching and are just plain enjoyable.

The first book is Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller. I own 2 copies of this book. My original copy has all of my notes and thoughts written in the margins. It was damaged by water (a leaky water bottle in my work bag) and mildewed. Sadly I had to buy a new one but still have not had the strength to throw the old one away. Alas....... Debbie's book is full of pictures from her classroom (a place that I would LOVE to learn in) and her style of writing is so nurturing and calming. My favorite part of the book is the prologue when she describes her room before and at the end of the first day of school. The prologue is titled It Doesn't Get Better Than This. I agree Debbie!

My next favorite is Growing Readers by Kathy Collins. Her book focuses on units of study for Reading Workshop. Kathie does a great job of providing mini-lessons for young readers. I really like the early chapters on setting the tone and building good habits.

I am going to go now and start writing some new notes in the margins of my books!

What are your go-to teacher resources?

Bee the Change~

Need to Make the Shift!

Well....it is Saturday. 2 m ore days until I am back at school and 3 more until 21 little faces are peering at me wondering what to do. I need to settle in and figure out what to do myself! I am distracted by some of the projects that I have started so I am going to finish the projects and hope that I am able to shift gears into what I am supposed to do!

One of the projects that I was working on was making a sign for above my classroom door. My friend Becky (check out her new classroom blog HERE) started this project and slowly we are getting some up above the doors! I made mine and one for each of my first grade team members.

My Owl

Marilyn LOVES Kermit.

Beth is a kitty-lover!

These have been fun and I am sure will perk up the hallway!

Bee the Change~

20 followers?

Yeehaw!

Thanks everyone!

Bee the Change~