Five for Friday on Saturday - A Hurricane, a Show, Mom, and Some Math

I'm sitting on the couch still in my pajamas on this rain-soaked Saturday. In Charlotte, we're just seeing the peripheral effects of Hurricane Matthew. That's not the case for my friends and family in Florida. Here are a few pictures of what they've been dealing with. Thankfully, everyone was able to evacuate or lived far enough away from the coast to avoid the storm surge. No one I know was hurt. Too bad I can't say the same for my niece's house. She lives near the beach and her home was flooded. Much of the roof is gone. They're still assessing the damage. My nephew has roof damage, too and they've lost part of their fence.  So thankful it wasn't worse. Houses and things can be fixed or replaced. Lives can't.

Photo by Jerrad Hillis

Photo by Jerrad Hillis

My niece's house sustained a lot of damage from the high winds and flood waters. Thankfully, the family had evacuated by the time the storm hit. 

Photo by Jerrad Hillis

Photo by Cassandra Bailey

Photo by Cassandra Bailey

Photo by Cassandra Bailey

Photo by Cassandra Bailey

Photo by Cassandra Bailey

Photo by Cassandra Bailey

On Tuesday, my friend Patty and I went to see a great new show at the Booth Theater. We were excited to have our seats upgraded to directly in front of the stage. The show, First Date, was hilarious and showcased the challenges of modern dating life.

Patty and I used to work at the same school and I miss my teacher BFF. Thankfully, we are able to get together on a regular basis through the Teacher's Lounge receptions and shows hosted by the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

One of Mom's rose bushes is in bloom. Such a nice fall surprise. It made me miss her, of course, but also brought back some nice memories. She loved yellow roses and always got such a kick out of seeing them bloom. Sometimes when I see a yellow rose bloom, it feels like she paid me a visit. 

Math Workshop is getting closer to full operation. The students are working well together and they love playing the games. I asked the kids what was going well in our small groups and one of them said, "We were all collaborating and having fun." 

Mission accomplished. :)

Just in case I think things are going too well, I always get a reality check when I give assessments. 

After days of talking about word form, standard form, place value, and expanded form...

After days of writing today's number in different ways...

After days of talking about different ways to write or show a number...

This is what I get. 

Face. Palm. 

I couldn't help but laugh.

To be fair, they do look different. 

On that note, this concludes my Five for Friday (Saturday edition). Thanks to Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting!

I hope everyone who was or is in the path of Hurricane Matthew is safe and well. Hug your loved ones close and be grateful for what you have.

Until next time, 

Five for Friday - On Saturday, of Course!

May is officially kicking my butt!  With three four-day weeks left, the end is in sight, though.  I can do this! There are so many things going on, I don't have enough time to blog about them. Thank goodness Doodle Bugs Teaching hosts Five for Friday. Otherwise, I'd never be able to make time for blogging at all!

Here are my five random things from the last week (or so).

Our ABC Countdown is sometimes a joy and sometimes a "what was I thinking?!" Ice Cream Day was a mixture of both. The kids had a ball mixing and shaking their ice cream bags. I had the brilliant idea of using containers instead of bags so their ice cream would be ready to eat once it was mixed. This worked well until two of the students gripped the containers so hard that either the lid popped off or the container cracked. Once the ice cream mixture leaks into the ice and salt, there's nothing to do but start over. Sigh. The experiment itself was only partly successful as some students' ice cream never actually solidified. However, a good time was had by all and most agreed it tasted good anyway. We also had a great discussion trying to figure out what went wrong. A little science, anyone?

The fantastic Mrs. Parker, our Teacher Assistant and resident Science Guru helped us out!

The wonderful Mrs. Carter, a former TA at our school, also gave us a hand.

Shake, shake, shake!

I love it when I see evidence of kindness and caring in our classroom community! Over the last few weeks, we've been writing compliments to random classmates and posting them on their cabinet doors. One of my students did not receive a written compliment this week to put on her cubby. The student who pulled her name forgot to write it and then was absent the next day. When Chloe saw that she didn't have one, she took it upon herself to fix it.  When I read this, I felt warm and fuzzy all over. 

I posted this on Instagram earlier this week while I was working on the flyer. Isn't Scrappin' Doodles' clip art adorable? I'm so excited about our Second Grade Book exchange. I did this over the last two years, but this year four of my colleagues are taking part and it's turning into a big event. We're asking students to bring in gently used books that they no longer want. We'll collect the books over the course of a week. The day before the exchange, we'll count the number received and divide by the number of students to determine how many books each child is able to select. Last year, each of my students was able to choose four books! Since many of my students have no books at home, this is a great way to help them keep reading over the summer.

This year, another colleague, the amazing Maria, convinced me to reach out to the community, as well. My students decorated boxes and I made up a community flyer. I've been going around asking businesses to collect books for us. Our incoming PTA president is going to reach out to our church partners for me, too. I can't wait to see how many donations we get!  I'll blog about the event afterwards and let you know how it turns out.

We played Pinching Paper Clips to review subtraction from 100. Isn't it wonderful when you see them working together and talking about math?  Don't you wish it would last longer than ten minutes before you had to resolve an argument? Or is that just in my classroom? Sigh.

I got in some great relax time last weekend. It was a beautiful day for kayaking with friends on the Catawba River.

I wish I could do this every weekend!

I'm really bad at taking selfies. Can you tell?

Today, I'm relaxing by staying in my PJs 'til 3 in the afternoon (don't judge me), reading, and writing this blog post. But now, I really need to get busy. 

Until next time,

Five for Friday... on Saturday again

I'm later than normal with my Five for Friday Saturday, but I have a great excuse. Today, I spent the day with some fellow educators at the NCAEE Southwest District 6 Conference. Yes, I did go to PD on a Saturday. Yes, I did spend my own money to do it. Yes, I am a little crazy, but I'm so glad I went. I got some much needed inspiration.

Here are this week's five things.

I've wanted to share this one with you for awhile. These are the class buckets in my colleague's classroom. When a student does something kind and "fills someone's bucket," they get to drop pom-poms in their class bucket.  When they fill their bucket with pom-poms, they get to visit the treasure box. Then, they empty their bucket and start over. I think this is a great way to encourage and reward kindness in the classroom, don't you? I'm definitely trying it next year!

I saw these at Target this week in their Easter section. I'm thinking I could design some great math lessons that revolve around Goldfish. We could graph the different colors and analyze the graph. We could work on even and odd numbers. We could estimate and count the whole bag. We could work on place value. We could solve two-digit addition and subtraction problems. We could make up our own story problems. Hmmm.  The possibilities are endless. I'm thinking the weekend before Spring Break would be perfect for these. I'll let you know what I decide to do and how it goes.

Check out what I saw hanging in the teacher restroom at the school where the conference was held today. I think this is a great idea - both for teachers and for students. Sometimes, we just need a little reminder; something positive to let us know that we do matter, that there are people who care about us. So cool.

I won a door prize!  I chose this book by Ron Clark. I can't wait to read it. Visiting the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta is definitely on my bucket list.

I got to spend time with one of my teaching idols today. I started reading Jen Jones' Hello First Grade blog soon after I moved to North Carolina. I've found and used so many wonderful ideas and resources on her blog over the years. Now, of course, her blog is called Hello Literacy. She is a popular TpT Author and a literacy consultant in high demand across the country. She's also an inspiring presenter. Just listening to her today erased some of the stress I've been feeling lately. I'm feeling reenergized and ready to teach students to become better readers and writers.

I'm grateful to Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting Five for Friday each week. I enjoy sharing my week with you and finding out about what other educators are doing. Make sure you visit Doodle Bugs Teaching to check out the other great blog posts this week. I also welcome your comments on my blog. Make sure you follow me on BlogLovin' by clicking the link at the top of my page.

Until next time,

Saying Goodbye to a Retiring Colleague

This week, my school said goodbye to a teacher who has been a member of the faculty for 19 years. Mrs. G. is an amazing Kindergarten teacher, and with her retirement, she is leaving behind a rich legacy of making a difference.

At the party, each grade level took turns presenting her with gifts and letting her know how much she had impacted them and their students.  The fifth grade team presented her with portraits created by students who had been in her Kindergarten class. They remembered her fondly and described their impressions of her through the years.

My own team presented her with a retirement survival kit.  We got the idea from Pinterest and adjusted it to match our needs. Here are some pictures of the basket and the list of goodies it included.

Mrs. G. was a huge help to me when I joined the staff two years ago.  I had a rough time making an adjustment to my new school. I felt lost, out of place, and overwhelmed with a difficult class and too many new requirements.  Mrs. G. proved a steadfast guide through that first rocky year.  She provided a listening ear and good advice. Sometimes, just her cheery greeting as I walked down the hall made all the difference.

When my team asked if I'd write a poem in her honor, I was nervous, but as soon as I thought about all she had meant to me and to my colleagues, the words started to flow.  Here was my part of the gift.

Writing the poem was easy compared to reading it out loud to her and our colleagues.  I was almost in tears by the final line.  I hope she realizes how much she really will be missed.

Did you have to say goodbye to a retiring colleague this year?  What did you and your colleagues do to honor his or her years of service?  Please share your retirement celebration ideas in the comments below.

If you are in need of a gift for a retiring colleague, my poem is available in my TPT store. Click here to check it out.

Until next time,