Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2015

Can you even see THE moment I caught in this photo?  Yes watch this video

Yes you are right we found the Golden Ticket.  I just love reading this story and seeing the excitement day after day.  Chocolate Day is going to be EPIC! 

Big moment for my little girl...

 My little girl isn't so little anymore... I love teaching 1st grade because I get to see the same age kids each year and well it might keep me young and then I look at my beautiful daughter and see she is not longer that 6 year old.  She is a high school freshman and ventured off to her 1st Homecoming this year, and no I didn't cry...almost.  Her friends were able to get hair and makeup done at our house thanks to a friend-**Thanks Lexi :)  Here is a photo of Kaile and one of her BFFs, Hope and I are so proud of these beauties!

Here is our baby girl all dressed up with my mom and dad. Loved the dress she picked out.

After pictures and dinner I was the one to drop the girls off at the dance.  Lucky for me I caught a quick selfie with my one and only Homecoming Princess.  She sure is a cutie.  Tim and I are so blessed!

so many things over the month...

GoNoodle is such a great way to start the day.  Hug It Out is a wonderful way to give our body a stretch and make sure to we start the day off right.

Every morning we start the day writing in our journal before SIPPS.  A few mornings a week we try to stand up, hand up, pair up to share our journals.  It is such a wonderful way for us to get to know our friends a little better.  

I can't help but smile when I see friendships grow like this one.  

Do you Kahoot! Our friends love Kahoot! and we are experts now. We use it for sight words, science terms, social studies vocabulary, and even math.  One of our toughest concepts in math is picking true math statements. So why not a Kahoot! to get them looking closer at equations.

Find the one that is true...

Of course the highlight is seeing the Top 5 leaderboard.

I love that every time in every subject there seems to be a different leader and top 5.  It is so nice that the friends see different names up on that leaderboard and try their best to be on it.

No wonder the kids love science it seems like we have such hands on fun.  I cannot even tell you how much fun it wad to see them learn how to use a measuring tape and measure one another.

Buttons, buttons, everyone wants to earn one of these buttons.  Another Instagram/Twitter idea...  The button says "Ask me what I got on Mrs. Wright's test..."  The best was when the cafeteria lady asked one of the young ladies while she was going through the lunch line what she made on the test.  I was there to see her caught off guard and then smile really big when she said 12 out of 12.  Love those moments.

Apple Experiment

I just love connecting with other 1st grade classes through Instagram and Twitter.  So on Apple Day we did a little experiment...Who will save the apple? from turning brown...

We used water, Sprite, lemon juice, and vinegar to see which would be the last to turn the apple brown. We have some pretty observant scientists and we watched carefully over the next couple of days.

As you can see by the photos lemon juice was the best helper.  Funny because most of the kids thought water.  

Apple Day & birthday singing

Apple Day is a favorite not just because I am a 1^st grade teacher learning about Johnny Appleseed, yes 1^st grade teachers love to celebrate everything, but Ms. Clutter and I share that same birthday with Appleseed!  The morning started off with a shower of cards and you know hand made ones and drawings are the best!  We had some Apple Jacks fun because of course math is more fun with something to eat.  This year was even more fun because Jude’s mom made both classes cupcakes.  We had a group singing and it was fabulous!  

We just love our classes and truly appreciate all the love. How cute are they with all the apple pots on their heads.

#youmatter

You are important, loved, respected, you are a contributing part of our team, you are valuable, listened to, successful and that is our is our mantra for the month and we have talked at length about the importance of liking yourself, sticking up for friends, and doing good in the world.  In a nutshell #youmatter  There just isn’t anything like a group of firsties to put it all into perspective for you.  They are so loving and genuinely care for one another.  I tell them there might be ugliness out there but we can change that with even the smallest of gestures. 

This week we had the pleasure of a very special visitor Victor Ezier, owner of Bully Me Now MMA.  He told his story and how it led him to his present day adventure at Bully Me Now where he hopes to empower children to find confidence within themselves.  He read a picture book about a different kind of dog and the kids were interested because of course it was about a dog.  It was a great message about how we are all different but that is what makes up our world~ different types.  Thank you Victor for sharing your story and we hope you come back to help us build our confidence throughout the year.

Grandparent's Day 2015

I can remember my grandparents.  My Ahma lived in Taiwan and we were blessed to get to visit when I was about 11 years old.  I remember what a hard worker she was, what a great cook, and how tiny she was.  I also remember there was respect even though we spoke few words in the same language.  My other grandparents lived in Nebraska and we got to see them more often.  I remember my grandma being the best cook.  She made this one cake, Cold Water Chocolate Cake and oh the tuna casserole was my brother Marcus' favorite.  My great grandma made the best fudge and I would give anything to spend just another day with each of these women so please treasure the grandparents! #youmatter My parents are grandparents to 3 amazing grandchildren and we are very blessed to have family dinner night every Sunday alternating between our house and theirs. #grateful We laugh, talk, and enjoy the days go by building these memories.  When I tuck Carson in at night and ask him the favorite part of his day...it always has something to do with food or family.  We truly are blessed!  

I had the pleasure of asking my firsties about their grandparents and we made these cute pictures to hang on the refrigerator as a daily reminder of how important grandparents are!  Hope you enjoyed them.  I sure did and I know my grandparents are smiling down at me as I remember Grandparent's Day 2015.

Friday September 4 marked the 10th day of school and a very important package was delivered!

 Look at all those 0s!!!!! We were very surprised when Dr. L came walking in with the box and we were curious.

 Inside we found a note explaining its appearance, some balloons, a cape, and a Zero the Hero flat doll.  AND guess what donuts!!! shaped like a 0!!

Thanks Dr. L. and we are looking forward to the next visit from Zero the Hero on the what day?!?