Easter 2014

Easter is such a special time of year! It is so much fun with the annual 1st grade egg hunt.  Each year we watercolor a piece of paper and overnight they are transformed into Easter baskets.  I have the BEST parents since they send in filled eggs and even come by to hide them for us.  We graphed jelly beans, made a cute bunny craft and even had a visit from the Easter Bunny.  I took the kids outside for some bunny, bunny, chick.  They were too cute running around after one another.  We came back and they thought they were picking up their baskets for the egg hunt.  Little did they know Ms. Susan hid them around the room.  It was a free for all! So much fun.  Check out the video. Happy Easter one and all!

Technopalooza!!

I know crazy title but you should see the CRAZY things these firsties can do!  I read on Twitter about back channeling (thanks @kathycassidy) and thought the benefits would be outstanding.  I have been in workshops and I want to talk out loud with comments or questions but as an adult I know better.  Well what about all those mad blurters in 1st grade?  Why not give them an alternative?  We were learning about living and nonliving things.  We previewed a few youtube songs and another video.  We used todays meet to back channel. The kids started by scanning a QR code to get in the meeting.  They added their name and comments throughout.  They could also ask questions and we could read their thoughts while listening and forming our own comments/questions.  You might be thinking too many things to do…well I wanted to see what they could do and they did not disappoint!  These kids are amazing!  Check out our flipogram.

We read Frog and Toad, The Kite last week as our reading story.  I challenged a reading group to create a Keynote with photos and information to share about frogs and toads.  Here is Rick sharing his under the document camera.  He is still working on editing and adding final touches.  They are like sponges I tell you.

 Game Show Thursday is a BIG HIT!! We are using jeopardylabs.com and the app Free Game Show Sound Board (thanks Tony Vincent) to create an atmosphere where our learning is rewarded and fun!  There is such a wide variety of jeopardy game boards from math concepts, story books we read, science concepts, and oh so much more.  The kids are all into helping out their teammates, cheering one another on, and pointing out when I forget a sound.  Seriously should I be having this much fun at work?!?

 @GoNoodle might be a new favorite!  We are working throughout the day and stopping to take brain breaks to recharge and improve our laser-like focus!  Here we are singing Let It Go from Frozen.  The boys were ready for Happy from Despicable Me 2.  They love earning time and watching our class creature grow from exercising.  Give GoNoodle a try if you haven't yet.

Jack Hartmann!

Today was THE day!  No not April Fool's Day, I mean yes it was that but that wasn't the best part of the day.  Jack Hartmann came to CCE today and boy was it FUN!  He was too sweet and even posed for a class picture today.  Sorry Reese and Christopher were out.  Reese had a fever but we know how much you wanted to be there.  We sang for you.  Check out the class pic.

Yes, you see a gator on my head.  You should have seen Jack's face when I mentioned I was a HUGE Seminole fan.  Yes I took it in stride and it was Jack Hartmann and we all know how very important and talented he is! The concert ended with Hip Hop Tooty Ta!  BEST TIME EVER-love, love, love the ending to that one.  Watch this…

So speaking of April Fool's…I gave everyone a red today and there were some surprised faces.  They didn't know I used remind101 to tell their parents, "Everyone was on red today!  Happy April Fool's Day!"  Too funny.  I even got texts and phone calls from parents.  Sure hope no one got in trouble.  Wonder what the next 46 days will bring...

St. Patricks Day 2014

The leprechaun reeked chaos this morning! You should have seen it!  The first 30 minutes of the morning were filled with cleaning, moving, and visiting the bathroom.  Yes visiting the bathroom.  The leprechaun even changed the toilet water color.  He is quite mischievous. Let me start back to Friday.  The kids shared their rainbows and leprechaun traps and they were too cute.  Can I just say sharing family projects might be one of my most favorite things about first grade.  Parents you really outdid yourselves this year.  Check out the pictures. So we set up the traps and left for the weekend.  We walked in and the room was upside down and in a complete mess.  Imagine green glitter and oh my the custodian might have a fit seeing it all around the room.  Well it took us a awhile to clean it up but I will say it made for interesting journal entries today.  Thank you to the families for the awesome green taste test party this afternoon- an annual Wright's Rippers tradition. It was so busy I forgot to take a poll for the favorite.  I will have to let you know tomorrow.  I bet all my leprechaun catchers are sleepy tonight...

100th day!

Friday was the 100th day of the school year and BOY WHAT A DAY it was!!

Yes they are dressed like they are 100 years old.  It was too cute for words.  I had the best time walking through school and hearing the giggles.  Their family project was to decorate a cape with 100 items.  You have to see theses cutie pies with their superhero capes.  Our school theme is "Unlock the Superhero, We are Uncommon and Beyond"  These kids are uncommon and BEYOND! I am so proud of them and all the families for a FABULOUS day!  Here is to the next 80 to round out the year.


UPDATE:
I sent home 6 questions for the kids and families to think about and answer.  My mom, dad, and teacher tells me 100 times to _____. I tell my mom, dad, and teacher 100 times I want to _____.   Always a funny thing reading the responses.  Most of the kids hear they should clean their room, make their bed, and brush their teeth.  The funniest one was to stop growing.  I might agree the firsties sure are cute!  They tell their parents 100 times they want a toy, to play outside, stay up, or play with friends.  Oh to be young again.  The best we're the teacher ones.  So the best ones were my teacher tells me 100 times to sit down correctly, be good, do my math, listen, pay attention, and do my best!  My favorite one was "make a ten."  Seems to be something I say a lot. So what do they say to me 100 times? They want to play on the iPads, eat lunch, have free play, do Reading Counts, and they want to be a teacher!  Makes my heart smile.  The best was "I tell my teacher 100 times I want to always be in her class!!!" They are the best aren't they and I just LOVE my job!  Thank you for letting me share.

New Year-2014!

2014!?! Of course we had to celebrate the new year in style.  We sipped on Welch's Sparkling grape juice and watched the ball drop.  The countdown was a highlight and I think they rushed it a bit at the end because they were so excited!  I can't wait to see the gains these firsties make this upcoming year.  We are going to enjoy every minute of it.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida-Ronald visited our school!

When I was a kid THE place to have your birthday party was at McDonald's.  It was exciting to see Ronald, the Hamburglar and of course Grimace!  WELL guess who made an appearance?  Ronald McDonald himself.  Yes, that is me with Ronald!  YIPPEEE :):)

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida made a visit to talk to the kids about reading and to stand up to bullies!  I have to say it was a FABULOUS show!  We laughed and even learned about optical illusions.  Ronald did a trick using a bullseye and his head grew bigger right before our eyes and then shrunk smaller.  The kids thought is was the coolest thing ever!  Ronald came with a very important message- stand up to bullies and make sure to watch out for those around you.  We need to teach children what to do and say when they encounter a bully so we can arm them with strategies to cope in our world.

Ronald suggested taking a picture of the kids' shoes.  came out cute!  Wonder which ones belong to Ronald?

We wrote thank you notes and I had to take pictures because they are the cutest thing ever!  Make sure to check them out.  The smallest thing to an adult means the most to one of my fisties!  Check out those drawings!

Thank you Ronald McDonald your lesson hit home with these kids!