TGIS (Thank Goodness It's Summer!)

So....obviously I wasn't very good with my New Year's resolution for my blog. I did not keep the resolution of posting to my blog regularly. Therefore, a lot has happened since February 14! We had a great second semester on our team. We PUNCHED the CRCT! Our school PUNCHED the CRCT! But we also found out our principal is retiring and our assistant principal is going back to the classroom. Which leads me to today...I sat in on interviews for some teaching positions in 3rd grade and 4th grade. I have to start this out by saying I am so thankful for the opportunity I got last summer to accept this 4th grade position. We interviewed 15 people today and that was not even all that applied. Which means there are a TON of HIGHLY QUALIFIED people all looking for that same thing: their own classroom. I really hope this economy makes a turn for better because I hate that we can't take all of these great teachers.

I am excited to start planning for next year. I have my first year under my belt and I know what worked and what didn't...and I survived. Barely survived, but survived. Most people say you want to forget your first year, but I hope I never do. I learned a lot from the teachers I worked with and from the students. I never want to forget their ah-ha moments. I never want to forget their smiles and laughter. We have only been out for two weeks, but I am already doing projects during my free time for my classroom next year. I am excited to be more organized and to finish my Master's! I have a wedding this weekend and leave for camp next week! I will look at posting some pictures of our hall from CRCT and the end of the year festivities soon! But for now, good night.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some people would think that Valentine's Day is a teacher's worst nightmare...well behind Halloween. The kids are on a sugar high just from the word Valentine. Well this morning, I decided to change that! I don't know how many students were thrilled that they did not get a shoe box full of candy first thing in the morning, but they did enjoy their breakfast and did not complain :). See below for the Valentine treat from Miss Gunter.

The students were surprisingly not as crazy as I thought they were going to be. Don't worry...I didn't deprive them of candy. I gave them of candy. They got a goody bag at the end of the day with an eraser, a pencil, and a piece of candy. Ok, ok, so they only got one piece of chocolate, but I still feel like they were not deprived during the day. 

I posted last about our Solar System Unit and our phases of the moon activity. I failed to have the picture of the oreos for the last post, so as promised, here is the oreo phases of the moon. 

The kids LOVED this activity (as expected). But they did have to explain their phase before they ate any of the oreo. 

I wanted to catch you up on the projects I have completed recently. I bought shadow boxes back at Thanksgiving when they were on sale. I have big expectations for my half marathon race numbers and medals. However, with the craziness of my life, I am just now catching up on all of the projects I want to do. 

We have our Winter Break right now. I am hoping to get one or two more projects done. I am very excited about my girl's weekend. I am going to Greenville with my camp friends! For now, good bye and good night.

We're Going to the Chapel and We're Gonna Get Maarriieedd...

This past weekend, I got to go to Emily and Justin's Couple's Shower...it was a blast. All but two of the bridal party was there, so it was awesome to get to spend some more time with the girls I haven't seen in a while. It was also a great weekend catching up with Lenora.

Since Christmas, it seems like all my social life has revolved around is who's getting married. It's a good thing I love weddings, engagements, and social events revolving around these two events. I had four good friends get engaged from Christmas to New Year's. And I am loving every minute of Emily's wedding festivities. Her Christmas shower was fun followed by her shower in Register, GA (that's ok if you have never heard of Register...it is near Statesboro). I learned to shoot a gun at our pre-shower festivities and got to see Alex after almost a year!

School is going well...the kids are ready for a break and I an thankful that we have one this Friday and Monday. I am in for a four day week and then a four day weekend. I am really looking forward to my four day weekend because I am going to spend it with some camp girl friends! More pictures to come of that.

I do want to share one of the activities my kiddos did. We just got done studying the Solar System. We have been on this unit since before Christmas, BUT the kids have loved it and are very interested in the Solar System. I cannot take credit for this activity (I got it from pinterest.) We created the phases of the moon using oreos. The kids loved it. They each got an oreo and I assigned them a phase. They had to then put themselves in order in a circle. Once they got done putting themselves in order, I stood in the center and acted as "Earth." We saw how the "near side" of the moon faced Earth and how the different phases looked from Earth.

The oreo picture will come soon. I have to get it on my computer. But for now, good bye and good night. 

Christmas Break

Yes, I know the title of this post is a little out of order with the more recent posts I have done. However, I wanted to show off all of the cool things that went on right before Christmas break and during the holidays.

So I had to get my room ready for Christmas because I LOVE all holidays. So my mom helped me create a snowman and a wreath for my door. I also had some garland up with candy canes and ornaments hanging from it.

For our holiday party at school, the students made an ornament by painting their hand white and holding the ornament. This created a pattern that looks like snowmen. When the white dried, they were able to use paint pens and glitter glue to create scarves, hats, eyes, noses, and scenery. 

My kiddos were all so sweet. I got so many great gifts and HANDMADE cards! I love handmade cards. They make my day and the kids put so much effort into them, it shows they truly do care (even during the times or turmoil where they think I am being "mean"). I meant to take pictures of all of them, but forgot because of the speed of the day! That last day sped by so fast, I am glad I took some pictures, because chances are, I won't remember the details in a month. 

Once school was out for the break, I was really able to use my creative juices that have been closed up for four months! I created ornaments out of corks (I can't take credit for this idea. I got the idea off pinterst.com). I hung these ornaments off gifts for different people. I also created these jewelry/key hangers for some people. 

Before Christmas day was very relaxing. I got to work out everyday. I ran errands. I organized my room. I watched TV. But after Christmas break was a whirlwind. It started with a dinner with my sorority sisters. It was so great to catch up with everyone! A group picture from that will come later due to the fact that I haven't put the pictures onto my computer from my "good" camera (these pictures on here are just from my phone). The next stop was Williamsburg, VA. I know I mentioned it during an earlier post, but some family friends live up there. We had a great first night (besides hitting a deer five miles from their house). They always welcome us with open arms. We left the next day to go to DC where Harrison lives. Lucy and I spent New Year's Eve in DC and got the opportunity to catch up with an old sorority sister and see the White House (which I haven't seen since I was 8). 

New Year's Eve was a blast and after a long train ride back to Williamsburg, my mom and I left Virginia the next day (January 2nd). We got home, unpacked, and repacked, because Thursday, January 3 we packed up the car and headed to Baton Rouge, LA! We figured it up and we went through 7 states in 7 days. Talk about a tour of the Southeast! We cheered the Tigers Gymnastics team on to a victory and toured the facilities. It was great to reunite with friends and eat some real Louisiana food! 

Once we traveled safely back home, I hit the ground running the very next day (Monday, January 7). Report cards were due and lessons had to be taught! I also started my semester for grad school. Two classes, a full time job, and my sanity is what I hope to end the semester with. 

This past weekend, I ran the Hot Chocolate 15K in Atlanta. It was a very cool race. We ran down by the zoo, through Grant Park, Inman Park, and back to Turner Field. It was a different route than the Thanksgiving Half Marathon, so it gave me a change of scenery. The best part, though, is at the end of the race, you get a giant "mug" of chocolate! 

YUMMY! I also went to a precious little girl's 2nd birthday party. I have pictures below of the "Elmo" tutu I made for her. I am very proud of the tutu and if you look closely, the orange is sparkly. I made the tutu in the car on the way to Atlanta. My mom will be finding orange glitter for years to come. So, whew, there is a recap of the last month of my life! I hope to add some more pictures soon. I have a lot of wedding stuff coming up soon. And by the way, four good friends got engaged over the break, so this may become the blog of good wedding ideas! Until next time, good night!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It has been raining for about three days here in Georgia. We haven't been able to go out for recess for one day (i.e. today). But it feels like we haven't been outside for recess in months. The kids go crazy when it is raining. We got to go out yesterday, but only on the "track" which is also similar to a death trap because it is part of the parking lot. BUT it is a track and the kids can run.

We are also continuing our unit on the Solar System. The kids LOVE learning about the different planets. But, I had a somewhat freak out moment last week because there are only approximately 35 days until our state test. Which means...I have to cover the rest of the standards by the end of April. This doesn't seem like a lot, but when I think about the students I have that also have to remember what we learned in August, I get a little panicky.

If there is one thing I have learned this year, it will get done. I am blessed to work with an awesome team who supports me through the ups and downs. Parents may not agree with everything I do in my classroom, but I have the respect of most of the kids and my colleagues. That is success in my eyes. Until next time, good night.

New Year, New You

I am not sure where to start because I haven't posted in so long. I will say that a New Year's Resolution is going to be to post to my blog more than once every 9 weeks. I know some of you may think that is a lie, but like all resolutions, I am going to try really hard. I have been off from work for two full weeks so far and don't go back until Monday (whew!). But with that awesome extra time that many teachers don't get this year (most people went back to school today) come the stresses of "Oh No! I haven't done half of what I needed to during this break in order to be ready to go back to work January 7!" Yikes! So in my times of stress and deadlines, I like to procrastinate by looking on pinterest (for awesome lesson ideas, of course) and posting to my blog (to keep everyone up to date, of course). Grades are due Monday and I am approximately half way done with those. I do have my Science lessons ready for this week. I have some pictures to post from our Weather unit which ended right before Christmas break. We are in the very beginning of learning all about the Solar System and the kids are very excited about it. They want to know why Pluto is a dwarf planet, what black holes are, and is the world really going to end on December 21, 2012? (Obviously not since I am writing this on January 2, 2013. I think they were just more worried about coming back to school and having to prepare for tests and stuff.) 

Enough about the stresses of what I haven't done and more about what I HAVE done during the break. I had the opportunity to catch up with all groups of friends. My break started out with my high school girl friends and a Mary Kay party. I have to say, I was very skeptical about going to a Mary Kay party (isn't that make up for old people?), but was pleasantly surprised when I learned more about skin care and how to take care of my skin NOW at the ripe age of 25 so it will look this good when I am 55. I caught up with my dance friends, although this group is actually growing (up and out) and not everyone could make it. One of our friends in this group (Kristen) is having a BABY so it will be the first baby of the group. We are so excited to be "aunts," but super sad that she had to spend Christmas in Seattle. I caught up with my camp friends with lots and lots of food. I got to complete some projects that I have needed to complete (mainly completing Christmas gifts I was making). Pictures of those will come at a later date. I traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia and Washington DC. We have family friends who moved to Williamsburg so my mom was so gracious and drove with me and a friend (Lucy) to Williamsburg. We spent some time there and then went with my friend to DC for New Year's Eve. I haven't been to DC since I was 8, so I was able to see it in a whole new light. I love the city. Lucy and I had lunch with a sorority sister, Anna. It was great to catch up and reminisce about the days of college. I just got home today from Virginia and am unpacking and repacking. I leave tomorrow to go to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The family I lived with last year lives there now and I get to go have some Christmas time with them. I am very excited to see them, but wondering when I will actually get the grades put in and comments done. It will all get done, especially since New Year's Resolutions always include becoming more organized. I think the most exciting news of my break is that THREE of my dear friends got engaged! Not ONE, but THREE! I am stoked about what 2013 has in store for these awesome ladies. For now, I am signing off. I have a football game to watch and some work to do. 

Long time, no see...

Ok, Ok...I know it's been an extremely long time since I posted. And I hate myself for that. I promised myself I would post at least once a week. Well, that has NOT happened. Let me start by explaining that I had fall break the first week of October. It was a glorious week and I had grand plans to craft and not do much. Well, of course I can never stick to those kinds of plans. So I did craft (see frame...I also made Kinsey an eyeball frame, but didn't add the "Eek!" or spider), and worked out, and worked at the Mart in Atlanta. I think one of my callings is in sales, but with clothes and accessories. So by the end of Market weekend, I was exhausted. Oh, and that weekend before Fall Break started, the family I lived with came back to town. So we went full throttle the entire weekend. Cole got his black belt!

October was also a HUGE wedding month. A family friend got married; a good friend from high school got married; and a new friend from college got married and I helped coordinate the wedding (I try and do that in the spare time teachers have). So between weddings and football, I hope you see and understand why I haven't posted ;). 

This was at the Ole Miss Homecoming Game! Go Dawgs!

I also got the awesome opportunity in the month of October to go see my cousin play football. He is a Junior, so he is beginning to look at colleges. It was a proud and bittersweet moment to see him out on the football field considering I remember when he was born (since when can I say things like that? I'm not that old yet, am I?)

He actually had a pretty large cheering section! 

So, I will say that my kids have been pretty great through October. We have been studying the water cycle and weather. I will have to try and post some of their songs about the water cycle. I was thrilled by some of the lyrics and their motivation and creativity in the performance. In my reading class, we did an author study on Eve Bunting. We took a look at her books and the tough themes and subjects she writes about. At the end of the novel study, the kids painted a pumpkin to look like a character from a book. They worked in groups and had to write a summary about the character and the role they played in the story. Here are a couple of pictures of the pumpkins. 

So now, here we are, a week away from Thanksgiving. I turn 25 years old Monday (yikes...quarter life crisis mode) and I am running a half marathon in Atlanta Thanksgiving morning. What a month and it has flown by! I will also try and put some pictures from my real camera and not the camera phone soon. I also love the water cycle flipbook we did and the cloud flipbook, so I will get those posted soon. Of course, I can't take all the credit...pinterest is a teacher's best friend. Until next month (but hopefully sooner), see ya around.