Saturday, January 7, 2012

Pictures and a Giveaway Reminder

I went out to eat and I didn't gorge myself! 

{STRENGTH}

I've got to make this short or else I'll lose any motivation to hop on the treddy...

Here are a few pictures from our OLW activity {read it here}...


Blurry camera phone - but trust me, it looks darling!

She knows she needs to slow down when she works and do her best.

Sometimes he thinks he can't before even trying.


Coat hook tag with OLW - first thing he'll see when he gets to our classroom. Thanks Barb!

Just like Mrs. W.


Desk Tag

Because sometimes she gets snarly...

Must. Get. On. Treadmill.

If you haven't entered my giveaway - or you haven't blogged yet today, and you have blogger's block - you could always mention my giveaway! {I'm always here to help} Just go here...You do have until tomorrow, noon {EST} but why put it off?  I bet some of you made the resolution to stop procrastinating, or think of others, or enter more giveaways...

And if you stalk and don't follow {which I used to always do - who knew followers meant so much to those blogger folk} do a girl a favor and click that little follow button!!!!!

Okay, fine - I know, you're thinking "way to dilly dally"...I'm going, I'm going.  I've got a date with Mr. T.

Holly

Friday, January 6, 2012

Phew. Giveaway. Award. Freebie.

Friday is my favorite.

Hope you had a good week, enjoying your time off, or being back at it.  I'm so glad to have the week under my belt.  We're having really weird weather here in Michigan.  Today it was 53 degrees and sunny.  It was downright balmy.  Where's my snow?  Where's my 30 degree weather?!? Where are my sweet, thoughtful, patient and kind first graders?  We all know the effects that a full moon has on our kids.  I swear this weird weather system is to blame for my hummers, twitchers  and barkers. 

Bring on the snow!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway {HERE} As if I'm not already obsessed with blogging...I'm crazily attached to my computer or phone checking to see how many more have entered.  I'm scaring myself here.  Add to that, the giveways I've entered...that I obsessively look at to see if the winners have been announced.  Good gravy.  {I won a dollar on my scratch-off today, that must be why I didn't win the Starbucks or the wreath...maybe God knew I couldn't handle that much excitement}

I keep meaning to share my newest award with you.  I have to tell you that when I first started blogging my eyes were immediately drawn to this green little award so many of you had sitting on your blogger "mantels".  Then...out of nowhere....I saw it, somebody had given me the....

The Versatile Blogger Award



So I have a few people to thank for this award - and not because a bunch of people are banging on my blogger door, falling at my feet, hardly able to contain themselves because I'm just so darn versatile.  It's because this week has kicked me in the hindquarters and I haven't had enough umph to take care of business.

Thanks so much to:

Mrs. Durden at Confessions from a First Year Teacher
Sharon over at Ms. McBee's Kinder Bugs
Tanya V. at A Class Act
Lisa over at A Teacher's Bag of Tricks
Miss Nguyen @ Miss Nguyen's Class

If I forgot somebody - I'm sorry!!!!

So, let's see if I can be a direction follower. I'm not always so good at that {Just like my teacher friends and I are the most horrible listeners at inservices.  We had one today and we actually got shushed.  We talk, we write notes, and we giggle.  Are we the only ones?}

First, I have to thank the person {or people} who gave me the award and link back to them. Done.

Next I have to tell 7 things about me that you probably don't know {and might find yourself wondering how you'll get back the minute or two it took to read 'em}:

1. My nickname growing up was Bug {Story has it that I was quite bothersome as a child, always asking people to play with me, always asking questions, never shutting up...I don't believe it, I'm pretty sure you don't either}

2. My sister still calls me Bug and a few old friends do too.

3. We call my youngest "Buddha"...guess I'm a nickname kinda girl.  I don't even know if I could refer to him by his given name. 

4.  I met my hubby online.  In a chatroom. Called "Romance Connection".  I know, I know. His pick up line: "Whole Language or Basal"...no joke.  He's a teacher too.

5.  When hubs and I talked online I asked him what famous person he looked like - when he said Tom Hanks I pictured the Bosom Buddies version and went into immediate panic mode. Unfortunately, my doppelganger is Kevin Bacon.  Why wouldn't I say, Meg Ryan or any other FEMALE is beyond me...but yes, I told him Kevin Bacon {can you even begin to imagine what was going through his mind at that moment?}.

6. Another cool story about Hubs and I - in a different online conversation we talked about who we would want to play us in a movie.  He chose his look alike - Tom Hanks and I chose who I SHOULD have said I looked like {which I don't} Meg Ryan....which leads me to number 7...

7.  My favorite movie is You've Got Mail...cool, eh?

Now I must choose 15 newly discovered blogs to pass this award on to...



Head on over and show these girls some blogger love - you know you have some to share!

And here's the freebie - I'm not sure how this is going to work. I'm going to offer it in a word document but have no idea if it will look all funky on your screen.  Most of the fonts are from Kevin and Amanda:  Pass the Chex, Smiley Monster, Girls are Weird, Oh {Photo} Shoot!  I change the fonts here and there for a new look.  I also use cuter clipart {of course!} and put it in a pdf for my parents. If you are in love with your newsletter template feel free to send it to me if you want.  I like mine, but wouldn't mind a change.  How often do you all send newsletters?  Do you send home paper copies? Email them? Or put them up on a class website/blog?  I email my parents a reminder to check our class website where they go to download it.  Do you think your parents faithfully read it?  I know mine don't, because sometimes I'll put something sneaky in mine like "If you read this newsletter have your child come into school tomorrow and whisper their favorite color in my ear - for a special surprise"...I know, not nice.

Click on the picture to grab it.

When you go into Google Docs it looks all discombobulated - but when you "download original" I think it will open in Word and look fine. Here's hoping.  If it doesn't - any suggestions? I found this template {and of course tweaked it} somewhere on the WWW - can't remember where. 
Have a great weekend! {Did I mention entering my giveaway yet?  This blog post took me so darn long I forget...}

Holly











Thursday, January 5, 2012

Why? {And follow a new blog, or two, or three}

Hi Girls,

Thanks so, so, soooooo much for entering my giveaway.  Long story short, my own child who was born with clubfoot was my inspiration. We went to Iowa City for 2 1/2 weeks for treatment and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House.  Around the holidays is one of the times we give back to that amazing organization. {If your blog stalking urges are overwhelming you - you can stop reading now}

Longer story...

Clubfoot is when one or both of your feet are turned inward and upward, it's a congential birth defect.  Without treatement, you won't walk.  In our state {at the time} the most common form of treatment was surgery.  More times than not repeated surgeries are required to maintain proper function of the foot - which most likely results in early onset arthritis and a whole slew of other health issues. This wasn't acceptable to my husband and I so thanks to the www we searched and searched other options {mind you, at the time when you searched clubfoot, first on the list of results was a band called "Club Feet".}  After scrolling and searching and scrolling down some more we found the guru of clubfoot treatment, Dr. Ignacio Ponseti who worked out the University of Iowa.  He was 87 years old at the time and had come out of retirement because he couldn't stand to see children treated surgically - he treated kids nonsurgically through a series of manipulations and casts. 

Our Angel, Dr. Ponseti, who always said "Sit, sit, sit in the rocking chair - the baby should never cry" during treatment.
Unfortunately we lost him at the age of 95. He touched SO many lives...

In case you're interested here's "our story" on ABC News


After four casts and a 2 1/2 week stay in Iowa City at the Ronald McDonald House {and wearing a bar with shoes attached to hold his feet in the corrected position for 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the first month and then slowly weaning off - we did this for 4 years} he is now a 9 1/2 {gotta put in the 1/2} year old sports enthusiast. You'd never even know...

So, while I know this is a teaching blog, I thought I'd share that little piece of me. 

Shoot - that was long.  Sorry...

Wonder if you can hang in there for the whole crux of my post?  I thought having a list of the new blogs mentioned in my giveaway might make it easier for you to just "click and follow" and I hope you do!  If your numbers have skyrocketed, try to remember back to when they weren't so abundant.  If you're a new blogger, you'll want to follow because it helps "drum up business" {And who doesn't need another cute blog to follow?}, if you don't have a blog of your own, consider following because it really makes a heart sing.

Here's the list so far - I hope I didn't miss any...












It's Friday, peeps - FRIDAY!!!!!!  For those of us who worked this week... we made it, heavens to Betsy, we made it!!!!!!

Holly

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

250 Followers - A Different Kind of Giveaway!!!!

I started this little 'ol blog on October 1st - 3 months ago.  I remember being my only follower and how silly I felt blogging to....me! I blogged the very next day and I was up to 3 followers.  That scared the living daylights out of me...I didn't know about text boxes, fonts or Scrappin' Doodles and definitely thought my blah, blah,blah's would result in crickets in the comment box...

So here I am....250 followers later.  Happy as a clam and ready for another giveaway.

I was thinking about the perfect item to giveaway.  I thought about making something but I can't even sew on a button {okay, I can but it ain't pretty}, or offer up one of my gorgeous units...shaaa, remember - I just learned how to use text boxes....there are no uber cute units...yet!

Then it came to me, just like my OLW ...

A different kind of giveway.

In this giveaway YOU are actually the one giving away...



Whoever wins will choose a charitable organization to donate 30 dollars to.  I will make the donation in your name.

Here's the skinny on how you enter:

1.  Comment here with the name/link of another blogger - spread the blogger love!!!
2.  Tell me which charitable organization you would give your donation.
3.  If you're feelin' it, blog about this give away, and comment here.

Good luck!!!

Giveaway will end on Sunday, January 8th...say noon {EST} and the winner will be announced on the 9th! the same day because I won't be able to wait!

Happy Thursday Eve!

Holly

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Daily 5 Update and OLW *Freebies for Both*

Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious.

Wow.

I'm tired.  My legs are tired.  My brain is tired. 

My kids WEREN'T tired.  I thought they would be, but they weren't.  They entered Room 8 rarin' and ready to go.  I quickly aborted my word study plans and went over our class rules and expectations instead.  We read our class pledge and then on a whim {because you know that's how I roll} I pulled out my Mimio and typed in the middle "I will do my best" and had each kid come up and write their name {for practice - it was the first time any of them had worked with an interactive whiteboard}. I wish I could say the rest of our day was blissfully calm....

They were just so darn excited about their trips to Grandma's, playing with cousins, opening up a 3D Nintendo DS...how could I hold it against them?

Tomorrow?  The bear is comin' out of the cave...

Daily 5 is still going really well.  I love how I'm managing it and thank my friend....{can you guess?}...Barb and her colleagues for helping me out with this.  Not sure if you remember, but I don't ring bells or keep track of time {Other than what time we start and what time we end}. I really have taught my kids to listen to their "body signals" and when they get ansty, start fidgeting, "pretending to read" it's time to make a different choice.  I don't know if all groups of first graders could handle this or if it's because this group is so awesome they really take ownership and do such an amazing job switching when their body tells them to. 

One "bump" in the road I encountered was that, while I released some of my "inner-control-freak" by letting them make choices at will, I still found myself wondering where they have been and what they've done on a particular day. 

Thank goodness for colleagues because those girlies {Barb's teamies} created a handy-dandy graph {that I tweaked} to have the kids use to record what they've done in Daily 5 for one week.  Each day, I have the kids pull out their graphs before making a Daily 5 choice day.  We talked about making sure our graph is "balanced" so if we have already done one of the activities one day, the next day we'll want to find something different. 

You'll notice that this graph does not have read-to-someone on it.  I wrote about that {HERE} in case you're interested in knowing why.

Pick up your copy of the graph by clicking on the picture below...

Clipart:  Scrappin Doodles
Helllllllooooo......I'm way down here!!!  I tried putting two graphs on one page and for some reason I could not make that happen.  Strange.  Word was being all glitchy {or maybe it was me and my tired self}.  Sorry!

On a different note...

OLW went so well today!!!!!  I'm pleased as punch to read your comments about it!!!!  My firsties got into it and one girl knew her word right away and almost gasped when it came to her.  So darn powerful!!! 

Barb {I think you probably feel like you "know" her by now} is doing this activity with her first graders too and did her own bit of tweaking of my desk tags and plans on sending the extras home. I loved that she's not only going to have them put them on their desks, but by their coat hooks out in the hallway too {So it's one of the first things they see each morning - clever!!!!!}. 

Okay, I did get awarded the Versatile Blogger Award by Lisa over at A Teacher's Bag of Tricks, which makes me one happy blogger-girl, but I'm going to have to fulfill those duties attached to getting such a prestigious award another day.  I'm barely hangin' on and I've GOT to get to reading just a few more chapters so I can head over to The Best Endings to blog about that!

Oh good golly I just noticed that I have 250 followers!!!!!!  Which means....it's time for another giveaway {as promised}.  Darn, how the heck am I going to sleep tonight - my wheels are going to be turning trying to think of what to do.  Will have to get back to you on that one...hang tight!

Over and out...

10-4 Good Buddy...

Peace!

Oh, one more thing {shoot} if you leave a comment, you'll notice that the pesky "word verifier" is gone...poof!  Thanks to Rachelle over at What the Teacher Wants.  Click {HERE} if you'd like to get rid of yours.  She promises  thinks it will get more friends to comment on your blog.  Let's see if it works...

Holly

Sunday, January 1, 2012

When It Just Makes Sense... It Just Does! *OLW Freebie*

Happy New Year!

I love teaching the "workshop way" because it just makes sense to me.  When I first heard about it - it fit like a glove.  In science we use the FOSS kits.  Whoever those FOSS people are - we're a lot alike in that we both believe in teaching science through a constructivist approach.  Again, fits like a nice pair of skinny jeans {Who am I kidding, you wouldn't catch me in a pair of skinny jeans...I mean, there are a lot of you who look so darn awesome in them? ME? Notsomuch.}...

Yesterday I blogged about OLW {HERE} and I can't stop thinking about it. My boys can't stop thinking about it either.  We talked about what our words could be, yesterday, as a family.  We all came up with our own and I have to tell you - they just FIT! {Like a great pair of jeggings....yeah, you called me on that one...wouldn't catch me in a pair of those either!}

Here they are...
Mine is a little hard to see - kept getting my reflection in the mirror - didn't want you to see me in my jeggings...HA!

Brandon's - above his bed {He put it there with a push pin...oy}
Zach's - "thoughtful"
We had such a neat conversation as a family which is refreshing when you are in a home full of boys {poop and toots abound}.  Zachary, my 9 year old, noticed how far reaching all of our words were. How you could look at them from all sorts of angles and they could fit in so many different ways.  I was amazed when Brandon chose the word "selfless".  He needed a little help with what the opposite of "selfish" was but when we gave it to him he said "yup, that's my word". 

Where these words take us, I'm not sure - but I'm happy to find out. 

Here's hubby's word...he's still thinking about where he wants to put it!
I can't wait to do this with my class next week.  I'm going to enlist the help of my families to help their child choose the OLW that is just right for them.  Here's the letter I'm sending home on Tuesday.

I hope you're feeling a little inspired!!

Holly 


Saturday, December 31, 2011

Party Hardy!!!! {Or just stay in your pj's and grab this *freebie*}

Happy New Year!!!!!!

I know you all have really, really big plans so that's why I'm quickly squeezing in this blog post so you can read it, download and move on to your big party plans.

Or....

If you're like me, you can wait 'til Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, and download then - just be careful you don't get any queso dip on the keyboard.  That'd be mighty tricky to clean out...

I've been thinking about my New Years Resolution post and decided I want a redo. If you're a person who thinks like me...you wonder why you would make resolutions when all you do is break them or conveniently forget about them.  OR you decide "I'm not going to make resolutions I'm going to make lifestyle changes....that way they'll stick with me for the rest of my life".  I've tried to change my lifestyle and it works, for a little while, but never really sticks...you should read Farley's post One Little Word. 

I love when I read or hear about something that so clearly make sense to me.  It's one of those moments where you wonder where this or that has been...why it didn't jump out at you earlier in your life. 

So, I've been mulling over which word will be my OLW for the year.  When I find it, I'll know it.  I'm not going to rush it.  I'm going to marinate a few and see what I think. Once I figure it out I'm going to use some cute scrapbook paper and display my word at home, school and in the car. What I like about finding OLW is that, for me, if chosen carefully and thoughtfully it can emcompass SO much. 

I'll keep thinking - and if you're interested, read Farley's blog, and then report back to me if you find the perfect word for you or you can keep it secret until the January Currently...

One activity I plan on doing our first week back comes from Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade




In the hat I plan on having them write their One Little Word and will have them write their "school goal" on the form below.  I made another form just in case you'd rather have them write their resolutions on their hat and do their one little word on the form. I like either one.  I'm an "on a whim" kinda teacher sometimes so I could very well change my mind...I thought I would have them also write their One Little Word on a desk tag and adhere that to their desks as a little reminder.  I plan on sharing my One Little Word with the class and show them how I plan on making it cute, and placing it in various places: school, home, car, etc. 

New Year School Goal

Frame from Tracee Orman


Here's the One Little Word Version

And the One Little Word Desk Tags



Thanks so much blog friends for breathing life into my teaching, thank you for helping me end 2011 on such a sweet, sweet note.  I look foward to sharing ideas in 2012!!!

Happy, Happy New Year!!!!


ETA: My pal, Kelley, over at Buggy For Second Grade is giving away the cutest wreath ever {that she made}.  You'll want to check it out, follow and enter!!!!

Holly
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