Blessed

I am so thankful for a job I love and coworkers I respect.  What a blessing.  And the days when you just bubble over with gratitude are just too good.

 

So I'm pausing to say thank you, to all those I work with and teach and share my teacher life with.  You mean more to me than you will ever know. 

 

Here's a Thanksgiving Top Ten list I compiled and shared with our students and team parents:
1. Students who are excited to learn.
2. Parents who support their kids by helping them to be their best.
3. Kids who are getting gritty!
4. Students who have already finished their genre reading requirements AND students who are challenging themselves to read more than they did last year.
5. Parents who sign planners, send in donations when we ask, process the day with your kiddos, and tell them, "I love you" and "I'm proud of you!"
6. Watching our students make their best effort!
7. #awesome questions from #awesome students
8. Seeing kiddos take on new challenges!
9. A great first trimester and two more to come.
10. Creative and witty students who make us smile every day!

 

#humbled :)

20 Things

Happy Thanksgiving, readers!!  I hope you have a lovely time with family, food, and minimal schoolwork to do!  And I hope your time off is seasoned with relaxation and great conversations.  If you're stumped for what to say, just check out some advice from my favorite, Kid President.

 

You can also check out our team blog here for a Top Ten List we shared with students and parents of all the ways we're grateful for them!

Four Score and Seven Years Ago

Today is the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.  So as a good Social Studies teacher ambassador, I would like to share this video of all living US Presidents (and a few other politicians and celebs, too) reading the Gettysburg Address.

Click here to watch!

Ken Burns produced this video with the aim to encourage people to learn the Gettysburg Address...so get after it!

Teachers Are Earning Millions of Dollars!

Check out this interesting article titled, "Teachers Are Earning Millions of Dollars Selling Their Lesson Plans on the 'iTunes of Education'"

It's a great read about a great resource.  Teachers, if you aren't on there yet, you need to be!  I have been selling on average one item a day lately!

Got GRIT?

Hop on over to our team blog to check out a character challenge we're doing right now around the idea of GRIT!

And check out this inspiring TED Talk from Angela Lee Duckworth for a little preview.

Tacky Tourist Day

 Happy Tacky Tourist day!  To wrap up our study of the Southeast, we're celebrating with a day of dress up!  Each student was asked to think about tourist destinations in the SE and to dress like their visiting that location.

We also had props available for students who wanted them.

These pics will be the front cover of a scrapbook we're making about the southeast region.

Check out some great examples of costumes below, including yours truly as a hiker on the Appalachian Trail.  And my sweet student teacher from the Grand Ole Opry!

While we did our classwork, we listened to a soundtrack of Southeast songs, including "Georgia on my Mind," "Calling Baton Rouge," "Walking in Memphis," "Sweet Home Alabama," "My Old Kentucky Home," and "Good Old Rocky Top."

Thanks to Mrs. Hall at Fabulous in Fourth for sharing this great idea!

Back to Reality

I was out of the classroom on Friday to be the maid of honor in a dear friend's out of town wedding.  It's always hard to write sub plans and be away from the classroom, but my sweet sub (and another dear friend of mine) left me these sticky notes alllllll over my desk area. 

I kept finding more as the day went on. Talk about a good way to start the week!