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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Merry Christmas


Well I don't know when you get out for Winter Vacation but my last day is Thursday December 20th. Then we return January 2nd. We got jipped out of two vacation days this year and they were reallocated to the day before Thanksgiving and President's Day.

Last year I blogged about the Christmas Ornaments I do every year. I just finished shopping for the paint at Wal-mart and I can't wait to do these tomorrow with the children. I'll send them home on Wednesday of next week.

I transferred to my current school last year and they party a little differently than my previous school. Our winter celebration consisted of a craft, cupcake and movie. Needless to say I was disappointed. So I've reinstated my Winter Luncheons! Next Thursday my students will have a 45-60 minute lunch in the classroom with holiday music and a delicious spread! I've even contemplating having a Hot Chocolate Bar:)

The menu includes...
Hawaiian Meatballs (I personally make these for the students and they love them!)
Chicken Nuggets from Chickfila
Turkey Biscuits
Fruit Tray
Vegetable Tray
Snowflace Ritz Crackers and cubed Cheese
Holiday Pretzels
Holiday Marshmallows
Cupcakes

Here are a couple pictures from the past...
 
 
 
 
How are you celebrating the holidays with your students?
 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Presenting...Mr. & Mrs. Saunders


It's official... I was married on December 1st and it ended up being a beautiful day... like 64 degrees out! We honeymooned at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg Virginia and was able to visit Busch Gardens Christmas Town, Captain Georges Seafood Restaurant and the Premium Outlets. We return to work tomorrow and  I know I will be counting down the days until Winter Break!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

3 Weeks=21 Days

 
 
I have not dropped off the face of the earth! These last couple of months have been super busy for me. Not only did school start but I'm preparing for my December 1st wedding. I had my bridal portrait session last week and I'm pretty sure it's safe to post this portrait on my blog... I don't think my fiancee spends alot of time reading it!
 
Javaid and I have finished premarital counseling however I'm trying to soak in as much Godly information about marriage as I can. We had the opportunity to attend the marriage conference that our church hosts each year and it was awesome! I learned about the natural and the spiritual side of marriage.
 
I've been reading a couple of books and they have been a wealth of Christian information on marriage. I highly recommend the following books...
 
5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
This book talks about how we each have a love language: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time and it's important for us to understand our language and learn how to speak our spouses language. Mine is physical touch... which is probably why I'm quick to comfort my students with a hand on the back or shoulder and probably why I enjoy getting their hugs so much! His is receiving gifts... he feels loved when I buy him something special, it can be as little as a Snickers bar or when I take him out to eat or to the movies. We read this book in our Singles Ministry at church and I refer to it often.
 
The Purpose and Power of Love and Marriage by Myles Monroe
This is the most comprehensive book I've ever seen on marriage! If there were a class to take about it, this would definitely be the textbook. It encompasses so much information... from how marriage began and how the Lord intended it to how to love yourself and your spouse. I learned so much from this book that I would need several blog posts to tell you all about it.
 
Intimate Issues by Linda Dillow
I learned about this book at the marriage conference we attended. I'm almost through reading it and just in time too. It's about being a "sensuous" wife and denying yourself and "ministering" to your husband when he's in need. I would recommend this book to all wives! Again, I learned so much from this book and it discussed intimacy issues and questions that Christians just don't talk about.
 
With only 21 days to go I must say I'm getting nervous. I've always had my own room/space (besides that one year in college when I had a roommate), I've been on my own for the last 8 years and I've done whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and  I've purchased whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. So leaving my apartment to move into his house will be culture shock for me.
 
Going from 0 to 100 overnight will be such an adjustment for me. For the last two years Javaid and I have honored God in our relationship and we've made a conscious effort to not put ourselves in "tempting" situations. So we don't spend time alone at home together, we go out. We hold hands but won't embrace (hug) for more than 20 seconds and we've only "pecked"... we've never... shall we say... "made out." So on December 1st we have to give ourselves the green light to cross over the dating line and onto the marriage side and enjoy the gift of intimacy that God has ordained for us.
 
So it may be quiet on the blog front for awhile. I'll be focusing on becoming the wife God called me to be while balancing work, friends and family!


Sunday, September 9, 2012

Favorite First Lady Cookie

During the 2008 Election my teammates and I decided to hold an election using the Presidential Cookie Recipes from Family Circle.
Here's a picture of the team election bulletin board.

2nd Grade Election Results
 
Cookie A Recipe- Michelle Obama
 
Cookie B Recipe- Cindy McCain
 
 
I had such a blast doing this that I had to do it with my 3rd graders in my new school. I've created a document with the recipes and ballots. Last time I had 4 parent volunteers make the cookies and send them in. Each student got one of each cookie and marked their choice on the ballot. They placed the ballots in a ballot box and the teachers tallied them over night. The teachers annouced the winners the next day. *Beware of food allergies!*
Presidential Cookies
 
 
Do you think you'll use this idea in your classroom? What other election activities are you doing?
 
 

Monday, September 3, 2012

Back to School

I'm back! Teacher work week started last Monday. And Monday-Wednesday the entire third grade team were sitting ducks as our classrooms were still under construction. Thursday morning was the first day we could get into our rooms. Our bulletin boards didn't get put up until Saturday morning and I've worked a total of 42 hours in the last 5 days, (well 4 days, I didn't go in on Sunday) trying to get my classroom ready. My poor fiance has met "back to school Jessica" and I'm hoping he still wants to marry me after seeing me turn into a drill sargent barking orders at him when he came to help me in my classroom.

The Before- Thursday
















The After- Monday




























 


























I would love feedback, please leave a comment!!!!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Pinterest Inspired: Back to School Treats

Here's another Pinterest Inspired idea... I'm going to give these to my students for our meet and greet in two weeks.



A while back I purchased some 1in by 8in clear cellophane baggies that had adhesive to close them. I filled them with plain M&Ms. I cut a tag using my Circut Expression and Plantain Schoolbook Cart at 2 inches on red cardstock and attached them to the M&M Sticks using some yellow ribbon. I used MyPinkStamper's *I Heart School* from her School Days stamp collection to decorate the tag. Very cute and very cheap!

What do you give your students?

Saturday, August 11, 2012

VA Bloggers Meet Up


So I had a wonderful opportunity to meet up with some educators in Virginia who also blog. It was nice chatting with teachers from other districts and I can't wait to do it again! Check out their blogs...

Karen http://mrsstamp.blogspot.com
Kelly http://fromkindergartenwithlove.blogspot.com/
Cindy http://kindergartenlovesme.blogspot.com/
Heather http://begborrowandteach.blogspot.com/
Andrea http://www.oneteacherstake.com/

Thursday, August 9, 2012

VA Bloggers

Apparently the Bloggers of VA are having a Get-Together and I'm going to try my best to be there. I love meeting new people, especially teachers who share my same passion for children, teaching and learning!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Organization: Teacher Supply Box Part 2


So I finally got my brother in law to spray paint the navy blue tool box black. I used pink and green scrapbook paper and used the font Tan Patty to create my labels.

Here's a link to my previous post http://jessicaywinston.blogspot.com/2012/06/organization-teacher-supply-toolbox.html?showComment=1340571205166#c7791477303761561868

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Picture Perfect Science

I just finished a two day institute on Math, Science, Technology and Engineering at the MathScience Innovation Center in Richmond, Virginia. Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry were presenters at this conference. They are the authors of these books...
1- Picture Pefect Science
2- More Picture Perfect Science
3- Teaching Science through Trade Books


I had an opportunity to look through all the books and they are all amazing! I even purchased two of them and I don't even teach science! I teach Social Studies to two classes and my partner teaches the science. But as you know, I love to integrate childrens literature into my lessons, so this is a great way for me to reinforce our science standards through my reading lessons. They give you a lower and upper elementary book option (or use them both), a detailed lesson plan, and the cutest reproducibles!

They actually modeled a few of their lessons during the keynote address and their breakout sessions. The first activity they did was called Loco Beans. It used the book Lucas and His Loco Beans and we completed an investigation with Mexican Jumping Beans. Then they did a lesson on magnets with That Magnetic Dog. The lesson called Turtle Hurdles was the best. They used the books Turtle Bay and Turtle, Turtle Watch Out. They incorporated reading strategies during the read aloud (questioning, synthesizing), then we played a turtle survival game, we identified natural and human events that harm and help turtles.

My partner (the one who actually teachings science) bought the Picture Perfect Science book and I bought the other two. If I had to recommend just one book, it would be... Teaching Science with Trade Books. It comes with 50 lessons on how to use 100 childrens books to teach 1- Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science 2- Physical Science 3- Life Science 4- Earth and Space Science. You may be able to find these books cheaper on Amazon or other various sites.

So... what's your favorite book to teach science with?

Friday, June 22, 2012

Organization: Teacher Supply Toolbox


Another Pinterest inspired idea... I got the directions from Mrs. Rojas's blog. She lays out step by step directions for making a toolbox for yourself. This one is for a teammate who I love dearly (she's always cooking me up something good!) but needs a little help with organization. I gave it to her yesterday and she was THRILLED. You buy the 22 drawer Stack-On organizers in Lowe's for about $17. I found some scrapbook paper in my collection that I thought matched the toolbox. I created the supply names in a word document using CK Retro Block. I cut out the labels and glued them to the pieces of scrapbook paper. To create your own labels you would need 14 labels that are H 1.38" x W 2.00" and 8 labels that are H 2.12" x W 4.25". Then attached the pieces of scrapbook paper to the inside of the drawer using Scotch Double Stick Tape.

I ended up going back to buy another one for myself but I bought some black spray paint that you can use on plastic. I found some cute green/pink/black scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby for my labels. When it's finished I'll be sure to post pictures. If you want more ideas you can google "teacher toolbox lowes" and look at the images. There are some real cute ones out there.

So do you think you'll make one for yourself?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Wedding Planning


As many of you know I got engaged on Valentine's Day. We have set a date of December 1, 2012. I've been knee deep in wedding planning! I've purchased a couple of things... the sand ceremony kit, cake cutting set, save the date cards, photo wedding guestbook, oh and my WEDDING DRESS! So between wedding planning and teaching 3rd grade for the first time (which means gearing up for state standardized testing) I've been absolutely swamped! I'm on Spring Break this week. I've spent the entire day today in the bed, my iron has dropped dangerously low so I don't have the energy to do much of anything right now. But I do have a school bag full of papers to grade and plans to write waiting on me when I do conjure up the energy to get some work done. Only 44 more school days left until summer vacation... but who's counting!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

God is Faithful!

As of 2-14-12 I am officially engaged! My boyfriend Javaid (pronounced David with a J) asked me to marry him. He made reservations at a local seafood restaurant for Valentine's Day. We ate dinner. After dinner he pulls out a poem "J is for the Joy you bring me, E is for the excitement..." By this time I'm cracking up laughing at the thought of him writing an acrostic poem using my name and it reminded me of when I was 13 and my friends did the same thing when I was moving away. After he got through the poem he handed me a BuildaBear that had a Tuxedo on it and the hand said "press here." So I pressed the hand and he had recorded his voice asking me to marry him. Then he pulled out the ring and of course I said yes! Javaid and I had been dating 15 months to the day and let's just say that's a long time when you're "doing it the right way, God's way." So we haven't set a date yet but I was thinking about a December wedding. God has answered my prayers once again and I look forward to worshipping him through my marriage.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

10 Commandments to Working in a Hostile Environment

I absolutly love this book! It is written by T.D. Jakes. Every Christian should read it!  Unfortunately I've worked in many "hostile" environments and the stress that comes along with that coupled with the stress of teaching period, sent me over the edge. A friend of mine in another school recommended I read this book. I read it a couple of years ago and it changed my life.The commandments are as follows...

1- Know that you are anointed for the job position that you hold.
This is one that I struggled with for a long time. God has truly blessed me with creativity and talent. But since I am a minority I've heard too many times "she only got the job because she's black". In the four schools I've taught in, I've heard it at at least three of them. After reading this book I realized that God had blessed me with what it takes to teach children and those qualities had gotten me the job... not my skin color.

2- Don't expect to be appreciated.
Teachers are already underappreciated as it is... this allowed me to refocus my energy into what my calling was and stopped dwelling on the fact that I live in a society where teachers are undervalued.

3- Embrace opportunties for change.
This was huge for me... I thought I would DIE a second grade teacher... but here I am in the fourth school of my career teaching third grade.

4- Do the job well while remembering the vision.

5- Don;t let the environment get inside of you.
I have to remember that "greater is he that is in me, then he that is in the world." 1John4:4

6- Increase your capacity to work with difficult personalities.
Lord knows I've had plently of opportunities to do this! And I must say, the more tolerance I have for people like this, the better I feel inside.

7- Where you are is not where you're going.

8- Achieve optimal results with minimal confusion.

9- Do not pledge alligence to cliques and groups.
This is huge! With my newest teaching assignment I have chosen to seperate myself from the negativity that can come with cliques. This is why I do NOT eat in the teacher's lounge at school and try to keep socializing about nonwork related items to a minimum.

10- Always keep your song near you.
I took this literally... I have a collection of inspirational and gospel music in my classroom. Before school, during lunch and resource and after school I love to listen to my music.

Don't get me wrong... I'm cordial with everyone and I can laugh and joke with the best of them. But at the end of the day I have to remember my purpose and my purpose is to teach those children to the best of my ability and I don't have for anything that is going to interfere with that.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Valentine's Day Scrapbook

I got this idea online a couple of years ago and finally was able to do it with my class last year. I took five pieces of construction paper (white, purple, pink, red, white) one stack for each child and bound them together on the binding machine. First I had each child decorate their scrapbook cover anyway they wanted. Then I gave each child a sheet of valentine headers copied on green construction paper. The students cut apart the headers and glued one header on each page. Then the students read through their cards and taped/glued them on the page where they thought they belonged. At the end they had a nice cute scrapbook to go home and show their parents!

cover of scrapbook

inside of scrapbook

inside of scrapbook

students working

students working

What do your students do with their Valentine Cards?