Happy Memorial Day

 Happy Memorial Day! I'm sitting here catching up on Law and Order SVU eating my Strawberries & Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream. As of today there is only 14 days of school left. My third graders have taken 3 of their 4 state standardized tests. Overall I'm pretty pleased with how they did. I took some pictures of my classroom for my Teacher Evaluation Binder and decided to share some updated photos of my classroom.

 

I created some Social Studies Vocabulary Word Wall Cards for display this year,
since I'll be teaching Science and Social Studies next year I guess I need to finish
the set I started to create for Science.

Of course I saw a "Rock the Test" idea on Pinterest and had to make it my own.
I found this worksheet on Teachers Pay Teachers for free and students used stencils
I created on my Cricut (Paper Doll Cartridge) to make their own Rock Stars.

 

This is what my Mountain Math Board looks like now that we've been doing it
all year. I love the program and will be implementing it again next year.

This will probably be my last year having a CAFE/FACES Strategy Board.
I honesty don't use it much and that wall space can be used to display my
anchor charts.

My 3rd Graders are Bucket Fillers and I got this idea off Pinterest. Student give
celebrity shout outs to those who have filled their bucket.

Pinterest = Math

I LOVE Pinterest! I can always count on Pinterest for a cute and effective math activity. Here are some pictures of math activities inspired by Pinterest.
 

Area and Perimeter using Pentominoes
Students choose a pentomino, traced it, and calculated the area and perimeter,
all the pentominoes had an area of 5... duh...and most had a perimeter of 12 so next year
I'll have them use one shape and two shapes combined to do the activity.

Dream Playground
Students mapped out their Dream Playground and then calculated
the area and the perimeter.

Fraction Sundae
Students decorated 6 ice cream scoops with their favorite flavors,
then they wrote the fractional parts on the bowl.

Here's the link, http://pinterest.com/jywinston/, if you would like to check out my boards or follow me!

Seuss-tastic!

Friday was Dr. Seuss Day and the students had a blast! Third graders got to wear silly hats and each classroom had guest readers come to read to them.

Someone from central office came and read my students Horton Hears a Who. They were so polite, they listened carefully and when it was over they told her "thank you" and gave her a hug. I have the absolute best class ever! Which is why didn't mind splurging on gifts for all of them.

They each got a Seuss Tote (I purchase them in the summers from Target $ Spot), a bookmark, 4 dollar books from Scholastic and a Seuss cookie from Sugar Nirvana (they were cute and tasted good too!)

 

 

 

I also ordered some Mini Seuss Cookies from A Cookie Jar for some of my coworkers, they loved those too. It's the same place ordered the Owl Valentine Cookies. They were beautiful and delicious as always. Then I made a lil tote on my Cricut to put them in.

 



Happy Valentine's Day

I can't believe it's been a year since I got engaged... and now I'm married! Time sure flies when you're planning a wedding, LOL.

Last year I used my Cricut and made my students cards. This year I got lazy! I found some cute Valentine's Day Seuss Scrapbook Paper and just cut it to fit a blank card and then I printed out a Seuss quote put it on the inside of the card. Then I found these cute bubble gum tube favors from Sam's Club.

One of my resolutions was to show my colleagues that I appreciate them... you know, be a "bucket filler."

I found this wonderful cookie shop on Etsy, A Cookie Jar, unfortunately she just put her shop on vacation so you can't browse her items, but when she returns it's worth a look! She has mini cookies for all types of themes (Apples, Owls, Birthday, Butterflies, Frogs, Princess, Bowling, Pirates) and they are DELICIOUS too. Definitely worth the money. She books up fast though. You can take a peek at her feedback to see her work.

I ordered some pink and red owl mini cookies for Valentine's Day. Then I ordered some cute owl Valentine Cards from Tiny Prints. I used my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge to make treat boxes. I can't wait to surprise my coworkers tomorrow!

Did you do anything special for your colleagues for Valentine's Day?

Wedding Pictures

More pictures of my December 1st wedding...

My mother and I before the ceremony.

 

 The handsome groomsmen. My two nephews are in front along with my lil cousin the Ring Bearer, he stole the show!

 

 

 

 My Goddaughter and Cousin. I found a shop on Etsy, Songs from the Garden, and she did my bridal flowers, boutonnieres, flower girl basket and ring bearer pillow. I loved working with her and they turned out wonderful! 

 

My sister and I. She hated the orange dress, but oh well, it wasn't her wedding! I put a picture of my late father on my bouquet. I got that idea off of Pinterest!

 

The bridesmaids. My two Goddaughters are in the front on the left and my new niece is on the right.

 

 The entire bridal party. I always wanted to pair some "color" with gray for my wedding. I wanted pink but my husband to be wasn't thrilled with that, but orange is another favorite color of mine so we went with that and everyone loved it!

 

 

 One of my best friends got us an antique car for the wedding. It was a nice touch.

 

Gotta love Virginia weather... December 1st... 65 degrees!

 

 A parent at my school, Cakes by Gabrielle, made our wedding cake. It was carrot cake with vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. Very tasty!

 

 

 

 

 Our first dance. You can't tell here, but I had a fever and apparently bronchitis that wasn't diagnosed until winter break! Teachers... we just keep going and going and going.

Mustered up enough energy to smile one last time at the reception. I really just wanted to take some Nyquil and go to sleep. I also gotta give a shout out to my hair stylist and make up artist Karen Wilson. If you're familiar at all with black hair you know that many black women straighten their hair but two years ago I made the decision to wear my hair in it's natural state... kinky curly, and Karen makes look fabulous every time I see her!

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?

 

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!