Wednesday, December 23, 2015

End of School Recap

Ahhhh, Christmas Break. Can I just mention that it's currently 6:30 and I don't have to work... yet I'm up? #teacherprobs

Anyway. Since school just ended yesterday, I'll recap some of the fun that we've had at the end of the quarter at school!

 With my 5th grade reading class, we had been discussing folktales & the different genres and how to distinguish between them. Here's the setup I did for their project- read 12 different tales, decide which genre they fall into, and then compare and contrast two stories from two different genres. They loved it! I had kids asking for some other suggestions on books to read, which always makes me happy!


My 8th graders built towers with blocks and cards to show how Newton's first law works. Ya know the tablecloth trick where you pull it off the table without knocking the stuff over? It's that, but with blocks or cups instead. The kids loved getting to build (and knock over) their towers.


 Our Christmas break countdown!

Elfis spent our last week perusing the new library books I ordered.


My 6th graders completed a webquest and foldable poster on the six terrestrial biomes. They love getting to see their work displayed in the hallway!


On Monday, it was our last day before party day. In my science classes, we completed a STEM challenge. The kids split into their lab groups, got 50 gumdrops each and 100 toothpicks. They then spent the hour seeing who could build the tallest "tree." Let me just say, our engineering skills need some work. 


Here's their towers on Tuesday morning.
 

My reading class had a simile and metaphor contest that afternoon. I hung up task cards around the room & they had to go around decide if the sentence was a metaphor or a simile, and then correctly tell what it was saying. 


By the way, this is how I've started doing most of my review worksheets as well! I print out a larger copy on colored paper, cut apart the questions, and tape them in a random order around the room. The kids then get to go around the room and answer them like normal, but it has seriously lessened the amount of classroom management I need! My rowdy kids are already up and moving, so I don't get onto them for distracting people, my kids with focus issues somehow stay more focused, and my higher level kids love it because they get to chat a little more while they move around. ;)


On party day yesterday, I took Pie Face. Since all the pictures showed the kiddos faces, here's some of Monster instead ;). We went through three cans of whipped cream at school. SOSOSOSOSOSO much fun! We also played Disney Scene It! in my room, which was hilarious. Also because I whooped their butts. ;) I know my Disney!



Here's a recap of the 17 days of festive! The kids thought it was great, and I had fun doing it! I repeated a few shirts, but just the ones that I can't get enough of! ;)


Also, I found these on Insta last night and had to screenshot and send them to a few friends. 



Haha! Hopefully I'll be back Saturday this week to give you a Christmas recap- it starts tonight! :)

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas & remember that it's not about the gifts under the tree. It's grace and family. #justsayin

Monday, December 21, 2015

Catch up!

Eeeeek! I'm sorry I'm so behind here, guys. It's been such a crazy month! So, since I'm so behind, I'm just gonna recap on some of the life stuff we've been doing, and then on Wednesday I'll fill you in on some super easy and fun school projects I've been doing with my kiddos!

Ralph has been doing fantastic this month- lots of carftivities for the bots to do, lots of snacks- he's been a fun tradition that we will definitely be doing in the coming years... even if my hubs hates him. :)

Monster love love loves helping me cook. One night after dinner, I found him in the kitchen "cooking" by himself. No worries, the stove wasn't on anymore!

Timmo made fun of me whenever I hung this up, but I couldn't resist when I saw it on west elm!

Christmas lights make everything so much more fun!

Speaking of west elm, I ordered enough of these to give as gifts to each family this year. I'm adding our Christmas picture from church yesterday (keep reading!).

Facebook Memories are the cutest. Actually, my husband is the cutest.

School related, but our awesome new LA teacher started doing #ThursdayNightShelfies ... so of course, this book lover has joined in!

Ralph hung out with out Papa Tom bear on his birthday. We all miss him!

Pizza shirts.. as Christmas Tree shirts... love. Thanks, Old Navy!

#momlife


#teacherlife

Guys. I love SaSea Decor. And their shirts. Slightly obsessed.

These two... goodness I love them!


Also. Iced coffee in a Christmas cup next to the Christmas tree... I couldn't help but snap a picture!

How we woke up Saturday morning. <3

My family. My heart. These three guys are absolutely why I spend so much energy being silly and trying to do fun things. 

At the church Christmas program/youth hangout night...




"Mommy. I love us." Me too, Bebe. Me too.

Not so many words, too many pictures. So much love. See you Wednesday!

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Fa-la-la-la-la

Alright. So. More Christmas Fun!

Here's an update of the rest of last week's #17daysoffestive ::




This week's are a lot of fun, too! I am going to be pulling out some more of my ugly sweaters.. yay!

Here's what #ourelfraph2015 has been up to the last few days ::

 A new Christmas movie.



Do you wanna build a snowman? Monster loved this so so much!


 Happy National Cookie Day!

 He changed our countdown to "Merry Christmas" ... not that the boys noticed. ;)

He built his own snowman!

I've also got a classroom elf (Elfis.. like Elvis, but with an "f" ;) I loved it!)


 The kids really wanted his changes to be true! I wish! 
 Traveling back and forth to the North Pole is exhausting.

So. I teach 5th - 8th grade, and most of the time, the kids love having the elf. Most of them don't believe anymore, but they still enjoy getting to have some fun and joining in the pretend. On Friday, at least two of my kiddos touched Elfis... and another student tattled. Clearly, Elfis does not handle human germs. He sent me an email (from his own Google account) that I forwarded to the kiddos about him having to stay in the hospital for a week and that their choices had consequences that impacted everyone. Believe me, I was not a happy camper when this all went down, but I felt like it was a teachable moment to share with my kids!

This weekend, our church walked with our float in the Christmas parade. The boys were with us, and loved it. So sweet!

My mom has started a new tradition with us- matching family pj boxes plus a movie, hot chocolate, popcorn, and treats. Have I mentioned how fantastically awesome my mom is?



I also took the time Saturday to finish a book. I'd never read this one, and I thought I ought to whenever I found it in the library this week!

Also, one last cute one from church this morning. Have I mentioned that our youth kids are awesome?

Check back later this week for more elf ideas and fantastic outfits! ;)