All Smiles for T-Shirts!

Sooo...I'm super dooper pooped but have so...many exciting things to show that I can't not post! I finished 2 more projects today...one is my door...yes, this will only be up for today, tomorrow, and tuesday...all of 3 days...
It's not a great pic because it doesn't show the full door...but the last read aloud I do is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I was really excited because I thought it'd happen right around the same time as teaching weather...but it was a bit delayed...so I'm just now getting this up...the hot air balloons are uhh...dorable but did take a lot of time. I wanted to put the number of days left in the center of the cyclone but just don't even care anymore...I should have done this at the beg. not end of May...

Either wayyyy super duper cute!

It was kindly insane when I'm walking down the halls today and noticing that EVERYONE is taking things down or either has already cleared their door and hall decor...and then I realize that this crazy gal that they call Mrs. Stewart is putting stuff up on the ways!!!

 I. AM. CRAY.

 ANNDDD....
I know I've already shared my end of the year student gifts, but this year I also did these. I found out we have a "party fund" that I didn't know about and at the end of the year it disappears...so I used that budget to buy these for my dear sweet kiddos!

 They drew their pic on a tiny white square on the first day of school and I used those to create a newsletter template that I used all year...I won't share how I did the template because you'd really know that I'm a total techno dummy!!! Either way, by getting these ordered from one of my sweet coworkers, I definitely learned something that will save me a lot of time in the future!

Are they not the cutest ever?!? I think so.

I love my shirts and have had her make me several other specific shirts this year and I am NEVER disappointed! Check her out at SOS Designs!

Here's a pick of what their gift looked like! I didn't get a chance to make the poetry art keepsake with the photobooth frame like last year but I did manage one last photoframe:)

I sent them home with their Question of the Day magnet, their shirt, and a photo booth frame :)

Lastly, I will share a selfie...because yes, I'm that girl that takes selfies while driving...and walking...and before a parent teacher conference to see how turrible I'm looking at the end of the day...
Note:  the SOS Designs lady also made this t-shirt!:)

 Okay...2 selfies...I like this one betturr it just doesn't show my adorable t-shirt! :)

 Keep Smiling!

Parent Gifts and EOY writing

Okay Yall...yesterday I shared what I'm doing for my end of year student gifts, and today I'm sharing my eoy parent gifts! As you know parents can make or break your year! This year I have a whole bunch of really great supportive parents! This week I have my last conferences that include the parent and student together, and I wanted something special for the 'rents that sign up and come...these conferences are voluntary and not mandatory, and in a way serve a "closure" purpose for me but they're a great time of reflecting on our year.
I bought a bunch of mini hand sanitizers from Bath and Body and then did a search in TPT for "Thanks for your helping hands" and found an adorable printable! I don't know who created it because I was in a hurry, but I'm so dang thankful for TPT...everything you need is on there! 

Some of the parents who were especially helpful this year got a personalized note! I was really pleased with the results!

My conferences consist of going over grades, test scores, student evaluations, and "summer scholastic" ideas. I also have an eval for them to complete about me and turn in the next day.  ...I gave a pack of 10 papers to each 'rent that showed up and include the math website suggestions from Mr. Elementary Math :) and the summer reading log from Barnes and Noble.  One of the summer scholastic ideas was for them to send me an email every week summarizing their week. I told them that if they send at least 7 emails summarizing their vacation in at least 5 complete sentences, then I'd have a special sumin'-sumin' for them at the beginning of next year!

Conference papers waiting to be packet-ed!

Today we did a lot of "WORK ON WRITING" to finish up our final projects...one of my "fillers" while they were waiting for a writing conference was to write a letter to the next years class. I'd never done this before, but was super pleased with the results. I had them put their number instead of their name, and plan to give them out to the new students according to their alphabetical "number" on the first day of school next year. For Example: Number 1 wrote a letter to the upcoming number 1. They introduced me to the new class and answered some questions and then on the back wrote their letter...so many of them made me LOL!
I have to share a few...or maybe a lot...

"....not click pins it makes her mad" Can you tell this one really unnerves me! But I love that they wrote "she made me have the most fun in a classroom ever" :)

"Know when to stop playing around" and "have 2 pencils"

"My favorite thing about her is she is so energetic and happy" "Don't interject, be rude, talk back, and a lot more"

"she loves to sing so don't be alarmed"

"Worry about yourself" "She always knows how to help when you need help" :) "Box in your math answers"

"The first thing on your paper is your name and #, or else pitty on you" :) "She loves to sing and write"

"I think you should know that she gives a 'directions test' at the beginning of the year. Read all directions before writing" Hopefully, this one will heed his advice ;)

This one was one of my favs but it's hard to read! It has a lot of good advice

! 

"Be prepared for Mrs. Stewart's random singing when you are in the middle of a problem"

:) I am a singer and they know me well...and I sing everything and anything :)

I have so many projects layin' around waiting to be completed, but find that I can't finish one thing for starting another! I can now mark eoy conference packs and parent gifts off of my list!

Happy eoy planning!

End of the Year Gifts

Howdy Partners!

I'm knee deep in finalizing grades, our end of the year party, honor's day certificates, field day junk, processing the MOVE,  etc...
I just thought I'd share what I plan to do for my student's end of the year gifts...I'm doing the exact same thing as last year....EXCEPT...I'm a little ahead of schedule this year and definitely won't be mailing them....

Click on the pic below  to go to my post from last year, and read all about how they were made!

Time consuming...yes!
Inexpensive....yes!
Meaningful...yes!

What do you do for end of the year gifts?!

THIS Wednesday's Post :)

Hello Again (to all my friends...I'm glad you've come to play...Our fun and learning never ends...here's what we did today...) Yes, that was Barney's conclusion to the PBS show I used to watch as a kid...and unfortunately it goes through my head quite often....

So, yeah, I have no..earthly idea why I didn't post last week...or why I wrote a super long post last Wednesday and then never published it...
Actually, I do know...it probably has something to do with the fact that we have less than 10 days of school left and I just got INFORMED that I, and one of my coworkers, are for definite moving to the band room. You see, it's a numbers thing. They want to add some middle school classes...whoohoo! I'm all for growing...but I DON'T want to move.

I WILL MOVE.

 I HAVE TO MOVE

 I KNOW I'LL BE OKAY...

BUT...

I really don't want to move!

You see, this will be the 3rd classroom move I've made in 3 years...what's more...the room will have a partition...so I lose a wall...what's even more...I lose 2 walls because one wall has 2 closet doors...and no, I don't get to use both of the closets and I'm not exactly sure if I'll be able to even use or have one of them.

I'm sure a lot of you are in the same boat I  am right now...and we will get through this.

Since last Wednesday....
We have finished Where the Red Fern Grows. Every.single.one. of my boys cried....and I cried a lot! It's a wonderful read aloud. We watched the movie, but we were not impressed at all. For once, all 17 of my babies voted that they liked the movie better.

We started The Wizard of OZ . I hope to have it finished by next Thursday.


We finished our Mother's Day persuasive writing.I found this last year from the Polka-dotted Teacher. She has everything you need to make this happen. I have mine do a 5 para on why their Mom should be on the cover of People magazine, and I totally make them think it's a contest because they give wayyy more than their best! and Moms deserve our best for Mother's Day!
 I wrote "Millions for Moms" on the board and introduced this as being something they would submit for a contest. I never used the word money or win money, but a few dreamed it up and I never "shut it down"! On Friday, I told them I had kind of a confession to make by letting them believe they could win one million dollars....then explained that throughout their lifetime their moms will give them a total of a million hugs, kisses, smiles, dollars, toys, etc...and I gave them all a million dollar mint!


 I always like to give educational gifts, so being able to incorporate persuasive writing in this makes me one happy teacher.

They were all super impressive and so well written!

 I also took their pictures with a faux chalk board and developed them in black and white...I loved them...inside their cards were 2 more pics of them with their Mommies from Open House and they were taken inside our class photo booth. Since most of my kids came to Open House with their Moms, this was the perfect time to snag pics.

Sorry about the glares!

This is one of my hilarious kiddos and his sweet Mommy!

He wrote her  a sweet note on the back of his card!

I also ended up with a few more goodies last week and wanted to "document" them.
Thursday's goodies included a giant mustache paper clip that works well for important notes, and a wall smelly good plug in thingy :)

 Friday's blessings were monstrous! Lots of diet mountain dews, a bouquet of flowers, a mini rose bush, a donut :) Gotta love D&D ,a  huge moisturizing soap bar, mustache notepads, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and Olive Garden giftcards, and a little Clinique HAPPY : )

 Have I ever mentioned on here that my LOVE Language is...gifts!? Seriously, it is. If you've never read or taken the 5 Love Languages quiz or book...you should...I love gifts and giving gifts. It's a real "love language":) And I am very blessed this year with a great group of kiddos and their familes!

Speaking of gifts...we had revival meetings last week...and the ladies from our church put together a pinterest inspired "Box of Sunshine" for her! It looked amazing and I was super pleased with the turnout! Our guest preacher is a huge blessing and his sweet wife never gets to come because of her health...so here's what we sent her: all things yellow! It was super dee dooper cute!

I don't think I shared this gift with you either:

My bestie's brother just bought a house. He and my hubby have become pretty good friends and so a couple of us got together for pizza at his new place and took him some "WHITE TRASH FOR HIS BACHELOR PAD" Very practical stuff that should last him a while...he needs a wife...any southern takers?!

I told you my love language was gifts...now go take the quiz and figure out what yours is at: http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/


Happy Hump Day Peeps! Only one more left this school year!
:)

LAST Wednesday's Post:)

...not sure why...but this should have posted last Wednesday....bahaha...

Hey Yall!

It sure has been a long week...

Yes, I know it's only Wednesday BUT
my eyes are already drooping! 

 Monday afternoon at car line, I told one of my kiddos to have a good weekend...he and his grandma both looked at me like I had lost it...
 and then yesterday while they were waiting in line to go to a special I said, "Go ahead 6th Grade"...they all looked at me funny and said...this is 5th grade! All day today, I've been thinking it's Thursday...


I can't seem to figure my left from my right these days and I still don't know much about the "changes"...you know every school has them at the end of the year...you either find out you're moving grades, classes, curriculum, or changing administation....I still don't know how "changes" will affect me, but deep down in my soul, I know that they will.


I don't have much to showcase from this week. We've been busy busy busy doing a persuasive Mother's Day writing piece and arranging it all together. We also have lost several hours of teaching time becuase of practices for concerts and programs. We've also become addicted to our latest class read aloud. I have determined at this point, that I don't care what does or doesn't get done, I AM GOING to have read aloud time!

This will probably be our last realoud!

I have several sweet kiddos who have done something sweet for me each day for Teacher Appreciation..

Here's a look at Monday's "Appreciation": 

I had planned to do something for my team each day, but greatly neglected. I only managed to get them jars on Monday and filled them with paper clips. On Monday, I got a flower basket with a diet mountain dew, and chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-a, a bunch of mustachey stuff, and a sweet card that begins with "I hope you know how much I appreciate you. In words, I can't explain it." :) Doesn't that just melt your heart! 

Tuesday's Appreciation consisted of berry pomegrante smoothie, a diet mountain dew, 2 large green apples, and the most amazing dip ever! Seriously, I'm not usually a dip person, but this is caramel, chocolate chips, toffe, etc...it is yum yum!

These were my goodies today...a cup of coffee from McDonald's, a sweet red rose, a set of gorgeous "S" coasters, flair pens with gum and chocolate, fine chocolate bars with mustache stickers, a large Mountain Dew from QT, and then we had a teacher appreciation

I guess I could sum this all up by saying my kids know me extremely well and have really thoughtful 'rents!
I can't believe this year is so near to the end and that my days with them are now very numbered. I want to do and share and see and learn so much more with them!

CURRENTLY MAY!

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade tonight for her May Currently.....

Listening: ABC family is CURRENTLY showing Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs...yes, I'm watching it.

Loving: I love that the school year ends in 18 days! I really love my kids this year but sleeping in sounds pretty good! 

Thinking: Ah...as mentioned yesterday, I don't even want to be thinking about moving right now, but it consumes my mind. I should find out Monday...

Wanting: My hubby works some crazy hours without compensation! When it's this late at night and he's not home, I'm not a very happy wife! I really want him home! Oh! And I really want one of those berry pomegrante smoothies from McDonalds sounds really good right now...may get him to pick me one up on his way home!

Needing: Ever since last summer when I bought and wore all new flat sandals...my feet have been killing me! It's hard to put pressure on them once I've been sitting for a while and going up stairs is agony! I need to see the doctor...many of me family think it might be "heel spurs" or...plantar faschitus?! I just want it to go away because ain't nobody got time fo 'dis! 

Surprise: One of the first bloggers to ever leave me some bloggy love was from Ramblings of a fifth and sixth grade teacher! It absolutely colored my day happy! She did somewhat of a RAK for me that day and didn't even know it! 


Happy Weekend Peoples!

Petitioning the Partition

My dear sweet friends,
Boy do I think that I have some distressful news....though I'm not 100% posisitive...I'm 99.5% positive that I may be moving classrooms next year and being introduced to a partition. I've told you before that I love my team of fifth grade teachers...well, the teammates and I do a lot of supporting, talking, sharing, collaborating, etc...so when we all three of us got invited to a meeting for this coming Monday with our overhead...we knew something was up. We've gone over every possible scenario in our heads and thought...maybe we did something wrong? Maybe we performed so well this year we are getting a team performance raise? Maybe we are going to start this or that or this or that and so on...well let me just tell you that lil' ole' negative nessie me...thinks she has it figured out! While I really hope that what I think ISN'T true...I kinda think it is and my glass is no longer half full...but real close to emptay!
You see...here's what I think the problem is...

 As Wonka puts it...we need extra space for classrooms.....so now I introduce you to what I think the solution will be.....
Mr. or Mrs. Partition.....

 Are you wondering what in the world a partition is?! Don't feel bad...I just learned the word today....it's one of those accordion wall divider thingys!
And apparently they come in lots of different shapes and sizes...

Oh My Soul! Can you imagine?!  I've come up with every kind of petition against the partition that I can think of but for some crazay reason I don't think my two cents is going to matter much. It is what it is.

Honestly, I have no idea what is or isn't in the works for me next year and this is all speculation on my part BUT....I can't help imagine the worst! I mean, common people! Is it really possible for me to have a classroom that is divided like this?! I will let you know when I know come Monday!


Any and all experiences with partitions are strongly encouraged to comment today!