Teachers Taking Care of Teachers

Crystal over at Kreative in Kinder is hosting a link-up for anyone willing to help the teachers who have lost everything in the recent tornadoes. Teachers are an amazing group of people and this just shows how much we care about others. What can you do to help? Click the heart below to link up and pitch in!

Kinder-2nd Linky Party!

I have linked up with Jeannie at Kindergarten Lifestyle to share my First Grade blog for the Kindergarten through Second Grade Linky Party! Go check it out to see some wonderful blogs by some talented teachers!

Jeannie is also going to make a pinboard on Pinterest of all the blogs that join.

Top 10 Award!

I want to thank Kaleigh from Kaleigh's Klassroom for the Top 10 Blog Award! I'm a little biased of Kaleigh because my daughter shares her name. :) Kaleigh has a wonderful blog and great ideas to share. Check her out and become a follower like me!

This award was created to encourage and congratulate new bloggers.
I'm nominating the following blogs:

1. Sprinkles to Kindergarten!
2. Lighting a Fire in Third Grade
3. A Class Act
4. Fit for First Grade
5. The Honey Bunch
6. Mr. B's Beach Brains
7. Booky For First
8. Mrs. T's First Grade Class
9. Modern Kindergarten
10. Life is Sweet...in Kindergarten!

Whatcha Doin' Wednesday?!

What a week it has been so far! This is parent/teacher conference week, which is a "love/hate" thing for me. I hate taking time to do report cards but I enjoy getting to talk with the parents about their kids. I have 28 kids which means 28 conferences...yikes!

*I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE short days!! We get out of school at 11:50 a.m. the whole week. The day FLIES by!

*I had thirteen (13) conferences today; all back to back with no breaks starting right when school got out with the last one ending at 2:15. All but 1 showed and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I have never done this many conferences in one day but I let my parents choose their day and time for the conference. Most chose today...go figure!

*Once conferences were over and I finally got to eat lunch, I spent some time getting things ready for tomorrow. Since I finish up my conferences tomorrow, I'm planning to clean my storage closet (a huge task that I keep putting off) which got messier since my husband made me take my school boxes out of our garage and bring them to school. :(

*I didn't bring any work home with me (yay!!) but I did bring some books home to start planning my Open House which is in May. I'm going to do a weather/4 seasons theme for the classroom. I'm excited to put my ideas that are running around in my head onto paper!

*Right now I'm watching "Puss in Boots" with my kids. I made their day when I bought the movie at Target today. We're enjoying the laughs and watching together.

Enjoy the rest of your week! I'm looking forward to the beautiful sunny weather that is expected for the next few days. No more wind! :)

WILD about reading!

Room 5 is WILD about reading! For the month of March, my class is having a reading contest. Kids are encouraged to read, read, read! Each child will keep track of the books he/she reads each day on the special reading log. An adult has to initial that the book has been read to/by the child. Each book read is worth 1 point. Each chapter book read is worth 2 points! When a student has filled up the reading log, it is turned in and a new one is given out. At the end of the month, I total up all the points for each student. The student who has the most points wins a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble. The top 5 students are invited to a pizza party held in our classroom. This is a fun way to promote reading which both parents and students enjoy.

This is the note that tells the parents about the contest.

Here's the reading log that is for recording the books read.

I have a bulletin board that has all the kids' names on it and will show the amount of books read next to their names. This will show the kids' progress as the month goes on. They like to check it each day to see the changes. I usually do this in the month of February (We LOVE Reading!) which is why there's hearts in the pictures below. This year, February snuck up on me and I decided to move the contest to March for kicking off Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' birthday; so I won't be using hearts.

I'll keep you posted as the month goes on with pictures and contest updates.

Whatcha Doin' Wednesday?!

This Wednesday was nothing like last week's. Thank gawd! So here's what I've been doing today:

*Came back to work after being out yesterday. I don't like the feeling of being half-planned and that's exactly how my day was. The kids were excited to see me back, which always makes me smile!

*I really do LOVE Wednesdays! They're a short day (1:15 dismissal instead of 2:30) and my class goes to music class for an hour. This gives me time to prep for the dreaded Thursdays. ;)

*Went to a baby shower for a staff member at school. Looking at the mom-to-be and her huge belly, I was THANKFUL it was her and not me having a baby. I wasn't one of those people who was gloriously in love with being pregnant. But I definitely wouldn't have changed a thing, I LOVE my 2 kids!

*Had a girls happy hour with some friends. Made me wish it was Friday! ha!

*Been planning a surprise for my aide; it's her 50th birthday tomorrow. Her table area is all decorated and goodies are waiting for her. Her husband is surprising her with birthday treats after lunch, which I thought was cute of him to do. He planned the whole thing via email with me. Love a thoughtful husband like that!

*It's almost 9:00 p.m. and I just realized I need to make a quick run to Target. Yikes! I'm already in my pj's. Good thing it's just down the street. :)

I hope the rest of your week is wonderful! I have a reading contest that I'll be sharing with you all soon. Happy Thursday!

Yay me!!

Just thought I'd give myself a "shout out" for completing all 28 report cards tonight!! Next week is Parent/Teacher conferences. Not sure about anyone else (wink!) but I tend to procrastinate when it comes to doing report cards.

This year is the first time our school district is doing online report cards for the elementary schools. I have to say it definitely makes things easier.

I was in denial about this whole report card thing. I lugged all my student assessment folders home in the hopes of completing some each evening...but chose reading my nook over school work each night. In the mornings I'd lug it all back to school, thinking that I'd get some done during my prep time...haha!! Wrong!

Well, tonight I gave myself the "talk" about getting my act together and being responsible. It worked! Actually, I told myself if I completed half of my report cards, I would definitely be worthy of some chocolate. I'm glad I was an overachiever because I earned my chocolate and more nook time! Woohoo!