Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Tornado in Dexter

On Thursday, a tornado touched down in the community where I teach. I live in a neighboring community, where we only experienced minor flooding and power outages. The landscape in Dexter (the "village" where I teach), has been changed forever. The reality of the damage in Dexter is just as horrifying as the pictures on the news appear. The miracle is still clear - no one was killed or seriously injured.

In the past two days, the people of Dexter (and the surrounding areas) have come out in mass numbers to support those in need. On a regular day, Dexter is the model of a small community with amazing citizens. It is filled with people who watch out for each other and care about their community. In the midst of a shocking disaster, the strength of this little village is beyond belief. On Monday, we will return to school and attempt to provide sufficient counseling and a sense of normalcy for our little ones. Families will start to rebuild and we will take every opportunity we can to hug our little ones.

If you are a praying person, please pray for the families in Dexter. Today I am reminded to appreciate each moment with my family, my friends and my students. Life can change so quickly.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

In the News

Good golly Miss Molly! I feel like I've missed so much of the news in blog land with all the craziness of moving to our new house. The move is done. I'm tired and overwhelmed (but let's not talk about that). I'm also determined (and excited) to get caught up with all my favorite bloggers!

This will have to be a quick post (since I'm supposed to be sleeping). In my classroom, I've been busy doing assessment. Between the assessment and all the special activities for March is Reading Month, my schedule is all out of whack and so am I.

I did manage to accomplish something that I've been wanting to put together for a while. Especially in March, I try to find new ways to get my kids excited about reading (reading with sun glasses, reading by my classroom fireplace, reading to little siblings, etc). You can read the post about my fancy fireplace here.

Last week, I opened a newsstand in my classroom. My students LOVE it! Who knew a bucket full of magazines would be so exciting for first graders? The first grade classes in my school have a subscription to Weekly Reader magazine. I've been saving the extra copies of those throughout the year. I also save any Time for Kids, Scholastic News and Highlights magazine samples that are sent to me in the mail. Even though we don't have subscriptions to those, they do send me really nice samples for free (thank you very much). I also "gathered" a few copies of National Geographic Kids, Sports Illustrated for Kids and Lego Club magazine (if you know my own children please don't mention that part).  I put them all in a bin with a sign and opened up the newsstand!  For the first two weeks, I am choosing kids with good behavior (yep - using the newsstand as a reward/motivation for good behavior) and letting them visit the newsstand during quiet reading time. After the two weeks are up, I might change it up a bit. For now, it's working like a charm.


Tomorrow, my lacrosse coaching season starts and I should probably try to locate my whistle, my lacrosse stick, my kids' backpacks and my own school bag in this sea of boxes before I get back to sleep.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

It's Time for Currently...

Oh how I love to read Farley's "Currently" link up every month! So, I'm linking up with Farley from Oh Boy, Fourth Grade again this month.   I can't wait to read about what is currently going on with my fellow bloggers!


The 3 words?  It's 3 words (that begin with the same letter as my last name).  The first one is how my students would describe me.  The second one is how my friends would describe me. And... the 3rd one is how my family would describe me. Just a little bit of stress going on right now...Ha!

Head over to Oh Boy, Fourth Grade to read about what Farley and many others are doing "currently"!


Friday, March 2, 2012

New Book to Teach Vowels

This week, I discovered a book about vowels that is hot off the presses!  The book is called Circus Vowels.


Head on over to TBA to read my post about this new book!

Hope you enjoy!  Happy Friday!