What Am I Thinking?

Some thoughts running through my mind lately...

 

*Romans is an amazing bit of Scripture, full of powerful Truths.

 

*Spring cannot come soon enough.

 

*God chose to reveal His grace to Gentiles when His own rejected Him and that is just awesome!

 

*I have the best fifth grade class in the world.

 

*My students continue to surprise me with their eagerness to learn, their willing participation in lessons, their obedience and good attitudes.

 

*I really need to start looking for a plane ticket to Utah for Andrea's wedding.

 

*It's time to get hotel reservations in WI for Kristin's wedding.

 

*Will I be ready for the 5k mud run in August? I better start running again and lifting weights.

 

*Fruit and veggies really are the best choice for me.

 

*My mom is the best friend anyone could ask for.

 

*I am surrounded by people who love and care for me.

 

*Alex, Luke, Cate, Will, Jack, Gracie, Liv, and Miles are the sweetest nieces and nephews and I am blessed to have them.

 

*Teaching is seriously my favorite thing to do.

 

*I'd really like to get another diamond earring to fill my third piercing I got last summer.

 

*When is the next new episode of Bones?

 

*Sunshine and birds singing are absolutely lovely.

These Kids

To be certain, fifth graders say some of the funniest things!

 

Keegan - "Does anyone not have a half sheet of paper?" (he wanted to share his extra piece)

Caiti - "I have a hurt knuckle..." (not sure how that answer Keeg's question?!)

 

 

Audrey - "Miss D., can I fling my pencil over there?"

 

 

Maddie - "Dude! I mean...Miss D.!"

 

 

Keegan- "Is that a lego?! You are awesome! I mean, you're awesome anyway, but you know what I mean." (I have a lego key chain and Keeg thinks it's pretty cool=)

 

 

Math problem in our lesson- "How do you know your answer is correct?"

Jacob's response on his math paper - "I'm awesome."

So They Say

"I love chocolate blaze donuts!" - second grader (talking about chocolate glazed donuts)

 

"You're lucky Miss D., you don't have to eat what's on your plate all the time." - 5th grader

Be KIND

My new favorite snack bars ("new", as in at least a year ago I tried them=) are the all-natural KIND bars. Their slogan is "ingredients you can see and pronounce." Love it! Unfortunately they are a bit pricey, but for a gf/df person like it's totally completely worth it. Also, they are higher in calories/fat calories, but just be sensible about how many you eat and what else you eat and you'll be grand. Like I said, it's worth it. I especially love the Blueberry Vanilla & Cashews bar and the Almond & Apricot. I get them at Meijer, Health Hutt, and Starbuck's. Check out their website: www.kindsnsacks.com

Cube Control

My fourth grade boys have a difficult time keeping their mouths shut in class. Not really a surprise, but it was getting pretty bad. Hm, yes, by the way I have a tiny class of fourth grade math students and they are all boys, three of them. Yesterday they had a little detention with me because of their lack of control. Today I had a lightbulb moment and it turned out better than I expected. Here's what went down...

First of all, I have these colorful mini cubes I used. They are fun to look at and handle. Each time one of the boys raised his hand, I gave him a cube. If a student talked out, I took a cube away. At the end of the class period they could pick one small object from the Goodie Box for every ten cubes they had earned. In the future, we will collect cubes all week, keep track of how many cubes each boy has, and take a prize only on Friday. I might do a system where some things take more cubes than others, or for every fifty cubes they can pick from the box, or something else like that. Maybe they can choose to collect cubes for a longer period of time and get a larger prize. It all just occurred to me today so I haven't worked out the details. Any ideas are welcome.

The best part of all this is that the boys thought it was a super fun game and asked if we could play it again next week! Several times they caught themselves talking out and turned in a cube. Then they corrected their behavior and worked on remembering to raise their hand. No one got mad if he had to put a cube back. Weird, but hey, if it works...

For me, it means they're being quiet and raising their hands. And now we're all happy.

Shout Out

Here's to my fifth graders - Audrey, Caitlin, Abi, Kara, Maddie, Paul, Keegan, Jacob, Katie - for all A's on their first math test! Way to go, guys! I am so proud of your hard work already this year.

Ten Things I've Had To Remember...

at the beginning of this school year:

 

1.  I have to go to bed early.

2.  Prayer is a must.

3.  Things will have to be explained many times.

4.  Patience = sanity.

5.  Something is going to change - new student, different schedule, something!

6.  I will make mistakes; students will make mistakes.

7.  I can't be too prepared at the beginning of the year.

8.  Early morning meetings are inevitable; just go with it.

9.  Everyone else is tired and overwhelmed, too.

10.The rest of the year isn't like the beginning; it does get easier.