The Littlest Owl

This week, the book fair is set up at our school. The kids have been super excited to go shopping for books. They each got to fill out a wish list and bring money and buy (somewhat over-priced) Scholastic books, posters and school supplies.

We have a family in our school with lots of kids. Several of them walk to school each morning and stretch from Kindergarten to 4th grade, the youngest brother is still in preschool. They eat free lunch and breakfast, they get free food from our district backpack program. This is not a family with a lot of money. Especially not for things like book fairs.

Today, I went to visit my mailbox and inside there was a little owl eraser with a note. My principal had written, "Charity wanted you to have this." When I realized who the little eraser was from, my heart completely melted.

The youngest girl of the family is in 1st grade. She had only a handful of pennies to spend at the book fair. She spent her only fifty cents to buy me an owl eraser.  I cannot even think about this sweet gesture without crying. Today, I am going to buy her any book she wants from the book fair.

Promoting Divergent Thinking

QUOTED: Sir Ken Robinson, chair of the UK Government's report on creativity, education and the economy, described research that showed that young people lost their ability to think in "divergent or non-linear ways", a key component of creativity.

Of 1,600 children aged three to five who were tested, 98% showed they could think in divergent ways.

By the time they were aged eight to 10, 32% could think divergently.

When the same test was applied to 13 to 15-year-olds, only 10% could think in this way.

And when the test was used with 200,000 25-year-olds, only 2% could think divergently. . . .

Education is driven by the idea of one answer and this idea of divergent thinking becomes stifled.'

He described creativity as the 'genetic code' of education and said it was essential for the new economic circumstances of the 21st century." signed: (TESS, 25 March 2005) You can see a wonderful TED animation of the entire speech about creativity HERE.  Our superintendant showed the animation at our annual back to school meetings in August.

Last week, I told you about how I am starting the year off with the 'Time Travel Theme'. When students arrived to the art room, the lighting was dim so that they could walk in and feel the magic of my own time machine sculpture. It has flashing lights, an electric lightening ball and moving parts. I asked my students, what do you think this is? What do you think it does? What do you think it is made from? I explain that it is a sculpture that I created out of things that I found. Once this sinks in, I explain that it is a time machine sculpture that symbolizes the theme for our year in art. We are going to travel back in time to study ancient art and artifacts, things that were made before paint and paper even existed!!

It has sparked some amazing discussions like: 'can people really time travel?' 'does your machine really work?' 'how did you build it?' 'If you could go anywhere in time, when/where would you go?' 'What will life be like in the future?'

I showed the video below as part of my introduction to the unit, just so students could start thinking about moving through time. I also showed a slide show of various ways that time travel has been represented in movies, cartoon, and in books.


The Scientist, the Cat and the Time Machine from matthew snyman on Vimeo.
DISCLAIMER: If you decide to show this video in your classroom, please note that I downloaded the video and made one small EDIT....if you watch the video, you can guess what I cut from it....It is a funny part, but not school appropriate and not relevant to my lesson. ;-)

As part of the slide show of images of time machines, I briefly explain that I read the book The Time Machine by H. G. Wells over the summer after I saw an artist re-create a cover for the classic novel. The design of the time machine on the cover is SO powerful....that tiny ladder, I just love it!

For the lesson, I challenged my students to create  their own time travel device. Their design doesn't have to be limited to a 'machine.' They drew a 'blueprint' on grid paper and then decide if they would rather travel to the future or the past. Students then re-drew their time travel device on a larger sheet of paper and created a scene showing their perspective of the future or the past.

The magnificent thing about this lesson is that it promotes divergent thinking....something that is so important in education. For students to be able to solve a problem creatively and from their own imagination. I've only had about half of my classes so far....I cannot wait to challenge the other half of my students!!

A Time Machine

My theme for this year is Art History: Prehistoric through Renaissance. I'm using a lot of visuals from my mentor teacher but I really wanted to put my own spin on things so I am starting the year off by doing a lesson about time travel. To prepare for this lesson, I read H. G. Wells The Time Machine, and I watched the movie The Time Machine...and I just thought about how to incorporate everything all summer long.

Around the 2nd week of summer I decided that in order to incorporate time travel with prehistoric art, it would be necessary to build a time machine sculpture...and challenge my students to design their own machine. Here it is in all its glory...with a LOT of help, and planning over the summer it finally came to life this week. It is really hard to photograph...because of the lighting, most of the special effects and the plasma ball 'flux capacitor' look better in dim lighting...but you can see the basic components....and appreciate something made out of all the junk that can be randomly found in my  basement...with a few lucky things from a friend's farm.

 Actually, this is the sort of thing that can probably only be fully appreciated in person....from a child's perspective....with a little bit of magic. But I thought it was worth sharing here because I've had a few people request to see it.

Next week I will be installing a cave in my classroom....and between now and Christmas, we will study Egyptian, Roman and Greek art.

Flux Capacitor in all its glory.

Shot taken in the dark so you can see the ground effects.

My lesson today went pretty well. I explained that we would be traveling back through time to study art....but I let students design any sort of time machine they could imagine and then place it in an environment either in the future or the past. There was no wrong way to create the fantasy world or the machine, it was up to them to be creative and use their imaginations.

I am really excited for this year!!

2012-2013

First Day of school. Happy New Year. Let's Do This.

Doing whatever I want.

When someone asks me: What have you been doing all summer?

I tell them the TRUTH: Whatever I want.

In the past, I have spent my summers volunteering, teaching, or doing something that fells like fun but its actually work, I just tell myself it is fun so that I am tricked into believing that I had a restful vacation.

I've just had 12 consecutive weeks off.

Every single day I tried to savor the morning the most. During the school year I am out of bed by 5:45, but in the summer I was in bet until at least 7:30, sometimes 8:00. It was marvelous. I must hit another level of R.E.M. between 6:30 and 7:00, that I don't normally even get a chance to experience....I'm going to miss that hard morning sleepy time.

Every single day, I tried to savor the evenings and stayed up past 10. This may not seem super late...but when I have the freedom to watch one more episode of the Tudors on Netflix, instead of turning the T.V. off at 9:30, it feels pretty sweet. Evenings haven't been rushed. I can cook dinner at my leisure, and still have time to relax afterwards. Even if I chose to go to the gym at night, I still had plenty of time to do whatever because I wasn't hurrying to prepare a sack lunch or iron a pair of kakis.

Every single day, I savored my free-time lunch. During the school year, I have a limited amount of time to eat lunch and a strict schedule. I also have a very regulated time frame at which I can use the restroom.  It is very liberating.

Every single day, I tried to enjoy the free afternoons.....I actually fought the urge to take a nap every day. Ha! I met up with friends for an afternoon cupcake+drinks date...in the middle of the day....and I drove to a coffee shop for an iced coffee with free WIFI and blogging. Or I hung out with Martha and we made crafts or sat by a pool somewhere.

 So maybe I did not meet all of these summer goals:

Read 10 books. (only 7)
Grow a Wild Flower garden. (HA! it was too hot to grow anything)
Workout/Zumba 4 times a week. (It was about 2-3 times average)
Ride bikes. (TOOOO HOT!)
Art Walk Dates. (YES! Braved the heat for all of the Joplin art walks and one in K.C.)
Analog Film: Take and Develop. (I haven't been in the dark room a lot...but I do have a few rolls processed)
Paint. Draw. Collage. Art. (Perhaps I could've done a bit more of this, but I did make some cute stuff for Martha's Shop. and I painted my desk)
Bake Bread. (Only one loaf, but I did it!)
Blog + Write. (Done! I spent a lot of time working on my Retro Vacation Series)


And I did a few things I hadn't planned:
Went to the farmer's market for fresh peaches and baked a pie.
Had a fun girl's night out at Glazed.
Went to a blackberry farm and made lots of yummy blackberry desserts.
Crafted something new out of scrabble tiles for Martha's Shop. And framed some lomography photos to sell.
Revisited my hometown firework carnival for the 4th.
Baked the most delicious Almond Joy Cookies ever.
Grew a gorgeous veggie garden. (A lot of my succulents died!)

 This week is a busy one. With the first day meetings yesterday, and open house last night...tonight we have more meetings and an education committee meeting at Spiva...and tomorrow is the first day of school....with art walk on Thursday night. By Friday I will be exhausted!! But at least I am well-rested. And I am excited for the new school year.

Best Year Yet!! HAPPY SUMMER!!

This was one of my favorite school years ever. It was the first year in a long time that I did not have a student teacher....and I really feel a strong connection to my sweet kindergarteners that will be moving on to the primary school next year.

I think it helped that I had them for the entire year and did not relinquish any teaching responsibilities to a student teacher. I love having a student teacher, but I'm really glad that I had a break this year. I had two student teachers last year, and both years before I had one. The continuity and consistency helps make the year so smooth.

A kindergartener told me on Monday, " Mrs. Mitchell, you are the best art teacher in the whole world and I do not want ever want another art teacher." She must've figured out that I won't be her art teacher next year. I reassured her that she will love her new art teacher in 1st grade...(but I didn't tell her that she will probably forget all about me by Christmas, it usually happens that way every year).

My last week of school is always one of my favorites. It is fun because I can relax with my students and really have fun. The regular schedule is modified for play days and celebrations and rewards. Everyone is casual, relaxed, unbound by the regular routines.

At 11:00 on Friday we will dismiss for the summer. I will have 12 weeks off!! This is the first year that I haven't taught summer classes. Last year, I conducted the Art Lounge program once a week, had a photography exhibit and dealt with the aftermath of the tornado.

This year, my summer scheduled is speckled with a few loose commitments, but for the most part it is free and clear. I intend to do some traveling (I'm seriously craving a road trip...but I think that will have to wait until next year) but mostly, I want to drink hot tea on my screen porch, have pool play dates with friends, attend morning Zumba classes and renew my artistic spirit.

I intend to do plenty of blogging and writing and creating. Oh, and reading. My goal is to read at least 10 books this summer. I've got a lengthy and varied list, suggested by my facebook friends.

The Best Teachers....

The end of the year is my favorite.

I love how relaxed everyone is and how relieved I feel to wrap up another year.

Yesterday, a popsicle reward party was planned for students to celebrate positive behavior.

I must say that it was incredibly satisfying to know that part of my job description, at least for the day, was to enjoy the sunshine, snip open flav-o-ice and watch the students run around. I have a very special role and I wouldn't trade it for anything right now....It is very rewarding to know that I am right where I am supposed to be.

Today, I spent some time reflecting on some of my favorite things about school, teachers, and being a teacher.

Book Review: Teach Like a Champion

The book is "Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College" by Doug Lemov the managing director of Uncommon Schools.  I mentioned it a few weeks ago in this post.

For my professional development plan this year, I suggested that I write a book review on my blog so that I could open a dialog with other educators. Since September, I've been reading the book off and on, wherever I could find little snipits of time throughout the school day. I took extensive notes because the book 

If you have read the book, feel free to open a discussion in the comments. Also, if you would like contrasting opinions or additional information about the book, look it up on Amazon to read what other people said about it by clicking here.

After starting the book, I realized that it was written from the perspective of a charter school educator....and I teach at a public school, but I kept an open mind and finished the book anyway.

This book would be a wonderful choice for a new teacher, a teacher who is struggling with classroom management, or someone (like me) who is experienced, but looking to sharpen basic classroom management tools. As a teacher that works with a lot of pre-service teachers, this book gives me a way to describe techniques to my student teachers. I can see where an experienced teacher might scoff at the most basic, almost remedial way that the book describes common classroom management strategies (For instance, popcorn, in the book is renamed 'cold call').

I really loved how the author described on page 12 'good teacher plan activities minute by minute, often scripting them in advance. ' He describes a model teacher planning and memorizing and rehearsing the lesson on the drive to work so that the teacher can better focus on what the students are doing, and not what she is going to do next. My lesson planning is very repetitive and I often have the activities planned down to the minute. I definitely practice my lesson before I teach a new skill for the first time. This is something every new teacher has to learn eventually.

I wrote in my last post about the questioning techniques in the book. Since I tend to do a lot of modeling and demonstrating, I often don't include a lot of questioning in most of my lessons. But my goal this year is to really push for high understanding and more critical thinking as it relates to art.

Next year, I would like to implement more call and response things at the beginning of the year. I will definitely come up with some that relate to art. Like "Why are we here?" "To Learn and Create" or something fun like that. 

This year, I had one of my kindergarten classes practice lining up with a stopwatch. I modeled the appropriate way to line up (this was the middle of the year, and they were still crazy at the end of art!!), how to push in their chair, how to walk with hands in a safe spot to the line, how to stand quietly. Then I had a student show how to do it. Then I had the class practice with a stopwatch, always striving for a better, more perfect time. I think it helped, and now I will keep a stopwatch on hand for such practices!

I really liked number 32, the "SLANT" technique. Smile, (or sit up), Listen, Ask and answer questions, Nod your head, and Track the speaker. I think this would be great to post at the door and use as a reminder at the end of art, have them spell SLANT instead of SMILE....since each letter would actually be a reminder for classroom behavior.

Next year, I would like to implement more seat signals. Non-verbal requests that students often ask for during art with a poster in the room describing these hand signals.

I also really liked technique 35 Props. Public praise, 'two-stomps for...' or 'two claps for....' things that can be cued in one second, the entire thing being finished up in less than 5 seconds. It encourages the activity to be visceral, including claps or stomps; universal, so that everyone can participate, and enthusiastic. A brief, fun break from work.

The book gives some fun examples like 'the lawn mower', 'the roller coaster', and 'hot pepper'. So fun! I would love to create an 'art version' of this for my classroom.

Since starting this book, I've developed a list of big 'NO-NOs' that teachers shouldn't do....and I feel guilty when I notice teachers doing these things in the hall or around the school. One of those things is 'don't waste time explaining what not to do.' 'You need to be all business, be clear, crisp, and stop talking.' 'Do not engage', once you have set the topic, do not engage in others until resolving the initial topic. This is a tough one. Try to resist engaging in 'called-out' answers from students, require hands-up.

One of the things I really appreciated about the book was its constant reminder that it is okay to expect students to do something not just better, but the BEST that they possibly can. From something small, like writing their name neatly, to big things like an important test. We should expect the VERY BEST at all times. Also, the book reminds teachers how much every single minute matters. It is easy to get lazy and zone out while students are doing mundane, every-day things, but it is important to utilize that time effectively for learning.

Also, the book reminded me about 'No Warnings'. Warnings tell students that a small amount of disobedience will not only be tolerated, but is expected. While I won't give up my warnings entirely, it is easy to get relaxed about things when students don't think I will enforce consequences for minor offenses.

The thing I really like about this book, is that it doesn't just tell a new teacher what not to do....it gives specific instructions on powerful methods that will work. For instance, it says not to use contingencies like "I'll wait.....", 'We need you with us", is much more powerful. And I agree.

As an art teacher, I know that what I say about a student's work holds a lot of power. They are constantly looking for a little bit of love, attention, and praise from me. This book describes the power of praise, especially in a classroom built on character and trust. It says, "Praise must be genuine, students often read praise as an indication that their work is inferior. By praising one student in order to 'tell' another one what they should be doing, undercuts the integrity of your praise. It sets the first one up, and jeopardizes the relationship you have. It also does not solve your situation with the other student.

These are things they just don't tell you in college!

Technique 45 discusses warm/strict. You must be caring, funny, warm, concerned and nurturing. But you must ALSO be strict, by the book, relentless, and inflexible AT THE SAME time.

Technique 46 discusses the JOY factor in a classroom. It mentions the thrill of having a mystery box or activity. Something hidden in a wrapped box, like a present, and reminds the teacher to build excitement around the object inside (could be a still life, landscape, carving etc.), saying 'I can't wait to show you....' or "ouch it bit me', tempting them, building suspense and by the time they show it, they can hardly wait to see!

The book concludes with, "Artists, athletes, musicians, surgeons, and performers of a thousand other varieties achieve greatness only by their attention to the details of their technique....A focus on technique and on its constant refinement is also the path to excellence for teachers....Too many ideas, even good ones, go bad when they become an end and not a means."

This was a great book for a book study. There are many things I would like to implement in my classroom, and it was a good reinforcement to the things I already do. I know that  I will be teaching many of the strategies to future student teachers.

Santa is in the building!

There is something so magical about the jingle of Santa's bells and his hearty 'HO HO HO!' when he visits the school. It is just incredible to hear him interacting with the kids...and their squeals of delight!

Frustratingly....as one of my educator friends pointed out on her Facebook status....it seems like Santa is not enough to keep kids in line this time of year....when I was little, my parents just had to threaten us with "Santa is watching!" and we were quickly reminded that if we were rotten, we would get nothing for Christmas....But now, it seems like that is not enough.

I'm only saying this because last week was wild!! The week before Christmas usually is...I needed an extra dose of patience.

I've heard so much about the the elf on a shelf is so adorable and it is such a cute idea...It just seems like those little elves that jump from spot to spot each night after reporting to the north pole, are necessary to making kids believe that someone is really watching.....

'Santa' by himself isn't magical enough...to influence today's youth the way he used to.....

At any rate (elf on a shelf or not)....I am on the NICE list this year....Santa check it twice...and confirmed!

The Smallest Act of Caring

I need to share this story so that I will never forget it.

Although I would not normally share a personal story about a student, (and details have been changed to keep his identity secret), this is one of those stories that is a HUGE reminder that what I do is important and special.

Usually, students mature over the summer and naughty kids grow up a little bit. One year, a boy named Tommy, had been  acting completely different than he acted the previous year. This boy was so sweet and smart the year before, but on this particular year, I started to dread his class before I even saw them coming down the hall. I didn't want to be mean to the kid, but he was just so disruptive that I could hardly get through the lesson without getting frustrated with his behavior. I even mentioned it to his classroom teacher from the year before, and she said that other teachers have commented on how wild Tommy had become.

One day, the class was coming down the hall and I realized that they had a substitute. "Oh, great," I thought...generally, whenever a class has a substitute, bad behaviors are intensified and the normally well-behaved students are a little wiry from the lack of structured daily routines normally enforced by classroom teachers.

As soon as he walked up, Tommy said, "What happened to your hair?" as the class passed through the doorway. Immediately, I snapped (without thinking), "What happened to your face?" and then I looked at the substitute and cringed...hoping she had heard him be so rude, but somehow she didn't hear my completely unprofessional retort. I don't actually think Tommy heard me say it, because he didn't respond, but kept bee-bopping through the doorway as if it is completely normal to insult a teacher and get away with it.

I walked into class, closed the door, and got on with the lesson. I don't remember if Tommy was his usual interrupting self after that...I just tried to teach about mixing paint to create tints and shades.

About halfway through class, the principal came in and wanted to take Tommy out. Tommy left his painting sitting on the table.

Near the very end of art, with only about 6 or 7 minutes left, (everyone else was cleaning up and we were about to conclude) the principal brought Tommy back to art. He took me aside and said that Tommy had been in his office, meeting with family services. 'Could Tommy finish his painting? He really wanted to get back down here to art, so that he could finish it."

I don't know why Tommy was talking to a social worker, or whomever it was in the principal's office...I never asked....but students don't just meet with family services for fun....it was an immediate sign that something was going on in Tommy's home life. I had seen the signs all year. His behavior was drastically different than the year before.

Instead of showing Tommy a little more love, or given him opportunities for more attention, I had started to dread even being in the same room with him.

There he was, in the office, meeting with some stranger, about some situation at home, and all he wanted to do was be with me, in art, working on his painting.

I was mortified and embarrassed and ashamed that I had lashed out at the poor kid with "What happened to your face?!" when he is dealing with some pretty terrible stuff at home.

Being an art teacher, I can usually sense when something is going on with a child. It isn't necessarily that stuff comes out in their artwork, usually I notice a huge shift in behavior.

If a student suddenly starts acting oddly or misbehaving, I can tell that something is going on...perhaps the child is going to dad's for the weekend...or stayed up too late because parents were fighting....maybe the kid is living at Children's Haven or in foster care.

Rarely do I ever know the details about what is going on at home.  If I notice major changes, I will mention it to the classroom teacher and the counselor.

As I said before, I honestly never knew what was going on with poor Tommy...but his behavior started to improve after that. Or maybe, I started treating him a little differently because I had a little insight into the fact that something had changed at home and it was affecting his behavior. In any case, it is a huge reminder that no matter what, so you should always treat others with compassion because you never know what burdens they might be carrying.

Here are a few great quotes:

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong.  Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.  ~George Washington Carver

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  ~Leo Buscaglia

Two painting ideas combined

A few weeks ago I told you about a really cool painting on Alisa Burke's blog...I fell in love with it and made two, one for my home and one for my classroom.

In the meantime, I completely fell in love with this crayon wax melting on the whatever blog. I guess these are all over pintrest?
I decided to combine the two into a totally new, fun painting for my classroom!!

 

I'm really happy with how it turned out!! Such a fun, easy, creative thing to accomplish for such a busy time of year!!

Photo Collage Friday {Number Fifteen}

It is my last day of summer!! I am super sad, but I have had a great vacation. Today, I am blogging, baking pies, making a birthday gift, and sewing an apron. Busy busy!

For this week's photo collage Friday, I took some photos in my classroom of summer projects I have been working on this week. 

#1. Paper mache paint brush: A couple of years ago, I saw this great jumbo paint brush and palette set from Pottery Barn Kids. I totally wanted it for my classroom, but $200 was a little too pricey. Two years ago, I made the paint palette with scraps of styrofoam. This summer, I finally got around to making the paint brush using paper mache. (Thanks for the help, Emma!)  I made a cool set up jumbo paper mache art supplies last summer for my other art room.This was a super easy project, both the paint palette and brush are attached to my concrete walls with foam tape and hot glue. 

It looks pretty cool above my paper case, huh?

Before I can tell you about the other two photos in the photo collage, I have to tell you about a place in St. Louis that is an art teacher's mecca. I'm not even kidding at all. 

It is called Leftovers. And it is amazing. 

This place is a superstore of sorted, cleaned, organized junk. And for $7 you can fill up a paper bag with anything in the store. As much as you want. If it doesn't fit in the bag, they will cut you a deal. I got the long cardboard tube for the armature of my paintbrush from the store and I was so delighted!

#2 Splatter paint classroom furniture. I've always wanted something splatter painted in my classroom, but I'm usually too lazy/busy/forgetful to make something. Last week, I set up an old wooden table and a stool on a drop cloth and started splattering. These two pieces of furniture are a great addition to my classroom!!

#3 Spray Painted Clothespins. Okay, about 7 years ago while I was doing my student teaching, a little old lady came in and taught for one semester. One thing she did while she was working in my classroom, was spray paint a bunch of clothes pins in order to separate the classroom art work by table for each class. Brilliant! I've just been marking a little scribbled line with a marker on the end of the clothes pins for years, but this summer, I finally got out my rainbow colors and started painting the pins.

Photo Collage Friday. {Number Eight}

A little bit of spin art for your Friday.

Photo Collage Friday. {Number Six}

This is an actual mural at my school. I thought it fit the criteria of being a 'photo collage' without much editing.

The school year is almost over! I am so excited for summer, but so sad to take this beautiful work of art down. It has been up since after Valentine's Day....it makes the hallway feel like an art gallery.

Why I love the end of the year....Part 3

To read Part 1 and Part 2.

Field trips. I don't get to take a class on a field trip, but sometimes I am asked to help out with reward celebrations and other fun activities. This year (and last year too), I got to take kindergarteners on a limo ride to Pizza Hut.

Talk about excited! This was such a fun experience. The kids are so happy, they feel famous, and special. Just seeing how excited they are makes it so much fun!

I tried to find pictures where you couldn't see their faces...but this one below is just too cute...Look at the boy on the far right...he is jumping up in the air!

"Mrs. Mitchell, look at all the cup holders! Wow, look at those little cup holders....those must be fore baby bottles,"......said a student.

"Naturally," I replied.

Check out the fake fireplace.

I let them put their feet up. Take a load off. On the baby bottle holders.

Why I love the end of the year....Part 2

To read part 1 click here.

I love the end of the year because it gives me a chance to do something different with my students. I am always more ambitious with messy projects because I know that my students are going to be wild no matter what we are doing.

For the photos below....my students made bird kites (the kites and animal print papers are from Roylco)...and then they created safari vests using a paper bag covered with animal print paper, crowns, and jewelery...and we took the kites outside for a kite flying safari adventure. It was so fun for me, but mostly, it was rewarding to see them having fun.

Why I love the end of the year....Part 1

I have to admit, I love the first week of school.

I love opening a brand new box of crayons.

I love getting my rooms ready. (I have two rooms)

I love how happy everyone is the very first week....teachers literally sing 'hellooooo' to each other in the halls, excited to get back into the groove. The first few weeks of school are productive, ripe with anticipation, and exciting.  (read how is your year going?)

But by May....we are all singing a different tune. We look at each other with matching expressions of fatigue, exhaustion, and dread as we mark the minutes off the calendar.  'Only Two More Mondays' we exasperatedly exclaim as we pass each other in the halls.

As tired as we are this time of year....most teachers will probably admit how much we secretly love the last few weeks of school. The weather is beautiful, flowers are blooming and we all know that are days are numbered with this particular group of students.

The very best part about the end of the year is the field trips, picnics, special programs and fun events that students get to do. I am always excited when I get to participate in the fun stuff.

The photos below are from a reward celebration from our school fundraiser. For students that sold a high number of items, they got to throw water balloons at the principal.

So they lined up like a firing squad and let 'em rip. He wore his umpire gear for protection, but it was still fun to watch him get soaked.