It's official!'

Veterans Day 2011

I must be the worst blogger ever.  My apologies!

Last week Westin mentioned that they were going to be having a recognition for the Veterans at his work.  He told me how HR had sent out an email listing all of the Veterans and that there were 22.

What a kwinky-dink!

I have 22 students this year!

So, being the sly one I am... my students made Veterans Day cards for him to take to work on Friday.

I used my Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge for my Cricut to cut out bodies.  They made all of the "gear" for them.  This was my sample... that Westin confiscated and hung up on the outside of his cubicle on Friday!

They are SO cute!

I tried to get them to rotate... for some reason they didn't upload the way they are on my computer.  Thanks, Blogger!

This one was my favorite:

Just look at that camo!!!

Later in the day Westin sent me this email from one of the gentlemen he works with:

Wes, please forward to your fiance. 

(Hmm... maybe he knows something I don't?!)

Miss Laser,
        I would like to thank you and your 3rd grade class for all the cards we received today. This kind gesture meant a lot to me and I am sure many others here at Parker! 

I think they were well received!

A New School Year

Hello!

Since I last updated I have NOT found a full-time teaching job.  But that's okay!  I am covering a year long leave of absence at my old school for the teacher I carpooled with all last year!  So, since all of my stuff is in storage (aka: boxes in a trailer in Westin's mom's barn!) I'm really trying to go with the minimalist approach on decorating, or use the other teacher's stuff that's in the room already.

I went in this past Monday for about 5 hours, and here's what I've gotten completed so far:

(All of these pictures were taken from the doorway.)

Before:

After:

 Before:

After:

Before:

After:

So there you have it!  One day's worth of work... doesn't look like much, does it?  :-/

Don't worry... I'll be there ALL next week!

It's Summer... Take a Break!!

I'm going crazy with all of the fun teacher blogs I've found lately!

(If you're interested, they're in the list on the right...)

Westin told me last night I need to stop because:

A.  It's summer, and I need to take a break.

B.  It's summer... and I need to take a break.

C.  IT'S SUMMER, AND I NEED TO TAKE A BREAK!

At least he didn't bring up the fact that I don't have a job for next year...

2010-2011 Classroom

When we were down in Georgia over Memorial Day weekend my cousin Bubby's wife Cathy asked me if she could see pictures of my classroom.  I have gotten a new phone since I took pictures of the room, so I wasn't able to show her them at the time.  I have decided to put them up here.  I may have done this at the beginning of the year, but I can't remember now... Oops!

So, first... pictures of how my room looked at the beginning of the year:

 (Spelling & Vocabulary words of the week)

(Word of the Week - this was something MY 2nd grade teacher did when I was in her class!)

 (Since we are the Southeast Pirates I tried to incorporate pirate things into our classroom.  These cardboard swords were found at Michael's on clearance last summer.  I spray painted them and wrote students' names on them.  After I was done with them being on the wall in the hallway I put them on the fronts of their desks in the classroom.)

 (Attendance at a glance)

 (Partner poems & file folder games)

 (Mailboxes & Math Manipulative Boxes)

 (Weekly Homework - I ended up taking this down once I had an interactive whiteboard to use)

 (Buckets for my Language Arts Centers - didn't have room to keep them set up in places, so these were portable.  In keeping with the Pirate theme, I called these Pirate Centers!)

 (Drawers are numbered and hold extra supplies students bring in so they don't have to clutter their desks with them.  Supplies on the right are extras if theirs go missing.)

 (Again, got these Skull & Crossbone clipboards at Michael's on clearance... 2 summers ago!  Spray painted them and put stickers on with group numbers.  I printed off lists for my Language Arts (Pirate) Centers and posted them here.)

( View of my whiteboard.)

 (Birthday graph)

 (Calendar)

 (Classroom Jobs)

 (Student of the Week)

 (View from front right corner - yellow cards are to help organize supplies and papers brought in at Open House.)

 (View from door, back right corner.)

 (View from back left corner)

(View from my desk, front left corner)

My "Christmas tree", since I didn't have room for a tree in my room:

Other random pictures from the year:

(Mother's Day Tea)

(Not in my classroom, but in the main hall by the office... LOVE this!)

(Encouragement for the 3rd graders who were my 2nd graders last year before they took the state assessments!)

(Spring Chicks lining our hallway!)

(Popcorn whole class behavior chart - won a popcorn/movie party when it was filled!)

(A real stuffed turkey visited us at Thanksgiving!)

(My Halloween costume - SICK!)

A Much Overdue Catch-Up!

WOW!  It's been awhile!

Hi friends!  (If there is anyone still left!)

It's been a busy 4 months since I last posted... (in no particular order...)

*I was RIF'd... which means my school district had a Reduction in Force.  3 positions were eliminated, including mine.  I'm currently "stalking" 38 school district websites on a daily basis trying to find a new job for next year.  I am at the top of the "call back list" if anything should open up at my school... but I'm not holding my breath!  I've been trying to look at this as an opportunity for me to find a job a little closer to Westin's job and our families.  So far no luck.  I've applied for probably 20 openings and finally got my first interview last week at North Ridgeville for a long-term 5th grade teaching position.  The principal doesn't think the teacher will be back at all and it could turn into a permanent position.  She said I should hear something by the end of this week... so I'll keep you posted!

*I planned "Westin Day" for Westin's 30th birthday in February!  We did all things we've talked about, but hadn't done (together) before.  We ate at Melt Bar & Grilled as well as the Hard Rock Cafe.  We went to the Auto & Aviation Museum, Tower City, and a Lake Erie Monsters hockey game!

*My original Little Buddy, turned Big Buddy, (aka Sean!) graduated this year!

*During Right to Read Week my class read the most minutes (at home) and won a Pizza Party from the principal!

*School ended.  I was doing really well about the end of the school year... until the day before the last day!  Campus K & 1 classes made me cards to say how they would miss me.  I BAWLED!  It wasn't pretty!  The last day fell on my birthday (due to an overabundance of snow days... we had to make up 2) and I cried 3 more times that day!

*I packed up my classroom... and it's all sitting in our dining room now!  I have realized that I have WAY too much classroom stuff... but it's just so hard to get rid of stuff when there's a possibility I might need it again someday.  I did decide though that the next time I have a classroom to set up (hopefully soon) I will be investing in plastic storage shelves/containers that have wheels on them.  Anything that is my personal stuff will go in these... then I'll be all ready the next time (if there is a next time) I have to pack up!

*We had Cousin Camp 2011 the weekend after school was out.  I forgot to take pictures.  Sarne, Sean, Tess, & Ben all came and hung out Saturday.  Sarne was the only one who wasn't able to spend the night.  We played games, watched movies, ate pizza, and got ice cream!  Successful evening, if I do say so myself!

*We went to a Cleveland Indians game in April with Brandon & Amanda.  Tribe won!!

*Memorial Day weekend Mom, Dad, Westin and I took a road trip to Atlanta for my cousin Kyle's wedding.  We had a BLAST!  My first "southern wedding!"  It had all the bells and whistles... including being at an old plantation!  The wedding was on Friday night.

Saturday morning Westin and I went flying with my cousin Kris in his airplane.

That evening we had a Low Country Boil at Kris and his wife Janet's house.  SO FUN!  Westin and I are planning to do one soon with friends up here!

*Westin traded in the Escape... for a 2011 VW Jetta TDI!  We LOVE it!!!

Hopefully I'll be better about posting!  So much for that New Year's Resolution of mine!