Happy Friday

Some people might agree with me and some might not. Thats okay we all have the right.. So.. based on this thought. I am so so disappointed with The Bachelor! I mean seriously how can they do that?? So its okay to sleep with Juan Pablo but its not okay to get stinking drunk.. What the heck people? Okay, I'm all better now..

Did you ever have a teaching moment where you enjoyed the lesson more than your students? Well, I think I did today. So, heres my story last night I took these pictures of a book that I wanted to read to my class. You know to give the effect of a movie.. I loved it and I was so proud but I don't think my kiddos liked it..  I heard small noise coming from their desks, like mice chewing on paper  sigh... all well... maybe next time

This week we are learning about measuring in inches and centimeters, the life cycle of a plant, and  what really is the author's purpose, and writing thank you letters to some really awesome parents I have in my class. So here are some recent pictures of my class...

Author's Purpose

Art Carte Time

Projects are important

I have decided that I really love having my students do a project once a week. It does't have to be a big one, just something they can look forward toward the end of the unit. For instance, this past Thursday we became paleontologists. They had so much fun digging for chocolate chip cookies. Not only that, so  did I. I push them so hard everyday to grasp the concept I'm teaching, that sometimes I forget they are just second graders. So, of course I went to my favorite websites Pinterest and TpT. It is extremely hard teaching children how to tell time. Don't even get me started on my plant unit. Its a disaster! All of my little seeds have either dried out or drowned (too much water) that I'm embarrassed to even have my kiddos look at them.. sigh.. all well.. For this week's lesson plans we will continue to work on telling time, finish our fossil unit, work on prefixes and suffixes, and also celebrate 100th Day of School! Okay people or person who reads my blog have a great Sunday!

Last Year's 100th Day T-shirt

I hope everyone had a restful 3 day weekend. I redid my lesson plans because there's always room for improvement. Then, I had to create some new anchor charts, which I find to be relaxing and of course rewarding. I make such a big deal about the revealing to my kiddos they get so exciting. I know when I'm having a good day because we all forget about the bell ringing and when it does. The looks on my kids is priceless.. Sigh.. These are the kind of days when I love being a teacher. Speaking of that I have share a sweet and thoughtful child in my class. He quietly puts a gift on my table ( which makes me feel special). I store days like this in my heart to remember when I'm having a blue moment. Well, I need to finish making dinner for my family. Take care fellow bloggers.

It has been such a long time since I last blogged. Did you notice my new look? Its so cool! I love it. Its a new year and now I have a new look. The young lady who created this for me has the patience of a saint for dealing with me. THANK YOU McKenna!!

So.. real quick update of what I did with my kiddos during the month of December.. We traveled around the world learning how other countries celebrate Christmas. Of course I got this from tpt website from an amazing teacher named Hope King. The kids absolutely loved the end of the day when we worked on our books. I gotta be honest I loved it too. Then we did a couple of how to writing papers, like how to make a snowman. We celebrated Grinch Day (so much fun in one day) and trust me we did do a lot of learning that day. Then we had our once a month art carte (done by one of parents, so don't worry). I have so many amazing parents and they spoil me..

Finally, it was our last day of school and I wasn't feeling very good. I thought it was exhaustion and nothing else. So, over the weekend I still wasn't feeling to good.

By Monday I knew I was in trouble so my daughter had to take me to see the doctor. I mean seriously people I did not trust my driving skills. The nurse says oh you poor thing. Your throat looks bad..

By Tuesday I get a call from Kaiser and yep I have a bad case of strep throat. I can't even remember when was the last time I had that. It took two days for me to feel normal. Yikes! This is what happens when I get bored people. 

Then, the day after Christmas we lost our internet service. Really? I went into withdrawal big time. I had to go to Starbucks to get my fix, but its just not the same when you can't have the same fun blogging and shopping on the internet when you are not in your pjs. Overall, I really had a nice vacation and I am so ready to get back to my classroom and do what I love best and thats teaching. 

So, its really hard to believe that we are in December. I love this month, I just wish there was a way to slow it down. My kiddos are currently counting coins, I have discovered that most of them don't really understand counting coins. I can't help but wonder if its because so many of us use our debit cards now.  We are also working on traditions around the world, making inferences, and of course I have found ways to add some fun crafts. They are going to be so excited to write How To's papers.. They are! Because its all about making a snowman and making snowman soup!
Update on our desks! The kids love them so much! I moved them around because in case you haven't been following this blog, I like to change things around at the beginning of every month. So, I found on Pinterest a really cool look and that is making them into horse shoe shapes! So, cool people!
We only have 10 days of school left and of course I'm not crazy enough to tell them that. My amazing teammates have agreed to have a Grinch Day and a Polar Express Day! I love those girls.. I am so excited!

 This is what I have been doing for the month of November. Report cards snuck up on me way to quickly. Then, I made it through conference week(once again)! I gotta tell ya, my second year teaching second graders is going much more smoothly too. I have been blessed again with great parents. I have one who shall remain nameless, but holy moly people she spoils me! This year is going by way to fast.. I mean seriously one week left until Thanksgiving. My classroom has been like heaven every since I got my student's desks. We have so much more room, we now have a nice space for our class meetings and other areas for small groups to work together. We did manage to make our classroom turkey. What is so cool about my teammates they joined in on the fun. Currently my kiddos are learning all about communities and double-digit subtraction. I'm loving it!

Second Grade Class Turkeys!

 Sometimes as teachers we need to take a break from all the hustle of teaching this.. ok now teach this.. ok now teach more of this.. ok.. wait.. now teach this… It's so exhausting and stressful! So, I did just that! I literally put the brakes on teaching at warp speed. For the whole morning I dedicated that time on contractions. We became surgeons and nurses. I have exactly 30 kiddos so they got to pair up with their friend (which btw is huge!) Then, they took turns becoming a nurse or surgeon. There was a lot of talking about which letter has to go.. and some oh no's! We lost a patient Mrs. Packard! Of course many shouts of we did it! This is a moment I will treasure for a long time..  Have I mention how much I love teaching second grade? This is me and one of my amazing kiddos demonstrating the correct way of performing a contraction surgery. 

More Pictures Coming Soon!

Hello Blog Land,
It's been a few weeks since I last blogged, but thats okay because things have been going great! Life certainly keeps me busy and I am not complaining people. Last was amazing! First we went on our first field trip. The weather was gorgeous and the butterflies were out and about. My kiddos were so good of course it helps when you keep them busy with scavenger hunts, life entertainment (thank you very much my parent volunteers!) and taking a quick walk to the beach. Don't worry my friends we kept them everything aligned with the state standards. Here is a picture of one of the many things my kiddos had to finish by the end of the trip.

On Friday our school had their third annual Panther Prowl Run. Our second graders are full of so much energy (if I could only have just a little of that) sigh.. Again, the weather was perfect, and the popsicles

were refreshing after walking for 20 minutes. Whew... Here is a picture..

Now, for the best part... we had our first art cart and we had so much fun! Yes, I said we.. I just had to join in. It was so cute, I couldn't resist. Here's a cute photo of what it looks like..

We have also been working hard on finishing our Animal Reports, at least the writing part. When we are done they get to make their animal habitats, this should be very interesting since I have never done it before. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Okay, folks thats all for now!

It's Only Wednesday

Even though we are in the middle of the week it feels like the week should be over. It has been crazy busy but in a good way. Monday, I celebrated my daughter being on the honor roll. We had a great day together that I will treasure. Tuesday we had a really cute assembly and of course the kids were so excited. Today our school celebrated Unity Day against bullying. It was so cool! Almost the entire school wore orange and our parents were amazing putting this whole thing together! In my class were are continuing to work hard making scarecrows, leaves, and soon bats! Don't fret! I have been tying this all in with reading, writing, math, and creative thinking. Have I ever mentioned how awesome second grade is?? I love telling my kids that their teacher does normal things.. like going to the dentist. I didn't tell them that my tooth was cracked and I was okay with it until I saw my dentist. He cracks me up! He looks in my mouth and says wow! thats really cracked! So as I am typing this up I am just now starting to have some feeling come back. You know that horrible kind where you want to itch your face off. The good news he saved my tooth!  I promise I will not tell my kiddos the horror of the shots, the drill, etc.. They did give me encouraging words about don't be afraid.. and maybe he will give you a toy?? So darn cute!!

Scarecrows!

I am half way done with CCSS training and it feels good. My amazing team have been brainstorming on how we are going to use common core into our existing textbooks and such, its so much fun. Don't get me wrong, its a lot of hard work (secretly I love it!) but it will be worth it. Here are a couple of recent pictures that my little ones did. Have a great night my bloggy friends!

Can you read this?

Hello Blog Land,

My Awesome Kids Together!

Well things are settling down for me. My back to school night went extremely well. I love my second graders! I showed them the powerpoint presentation that their parents were going to enjoy. They loved it and promised that their parents will smile at me, which they did! So, now its time to share what my class will be learning this month. We are currently learning all about double digit addition ( I love Amy Lemons math lessons) and we are just starting our animal units. Which I am very excited about because we are starting to integrate common core into our units. I also want to celebrate fall because its my favorite season, so I will be having them do some writing first and then they can make their scarecrows!

On a personal level, I keep having these last-time moments with my daughter. I'm not sure what to call it?? I just know that when we go to her games, I find myself saying that this is going to be the last time I see her performing... yep.. I got it bad people.. She's growing up way to fast for my comfort..sigh..
So I want to share a few photos that I recently took.

Back to School Night

The other side

IT'S BEEN FOREVER!

Hello Blog Friends,
It's been a very long time since I last blogged. SIGH.. My school year started out rough, I think it was a combination of things and then I just went into survival mode. We are on day 21 (I think) and things are going much better. So this year I plan on sharing my personal life too, since apparently my precious baby girl who btw is a senior!! Gets a little upset when I post pics of her on fb or instagram. LOL. Lets see how long it takes her to figure out that she's on my blog. I can't help it though, I am so proud of her and I can't believe my baby girl is a senior! I know! I know! Those of you that have taught her or watched her grow up its hard! So so HARD! sigh again.. Okay so now you know where my mind has been ( at least part of it). My class kiddos are coming around to my way of thinking, cause you know its all about making smart choices! My whole team is so awesome and we are all over loaded with boys this year. WHEW! So, we are also starting common core this year. Did I mention how crazy been its been? I used my favorite colors to decorate my classroom. I love purple, blues and greens, I love my classroom, I call it my happy place. BTW I hit the jackpot again with having an awesome room mom who is like my super hero!

This is my beautiful daughter on her first day of school (which also happens to be her last time going to school with me) and yes that is her driving herself to school! Yikes! 

I promise now that I am getting the swing of things again, I will blog more often. Except for this week because I have Back to School Night and my daughter has a game  Saturday night and I will be a common core training day all day Saturday too! Good Lord! 

It's July and yet..

Even though its still July let the decorating and all the other stuff begin! I had fun today I re-did a table and if I do say so myself it looks awesome. It's on my Instagram if you wanna take a peek. I am still working on my "Love to Read" board for A.R. and I fell in love with the idea of doing brag tags. So, of course I'm working on a new board to accommodate my BRAG TAGS.. This is so exciting! More teachers are coming back to their classrooms and its so nice to see my friends. I just love this time of the year.

This will hold 32!

Here's what it will look like 

So, this will be short and sweet. The lazy bug got me! I mean for real, I have been sleeping in, reading, napping, watching lots of reruns, and pinning. It's been awesome! Today, I decided to get some work done so I went back to my class AND I finished 4 projects from Pinterest. I really love crafting..I will show some of my stuff tomorrow ..

My Own Project

What a great day I had! I did some reading, gardening and I made my own behavior pocket chart for my classroom. Now, in my room I have to have everything look pretty AND it has to match the colors in my class. So, I found this great little pocket chart for jewelry and knew that it was going to look perfect in my room. I was so close toward buying this one.. which is cute but it does not go with anything in my room.

Being that it is summer and I absolutely love Pinterest! I decided to make one of my own. I had a lot of fun making this one of a kind, Behavior Chart. Purple means you are doing awesome, blue means feeling kind of sad (not making good choices), and green means Oh No You Didn't! ( yep, a note goes home and no Fun Friday). Now, I hope you know that I won't put that on the chart. Lol. So, in case you are wondering I used my cameo on this little beauty and thats it. 

before

After

Its summer..

So, its been almost a month since school is out and its been quite busy. First of all I am still going to teach second grade. Can I say, AHEM! Also, I moved classrooms so now I will be next door to my teammates, poor things. Lol.. So far I have been cutting, coloring and pinning away to come up with a new theme for my classroom. One thing I love is seeing how other teachers around the states create such great looking rooms. Friends and coworkers always ask me how do you make your classroom look so cute? I am not afraid to say this, I let the room talk to me. Don't laugh! I am not crazy. My plan is show my new room in baby steps. I have almost completed one small part of my wall and I am very pleased with it so far. I am leaving the wall blank for a special reason. BTW, I love decorating and since my husband has begged me to leave our house alone, I really have no other option but to have fun with my room.  One more thing, to see if I have any friends out there reading my blog here is my dilemma. If you can see the ugly and I mean ugly (unless you happen to like mustard-like orange) counter tops should I redo them or not?

The adorable houses came from whimsy workshop

Frog Race

I have only one more day with my second graders. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. Today we had our project cornerstone mom read the last book of the year. It's about change and how change is good. It's true, but... Whaaaaa I wanna keep this year going on forever! So, moving on.. I know that I love teaching second grade and I have the best team mates ever, and I made my students promise me that they will come see me next year. Otherwise I might break down in front of them and cry. I gave them an example of what it might look like and they totally promised after seeing my "little show". Lol.
We also had a frog race today (Megan you rocked it girl!) hopefully we will have time to finish it! Next thing I know the bell rings. We had so fun and I yes I did the frog race.. Tomorrow is our pizza at the park day, along with passing out their emergency packs, report cards, and anything else I find that I didn't hang out yet. So, there you have it.

Well its been awhile since I last blogged but people its been crazy! We barely finished the testing and now our team is really working hard to create this darling musical for our second graders. Okay, I will be honest I was also to busy getting spoiled by my parents. Yep, you heard me. Last week was teacher appreciation week and boy was it awesome!! Monday, I went into withdrawals but don't worry I'm okay now. Then it was Mother's Day which was again awesome. Today is my baby girl's birthday. Also, my kiddos and I are trying to glam up the classroom because the night after our second grade performance is our Open House!! I really don't want to hear from people how days of school are left? I just start singing I'm a little bit country.... because otherwise seriously I will start to cry.. Even just typing that part I'm shaking my head no no no no...
Finally here's a project we just finished today. I got the idea from a gifted teacher on teachers pay teachers ( her name is Jaime Pink).

I also have my tool boxes that I got from Pinterest 

AMAZING MONDAY!

Today was an amazing day people! First it started out with every student of mine giving me a purple rose. Yes, there was also a vase to go with it, along with a couple of gift cards. I couldn't stop smiling all morning. Then lunch time comes along and one of my parents comes in with a yummy sandwich and a starbuck's drink. Can we say holy moly people? Am I lucky or what? I am so grateful for my families at Paradise. I really hope they know how much I appreciate them!
So we are back at being busy learning but also having a lot of fun doing it. I have to share a comment one of my kiddos said at the end of the day. We just finished our play rehearsal (I am still not sure what to call it, I mean they sing and talk and dance a little) and as we are walking back to class, I was telling them you are only allowed to write two sentences about what you learned today. Because there wasn't enough time to write more than that. Oh boy! The complaints came loud and fast. Are you kidding Mrs. Packard? That's impossible! We did to much too write only two sentences! Oh my gosh I love these kids.. BTW excuse any grammar, spelling, etc.. errors I'm off the clock..I just had to write about my incredible day!

Not only are they beautiful my room smells so pretty!

We did it! No more testing! I am so proud of my class, they worked so hard. Everyday they received a treat after each test session, they received razzles ( candy that turns into gum), a chocolate crunch bar, and a mechanical pencil. Now I only have to focus on wowing my families for our open house night. That's two weeks away. Oh, did I also mention the night before our second graders are having their musical showdown country vs. rock n roll? Yep, no pressure people. Nope..none.. nada..

They loved this treat!