Academic Museum

When I left the public school system, I thought I was leaving behind the awful stress of the TAKS/STAAR test.  Thank goodness I don't have to worry about an entire class passing 2 tests they have never seen before, but instead, my new school has academic museum.
Now don't get me wrong.  This is an amazing educational experience for my students (and this year, for Gianna)  Every student in my class has to research a topic, write a paper, create a timeline, draw a picture, a map, write a speech, and put it all together on a poster.  At home, they have to create a costume and a 3D project.  Whew.  Now that its all over, I can say it was well worth it, but with a snow day the Monday before it was all due, I was worried it wouldn't get all done.

Using kitchen utensils to go break up the ice.

All students 1st-8th grade have this project, and display it in the halls and gym of our school.  Then for an hour on Academic Museum night, parents, teachers and other guests can walk around and ask students anything they want about their topic.  This year, my students were studying plants in science, so they each picked a plant for their AM project.  They put the life cycle into a timeline, drew a map of where their plan grew, and drew and labeled a picture of their plant.  All the pictures I took of my students have their face in it, so I don't want to post for privacy reasons.  

One of my students did the Tulip.  She wrote a paragraph on the history of the tulip, and there are very famous tulip gardens in Holland.  Here is her own Dutch Tulip garden 3D project.  She also dressed as a little Dutch girl.

I thought the hardest part of the project would be the costume.  They had the option of dressing up like a person from the region of where their plant grows, they could dress up as their plant, a farmer, a gardener, etc.  The creativity flowed here.  One student, who had the Sequoia tree, dressed up as John Muir, who discovered and studied them in California in the 1800s.  One student dressed in a lei and grass skirt for the palm tree.  One of my students had the Hibiscus, dressed like a little Hawaiian girl, and served hibiscus tea.  Her station had a constant stream of people!

My Water Lily (permission from mom to post)  This is my student, Lily :)

I dressed as a pregnant gardener.

Gianna's class had been studying Greece, and Gianna's specific topic was the Greek alphabet.  Her ending sentence in her paper was "My favorite part of the Greek alphabet is that instead of starting ABC, it starts ABG."  Love her creativity.  1st grade does the 3D project in class.  They made greek pottery and laurel wreath crowns.  We put her toga together at home.

She was so proud!

The night before academic museum and the day of, whenever I saw her at school, she kept telling me her tummy hurt.  I think it was nerves, she was so worried to present!  She could recite all the letters in the Greek alphabet.   In the bottom left corner of her poster, she put a picture of Chris and I in togas from the geek Olympics we did in Rome almost 10 years ago.  This was a great way to start Spring Break- we had the next day (Friday) and there were no more tummy aches after that :).

I'm glad its over.  I learned a lot, and already have ideas for next year that will make it even better.

Last Week of School

I write this long after, but I cannot believe the school year we have had!  I grew so much as a teacher, and it was so wonderfully unique to be able to see Gianna everyday.  Next year is going to be even better in that arena, with both girls at the new school!  And though this new school I'm going to is ah-ma-zing, I will miss Spears!  Here are some highlights of the last week:

I had 2 mystery readers- Gianna and Elia! they were the stars of my classroom.
My students wanted their autograph and everything.

Huddles will be missed!  In April, G got to dance on the stage.

Gianna's best buddy, Brandon.  I have never met a more sweet, enthusiastic kindergartner!
They shared a lunch table all year, so I got to know him pretty well.

My end of year gift.  All of my kiddos contributed summer stuff, and put it in this awesome beach bag- gift cards, coozies, beach balls, floaties and goggles for the girls, crafts, towels, flip flops, and more gift cards.  I was SO spoiled.

We did a measurement Olympics, and my class represented Ireland.

If you want to see more, you can see my class blog, Passing the Torch, which is located on the sidebar of this blog.
I am so blessed!

Gianna's Birthday

Lucky for G, her birthday landed on a built in bad weather day, so the 3 of us had the day off!  We did birthday pancakes, and then I took the girls to the splash park.  It was our first water adventure of the season, so they were delighted!  We ended the day with a trip to Zinga with Daddy and Uncle Patrick.

Day before her birthday at school- she brought in leftover MLP cookies!

Happy Birthday pancakes!

Splash Park!

Love this action shot!

Zinga Froyo

Holiday Hoopla

Our school's Chistmas Holiday party was awesome.  PTA put the entire thing on outside of the classrooms, and the different grade levels rotated through.  My class had a blast, and afterward we watched Narnia in my classroom since we just finished reading it.  Gianna's party was during lunch, so I went down to hang out with her on my break.

 

 

Cotton ball on your nose race.  SHe would not let me take a picture of her with it on her nose!  I promise she was cute.

Antler toss

Ski relay

I couldn't stay with her the whole time. We had a blast!

Fun Run

Our school had a fundraiser, and it ended with a fun run.  I was so excited that Gianna's run coincided with my lunch so I could cheer her on.  The lap was a tenth of a mile and I managed to run 17 laps.  (I've been so off and on with running these days).  Well our little G ran 15 laps!  I think that is amazing.  She really had her eye on the prize- the boy and girl with the most laps from each class got to have a playdate at McDonald's with their teacher.  Sadly, she did not run the most in her class, but still, I was so stinking proud.  And it was a great life lesson- she is still talking about how dissappointed she was that she didn't win and that she is definitely going to win next year!

I even got into the ring and ran a lap with her- I was huffing along after her!

My favorite picture ever.

She passed out on the way home from school- probably 5 minutes into the car ride!

Moe's Day Off

I took today off so I could go on Gianna's field trip.  Her class went to the Celina Pumpkin Patch.  I dropped Gianna off at school right at 7:50 and so I had an hour to kill with Elia before I had to be back to follow the buses.

 

We went to Walgreens and picked out some nail polish, and then we went to a park near her daycare.

Onto the Field trip-First up, a hay ride

 

picking out a pumpkin

This is Maggie.  Her mom teaches 4th at our school and she used to use the same daycare as me back when we both worked for CFB.  So these 2 have literally know each other since they were about 3 months!

This is the counselor's daughter, also in Kinder.

Totally reminded of Grants Farm, although Gianna was not too scared!  She let them eat right out of her own hand.

Once the kiddos were back on the bus, I spent the afternoon shopping and then got the girls back home by 3:30.  It was a great day off!

School Update

I love being able to see Gianna during the day at school. We sure do miss Elia, but its nice to know that I pretty much know exactly what Gianna is up to.

First Monthly School Assembly, called Huddle. 

Homework face

The Music teacher emailed this pic to me.

an aside: Elia told her teacher that she is 4 and that she has 2 brothers!

Yellow day.  Each thursday she gets to dress up in the color of the week.  Elia always wants to do it too.  I even got in on it when it was purple day.

Matchy Spears Elementary shirts.  Of course Elia got one too!

October Huddle

Another aside: Elia thanks God for taking care of the animals.

Her family picture in her hallway.



 

Going back full time has been super hard and stressful, but I am so thankful that I have the unique experience of being here with Gianna as she navigates through her school years!

Saying Goodbye

I have neglected blogging for a while due to the craziness of school.  That, and we spent every weekend in Irving to hang out with the McBrides.  They have been wanting to move back to St. Louis for a while, and in mid September, Matthew accepted an amazing oppurtunity in St. Charles, which is just outside of St. Louis.  Within 2 and a half weeks, they had to pack up, say goodbye to friends, and move to their new dream hometown. 
This is something they have wanted for so long and I am so happy for them. Rebecca is expecting and she will finally be able to lean on her mom for the support she needs in raising her young family. I was so sad to see her go though. I met Rebecca in high school, doing camps during the summer in St. Louis. We went to college together, lived together, were in each other's weddings, and had kids together. It is really hard to say goodbye to someone you have that much history with, someone you almost consider as a sister. 
Thankfully, they are moving to a place we visit 3-4 times per year.  Maybe someday Sohpia and Gianna will go to UD together!

Sorry my pictures aren't lining up correctly.




March of 2007.  Both pregnant and unable to play whirly ball.

Just a few weeks before Sophia was born.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophia and Gianna- a few months before they are big sisters.

Fast forward 4 years.  When I told Gianna they were moving, she broke into tears.

 

 

First Week of School

A whole week has come and gone!  Dropping Gianna off in her calssrooom Monday morning was so sad!  Its cliche to say, but I can't believe that sweet baby G is a kindergartner.



Gianna's classroom theme is the ocean- her name is on the octopus in the top right corner.

Her little seat.

 

 

 

First Day Pics:

I want to be a gymnast.  (Gabby Douglas, duh.)

Elia hamming it up.

The hardest part has been watching Elia go off to daycare.  Since I went back to work 18 months ago she hasn't really had separation anxiety and I think part of that is due to the fact that she was always with Big Sis.  Now, I am dropping her off all alone and she knows Gianna goes with me and that I get to see her all day long.

Which is actually pretty great.  My break is right around the time G has lunch, so I always get to give her a quick squeeze and that holds me over until I see her again right after school.

Its all an adjustment, I know, so Elia will get through it.  When she tells me about school, it sounds super fun!  Play- dough, coloring, playing on the dinosaur playground etc.

When we get home, the girls play really hard together.  I think they are making up for lost time together because as soon as their feet hit the inside of the house they are running off to find the next imaginary adventure by dressing up, jumping on the couch, or playing outside.



Friday we came home and went straight to the park for a picnic.

And of course, a movie night to end the first week!