Five for Friday!!

 

Even though I feel like this week flew by, it also really felt like Friday was a long time coming.  How does that work?

 

Anyway, I'm really happy to have a few minutes before heading out to eat some ribs and have a drink (or two) with my hubby and parents to get my Five for Friday post up!

 

I'm sure I've shared a similar picture before, but my kids LOVE brain breaks this year.  They BEG for them!  And, of course, being the good teacher that I am, I use them as leverage to get them to follow directions and complete tasks!  That's OK, right?

 

We made these self-portraits this week.  First we read, A My Name is Alice and then we completed our own writing with our own names.  Then they got to create themselves!  I love how they turned out.  I almost didn't do them this year because my class is, well, kinda out of control, and the thought of this project scared me.  My Intervention Specialist (visit her at The Phonics Phenomenon), talked me into it and I'm so glad she did.  The kids had fun and they turned out so cute!  The bottom right is ME!  You can find this activity in Deanna Jump's Literacy and Math Fun with Names.  It's perfect for the beginning of school.

We FINALLY made it to 20 minutes of Read to Self Stamina!  I was really beginning to wonder if we would ever make it.  Like I said before, this class is kinda out of control and being quiet and sitting still really isn't our strong suit.  So this was definitely a cause for celebration!  This chart came from Mel D in her stamina builder FREEBIE! 

 

Not the best picture, but here are my school badge and keys.  We are prepping for our first safety/evacuation drill on Monday.  I taped my class list to the back of my badge and put some washi tape on my classroom key.  It never fails--we get the signal to lock our doors and I can't figure out which key is my building key and which is my room key!  Problem solved!  Do you have to practice "intruder" drills?  It is such a shame that we have to, but I'm really glad that my district is being very proactive and putting a plan in place.

 

And, finally, a non-school related pic.  This is how I seem to spend ALL of my free time right now--at a soccer game.  Both of my kids play and my daughter is a ball girl for the high school team so we watch a lot of soccer right now.  It's OK, though.  I can either sit there and watch without worrying at all about school, or I can take some things along to work on, too.  My choice.  Best of both worlds, I guess.  My daughter plays the cross-county rival at 9:15 in the morning so wish us luck!  It's a big game!

 

I can't wait to head on over to Doodlebugs to see what everyone else's week was like!  See ya over there!