Valentine's Day and Last Day in Third Grade!

Hope everyone had an amazing week and Valentine's Day! I know I sure did!! This will be a lengthy post, I warned you :) Okay, VERY lengthy!!

Valentine's day was the best I think I have ever had! Now, let's just say this was the first Valentine's day in about 7 years I haven't had a man in my life. Lonely, you may think? WRONG. Little did I know, 25 kiddos meant more to me than any of those other Valentines have! I got so many goodies from them! Chocolates, flowers, and my FAVORITE thing in the world... hand written cards. Some of my favorites include the "I love you's" "You're the best teacher" "You are so pretty" "You are smart" "You mean so much to me". They just make me feel so good about myself! I mean any insecurities I may have had are gone now after being around elementary kids. I'll say it for the 10,000 time, these kids are the sweetest group of children ever! We had a party at the end of the day with every food and sweet possible. Parents came and the kids played "hearts" bingo! Too much fun for one day! My highlight of the day was when a parent came up to me and said, "You're Ms. Shell, right? The student teacher?" After talking with her for awhile she then said, "My son comes home from school and likes to talk in a british accent. I'm not sure why he does it all the time!" Perfect. The child is just like me. How did she know? Now call me crazy, but I will raise my child to speak in a british accent. I am slightly obsessed. My friends and I are always talking in crazy british accents! It just so proper and british kids are so stinkin' adorable!! haha! Anywho... she then informed me that last week her son came home and said in his british accent, "MUMMY! MUMMY! Have I told you Ms. Shell is quite the cutie?" I lost it. Any composure I was trying to keep...gone! I was laughing myself to tears. I thought it was precious! Later in the week, I said something to the student in a british accent and he looked at me like, she KNOWS! Best Valentine's day ever. I will keep my lego, princess, mad lib, and all other character valentine's cards forever.

Now Friday was my last day in third grade. I knew I was going to be sad leaving but little did I know it would be as sad as it was! I certainly didn't prepare myself for what happened. All day the kids would give me hugs and express how sad they were that I was leaving. I reminded them that I am just moving to the other mile long hall (our school's hallways are a workout) to 6th grade! I wasn't leaving forever! It was still sad knowing I wouldn't seem them everyday. So, the day was going fabulously as usual and then came Math Enrichment (the last part of the day). The teacher brought in a huge cupcake cake:

How cute is that?! For those of you who don't know, that character is Big Red. He is Western Kentucky's mascot! I love it!!

Then the teacher got a huge bag out from her little storage area above the kids lockers. I was not expecting this at all! So she hands me the bag and I open the card first. A sweet card with all the kids signatures and a gift card to Target. Seriously?! If this wasn't enough I then have to continue to open the gifts. Next, is when I loose it. Now, this is the part I was telling you I didn't prepare for. This is what I see:

They wrote me a book! Well, water works are flowing at this point and I have to turn my back to the class. I didn't want them to see me cry!!! But, I am a very sensitive person, especially when it comes to homemade stuff like this. They each wrote a page and drew a picture. Well, Ms. Shell could NOT read the book at school. This was something that required my pjs, a bottle glass of wine, and a box of tissues. Yes, I read it last night. It was the best book I've ever read. The SWEETEST gift ever. So, that's not all I got by the way! I also got a "recess blanket" for when it's cold outside with Ms. Shell embroidered on it!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. And I also got something EVERY teacher needs on their desk:

Who ever thought hand sanitizer could be so cute??

Of course I didn't come empty handed! I also got my teacher and kids something. Instead of going too into detail about them I got her a cup with her initial on it, thirty-one bag, a little hanging thing (forgot to take a picture but it said 2 teach is 2 touch hearts 4 ever with the 2+2=4 thingy) and I made her a crayon wreath. Those of you who are interested in how to make it can click HERE. I got the idea off Pinterest. Her class is "Richardson's Rockstars"...

I also made the kiddos goodie bags with pencils, erasers, bookmarks, candy, and a little number game::

This also came from Pinterest::

So if round one of tears wasn't enough, here comes more! I had to work bus duty. So, right before I had to head outside, the teacher had the students come up and tell me goodbye and give me one last hug. As tables were coming up, kids were hugging me and not letting go! But, we had to move on quickly. Finally, the last table comes up. One little girl squeezes me so tight and I hear a sniffle. I look down and she is bawling! I mean hysterically crying her little eyes out! Then another student cries. So of course I loose it, then the teacher looses it! We're all crying! You would've seriously thought I was gone forever and no one would see me again! It was awful!But, this whole thing just made me realize how much I meant to those kids and there is nothing more in the world I could ask for than to make an imprint on a child's heart. It was the greatest feeling yet so devastating leaving such a wonderful group of kids. How rewarding to know that I impacted those kids? I mean THIS is why I am being a teacher. I am blessed beyond belief! God is SO good!

I also started my TPT store. Which at this time only has ONE item. My goal is to get more up before the weekend is over. We'll see! I hope you enjoyed reading my novel. Told you it was lengthy! Have a FABULOUS rest of the weekend!

Till' next time!

Sundae Math and a DJ party!

Well, here I am a month later! I am so disappointed in myself for not keeping up with my blog!! I could sit and make a thousand excuses but I won't do it! :) Let me tell just tell you how much has been going on in my life lately. Not to mention how extremely blessed I am!!

Student teaching has been AH-MAZING! I have had the greatest experience and I am so fortunate to have made such wonderful connections and relationships with my cooperating teacher and my little kiddos! This past week was my solo week and it went fantastic! I thought I would be glad to say, "I'm glad that's over!" but I'm ready to keep going. I DON'T want it to be over. I'm proud to say I fought through my struggle in teaching fractions. (Math is not my favorite subject). But, by the end of the week I was dreaming about fractions and it became much more comfortable! That was the best feeling! I taught Reading for my Teacher Work Sample this past week and it went fabulous. The kids did wonderful in centers that I planned and did a fantastic job on the post-assessment! They truly are a FABULOUS group of kids! I can't believe I only have one week left with them. I am going to be so sad to leave. Good thing I'll still be in the same school, just down the other hallway!

This Friday we had Sharpen the Saw (7 habits) which is every other Friday at our school where students can sign up for different activities. Some include: volleyball in the gym, crafts, cooking, computers, library, etc. For a little time out of the day, this serves as an incentive for students who don't make two behavior marks within the two weeks before the Friday we celebrate. The school planned a secret DJ party instead of Sharpen the Saw on Friday for the principal's birthday and going away party, as she has excepted a job at the new school opening in the fall. We all wore red,white, and blue (her new school's colors) and danced in the gym while eating popcorn. Afterwards, I'm not sure where there was more popcorn, in their bellies or on the gym floor! It was a blast! The kids were so surprised to see me dancing along and singing all the words to "Party in the USA" and "Party Rock Anthem"! I guess they didn't know Ms. Shell had it in her! :) So much fun!

On Friday we also had Sundae Math. Since I came to third grade, the students have been taking timed multiplication quizzes. Each time they pass one of the quizzes they get a sticker. Each sticker represents a part of a Sundae. For example, if the students complete their 1's they get a bowl, 2's get a scoop of ice cream, 3's get another scoop of ice cream, 4's get whipped cream and so on.. This was such a great way to get the kids to practice their multiplication facts! We watched school house rock and celebrated with an ice cream party! Again, so much fun!!! This is certainly something I will use in my classroom.

Between my assignments for my student teaching class, an online class (Kentucky History) I have put off, planning, and all the other fun parts of student teaching I catch myself coming home daily in this routine:
-sit down for a minute, cook dinner/grab dinner, grade papers/plan/homework, sometimes catch up on one show, and by 9:00 I'm in bed asleep. Hence why I haven't blogged in FOREVER. I'm so exhausted most days I just get the things done that are "top priority" and forget the rest. Maybe this is why my social life is slacking? I need to find a balance! This is the first weekend I have deep cleaned my house, caught up on laundry, worked on homework that is not due for quite sometime, and laid on my couch to watch sappy love movies! I LOVE IT!

Speaking of love...I have also fallen for Brain Pop videos! They have one for almost anything and the kids love them! The content is great too! I know most teachers probably use them but if you don't, I highly recommend you do so!! :)

I have so many worksheets to share but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to post them on here! If anyone can help, please let me know! I have a teachers-pay-teachers account, but they would all be freebies that I post. Maybe I'll just make them downloadable from there?!

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend and I'll be back to post more hopefully sooner than later! :) Have a super great week !!!

Till' next time!!! :)