5 for Friday

Happy Friday!

We made it!  I wasn't sure if I would.  It was the week after Spring Break... which is hard enough... but we also had testing alllllll week.  Brutal! To celebrate making it through the week I'm linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching for a Five for Friday Linky Party- Here we go!

So, after a glorious week of Spring Break and a difficult re-adjustment to real life (getting 4 kids into my minivan at 6:20 am Monday morning) I had to administer SAT-10 testing to my poor kiddos all week.  It's a lot on these little guys under the best of circumstances... and let's just say, in my humble opinion, standardized testing at 8:00 in the morning after coming back from vacation is not really the best of circumstances... but they were troopers!!!

In addition to getting back into the swing of early mornings and standardized testing, I started a new professional development class this week.  It's a bit of a long story... I will spare you... the short version is that certification requirements have changed in the past few years and when I got ready to renew my certificate this spring I found out that I needed to take ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY HOURS of professional development hours to keep my ESOL certification.  (Again, long story...)  

I knocked out the first 60 first semester and it was pretty painless.  I signed up for another class this spring where I would do 5 modules online and then go to 5 weeks of classes.  Of course, the classes started this week... AND the online modules had to be completed before the classes began.  (I had missed that little asterisk when I signed up...)  So, I found myself sitting at my computer for many, many hours completing the online portion of the class this week... AND I spent Thursday night sitting in class.  

I guess that wasn't the "short version".  (I am never good at "short versions"!)  Okay, the short version of that story is:  I'm taking a linguistics class this spring.  I completed 60% of it this week.  I'm tired.

My adorable nephew is turning 8.  I love this kid so much!  He is just the cutest, funniest kid.  He had a "Nerf Battle" party last weekend.  (It was such a cool party.  It was held at a gym that was set up with blockades and barriers.  The kids were divided into teams and it was a full-on Nerf war.  He was in heaven!)

And as much as I loved watching my nephew in "8 year old boy heaven" I also loved watching my little Ella let her personality shine through.  She isn't one to be left behind, but she was much younger than anyone else at the party and was definately the only "warrior in a tutu" but it didn't slow her down for a minute!

We have been continuing with measurement in math this week (which the kids are LOVING!).  My awesome intern had the kids do this adorable "Measurement Monster" activity from the Applicious Teacher this week.  They came out SO CUTE!  They had so much fun.  It was the perfect "after testing" activity.  They were working on the standards, using the vocabulary and talking about math... but they were also getting to be creative, make something cute and act like 8-year-olds... I love that kind of activity!

It's officially spring!  I hear that in some places that is a really big deal!  (I can not even IMAGINE being somewhere where it snows in MARCH! - or ever I guess...)  Here in sunny Florida we don't really get "seasons".  Our seasons go from warm, to warmer, to hot, to so hot you can't breathe outside.  You don't really want to be here in August... trust me on that one... but March?  We are good at March here in Florida!

My girl is especially good at March.  She is soaking up every moment of sunshine!  She got new rain boots for her birthday.  Aren't they cute?  Poor girl has been DYING to "stomp in muddy puddles"... but she's not going to let a little sunshine get in the way of her plans!  She will wear her rain boots and she will look adorable in them!  So there, sunshine!

Well, I don't know about you, but I am having a "wild and crazy" Friday night!  I am sitting here on my couch next to a sleeping 5 year old.  I just finished watching "Night at the Museum" with my cute dates and I am sipping a glass of Chardonnay while cutting out my butterfly laminating. Oh, the wild and crazy life of a teacher-mom ;)  Wouldn't change it for the world!  (Well, I might change the amount of sleep I get... but that's about it).

So, after listening to the squeals of joy my kiddos let out while cutting out their monsters this week I vowed to spend the next 9 weeks (ONLY NINE MORE WEEKS!!!) giving them more of those fun, eight-year-old experiences.  I am just going to find ways to make it work.

So, this upcoming week, I am going to integrate science and literacy standards and put my Butterfly Close Reading Unit in a literacy center for students to work on independently.  There are lots of great informational texts, text dependent questions and writing prompts included.  Once they have completed the "work" activities they are going to do the craft and make their own butterflies... because they are eight... and eight year olds should learn about and make butterflies.  So there.

Have you found ways to squeeze "more childhood" into your classroom?  I would LOVE to hear your ideas!  I need to find more ways to put FUN in my lesson plans.  Please leave a comment and let me know how you are making it work!  

Happy WEEKEND!