Five for Friday, Winter Fun, A Cell Phone, Super Genius, and a Little Love

{1} Winter Art

We're wrapping up our snow theme this week, but still enjoying our classroom art.

16 students?...said no public school teacher ever:(  The rest of these cuties are on another wall!

{2} Snow Day

We had our annual "snow day" (a.k.a. scraped ice from the local rink), California style. Yep, these three pathetic hills of snow were more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Our friend "Snowy". Don't judge.

{3} Cell Phone

Wow, it happened! I thought I might make it to retirement before a cell phone popped up in my kindergarten classroom and became a distraction. It somehow kept finding its way out of the owner's backpack!

I'd been told this day was coming. Forth and fifth grade teachers at my school deal with it quite frequently.

But even I couldn't resist capturing this special moment in history:)

{4} Super Genius/First Words

I discovered a new game over the holidays and it is truly my favorite way to practice CVC words now. The engagement rating is OFF THE CHARTS! My students LOOOVVVVE to play Super Genius/First Words.

There are actually several versions of this game, but we play "Face Off", which is just like the game Spot It. There is always one match between any two cards. We play as partners, or in small groups. Simultaneously, two cards are turned over. The first player to find the match calls it out and points it out. We all win, because we all work so hard on decoding! You can find it at Amazon, HERE.

{5} Love is in the Air

My vintage chalkboard is taking on a simple message this month. 

Less is more (or lazy?)

We will soon be getting ready with some "hearty" decorating. For more info on these photos, hop on over to HERE.

Thanks for visiting and be sure click HERE for more inspiration.

  

  

Reflections of 2015/Five for Friday

Yowza...2015 was a jam-packed year.
Now, let's get the linky parties started!

 

{1} Daughter Time

Much of 2015 was spent with this sweet baby-face, partaking in travels, dinners, movies, comedy shows and, of course, her selfie practice :)

{2} Student Time

Good-bye to an insanely awesome class in June!

{3} Teacher Time

Rockin' our Hawaiian threads for the teacher skit at our annual fundraiser

Cups of legal stimulant and a barista for Halloween

That will be a half decaf, four shot, coconut milk, one pump chocolate, extra foam, no whip, pumpkin spice latte... and spell my name right please.

A shower for our barista and her wee one

{4} Family Time  

Hotel Kaiser

My dad unfortunately had to spend some time in the hospital this year, where I joined him for a few nights. He had a difficult to diagnose infection. It was his first hospitalization ever! Not bad for 89 years. When the nurse asked him what he wanted to be called, S.O.B. was his reply! 

S.O.B. is back to playing golf and practicing yoga, good as new!

Airbnb

Hawaii is horrible...SAID NO TEACHER EVER!

My first experience with Airbnb was our family Christmas in Molokai where we rented a house for the holiday. 

The house and our hosts were awesome, all for a bargain price!

This was the daytime view from our large deck...

  ...and the nighttime view.

It was a speedy bike ride down the hill to Papuhaku Beach, with three miles of nearly deserted sand and surf.

Hitting some early morning yoga (my drug of choice) at ruins in Halawa Valley. Our guide had a different drug of choice (rhymes with iguana) when he led us on a hike through the rain forest of the valley to Mo'oula Falls, where we swam in the cool, fresh pond.

It was my first hike through a rain forest. Nobody told me not to wear white:/

{5} Friend Time

My favorite photo of New Year's Eve was of my childhood friend and her hubby wearing their smokin' hot outfits for a bubble wrap party!

Wishing you an abundance of awesomeness in 2016!

Five for Friday with FREEBIES and a CHEAPIE!

Oh my!!! I have missed you my blog. I'm so sorry for neglecting you for so long. Please don't hate me. The truth is I have so many ideas to share that sometimes I get writers block not knowing what to share. Especially at this time of the year. Anyway, here we go...

{1} Gifts for Students

If any of you still need an idea or two for teacher to student gifts, here's what I do. 

First I make this cool word search wrapping paper with all of their names on it. 

Did I hear you say, you want to know how to do that??? Then just go HERE and you too can have personalized word search wrapping paper or whatever for your kiddos.

Next, I get a fabulous book from Scholastic Reading Clubs for each of my kinders. Did you know that you can just type in $1 in the Scholastic search box and up pops the choices? I didn't either, until this year when I just tried it! These are regular size books too...wow so fun! This year I chose this adorbable story.

 Last, I make my little ones a fun reindeer candy cane as a gift topper.

{2} All Aboard! 

 We are planning for our last day before the break. We'll be taking a trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express. 

{3} Regular Ole School Stuff
We've been working on ways to make "6"...

...and practicing...

 ...so we could write reindeer reports using Little Minds at Work's ideas and free printables. 
Thanks Tara!

{4} Editable Stocking Freebie

You can use these stockings for whatever. We practice our sight words with a shell game. Pick up the freebie HERE.

{5} The Cheapie
No, I'm not referring to my ex-boyfriend. This would be a product to bring joy into your classroom while practicing decomposing. Hands on fun for all with Snowballs in the Igloo!

Click below and grab it now for just $2.

  Now go check out other fabulous teacher blogs HERE

 

    

Happy Fall All!

Hand Hewn Love {aka: Teachers with Power Tools}

What did you do this summer?  

{1} I did escape for a week to my favorite beach, but my summer wasn't all sand and surf. It started with a big crack in my kitchen ceiling, which was failing sheetrock holding up crumbling lathe and plaster and ancient insulation, not to mention more than a century of attic dirt. Hmmm...to fix or demo?  Demo it was!

{2} Although I loved the look of the original rough sawn timbers, they all had to be covered with insulation. So, I saw this photo of these exposed collar ties ... ooooooo!

I already had school house lamps (don't all teachers?) in the dining area, and my contractor, Juan Franco Construction, was game, so off I went to a fabulous reclaimed lumber retailer...

{3} ...and found these 2 bad boys.

{4} Here are the results of my talented contractor's magic.

Sa-Wooooooon!
{5} 

Now go link up with Kasey and her fabulous Five for Friday!