56.5/180 Things I Accomplished on Saturday Morning

Today was the first day of Saturday Intervention.

I was scheduled to teach 3 sessions about an hour each.

I ended up having one session with students.

Two very sweet boys who let me take up 

an hour of their Saturday

to practice letters and sounds.

So appreciate their parents for getting 

them up and signed on.

So as I waited for my 2nd and 3rd session students to sign in

I tried to be proactive...

Planned some upcoming phonemic awareness lessons

for my ETK and Saturday students.

#thankyouMrsRodriguez&Sophia

Quick celebration breakfast 

courtesy of McDonalds

and my crazy, but thoughtful TA

who knows what I like

Wrote a Donorschoose project for letter tiles 

to help my Saturday kiddos learn 

letter names, sounds, 

and how they work to

make words.

Ordered guitar pics for 20 ukulele players

Gathered materials to share with Saturday kiddos...

And now my goal is to complete me DRDP before the deadline.

Let's see how proactive I can be!

 

56/180 Inflation

It's finally Friday!

But them I remember 

I  had signed up for Saturday Intervention tomorrow.

Nevertheless,

my Friday started off with a smile and a laugh.

Chatting with my kiddos before class always makes me happy.

Today E shared that she lost a tooth!

When asked if the tooth fairy had left her anything,

she happily shared...

Me: "E don't tell my boys. The TF only left them a quarter!"

I wonder if the TF knows that it was her first tooth and she's got a mouthful left!

Gee, inflation is no joke!

They finally completed our tree.

It was started in spring,

just when things hit.

Nice to see it completed.

I'm trying to live the 7 Habits everyday.

It's not easy,

but it's worth it.

I'm working on Think Win-Win

with Bryce.

One of the casualties of suddenly leaving

the classroom in the middle of the year

was leaving behind our milkweed garden.

It had served as a teaching tool for the past several years

and always supplied us with enough caterpillars to study 

the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.

I took the few plants I could save when I went back before summer.

Today my wonderful contractor David informed me that he discovered 

a chrysalis and larva in the milkweed. 

He placed a piece of wood on top of it to protect it.

No wasps allowed!

Time to plan for tomorrow.

3 sessions.

1 hour each,

or the equivalent of shower tiles.

55/180 Wear, Wear, Wear Your Mask...

Another long day.

Tutoring until 3:30 hasn't been easy 

especially when the kiddo you chose 

is NONSTOP...

but cute and fun.

He needs to run around,

he needs to play,

he needs to imagine.

All my kiddos need that too.

So I signed up for Ukulele class.

I have a ukelele

and my students have ukuleles

so why not.

It starts at 4:00pm.

I leave school at 3:35pm.

It's a tight schedule

but so much fun.

We will write songs.

I wrote one tonight.

Dedicated to my D,

who is not a fan of wearing a mask

while playing,

I am not either.

BUT-

Wear Your Mask

(Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Wear, wear, wear your mask

Wear it to keep safe

When you go back to school

To keep the germs away!

54/180 Ups and Downs and Ups Again...

I love that our local museums continue to support 

student learning.
Today we took a field trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific!

We learned about the parts of a fish.
A parrot fish to be exact.

Then we took a tour of a "model" hybrid classroom

or what one could look like

and how our classroom should look like.

We have too much stuff.

Kids need stuff.

They will not be allowed to have all that stuff.

Work... lots of work ahead.

Hopefully our bookcases and carpet

will find it's way home once this is over.

Not sure when it will be over...

But there is always a silver lining

Today it comes from the Skirball Cultural Center

with some help from a FedCo Grant.

Art/Craft boxes to make Kinetic Creatures

and special capes!

My helper was excited too!

Long day.

Needed something sweet.

Thank you Renee for the sweet Halloween surprise!

#guavateawithstevia

53/180 Your Voice Matters

Election Day was finally here.

The question of the day was What is a vote?

I wanted students to understand what was special about voting.
That's a hard concept to convey to 4-year-olds.

Found a great book that talks about the importance of your voice.

Your vote.

Your right to choose.

I learned that to strengthen your wrist for writing

you write vertically.
#thingslearnedfromOT

We ended our day with directed drawing.

Sugar skulls.

Love that they all look so different and unique.

It can be stressful waiting for results.
Nothing like an evening FaceTime 

conversation with a former student 

to help you relax and smile. 

#thanksLibs

 

52/180 Remembering...

For the past three years, we have created altars at school for Day of the Dead.
It was important for us to continue to recognize this cultural event
because it is important to our families.

I have a year-round altar dedicated to mom and dad,
I just modified it a bit for Dia de Los Muertos.

Marigolds to light the way for our beloved friends and family 

that have passed to find their way home.
Offerings (ofrendas) to welcome them back for the day.

Chocolate for Julie, Flowers for Judy, Coffee/Cookies for Mom, Ramen for Dad, Clayton for Ashley.

What a wonderful surprise and honor to have our students and families

share their altars and ofrendas...

And we shared how we celebrate our loved ones.
Each family different,

but with common themes.
We celebrate those we have loved and lost,

and remembering them

keeps them close to our hearts.

G's mom shared her beautiful altar and the music of her brother.
So beautiful and moving...

I hope next year we will be able to create our class altar again.

A wonderful day of remembering those we love and miss.

51/180 Halloween 2020

We over planned today.

Didn't get to all the activities we wanted.

But the students had fun

and we passed out a lot of treats.

Lots of smile and love.

Model Magic is magic!

No mess color mixing.

Quick DIY costume based on literature.

A creepy carrot was easier to create

than creepy underwear.

#halloweencostume2020

Thankful for these two ladies

who love the students

as much as I do

and can't say no

to parents that text them at all hours!

I voted today.

Of course I had to go to Dodger Stadium.

So glad I did.

No waiting.

Cool new experience.

In person voting with an amazing views!

I wasn't too concerned or nervous about renewal.

It's my second time

so I knew what to expect.

I believed in my videos.

My students really shined through.

#NBCT2031