Christmas Happenings

It has been a long December. Usually we only have two weeks to squeeze everything Christmas/holiday related in. This year we had three weeks and boy did these three weeks drag on. I don't think I've ever been ready for Christmas to be over. We did have a lot of fun though. Here are a few snapshots of how we spent our December.

Since December started, we've been doing a lot of centers through out the day. December is a time when the normal, daily schedule is thrown out the door and you welcome the unknown. For our class we have a lot of testing during this time of year and a "normal" day is something we hardly ever see in December.

Speaking of not normal, the last week of school was spirit week. We had red and green day, pajama day, twin day, backwards day, and my favorite... crazy hair day. Crazy hair day is a favorite for anyone who has naturally curly hair. I have crazy hair every day, for one day out of the year, I have an excuse.

On pajama day we made hot chocolate and watched the Polar Express.

My kids were so excited to have hot chocolate. I wish I could show you their little faces with chocolate mustaches.

Tried my best at getting a class photo without a tripod.

Then it was the day of our Holiday concert. Look at my precious little darling in the front with her big read bow.

On our last day of school I gave my students their presents. It was the book "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas".

They loved it and couldn't wait to read it.

Some of my students even read to each other.

Well that was it for our December happenings. I hope that you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas and New Year. I will be back in January with some brand new things and ready to go strong. See you in 2013!!!

Comments

I'm Not a Turkey

With Thanksgiving coming up, I am reminded of all the things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for my wonderful family and friends. I am also thankful for such a sweet bunch of second graders this year. I want to keep this post short and sweet so I will leave you with one of my favorite writing activities, I'm not a turkey. I'm sure there are many variations of this activity, but I just love it so much. I love the creativity that comes out during this assignment. One of my favorites... I'm not a turkey. A turkey has feathers. I have hands. Can I ask you a question? Do turkeys go to school? No they do not. I am a student. I talk a lot. If you eat me, I can talk in your stomach. If you eat a student, you go to jail. Ohhh so creative!!

Marshmallow Mouths and Toes

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Classroom Management

With the school year starting soon, I'm sure a lot of us are reworking our classroom management plans. Some of you may even be making your for the first time. No matter where you are in the process, I always believe that it is the most important. I've always believed that if you don't have good classroom management, then everything else you do is a waste of time. What is the point in teaching a lesson while your students aren't paying attention? You're just going to have to reteach it. Why not use your time wisely and be productive. With all of the right procedures in place, your classroom will run smoother than butter! Sure classroom management and procedures take a while to teach and learn, but it is all worth it in the end. I am currently reworking my management procedures and when I do I will make an updated post. For today though I want to share with you what I did last year. When I first started teaching I was using this behavior chart. I wasn't really a f...

Jennuine Teaching

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