Classroom Progress

I thought I would take a few minutes to document the progress on my classroom. You may remember that I am moving to first grade for the new school year and I'm moving into a new classroom. Here is how it looked when almost all of the furniture had been moved out and the maintenance man had started stripping and waxing the floor:

Here is how it looks now. I've worked about 5 days on it. Mark came one of those days and helped me move the big stuff.

I still have to move the supplies in the cabinets and closet in my old room. I also need to finish going through books, videos and misc. supplies in the new room, as well as figure out what is in the filing cabinets. All of that is before I actually start working on getting ready for the year--putting stuff on the walls, putting away consumable supplies, writing lesson plans and so forth. I still have A LOT to do!

Mr. Green Beans

Last week John went with Nana and two other ladies to a farm to pick green beans. The farm belonged to some dear friends of ours. They plant a huge garden every year and are generous with their bounty; the only catch being that you have to pick for yourself what you want. Being as how we don't raise gardens anymore, this was a new experience for John. He took his dump truck and quickly filled it from the bushes. The plants were so thick and full of beans that he didn't even have to turn around to find plenty!

Lawnmower Man

John has decided that he loves to "mow" the grass! Mark has been cutting the grass with the push mower as a way to get some extra exercise. Every time that Mark goes out to mow, John goes along, too. Mark always makes sure that he is well out of the danger zone. John works just as hard and as long as Mark. He will even take notice of when the grass is getting high and ask, "We gonna mow tonight, Dad?" So cute! We just hope that he enthusiasm for the job doesn't wane as he grows older!

Movin' on Up!

We finished our school year last week. On the last day of school for students, my principal met with me in her office and asked if I would like to teach first grade! I have taught kindergarten for 15 years and have never taught another grade. I was ready for a change and because of some other reasons as well, I decided to take on the challenge! Mrs. Piercey, a veteran teacher of 40 years is retiring and I will be taking her place. I plan to move into her room, which is just down the hall. It is a bigger room and has more windows. It is also right across the hall from the other first grade teacher, Sandi Smith (who is awesome!). So...this summer I will be moving classrooms, going through all of the stuff that Mrs. Piercey is leaving for me, and trying to figure out how to teach first grade! (If anyone wants to help, feel free to join in the fun--including babysitting my two cherubs while I go up to school!)

Advantages to teaching first grade...

Kids are more settled (hopefully!) and know more about the school routine
Kids have started learning to read, so I can take them to a new level than in K
This year I will already know most of the kids from K!
More structure--I operate well in a structured environment
Fewer field trips--I like field trips, but it seemed like we went on too many in K
Don't have to do an orientation at the beginning of the school year.
Don't have to do Kindergarten Graduation program at the end of the school year!
(This list will expand later, I'm sure!)

Dance Recital Dress Rehearsal

Last weekend Ellen had dance pictures and dress rehearsal for the upcoming recital. She was so excited! Her class is doing a little dance to "Baby Mine" and they all have baby dolls for the program. We had to find a cute dress for Baby, too!

The show is at TPAC! Ellen takes dance through Mt. Juliet/Green Hill School of Dance and apparently, they are pretty serious about this dance stuff! I've been impressed with the teachers and the curriculum. I kinda just stumbled upon this dance school. They were the only ones who returned my phone calls when I was checking around last summer, but it has worked out great! Ellen has really enjoyed the classes and wants to take again next year.

The only downside for me (Ellen hasn't said anything) is that she has been in a beginner/3 & 4 y/o class with some younger girls. That class is where she belonged. She was 4 when she started and she was a beginner. But...some of the little girls in class were very young 3's or even 2(!) and immature and really too young for an organized activity like dance. Ellen has never complained, but it bothered me. It's not that they were terrible, it's just that there were a few more tears and playing around than I would have liked. Oh well, next year she will move up to a kindergarten/first grade class and the younger girls will stay in the beginner class.

PS: I just realized that I haven't posted about John in a while. I will try to find something interesting to write, soon. It shouldn't be hard. Every day is an adventure with John!

Lost Tooth!

Ellen lost her first tooth a few days ago! When we went to the dentist in early March, Dr. Whitefield said that it was beginning to get loose, but I couldn't feel it move. We more or less forgot about it until just the other night when Ellen said, "Mom, my tooth is loose." I felt it and it was really loose. I figured that it would come out this weekend. Well, she went upstairs and brushed her teeth and not ten minutes later it popped out! She was sooooo excited! She called Nana, who rushed over with Uncle Jeff's tooth fairy pillow (she didn't have one made for Ellen and I couldn't find mine). Meanwhile, the tooth fairy was scrounging around for some cash!


Ellen left her closet light on so that the tooth fairy could see (a good thing because her room was messy) and didn't put the tooth fairy pillow under her pillow. She slept with it right on top of her tummy. It was easy to find and the tooth fairy left her a baggie with $2.00 and some "jewels" (sequins) inside.


Ellen is now working on her next tooth!

Hooray for American Soldiers!

My friend, Angela is home for some R/R. She is a US soldier currently serving in Iraq. I know that she reads this blog, so I wanted to include this picture of us and tell her how proud I am of her! Angela, I keep you in my prayers regularly, and I look forward to the day that you get to come home. We know that you are doing a good job over there. The world needs more people like you! Be Safe!