Meeting Elsa and Anna!!!

This week was all about getting to Thursday night at our house. Thursday night Chic-Fil-A was holding an event to introduce their new ice coffee. What better way to get a bunch of people there that to have the ice princesses themselves there.

Here are my beautiful girls with Anna and Elsa.
Yes Victoria is wearing her Elsa dress she got for her birthday.

Then cousin Caitlynn joined them for a picture.

 After pictures there were lots of activities to do. First up was a game of snowball toss. I didn't get any pictures, but there were three buckets and you had to throw a large white pom pom into one of the buckets. The first bucket won you a sticker. The second bucket won you a small prize. Both Cristina and Victoria hit this bucket. Cristina won a pink bracelet. Victoria won a small kaleidoscope. The third bucket won you a crown. Caitlynn was determined to win a crown. She went for the third bucket each of her three throws. She threw  it far enough each time, but always off to the side. Her lack of a prize caused a melt down that was quickly ended when we stepped to the next activity. There is nothing like getting your nails painted with glitter polish to make you forget the game you just lost. After the nails it was time for hair. They had that color chalk to put in the girls hair. Then it was time to build a snowman out of marshmallows.  After that we decided we had had enough Frozen for the night. We had planned to eat at Chic-Fil-A but all of these activities were going on right in front of it, so we decided to leave the mall and go to the stand alone restaurant just down the street. It has a playground so the girls were all for it. It was a fun way to spend a Thursday night, even if we were supposed to by at gymnastics practice. :)

This week was an overwhelming week at school. There was so much to do outside of teaching that I couldn't even figure out where to begin. I LOVE teaching. I HATE paperwork and stuff. Our Monday staff meeting was just filled with stuff that needed to be taken care of right now. Despite all that, I did finally get all of my students tested for their reading level on AR Star. They are starting out low because this is their first time getting literacy instruction in English. I am confident that their levels will shoot up during the year.

Now for some of the stuff that had to be done. We are having a door decorating contest for college awareness. I love having all of the doors decorated. I hate doing the actual decorating. I think in the end my door turned out pretty cute. 

Although I did not have any secret weapons like my friend from Just a Second, It's Time for Third . She had a motion sensor that played the schools fight song and a piece of felt where you could smell the beach. Here is her door

To end the weekend we went Halloween costume shopping. This is them in the dressing room. I can't wait to see them with their hair and make-up done to match the costumes. They are so stinking cute!

Character and Setting, Independent Reading and Football

This week we were working on character and setting using Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night. We read the story, discussed it, did some workbook pages, then on Friday we put it together in these cute character and setting tents. On the outside of the tents the kids drew and labeled the characters. On the inside they drew the setting. On the inside flaps they wrote details about what Henry and Mudge saw and smelled. We did main idea and details last week, so I used the extra space to throw in some review. :)

One thing I really wanted to find time for this year was independent reading time. I only have 55 minutes to teach reading. That is not a lot of time, so this year I am really picking and choosing which activities I want to do so that the last 10-15 minutes is just focused on the kids reading books on their level. 

At the end of last year I got my AR station set up. Inside the black ovals are the level range that corresponds to that color. The white strip (which I have redone this year to make it straighter and neater) shows the levels in increments. I have gotten about 3/4 of my students leveled. They have a small card with their name on it that shows them what level they are on and what color books they need to read. I use a thumb tack to attach it next to the level they are on. This lets them see what color they are on and how far they are from the next level. On the back of each book I have written the level and AR number. The students can use that to take the AR test and then use the board to see what color box the book goes in. Its taken some practice, but books are beginning to be returned to the right place. Also there are at least 5 more boxes than in this picture. See the three boxes on the floor? That was the beginning of the overflow boxes. I taped large strips of colored paper to those boxes to identify the solid white boxes. 

Her is my independent reading time in action. Most of the kids are catching on to reading by themselves. Not showing your book to your friend or otherwise distraction them from their book, but concentrating on reading your own book. Once they have read a book several times they can take an AR test. We keep a list going so we all know who is taking AR test first the next day. By next six weeks I am going to incorporate their AR tests into their reading grade. This will help make sure that everyone is taking at least 1 test a week. Hopefully more:)

Now after all that hard work all week, we had some fun at the TCU football game on Saturday. 

Cristina was excited to have "girl time" where they lay under the bleacher seats while the adults watch the game. According to her they discuss "high fashion" while under our feet. 

Then it was time for some treats. First a lemon chill follow by a bucket of popcorn.

Go Horned Frogs! They won!!!

The First Two Weeks of Survival Mode

     I can't believe tomorrow starts the third week of school. The first two weeks were such a blur and I honestly don't think I have ever felt as tired as I did during the last two weeks. My classes are crazy this year. I have SO many students. My homeroom has 28 and my partner's room has 23. That's 51 students that I have this year. But, my students were really nice and decided to all have the same name. :) I'm talking 4 Leslie's (all spelled differently Leslie, Leslye, Lesly, Yesley) 3 Francisco's, 2 Stephanie's, 2 Ivan's, 2 Cesar's, and 2 Christian's. I finally have all the names with the right students, but now I need to work on last names and remembering which one is in which class. My head is just swimming with names. And I promise I am *completely* over any jealous or bitter feeling I had about teachers in the regular program (I teach in the Dual Language program) that have 13, 14 or 15 students in their classes. Really it was just shock at how many kiddos I had and panic at being able to get to know them all. Amazingly I feel like I already have bonded with both classes much better than I did last year. Last year was a struggle to get to that comfortable place. Add to all that craziness that we have a new math curriculum and all the supplies have not shown up. Its kinda hard to teach a lesson based on a big book when I don't have the big book and no idea what the story is even about.
    I worked really hard last week to finish all lesson plans, grading, and other school work by Friday afternoon. After all the exhaustion caused by the first two weeks I really wanted to focus my weekend around my family. So, Saturday morning we got up and went to Hurricane Harbor. We had been once before at the end of the summer, but I was sidelined during that trip and we are used to tag teaming with the girls. We each take a partner for any activity we do, so taking them both in the water alone was a bit of a challenge. This time around we went in full force. One slide followed by another, followed by a waterfall, then a pool. We had a blast and it was great to recharge with those who I love so much. Our season passes come with lunch, so we didn't even have to take any money with us. Can't beat an amazing family outing that doesn't touch the budget!
    Now it is time to get some sleep. I feel this week will be just as busy as the last two, but much much better. I really like all of my kids, they are doing really well, and I feel ready to take on this challenge. Plus next weekend is another fun family outing. TCU home game!