The number 13

You ever get in one of those funks that you just can't seem to get out of no matter what you do?  Yea- well this is me right now.  Luckily it's only been 2 weeks but I sure hope it doesn't take me the rest of the quarter to get out of it.  

You might be wondering what that has to do with the number 13. I think writing this down might help me get out of this funk, so here goes...

For as long as I can remember, 13 is a symbolic number in my family.  So many things happen on the 13th.  I was born on the 13th, my youngest sister was born on the 13th, my grandparents moved to Florida on the 13th, to lot number 13, the Luke Bryan concert I was going to attend was on the 13th (duh this is totally significant! :)) among many other things.  My grandfather also passed away on the 13th - and the 13 year anniversary of his death will be March 13 this year.  Exactly 1 month before the 13 year anniversary of my grandfathers entry to heaven - my family and I buried my Uncle/Godfather , my grandfathers son, and sent him to eternal rest. 

 For the past 2 weeks, I keep asking myself, why? Why do good people get taken from us too soon.  Why does this have to happen to my family - a good loving family who tries to do as much good as we can? Why?

 But then, I remember the number 13 - and oddly - I find comfort in that.  Because, for us, 13 isn't a bad number, and it isn't unlucky.  It's a symbol of happiness, new adventures, and love.   And even though my grandfather and uncle passed into eternal rest on the 13th - I know it was because they were no longer needed here on this Earth, but needed by the hands of God to help pour out the rain- and they left us on the 13th so that we could find comfort in their new journey.  Today I am thankful for the number 13.

Thanks for reading! I have so many teaching ideas to share with you and hopefully getting this off my chest will help me get my behind moving!

I'm a guest blogger!

Yup, you read that right... I'm a guest blogger!! Hooray!

Thank you so much to Rachel Lynette for this fantastic opportunity!! Head on over to her blog to read about using The Workshop Model in the Classroom :).

Bright Ideas: Using Kidblog to Engage Student Writing

Whether this is your first stop or you've be hoppin' for a while- Welcome to the Bright Ideas Blog Hop hosted by the oh so fabulous, Shelley Gray!  I'm here today to share a great technology tool with you!

How many of you have those kids who hate, I mean really hate writing?  They are the ones who will sit there for a 30 minutes writing block and get 2 words on the paper.  Their go to responses are usually "I don't know what to write" or "I'm thinking".  I have a fun way to get them writing and engaging with other writers in their class using.. drum roll..

Kidblog is a great, free tool for teachers to use in their classroom.  Signing up is really simple.  You sign up for an account, put in your students names, give them a password, and viola.  The blog is totally protected.  Nobody but you and your students can read and interact.  And teaching my 2nd graders was a lot easier than I thought!  

It's pretty simple.  They can use the profile button to name their blog and add a picture of themselves. ( I had my kids add pictures at home if their parents allowed them to.)

And everything they need to access is right on the home screen (If they've navigated away from the page, they just have to click the Class Blog Button up on the top)

 You can ask kids to create their own post or reply to a question/prompt posted by you!

My favorite part of all this is that it has gotten my most reluctant writers to begin to enjoy writing!  They get to read other students writing, respond to them, and get responses on their own writing and it's always so rewarding to get some comments (something to look forward to).  We use it for reading, writing, science, social studies and even homework.  My kiddos LOVE to get on at home and leave comments for friends.  

It has truly made a wonderful difference for all of my kids in my room.  So why not go give it a try? What do you have to lose? :)

If you are looking for more great ideas, please visit the next blog on this blog hop. written by Lydia Furtado over at Owl be in Kindergarten.  She's sharing some great ideas on moving to learn! Alternatively, you may visit the link-up below and choose a topic that interests you.  Thanks for visiting!

Sweet Second Grade Savings!

Happy weekend everyone!  Your favorite second grade bloggers are back, this time with sweet savings for you.  We have gotten together to form a dollar sale linky party!  Each blogger will be adding 2-4 products to the link up below that will be on sale for ONE DOLLAR now through Sunday night.  Come Monday morning, all of the products will go back to their regular price, so make sure to grab them while you can!

Here's what you will find for one dollar in my store, this weekend only:

At the end of this post, you will find previews and links for all of the items on sale for one dollar.  Click on the links below and you will be taken directly to the TpT store where the products can be found to add to your cart.  We hope you can find everything you need for the upcoming month(s).  Happy shopping!

Suggestions Needed! :) {Cards for Kindness}

Hey All!  

I am in need of some help from you all! Next month, my 2nd graders and I will be going to a local children's hospital to deliver Valentine goodies.  This all inspired by the Teaching Tribunes Cards for Kindness. Head to their blog to read all about it!

 My class is super musical, just like me, and we LOVE to sing everyday!  I was thinking of putting together a CD of my kiddos singing some popular songs that would inspire these babies to keep on pushing strong.  I definitely want to include Roar by Katy Perry, and Brave by Sara Bareilles but am in need of some other suggestions.  What are some songs you think would be great to include on this CD?

Thanks for any suggestions you can give and hope you consider being a part of the Cards for Kindness party to spread some love.

Famous Americans: Studying Biographies and Learning about Contributions

Was anyone else in the snow day club today? It was glorious! We don't get many of these in NC  so it was nice to wake up to that call this morning!

We needed it after our hour and 10 minute hard lock down yesterday. Let me tell you, being huddled in the corner with 19 antsy second graders is not easy!  Not to mention it was hotter than blue blazes (as my aunt would say)!

Anyway- I wanted to stop by to share a freebie I just made for our Famous Americans project.  The next 3 weeks are going to be all about biographies, contributions, and researching one famous american we are interested in.  We started by introducing the project and this week students are spending some time exploring to find someone they would be interested in.  

Here is my mini outline for the unit.  Keep in mind that during the exploration process we have been/will be studying biographies, how they are organized, how to read them, etc.  Then when we are researching- my mini lesson will focus on determining what is important and what we need to know.

I've made a list of some websites that students can use for their research and some graphic organizers for them to record their information.  This first one is for the exploration part.  I didn't want them to get overwhelmed looking at a ton of different websites so I stuck with one to start.  After they narrow down to one, they'll get the larger list!  

and here are our graphic organizers!

My plan is for them to take all of this information and make a poster than they can present to the class.  We might decide to invite parents as well.  Last year we did a Living Museum which was a blast! This year, I'm also going to try to put together a Voice Thread that we can put up on our class blog.  Each student will have their own little "slide" where they will be able to tell why their American is important.  

Click on the picture below to snag this freebie!

This is one of my favorite units throughout the whole year! How do you make learning fun for your students?

Randomness

Hey Everyone!

I had one heck of a day today! Did you?  At 9:45 (When we had JUST left our room headed for P.E.) our secretary called a hard lockdown.  {Whoa..What?} yea I never thought that would happen.  Anyway- I hurried them back into the room and there I was, crammed in the corner of my steaming hot classroom with 19 second graders for over an hour.  Now this is me...




After about 15 of those minutes, they could no longer sit still and how could I blame them?  My sweet babies did such a great job!  Unfortunately, we didn't get anything done today because I couldn't just make them go straight back to learning- they had earned a break.  And now we have a 2 hour delay tomorrow.  May as well just give me the rest of the week of, I'll come back Monday refreshed and ready to go! ;)



Well- I wanted to share some fun that went on this past week since I didn't get on for 5 for Friday (When do I ever-right?)

Since we got back to school after winter intersession, we've been all about economics.  We've been building a little town with everything we have learned. You can read a little bit about it on the one 5 for Friday post I've gotten up in like forev!  On Thursday, we put together our town map.  Here they all are hard at work. It was the cutest thing with them all spread out on the floor, working to complete the map.  I loved it!

Now that they've learned all about all of these important economics concepts, they are using all they know to plan to sell a good or service to other 2nd graders in our school.  We are going to make commercials and everything!  Super exciting.

To continue with the randomness.  Here is a little clip of my dog being scared of a plant.  Yes people, a plant!! (You can see he looks up at the plant to see that it is not attacking him after he grabs his ball)

And last in this post of randomness... Our school counselor (Who was way awesome and who we will never ever be able to replace) left us for a new school.  She also has a baby on the way.  Well- I arranged for any teachers who were interested to have their students write "Advice for a new mom" to put together into a book.  These two just cracked me up.. can you tell why?

Off to bed- Since this was my Monday, I am exhausted.  Sad I couldn't come home to relax in my bed with some Juan Pablo!