Schools out for the SUMMER! A year in review!

      I can not believe how fast this year has flown by! It seems like just yesterday I started teaching 1st grade and now it has been two years! I have grown so much over the last two years!

I have learned that I need more patience.  

I have learned to love all my students even the crazy ones because they are the ones that need it the most.  

I have learned that even young children are affected by the death of a loved one. 

 I have learned to take deep breaths and pause for a moment. 

 I have learned I need to plan my weeks better.

I have learned that I need to hug my students more because nothing is better than that loving hug! 

I have learned that even through the hard days, 

I still love teaching! 

      First Graders are amazing.  I love to see their progress.  They grow so quick and become amazing readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, artists, and so much more! I realized today on the last day of school that it my behavior that affects their behavior! I so wish I could go back and be more of a friend to my students.  They need so much love! I feel awful for those students that got left behind because my attention was somewhere else.  I am so excited for next year to begin again and to refocus my self to be a better teacher. 

  

   Here is a brief overview of this school year. I started out the year with 23 students 12 boys and 11 girls.  I had one student that was in the special ed classroom most of the day but came to join us occasionally.  With in the first few weeks of school we began working on the first grade program.  I love building and teaching the program the kids are so sweet. The program is based around the importance of families, friends, holidays, and being grateful! It is a great way to teach the students the social studies core as well as build their confidence. I was so proud of them for learning the songs and saying their parts so loud! 

    Through out the year we went on field trips to the Nature Center where my students learned about different types of water, trees, and plants.  The kids love going their because they get to explore nature.   We also went to the Hogle Zoo at the end of the year.  The highlight of the zoo for many of my students was watching the monkey eat it's own poo, gross? YES!  They also loved watching the chimps climb to the top of a 2 story high tree, watching the peacock expand it's feathers, and watching the bird show.  This year we read a story and the crocodile hunter's daughter Bindi and how she owns part of the Australia Zoo.  It was fun to hear the comments about the Zoo that related to the book. 

     For field day this year I decided to paint twister circles on the grass.  It turned out really fun and really easy to do! 

      Everyday was a new adventure this year! I can not believe how much first grade has changed.  I remember just reading books and doing art projects about the lamb and the lion.  Now my student were writing reports, 5 sentence paragraphs, reading chapter books, and never taking a nap! The new common core is a total change of pace.  I have loved how it has challenged me to teach more writing.  I had to teach opinion writing, persuasive writing, and narrative writing.  I can't believe how much more we push student's these days! The art we did this year was so fun! For halloween we made pumpkins out of popsicle sticks,  this spring we made art like many famous artists VanGogh's, "Starry Night," Picasso's Punchinello at the circus, Monet's "Water Lilies," Giacometti statues, and many more! 

Monet's Water Lilies

 Happy Halloween! 

This year I was SMURF-ETTE! It was a fun costume! 

My kids were so cute! 

I found Papa Smurf too! 

 My Awesome Team! 

The Jail Bird and Minny Mouse! 

      For Christmas we had a little visitor from the North Pole.  Meet SideSwipe!  He stayed with us and made sure that we were extra great for Santa.  Here are a few places he hid. 

He played with our Dominoes! Pretty great at spelling huh! 

Loved writing on the board! 

      In March we celebrated Dr. Seuss's Birthday by having a read-a-thon.  The whole month we read Dr. Seuss books. I have a whole book shelf full! I love Dr. Seuss!

Cat in the Hat Treats! Yummy! 

      

My students this year were amazing and challenging.  I had several students that had behavioral issues that I tried to hard to handle and be patient with. I had to learn that sometimes students really can't control their bodies.  They are not trying to be defiant or disruptive they honestly can't control what they do they just need to be moving.  I have also learned the importance of stability in a home.  When a child is moving from parent to parent to parent it causes major damage in their education.  There is only so much a teacher can do when the student is absent all the time.  I had so many kids that were absent more than 15 times this school year.  Wow what a difference it makes when the child is at school.  I also had a student this year that had medical issues.  Often time the child's behavior was blamed on these issues.  I learned the importance of nurturing a child.  Even though the student may have been faced with challenges medically it does not give them a right to get away with everything, to be rude to others, and to completely disobey authority.  They need to be told no!  It is important that they learn boundaries or else the behavior gets worse and worse.  I have never know that children can be so defiant until this year.  It is really sad to watch a child lose their friends because they don't listen to them when they are asked to stop.  

    I have also had some amazing students this year that I will miss terribly.  One of my students would write in her journal everyday about her day to day life.  Her family is amazing! I have loved reading her writing.  I also had another student that was an amazing artist.  She would draw pictures that I wanted to sell they were so beautiful.  One of my student was such a great friend! I loved seeing her interact with other students.  She genuinely cared about their emotions and wanted to see them win instead of herself.  One of my favorite students came to first grade hardly knowing the alphabet.  It was amazing to see his progress.  He is now a fabulous reader! I love watching first graders grow into second graders! They are so amazing! 

    This year I had two student's lose family member.  One of my student's lost their Dad to Alcohol and another student lost their brother in a motor cycle accident.  I love these student's so much.  I hated having to watch them grieve.  I just wanted to hold them and love them and let them know everything will be alright.  At the same token it was interesting to see the way it took a while to settle in and even still the child did not seem to comprehend the concept of death.  

     I know now that support from volunteers is so important.  I loved having parent volunteers in my room.  It was so much fun to see their interaction with the students.  I was so grateful when parents would challenge the kids to do their best.  It was nice to have someone else say it besides me. Here is a picture of one of my thank you's I gave to my parent volunteers! 

Just a couple of my Door Decorations I made this year!! 

 

     I love my school, I loved my students this year, and I especially love my team! Working with these ladies has been a blessing in an of it's self.  They are always willing to share, to talk, and to work out hard moments.  I have loved getting to know them better. 

I look forward to a new school year next fall! 

But for now it is time to enjoy some sunshine and get excited to vacation!!