Back to School

I am back to school on Monday and my kiddos come back on the 27th!  I love my classroom this year and thought I would share it with you! : )
Let me preface by saying that 1. our school is open concept, so think no walls and 2. I took the pics with my iphone quickly so they may not be the best quality:
Welcome to 2nd grade! I will be teaching Reading and Social Studies to 3 classes, so you may see a lot of green, blue and pink and this is because I am color coding my classes.

My front wall which is kind of hard to see from this picture says "The more that you read, the more things that you know.  The more that you know, the more places you go." Thank you Dr. Seuss! I also have the yellow brick road of retelling on the right side (it worked so well with my summer camp classes that I used velcro to place it on the wall for easy use with my class).  Thank you pinterest!

 I have always had trouble getting my anchor charts up right away and my friend, Carolina, had a great idea this year to put up clothes pins to hold those anchor charts, so I copied her.  I placed them far enough apart to accommodate a sheet of chart paper and can fit up 12 at a time.

 Next to my anchor chart wall is my desk

 I am in general an organized person, but when I get stressed or a lot is going on, my desk takes the brunt of it in the form of papers everywhere and sticky notes too.  Pinterest gave me two ideas 1- placing a piece of notebook scrapbook paper in a frame with "to do" at the top to replace sticky notes and 2- labeling my drawers "to grade, to copy, to file" to avoid piles of papers without a home. 

 My classroom library

 Another Pinterest Copy: a jar with highlighters next to the turn in tray that says "WAIT! Did you remember to write your name?"

 Last year, we had a lot of broken books, so I made a broke book tub.  I also have little containers to match their class color for the book shopping cards.

 I was able to hang my word wall (which is kind of far away in this picture) and it kind of gives me a wall.  There is velcro under each letter to attach high frequency words.  On this side I also have my "You have an amazing brain sign," a blank spot for our classroom expectations (I always make them with the students), a cabinet that has yet to be dedicated, an I Spy cabinet for words they find that fit their Words Their Way word lists for the week, a place for the skill of the week, a Reminder about RAH (Responsibility, Attitude and Honor).

 My "Parking lot" (each class has their own..no pink posterboard though, so theirs is white).  I will give the students a task some days in Reading Workshop and have them search in their books, write their response and place it on their name in the parking lot during independent reading.  It will give me the opportunity to do a quick check to see who understood the concept.

 Baskets under the table that are color coded for their class to hold their Reading workshop book bags and Reader's response journals. 

 Happy School year!!

The end of another year

Without a doubt, this has been the hardest year of school I have had to date.  Now I realize that its only my 5th year of teaching, but being able to qualify my 5th year as harder than my first is really saying something.  I have been running on E this year for a good majority of the time.  This was my first year of grad school and trying to find a balance between the two and to do a good job at each came with its challenges.  School itself presented some challenges this year that I had not yet encountered as a teacher.
But all of that being said, we made it through, my kids and I all grew tremendously from the beginning of the year and as ready as I am for a break, this will be the toughest group of kids for me to pass along yet.
I am beyond thankful for the lessons that I have learned this year, the ways that I have grown as a teacher, the ways that I have learned to meet my students needs and the ways that God has strengthened me throughout these past 10 months.

Next year will bring 2 new things: 
I am saying goodbye to kindergarten and am moving to second grade to teach and I will be (hopefully) finishing up my graduate degree in May.
This summer I am praying for rest of mind, body and spirit, preparation for a new grade level and renewal for the school year to come. 

Heart Crayons

In my classroom when crayons end up on the floor, they are placed in the "Land of the Lost Crayons." The "Land of the lost" is a tub where students can borrow crayons from if they are missing a color that they need. Somehow this tub has started overflowing recently (how are they losing so many crayons!?). I combined this observation with the fact that I needed a cute Valentine's gift for my kiddos and made these heart crayons (that I had seen all over Pinterest).
*The pan that I am using is a silicone heart pan from Walmart. It was only $3.50! Be sure to use a silicone pan as I am sure that any other kind would be a pain to get the crayons out of.

Begin by soaking the crayons in hot water to get the wrappers off. (And do not use a bowl that you love...I had to soak mine in soap and then scrub that bowl last night to get it clean)


Some wrappers will float off, others will need to be pulled off. It works best when the water is hot, so you may have to dump and reheat the water multiple times if you are working with a large number of crayons. I found that the orange crayons were the most modest. While their blue, red, pink and yellow friends just stripped their outer layer with no qualms, the orange crayons held tight to their clothing. I almost thought about leaving out orange entirely, I mean "whoever said that orange is the new pink is seriously disturbed" (name that movie and we can be best friends!), but I did the work and removed them too.

Afterwards, I broke the crayons into smaller pieces (if you have children, I am sure that they would love to do this!) and placed them into the heart molds.

Place into a preheated oven (on a cookie sheet) at 250 degrees and wait for them to melt (it took mine about 15 minutes)

Allow to cool completely and then pop out of silicone molds.

I will probably either place them on a piece of card stock that I have printed a Valentine's message on or place them in baggies for safe keeping.

Tortilla Roll ups and Bite-size Baked Brie

One of our sweet kindergarten para-professionals retired this past week = sad day for Yeager kinder! However, we wanted to celebrate her and the impact she has made on our lives and the kids lives. I found two new recipes to contribute to the celebration (no pictures though..I'm not sure how that happened):
1. Tortilla Roll ups
From Food.com

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 package dry ranch dressing mix
• 1/2 cup red bell peppers, minced
• 1/2 cup celery, minced
• 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
• 1/4 cup olives, sliced (optional)
• deli ham or deli turkey or deli roast beef
• 4 10-inch flour tortillas

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl beat softened cream cheese and ranch dressing mix until smooth.
2. Add red pepper, celery, onions, and olives (if using), mix well.
3. Spread about 3/4 cups on each tortilla.
4. Roll up tightly and wrap in plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Bite-sized Baked Brie

From Joy the Baker

makes 24 squares

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed but still cold

1/2 wedge of brie, cold

1/3 cup cherry jam (or any flavor you fancy!)

1 large egg, beaten

splash of milk

All-butter, store bought puff pastry usually comes frozen and folded into thirds. We’re going to use these folded thirds to our advantage. Cut the puff pastry into thirds along the creases. Cut each panel into four pieces. They’ll be 2 1/4-inch tall and 3-inches wide. One sheet of puff pastry will yield 12 rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half. You’ll have 24 little rectangles that will create 12 little rectangle pockets.

Combine beaten egg and splash of milk. Brush 12 of the small rectangles with egg wash. If you’d like to make brie bites on sticks, now is the time! Place a popsicle stick halfway up the puff pastry and press in gently. Place a small sliver of brie (rind and all) on top of the egg wash (and stick). Top with about 1/2 teaspoon of cherry jam. Take another square of puff pastry and press between your fingers to make the rectangle slightly bigger. Place puff pastry on top of the cheese and jam. Use a fork to press the edges together. The egg wash will act as a glue. Make sure to seal the edges well by crimping with the fork.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place prepared brie bites on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with a touch of coarsely ground sea salt. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Brie bites are best served warm, but are also delicious at room temperature.

A Glimpse....

Into my week!
Monday was field day! My kindergarteners were paired up with one of my sweet friend's 4th grade class! We had a fun day!

That night, my dad was coming through on his way to the other side of Houston for work the next day. This happened to be at the same time that my brother was staying with us, so we got to have a family dinner! Love!

Tuesday was a HOA meeting and lasagna that I had made ahead and frozen (makes life so easy!)

Wednesday was the first meeting of Fit Girls, a program for 4th and 5th grade girls to promote healthy minds, bodies and hearts! We are reading books, growing hearts and training for a 5k! It was an absolutely insane day that led up to it, but everything went well and the girls seemed to really enjoy!! Please pray that the program will help promote a healthy lifestyle for these girls at such an important age and maybe some will even find a love for running!

Thursday I got a mani-pedi which was AMAZING!! And now I'm ready for the weekend! Hope you all enjoy yours!

Back to School

We are officially back in school. I always forget how different the beginning of the year is from the rest of the year. My goodness its exhausting! Now don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but it is exhausting. I laughed Monday when I came home from the first day of school with undoubtedly the biggest class that I've ever had (thank you Texas State legislature...please get registered to vote, check out the voting record of your current representatives and make sure to vote in the next election if you love me/any other educators at all) and found that I had received my new passport..haha..but no worries, I did return to school the second day : ) I am excited to learn about each of the little people that I have in my class and to help them grow this year.

My kinder team this year!

My two sweet friends that started their teaching careers with me in August of 2007. We were 3/8 of the kindergarten team that year. I absolutely loved working with them and am so thankful for the friendships that were made! Here's to our fifth year, girls!

This is it...

the last official day of summer (but let's be completely honest, I've been up at the school everyday this week...not today though!)! Not that I am complaining though. I do realized how blessed I am as a teacher to have such a big break during the summer!
Monday starts meetings and such and then the following Monday starts the 2011-2012 school year!! Please be in prayer for:
1) The new sweet babies that will be in my class.
2)Pray for their mommies who may be apart from them for the first time
3)And I have a few specific prayer requests for me. I am starting grad school. I am a very organized person, but know that this will be adding on a whole new amount of work. Please pray that I use my time wisely and that I can give all of the love and attention that I need to 1)my husband and pups 2)my kiddos 3)my grad school work 4)my Fit girls (a running program I'm starting for girls at our school this fall), 5)my friends and my running.

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
Dr. Seuss - I Can Read with My Eyes Shut

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."
Dr. Seuss - Oh The Places You'll Go

So far this school year...

The best comments I've heard thus far....

Student 1: "Hey, did you brush your teeth today?"
Student 2:"Ya, I did."
Student 1: "Then why does your breath smell so funny?"
Student 2: (nonchalantly) "I dont know."
And then they continued working like nothing had happened..

While looking at the pictures on my desk, one student noticed a "marry" picture from my wedding. She got excited about the picture and pulled a little boy over there to see the picture.
The boy then said to the girl, "hey maybe we should get married when we get older."
She said, "okay."
And they walked off...
Two weeks later, I overheard a discussion between these two:
Girl: "Hey, remember when you said we were going to get married when we're grown up?"
Boy: "yea"
Girl: "Well I think we shouldn't get a dog, because I'm kind of allergic to them...let's get a hamster."
Boy: "okay"

I wore my hair wavy one day...as the students walked in one asked "Mrs. Sage, did you just get out of the shower or something?"

Today when we were discussing the five senses, we were talking about touch and how sometimes touching something will warn your body that it is not safe. I gave the example of my mad cooking skills which often lead to burns. I even showed them my scar from burning my arm cooking pizza. One student raised his hand and when I called on him he said, "maybe you should just let Mr. Sage cook from now on."

Hope you're having a great week!

Oh Kindergarten...

My room is ready,


and my lunch is packed. Ready to start my fourth year of kindergarten! Please be praying for my sweet little ones this week as they begin their school careers! : )

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

What a fun time of year!! Beautiful decorations are everywhere around town and Christmas music is playing in every store! Of course there are the crazy drivers (who apparently only come out in December?) and the Scrooges out in some store, but in general it's a very jolly time : )
I am out of school for 2 weeks and 2 days, which makes me very jolly!
Last Friday we had polar express day and party day all in one which proved quite exhausting, but fun!

On Friday night I actually finished all of my holiday shopping! What a good feeling!
Then on Saturday, Kelly and Beth came to Houston. I just LOVE those girls!!
Kelly, Beth, Liz, Heather and I went to lunch Saturday and then onto Crave for some yummy cupcakes.

Then we went for manis/pedis and shopping. If you have not yet visited Francesca's, I suggest that you go right now! What a fun store! They have fun, inexpensive jewelry and very trendy clothes!
Then we went to Fish City Grille for dinner and met Jessica there. Fish City Grille is in the Vintage Shopping center, which is a newer center and I had no idea it had so many restaurants towards the back of the shopping center. Lots of fun places to try!

Sunday we went to the early service at First Baptist and then onto Cadillac for a birthday celebration brunch! What fun friends I have! We are all so different, but have so much fun together!! I'm pretty sure that during brunch we planned a European trip and a half marathon. : )


While I was finishing up school and spending the weekend with my friends, Cody was way out in West Texas hunting mule deer. His is the second from the left! He had such a good time!

On another note, after 10 months of trying Ellie finally succeeded in getting one of her toys into my bathtub. Sometime I feel like I have a toddler instead of a puppy! Look at that happy puppy face. : )

My countdown is getting smaller: 1 day until my 25th birthday, 4 days until Christmas and 8 days until our 2nd wedding anniversary!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

I have a lot to catch you up on..mainly in pictures : )
1. Erin Grace LOVES cheetos (Can you tell that they are not only covering her face, but eyebrows also?)

2. The Brad Brown fam came for a visit last weekend!!
While they were here we went to a nearby church for their walk through Bethlehem which included:
Live animals to pet

Snow


And a donkey to ride
And Erin showed us her love for puppies. She referred to ours as Allie (Ellie) and Chachie (Chloe). She and Cody googled a lot of puppy pics. Erin would look at them dance, and then kiss the puppies : ) Unfortunately I couldn't get her doing that on video. I did get her dancing as she got excited!

3. This past week I replaced my pink cowboy boots with grown up ones! Aren't they wonderful!?


4. My kindergarten team had our Christmas party on Wednesday night. I have such a great team!


5. This weekend Cody and I went to the deer lease. Unfortunately they didn't get any deer, and it was cold/rainy, but we had a good time! My not so camperish moments included: unplugging the heater to charge my iphone, bringing my laptop and watching a season of the Office... My camperish moments included: driving a 4-wheeler, getting muddy and not showering for 2-days

Chloe wore two jackets b/c she weighs 8lbs and I think she might've come close to freezing. Lucky for her, we had a heater in our camper that she spent most of her time in front of.

This is our setup. Ashley and I refer to it as the trailor park : ) Its great because the dogs have a fenced in area to run around in.
The pups exhausted after a long weekend.

6. No pics, but Cody and I got to go see my grandparents since they live so close to the deer lease. We ate lunch, showered and visited with them! I have such wonderful grandparents! Have I mentioned that already?! I'm looking so forward to getting to see my entire family the day after Christmas!
7. Countdowns: 5 days until Christmas break. 9 days until my 25th birthday, 12 days until Christmas, 16 days until our 2nd wedding anniversary!!