Leo the Late Bloomer

What I do really well:

Isaiah - sing my ABC
Kelby - ride my bike
Terren - eating and riding motorcycles and quads
Kassie - I draw crosses very well
Jude - I can go through the monkey bars
Gavin - I can do front flips and I can draw good cats
Sarah - ride my bike
Kaden - reading and riding a motorcycle
Madi - ride my scooter at my grandma's house
Dani - I can ride my papa's motorcycle with him and draw well
Dylon - ride my bike off a ramp and do a flip
Jace - play 3rd grade tackle football really well

Things I will still bloom into:

Isaiah - drawing and reading
Kelby - trying to stear a tractor and drive my combine
Terren - skateboarding and draw skateboards
Kassie - how to skateboard
Jude - draw pictures
Gavin - trying to do back flips and ride an automatic scooter
Sarah - trying to do flips
Kaden - landing on my bicycle
Madi - try to drive the gator
Dani - steer uncle's motorcycle and 4-wheeler
Dylon - better on my math
Jace - sacking the quarter-back in 3rd grade football

Poem: Buddies Helping You

Do you like this poem?

Yes: Jude, Kelby, Dylon, Terren, Madison, Sarah, Isaiah
No: Kassie, Dani, Kaden, Gavin, Jace

Bats: KWL

What I already know about bats:
Jude - Bats can bite you.
Dani - Bats can have furry feet. some can bite you and you can die.
Jace - I know that bats can't see that good in the day time. They can see really good at night.
Abbigaile - Bats have wings.
Kelby - Bats can drink blood from a human.
Madison - Bats have sharp teeth.
Terren - Bats can fly away from Perry.
Isaiah - Bats fly and have hairy legs.
Kassandra - Bats swoop down in the water to get their food.
Albert - Bats can drink blood from an animal and it can swoop to get its food.

What I want to learn about bats:
Jace - I want to learn how bats get out of their eggs.
Madison - What is in a bat's body?
Kelby - How do bats bend their wings to fly in the air?
Kassandra - How do the bats lay their eggs?
Isaiah - How do bats see at night and move their wings?
Terren - How do bats grow?
Jude - I want to learn how bats get their food.

Work stations

Dani - In workstations we had free time. I did word work, coloring, and making people sign my bff list. It was fun.
Kelby - It was cool that it was free time. I played some of the games because they were really fun to do.
Jace - I read a book that is funny and I buddy read with Madison.
Terren - The buddy reading with Cooper was really cool.

What I learned about the desert.

Kelby - Cactuses fall down when they are 200 years old.
Jace - The jack rabbit sucks up the water when the water falls from the catus.
Kaden - Gila woodpeckers can peck holes in the cactus and live in it.
Jude - When the cactus falls down the rattlesnake gets in the cactus.
Madison - Jack rabbits can run really fast with their back legs.
Albert - A turtle can be called a tortoise or that a turtle can live in the desert because it is so hot.
Kassandra - Road runners can live in the desert and that coyotes can live in many places.
Gavin - Bats can live in the desert and woodpeckers can peck holes in the cacti.
Sarah - I never knew what kind of animals lived in the desert.
Terren - Coyotes can live in a desert. Tarantulas have very hairy body and it gets cold at night in the desert.
Abbigaile - I didn't know that coyotes can live in the desert because they have fur.
Isaiah - I learned that most of the animals that live in the desert eat fruit off of the cactuses.
Dani - I learned that most of the animals that live in the desert and when the flowers die it leads to cactus fruit on the cactus.

What animals live in and around a saguaro cactus?

Isaiah - owl
Kaden - frog
Jace - woodpecker
Dani - road runner
Abbi - hawk
Madi - rattlesnake
Albert - tortoise
Kelby - gila woodpecker
Jude - coyote
Kassie - gila monster
Terren - tarantula

What desert aniamal are you going to research?

Kaden - Boa Constrictor
Isaiah - Snow Leopard
Jude - Puma
Jace - Gila Monster
Sarah - Red Kangaroo
Gavin - North American Porcupine
Dani - Road Runner
Abbi - Kangaroo Rat
Terren - Tarantula
Kassie - Coyote
Madi - Sheep
Kelby - Serval
Albert - Desert Tortoise
Dylon - Pup Fish
Sebastian - Kangaroo

What we know and want to know about deserts.

What I know about deserts
Madi - It has a little water in the hot sunny day.
Gavin - All catuses get water in their stem. All cactuses grow flowers on them.
Kassie - The catuses have points on them. The cactuses with the fruit on them look cool.
Terren - The desert has foxes and a kangaroo rat. The cactuses have a lot of roots.
Isaiah - Desert tortoises live in the desert.
Jude - Snakes live in the desert. Some deserts are cold.
Kaden - Coytes live in the desert and cactuses have fruit on them.
Dani - The sand is very hot. some deserts can have snow and be really cold.
Abbi - Coytes howl at the moon at night.
Kelby - Trees and big rocks like boulders and mountains and jack rabbits are in the desert.
Dylon - The desert very hot and creepy.
Albert - Jack rabbits long legs help them escape predators.

What I want to learn about deserts
Gavin - Why do cactuses have points on them? How do tortoises move with their big shell?
Jude - Why do rattlesnakes scare enemies?
Dani - Why do some animals live in the desert? Do some cactuses have leaves on them?
Kelby - Do tortioses live without water? How fast does a jack rabbit hop?
Terren - When it rains, how do the animals get water?
Kassie - Why does the desert get little water instead a lot? When do the animals fall asleep at night?
Madi - How does the jack rabbit run so fast?
Isaiah - Whay does the jack rabbit have very long legs?
Dylon - Is the desert very hot every day?
Kaden- Does it ever snow in the hot deserts? How long can lizards grow in the desert?
Abbi - How do tortoises get in their shells?
Albert - Do jack rabbits eat fruit from the catuses?

What was your favorite part of today?

Dani - when we made the butter.
Sarah - when we got to stake our claim at the land run.
Terren - When we watche dthe movie - it was too funny!
Madison - When we ate the butter and cracker , it was fun to eat.
Kelby - When we ate outside and put our flags in the ground.
Kaden - At recess when I played football.
Kassie - My favorite game was with Mrs. Tetik. We played Blind Man's Bluff.
Gavin - My favorite games were with Mrs. Myrick and Mrs. Tetik.
Abbi - I like the game with Mrs. Kusik.

A word I know with an inflected ending of s, ed, or ing

Kelby - singing, traveled, pulled
Madi - playing, talked
Dani - reading, traveling, played
Terren - starting, standing
Kassie - pioneers, teachers
Jude - swinging, sitting
Sarah - bags,
Kaden - asked, walked
Isaiah - studying
Gavin - doing, started
Albert - travelers, aniamls
Abbi - zipped

What Do I Need to Bring Back to School?

Handbook Page Signed
Dylon
Isaiah
Kelby
Terren
Jace

Lunch Count for Friday
Everyone

What Are You Wearing On Friday?
Madi - Western clothes
Albert - Western clothes, I saw a gun holster at Walmart
Jude - western clothes
Kassie - A red shirt that is kinda like western clothes with jeans and cowboy boots.
Gavin - jeans and cowboy boots and cowboy hat.
Kelby - a button shirt, dark jeans, and non-slippery boots

What do you know about the Land Run?

Dani - They did it for a long time until they found land. It took about 3 or 4 days to get to where they wanted to go.
Isaiah - It was old and very long ago.
Kassie - I can't wait until tomorrow because it is the day when they had the Land Run.
Kaden - They had to pay for their land.
Terren - The land run had to happen on Wednesday.
Kelby - Buck Kenney was the first black man to be a vetrinarian in the Cherokee Strip.
Sarah - The people who came early were sooners.
Albert - They are gonna run to the land to the school.

Reading Time

Madison - It was a little quiet.
Dani - Reading was fun because it was a little quiet and I like reading. I read "Sponge Bob Square Pants: The Adventures in Bikini Bottom".
Jude - We read silently and i like my books.
Sarah - Reading is supposed to be quiet but it is not always quiet.
Kassie - I only have "The Big Hungry Bear" left to read.
Kelby - The Joke Book has a lot of jokes in it.
Kaden - I read "David Goes to School".
Terren - I read the book about sports. It had cool pictures and this guy is about to dunk the ball in the hoop.
Dylon - I read " Where the Wild Things Are".

Getting papers out of our mailbox

Jace - You could get them out nice and neatly.
Madi - Get your papers without the black thing under it.
Sarah - Get you papers out without talking.
Abbi - No visiting at the mailboxes.
Kelby - Walk very slow because I don't want to bump into anyboby.
Albert - I walk so I never bump into anybody and I pick up all my papers and walk back to my seat.
Isaiah - WE GOT OUT OUR STUDENT HANDBOOKS. THEY ARE DUE NEXT TUESDAY!
Dylon - I walk slowly to my mailbox and get papers then walk back to my desk.
Sebastian - We love to walk and work a lot.

work stations

Madi - The computer was fun.
Sarah - The Ice Cream Party game was fun.
Kelby - The stamps were very cool because we got to stamp our spelling words.
Terren - Reading was fun.
Isaiah - Buddy reading was cool.
Kaden - Computers weren't fun becasue I didn't get a turn.
Jude - I like to read. It was fun.

Quiet Reading

Kassie - It was very quiet when we were reading so I could read.
Isaiah - We quiet read everday and it is fun.
Kelby - It was very quiet so I could read my book today.
Terren - It was fun reading.
Kaden - It was really really fun because we got to read.

playground

Jace - I hope they put two basketball goals and a basketball court.
Sarah - It may be fun like it looks like.
Dani - I hope they are working so hard and that it will be ready by sometime.
Terren - It was cool when they were picking up the bull dozer.
Madi - i hope they build a pool.
Sebastian - I like the playground because I like to play in the grass.
Gavin - I would like for them to buy a candy shop by it.
Albert - It was so fun!

math

Albert - We had fun, it helps you know your numbers.
Terren - It was fun.
Dani - We used our Birthday graph and wrote the digital time on our clock.
Madison - We did the days of the week.
Sarah - We made designs using pattern blocks.
Jace - We figured out the names of the pattern blocks.
Kassie - We used our pattern blocks to make collections.
Kaden - We learned how to have fun and work in groups.

writing with voice

Kassie - I felt good when I was writing.
Albert - I felt special when I wrote.
Terren - I wrote about being scared in the dark because my T.V. went off.
Kelby - I felt super good.
Jace - I wrote about being scared of Freddie Crougar.
sarah - I felt scared when my aunt died.
Kaden - I wrote about being scared if mistaking my backpack hangin on the wall for a head staring at me.

Handwriting

Dani - it was fun
Jace - it was the funnest thing I did in school today
Kassie - the handwriting was perfect
Isaiah - handwriting was cool
Kelby - we found matching letters
Madi - handwritng was fun
Sarah - handwriting was fun
Terren - we write in it
Sebastian - we colored

August 21, 2009

Lunch

Dani - It was good
Terren - I like eating
Sarah - It was yummy
Jace - It was awesome
Jude - bananas

Ran out of time, more on Monday.

Agust 20, 2009 (Second Day of School)

What has been your favorite thing at school so far?

Dani - reading
Jace - reading
Kaden - lunch
Terren - playing
Abbi - learning
Gavin - being smart
Sarah - everything
Kelby - P.E.
Madison - computer
Kassie - being sweet to your teacher
Dylon - being good
Jude - music
Isaiah - being nice to everybody
Sebastian - coloring
Albert - play

August 9, 2009

The days before school begin are full of mixed emotions: excitement, hope, nervousness and stress.

I just got my class list 2 days ago and I have started putting students' names on things. I am sworn to secrecy not to share my list and I am keeping it to myself. I only recognized a few names and I am excited to meet all of these children and spend the school year building a relationship and learning together.

Every year begins full of hope. I hope this year I can be even better than last year. I hope that I can implement the new things I have read about. I hope my students enjoy my class. I hope we have a good schedule. I hope I don't have a lot of duty. I hope I can figure out how to use the SMART board. All of this hope leads to my next feeling of nervousness.

I know how to teach and this will be my third year to teach 2nd grade. I am finally staying at the same school for the following school year (well, same district, but we still moved schools). Even though many things are staying the same this year, it is still a new year full of the unknown. There is the possibility that some of the things I hope for will not work out for the best.

In addition to all of that, I have a lot to do to get ready for the year! My room started over from scratch (it actually has every year so far). We moved to the new school and were not able to get into the building to start unpacking until August 3rd. As if unpacking isn't hard enough, I have to decide how the room set up will work according to available wall space and my safe room door. Also, we do not have teacher desks, a small group table, or student desks to move around to find an ideal floor plan. I did not want to put anything on the bookshelves for fear that as soon the other furniture came in I would not want to keep them where they were. However, when the furniture arrival date kept getting pushed back and a teacher across the hall was making so much progress, I just had to commit to the placement. My desk should be here tomorrow so hopefully I can finish unpacking. Organizing student materials, putting up charts on the walls, and labeling everything has taken much time and is not finished either. This weekend I have began working on all of the paperwork that needs to be prepared for parents and students at the beginning of the year. AND, as soon as I find out our schedule, I can start preparing lessons.

So with all of those emotions going on, I am ready for school to start, just not before I am ready!