Wednesday WOW

Hello Wednesday, aka, Snow Day #2!!!!!

I have time and energy to link up with my good friend Em @ Curious Firsties for a Wednesday WOW post.

So, my personal WOW:

1. Snow in Kansas! No school yesterday and no school today.

2. I made bread and muffins yesterday and I am making more bread today.

3. I get to watch tv while snuggled under my warm blanket.

Such a fun day(s)-like finding a twenty dollar bill in my pocket.

And, my professional WOW:

We have conferences this week (Monday before the big snow storm hit, and again on Thursday). I do not usually enjoy this week, but I found a resource that has made a BIG difference. Thanks to Easy Teaching Tools and her winter conference pack.

I sent a note home to parents, asking for what they wanted to talk about. With that information and several pieces of work, our time together was meaningful and positive.

Think I want to remember this for next year.

So, head over to Curious Firsties and link up. Happy Wednesday!!!

It's Wednesday!!!

Where has the week gone?

It has been cold here, but not cold enough to call off (or delay) school. We have been back 3 days now. 

To be honest, over the weekend I got first day jitters. It had been 2 full weeks since I tried to teach a room full of 6 and 7 year-olds.

Could I still do it? Would we all like each other at the end of the day? Would we have fun? Would we learn anything?

I'm telling ya-I was nervous to go in on Monday.

But it went well. My kids seemed to not regress, but rather progress over the break. 

Lists are lovely. If it is a to do list, I get to cross items off. If it is a wish list, I get to add as much as I want.

Today I want to make a list of some wonderful WOWs.

1. We went outside for recess after lunch. This is a big deal! Snow is not a given in my neck of the woods, and we have some right now. The kids put on their chore boots and out we went. Such delighted squeals have never been heard.

2. We've been measuring in math. I know quiet does not mean working, but today it did. Each kid got a piece of yarn the length of their foot. Their task was to find 3 items longer and 3 items shorter than their foot in the classroom. Then we did some comparison writing. Joy. The kids need me so much, and when they don't I feel obsolete. But today, as I stood and watched, I felt content rather than obsolete. Instead of putting out fires, I was watching the fire grow and spark. More joy.

Guess two is all I have in me tonight. Thanks Em at Curious Firsties for keeping this weekly linky up and going. 

What make you go "WOW" today?

Remember, head over to Curious Firsties to link up or read more.

WOW

Life is amazing. First graders are amazing. Friends are amazing.

Thanks Emily (from Curious Firsties) for giving me weekly reminders to focus on the good, the wonderful, the amazing, the moments that WOW me.

1. As the semester winds down, I gear up the assessing. I never feel like I teach "enough" to really get these first graders reading. But I have been surprised this week with the official growth since October. Go us!!

2. I have gotten some incredible comments from people that I trust. It made all the difference this week. They have confidence in me, and shared it with me until I felt it myself again.

3. Today my friend stopped by school. To deliver a yummy chai tea. We used to talk all.the.time. But now we both are in the public workforce and hardly talk. She helps me breath. I love her.

Did you have a WOW? I would love to hear about it...

Wednesday Wow

Thanks to my friend at Curious Firsties for providing me an opportunity to share some good stuff.

I've been dragging my feet lately, but over the weekend I began to write a social studies unit. I decided to use a STEM format. The more I got into it, the more excited I got.

What a relief.

But come Tuesday morning when I was going to start it, I got nervous. 

It's not good enough. The kids will not like it. It doesn't cover enough standards. On and on.

The wow part is this: it went pretty good. And the kids came up with their own questions. So, it looks like I will be trying more units that follow this structure.

Hop on over to Curious Firsties to read more and celebrate, or link up your own Wow on the Wednesday Wow linky parrty.