Gifts and Shopping

So, no posts for a while.  I've been busy teaching with all the end of the year craziness thrown in!  Today, June 27th, was my last day of school.  I don't think they could have kept us in any longer if they tried! Having a heatwave the last week of school didn't make it much fun.

It was odd to visit all my different classes to say good-bye to my friends today.  Usually, I make an end of year gift for them, but this year I had over 75 students.  I did get ice pops for all my classes, because did I mention it was 90+ degrees this week as we toiled away in second floor classrooms with no air conditioning?!  A cool treat in the afternoon was very much appreciated by all.

One of my 4th grade classes did receive a little something.  It was the class in which I teach two subjects and spend a good part of  my day with.  I decided on a fun gift for summer - Super Bouncy Balls!

I was able to find super bouncy balls that were about the size of tennis balls at Five Below.  They came in a bunch of colors and patterns.  Each was put in a cellophane bag, tied with some curling ribbon.  Then, I printed out a poem I had tweaked, printed it on some card stock, and stapled one to each bag.  It was actually much easier and faster to do than it sounds.  I'm happy to say that the kids loved them.  I think this could easily be a back to school gift with a card saying, "We are going to have a ball learning together this year!"

As I sit here tonight, I have to say I am so glad to be on summer vacation even though I'm teaching summer school again.  This summer  I will be working with friends who are moving from third to fourth grade  in September.  I have exactly three free days until I go in on July 1st to decorate my air conditioned (Thanks Goodness!) room.  I went with a star theme this summer.

I had a lot of this in my closet, but I did run to a local teacher store to pick up a couple of things.  Of course, it's never a clean get-away when I go into a teacher store.  I've had my eye on a new product by Carson-Dellosa.  They have put out a common core standards kit for each grade level that has kid friendly "I can" statements for all the standards. 

picture source

I purchased the fourth and fifth grade versions and am planning to do a full review for you, most likely posting this Saturday or Sunday. I've been doing a lot of thinking on how this can best be used in the classroom.

For now, I'm off to enjoy what is left of my first night of summer vacation!  See you on the weekend!