Peek at my First Week of Summer Vacation!

It's my first Sunday of summer vacation.  Sunday night feels so different when you're on vacation.  It's still time though to link up with Jennifer for:

I have to make a decision whether or not to take this class the week after July 4th.  Here's the information from the Responsive Classroom web site:

The Responsive Classroom Course

Become a more effective teacher by learning research-based strategies that lead to:

• Engaging academic instruction
• Better classroom management
• Positive learning communities

This interactive, highly practical 28-hour course is our new and improved entry-level training. It gives classroom and special area teachers everything needed to start using core Responsive Classroom teaching practices. This 4-day course replaces Responsive Classroom Level I.

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Here's some background information:

1.  The class costs $729, and you have to pay more to take it for 3 credits - which I would want to do so I can get on a higher pay scale.

2.  The class is about a 45 minute drive from my house.

I'm just wondering if it's worth taking this class.  Do any of you have any insights either way?

It's time to get serious about cleaning and organizing my house.  I started last Friday by cleaning the refrigerator.

This week I'll be getting A LOT of practice cleaning and organizing.

On Friday I'll be having a small, family barbecue.  Later in the afternoon, we'll be going to a parade, and at night, there will be fireworks at the lake.

Have a wonderful week!  Happy 4th of July!

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Five for the First Friday of Summer Vacation!

It was Friday (when I started this post) which means that it's time link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for:

My last day of school was this week so this has been a week of changes!

 

On Monday morning, the third graders piled onto to the school bus and headed to the first stop of our field trip:  the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum!

Here's me in front of the Sam Adams statue out front:

 

Please notice that I am wearing my brand new Lululemon headband which was a gift from one of my students.  Luckily, I also got a lesson from the kids on how to put on/wear a headband.  Amazingly, the headband actually stayed on which is a miracle with my straight, fine hair.

Here's the "real" Sam Adams:

 

The first part of the Tea Party tour involves participating in the meeting held to decide whether or not to have the Boston Tea Party in the first place.  Each student is given a card with an actual colonist's name with his/her information.  In addition, each student receives a feather with the date of the actual Tea Party.  Here's Ava's Mom and Mrs. Johnson with their feathers:

 If you're ever in Boston, try to check out this informative and exciting museum.  This is the second year we've done this field trip, and I have learned so much.

As soon as we were done at the Tea Party, we piled back onto to the bus to head to our second stop:  the Massachusetts State House.

Before we started our tour we ate lunch at the Boston Common which is right across the street from the State House.  Our tour was scheduled for 12:15 so we arrived about three minutes before.  Of course, I didn't know that ALL of us had to go through security, including all the lunch boxes and backpacks.  We weren't that late - luckily.

Our group got amazing VIP treatment thanks to our State Representative, Jim Dwyer.  He met us and made sure to make the most of our 50 minutes.  First, we went to the Senate chambers.  The Senate chambers are located right under the gold dome of the State House.  We learned how each senator's chair is adjusted to his/her height.  Also, Representative Dwyer asked the kids if they knew what bird was above the clock.  Someone said it was a bald eagle.  We learned that the bird is actually a combination of a bald eagle and turkey, and Ben Franklin created the design of the bird.  Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be an important symbol of our country because the turkey had helped the original colonists survive, but other important politicians wanted the bald eagle.  So Ben made a hybrid which is called a "teagle."

 

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Then we headed to the House of Representatives where the kids got to actually sit at the desks - again thanks to Representative Dwyer.  How cool is that!   We got to learn all about the House of Representatives from a gentleman who has worked there for 43 years.

Here's a picture of the podium in the House of Representatives:

Our group even had our picture taken by the State House photographer!

 

Tuesday was the last day of school.  While the third graders went to visit the fourth grade teachers, the second graders come up to visit the third grade teachers.

The second graders were so well-behaved and attentive.  We told them to read, write and practice their addition facts as often as possible over the summer.  

On the last day of school, the Woburn Historical Society came to give certificates to the students who completed the scavenger hunt, and everyone got a water bottle!

After Tuesday, the rest of the week flew by.  I got my hair cut; went in my pool; finished reading a book which I highly recommend:

Now it's already Sunday!  Time is already flying by! 

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Some New Link-Ups to Check Out!

Here's a new link-up from Amanda, the blogger of The Teaching Thief:

Even though school just ended last Tuesday, it seems like it's been a long time since I've thought about books I like to read to my students.  While the kids have snack, I always make sure to read an engaging chapter book, and here's a really fun one:

Here's the summary from Amazon:

There’s never been anyone like Gooney Bird Greene at Watertower Elementary School. What other new kid comes to school wearing pajamas and cowboy boots one day and a polka-dot t-shirt and tutu on another? Gooney Bird has to sit right smack in the middle of the class because she likes to be in the middle of everything. She is the star of story time and keeps her teacher and classmates on the edge of their seats with her “absolutely true” stories. But what about her classmates? Do they have stories good enough to share?
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Gooney Bird Greene is a great book to read any time of the year because Gooney Bird is a one of a kind person who tells the most amazing stories. I might even make this my first read-aloud of the year!

This is an interesting link-up from Christina:

 

Here are the main activities I'll be focusing on this week:

1.  Getting back to my abdominal exercises.  I'm very strict about doing these exercises 5 times a week.  This week I only did them once due to getting a cold and having the last day of school on Tuesday.  I need to get back on track because I need to keep my abs strong to support my back. 

2.  Eating salad for lunch.  With all my exercising I've managed to gain weight.  Now that I'm on vacation I'll have time to make salad, even though I do not like to make salad.  Salad tastes much better when someone else makes it.

3.  Stop making excuses.

When I went to get my pool water tested, the pool person told me he lost 80 pounds.  He did this by eating 600 (or maybe it was 800; it was definitely less than 1,000) calories a day for 4 months.  I don't know about you, but I'm hungry all the time; I can't imagine eating such a small amount of food. 

I'm off to do my abdominal exercises so I can stop making excuses. 

Hasta luego!

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What I'm Wearing Wednesday & What I'm Loving!

It's HUMP DAY which means it's time to link up with Jivey for:

Every day for 21 days, Alison at Get Your Pretty On - Summer Style Challenge,  

gives you different combinations of outfits to wear.  Today's outfit included:  striped shirt, bright shorts, metallic sandals and statement earrings:

 

My hairdresser took this picture after my much needed haircut.  Here's a close-up of my new Stella and Dot earrings that I just bought:

You can't see them in the picture, but I'm wearing them - for the 2nd day in a row, too!

I would definitely say that these are statement earrings.  Also, you can detach the bottom portion.

I do LOVE my new earrings which brings me to the next link-up:

 

I'm still opening my amazing teacher gifts, but here are two that I LOVE:

How perfect - a watermelon candle for a watermelon blog! 

My house smells very nice now.

I also received this bracelet with my name on it and the name of the school!

The charm on the bottom says Mrs. Krevat, and the other one says Goodyear (the name of our school).  I wore this bracelet today as well!

In the spring, I went to an ALS fundraiser, and there was a medium there who asked me:  "Do you ever see single white roses?"  Well, today when I returned from my morning walk with the dog - who woke me up at 4:45 a.m. on the first day of vacation - I saw this on my clematis in front of my house:

The medium told me that those single, white roses are from my mother who died 13 years ago this Friday.  Every year around this time, there's always a single, white flower on this plant.  I think that's pretty cool - even if it's just a coincidence.

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Summer Meet Me = Three Random Facts

Today is the first day of my summer vacation.  The kids left at 12:00, and the teachers are meeting up at a restaurant at 3:00 so I'm just keeping busy.  Of course, I just finished cleaning up my room so I'm rewarding myself with some blogging with a link-up with The Teaching Tribune Monday Meet-Up:

 

Here are three random facts about me - two are about food since eating is so enjoyable.

 

Right now I'm reading a tremendous book:

 Here's a review from Amazon:

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Hashimi’s first novel tells the story of two young Afghan women, separated by a century, who disguise themselves as boys in order to survive. In 2007, nine-year-old Rahima, the middle child among five daughters, becomes a bacha posh, a girl who dresses as a boy so that she can run to the market and escort her sisters when they leave the house. Rahima enjoys incredible freedoms as a boy, from attending school to roughhousing with children her age, but it all comes to an abrupt end when Abdul Khaliq, a vicious warlord, decides he wants her for his wife. Only 13 when she’s forced to marry Abdul Khaliq, Rahima draws her strength from her aunt’s tales of her ancestor Shekiba, who as a young girl was scarred by kitchen oil and was reviled by her extended family after the death of her parents and siblings. Shekiba eventually found unlikely refuge in the king’s palace in Kabul, dressing as a man to guard the king’s harem. Alternating between Rahima and Shekiba’s stories, Hashimi weaves together two equally engrossing stories in her epic, spellbinding debut. --Kristine Huntley 

 

If you're looking for a great book, check this out.  I can't put it down because it's that good!

 

Now I'm off to officially start my summer vacation!

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Peek at my Last Week of School!

It's Sunday, and I'm determined to be on time for Jennifer's:

Most bloggers are on summer vacation, and our vacation starts on Tuesday, June 24th.  I have been a little jealous, but I'm enjoying this class so much that I'm quite sad to see them go.  This seems to happen most years.  Then I worry about how I'm ever going to love the next class as much as this one, but somehow I always manage to love the next class, too....

Back to next week, here's what we're doing on Monday:

Field Trip to the Boston Tea Party Ship and the Massachusetts State house!

We were lucky that this Monday was still available (I won't go into how we ended up with a field trip on that next to last day of school), but I think it's a perfect way to wrap up the school year!

 This is what will happen at the Tea Party Ship and Museum.

Actors dressed in colonial clothing reenact the meeting that took place at the Old South Meetinghouse.  As students enter, they are given a card with a colonist's name and background information so that they can become colonists at the meeting.  One actor is Sam Adams, and he leads the meeting:

These pictures are from the Boston Tea Party web site: 

                                               http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/museum

The actors from the Meetinghouse give the kids a tour of the Tea Party Ship:

The kids even get to throw tea into Boston Harbor!

Protected and preserved for more than two centuries, the Robinson Half Chest is one of only two known tea chests still in existence from the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The morning following that stirring historic night, a teenager named John Robinson found a tea chest buried slightly in the sand near the shore and took it home as a souvenir. He kept the chest throughout his childhood and it was subsequently passed down from generation to generation. The Robinson Half Chest is now a part of the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum and serves as an inspiring reminder of the patriotism of that fateful night and the birth of America’s independence. - See more at: http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/the-robinson-tea-chest#sthash.3cZEXCPj.dpuf

Then we go inside the museum part of the tour where there is a tea chest from the original Boston Tea Party:

The Robinson Tea Chest to be displayed

The Robinson Half Chest is one of two known surviving tea chests from the December 16, 1773, Boston Tea Party when 340 tea chests were dumped into Boston Harbor by rebelling colonists. The Chest is one of the oldest Boston Museum Exhibits in the city from the permanent collections of Historic Tours of America, Inc., and is proudly displayed at The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.

“I brought this tea chest from Gouverneur, New York, fifty-four years ago. It

- See more at: http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/the-robinson-tea-chest#sthash.3cZEXCPj.dpuf

The colonist is pointing at the tea chest.  You are not allowed to take pictures of the tea chest.

Click on this link to read more about this tea chest:

Boston Tea Party Ship Tea Chest.

We'll be done at the Tea Party Ship at 11:15, and then we're heading to the State House via school bus for a free tour at 12:15.  

We'll be eating lunch in the Boston Common, and if we have time, we're going to the cemetery where Mother Goose is buried - along with a lot more famous people.

Last Day of School = Tuesday

The kids have a half day on Tuesday, but the teachers will be there finishing up all the cleaning and paperwork.

Check out this giveaway!

Click on this graphic to enter to win this amazing nautical tote bag along with other tremendous prizes.

I have decided that if I win, I'm definitely going to take the ferry from Portland, Maine to Nova Scotia because I've always wanted to go on the high speed ferry.

Have a wonderful week!

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Five For Friday on the Final Friday of the School Year!

This year has flown by!  Today is our last Friday in school so it's time to link-up for:

This week the kids had so much fun "traveling" to several different U.S. states by being:

Click on the above picture to check out this product on TPT.

Each student had a "suitcase" that I cut out on the die cut machine and a passport.  With suitcase in hand, the kids visited two locations each day.  Locations included:  the Statue of Liberty in New York City; Niagara Falls in New York and Ontario, Canada; the Grand Canyon in Arizona; the Bald Eagle in Alaska; the Gateway Arch in Missouri; the U.S. flag in Washington, D.C.; the Liberty Bell in Pennsylvania; and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.

At each site, the kids filled out their passports with the destination; read about the tourist attraction; and completed an informational brochure.  If the kids finished early, I got several books from the library that told more about each state and monument.

Check out Tayla's suitcase.

Here's Mrs. Perry, Nicholas and Karmen on their trip to the Grand Canyon.

Here's an example of one of the tourist attractions.

This is a perfect activity for any time of the year when you want the kids to do something educational and engaging.  Please check it out!

We had perfect weather for Field Day on Thursday.  Mr. Slagmolen, our PE teacher, did an incredible job organizing all the stations and activities.  The kids had a great time!

Four of our five butterflies were born and released.  All third grade classes came outside to watch three of the butterflies fly off.  One must have just hatched because it wouldn't leave the butterfly house so I took it home, and it flew off.

The last chrysalis was born this morning, but it has a broken wing and can't fly.  I am going to leave it in the butterfly house to keep it safe.

The Mayor's assistant, Bill, and Sean from the Auditor's department, came to talk to the third graders about the Constitution and city government.  Bill knows A LOT about the Constitution.  He asked the kids if they knew what a bill was.  Well, they know that bills are something that needs to be paid. 

 

Thanks to Bill (on the right) and Sean for coming to talk to the third graders!

 

The children's librarian from the Woburn Public Library came to talk to the kids about summer reading and all the fun incentives that are being offered to get the kids to read.  Some of the prizes include museum passes, including passes to the Boston Harbor Islands!

 

Here's our principal, Mr. Kessaris, with the children's librarian.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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