Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot#1

Last week was all about Fall. You can't do fall without Scarecrows. We talked about the job of the scarecrow and read The Scarecrow Hat by Ken Brown. Then we made text to self connections by discussing things that scared us! This is the followup activity that we did.

Bryleigh wrote, "I see big spiders."

Hoot #2

Do you ever have those moments in your classroom where you want to pull your hair out?? You know, that moment when, for some, your students have forgotten how to be a classroom community, and you need to have a "Come to Jesus" talk? That can look so many different ways to so many different teachers. This week, I was busy with my students in my class, when one of them said, "um, Mrs. Jamie, what is Mrs. Jodi doing?" Well, I wasn't certain but I took this picture!

Later, I found out that Mrs. Jodi's class was having one of those moments. She took her girls outside and held hands in a circle.  These girls shared what they liked most about each other and how they can be a better friend. This, not only built their self-esteem, but it also hit so many of our speaking and listening skills. My point is this, instead of raising your voice reminding students for the 100th time about expectations...sometimes it better to just model it.

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Megan at First Grade Roars! We absolutely love her Small Group Guided Reading Prepped post! It contains everything you need to get started right away, meeting the needs of your students.  Go check it out!!

Two Hoots and A Holler: Great Things Are Happening!

 Hoot #1
This past week Jamie had the chance to go to Nashville to watch her daughter play high school basketball in the TSSAA State Championship game, and they won!  

Jamie's daughter, Mason, is number 12.
The game was televised, as I was sitting at home watching the game, I see my partner in crime going wild on the screen!  
It was so awesome!  

I immediately text her to let her know that I saw her on TV.  I should have known Jamie would have something up her sleeve when she texts back, "keep watching, I have a surprise!"  I keep watching, and the next thing I know this is what I see....

Yup, that's my girl sending me a message!  I have laughed at this all week.  She sure knows how to have a good time!  There is never a dull moment with her in my life, and I love this about Jamie!  I wouldn't change it for the world!

Her message was written on a napkin, and of course she had to put a Glitter Girl shout out on there! 

Hoot #2
 We found out this past week that we have been accepted to present at the Making Connections Conference this summer in Biloxi, MS.  This is the same conference that we presented at last summer.  We had SO much fun collaborating with other teachers across our state!  We look forward to presenting on "How to Make the Most of Your Day in Kindergarten".  

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Latoya at Flying into First Grade!

She is a first grade teacher in Tennessee. Latoya has some wonderful idea! We love her movie themed classroom.  She also has something for your every need in her TPT store! Be sure to go and check her out!

Two Hoots and A Holler: Making a Difference

Hoot #1

Last week, we were all about counting down one of our biggest events at our school.  It is the Father/Daughter Dance.  These fathers and daughters come dressed to impress for a perfect night! Our awesome PTA provides the decorations, food, and a DJ that allows our families to experience a night full of dancing and laughing! I know this was a night that these girls will never forget!
Here are some pictures of our gym transformed into a gorgeous Winter Wonderland....

 Above is one of our own Kinder Girls helping her husband DJ!  
You go girl!

Hoot #2

Throughout the school year, it is always important for us to instill in our students that even though they are small, they can make a difference! It is important that they know they have worth, and they have the ability to make this place even better than it is.  This week we learned that one of our students' grandmothers was dealing with cancer.  She had been having a tough week, so we decided to make cards to send her well wishes! 
Our class was so excited to receive a letter back!

These kiddos are ready do more things that will make a difference in this big world! Teachers... always remember, students will only meet the standard for which you set. So, set them HIGH!! They will reach it! They will meet it!! They will soar beyond those goals! 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Katie Mense at Little Warriors. We are in love with her room design and decor! Since we are having our classrooms gutted and rebuilt this summer, we will definitely be referring back to her blog  for some ideas for the classroom.  Be sure to go check her out to see all the great things she is doing.  

Two Hoots & A Holler: What fun we have had!

Hoot #1

Well, it's back to reality for me! I know Jodi hooted about this last week, but I thought that it deserved a second one! I mean, it's not everyday a girl gets to go to the happiest place on Earth!  I was able to spent the week with my entire family (my parents, my brother and his family, and my immediate family) at Disneyworld!! All 13 of us piled in two cars and made the long drive.

Day 1! Of course, I had to have matching shirts! A big thanks goes out to Dana @Vinyl By Dana for making the shirts.

A big thanks goes out to my mom and dad (to the right side of me) for planning this whole trip and making it happen!

Of course I could not leave without stopping at Seuss Landing!!!

We were even able to trick-or-treat while we were there!  Even the adults were encouraged to trick-or-treat! So we could not show up with out dressing up!

It was a lot of fun and very little sleep! Even with all of that fun, I still missed my Jitterbugs. I called them a couple of times and sent them pictures.  Of course, Mickey sent all of them special treats for being so well behaved while I was gone!

Hoot #2 

We absolutely love that we both have a classroom full of students who LOVE to learn!  Our students are so excited to do activities in class.  When they know its "center time"  they actually cheer and get excited!  Here are a couple of activities that our students have enjoyed doing so far this year (that we haven't already blogged about). . .

 The shape man is finally up!  Students loved sorting 2D and 3D shapes and piecing him together.  Students counted how many of each shape we used and helped to write the number on the labels.  We still aren't through with him!  Next, we will label our shape man using interactive writing!  Students are going to help write sentences using sight words and shape words to label him!  They LOVE seeing their work hanging in the room! 

 OH! How we have worked so hard to learn to draw a person!  We have practiced and practiced drawing people because we don't have arms and legs coming out of our heads, for goodness sakes!  Look at the beautiful work they did when drawing themselves!  We were very proud of their artwork and the details they added so early on in the year! 

Students then clapped and counted how many syllables their name has and placed that many claps on their paper.

This Week's Holler...

This weeks holler goes out to Allison Stuckey at "Stuckey
In Second." She is a second grade teacher from Indiana.  She has tons of units on her blog. We loved her "Back To School Book Favorites."  Allison has reached 2 milestones with TPT! What a great accomplishment!  That is definitely something that Jodi and I have on our bucket list. We know we still have a bit to go, but sure dream of that day, and we look up to those who have accomplished those goals! Thanks for all you do!

                                                                          

Two Hoots and A Holler: Baseball and Classrooms

Hoot #1

Over the past 2 weeks, we have suffered a great loss in my (Jodi) family.  My brother-in-law passed away, leaving behind my sister and nephew.  My nephew, Nicholas who is 8 years old and going into 3rd grade, is a HUGE part of my life.  My sister and her husband adopted him from Guatemala, and Nicholas came home in March 2009.  Since he was old enough to sit up, he always had a ball in his hand to throw, and he had a pretty good arm at a young age!  Baseball has become his passion, and his father taught him all he knows about the sport.  He LOVES playing baseball, and he is really good at it too (I am not just saying that because he is my nephew, haha).  This summer, he made the All Star team, his father and him were so excited he made it.  This past weekend we gathered at the baseball fields with lots of family and friends to cheer him on in a tournament.  It was wonderful to see this little guy smile and have fun.  Baseball is his therapy, and he is the happiest  boy when he is on the field.  With every ball he threw, ball he caught, ball he hit, he knew his daddy was watching from above. It melts my heart to see Nicholas happy after everything he has been through the past 2 weeks.  My sister and him are the strongest people I know, and I know God has an extraordinary plan for their lives.  I am so blessed that God allowed me to be a part of this family.  In memory of my brother-in-law, I would like to dedicate this Hoot to him, my sister, and my nephew.  May he rest in peace and may God continue to watch over my sister and nephew! 

The All Star Banner hanging proudly outside the dug out. 

The team put this on the banner because he was a HUGE supporter of the All Star Team. 

All of the team members have "CP" on the back of their helmets in memory of Chris. 

Nicholas and Jamie, AKA Lemon Head, at the tournament. Nicholas loved hearing Lemon Head cheer him on from the stands.    And if you know Jamie, she did some cheering!!  haha  I tried to photo bomb the picture, but I wasn't quick enough...Just got my hair!  haha

Nicholas is so proud to be a part of this All Star Team!

Nicholas in action!  Swing batter batter!

Hoot #2

Jodi's rule of thumb is start working in the classroom after July 4th, but Jamie starts way earlier because her kids are in Arizona visiting their grandparents.  Here it is 2 days before the 4th of July, and we both are freaking out a little!  Have we done anything we said we were going to do??  Well, of course not!  We are the poster children for PROCRASTINATION!  But have no fear, there is a plan in place.  It is a very rough draft of a plan, but its a starting point.  So I guess that deserves a hoot because we are no longer procrastinating!  We have a rough draft of units we want to make to use in our classroom, and to share on TPT.  We got a pretty big jump ahead in May, we used all of our free time to prepare for August as much as we could.  That is a HUGE help!  It is actually very funny because at school, we both are on top of things and always thinking ahead of the game; but at home, we are not on our A Game!  Like I said things are looking up!  As we sit and make lists of everything we need to do, we both realize there are things that we do not have to worry about.  Last summer one week before school started, Jodi woke up late one Sunday night and she decided she was going to paint her room.  Of course we both thought this idea wasn't a good one because school was about to start!  Because she did it last summer, now she doesn't have to worry about it this summer!  Take a look at what she did that will help her in preparing her room in the years to come.  Here are some great time savers.....

Jodi allows her children to help decorate her walls.  They are asked to bring in objects for letters and colors.  She usually puts up pieces of long construction paper for each letter. Instead of taking down and putting up paper for each letter every year, she painted the rectangles on the wall.  This is the beginning of the project. 

This is the end result of the project.  After rectangles were painted, she framed it with zebra print duct tape and black duct tape and put her letters above the rectangles.  The rectangles that were painted served multiple purposes.  The objects students brought in for each letter were hung up on the corresponding rectangle, and it could also serve as a word wall. 

As she was painting rectangles on the wall, she thought..."Why not paint bulletin boards too?"  So after recruiting help from her nephew and daughter, she painted all the bulletin boards in her room.  This didn't fade or rip.  The bulletin boards will last for years!  One thing she did find out is that you need to use 2-3 base coats before putting actual color on.  The cork does soak up the paint, so the base coats help the color be more vibrant and bright. 

An after picture of one of the painted bulletin boards.

Table skirt....this was the best idea yet, thanks to Pinterest!  It added spunk and color to the room!  It also hid some of the stuff that would get collected during projects or guided reading.  Jodi got someone to hem the bottom of the fabric so it wouldn't unravel.  Then, she turned the table upside down and stapled the skirt underneath with a staple gun.  It lasted all year and never ripped or came off!  And its ready for years to come!

This was our work display in the hall which lasted all year long.  It didn't have to be changed out  several times, it was just a simple clip of a clothespin to display work.    Jodi saw this somewhere on the internet, not sure where.  The cardstock circles were purchased at Wal-Mart in the craft department, the strips are made from duct tape with a construction paper backing.  These were assembled, then laminated so they would last longer.  She spray painted clothespins to clip onto each strip.  The clips were used to hold the student's work, and students' names were printed out and put on the circles. 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Brenda Frady at Primary Inspired.  She attended the Spring Teacher Blogger Meet Up and the Nash Teacher Bash, and we were able to get to know this incredible woman better!  She organized the linky party for everyone after the Spring Teacher Blogger Meet Up.  The most interesting fact about Brenda Frady is that she teaches a multi-age classroom!  She has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students!  Can you imagine what a learning experience that is as a teacher?  She is currently involved in book studies with other bloggers.  Her blog is full of good information for teachers to know!  You should definitely hop on over to her blog to check it out!