Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

This week we had a special surprise at our school during a faculty meeting.  Our superintendent came to our school to award us medals for "Raising the Bar".  We were recognized for increasing student performance in 5 out of 7 proficiency/growth categories during the 2017-2018 school year. Our school was one of 11 schools to meet this criteria in our district!  It was a GREAT day to be a GATOR!!  We are so proud of all of the hard work and dedication of every single staff member and student!  It was a great reminder of why we do what we do and the difference we make every day!

Hoot #2

At this same faculty meeting, something else happened that has NEVER happened in all of our years of teaching!  We all entered the room knowing we were going to have to do some type of group activity...and let's face it, we all are tired after school and don't want to go to a meeting, much less be forced to do a group activity!  If you are a teacher, we know you totally get what we are saying!  Instead, our principals announce here is your Selfie Scavenger Hunt checklist, you have 15 minutes to find your partner and GO!  Teachers were running, making a mad dash to find their partners and were going in all directions!  You could hear running feet and laughter all through the halls of the school.  Some students were at school for play practice, and they kept watching teachers in awe as we ran by laughing and having a good time.  It was PRICELESS!  We get so bogged down with the hustle and bustle of everything that has to be done, that we only have time to say "Good Morning" to each other and we keep going.    We got to know and to hang out with another teacher that we normally wouldn't get the chance to hang with...and it was a great time had by all!! 

 BEST. FACULTY. MEETING. EVER!

 

 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Tara West over at Little Minds at Work.  We began using some of her reading, writing, and phonics units this year.  We absolutely LOVE them! Her units are so easy to follow, and they are age appropriate!  It is exactly what our students need!  If you haven't ever used any of her things, go check out her blog and TPT store!  We guarantee you will find something you cannot live without! 

https://littlemindsatwork.org/

Two Hoots and a Holler!

Hoot#1 

Last week we had a Sensory Night at our school.  Students and parents were invited to attend.  This was a workshop for parents to understand how sensory systems develop and impact behavior and learning.  Strategies for parents to use at home and school were introduced to them.  There were stations set up around our gym to give the parents a hands-on experience. Our Title I teacher did an awesome job of organizing this event, and WES staff rocks for lending a helping hand!

While parents were listening to a presentation, the children were having snack and making his/her own glitter calming bottle.  This was right up our alley…I mean just look at all that glitter! I'm sure the maintenance staff was not impressed, glitter was EVERYWHERE!!  But it was so worth it!  Students were bringing his/her bottle to school the next day to show everyone.   

The class with the most attendance in kindergarten through second grade would win a gift certificate to The Sensory Shop in Southaven, MS.  Ms. Jodi’s Rockstars won!  I was so excited to receive this gift certificate!  I can’t wait to go purchase a lot of cool things for my classroom!  Thanks to Walls PTA, The Sensory Shop, and the Rockstars!! 

Hoot #2

A few weeks ago the Amazon “deal of the day” was the Selfie Stick with Bluetooth capability.  We immediately ordered them, and they finally came in last week!  
 We are so excited to have these FINALLY!!   Thanks to Amy Alvis over at "Math, Science, Social, Studies. . .OH MY!" for letting everyone know it was on sale!

This Week’s Holler

This week’s holler goes out to Stacy Simpson at Simpson's Superstars!  Meeting this lady was one of our favorite treats at the Spring Meet up.  She is enthusiastic and has loads of sparkle and spunk.  This girl has a ton of ideas of her blog.  We love her latest post, "Monday, Made it". 

Be sure to check her out! 

Yea, we got a little crazy!  We will blame it on the sugar!

 (I see a Mountain Dew in front of Jamie!)

 Ok! Normal pic after the treats wore off!

Two Hoots and a Holler

On the long drive home from French Lick, IN, we were discussing our blog and what all we needed to do when we got home.  So, Jamie started naming stuff off and Jodi whipped out her paper and pen…and What do ya know?  By the time we entered Arkansas our list was made!  One thing we have decided to do is “Two Hoots and a Holler” on our blog every week.  “Two Hoots and a Holler” will come out on Thursdays.  It will highlight two special moments in our week and give a special shout out to someone who has done something spectacular!   We are so pumped and excited about everything we learned this weekend at the Spring Teacher Blogger Meetup!  Neither one of us could hardly sleep from all of the excitement!  We both were so ready to blog, but we needed to let it all sink in before we could even begin!  This weekend was SO amazing, there is NO WAY we can give only 2 hoots and 1 holler, and there is NO WAY we can wait until Thursday!   

This week’s 2 hoots:

1.   We are in a desperate search for this little doohickey thing called a “Selfie Stick” that connects to your phone by Bluetooth!  We looked at every truck stop on our way home.  Every blogger needs one of these!  Thanks to Greg at The KindergartenSmorgasboard for the photography tip!

Check out this pic taken with the Selfie Stick! 

2.  We made so many new friends!  We are grateful for all of the love and laughter that was shared this weekend.

And a holler…(no way to narrow it down to one, its a long list!

Just a few of the GREAT friends we made!

First off, let us say how awesome Holly Ehle and Brittany Banister are for getting everything organized!  The creativity, and passion they have for teaching, sharing with other teachers, and blogging definitely showed at this meetup.  Words cannot express how grateful we are to you both.  Every teacher there was a great inspiration to us, and every one of you were so encouraging.  We were welcomed by everyone with open arms.  We are very new to the blogging scene.  We have never explored this side of our teaching career, and we were not sure what to expect.  The only thing we had to compare this to was conferences and professional development courses.  It was SO different from that!  It was SO much MORE than we could have ever imagined!  It was SO extraordinary to see over 100 teachers together and truly collaborating!  It was AWESOME to say the least!  Not only did we get to meet a lot of great teachers, we actually made friends with them and hung out swapping ideas and sharing stories.  And the GIVEAWAYS!!!  OH MY!!!  It was unbelievable at the amount of support given by Erin Condren, GoNoodle, Scentos, Creative Teaching Press, Lakeshore Learning, Teachers Pay Teachers, Scentsy, Younique, Vera Bradley, Tallahassee Sunday, ESGI Software, BrainPop, HUE (document cameras), School Girl Style, Seat Sack Company….hope I didn’t leave anyone out, there were SO MANY supporters!! 

Here is all of our Teacher Swag we got this weekend from all of the amazing sponsors!

We could just go on and on about this weekend! The things we learned this weekend from the meetup were right on spot.  If you EVER get a chance to go to a teacher blogger meetup, we highly recommend going!