Memorial Day - Train Ride!

Well of course we had to take our little engineer on a Memorial Day train excursion to the Train Museum.  Here he is being a ham.

It was a treat to see him enjoy himself so much.  I even ran into one of my students and his family.  My student was so gentle and kind to my son.  I think we might have been there all day if we didn't have to go get a bite to eat and visit grandma.

Only three more days with my students. We will be going to the park tomorrow and coming back to school for  a pizza lunch birthday party for a student.  We will be doing some of clean up and finish reading A Little Princess.  They are enjoying reading and discussing the characters.  I am hoping to get the movie so they can compare it.

The clean up consists of some fun with saving cream.

Source

I will have my students write a little note to put in next year's students' pencil pouches.  I'll use die cut stars.  They can just give them a little note of encouragement on their new year.  

Source

I still need to put together their summer gifts.  I'll be giving them a summer packet:

Pick it up!

Also, I'll be making these for the students to include with my gift of the summer packet.  They might not find the packet to be much of a gift but I'm still presenting it that way.  :) 

Source

Thank you Teri, from A Cupcake for the Teacher, for the inspiration and freebie!  

Summer Reading

Join the linky party and the contest over at The Clutter-Free Classroom!

This summer I'll have some down time on my hands since I'll be recovering from a surgery late in June.  I will keep myself busy blog stalking and hopefully posting, but I will also be reading.  I ordered Conscious Discipline by Dr. Becky Bailey.  

I have yet to receive it but I hope to do a book study with the blogger who recommended it, Heather at Heather's Heart, if she does choose to have one. She has posted some information about it on her blog. So check it out.




This year was a tough year with the make up of my class.  I tried some great units and activities on character building and team building but for some reason I couldn't get a loving and caring environment to develop in the classroom.  My hope is that reading this book and putting some of the ideas into practice will help create that kind of environment, no matter what the make up of my class is.
Also, I plan to read more about Autism to better understand my son's world and diagnosis.  I'll be picking this book up. 

If anyone has any other suggestions on books on autism please let me know.  I have heard great things about this one.  

Giving it a Try!

I just submitted a project to donorschoose.org for gift certificates for Teachers Pay Teachers.  Has anyone tried this?

I figure what I really need right now is to have some funds to purchase items on my teachers pay teachers wish list. As teachers normally do I have had to look everywhere to find materials or adapt the out dated ones to Common Core. Our school district has yet to purchase any new material that is completely aligned with the standards.

Source

So here I am trying to be proactive and possibly not spend any more of my pay check on curriculum materials (yeah right). I'd like to hear if you have tried this and if you were successful. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hello Mrs Sykes - Resources for Teachers: 200 Followers Giveaway!! Thank you!!

Hello Mrs Sykes - Resources for Teachers: 200 Followers Giveaway!! Thank you!!:       Omiword, y'all!  What an amazing honor for my teeny little blog to reach 200 followers.  My hubby    is just thrilled that I can "talk...

Learning is Something to Treasure: Time for My 1st Giveaway...

Lisa at Learning is Something to Treasure is having her First Giveaway!  She is giving away 2 $25 gift certificates to Teacher Pay Teachers!  Be sure to check it out!

I know I could use one of these!

End of the Year Gift Linky Party

Courtney at Swimming Into Second is having a fabulous linky party and I thought I would join in.

The best end of the year gift I ever received was from the last room mom I had (which was years ago). It was very similar to the one pictured. I got a awesome tote bag, sunscreen, flip flops, a beach towel and a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Source: http://junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com 


 I have made Smore Baskets like the one pictured for my volunteers (I haven't had to many of those lately either).  These are super easy to make and not to hard on the wallet.  

Source: http://oneelevenalmondtree.com


This year I plan to give my students a cute water bottle with some awesome kool-aid.   I would love to add a book to it.  

Source: http://www.bjanebrewing.com

Giveaway at Learning in Spain!

She is giving away a $25 gift certificate to Teachers Pay Teachers! I know I could use it to gear up for next year.

I am finally nearing 200 followers so I will need to gear up for a giveaway soon.