Still Going STrong-351! :)

Still going strong!  This week I gave my secret pal some chocolate-peanut butter eclair to "celebrate" Monday.  ;)

Like I said before I am LOVING how 1st grade is sharing with each other.  This week was no exception!  Mrs. Lawson gave me some story maps that I have already used several times in class.  :)

Not only do I appreciate how first grade shares but I LOVE what a kind, caring school our school is!  This week one of our teachers lost her mother.  She asked that we give donations in honor of her mother's favorite charity, I LOVE this idea! We signed a sympathy card to let her know that our thoughts & prayers were with her.  

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kiddos & I appreciate how sweet they are!   :) This week Makayla brought in a baby gift for Mrs. DiFranco-her teacher from last year-such a THOUGHTFUL thing to do!  Mr. H. had a cold this week & Shayla J. had the idea to make him a Feel Better card.  :)  Also-it was our school nurse's BD & we made her a BD card.  

Finally, Representative Kane came to visit our classroom.  We made him a card to let him know how much we appreciated him coming to read to our class.  He gave the kiddos flags & he gave me a pen.  The kids were so cute when he left they said, "I can't believe the PRESIDENT came to our classroom!"  LOL! ;)

Of course we did our weekly recycle for K & 1st.  :)

Current Total = 351

Going Strong! :) 300!

We're going strong & the AOKs just keep rolling in & out!  :) This past weekend we FINALLY went to pick apples! (Mady has been waiting for over a year!)  We went with Mrs. Smith & her "boys" (Mady ADORES them!)  :).  We came home & made apple pies & I took a piece to my secret pal on Monday.  :)  When I was done I gave my Apple Pie Spice & recipe to Mrs. Smith so she could make apple pies for her boys.  :)  Mrs. Smith gave Mady a cute little "wallet" that she has been using all week.  ;)
We got a bag of goodies with books & treasures from our treasure box-the office forgot to get a name so I put a general Thank-You on our classroom web page.  If they read our blog-Thank-you again whoever you were!  We REALLY appreciate it!  :)
We also got an EXTREMELY GENEROUS gift card from Baker's Aunt in a Thank-you card for our Congrats sign-it will DEFINITELY come in handy for getting supplies for our classroom!  :)
My friend Pam gave me two coupons from Mellow Mushroom & Little Gym.  I gave Mrs. Smith coupons for the boys to one of their favorite restaurants.  I also gave Mrs. Depew two baby coupons.
I don't know what I'd ever do w/o my mamma & this week was no different!   Mady & I had dentist appts & she brought her all the way to my school so we could go directly to the dentist & I wouldn't have to take any time off.  This is the 2nd time she's done that since school has started!
Brody was such a sweet boy this week-he made me two puppets to bring to Mady so she could play with them-SO SWEET!  :)  One of Mrs. Smith's students brought me a fruit roll up from her BD to take home for Mady-SO INCREDIBLY SWEET to think of my Boo!  :)
Speaking of my sweet Boo she drew my kiddos a picture AND she let me use her Fairy Tale game cards so I could use them in a writing assignment this week.  :)  I LOVE my SWEET girl!  :)
The kiddos are already starting to "get" this project!  We had a kiddo sick & a NaNa sick as well & different students suggested we make them Get Well cards-so of COURSE we did!  I LOVE that they are already coming up with ideas on their own & we're only a month into school!  :)
Of course we also did our weekly recycle.  :)
Current Total = 300!

My FAVORITE AOK Thus Far... (260!)

What a week!  It was AWESOME & it led to an opportunity to do my FAVORITE AOK we have ever done!  :)
Coach Pate fixed Jackson's backpack for him.  :)  We got a treat bag from PTSA.  Taygen made me a bracelet, a necklace & a craft this week.  :)  Mrs. Gilliam gave us a new pen for our Activ Board (this is what has been wrong with it for OVER 2 years!) so you can imagine my delight that I can now teach & use the board the way it was intended to be used!  :)  I had a former parent AND a current parent send in treasure box goodies on the SAME day-it was a good day for treasure box!  ;)  I gave Mrs. Frady a Justice coupon to use for her oldest daughter.  :)  I also gave Mrs. DePew a diaper coupon.  :)  It's coupon book time so I did my annual passing along of ALL those coupons I know I will NEVER use-I  passed along to 9 different groups this year.  :)
Mrs. Smith printed out our newsletter for me (w/o me having to ask her-now THAT'S a good friend!)  She also went to pick up craisins for me when she went to the store so I wouldn't have to go to the store (which I despise doing during the week!).
First grade teachers are doing SUCH  wonderful job sharing with each other.  (We even have a share box in the work room.)  I shared 3 things this week & I really liked a beginning of the school activity that I FINALLY remembered to get from Mrs. Russell-work smarter not harder, right?  ;)
My sweet girl loaned me this really cool story kit that she got this summer for my kiddos next week-when they start working on fantasy stories.  :)
It's Grandparent's Day & hopefully Boo will get to Face Time her peeps in just a little while.  :)  In class   each kiddo made two sweet poems w/ hand prints for their peeps-I hope their Grandparents enjoy them!  :)
We also did our weekly recycling this week.  :)
Now for my absolute FAVORITE AOK-Baker's Aunt had her very last chemo this Thursday so we made a CONGRATS sign for Baker's Mom to hang up @ her house as a surprise.  The kids colored it & wrote encouraging messages on it.  Baker's Mom emailed me Thursday night & said that it literally brought Baker's Aunt to her knees when she saw it and everyone in the family was so touched that it brought tears to all their eyes.  I have NEVER been more touched by a reaction to an AOK & I am SO PROUD of our kiddos that THEY did such an AWESOME job filling someone else's bucket!  I told the kiddos the next day, "Now this is what AOKS are all about!"  :)
Current Total = 260

Going Strong! (172)!

This week Shawn loaned me his portable speaker so I & Mrs. Smith could use a fun song (Will I. Am) to introduce verbs to our kiddos.  My kiddos made Mr. H. a Get Well card for his surgery.  :)
Mady loaned 3 books to our class for our main selection, verbs & adjectives-she's such a SWEET girl!  Mady also made her NaNa, Pop-Pop & Gran-Gran Grandparent's Day presents.  :)  She also made a BD card for her Gran-Gran Rusty.  :)  I LOVE how thoughtful she is becoming.  :)
We gave Mrs. Stewart a journal for one of her kiddos that didn't have one.  :)  We also let Mrs. Smith use our unifix cube blocks for a Math lesson.  I gave Mrs. DePew 3 baby coupons.  :)  I also gave my mom a coupon.  :)  I sent a Congrats card to one of my student's parents that was getting married this past weekend.  :)  We also did a Get Well card for a family friend-Mr. Lane.  :)  We gave a box of sandwich bags to the office for ice packs.  :)
Mrs. Smith did my afternoon Bus Duty twice for me this week, once when I had an IEP mtg. & once when Mr. Holloway had surgery.  Mrs. Smith also loaned us her IPad when we had an exceptional number of students that had a free day so no one was left out.  :)
Taygen brought in pop tops, box tops & her Grandma made me the cutest pot holder.  :)  Dylan brought in some Jolly Ranchers for me-they have been a very nice afternoon pick me up!  :)  Makayla brought in a BEAUTIFUL rose for me this week.  :)
I got a WHOLE bag of Reese's Cups from my secret pal!!!  I got to share them @ our PLC & then our family enjoyed chomping down on them over the whole, long weekend!  :)  I got my secret pal two of her favorite kinds of chips to kick off the week last week & again this week.  :)
My Mom fixed one of my shirts for me so the bow wouldn't unravel every time I washed it.  :)  My Mom loaned an inspirational book to some of my parents.  :)
My kiddos did their weekly recycle-someone even took a picture of them this week b/c they said they were so cute.  ;)
Current Total = 172!