He Called Me a Hippie

 Yep. I'm OK with that title  too. I posted on FB last Friday that I was done tie dying with my first of six classes of 5th graders. And Todd's response was "Hippie". Don't we all have those moments? You feel a little "hippie" and drag out your old t-shirts to dye. No? Well I did, but because at my new school it is a 5th grade tradition.

I didn't want to break this tradition so we got our tie dye on this week.
Here are a few pictures of the first and last class I worked with.

 

Peace-

One Month Later . . . .

One month later ----
     Actually it has been almost 5 weeks of school and since the last time I blogged. Sorry about the long absence. You all know what happens. You've been there too.
    I have slowly been getting my room set up and even though it is not "done". I decided to show you my progress.

   I started my Chinese/Asian Art unit so I placed my "decorations" in front of my west windows. Kind of fun!

I purchased two stones for my drip dry station. I usually do most of the cleaning of the brushes, water cups in the primary grades then lay them out to drip dry. I hate using tons of paper towels to dry. Before  always had flat stones, but our local nursery didn't have any left  this late in the year.
You also can see the sponge bucket. I wet down the sponges and give each table two. They can clean off the glue or paint on their fingers, then the tables. This also saves on paper towels. Have you ever seen how wet a 1st grader can get a table? Then they have to dry it, and dry it and dry and dry. Whew you get the idea.

These are my scissor blocks. One for each table. I assign one person at each table to go get them and be responsible to take them back at clean up time.  Same for the glue bottles, that we stand up like soldiers.

All of my labels are almost done. Since I have been rearranging things to suit me I waited a while to do this. These are the 6 cabinets with shelves that I use to store class folders in. I have a paper box for each class and usually all of their work will fit inside it.

This is the front of my room. I have my classroom discipline bulletin board with the "Stick to the Rules" poster. Then my white board has my "I can ...." statements. We are asked to write in "student friendly" terms what our learning objective or goal is for each class. It isn't hard to think of things to write but sometimes I forget to write the new ones on the board every 6 days. Please ignore the bags and bags of recycling on the floor. Ask and you shall receive!

I read "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" with my first grades last week. Then we drew the mouse and some items we could remember from the story. This week we started our mouse collage/puppets. I won't say they are puppets really since so many of them accidentally glued them shut or upside down. But the year is young and we will get better!

 The 2nd grades did paintings in the same style as the Ancient Chinese using just black to create different values. Fun. We went step by step together for the foreground. Then I showed them a few ideas for the middle and backgrounds. We loved doing this. They tried so hard to just use water and a tiny dot of black. Or blending with water to make lighter values of black.
These are just a couple from the first class after our second day when we made pandas to add to our landscape. Next week we make a frame! Yeah.
I am having so much fun with my new students. Maybe I will be able to stop once in a while to blog more.


Peace-

Two Days!

In two days, yes August 1st, I go to my new teacher training. For a couple of days they talk to all of the new teachers about school district policies and, you know all "that stuff".
On Monday the 6th all teachers return for district and building meeting and hopefully time to work in our classrooms.

I've never been one to worry about if my room looks pretty or not. But I do try to make some colorful posters and things. But today I stopped in during enrollment to check out my room and I will need a lot of color. My new room is pre-it-y, plain. See my pictures?
This first one is my classroom door that opens to the primary carpeted cafeteria area and main halls.

    

This second door is to the west parking lot. So I have a door to the outside, a small 8x20 cement patio and a little grassy area. You can see I have great west windows too. Coming from no windows at all this is great!

I have two sinks back here and a third sink on my north wall.

These are two 4 x 8 ft rolling storage units. HUGE! But they have doors on either end, and are open shelves all of the way through. So I guess since I don't have a storeroom I get these.

 

But I hate where they are sticking out near the front of the room. Plus I want to change it up so it isn't exactly like last year. New art teacher, new floor plan. 

So my daughter and I turned them  and put one at each end of the room.

Better!

 

 For now I have my desk here. But I'd rather have it in the center of the room kind of where this table is. Towards the back, by my cabinets so I can see my screen and use the computer/projector.

This is my enormous wall for displays. I can't wait to fill them with all kinds of things and artwork!

My small white board and an even smaller chalk board on the right.

That makes up the south wall- display board and white board.

My north wall is all-l-l-l cabinets and storage!

See what I mean about it needs color? I have my work cut out for me, huh?

I decided today that I didn't think I would even try to decorate everything for the first day of school. It will be a "work in progress" pretty much the whole year I figure. I think living/working in it for a while will help me decide what all I want to do too. 

So August 9th is our first day with kids. 

OH! 

I forgot lesson plans.

I think that will be the easy part-- lol!

Peace-

 

Here's to Summers Off! Or Not-

Last week I read a great blog on  Painting With Brains. She wrote a great piece about how someone was jealous about her having summers "off". Ha. We all know the truth.

This brought up so many thoughts in my head. But I won't go into that- lucky you. :) But the post was reflective of her past summer jobs. And that is something fun to hear. So I want to hear your best or worst summer jobs. Yep any summer job you had since  you started working. Was it the best ever you'd do it again? Or was there a worst ever job, couldn't pay me enough to do it.

Here is mine-
I'll start with the best summer job ever.When I was in college at Drury University in Springfield Mo.-- --

Working at Fantastic Caverns. Yes, "the only cave large enough, and level enough to ride through"! You must hear me sing it! It was the jingle for several years, and my kids just love when I sing it every time I see a billboard. Or not. :) I love torturing my kids with my singing. Ha, ha.

When I was there I was the photographer that took the picture of the tour jeep/trailer in the first room of the cave. Then I would climb over the formations to the back entrance and develop 5x7 black and white prints put them in folder, and have them ready to sell by the time the tour came out of the cave. 
It was a very pleasant 60 degrees in the cave no matter what the weather outside. That was cool. (sorry)

Then a quick run up the hill to ride down with the tour or climb back over the inside to take the next tour.
I even had a schtick. We were suppose to say--
       "Hi, I'm Kathy. When we take pictures down here in the Ozarks, we don't say 'cheese' we say 'moonshine'. So on the count of three everyone smile and say 'MOONSHINE'. One, two, three . . ."

We said moonshine because supposedly there was a jeep that ran on "moonshine" made at Shepard of the Hills, in near by Branson. And boy did I ham it up. I poured on the Ozark twang, and even embellished a bit when I was in the mood. (they never knew what I would say some days) lol.

Actually Renee and I went again this summer to see the cave. And things have changed. They don't say the thing about moonshine anymore. But the tour is longer and has more in it than the old one.

My favorite part is still the story about how it was found around the time of the civil war. By a farmer and his dog.  Then a couple years after the war was over the cave was explored for the first time by 12 women.

 Yes and there are their names on one of the pillars in this picture.
There is so much more history to the cave and I love that it was used as a stage for "Der Fledermaus" (the bat) when i worked there. There is a huge room where it is level and they built a stage years ago. Ah memories . . . .
Enough on to the worst.


My worst job, now that is a little harder. It was either the summer I, an acne faced kid of 16, sold Avon door to door. In the high income part of town. Where ladies probably bought their make up at the department store anyway. Hauling a bag of supplies and sample that cost me $$ to even start selling. But I tried. For 2 months.
Or the the job I worked at an 18 hole public golf course. I used a push mower to mow around every tree, bush, fence post, anywhere the big mower couldn't reach for a week. Then I started back at the beginning on Monday to do it all again. And that is how long I lasted, a week. On the plus side I had a great tan after a week, but 5:30am-3:30pm in the hot SW Missouri heat and humidity nope I pooped out. Mush to my Dad's disappointment. Sorry Dad.

Now tell me your best and/or worst summer jobs.
Here again is Painting With Brains and her great post about her summer jobs.

Happy 19th Anniversary Honey, Love you!

Peace-

Missouri in June

These are a few of our pictures from the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. There is a very special display from China called Lantern Festival 2012 and it was amazing. We were there during the daytime but I've been told by those who have been that at night when they light these lanterns it is magical. You can read a little about the display at the website. But while we were visiting with our friends they told us a few interesting facts. Like all of the people who helped assemble and build the display came with the lanterns from China. All of the displays had to, of course, be put together after arriving in St. Louis. Some of the artists had booths there in the garden making some traditional Chinese art work like paper cutting, landscape painting, bonsai gardening and Chinese character drawing. It was interesting to see. Unfortunately  I didn't get any pictures of the artisans.  There weren't demonstrating much at the time we walked by.

Missouri Botanical Garden   One of my favorite exhibits was the dragon made completely of white and blue china. It is hard to tell what it is made of until you get closer to it. As I walked up I could see the lights that would illuminate it at night but then I saw the china. I mean real porcelain  china. Dishes like you might see at your local Chinese restaurants. All sizes of plates, cups, and spoons were used. I marveled over the ingenuity of it.
Look at the next couple of pictures and see the wires that actually hold it together are even a nice added detail.

  There were some very nice botanical exhibits that are a permanent part of the garden also. In fact I would love to go back in the fall or next spring to see the garden in full color.

I'm sure everyone has a great botanical garden near them

 but if the chance arrives to see the one in St. Louis- 

Go!

 Peace-