Friday, December 13, 2013

3 and 1/2 days

Yes that's right just 3 1/2 more days until Christmas break! I can not believe how fast this first semester has gone by although this past week seems to have been the longest.:) In just the last few weeks, I have seen my sweeties grow up so much. It is amazing how that seems to happen this time of the year in Kindergarten and even more so after Christmas break.
Next week we will be busy with Christmas activities- a school trip to the theatre to see Santa Buddies, a special animal show at school, the 2nd grade Christmas program, our Polar  Express pajama day, and last but not least our Christmas party on Thursday morning.
We have been busy making Christmas ornaments, reading lots of Christmas books along with Reading, Math and finishing up 3rd six weeks assessments.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how we are assessing these poor kids all the time. If it's not one kind of test,it's another. I can't help but worry about those kids who are struggling and some of them are aware that they are not performing as well as other kids in their class. I worry that these children are going to get to where they don't want to come to school, have poor self esteem and will begin acting out because of the pressure we are putting on them to perform at levels that some of them are simply not ready to. When I think about these things, it reminds me that I need to spend time focusing on each child and making sure that they don't start feeling this way. If I spend more time focusing on an assessment score than I do a child's heart then I have lost all perspective as a teacher.
As far as my own three k's they are all doing well. Kirk finished his first semester of college and is back home for Christmas break. Kara continues to stay busy with school, club activities and babysitting. She was sad that the St. Jude half marathon in Memphis that she trained for months for had to be cancelled last weekend due to the ice. She is planning on doing a half marathon in the spring that will also benefit St. Jude. Kali seems to have been overloaded the last few weeks with school work at night. Another reminder that I am blessed to have children who do well in school and to be patient and understanding with those students who it doesn't come so easy to.
I hope that all of you are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas break and I hope it allows you lots of time to spend with your own families because as teachers I feel that we often spend more time devoting our time to other people's children than our own.
Just a reminder that I write this blog as a journal for me to always have of  my life as a mother, a wife, a teacher and a child of God. I am not trying to glorify my life as any of these things. What I choose to do is focus on the good in all of us-my students and my own family and friends. We all face daily struggles at work and sometimes home that I may express to others on a personal confidential basis but I would never put anything on here regarding students or family and friends for all to read. Just another reminder to myself to seek out the good in all of us as I hope you will in me. If you take the time to read my blog via Facebook,then take the time to click follow me on my blog because sometimes I don't share it on Facebook.:) You can sign up to receive an email notification when I make a new post. God Bless you and yours!!!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Cotton gin, Thanksgiving and Christmas Oh My!!!!

Woo hoo! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast last Tuesday in our class and I had a wonderful break with my family!!! It just went too dog gone fast. It does help though knowing that Christmas break is just around the corner.:) We will hit the ground running tomorrow to make sure we finish up all the standards addressed during this six weeks so that we can get those assessed. Of course, I stated pulling out all my Christmas books to take and get started reading on at school. To say I have a lot is an understatement!!!
The Monday before Thanksgiving break our kindergarten classes toured the cotton gin in McLemoresville, TN. My brother is the owner there as well as a cotton farmer. The gin has been in our family for MANY years. Thankful for my brother and all of our farmers. :) As I said, our Thanksgiving feast went off great! I had lots of compliments on how well the students were behaved and that always makes me happy to hear that.:) Once again, I have been blessed with a class of sweeties and I'm so proud of the progress they have made this year.
Kara is participating in the St. Jude half marathon this Saturday in Memphis so Kali and I are going down with her the night before. Marty has to leave Thursday morning and stay through Sunday at Nashville for guard duty. Kirk will come home and help hold the fort down.:)
In closing, I'll leave you with my thoughts that I posted on my Facebook status:
Every year I look at Christmas trees in the stores and of course I have seen lots of pics on Facebook and it seems that many of the trees seem to have a theme to them. I caught myself the other day saying "my tree is nothing fancy it's just simple with lights and ornaments that we have collected through the years." I thought about that and realized in some ways that's true because it's not fancy in the likes that you would ever see one like it in a store display but it represents our family and that makes it special. Marty and I married on December 18, 1993-that's right almost 20 years in the books. and one of my wedding showers was a Christmas decoration/ornament one so many of the ornaments date back to then and are even engraved with our wedding date. Each child has their own collection of ornaments from their first Christmas to all the ones we made at home or made at school through the years. There are ornaments from various countries and favorite vacation spots that we traveled to or Marty traveled to on his deployments/guard duties. There are ornaments commemorating the year Marty was away and spent Christmas in Kosovo. We have ornaments from Ft. Campbell representing the years he served there while we were dating and even some we got from the cruise ship on our honeymoon. Many of the ornaments have been given to me through the years by my students. There are ornaments for our dogs that we love and others we have loved and lost representing the joy they have brought us. There are ornaments from Ms. Elizabeth Radford because each year she would give the kids an ornament. Last, there is an ornament from the Christmas of 1985. We never dreamed that would be the last year that my daddy would spend Christmas here with us. So my tree does have a theme and it's called "our lives"-by no means fancy but definitely a wonderful and blessed life!!! I pray that as you decorate your tree this year that you too are reminded of the love of family, special memories from the past and the precious memories of the loved ones who are celebrating Christmas in heaven!!!!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Fun times at conference!!!

Ok so I feel a little rejuvenated-well, at least enough to get me through til Thanksgiving break.:) I had such a wonderful time at the Tennessee Kindergarten conference. I learned a lot and got some new ideas just hoping some time will magically appear in my daily schedule to be able to do some of the things I learned. The best part was visiting with old and new friends. On Sunday night, me, Deanna Jump, Kim Adsit, Elizabeth Hall and Greg Smedley went to Chuys for dinner.  If you don't know them, they are amazing teachers and have great blogs to follow. Chuys was yummy!!! We had a great visit and it was fun to visit and catch up on each other's lives since we met this summer in Vegas. Last night Kim and my new friend Wendy Gilstrap went to J. Alexander's for dinner. Always a favorite of mine to eat at and it made me think of my teacher friend Tracy who has been w me to the conference before and we always eat there.:)
I've said it once and I'll say it again SDE conferences are by far the best-their presenters are the best of the best. Every school should send their teachers to these conferences. It is where we learn those tips and tricks to pull out of our hats when all else fails. At a time when there is a lot of teacher burn out, this is a great way to rekindle the fire.
Looking forward to returning to my sweeties tomorrow. I'm sure they will meet me at the door with all the things that happened while I was gone.:)
The race is on now to get everything done that needs to be done before Thanksgiving break. Lots more thanksgiving activities to do and books to read!!!
Hope you are all having a great week!!!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I am tired.

I have no idea why I am writing this other than the fact that I blog as more of a journal for myself. I am tired. I am tired of assessments, I am tired of having to come up with new ideas all the time, I am tired of doing and doing and never feeling like its enough. I am tired of feeling like I do more testing than I do getting to know the students. I am tired of feeling that I can never get everything done at school or at home. I am tired of not having a solution to all the previous statements that make me so tired. I am tired!!! And the sad part is that I can tell my sweeties are tired too!!!! I am all about doing some new things but there comes a time when you just have to realize that We are all doing enough. It is time to let enough be enough. At least for now.
Ok well that didn't make me feel much better but at least I got it all out. On a happy note, even though there is a full moon coming and things got a little bit crazy today it warmed my heart to see the sweeties show kindness to a fellow student who was having a really rough day. They were giving this child hugs and encouraging words when they could tell things just weren't going too well for them.
Looking forward to playing with Elijah and Annalesa some this weekend. We haven't seen them in over a week so we have missed them. Marty is in Atlanta for some guard training. Kara has a 10 mile run on Saturday. Kirk is at titans game tonight and will be home late and then work some this weekend. Kali will have her BFF over so we are all looking forward to the weekend. On Sunday I will be heading to Franklin for Tn Kindergarten conference. Looking forward to dinner Sunday night with some special teacher friends.:) I am really excited to go and get any new ideas I can and I think The Lord has perfect timing as I need reviving and these conferences are pretty good at refueling me. Blessings to you and yours!!!!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Field trip and Fall Festival and Halloween activities... Oh My!!!

It has been crazy coming off this week! Lots of fun and lots of sugar!!! We started off the week with a trip to the Dixie to watch a play of The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare. It was PHENOMENAL and the students loved it!!!! Tuesday night was our annual Fall Festival at school. I worked the cake walk and let me tell you folks will dish out a dollar numerous times to win a cake.Lol!!! Thursday the students brought their costumes and we put them on before our fall parties. It was a lot of fun and a GREAT party! I have a precious group of sweeties and their families are the best!
I am very proud of the progress my class is making. They are doing great with their reading and math and most of all they are well behaved! Very proud of their hard work!!!
November is one of my favorite months at school. I really enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and preparing for it! I always dress my class as Indians and we will have a traditional Thanksgiving feast in our classroom on our last day before Thanksgiving break. It is such a special time and allows all children to experience a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
I am so excited that I will be meeting up with several of the BESTEST teachers EVER 2 weeks from today for the Tennessee Kindergarten Teachers Conference in Franklin!!!! Some of us are meeting for dinner Sunday night and then I will attend classes on Monday and Tuesday. I can't wait to see them again since our last get together was in Las Vegas at the national conference in July.:) they all inspire me so very much and they are the nicest people you will ever meet!!!
All of my K's are doing well! Kirk has decided to make some changes next semester. He is transferring to the U of M campus at Lambuth after Christmas and changing his major to English. He will living on campus there in the same dorm I did as a student there! I am so excited that he is attending my alma mater. Even though it is now under University of Memphis, it still has a lot of the same feel as it did when I was there. We are very pleased with his decision.:)
Kara has been busy finishing up cross country meets and preparing for the St. Jude half marathon that she is running in December in Memphis. She is always doing something related to school activities
her babysitting jobs, and service projects. :)
Kali enjoyed trick or treating for Halloween and I imagine we are close to the end of her wanting to dress up and trick or treat. Sniff! Sniff! They sure do grow up fast.
This past weekend we kept Elijah and Annalesa since their mom as band director was busy with the band and state competition. Our band placed 3rd in the state!!! Woo hoo! Congrats!!! Our football team won as district champs Friday night. Hoping for another trip to state with them also! Go Mustangs!!!
I hope you are all enjoying a blessed beautiful fall! It has been beautiful here in good ole West Tennessee! Such beautiful colors on the leaves this year.
Let us not to forget to thank all the veterans in our life for their service to our country! Thanks to my hubby of almost 20 years for his service in the Army and his continued service in the Tennessee National Guard. :)  Blessings to you and yours!!!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Can we hit a rewind button and then the pause button? :)

What a wonderful fall break!!! Why did it have to go so fast? Marty, Kara, Kali and myself went down to Pensacola and stayed at the Naval Base there from Sat. until Thursday. Kirk only got 2 days out for fall break and he opted not to go with us. We love the beach there because it is on the base and it is always so clean and we always meet the nicest and neatest people there.We enjoyed relaxing on the beach, eating some delicious seafood, going to the Tanger Outlet mall, touring one of our favorite spots-the Pensacola Lighthouse, watching some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and of course watching the jets fly by!!! Love the sound of them-makes me think I'm back to the movie of Top Gun! lol! While at the beach, I was able to just be in tune with God and his awesome creations. I have been blessed in many ways and among those I count you my blog readers and friends so many of you which are teachers and inspire me so much! I can never thank you enough for the inspiration you are to me. Anyway, wish in some ways we could rewind to a week ago and I could be back to the beach but the show must go on. :)
Now, we've got a busy few weeks ahead of us. We will celebrate the 50th day of school on Tuesday. This should be tons of fun!!! Can't wait to see the kids dressed up!!! We will rock around the clock all day long.
The following week will be a field trip to see a play at our local theatre, our fall festival and our Halloween parties complete with costume parade. Glad it's on a Thursday! Then comes November and Thanksgiving activities. Whew! This first semester is flying by.
We ended up our week with a sleepover last night with sweet Annalesa, Nothing like snuggling with a sweet baby to calm your soul!!!
I am attaching a few pics from our vacay. Wish I could have taken you all to the beach with us but have no worries I soaked up enough rays for all of you!
God Bless!!!
the jellyfish were all on the shoreline when we arrived Saturday 

sunset

me and my hubby of almost 20 years and I'm sporting my Katy's Krew tshirt! Praying for sweet Katy Wilson Bybee and her family as she battles cancer! 


Kali absolutely loves the Pensacola Lighthouse. It is supposedly haunted and an episode of Ghost Hunters was filmed there several years back. We met this couple who the Navy put up at the lighthouse in 1985 for the night. The house at the lighthouse was actually used as lodging at one time. This couple said they stayed no longer than an hour and then left. They could both hear people talking, doors opening and doors shutting and they were the only two people there! They were supposedly some of the last people to ever stay there or at least supposed to have stayed~! They said they come back and walk their dogs there along the beach but have NEVER been back in the house since that night in 1985. :) Kali loved meeting them!!!
                                                                     Our beautiful girls!!!

                                                                              
sunrise

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

2 more days!

2 more days but who's counting? :) me that's who!!! Can we say Fall Break?!!! Woo hoo!!! This is just our 2nd year to get a Fall Break but God always has perfect timing and this break is much needed by teachers and students.
It has been a busy 2 weeks since I last posted and my sweeties are moving along. We are enjoying getting ready for Halloween and reading lots of books related to fall, pumpkins and Halloween. After fall break, we will just have a little over a week before we get to celebrate our Fall Festival and our fall parties! We also get a field trip in there to so lots of exciting times are coming our way!
My 3 K's are all doing well and as busy as ever. Their schoolwork and extra curricular activities keep them pretty busy.
We enjoyed celebrating Elijah Tate's 2nd birthday with all his family this past weekend! We all missed Lesa, his Nana, being there with us but I know she was watching over us and enjoying watching everyone having a fun time and loving on Elijah and his sissy.  :)
Well this Towater girl will soon have her toes in the water relaxing with my hubby and girls on some beach somewhere! I hope you and yours enjoy all the simple pleasures that fall and each day has to offer surrounded by the love of God, your family and friends!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

2 weeks til Fall Break :)

As I sit here typing this, I must confess I have enjoyed a day of doing very little on this very rainy Sunday!!! Marty,Kirk and Kara went to Titans game and Kali had a birthday party this afternoon. Other than cooking breakfast, washing clothes, and taking her to and from party I did nothing except sip on coffee and watch Hallmark channel all day.:) i know i know i feel guilty that i didnt go to church. Hopefully it counts that I did watch it on TV. It was a nice weekend to spend with family. Kirk came home and it has been nice having all my chickadees here. I just wish the weekends didn't go so fast...
Parent teacher conferences went well and it was nice to get to see the parents/guardians again. I am looking forward to the coming month. I love autumn and everything that goes with it-the smells, the decorations, the campfires, the crock pot going with something warm and filling and of course the sweeties dressing up and trick or treating!
Most of all I am looking forward to fall break and enjoying some time with my own family. As much I love teaching, I never feel that I have enough time with my own family. I have to make myself not go to school and work and I usually only do if the kiddos are tied up with other activities.
I won a fall packet from Elizabeth at www.mrshodgesandherkindergartenkids.blogspot.com and also found some other cute fall things on tpt over the weekend! I met Elizabeth at I Teach K! this summer and she is a great teacher with great ideas!!!
Hoping all have a blessed week and hope that you too have a fall break to look forward to!!!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Birthday weekend and Football-Tigers, Mustangs and Titans!!!

Oh my goodness! What a week and weekend!!! Sadly, my week started off on a sad note with the sudden passing of my cousin, Ronnie Espey. He was my daddy's first cousin and a very special man to all his friends and family. At the visitation, I was able to reconnect with many cousins I had not seen in years. It was a blessing to see them all just sad that it takes a death to get us together. In the busyness of our lives it seems families don't get together as often as we did when I was a little girl. We all agreed to try and see each other sooner than later! We are all very thankful for Facebook in that it allows us to at least be in touch via social media. :)
Marty and Kara went to Memphis yesterday to see Kirk and attend a University of Memphis football game. They had a good visit and I think Kirk enjoyed getting taken out to dinner.:) The Memphis Tigers won!
We had Kali's 11th birthday party/slumber party on Friday night. It rained cats and dogs but Kali insisted we set things up in the garage so we did. We had family over and 10 girls counting her. After we ate dinner and cake/ice cream the girls headed down to our camper. Marty ran electricity for them so they could hang out down there. The goal was for them to spend the night in the camper but it was a little too warm so they  crashed about 400 am Sat morning in the den. Whew!!! It was a fun and eventful night and let's just say I am thankful it is OVER!!!
Last night we went to our high school football game since it had been rescheduled due to the massive amount of rain we had on Friday. We took Elijah and Annalesa to the game since their daddy is a coach for the team we played against and their Mommy is the band director for our school. :) it was a lot of fun and our Mustangs won!
This morning Kali and I headed out to Nashville to watch the Tennessee Titans game at Nashville. Our little day trip on her birthday!!! The Titans won and it was a beautiful day!!!
So,last week was another wonderful week in Kindergarten!!! We spent a lot of time with the MAP testing and finishing up my assessments for Parent/Teacher conferences to be held tomorrow and Tuesday after school. Looking forward to seeing my sweeties' families. :)
Hope everyone has a blessed week!!!


Sunday, September 15, 2013

First six weeks is history!!!

The first six weeks of the 2013-14 year is history! Whew! Time is already moving fast! We celebrated two of my sweeties birthdays this week, had school pictures made and got to start checking out library books. :) Some of the barriers that the children had are slowly coming down and we are making head way with our letter naming, sounds and blending. Our behavior has really improved and I am very proud of my sweeties-I love them so much!!! I started using Megan Merrell's behavior plan last year and it made a major difference in my students behavior and therefore my classroom management. You can find the plan at www.kindergals.blogspot.com and search behavior plan. It works if you are CONSISTENT with it so don't give up on it after a week or so if you have never used it before.
Kirk came home for the weekend and just left to go back tonight. We enjoyed getting to spend some time with him. There was a home football game Friday night and he got to meet up with some of his high school friends there and then go midnight bowling. He went to church with us this morning and just enjoyed sharing all his stories from college life.
Kara had a busy week at school and had her best time in the 5K this past Tuesday at our schools cross country meet. She started running earlier this year and it has become her favorite sport!
Kali enjoyed another busy week at school and I took her and her BFF Faith to the lake yesterday to spend the day. They enjoyed the fun island with the blow up slides, trampolines, and the launcher where they jumped and launched each other into the water.:) They had a blast and I just enjoyed soaking up some rays! Last night she and Faith went with her mom and sister to see a scary movie. Kali likes that kind of stuff. Not me!!! Anyway she said it wasn't that scary and she didn't have nightmares! Lol
We took Eliajh to the ball game Friday night and stayed through halftime. My cousin, Guian, kept his little sissy Annalesa and then we picked her up after game. We love them so much and we are looking forward to next weekend with them. Our home team plays our neighboring county schools' team (West Carroll)that their Daddy coaches for so we will be running back and forth on both sides of the stadium since their mommy is the band director for Huntingdon. Kali is also having her 11th birthday slumber party that night also! Fun times!!!
 Tomorrow is Staff Development day so no students just teachers. Have a blessed week!!!

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Another week down and I'm home alone!

Wow! Why are 4 day work weeks sometimes the longest? Just kidding! It was a great week and I really feel that we are moving right along and making progress in class. My students have been working really hard and we are slowly but surely getting where we need to be behaviorally and academically. I am so proud of their hard work! I am enjoying their sweet smiles, generous hugs, and entertaining personalities for lack of a better word. They really are an amazing bunch of sweeties and I am enjoying watching them interact with each other. Sometimes I just have to laugh at the things they say! This past week I was trying to get out of them the word that means something is no longer around or doesn't exist anymore. I knew for sure one would say "extinct" but before they gave me that word one of my sweeties who is quite intelligent said "dead". For some reason, it struck me as quite funny because he was so matter of fact about it and he had a good point!
Kirk stayed at U of M this weekend to live it up at the first home football game!!! From the pics, I do believe he is embracing all that college has to offer and this makes me so happy for him. There is such a good feeling that comes with knowing your children are growing into young adults. As much as I sometimes would like to rewind back to the younger years, it is also a joyful time to see him succeeding at college and whatever he takes on. Thank you Lord for the blessing he is to us and for his sisters too!
Kara left Thursday for an FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) state officers meeting in Middle Tennessee. Marty left early this morning for his monthly weekend guard drill and then Kali headed over to a friend's house to spend the night. This means I am home alone just me and my doggies! I was hesitant to post that I am home alone but I seriously don't think anybody will be reading my blog that really will take an interest in the fact that I'm home alone.:)
I hope that all you teachers out there feel like you are finally starting to catch your breath after the start of a new school year. Until next time have a blessed week!!!

Monday, September 2, 2013

I love 3 day weekends especially when Kirk is home!!!

After only 20 days of school, it was SO NICE to have a 3 day weekend!!! Kirk finished his first week of classes and came home for the weekend since they didn't have classes today. It was so nice to have us all under the same roof for a few nights.:) He absolutely loves University of Memphis and is already getting very involved with campus activities. I am so happy for him! I was sadder today when he left than I think I was the day we moved him in but I am quick to remind myself that we have so much to be thankful for and I certainly don't need to be sad. A sweet friend lost her oldest child in a motorcycle accident a week ago today, my uncle's cancer has come back and my best friend from high school mom is having a biopsy this week to see if her cancer has returned. Now those are things to be sad about. Please pray for these affected by loss of loved one and pray for healing for the sick.

I am looking forward to another busy and fun week with my sweeties at school! We are steadily making progress and enjoying getting to know each other better! We are still working on rules and procedures as I feel that we need more work on these things in order to have success throughout the year. I am already seeing progress!

I want to wish my sweet Canadian friend, Alessia Albanese, a "Happy First Day Back To School" tomorrow! You can check her out at www.mrsalbanesesclass.blogspot.com if you haven't already. She is a sweetie and has a ton of great user friendly and practical products on Tpt. :)

Wishing all of you another exciting and blessed week!!!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

I got my hair polished and left my oldest at college!

Another school week has come and gone and I have to say each day is getting better than the one before. I have asked for prayers this year because I know that prayer changes things. Sometimes it might change a child's behavior or attitude or on the flip side it might change the way I react to those things. Keep the prayers coming that I can meet the needs of my students academically, socially and emotionally.
Kids say the funniest things and I wish I had recorded all the funny things I have heard over the years. Last week I had to wash those grays right out of my hair. The next day at school one of my students from this past school year saw me in the hall and said " I like your hair Miss Leigh Ann. You got it polished." Loved that!!! Elijah, my cousin's little boy who is almost 2 years old and his little baby sissy stayed with us last night. Elijah noticed my tattoo on my ankle. (Yes I have a tattoo-it's the Greek letters from my college sorority Phi Mu.) I was young and adventurous at one time! :) Elijah asked me if my tattoo was a boo boo! Too funny!!!
So we got Kirk moved into University of Memphis on Thursday. I didn't cry. I guess I could have but he has waited for this moment for so long and worked so hard academically for it that I wanted to reassure him that as long as he was happy then I was happy too. It was a different kind of feeling driving back to Huntingdon with Marty and leaving him there but at the same time it was more of just that wondering of where the time went and also excitement for him in this next phase in his life. Classes start for him tomorrow so that should help get him on a schedule. From the pics he has put on Facebook, he seems to be enjoying meeting and making lots of new friends! He will come home this weekend for Labor Day since he won't have classes on Monday. Praying he continues to enjoy college!
Wishing you all a great week!!!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

I survived the first 10 days!

10 days down and 170 to go!!! Oh my. I don't recall ever keeping up with the days in and days left in the school year-at least not keeping up with them in my mind. Going from 16 students last year and a student teacher at the start of the school year spoiled me. This year I have 20 students and no student teacher so I am minus an extra set of hands. I know it will get better though and I will lose track of the days in my mind at least I hope!:) A fellow teacher said her mother in law referred to teaching and the school year to childbirth. You forget how exhausting it is at the beginning because the end is so rewarding and you see the result of your hard work and often long hours. I think that is a dog gone good comparison! I have a precious group of sweeties this year and I have already been blessed by each one of them. I just pray that I can break through some of their barriers and be a blessing and make a difference in their lives this year.
We are moving Kirk into University if Memphis this Thursday the 22nd. He is the first of our three K's to leave the nest. I will let you know how the moving day goes. Prayers appreciated!!!
Don't forget to go visit TPT today and tomorrow and take advantage of the sale. Enter BTS13 for the discount.
Have a wonderful week and a quote I saw this week that I would like to share: "Kids spell love T-I-M-E." Be sure to give your sweeties whether at home or school lots of Time!!!

Friday, August 2, 2013

Dr. Jean, Vegas and What Summer? :)

Wow! Where did summer go? It really does get faster every year!!! I had a wonderful summer with my family and attending many teacher meetings and conferences. I saw Dr. Jean Feldman at Nashville for a 2 day PreK-1st grade Summer Camp conference. Marty was having his two week camp for guard in Nashville so it worked out great because he had a hotel room paid for so I had a mini vacation when I went to the conference.:) I love Dr. Jean because her philosophy is mine-children need to time to learn through singing, playing, dancing and exploring!!! There is a time for worksheets but NOT all the time. :) She truly is a jewel and I feel very blessed to call her friend and know that I could email her anytime or even call her and she would immediately give me feedback to any questions I had for classroom ideas. Love Her!!! We need more Dr. Jeans in the world. :)
 I also attended a Common Core Math training for 2 days in June and learned a lot about how to help the students with exploration and problem solving in Math.
 Of course, going to Vegas for the national I Teach K! conference seems to be on my list of annual summer list of things to do. This is my third summer attending. I keep going back because it's the best of the best teachers/presenters that SDE has to offer all in one location!!! I have met so many wonderful teachers there and so many of them I am blessed to call friends. :) One in particular, Alessia Albanese, www.mrsalbanesesclass.blogspot.com, is one of the dearest and sweetest teachers I know. She is my special Canadian friend!!! The only bad part of Vegas is that I never have enough time to visit with all my teacher friends. :( If I go next year, I'm hoping to go a couple of days earlier so we can hang out by the pool and do some shopping together before the classes start. :) There are many other friends that I would encourage you to follow their blogs. Here are just a few:
Deedee of www.mrswillskindergarten.blogspot.com, Kim and Megan of www.kindergals.blogspot.com, Fran of www.kindergartencrayons.blogspot.com, Kathleen of www.growingkinders.blogspot.com, Deanna of www.mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com, Kimberly of www.kinderbykim.blogspot.com, Shari of www.kidscount1234.com , Rachelle of www.whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com and Katie of www.littlewarriors.blogspot.com  I will list more of my new friends and their blogs on another post. These are enough to get you started. :)
We had open house last night for Kindergarten! The students come Monday. I am looking forward to another wonderful year with a wonderful group of Kindergarten sweeties!!! At the moment, I have 19 sweeties on my class list.
Kirk, Kara and Kali had a great summer! Kirk and Kara attended California for FBLA Nationals and  Jamaica for mission trip. They have also stayed busy with work. Kali enjoyed hanging out with friends and going to the pool. She also spent a week at Lakeshore Camp.
I always look forward to meeting a new set of sweeties but get a little sad when summer is over because it just means that time is passing so fast with my own three kiddos. Our family has been blessed with good health and lots of good times this summer. I am thankful for the memories we have made. :)
We also enjoyed spending a lot of time with Elijah and Annalesa, our most favorite babies in the world and had several sleep overs. :)We are looking forward to many more of them!!! It has been fun to watch them grow and change over the summer and we are thankful their parents let us spend so much time with them.
Hoping you and yours have a blessed school year!

Monday, June 24, 2013


woo hoo!!! I will be there this time in 3 weeks at I Teach K! in Las Vegas!!! This will be my 3rd year attending and I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to see all my dear teacher friends from across the country and from Canada :) It's going to be so much fun and the presenters are AWESOME this year as always! In the meantime, I will be attending Dr. Jean Feldman's 2 day workshop this week in Nashville. I love Dr. Jean!!! She is such an inspiration to me! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! It's going way too fast so enjoy time with your family and friends as much as possible. Blessings to all!!!

Monday, June 3, 2013

End of Year and my niece is going to be a Kindergarten teacher! :)

I am so excited to make this post! We finished up school on May 22. I can honestly say I had one of the best years ever teaching. Note: I always have the best class. :) I just feel that this year I did a better job teaching than I ever had before. Maybe it was the common core standards that made me dig deeper to accurately teach them (I still have much room for improvement I assure you) and maybe it was the smaller class size but I really feel that I was able to help my students grow more this year than I have been able to in the past. It makes me wish I could get all my sweeties back from previous years and teach them the way I am and the way teaching is being done now.

We don't have a formal Kindergarten graduation at our school but I think it's something we might want to look into. When I first started teaching many many years ago, we did have a Kindergarten graduation ceremony and it was always so sweet! On our last day of school, we had a party and then I presented each student with a diploma and their memory book. I also shared with the parents about how hard their children had worked this year and what a wonderful year it had been.

This past Tuesday-Friday my oldest daughter- Kara, my youngest daughter-Kali, Kali's best friend Faith and myself went down and stayed at Pensacola for a little fun in the sun time! We went there in the fall and stayed at Navy Lodge on the navy base there. We loved it so much we are going back this fall break. The last few weeks of school I just got an itching to go to the beach for a few days so we were able to get a room there (only because they had a cancellation) and so me and the girls took off. We didn't even ask the boys-haha! Marty and Kirk are planning a boys only trip to Atlanta later this summer so their time is coming.

I have several inservice days and other conferences this summer that I am attending-some are mandatory and many are optional but either way I always gain useful information that I can take back to my classroom. It's all about attitude. :) 

So my big news is that my oldest niece got hired today to teach Kindergarten at a little town about 10 miles from here. We are beyond excited! Emma just graduated in May from college and already has a teaching job-woo hoo!!! I almost feel like Kim Adsit and Megan Merrell from www.kindergals.blogspot.com. :) I pray that like me she will always consider it a blessing and a gift to be a Kindergarten teacher.

Last week, this week and one week in July are the only weeks that I don't have something on my calendar related to school so I am wishing all of you a wonderful summer and a much deserved summer break!!!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Graduation

These past few weeks have simply been just taking one day at a time and getting through one thing before I move on to the next. I never realized how busy High School Graduation time could be nor how emotional it would be. :( Kirk-our son and oldest child will graduate high school on Sunday. It has been a blink of an eye since his birth until now. He has taught me a lot about life in his 18 years of life. He has always had a gentle spirit and a heart for Jesus Christ. He spoke Sunday at church for our Senior Sunday program and delivered the message. He could of simply talked about his memories but instead he shared how the pastors-we belong to a Methodist church so he has had 6 pastors from birth until now :) -and the people in the congregation had shaped his life and what each pastor (all very different) taught him about the Christian walk of faith. I am thankful that the Lord chose Marty and myself to be his parents. It was a beautiful service and such a blessing to see the young people carry out all components of the service. Prior to that service, we had a UMYF Progressive dinner two weeks ago where we roasted our seniors, Baccalaureate was on Sunday night, a dessert get together at our school for the teachers whose children were graduating today, next will be Graduation Sunday afternoon and then a meal here after Graduation for family and friends. :) 

School lets out Wednesday, May 22nd. I can not believe this year is winding down. I have really had a wonderful year with my class! They have been such a joy to work with and watch them grow through the year. I hope I don't start crying on Wednesday on their last day!  Once again, I have been blessed to make new friends with their parents through the year. Success for the child could not happen and would not happen without the parents help throughout the year. I am so blessed that this year I have had an exceptional group of parents and grandparents to work with!

I am always looking for new ways to teach and new things to help my students learn. Every day I go home exhausted and I always think of things I could of done but I can always say I did the best I could. As long as the students can say the same, then that's all that we can ask or hope for from them and from ourselves. Data is just a number but if it can help me be a better teacher then let it. It's been a tough year adapting to common core while still juggling RTI, AimsWeb, Discovery, and everything else we juggle but I can see how all of it together has helped my students this year and it has helped me evaluate myself as a teacher and areas that I need to improve. 

My goal when I started this blog was to give an idea each time I made a post and I've failed to do that the last few times so I will try to do better. My idea today would just simply be to smile and greet each child each day when they come in the room and remind them how special they are to you! :)  

Sunday, April 28, 2013

WOO HOO! TCAP IS OVER!!!

The TCAP test (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) is over! Kindergarten took it again this year for the first time in 4 years-it is not mandated for K so we were able to get by with a break for a few years. For fear of saying something I might regret, I will just say that I'm glad it's over and so are my kids.:) In their words, they said "it was boring." We are ready to get back to our usual daily schedule of activities and lessons. We only have 3 full weeks of school left so in between getting all of our lessons done I will also need to check the students for mastery of all the K standards. I also need to get their scrapbooks done so it is definitely going to be a busy time as always.
Kirk has been in California this past week with DECA national competitions. He was able to attend by placing first at the state competition earlier this year. He has also managed to have fun this week by visiting Disneyland and other CA landmarks. :) He graduates high school May 19-3 weeks from today...which means we have lots of activities to help/host in the coming weeks.
Kara has been busy with school, cross country training and babysitting. She has also been busy planning and saving money for a trip that she and Kirk will make back to California in June for FBLA nationals.
Kali also finished tcaps this week for 4th grade and she is also glad it's behind her for another year. :)
My cousin, Lesa, passed away last Sunday from brain cancer. She was diagnosed in October 2012 and fought a good fight. She leaves behind a precious family and a testament of faith that we should all strive for. I have been blessed to be able to spend time with her 1 1/2 year old grandson and 3 month old granddaughter for the last couple of weeks. I hope to be able to share in their lives for many years to come as we hold them and all their family dear to our hearts.
There is an awesome giveaway at www.rockinteachermaterials.com for a trip to I Teach K! this summer. You can enter it but I sure hope I win since I've paid my own way to it these past two summers and I would love to be able to go for free this summer! :)
Have a great and blessed Sunday!  
 

Friday, April 12, 2013

Finally and Count Your Blessings

I have been telling myself over and over many times in the past month that I needed to blog so Finally I have sat down to do it. Spring break was the last week of March and it was cold (snowed a little but not enough to play in) and then cloudy. It was nice though to have some time off. Since then, we have been busy reviewing all the skills we have worked on in Math and working on Unit 6 skills in Reading. We are also preparing for the TCAP test April 22-26. I think the worst part for me is having to cover everything up in the classroom. I will do that one night next week. I don't want to do it too soon because it makes the room look drab but I want to do it soon enough that the kids get used to it.
This past Friday-Wednesday our family was in Chattanooga for the Tennessee Future Business Leaders of America state conference. Our son, Kirk, is the state president so he presided over all the ceremonies as well as many behind the scene activities. Kara our oldest daughter is also an FBLA member and was inducted as the Region 2 President. There were 1900 FBLA members and advisors from across the state in attendance. We took Kali out of school as it is a good learning experience for her and of course according to her it just wouldn't be fair to not take her. :) We were able to visit Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Aquarium over the weekend before the sessions got started on Monday. We returned late on Wednesday and then got back to school yesterday. Ms. Raeleen, our wonderful Kindergarten computer lab teacher, was my sub and she did a great job keeping my students on schedule with their lessons while I was out. We were studying about plants this week and she even planted flowers with them! I Love Her!
Kirk is extremely busy with Senior activities and trips. I can't even name them all. He went to Africa over Spring Break on a mission trip and had a wonderful, memorable trip. Kara has decided to join the cross country track team so she has been busy getting in shape and she and Marty are enjoying running together whenever they can.
Before we know it summer break will be here and we will wonder where the time went. I have really had a great year with my class and I have grown to love them so as I always do each year.
These past couple of days I've had the blessing to spend some time with two sweet little children while their mom spends time with her mother who has been battling cancer since October and this past Wednesday had a stroke. They are cousins to us and very special to us! It is now just a matter of time until she meets Jesus face to face. So happy for her but so sad for family. Keep this family in your prayers, Count Your Blessings and treasure the moments we have here on this Earth with our family and friends.
 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

St. Patrick Willis Day and a Pot of God



Yesterday I was reading the history of St. Patrick's Day to my class. We discussed how St. Patrick ministered to others and organized many churches and was a saint-a good man. We discussed all the things we see and talk about at St. Patrick's Day-the shamrocks, Ireland, green, leprechauns, pots of gold, etc. After reading I decided to quiz the class on what we had learned to see who was listening and paying attention. I asked who was St. Patrick hoping to get the answer of he was a saint or a good man. Instead one of my sweeties said very excitedly "Patrick Willis" lol! For those few who don't know who Patrick Willis is he is our local young man who has made a name for himself as a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers. :) I explained that Patrick Willis was a good man but St. Patrick's Day was not named after him! :)

Today our journal prompt was "At the end of the rainbow is a......" One little girl finished her sentence with a "pot of god." Now I know she was trying to spell gold because she drew a pot of gold but I think there is a pot of God at the end of the rainbow too!

My niece,Emma, who is the first of 6 grandchildren for my mom and my "first" niece, started her student teaching in first grade yesterday at the school I teach at, HPS, and the school that she and I both attended for primary school. I am so proud of Emma and excited that she is at our school! Maybe one day we will be like Kim and Megan of Kindergals. :)  www.kindergals.blogspot.com They are a very sweet mother/daughter Kindergarten team that I have met and love!

Spring Break is down to 8 days away....woo hoo!

My idea for today would be to sing, sing, sing in the classroom! I'm a huge Dr. Jean fan so I get lots of my song ideas from her. We sing songs for just about everything-joining at the mat, lining up, paying attention, writing names on paper,etc. Sometimes I just make up silly songs-the sillier the better!

Friday, March 8, 2013

Dr. Seuss and Spring Break

We celebrated Dr. Seuss all week and had a great time! We finished off today with green eggs and ham waiting for them when they came in this morning and green eggs and ham cookies and red fish, blue fish cupcakes to snack on throughout the day-thanks to my little sweeties and their moms for making them! :)
I feel like the last month has been a whirlwind. I had a weekend getaway with two sorority sisters in Feb. in Georgia at one of the girls' cabin. To say it was a fabulous weekend would be an understatement! Her cabin is gorgeous and so are all the quaint little towns surrounding Ellijay, Georgia where her cabin is located. The scenery is spectacular!
We attended a scholarship reception for our son Kirk at University of Memphis last week. He is set on attending there in the fall and we are really pleased with the campus and with all the scholarships he is receiving he is pretty much getting a full ride. I am thankful for him and all his hard work throughout his school years. He has excelled academically and also excelled with leadership roles in school organizations as well as serving as the FBLA state president. :) So getting ready for his graduation is quickly approching...
Kara is busy with school and church activities. She is anxious to get her senior/high school ring ordered as the sophomores are ordering them now. Crazy that one is graduating in 2 months and the another one is already making plans to! Kirk is leaving in two weeks during our spring break for Kenya on a mission trip. He and Kara are also going to Jamaica this summer for a week on a mission trip. I am so thankful that God has called them to have a heart for mission work and look forward to seeing what the Lord has planned for them. Kali is just enjoying being a fourth grader and I'm thankful I've still got a little one around while Kirk and Kara are gone so much!
My idea to share today would be to use Deanna Jump's common core standards posters in the classroom. We got these in the fall of 2011 from tpt when we started implementing common core standards and we love them! They are so cute and I love Deanna and all her products. She is such a sweet person with a sweet spirit! check her out at www.mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com if you haven't already.
A story to share....on our weekly homework one of the activities was for the students to write a sentence about Spring. One little boy wrote "Thank God for Spring Break!" lol   I loved it and my response was "Amen!" I just love Kindergarten! Have a great weekend!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

He's taking chocolate!

Yesterday one of my little sweeties was doing a whole lot of talking. He likes to talk anyway but yesterday he was really at full speed. I knew that in the past his medicines for his allergies had made him hyper because his mom had discussed it with me and she even said she had noticed it at home. She actually decided to switch the medicines and it did help. I thought yesterday maybe he had an allergy flare up and I asked him if he was having to take some medicines for allergies that would make him over talkative. Before he could answer, another student said "no, he's taking chocolate!" I guess he knew we'd all had too much chocolate for Valentines Day!
My idea for today-use Deanna Jump's posters for Common Core Standards (visit her blog at mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com) -they are simply the best and the first purchase I ever made off of TPT!
Enjoy the long Presidents Day weekend!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Life is Love!

"Aren't they sweet?!" Our preacher always says that when all the children go up for Children's Sermon at church and it's so true. Children are just precious and so sweet-maybe that's where the saying comes from "I could just eat you up!" that we say to little sweet babies.
Valentine's Day in Kindergarten-What a Sweet Day!WOO HOO! This morning I was telling the students that to me everyday was a day of love and one of my little sweeties said "Life is Love!" From the mouth of babes. Life really is love-love is what created us-God's love and his love saved us through his son Jesus. We could not have life without his love! I am just in awe at how God can speak to me through his precious children. My own children have taught me so much about God's love and forgiveness. I often think God sent them to me to make me a better person and draw me closer to him.
Dr. Jean shared an idea at one of her seminars to use a can and cover with construction paper and glue googly eyes to it. Whenever a child says I can't, say you are an AmerICAN. It is your I (eye) can-get it? I use mine instead for when we are stating the focus standard for our lesson. I state the standard. Then the students recite with me "I can spell words phonetically or whatever standard we are focusing on for the day."
 I hope you have enjoyed a Happy Valentine's with all the sweeties in your life! My hubby grilled burgers for us tonight and even washed the dishes! It doesn't take much to keep me happy! :)       

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

It's all about the atmosphere!


So our preacher told the story Sunday of a little girl who had gone down the street to play with her friend. When the little girl didn't return home when she was supposed to, her mother began to worry. Very shortly thereafter the little girl came home and her mother asked her why she was late-the little girl told her that her friend's doll had broke. Her mom said well you couldn't put it back together why did you stay. The little girl replied "I held her hand and helped her cry." That made me think of many things and how when we get down to it the atmosphere we create in our classroom is essential to each child's learning. If we and our classroom evoke an inviting and caring atmosphere, I firmly believe that each child will feel safe, secure and ultimately succeed. Now I know that each child is different and we can only do so much but at the same time we CAN control the atmosphere we create.
It makes me sad and I must admit irritated when teachers have a reputation of screaming and fussing at their students. In my own life, I have never found screaming to solve any problems.
So as Valentine's Day is upon us, may we all remember that our actions speak louder than our words and that for many kids being at school is the BEST part of their day. Make it special and memorable for all of them!
My idea today would be to to let each child have a turn at doing something throughout the day-whether it's at sharing time, helping solve problems on the promethean board, leader, door holder, return my tray to lunchroom,deliver something to office, pass out papers,etc.-use the pick sticks if you can't remember who has had a turn or not. That way they know that they are important and very much loved and appreciated by me!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Blogging...


So I was thinking - uh oh have I gotten myself into another thing that I have to add to my to do list by starting a blog....Well, I think it's all in the way you look at it. If we start comparing ourselves to other teachers out there or comparing ourselves to anyone then we are setting ourself up for failure. God made us all with a special plan in mind and as long as we utilize the gifts he gave us we should never be concerned with wanting to be like anyone else. He loves us and he knows us and our strengths. We should be blogging because of the connections and resources it provides us with in the teaching world not because we want to be like someone or feel that we are competing with others to be the best blog out there. I know some bloggers have posted some personal struggles with this issue and let me assure you that the bloggers who have posted those concerns are AWESOME bloggers and teachers and they have great ideas! Just my thoughts on that...

My idea for today would be to use HeidiSongs in the classroom. Visit her link here www.heidisongs.com
I use her dvd's everyday and we LOVE them!

It is a busy week for us on the homefront. I had to take Kirk to Nashville on Sunday for an FBLA meeting. He is coming home this afternoon-Marty will go and pick him up. The seniors' Great Pretenders performances are this Fri. and Sat. night. This is the biggest fundraiser for Project Graduation. It is going really well and should be a very entertaining and fun show! Practices are every night this week-LATE NIGHTS!!! Kara is busy as usual with school, babysitting, and school activities. Kali is of course staying busy with homework, playing at home when we are there and tagging along to Great Pretenders' practices.

Our class will celebrate Valentines with a party on Thursday afternoon. We will begin mailing our Valentine cards to our friends this afternoon. What fun! I am thankful that our school still allows us to have parties for all the big holidays. I know of some schools that do not.

Have a great day and a very Happy Valentine's Day!!!
Leigh Ann

Friday, February 8, 2013

Woo Hoo! My new blog design!

I'm so excited that after 6 weeks in the making I now have my new blog design up! Thank you so much to the Honey Bunch Blog Design team for all their hard work and efficient service. They went above and beyond to tailor make it for me. Just another quick thank you to Alessia and Deanna. :)

My goal from the beginning of my blog has simply been to journal and share with others my life as a teacher, a mother, a wife and a child of God. In case you haven't read enough of my blog, the reason I chose krazy4K as the title is that I love teaching Kindergarten but of course I love my own three children-Kirk,Kara and Kali even more thus the title! Now I don't want to leave out my husband-Marty for I love him very much too! For some crazy (krazy as i say) reason I love the coziness and warmth that gingerbread evoke and so I wanted them incorporated into my blog design. Maybe it's because when I was little my grandparents always kept those ginger snap cookies at their house. :)

I have met so many incredible and wonderful teachers through the blogging world. Many have become dear friends to me. It all started with teacherspayteachers.com a couple of years ago. As I learned more about tpt and followed some of the teachers on tpt, I eventually started reading their blogs. Last fall after I had met some of these teachers face to face at I Teach K! National Conference over the summer , I set up my own blog just as a means to make it easier and more convenient for me to keep up with the teachers and blogs I follow. I do not create products for tpt I just buy the ones I really like. :)

As a teacher,I would like to simply be able to use my blog to let others know what I have tried and/or what I do in the classroom that seems to work. The ideas I share are not all my own so if I give you an idea I will always let you know who gave me the idea so that you can also check out their blogs or tpt products. I wish that when I was first starting out as a teacher, that the blogging world had been available!!! Can you imagine how AWESOME that would have been?!!! For my niece Emma, who is student teaching now and will receive her degree in PreK-Third Grade this May I am so excited that the blogging world is available for her starting out! By the way, she was just a little sweet toddler when I first started teaching and now she's going to be a teacher and also a sweet little momma by this summer. We are so excited to get to welcome a sweet little baby boy into our family this summer hopefully on my birthday!!!

My goal is to give you an idea each time I post on my blog that works well for me and my sutdents. Today's post idea is to use the pick sticks (popsicle sticks with students' names on them) and each morning as you come together for circle time/morning meeting draw a few names and let them tell the class something good. We start each morning with "Tell me something good." This idea was shared by Dr. Jean Feldman and it was an idea that was shared to her. I usually pull about 6 sticks and then some days I tell them to turn and tell a neighbor something good. This works well for that little sweetie who always says "I didn't get a turn. " :)

In closing, for my first blog post I want to say that I am very thankful that the Lord chose me to be a Kindergarten teacher. I truly feel that it is a calling. I am also thankful that I get to teach at the primary school that I went to as a little girl. I love going to school everyday!
Thanks for reading! Have a great day and God Bless You and Yours!
Leigh Ann :)

Friday, February 1, 2013

krazy4K: I'm so excited and I think you'll like it!!!!

krazy4K: I'm so excited and I think you'll like it!!!!: "I'm so excited and I think you'll like it. I'm about to get my new blog design up and going." woo hoo! this is my last post before my new d...

I'm so excited and I think you'll like it!!!!

"I'm so excited and I think you'll like it. I'm about to get my new blog design up and going." woo hoo! this is my last post before my new design goes up. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! Alessia-thank you so much for your encouragement to do this. Deanna-thanks for redesigning your blog design to head me in the right direction to get mine up and moving. The friendships I have gained through SDE and blogging are priceless! You truly all mean the world to me and I'm so thankful for being connected with such wonderful teachers as all of you are. God Bless All of You and thank you for the blessing you are to me!

Monday, January 21, 2013

krazy4K: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

krazy4K: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.: I hope everyone has enjoyed this special holiday and took time to remember Martin Luther King Jr. We talked about Martin Luther King Jr. and...

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this special holiday and took time to remember Martin Luther King Jr. We talked about Martin Luther King Jr. and his contributions to our country on Friday. I read the students some books about him and we watched a little picture book on video. We wrote about what our dream would be. I also told them about how I wasn't born until June of 1968 and that he was killed in April of that year before I was born. My daddy was in the National Guard and he along with my father in law and others in our local guard units sent their soldiers to Memphis to help maintain peace immediately after the shooting. There were riots and it was a very serious situation. We live in Huntingdon, TN which is about 100 miles from Memphis and the students have heard of Memphis even if they have not been there. 
After discussing all the good things that Martin Luther King Jr. did and stood for and how he was shot and killed, one little boy came up to me and buried his head in my side and started crying. He said "Martin Luther King was such a good man. I wish they didn't shoot him." What a precious thing for a little one to think and say. 
My new blog design is in the final stages. I previewed some of the graphics and they are so CUTE!!!
Tara West, one of the bloggers I follow, of www.littlemindsatwork.blogspot.com is running a sale on her tpt products until midnight tonight. She and her hubby took a weekend trip to Viva Las Vegas so her sale is in honor of her getaway. :) I met Tara at Vegas this past summer and even though we didn't get to spend a lot of time together I clicked with her. I also really like her creations for the classroom. Go over to tpt and check them out!
We did get out of school this past Tuesday at lunch and all day on Wednesday for some icy conditions. Not the snow that we wanted but oh well we still have time for that!
I hope you all have a great week!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

I can't believe it - I got a shout out from my dear and sweet friend Alessia on her blog www.mrsalbanesesclass.blogspot.com! yea-i'm so excited! With that being said, I must let everyone know who is  reading my blog for the first time that I should have my new and much improved blog design up in a few weeks. I have some sweet ladies working on it and they are swamped with requests right now. Be sure and follow me so that you'll be the first to know and see when the new blog design is published. I'm so excited about it!!!!
Speaking of Alessia be sure and check out her products on tpt in addition to her blog. She has some awesome units as I've mentioned before.
We (me, my students, my own 3 kiddos and all my fellow teachers) are hoping to get some snow soon! Last winter, we didn't get hardly any snow-not enough to get out and play in. We are hoping this will be the year for it. :) Right now we are dealing with a flood watch as it started raining in the night and hasn't let up hardly any today. The temperatures are supposed to drop down into the 20's tonight so who knows- will it change into snow, will all the rain we've had freeze, or if the rain doesn't stop will we have flooding conditions? I'll let you know in my next post. Have a great week!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Getting back into the swing of things...

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's back to school we go!  Christmas break is over and we  headed back to school today. This year we got out later than usual not until Dec. 20 but have had a longer break at the end so I must admit I have enjoyed having this week out after New Year's Day and I actually feel like I had a break and didn't mind getting back into the swing of things as much as I thought I would. I have to admit though that it's hard to start getting up early again when you've grown accustomed to staying up late and sleeping later in the mornings. :)
I had a "dressy" outfit laid out for this morning but after taking the dogs out and realizing how cold it was I decided khaki pants and a Mustang sweatshirt were a better choice for this Monday! I'm thankful that our principal doesn't require us to be "dressed up" fancy everyday as many times I am down in the floor working with the students or since sometimes they use me as a kleenex. :)
It was good to see the students again after the Christmas break. We got a lot accomplished which is good because I dreamed twice over Christmas break about school and in one of my dreams I started crying because I didn't feel like I had covered everything that I needed to. Funny thing is I always reflect and wonder and wish I'd done something else or more. At least I know I did the best I could.
So today went off well and I was able to get some new centers up and running and get some one on one assessments done for report cards that go home Friday. The kids adjusted fine to being back at school. One little boy cried towards the end of the day and said he wanted his momma. I told him I wanted my momma to but his mom and my mom were at work and they couldn't come pick us up. :) He stopped crying after that. :) He says this most days so it wasn't a surprise for him to cry and say it. Other than that the day went off without a hitch. I was contacted by the office staff to let me know I would be getting a new student tomorrow-a little girl- so say a special prayer for her and me. :)
As far as my 3 kiddos, they are doing well and survived their first day back at school. Kali actually was ready before me this morning (we'll see how long that lasts)! She's not a morning person and like Kirk is a night owl so I'm sure her true colors will shine through before the end of the week. :) Kirk started his last semester of his high school years! It's going to get busy now with plans for Great Pretenders(fundraiser for senior class) in February, FBLA State conference in April that he'll be presiding over, and then plans for graduation. He has decided on University of Memphis for college and once he decided for sure on that he said that was a load lifted off of him. Kara who started 2nd semester of sophomore year is also busy with plans for FBLA this spring as she will be running for Regional Officer. 
Thank you for reading my blog! I know it's simply a journal of my life as a teacher, mother and wife but I enjoy being able to share with my followers my life and being krazy4K. :) I always kept a diary as a preteen and teenager but stopped shortly after marriage. I feel that this is a way for me to journal and if nothing else to look back on one day and say remember when for me and my family. May you and yours enjoy a blessed and happy 2013!