Kindergarten Graduation

 

I can’t believe Kindergarten graduation is over!! The children did a GREAT job last night doing their program. They were sooooo excited to be graduating to first grade  Even though this week was SUPER crazy trying to get all the last minute details figured out and literally running around trying to decorate until the last possible second, everything went smoothly . I didn’t get as emotional as I thought I might, but I think that is because the reality of it all hasn’t hit me yet. Once it hits me that these children are no longer my students, then I think I will have an emotional breakdown.  However, I did start tearing up when I was given this very special card from my students.

 

   

I was so blessed to have a wonderful group of children to work with my first year teaching! I couldn’t have asked for a better group of children or a better group of parents who were always so supportive! I am really going to miss them!! Oh, I know, I will see them at church and at school next year, but it won’t be the same anymore  But if you have looked at my blog and my pictures at all, you know that I have TONS of pictures of these children and that this first year of teaching will ALWAYS be remembered well.  Speaking of pictures, make sure you check out the graduation pictures!!!

A Fun-Filled Field trip to the Crayola Factory!!

 

What a FUN time we had at the Crayola Factory today! It was our end-of-the-year field trip which had been a SECRET until yesterday to make it even more special . I haven’t been to the Crayola Factory in years so I couldn’t remember all that was there. I soon discovered that it was the BEST place to take these kids! There were so many hands-on activities to do, and we could have spent another 2 hours there! We spent about 4 hours there, which included lunch at McDonalds which was inside the building.  We got to see how crayons and markers are made, and we got to make things out of Model Magic which is a special kind of clay that isn’t sticky, doesn’t make any mess, and then it eventually dries! The best kind of stuff to play with!  They got to color on walls with markers, draw on the ground with chalk, and paint with melted crayons. The Crayola Factory is on one floor of the building, and then there is a canal museum on the other 2 floors. That also had a lot of fun hands-on activities for the children to do! They got to guide canal boats through the river, play with legos, play with dump trucks and shredded tire, and so much more!! There is no way to describe all that they had in this place. Suffice it to say, there was never a dull moment!  Make sure you check out the pictures!

Blessed are the Teachers who put up with so much…

 

I have a daily calendar that I keep on my desk at school. Each day there is a cute saying or story about teachers. Yesterday as I was taking off the weekend calendar page, this story caught my attention. Although this is not a Christian teacher’s calendar, we can still apply it spiritually. 

 

Then Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain; and gathering them around him, he taught them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are you when persecuted. Blessed are you when you suffer. Be glad and rejoice, for great is your reward in heaven."

 

Then Simon Peter said, "Are we supposed to know this?" And Andrew said, "Do we have to write this down?" And James said, "Will we have a test on this?" And Philip said, "I don’t have any paper!" And Bartholomew said, "Do we have to turn this in?" And John said, "The other disciples didn’t have to learn this!" And Matthew said, "May I go to the bathroom?"

 

Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan and inqired of Jesus, "Where are your anticipatory set and your objectives in the cognitive domain?"

 

And Jesus wept.

 

Although it sounds sort of amusing to think of the disciples and Pharisees saying all that to Jesus, how often to we treat what we learn from God’s Word as if it were a boring old lecture that we are FORCED to learn? Just like most teachers spend countless hours trying to help their students understand, the Lord spends countless hours trying to teach us the truths of His Word. And how do we treat Him in return? How often does He truly weep over us because we are just NOT getting it? In Sunday School, we have been learning about the Beautitudes. However, I don’t want to treat it like the disciples and Pharisees treated the lesson in this particular story. Yes, this was written for teachers to find humorous, but I think all Christians can glean something from this story! 

 

  

A Graduation Cake Idea

 

It was suggested to me that I get a picture of the children scanned onto the graduation cake. My Mom came in today and she and I took lots of pictures of the children dressed up in their graduation caps and gowns.

 

Soooooo…what do you all think of this picture for the graduation cake?

 

Free to Explore!

 

We let our butterflies go free today! Make sure you check out the pictures.  The children were so excited to let them go free. One of the butterflies seemed to have a hurt wing so it didn’t fly off as quickly, so everyone got to hold it on a flower. In the end, they all flew off FAR AWAY from us!  The poor things were tramatized enough!!

Kindergarten Graduation

 

Today is exactly 3 weeks away from Kindergarten graduation…AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!! Okay, I am better now  My head is spinning with all the stuff I need to accomplish within these next 3 weeks, and I am TRYING to take ONE step at a time. I tend to see the big picture, analyze the big picture, and panic over the big picture!! The children are doing great with practicing for their graduation program. Emaline prayed the other day, "Lord, may we do our best for graduation, Lord,  and not make any mistakes, Lord" Oh dear…I hope I haven’t passed my "perfectionism" down to these poor children! No matter what they do, or what happens, they are going to be cute and their parents are going to love it!!! The program itself isn’t a big worry…at the moment!  Right now my mind is swirling with how I want to decorate and set up the chapel. Details, details….yep, I see the details about EVERYTHING!! Which is good and bad at the same time! So if I don’t blog for the next 3 weeks, you’ll understand why!!!

 

This box, sitting by my desk in the classroom, is a constant reminder of all the stuff I need to do for graduation. Those would be their graduation gowns laying on top of the box in an attempt to get some of the wrinkles out. They are going to look sooooo cute in them…..although the boys aren’t too thrilled about wearing a "dress."  To think that 16 years ago, I was wearing one of these gowns!   Time sure flies by fast!

 

Our Painted Lady Butterflies

 

 

 

 

They Have Arrived!!

Yesterday the children were THRILLED to discover that a butterfly had finally come out of its cocoon while they were out at recess. This butterfly was rather sneaky! I had just looked away for a few minutes to do something else, and when I looked back, there it was! Excitement reigned for the rest of the afternoon as one after the other came out of its cocoon. The elementary children even got to come in to see the butterflies. As of this morning, 9 out of the 10 butterflies are out of their cocoons! Normally, when the children arrive in the morning, they come into the classroom and start chatting with me. However, today, they ran right to the butterflies without so much as a hello! I was slightly jealous , but I am glad they are enjoying this butterfly experience though!! This morning we even got to watch a butterfly get out of its cocoon which I was also thankful for. I wanted them to actually witness at least one coming out. Now the butterflies are flying and flapping all over the "pavillion." We will probably keep them for the rest of the week and then let them go on Friday. Even though the children enjoy watching them, they see them crawling up to the top and they think they want out…which they probably do!! So until Friday we shall enjoy watching our butterflies!

These pictures are from yesterday. I was very sad to discover this morning that I had not put the camera in my bag.  I didn’t know what to do with myself all day without my camera!!  I’ll be taking more tomorrow though! *picking up camera and placing it in bag* 

This butterfly had just gotten out of its cocoon and crawled all the way to the top of the pavillion.

A rather blurry close-up of a butterfly flapping its wings at the top of the pavillion

The elementary children got to come in for a peek at the butterflies