Clean Desks

     

   I'm liking up with Second Grade Sugar and Spice today.
www.secondgradesugarandspice.blogspot.com


        A clean organized desk can be a wonderful experience for a child or adult as the case may be.  My desk at home is a working mess. Yes, I admit that my desk at school is the same way as the day goes on.  I am really working on it.
       I do have my students clean and organize their own desks weekly whether they need to or not.  We wash our desks at the end of each day with Clorox wipes. The kids can't believe how dirty their desk gets in one day.  Weekly on Friday afternoon, we purge our desks and wipe the inside, sides, and bottom.  All excess papers are recycled and all books, spirals, duo-tangs, and other supplies are neatly placed back in their desks ready to start a new week on Monday.

     A clean desk does equal success!

Come back again soon. Please leave a comment if you get a chance.

School will begin before we know what hit us.

5 Years Ago

        I am linking up with    I  heart grade 3  for her " Where was I 5 years ago?" linky.
              www.iheartgrade3.com

      5 years ago seems like a long time.  But yet, it is a flash of time.
       I was in the midst of crocheting baby hats for a women's and newborn bday shelter in Detroit.   I had piles of little tiny  crocheted beanies in my house.  They were every color of the rainbow.
       I had used scraps of left over donated yarn from school. I am known as the teacher who collects garbage at my school, St. Michael Catholic School. When someone comes into the office with something to donate, the administrative assistants say, " Maybe Beti would want this."   As a result boxes of scrap yarn came to me.
           This is how I came upon so many different colors of yarn to crochet with.

    This is just a small sample of what the hats looked like.  Now I knit some, too.
 

Who would have thought back then that I would be a grandmother today making hats for my own granddaughter.
We have to leave it in God's hands.  He will guide us on our way.

What were you doing 5 years ago?

Stop by again and leave a short comment. I'd love to hear from you.

July: Small Goals

  July is moving quickly.   Today I read a blog, The Yellow Brick Road.
www.yellowbrickroadblog.com
Sorry, I couldn't upload a picture because I'm using a Kindle and cannot do everything I do on my computer at home.  But I am linking up with her.
I  decided that I,too, needed to make some small goals this summer.  So here I go!

1.  Spend as much quality time with my new granddaughter  and daughter before I have to go back home to Michigan in August.

2. Walk more every day.

3. Make  lots of knit and crocheted baby hats. Some will be for the babies and many will be given away.

4. Tell my family that I love them every day.

Please come back again soon. Comments are always welcome.

Enjoy your summer!

Summer Vacation

       It's hard to believe I'm in Arizona during my summer vacation.  It is so very different from summer in Michigan.  The clear blue sunny  sky during the day and warm nights are wonderful.  I went for a walk early this morning because it gets so hot in the middle of the day. 
      I'll have so much to tell my students this fall when we start the unit on Native American people who lived in the desert southwest.  Nothing like 
knowing your material. My son-in-law was trimming the desert trees today in their yard.   It's amazing what can grow in the heat.
         I hope everyone is enjoying their time off as much as I am.

Have you been to Arizona or the desert southwest during the summer?

Leave a comment if you get a chance. Stop by again soon. 
Happy Vacation!

Planbook

        At St. Michael School we use Planbook.com  for our on line plan book.   It is not as cute as some planners with stickers and highlighters, but it does the job.   I used to use an old style plan book, with paper and pencil.  I must say it took me a while to get used to not having something to write in and carry around.  I do print out my weekly plans just in case a sub needs to come in.  Our administrative assistant in the office can print one off if needed because it is on line.

 I have linked up with Plan with me Sunday.  Click on this link   >>>>
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>      :')
 www.kreativeinkindergarten.com

I have also linked up with Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals.
www.teacherdealsanddollarsteals.blogspot.com

This blog has been linked to TBA, one of my favorite resources.
www.teachingblogaddict.blogspot.com

Looking forward to the next school year.

Please leave a comment and come back again soon.

Faerie dolls

    
        I found some blogs on how to make faerie dolls.  They looked so cute.  So I decided to try one myself.
   This blog, Juise,  had a great tutorial on how to make these little dolls.

http://thejuise.blogspot.com/2011/08/bendy-doll-faerie-family-tutorial.html

    I linked this post to 4th Grade Frolics.  I always enjoy reading her blog.
www.4thgradefrolics.blogspot.com



   Mine don't measure up to hers, but I gave it a shot.

Here are a few that I'm working on.  They will eventually have embellishments to make them more fairy-like.

  This one shows the wrapping in progress. 

Here are a few that are almost completed.   I still have to work on their little faces.

       I had some fancy ribbon in my stash of sewing supplies.  I never know what might be useful.  I'm glad I saved these ribbons.

These little darlings would make great writing prompts.  They might be placed in front of an interesting background. The kids would write an interesting scenario.



I'm planning on making little houses in the future for these faerie dolls.

Stop over at TBA to check out what's happening.
www.teachingblogaddict.blogspot.com

 Please leave a comment or a suggestion.  Come back again soon.

Enjoy the 4th of July! 

Baby hats

      A few years ago, my dear friend and teaching partner for years, Janet, decided to have a crochet club in school during the cold winter months.  She organized our 5th graders who wanted to learn to crochet.  The kids would stay in during recess.  The kids that knew how to crochet taught the others.  Numerous boys and girls alike learned the skill of crochet. In the process I also learned how to crochet. We have kept the crochet and knitting club going.  The kids can do any kind of yarn craft they choose. Some of our kids weave or do plastic canvass.
    When I was a child, my mother taught me to knit, but now learned to crochet as an adult.   I tell my students that I learn something new every day.
   So with odds and ends of yarn, I began to make baby hats.  Some of the hats are knit while others are crochet.  

    I was inspired by a blogger who makes knit baby hats. 
                    Twenty Something Granny
http://twentysomethinggranny.blogspot.com/2013/01/knitted-baby-bow-hat.html 

This is knit with crochet flowers.

Crochet with knit bow.

     These little bay hats will hopefully find a good home.  They will be donated to Mary's Mantle, a Catholic residential program for homeless expectant women in the Detroit area. Here is the link to Mary's Mantel.

www.marysmantle.net

    Use your talents to help others.

Please leave a comment and come back again soon.