Blog Lovin'???

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I have no clue about this Blog Lovin' business, but I have definitely been lovin' me some blogs for many years now, so I am down with the name, at least.

Hopefully you all have gotten your Google Reader situation figured out--such a bummer, amiright?

Happy Weekend!

We are having some friends over tomorrow to swim and cook out, and Sunday night we have a wedding!  Should be a fun one.

XO,
Gayla

Super Teacher?!

Who has 2 thumbs and was named a Super Teacher in her district???
THIS GIRL!  :)

Funny story.  We were in the middle of the week with the 3 days of state testing, in which every student has to be like SILENT all day long, and of course, the kids are about going berSERK by the 3rd day.  So we teachers decided that the kids deserved to watch a movie.  I know, I know.  It was only April.  Plenty of learning left, but dang.  They had worked so hard being SUPER QUIET.  So anyway (I'm long-winded), I'm the techy person on my team, and I headed down to the library to work on getting the Streaming DVD working.  (Don't get me started on this piece of junk, lol.)  So I called my teammate and said, "Hey, go down to my room and see if it's playing."  I waited a few minutes, and called my room, and my PRINCIPAL ANSWERED.  Um.  Yeah.  I about had a heart attack.  Times 3.  She said that I needed to come down to my room right now.  I was FREAKING OUT, Y'ALL.

THEN, when I turned into my classroom, not only was my boss standing there, but so was our SUPERINTENDENT.  HO-LEE.  COW.  I had no idea what was happening, and I'm sure I looked like a dadgum deer in headlights.

Come to find out, he was there to give me an AWARD!  I had been named a Super Teacher for the district!  They gave me a t-shirt, a magnet, and a notepad!  (My students thought I was super cool.)  Hehe.  Then on Friday our Superintendent took all the "Super Teachers" to lunch and gave us plaques. :)

So, our G/T Specialist nominated me--how sweet of her!  Super Teachers are recognized for creating 21st century, innovative, student-led lessons.  Here is her nomination letter:

Gayla Cockrell is a second grade teacher at Lakeside. She consistently creates her own projects and activities, rather than use pre-made ones. Gayla builds in authentic extensions for the higher-level learners, while still preserving the "fun factor" and student-choice for her below-level learners. This makes differentiation appear seamless within her classroom, and protects the student’s feelings about their abilities among their peers, which is paramount for all learners. For their February research project, she created a Famous African American unit using the Super 3 research method, and student choice. First, she selected age appropriate websites and then developed QR codes to ensure that her learners are successful in accessing these sites with ease for research. Then she created a high-interest, kid-inspired activity for her students to use when taking notes, as well as embedded a vocabulary study for her students to collect new words and locate definitions on their own. Each quadrant of the research activity has a guiding question to focus their research from facts about their birth and death, the important achievements, and the relevance to the present. For the student product of this unit, she provides a list of technology products, art based products, and I Pad product apps, as well as allows her students to propose their own product. Each list has 6 choices, and all have been introduced to her students through prior lessons/units. Perhaps most importantly, the kids conclude their unit with a self-evaluation which asks them to consider their own feelings about their work, and allows them to make their own suggestions for improvement. This initiates the important task of independent reflection of effort at a young age.  Gayla is truly a super teacher at Lakeside!

This really made my year (it was a really rough year for me) and made me feel so appreciated.  You know, as hard as we work, it just feels good for someone to say thank you sometimes.  :)

I hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as I am!  (Assuming you are on summer vacation...)

Thanks for reading!

Boho Birds courtesy of Carson Dellosa!

The lovely folks over at Carson Dellosa saw a comment I posted at Teeny Tiny's blog and were nice enough to send me over some of my very own Boho Birds decor to display in my classroom!

I couldn't believe it, and when my package arrived, it felt like Christmas!

Here are some pics of the first project I made with them (just ignore all the junk on top of my cabinets--what's a girl to do?!)...

I really think the birds' bright colors complement my poms!

(Click the pics to see larger images.)

 

The branches are really intended to go sideways with the birds 

perching on them, but I improvised to make a tree instead. 

Click HERE...

(This pic is from their website, so you can see how the branches are intended to be used (I tried to embed the pic, but it wouldn't work, sorry!).

 

Still deciding what to do with all the leftover birds & leaves!  

I actually saw some GREAT inspiration of how other teachers have used the Boho Birds set in their classrooms on Carson Dellosa's Facebook page.  

Here's the link to check it out:  

Sunny Days in 2nd Grade: Boho Birds!

I absolutely LOVE how she used glue dots, push pins, & the boho bird cut-outs to display student work.  I am SO ON this for our student work displays in the hallway.  They are pretty darn boring with just large black sheets of construction paper (laminated) with nametags and paper clips that hold the work.  Her idea is SO MUCH CUTER.  And of course, if it's not cute, why bother??  Am I right???

Well, I hope this inspires you to check out the Boho Birds or some of Carson Dellosa's other new spring-y collections--they have tons of cute ones, and I won't lie--they've always been my favorite supplier for classroom cuteness.  And I'm not just saying that!  :)  Another one of my favorites is the Calypso Set--I LOVES me some bright colors, as you know.

Another big THANK YOU to Carson Dellosa--if I wasn't already a loyal customer, I would be now!  :D

On another note, my little boy will be turning TWO in less than a month!  Where has the time gone???  Also--must switch into party-planning mode like, NOW.  :)

Hope all you teachers out there are enjoying your weekend.  Our weather here in the Dallas area has been GORGEOUS today.  :)

Alert! Amazing Target Find!

ALERT. I found an amazing little book at the Target Dollar Spot. You may want to grab your keys and read the rest of this post as you walk to your car. Yeah, it's pretty good.

Since I'm posting from my iPhone, all the pics will show up at the end, FYI.

It's called Brilliant Reader: a Book Log for Kids and Parents.

It's a whole book full of book log pages! See below for pics, but I think it would be perfect for Daily 5, allowing the kids to chart each book they read and get a little comprehension practice, not to mention reinforcing their writing skills.

The very last page is just a NOTES page, which I think would be a great place for them to jot down book titles they see a friend reading or that they want to check out from the library next time.

Another possibility is to send this home with them for a Happy Summer, Don't Forget to Read gift. :)

I haven't decided yet, but you can bet your sweet bootay that I bought 22 copies! :)

Run, don't walk, to your nearest Target! :)

Five for Friday! April 12, 2013

I'm linking up!  On Friday!  It's officially Friday for another hour and 19 minutes!  Hallelu!  Click on the image above to visit Doodle Bugs Teaching and check out all the other links and her awesome blog!

Here are 5 random things from my week:

#1:

This is me posing with my just acquired (today!) Boho Birds Bulletin Board Set from Carson Dellosa!  They sent this pack to me for free after I commented over at Teeny Tiny's blog about how I wanted it!!  How awesome is that?!  I felt like I won a contest!  So anyway, all 88 gajillion pieces have to be laminated, and then I can't WAIT to find the perfect spots for these cuties in my room!  (More details and pics to come after they're up and gleaming in their cuteness.)  In the meantime, hop over to Teeny Tiny's blog post to see how SHE used the set in her room.  Plus, if you don't follow her blog, you are SO missing out.  LOVE.  HER.  (In a non-stalkerish way, of course.)  

P.S.  Click HERE to check out ALL of Carson Dellosa's Boho Birds stuff!

OK.  Moving on.  But seriously, I was SO.  EXCITED.  Thank you, Carson Dellosa!!

 

#2:

Did you see my post earlier this week about these cutie-patootie writing lap desks I just made?!  

AGH!  I really am not a very crafty person, but having my Silhouette Cameo (thank you, amazing 2A class!) has got my creative juices flowing a little bit.  And the kids are LOVING using these.

Check out my post HERE to see pics of the others with their fun phrases!

 #3:

HAPPY HOUR.

Twice this week.  Yep.  It's been one of those weeks.

Heck, it's been one of those years.  ;)

But can I just tell ya how much I love the ladies I work with???  They are fabulous human beings, I won't lie to ya.  Everyone should be so lucky to work with people who can make even the worst situation seem funny, LOL!

 #4:

SUBWAY.

I ate it for dinner last night and for lunch today.

It's ok.  I got different chips.  ;)  This, paired with my going to the gym last night for the HIP HOP CARDIO DANCE PARTY class (oh yes, you read that right), is surely going to cause those 10 pounds of tummy flab to fall right off.  Right???

#5:

COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER.

38 SCHOOL DAYS (but who's counting?)

Happy Weekend!!!

New Writing Lap Desks!

Stopped by Michael's yesterday, and their plastic lap desks were on sale for $4 each. Seeing as how they had my classroom colors (teal and lime) with GLITTER, there was pretty much no way I was leaving without some. Hence, our new lap desks for Work on Writing in Daily 5!!!

I whipped up some fun phrases, cut them on vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo (squee!), slapped those puppies on, and coated with Matte Mod Podge.

LOVE!!!

What Do You Think of My New Blog Header???

But seriously.  Is it too busy with the background?  It was driving me crazy that I didn't have a header, just a title, and I can't afford to pay a blog designer right now, though I'd love to hire Barbara at Ruby Slippers Blog Design!  Maybe one day...

But even if it's a little busy, I am proud of myself for figuring out how to put a header together all by myself!  I am NOT a scrapbooker OR digital scrapbooker, so go me.

Seriously, though--what do you think?  Is it cute?  Would less be more?

Happy 22 months to my sweet baby boy tomorrow!  (Sounds a lot better than saying "tomorrow's Monday," doesn't it?)

:D