May 5 (Cinco de Mayo): My new niece Mia was born! All 6 pounds and 7 ounces of her came crying quite loudly into the world. None of my family made it to the hospital in time to see it because she came out so quickly. Now Isaac has a little sister, and it's so exciting to see the 2 of them grow. My aunties think she looks a lot like me, so I say she's going to grow up to be really hot. She is quite the looker!
Baby Mia.
Baby Mia.
Vince, Isaac, Mia, and Mar. Their first family photo.May 9: The weather was really pretty for a while. (Operative word "WAS." What's up with the weather these days?) It just so happens that the school that I teach at, Gatewood Elementary, is located very closely to Lowman beach, so when my teammates and I got too lazy to plan any lessons, we decided to take a walking field trip to Lowman Beach. We're so fortunate to have the option to just get up and go. Well, what about permission slips, you ask? Have no fear. In the beginning of the year, we had all the parents/guardians fill out a general walking field trip permission slip which is valid for any walking field trips throughout the year, so we were good to go. The children had so much fun. They were so fascinated by all the creatures, objects, and plants that live at the beach. The baby crabs and smooth rocks were the most commonly collected creatures and objects. They could have spent the entire day there. The teachers enjoyed the time at the beach as well. It's really refreshing for everyone to step out of the classroom for a while. The following week, we took another walking field trip to Lincoln Park.
Walking down to Lowman Beach. Stay on the path!
Walking down to Lowman Beach. Stay on the path!
The kids found so many crawly critters.May 16: I finally got to watch Ardon perform!!! I was super excited because word on the street is that he's pretty awesome at scratching, so as soon as I found out that he was going to perform, I made sure to free up the night so I could go watch. So, Ardon has been scratching since he was 13 or 14 or so, he has toured around the country and won a number of competitions scratching. Scratching and music is his love. He has put his music on hold for the last 2 years because he chose to go back to school and finish college at the University of Washington, something that I'm really proud of him for. He and I have been together for less than a year, so I had not seen him perform. I was excited to be in the audience, and he was even more excited to be on stage again. He performed with his buddy, Ced and they did about 15 minutes of scratching to beats that Ardon made, which were pretty dope. It was so great to watch Ardon in his element. I could tell he was really hyped to be up there again and he was awesome. I'm a big fan.
Ced and Ardon scratching.
Ced and Ardon scratching.May 19: Tin and Michael visited my classroom for the first time. It was a Monday afternoon and they had just spent that weekend in Michigan. Tin called me earlier that day and said that she and Michael were on their way home from the airport, and had nothing else to do, so they wanted to come visit me in the classroom with my kids. I was so excited to have them come and watch me teach. Tin had not seen me in action before, so not only was I excited but, a little nervous because she's a teacher too. She's also my sister, so I knew she would be totally honest with her opinions on my teaching style. I had just finished teaching the lesson and the children began their individual work time as Tin and Michael walked in. I thought the group was a little loud and some were off task, and it felt a little chaotic to me, so I was expecting Tin and Michael to agree with my own observations. To my surprise, they had nothing but really great things to say about my class. They told me how good the kids were, and how patient they were with teaching Michael how to make paper claws. They said that when they walked in, they were impressed with how well the kids were working, and even the kids who weren't really working, weren't disrupting the class. Their observations made me realize what a great group I have and how picky I am as a teacher. After that day, I truly felt better about my class and about myself as a teacher.
Michael, the children, and paper claws!
June 11: It's Team 2 Camp Time!!! Wow, do the children look forward to this every year! At the end of each school year, we have camp. We don't go off to a camp site, we don't stay overnight. We simply just put all the desks, chairs, and shelves aside, bring in our sleeping bags, and pitch a tent. We have it during regular school hours--the children come to school in the morning, we cook breakfast in the classroom, we have camp, and they go home in the afternoon. Every year, I try to make a camp theme in the classroom that is special to the group. Last year, I made a big tree in the middle of the classroom and put a treehouse in the tree because we read through the entire series of "The Magic Treehouse." Needless to say, the children loved it. This year, I didn't read through a series, so it was a little more difficult to come up with a theme. I was shopping through Target and came upon a tent in the shape of a giraffe, and it was PERFECT! We had studied about being "giraffes" and sticking our necks out to help other people, so there was my theme! I also got a huge rustic looking flower pot, stuck it in the middle of the classroom, filled it with books, and we called it the "Watering Hole." Just like water nourishes the animals, books nourish our brains. Cheesy, I know, but I had to come up with something, so I went with it. I put tables in the corners of each classroom and they used the tables as their tents. I had so many things planned for the children to do during camp, but all they wanted to do was chill in their sleeping bags. Man, was it quiet all week! Bust out the sleeping bags, and it will quiet those kids down. It's so calming for them to be confined to a cozy sleeping bag. Let the kids go into their sleeping bags with a book, pop in a nature CD, and it's quiet for at least an hour. Even better, we called the giraffe the "Gentle Giraffe" and the children that are managing themselves in their table tents will have the privilege to go into the gentle giraffe and do whatever they want to do all by themselves so long as they are being gentle in the giraffe. Camp is so much fun for the teachers and the kids. I'm definitely looking forward to it again.
Team 2 Camp: Gentle Giraffe, The Watering Hole, and table tents!
Michael, the children, and paper claws!May 30: Ardon is the concert coordinator the for the University of Washington. Basically he and his crew put their heads together to find acts to book on campus at the UW, and it's their job to put the shows together. It's quite a perk dating somebody who works in "show biz" because I've got to meet a number of up and coming comedians, bands, and singers. His final big show of the year was the "Concert on the Lawn" where a number of bands played throughout the afternoon and the evening. There were some really great bands that played, and they brought out Judah Friedlander to host the show. You might know him as "Frank" from the NBC comedy "30 Rock." Concert on the Lawn was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful that afternoon and even more gorgeous in the evening. I had the opportunity to sit and chat with Trevor (Ardon's boss) and his wife Sandy, and I really enjoyed their company. Sandy teaches high school history, so she and I had a lot talk about, but even deeper than that, she and Trevor are just really good people. We all really just talked and laughed for hours. It was a really nice evening spent.
Backstage with Ardon and Judah Friedlander.
Looking down at their shirtswithout making a face.
Backstage with Ardon and Judah Friedlander.Looking down at their shirtswithout making a face.
June 11: It's Team 2 Camp Time!!! Wow, do the children look forward to this every year! At the end of each school year, we have camp. We don't go off to a camp site, we don't stay overnight. We simply just put all the desks, chairs, and shelves aside, bring in our sleeping bags, and pitch a tent. We have it during regular school hours--the children come to school in the morning, we cook breakfast in the classroom, we have camp, and they go home in the afternoon. Every year, I try to make a camp theme in the classroom that is special to the group. Last year, I made a big tree in the middle of the classroom and put a treehouse in the tree because we read through the entire series of "The Magic Treehouse." Needless to say, the children loved it. This year, I didn't read through a series, so it was a little more difficult to come up with a theme. I was shopping through Target and came upon a tent in the shape of a giraffe, and it was PERFECT! We had studied about being "giraffes" and sticking our necks out to help other people, so there was my theme! I also got a huge rustic looking flower pot, stuck it in the middle of the classroom, filled it with books, and we called it the "Watering Hole." Just like water nourishes the animals, books nourish our brains. Cheesy, I know, but I had to come up with something, so I went with it. I put tables in the corners of each classroom and they used the tables as their tents. I had so many things planned for the children to do during camp, but all they wanted to do was chill in their sleeping bags. Man, was it quiet all week! Bust out the sleeping bags, and it will quiet those kids down. It's so calming for them to be confined to a cozy sleeping bag. Let the kids go into their sleeping bags with a book, pop in a nature CD, and it's quiet for at least an hour. Even better, we called the giraffe the "Gentle Giraffe" and the children that are managing themselves in their table tents will have the privilege to go into the gentle giraffe and do whatever they want to do all by themselves so long as they are being gentle in the giraffe. Camp is so much fun for the teachers and the kids. I'm definitely looking forward to it again.
Team 2 Camp: Gentle Giraffe, The Watering Hole, and table tents!These are the highlights of my life the last couple of months. This summer will be full of even more highlights, and I won't be too lazy to blog about it!
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