Saturday, May 3, 2014

Celebration Saturday

Discover. Play. Build.


 I'm so happy that Ruth Ayres started a Celebrate Link-Up on her blog!!!  I will be joining the celebration every Saturday!!
It's May!  That's something to celebrate.  I'm seeing sunny skies, warm weather, and lots of flowers in the future.  This month is going to bring a lot of exciting, celebratory events since Katie is graduating.  Here is what I'm celebrating this week:
1.  Beautiful weather for Katie's senior prom, and I'm celebrating her 2 best friends since that was the last time they'll attend a high school dance together.  I think they've attended every one together. Katie and Jess will be college roommates in the fall, and Hannah will be attending a university close by, so they'll visit.  They have stuck together for a long time now, and I'm sure they will be forever friends. 

          


2.  One of my colleagues raises chickens, so I bought a dozen eggs from her last week.  After I looked in the carton and saw all those beautiful eggs, all various shades of brown and white, and cracked two open to see tangerine-colored yolks, I vowed never to buy eggs in the grocery store again.  They tasted delicious!  I grew up with eggs like that, and I had forgotten how rich and wonderful they were.



3.  Sixth grade testing is over.  Yay!  I felt confident that they were prepared and ready.  My fifth graders take it next week...

4.  After I lost my temper at some students on Thursday because of some dysfunctional group work, I felt terrible.  I rarely yell or get angry, so they were all upset when they left class.  I felt badly throughout the evening.  I immediately apologized on Friday to the whole class.  They were so sweet.  There was a chorus of "We're sorry, too" filling the room.  They said they were sorry, it was their fault, they weren't working the way they should, etc.   We moved on that today to very productive group work.  I felt SO much better, and so did they.

5.  I received a wonderful, early Teacher Appreciation e-mail on Friday from a parent.  It made my day! 

For you Holly. I truly appreciate all your efforts in teaching. My daughter loves your class and you are one of her most favorite teachers, and mine too!
Thank you for all your innovative teaching ideas and using technology to broaden the kids channels of communication. The Skype with the author is incredible and the blog is awesome.
Keep up the great work enriching our kids. You're the best!


 
Off to read YOUR celebrations!  Have a wonderful week and celebrate your blessings. :-)





18 comments:

  1. The girls are beautiful and I am sure these last few weeks of school will be wonderful memories for them. They have so much to look forward to. Yay to testing being over! Ours ended Friday too - such a relief! Sometimes I think it is good when our students see that we have emotions too. Losing our temper happens, but it is the lessons learned that are important. Have a great weekend Holly!

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    1. Thank you, Leigh Anne! We certainly do have emotions. I'm just grateful I have students who understand and forgive. :-)

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  2. I loved seeing the prom pictures on Facebook Holly. Nice to hear about their friendships and plans for the future too. We all lose our temper once in a while, and while it's not usual, possibly you showed the students how it was so frustrating to see the way they were working. Sounds as if you felt really good from both their words the next day & that wonderful parent note. Makes one feel good!

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    1. Yes, those kinds of notes keep us going, don't they?! I hope I also taught the kids that when you say or do something that may hurt feelings, you apologize.

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  3. Your daughter and her friends are beautiful, such a bittersweet time in their lives and yours.
    I had a gift of fresh eggs waiting on my back door step after a difficult day this week. What a wonderful gift. And I love that you get mad sometimes, too. I feel terrible when this happens. It's good to revisit at a calmer time and learn from the experience. You are a wonderful teacher. The super nice email shows that!

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    1. Thank you, Margaret! Ha - yes, I get mad sometimes! ;-)

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  4. Oh these girls! Just gorgeous! Thank you for sharing this note from a parent to you - it reminds all of us about how important our role is as teachers. You are obviously making a huge impact. And back to those girls! So happy and beautiful! Made me smile.

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    1. Yes, they are beautiful and happy. :-) It's such an exciting time in their lives!!

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  5. Gorgeous girls! I'm sure they had a great time. Yum for farm fresh eggs, can't beat that flavor. How nice to get the email from a parent. Teachers work so hard, so a simple thank you is always appreciated. Great celebrations!

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    1. Thank you, Elsie! My computer was acting up yesterday and I couldn't get pictures to download, so I finally got pics of the eggs on here. :-)

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  6. Beautiful photos.
    EnJOYed reading your celebrations!

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  7. Wonderful celebrations! The photos of your daughter and her friends are beautiful. And I know what you mean about the eggs. Whenever I get the chance to get farm fresh eggs, I take advantage of that. Hope you have a wonderful week with lots to celebrate. :)

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  8. The pic of you and Katie could have made the whole celebration. There was so much more. I like the mixture of eggs, apologies, testing and a sweet note.

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    1. Terje, When you list the celebrations like that, they seem awfully random, don't they?! Ha.

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  9. What beautiful prom pictures. How great that they have such good friendships. I know that feeling of feeling uncomfortable about my own responses in class. I believe that it is a learning experience for all concerned. We are reminded that we are human and the students see that too. They also learn how to apologize and move forward as you model that. Thanks for sharing your experiences honestly. :)

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  10. Gorgeous prom pictures! I skipped my own proms but loved going to them as a chaperone when I taught high school. So fun to see the kids dressed up. Your photos of the chicken eggs made me miss my chickens (I used to have a small backyard flock). There is really no comparison between healthy, happy chicken eggs and the sad things we get at the grocery store! Thanks for sharing the story of what happened in your classroom when you lost your temper. I love what Crystal says about that--it really is a learning experience for everyone. I am often amazed at how gracious students can be when we make mistakes and sincerely apologize.

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  11. I love that you apologized to your students and told them you thought about. We all need to reflect and admit to things we wished we could improve on to our students. I wonder how often kids get that type of modeling. They need to see it is okay to make a mistake and say sorry and move on. Thanks for sharing that moment and celebrating it!
    Clare

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