79/365: Signs of Spring

March 20, 2011

Today is officially the first day of Spring. As I was walking outside today, I noticed these tulip leaves that had popped up through the mulch. I was immediately cheered by the thought that we may be turning the corner and heading away from winter.

78/365: Super Moon

March 19, 2011

Tonight is the night the "Super Moon" appears in our sky. This is the closest it has been to Earth, at 221, 565 miles away, since March 1993. I took this shot from our front door. Although the trees are what is in focus rather than the moon, and the moon doesn't look all that big, I still think it's a neat photo.

77/365: What was I thinking?

March 18, 2011

It's Friday again and that means I stayed at school until about 8:00 to get some work done before Kevin and the boys meet me at CiCi's Pizza for dinner. Well, tonight I hadn't heard from Kevin so I didn't know if or when they were coming over. The end of school today marked the beginning of Spring Break, so everyone else was long gone (as they usually are on Fridays.) I got into procrastination mode around 6:00 and decided to rearrange my room. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I just wanted to try something different. So, I got the custodian to bring down the special dollies required to move my desk and filing cabinet and got to work. At 8:30, Kevin finally called to say they were on the way. By this time I was still in the middle of rearranging and had hit the frustration point because I just didn't like the way it looked. Now, instead of being able to start Spring Break and just forget about going into school until it was over, I'm going to have to head in for a few hours and get this resolved. I ask again, what was I thinking?!

76/365: St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2011

They say that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. From the first graders who wear green and attempt to pinch any classmates who don't, to the adults who go out for a green beer after work. Well, we really are Irish, and we like to have fun with the holiday as much as the Irish-for-a-day do. My husband will usually make corned beef and cabbage and add green food coloring to the boys' drinks. Today, he headed to the grocery store to get the ingredients for dinner and they were all sold out of corned beef. So, we decided to go cheap for dinner and let the boys decide. The final consensus was Wendy's (where I knew I could get a good salad.) To carry on with the tradition, Kevin brought along the green food coloring and added a drop to each of the boys' cups of Sprite. Slainte!

75/365: Student Non-Fiction Projects

March 16, 2011

For several weeks, my students have each been researching an animal that lives in the pond or backyard habitat. They have learned about where their animal lives, what it eats, who its predators are, and any adaptations it has to survive the winter or escape its predators. Their research has been "published" in a book that the students will be presenting to their parents at an "Author's Breakfast" and book signing. This project has taken many hours to complete and represents my students' hard work and perseverance. Getting my students ready for this event has been all I have been able to focus on. When this is over, we only have one day left until Spring Break.

74/365: Did You Know?

March 15, 2011

My class has been working on a project that involves three standards all at once. We are learning about the features of non-fiction, we're learning how to research a topic, and we're learning about animals found at the pond or backyard habitat. This is the hallway display of one element of my students' projects. They had to find interesting facts about their animals and then use the program Pixie to create a page of one of their facts.

73/365: Pie for Pi Day

March 14, 2011

Today is Pi Day. You know, 3.14. Well, it was a big topic of interest all over Twitter. So, my husband decided that he would take this opportunity to teach our sons about Pi. They measured the circumference of a variety of objects, then culminated in measuring a pie (and of course, eating it.) He bought a Chocolate Silk pie from Bob Evans. When I found out, I asked him to save me a piece. When I got home, I figured out the WW Points for a slice of pie. I just about fell over. One slice, that is 1/8 of the pie, is 18 points! That's huge! It is more than half of my points allowance for the entire day. So, I satisfied myself with one bite of Nick's pie.