100 Days of School!

Happy 100 Days!

As a teacher, you know that not ALL of the 100 days were happy ones.  But it never ceases to amaze me how special it is to know that I've spent 100 days with these kids.  Make that 750 hours.  My head is spinning already.  Just imagine how much time that is and how much of a difference you make in someone's life.  What would you want out of someone who was willing to spend 750 hours with you?  It's a crazy thought, but one I'd never really sat down to think about before.  I'd love to hear what you guys have to say!

In celebrating the 100 days of school, our students counted everything from beads,

 to crayons,

to Pokemon cards!

We counted in groups of 2s, 5s, and 10s.  It was a great event and we even strung our 100 beads into a necklace!  Now on to the next 80-something days!  Looks like we'll be having 6 more weeks of winter.  Glad we're in Hawai`i!!!

A Hui Hou!

De-segregating Fraction Circles

A funny thing happened today when we were began our unit on fractions.  Our discussion started off simple: equal parts and what are they.  They are the same size, shape, and they match.  Okay, simple.  Then I brought out the fraction circles and had the kids explore them.

The kids noticed right away that they had to match the colored pieces to make a full circle.  They were especially pleased with themselves because we had just been talking about equal parts and they discovered that each piece was equal.

Teaching off of a Whim

It amazes me how much we try to cram into a week of school, much less into an entire school year.  I spend my weekends planning for the following week, occasionally I'll get excited and do a week and a half, or on the rare occasion, two weeks!  But things come up, new ideas get found, and like a kid in a candy store, I have to try it!!!!

Today was one of those days.  I picked up a book from the local library called The Perfect Square.

This book called out to me from the new picture bookshelf primarily because we are working on geometry in math.  So as I browsed through the pages, I realized that there was so much more to this book!  Now without ruining the story for those of you who haven't read it, it's the story of a square who is perfectly happy being a perfect square.  But then it becomes no longer a perfect square, but the square still makes the best of its situation.

**LIGHT BULB MOMENT!!!** 

Missing Teacher - Found!

Aloha all, as it had been way too long since my last post.

There have been many changes since our last encounter and much needed time and space for personal, family and professional growth.  My baby girl is no longer a baby as she has reached the fully active age of 15 months, and my other daughter has turned a beautiful 3 years old today.  My son lost his fifth tooth yesterday.  And now I'm fully aware of just how quickly time flies.