I am THANKFUL for AMAZING PARENTS!

I can't thank you enough!  This has been a very busy school year, and as the holiday season has begun, it seems to be getting busier.  I just want to take this time to thank all the parents and families of the students in my class.  They are always willing to help and show their support.  I haven't updated the blog lately simply for lack of time, but I do want the students, parents, and other viewers to know that we have been very busy here at school.

Here are just a few of the things we have been doing:

THANKFUL TREES: I can't believe I didn't get a picture of our wonderful thankful trees, but they were nothing short of amazing.  For each school day during the month of November up until Thanksgiving, each student wrote one thing he/she was thankful for on a leaf and placed it on his/her tree.  We started with bare trees, and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, our trees were FULL of leaves.  While it was all cutesy and fun, there was also a very heart-warming part of this project.  The students went above and beyond my expectations, expressing thanks for not only their toys and fun gadgets but also family members and teachers.  On the last school day before Thanksgiving the students took the trees home to (hopefully) share with their families. :)

VETERAN'S DAY: For Veteran's Day, I wanted the students to understand exactly who a Veteran is and why we honor them.  I thought the best way to do this would be to discover who Veterans are in our own families.  Therefore, (and here's the part that especially deserves a "thanks" to the parents) for homework, the students were sent home with a template of a soldier's body.  Each student was to talk with his/her family about Veterans--who they are and if they knew any veterans.  The students were to make the soldiers using the template and write 1 or 2 sentences to share about the Veteran with the class.  It was a HUGE success.  The students loved sharing their Veteran with our class, and it proved to be a great way to honor the Veterans in our own classroom.  The pictures below show a little more about what each soldier looked like, as well as the "end result" with all of the Veterans our class brought in.

Thanks again to all of the parents that play such an important part in their child's education!  The quote above is the honest truth--YOU are the KEY to a teacher's success! 

THANK YOU, 

Ms. Brandt

The class has spoken...

We held our own Presidential Election in our classroom today, and Mitt Romney won our election!  The students are very excited to see if the rest of America feels the same way!  :)

Our Visitors Recently....

We have had a couple visitors recently...

On October 26, Dr. Doering came to visit the first grade to discuss how to take care of our pets, as well as how to stay safe around strange or unfamiliar pets and animals.  

On November 1, Clifford stopped by our classroom and dropped off books for our class courtesy of Scholastic, Inc.  We are very grateful to have such amazing supporters in our education! (Sorry, I didn't get any pictures to share our awesome experience!)

I am THANKFUL for the Fall Skating Party!

Every day we should be thankful, but it seems that this month, we spend a little extra time thinking about all the things for which we are thankful.  One of the things I am thankful for is our fall skating party.  It seems that now-a-days field trips are rare, and with the high focus on academics, kids are being challenged to "grow up" sooner than they did back in the "good ol' days." :)  The fall skating party is so much fun for the kids, but also for the teachers!  I enjoy skating with the kids and enjoying good old-fashioned fun because it gives me a chance to connect with the kids outside of school.  We had a great time...here are just a few "glimpses" into our wonderful, fun-filled afternoon.
(Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures.  Hmmm...might be a good reason to upgrade to a new phone! ;) )

These are a few pictures of the bus ride to the skating party. 

...And finally, we hit the floor! :) 

These next two pictures didn't turn out that great, but it was a priceless moment that I just had to share! One student's grandpa skated with him and his friend for most of the afternoon!  It was so sweet.  They just skated so fast I could never get a good picture! ;)

Hope you are having a relaxing Sunday afternoon!  

--Ms. Brandt