Emerging and Looking for HELP!

I feel like a butterfly that has emerged from its chrysalis...

I am now on SUMMER VACATION!!! YAHOOOOOOOOO!!!

It has been a hectic few weeks.  State testing, field trips, game day, packing up my classroom, sorting through papers, turning in paperwork... well, you know how I feel.

So, it is time now to get ready for next year. Yes, I am one of those people that are already planning what comes next.  (I know you are too or you wouldn't be reading this.)  Even though I've been teaching for almost 15 years, I find each new year to be an adventure. New kids, new materials, new everything!  It's just exciting to me.

HELP:  I have a question.  I need to be able to lock my documents in the pdf format so that no one can copy the images that I'm adding.  Without buying Adobe Writer, how can I do that???  I've tried and looked at several things, but I know that bloggers have the best ideas and tips!

So, PLEASE, if you know a trick, I NEED IT!!! :)

Now, back to blogstalking... ;)

Sale...

I decided (way too late) to have a (small) SALE for Teacher Appreciation Week on my TpT store and my TN store.

It's a 5% sale, but hey, it's a sale. It is my first. I'm a little nervous!  The sale lasts from today, Sunday, May 6 through Thursday, May 10!

So, THANK YOU for loving your monkeys like only teachers do! Hop on over and visit for awhile.  Enjoy your day!

Remember, without us (teachers, that is) the other professions wouldn't exist. ;)

Love and hugs,

Pain...

Well, I just want to say...

MY BRAIN HURTS!!!!!

Does yours?????

Needing a vacation from the monkeys...

Can You Say... Testing NIGHTMARE?

I was waiting on Thursday during our state testing to be shaken awake from a nightmarish dream,
to be told I was on "Candid Camera,"
ANYTHING but what was happening during our Math test.

My third grade team had tested in Reading the week before and had received back some encouraging results.  This made us so happy that we were looking forward to the rest of the tests.  Maybe our hard work was going to pay off this time.

Boy, was I wrong!

Now, I won't say any specifics. I'm sure you know all about security regulations. So, lets talk about what happened DURING the testing.

Another third grade was in our technology lab with us.  We test on computers. Lucky us. Technology is sooooo fabulous.  This is our first year in doing so.  The monkeys seemed eager to use them and we had trained them well.  Also, we get back results fairly quickly. (Except on this one, math.  Since this is a new test, the state needed results from other schools to set the standard scores.)  This means no agonizing for weeks until we get a phone call in the summer.  Yay, computers!!

Yeah, until you have a THUNDERSTORM on the day of testing.  Yes, that is right, on the MORNING of testing.  What???  I'm sure you are drawing a conclusion already as to what happened.

The kiddos had been testing for about an hour. Most were about halfway through it.  Then a big burst of lightning strikes outside (bright enough to be seen through our closed blinds) followed by an enormous boom of thunder.  Children jumped and looked at us with weary, wild eyes and then...

wait for it...

The lights went out, taking with them the computers.  The lab went dark.  A few intakes of breath was heard (mostly mine) and with great luck the lights came back on. The children (love their hearts) still remembering that we were in testing regulations didn't say a word!  We told them to sit still until we could get our testing coordinator to see what we were to do next. She was making a beeline to us, as this was even more nightmarish for her.

Everything she tried, did not work.

The monkeys were sooooooooo fabulous. They didn't speak.  They sat there for between 30 and 40 minutes without doing ANYTHING!!!  They didn't try to talk. They didn't try to read.  They were perfect.  Many put their heads down.  They were a little drained from the test already.  (This was a great feat for ten year olds!)

The system wouldn't reboot the test for our coordinator so she had to call central office to get our administration there to reboot everything.  Geez...

To our delight, their results had been saved from what they had finished.  I was praying really hard on that one. If they had to have started over, I just can't think about it...

THEN,

I have a rather energetic monkey.  He is a joy. I love him to pieces and he usually reminds me that children are precious.  He had finished the test not long after we had gotten started again.  The storm had spooked him however.  He raised his hand and asked me what was this sound he was hearing.  I listened and it was low and rumbly.  I had no idea, I couldn't put a finger on it.  I told him it was probably the rain outside.  He wasn't convinced.

It kept happening.  Every few minutes he kept raising his hand and in a whisper asking about it.  I finally  tracked down the sound.  It was a student sleeping.  She had already finished and after putting her head down, she had fallen fast asleep.

Her soft rumblings soon became a snore.  Only loudly enough for a couple of children to hear her.  I tried to gently shake her awake, to no avail.  I shook harder. Still ASLEEP!  I decided to let her sleep and if she got worse I would have to wake her.

At this point, I just had to laugh!

What happened?  She got worse!

I was then forced to wake her.  Poor thing. She had been out cold.  How embarrassing!

Then you say, what's next?

A student in the other class got the hiccups.  Not ones you can contain.  Ones that were loud enough for all to hear.  The little girl that had them had tried desperately to conceal them.  It didn't work.

At this point, Candie (my fellow partner in crime) and I could just silently laugh about what was going on and what would happen next.

Luckily, there was nothing else.  Well, until we get our scores back...

Have you experienced anything similar? I'd love to hear about it.

AND, I'm so lucky! We have two tests to go! History and Science...I'm praying for two very non-eventful days!

See, I keep telling you I have a zoo! Maybe now you will believe me!  ;)

Just Checking In...

Thought I would check-in and let you know that I am nauseated and will be until our testing is over.  We test for three weeks!

Well, not everyday, but it feels like it!  We (third grade) start to test on Thursday with Reading.  Our fourth graders tested in Reading today and seems to have done really well.  Which makes me even more sick.  You know... all those "what-ifs" are running around in my head. Ugh!! Hate them!!

So, if you don't hear from me in awhile... send out a search party. I may have been a victim of cannibalism from my monkeys.  Just saying... ;)

Prayers are appreciated and I will return them in your "hour" of need!! Love and hugs!

More Vocabulary...

Greetings Fellow Zookeepers,

I hope this day finds you as happy as a bird with a french fry!

I have added a couple of vocabulary power points to my TpT store and my TN store on Greece, Rome, and Mali and Economics.  (There are some other topics there too, just browse around for awhile. I won't stop you.)

You may have missed my posts on using power points in the past so let me explain them briefly.

I open lessons with them.  We sometimes read them slowly, sometimes quickly, sometimes in a Spongebob voice, sometimes in a whisper... (you get the picture).

It has really helped my students with content area words!  If you use them consistently with the unit that you are teaching, they are a great resource!

They are also good for transitioning students from one activity to the next. We come to the carpet to read them.  It offers my monkeys a way to get up and move some!  Then, as we read, we can be a little silly (did I say that?) and then get down to business.  It usually takes us less than 10 minutes of the lesson AND they aren't forgetting the words!  It is actually SAVING time!!

PLUS, I don't get frustrated over their lack of enthusiasm when we go to read the text because they are able to read it SOOOOO much easier than before and they seem SOOOOO much more interested!

ALSO,they are helping EVERYONE in my class- ESL kids, special ed kids, gifted kids, and regular ed kids.  I wish I'd thought of this sooner!

I'm feverishly working on more so that I can have them for review.  It will help to re-familiarize them with the words from units that we did at the beginning of the year.  (Check my store often for updates.)

So, check them out.  Try them in your room.  See how you like them and then let me know what you think!