Summer School In Action

Wow,  I thought I was going to have sooooo much time to blog over this holiday weekend, but I have been busy non-stop!  And by busy, I mean busy relaxing and having a blast with friends!  From laying by the pool, to going on a party boat, BBQs, and bike rides.  We have had the most perfect weather,  and I have been trying hard to soak up every moment!  So again, sorry for being a bad blogger.  I seriously have so many things I want to blog about too!

Today, I'll show you some stations in my summer school classroom.  We are at a different school this summer and in a completely new room.  I actually am in LOVE with this room because it has air conditioning and a sink! (Oh, the simple joys).

You can see more on our summer school schedule in this post.  We basically start our day with "morning group" where we are all together to discuss calendar, weather, and write our daily journal.  I just made a bunch of fill in the blanks on the white board, so we can go over it is a class, and then the kids can fill in the answers in their individual binders as well.

4th of July Craft and SALE

Yesterday was the last day of summer school for this week!  Whoo-hoo...4 day weekend!  In honor of 4th of July, we did a fun firework craft that I found on Pinterest.  You basically make a firework stamp from a pipe-cleaner, then use it to create fun fire-work designs with paint.  The website it was posted on has awesome visual directions for kids (and me) to follow along!  Check them out here.  Unfortunately, I don't have a printer at summer school, so I just wrote/drew directions on the board.

Currently: July

It's time for Currently....July.  I feel like I say this every month, but I cannot believe it is already July because the weather doesn't seem warm enough (we are in the midst of a cool front).  But nonetheless, it is that time....and I love it.  Everything about the summer makes me happy, sun, warmth, BBQs, swimming, even the occasional thunderstorm!  If you want to link up with currently, head over to Farley's Blog!

Listening:  Spending my free time today getting errands done (especially a bunch of annoying phone calls I have been putting off)....so now I am blogging while I sit on hold for one of those phone calls!

Loving:  I love having a pool in my building.  I went 3 times last week.  Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but I was super busy....it was just so nice to realize I had an hour to kill and I could do it outside poolside!

Thinking:  About the long holiday weekend.  I am so excited to spend the weekend home and not be traveling (for the first time in 6 years!).  I will be enjoying some pool time, renting a party boat for a friend's b-day, BBQs, fireworks, and street festivals....aaaahhh.....can't wait!

Wanting:  I have been all over pinterest lately, and ready to try some new fun summer recipes.  I also just got a popsicle mold and want to try out some fun new flavors!

Needing:  I started reorganizing my (home) closet this afternoon, and now I want to finish....I took some old milk crates from school and have stacked them on top of my closet to store more clothes...maybe this is TMI, but it was such a mess up there and adding the crates makes it look so much better.  I just need two more to complete the project!

Tips, Tricks, or Hints:  I am no blogging expert...and actually I am really looking forward to reading other people's advice on this.  However, I really like seeing photos of the ideas in action as well as step by step, clear explanations of how things work/are made.  

Hope you all have a safe and relaxing 4th of July weekend!

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Pop & Win Bingo

Pop & Win Bingo is one of my favorite classroom games.  It works on academic skills while also targeting social skills such as turn taking.  This game is from Lakeshore (I know I post about a lot of their products, but they are good quality and deal with so many skills my kids need to work on).  

Cooking with our OWN Basil

On the last week of school the basil we grew in our planting unit was almost a foot tall!  I have done a planting unit EVERY year, and we have never had anything grow more than an inch...so this year's growth spurt was very exciting!  I decided to find a recipe for my kids which involved using basil as an ingredient.  I ended up having them make english muffin pizzas.  

Give-away and Wrap Up

The last week has been a real doozy...finishing up school and hosting a local wedding reception in the same week might not have been the best idea!  

First off...I want to congratulate the 2 winners from my give away....Stacy and Jasmin (check your emails for details).  And thanks to everyone else who entered...I was super impressed by the turnout.  Using rafflecopter to do a give-away was super easy...I will definitely be doing more in the future!

Packing up my classroom is always such a pain!  Why do we need to pack everything up every year?!  I think (actually, I KNOW...) I have more things in my classroom than in my apartment!   I seriously wonder if there is a better way to go about this...and I am seriously considering hiring movers next year to pack up my room for me!  Below are some pictures of the mess of a classroom I created while packing/cleaning.  I don't know how many times I told myself "it has to get worse before it gets better."

Puzzle Storage

I buy most of my puzzles at the dollar store and I love them....they are cheap, pretty sturdy, and if you lose a piece, it's no big deal because they only cost you a dollar!  However, the boxes they come in are all different sizes, they are not sturdy, and they are a pain in the neck to store....so onto my solution!