Camera Critters and Scrumptious Sunday

Rusty and Bob, sharing!
Misty Dawn hosts Camera Critters. Please visit for a lot more great critter photos.

Mozzarella Meat Pie

1 lb. ground meat

1.4 C chopped onion

1.4 C chopped green pepper

1/4 C sliced mushrooms

1.2 tsp. oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1 small can tomato paste

4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

1 can crescent rolls

Brown ground beef and drain off the fat. Add onion, green pepper and mushrooms. Cook until tender. Add spices, tomato paste and 1/2 of the cheese. Stir well.

Spray a pie plate with Pam and spread crescent roll pieces on the bottom and sides to form a crust. Add meat mixture and sprinkle on left over cheese. Bake at 375* for approx. 20 min.

I usually use the whole 1/4 C in the meat then sprinkle extra over the top. Probably too much cheese, what do you think?

Scrumptious Sunday is hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks!

Join in or visit, the recipes are scrumptious!

Overheard at School

As you know, school children go on at least one fieldtrip per year. One year our first grade went to the Zoo. The next day I asked my kiddos what they liked most about the trip. This is the one answer I will never forget. One little girl said, "I liked them big, pink chickens." She then displayed the picture she had drawn of the flamingos.

Busy, Busy, Busy (& A New Camera!)

Wow! That last week of school sure is busy! The kids last day was Friday and our last day was Saturday. That included three meetings I had to attend: 1) the GT Committee met to go over the stories submitted and score them. 2) The second grade teachers met to sort the kids into seven new classes for their third grade year. 3) The big district meeting was held at the Jr. High as usual. The retirees were honored, people with 5, 20, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years with the district were honored with pins. Two of the 30 year people were from our campus. In 3 years I'll have my 25 year pin.

Last week we kept my niece's standard poodle while she and her fiance went to Las Vegas to be married. His name is Dragon and he is the sweetest dog. He and Rusty got along fine, but Rusty had to remind him sometimes that this is actually Rusty's home so he was top dog. She came and picked him up on Sunday.













Speaking of Sunday that was the day of David's family reunion. We all met at Salmon Lake Park. It isn't too far away, just about a 30 minute drive. Click on the link, click on Rental Photos then scroll down to Family Reunion Buildings and you will see a picture of the Crazy Horse Saloon building where our family meets almost every year. We took Ethan with us and he had a great time. The lake there is spring fed and he spent a lot of time swimming, and I spent a lot of time on the shore watching him. We all brought simple food. David and his cousins went through a lot of old photos and a good time was had by all.



Here is a portion of the lake.









May 26th was my birthday and, as promised, David got a new camera for me. A Rebel XTI! The store was having a "special" where you could get 75-300mm lens with the camera kit, so of course I had to get that. I got a case and two rechargeable batteries and a 4gb card because it was "on sale." Now I've never filled up the 1gb cards I have in my Kodak so why I thought I had to have the 4gb is beyond me, but there you have it.




Now I have a little free time to read up on this and try taking pictures!

Overheard at School

I must admit that my desk at school is never very neat, but here at the end I have several extra stacks: the end of the year benchmark tests, last minute graded papers to be put in the computer, certificates to be prepared for awards day, a water bottle and a coffee cup, the meal worms in their plastic box, a birds nest in a ziplock bag, various notes from parents, the office and other teachers, two inventory sheets for the central office, various pens, pencils and markers, and...... Well, I could go on but I think you get the idea.

One of my students was standing by me as I checked her paper at my desk and said, "You know Mrs. Brock, if I was a teacher I think my desk would be neat." This is the one I nominated for GT this year.

Overheard at School

All the children know I don't allow name calling in any form. So with a very sad face one of my kiddos came to say he had been called a name. Well, I asked, what did she call you? With a tremor in his voice, lip trembling, tears threatening, and a thick, slow east Texas accent, he said (I'm going to try to spell this with an accent,)

"Wahdamelon hey-ed."

Yes, he had been called Watermelon Head. I never heard this before and will never hear it again, I suspect.

Overheard at School - Mother's Day Edition

Well, I guess this wasn't exactly overheard. I will be sharing some writing, second grade writing. As part of their Mother's Day gift I had the class write a note to their mom. Teachers never miss a good opportunity to have the kiddos write. Below you will find 5 excerpts from those loving Mother's Day missifs. Please note that I will use the spelling and punctuation fron each note.

**********************************************************************************
(From a boy)
1. Mom, You are pretty mom. like blue bonnets

(I still have pictures of bluebonnets up from the Texas unit)


**********************************************************************************
(from a girl)
2. "Dear. Mom"
You're so prety with your new hair cut. I love U mom your so nice and your fun. but on the phone you talk to much.

(We've been studying quotation marks, can you tell?)

**********************************************************************************
(from a girl)
3. I love you mom I love you a lot just like a puppy


**********************************************************************************
(from a boy)
4. Mom
I love you from the sun to the last planet in space and back

**********************************************************************************
(from a boy)
5. Mom you are nice and cute as a rose. I like the way you dress. You dress better than me. You look like the sun that gets me up every day.

Overheard at School

I had to laugh out loud with this child last Thursday. We were walking back to the building from recess and he came up to me with a big smile. He continued to grin while he told me, "It was a great day today!" I was smiling by now and asked, " Why is that?" Still grinning from ear to ear he says, "Three girls were chasing me on the playground." He was such a happy little camper.

It wasn't so much the words as the combination of the grin and the enthusiasm with which he spoke mixed with those words that made this funny. Priceless.

Overheard at School

During Work Station time I over heard two of my students discussing the large world map. Specifically they were talking about North and South America and the fact that they were different colors on the map. One then said, "Wouldn't it be funny if there was a East and West America?"

Teachers Salarys

I got this in an email from our school district's Finance Director. We all thought it was funny.

If I had my way I'd pay teachers baby-sitting wages.

I'd only pay them for five hours, not lunch or coffee breaks.

That would be $15.00 a day. Each parent should pay $15

a day for these teachers to babysit their child.

Even if they have more than one child, it’s still a lot cheaper than private daycare.

Now, how many children do they teach every day-maybe 20?

That’s $15×20=$300 a day. But remember they only work 180 days a year!

I’m not going to pay them for vacations! $300×180=$54,000.

(Just an inside observation for anyone who doesn't

know it, teachers DON'T get paid vacations. Salarys are

for the days we are in school but

we have it divided into 12 monthly payments.)

(Just a minute, I think my calculator needs new batteries.)

I know you teachers will say-What about those who have

10 years experience and a Master’s Degree? Well, maybe (to be fair)

we could give them the minimum wage.

We could round that off to about $5 an hour, times five hours,

times 20 children. That’s $500 a day times 180 days.

That’s $90,000….HUH?

Wait a minute, let’s get a little perspective here.

Babysitting wages are too good for these teachers.

Has anyone seen a salary schedule around here?”
~Anonymous~

Overheard at School

Finally!! It is time for us to adopt a new math program!! We've had the same one for 10 years. Over the last few weeks we have been listening to presentations by several publishing houses about their wonderful programs. I really liked the Harcourt Program we saw today, but the presenter tickled me with with his earnestness and enthusiasm. At one point he said, in an attempt to empress us with the web based components of the series,

"The online test, where you can take the test online, is online." Bless his heart.

ABC Wednesday H

H is for Hero

We did a HEROS unit at school. The heros we studied included such people as Sojourner Truth, Paur Revere, Dr. Mae Jemis, Sally Ride, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Fredrick Douglas.........



As we studied each person we talked about the qualities they possesed that made them a hero.
The qualities we used were linked to ingredients in a hero sandwich, hoping to help them remember and try to emulate these qualities. The Rolls stood for Ristaker and Responsible. Lettuce for Loyal, Tomato for Thinker, Cheese for Courageous, Salamni for Solver (of problems), Ham for Honest.

Using these qualities we then discussed everyday heros, heros in our lives, and how anyone can be a hero.

See more participants of ABC Wednesday here.

Overheard at School

All the second grade teachers are going to follow the Iditorod this year. I have been showing my class pictures and discussing it in general. One afternoon I stayed late and made a map of the trail so they could keep track of the the musher and his dogs that they draw. I ordered several things from the official Iditarod site. I told the kids what I got. I ordered an official program and an official map. They ooohed and aaaahed. I ordered a story book by a musher that relates the story of her first run. My class can't wait to hear it! From another site I told the I also ordered a dog bootie so they could see a real one. Well. I looked out over a sea of shocked faces and a wave of noise crossed the room. Variously I heard "EWWWWWW" and "a DOG bootie??" and "A dog BOOTIE??" Little boys snickered. I know I showed them a picture of this form of foot protection a couple of days ago.

I am a menber of NaBloPoMo '08.

Taking a Test - OH NO

I swore to myself, swore, that when I got my masters degree I would never take another test. Ever.

Fast forward 10 years. This week I am going to our regional service center with 3 other teachers from my campus to take prep classes for the TExES test for ESL. The English as a Second Language Supplemental (ESL) (154) . On Saturday morning at 7:30 I will present myself to the testing center. At 8:00 the test will start. The test, I'm told will take about 2 1/2 hours to complete.

When (if???) I pass it I will get my ESL certification. Next year we are looking at quite a few ESL students coming to 2ND grade, more than our one ESL teacher can accommodate. There are 7 second grade teachers. After this test 3 of us will be ESL certified in second, two in first and 2 in K.

So far in this training it seems to be not much more than good teaching practices, modifications and accommodations similar to those in inclusion plus a few more rules. I am already an inclusion teacher and use good, research based teaching practices in my class. I'm hoping that the test won't throw me any curves.

I'd appreciate any prayers you can say for me on Sat. morning around 8:00 central time.
Thanks!

Overheard at School

We have a great music teacher at our school. She is everything a music teacher should be and more. All of my second grade kids love music, it's a fun class. They learn about musical elements, they play musical instruments and play musical games. Lots of musical stuff goes on in that class.

Well, the other day a parent came by the music teacher's class to complain. She really was most upset with our music teacher. She says her child doesn't want to come to music class. The music teacher has them.......................listen to music. Can you imagine?

I know, I know. You're thinking that there has to be more than that to it. No. She has them listen to a portion of a piece of music for about 5 minutes when they first come in. Classical and other important pieces of music. She discusses it briefly. They're only in 2nd grade so this is a very short segment in her lesson plans.

Overheard At School

Yesterday I read the book Song of the Swallows to my class. At one point in the story the word undisturbed was used. I asked my second graders if they knew what undisturbed meant.

My favorite answer, called across the room, was: UNBUGGED. I smiled and said, "That's exactly right." I love these kids.

Overheard at School

Today while reading a paragraph and finding information, the class was to give proof of where in the paragraph to find the answer. While discussing one question a student said,

"There ain't no proof!"

Another student, wanting to give some helpful criticism called out, "There ISN'T no proof."

Class Mascot - Beary Bear

I have been inspired to introduce Beary Bear, my Class Mascot, by being in contact with the explorer Edmund Nesbitt.

Beary Bear becomes the class mascot in November each year. I use this as a time to instruct the class, in a very basic way, on the voting process. I always use 3 stuffed toys. Beary's platform is always the most attractive. All of them promise to look after the children, help them do their best, watch their desks while they are away at lunch, and help they make wise decisions. One of the toys adds this: it will sit on the leader's desk each day. Beary promises to do all the above AND go home with a different child every weekend. Like how I stack the deck?

In this simplified version, the kiddos take home a slip of paper on which, in their own handwriting, they must write their name, address and phone number. (At this time I'm trying to get them to memorize their owm addresses and phone numbers)They bring this back to me and I issue them a voter registration card which they must hang on to until time to vote for their favorite mascot candidate. (responsibility) Each candidate stumps the class for a week. Then an election is held. The voting booths are nothing more than folders standing up on desks. They bring their voter reg. cards to me and I give them a ballot. They vote in secret and place their ballots in a ballot box. (Around here we really do still have ballot boxes, no electronic voting for us.) Then students help tally the votes on the board and count. (math)Beary always wins. :)

On Fridays I "pull a stick' and the child whose name is on the stick can take Beary home for the weekend. Of course this is not without responsibility. They must return Beary on Monday with a written account of their adventures . The written account is read to the class each Monday by the child and is then placed in Beary's Travel Log. Click on the pic and you can see an example of one of the adventures.

They love Beary! Every year I take individual pictures of each one holding Beary then give it to them as a present either at Christmas or at the end of the year.

Keeping track of who gets to sit with Beary is a big deal each morning.

Beary has gone through several transformations. I've tried washing them but some of them just haven't held up very well. This one still looks like new.

Baby Shower Card

Today was a work day at school. No kids, just us. We don't get one of these very often, so I took full advantage of it and got a lot of stuff done, paper work, grades, lesson plans, awards for the program Friday, etc. In February, second grade does a big Hero unit, so we decided who to study this year and pulled out resources to share.

We also had a baby shower for one of our first grade teachers. She is so cute, such a little thing and so big and pregnant. One of my good friends who retired from teaching last year be a long term sub for her in March when the baby comes.

Her theme for the baby is safari. She said she is using more green than anything. I made a card for the shower, but didn't have any jungle animals so I used a baby theme stamp set and some of the new Stampin' Up colors. The green part of the card is really darker than it shows here.

Notes From Children

I just love getting notes from little kids! This one is from my precious great-niece! She created it at her nannies house where we all were for Christmas. As you can tell, it is now on my refrigerator and it will stay there for awhile (a year?) before it goes into the file cabinet. She is in first grade in the school where I teach and is always so cute when we happen to cross paths.

Rusty now shares ;) my love of notes from youngsters because he recently got a Christmas card from one of my students. I posted it on his blog, but will re -post it here. The little boy created it especially for Rusty, drew and colored bones on the front. So cute.

They all know Rusty because I have him as the wallpaper on my computer at school. I also found a stamp that is of a Yorkie and it looks just like Rusty. I use it everyday on their folders. They have started calling it their "Rusty," as in :

"Do I get a Rusty today?"

"I want my Rusty upside down!"

"I'm making a pattern with my Rustys!"

"I didn't get my Rusty!"

"He doesn't get a Rusty! He was in trouble in PE."

OK, I'm still working on the tattling thing, but you get the drift. They have fun with it.

Ornament Recipe - Kid Friendly

Here it is Saturday and I'm looking at a 2 week break from school. Of course I'll be up there working on lesson plans and so on a couple of days. The end of the school day doesn't mean the end of work! My kiddos went home happy after the Christmas party yesterday. During the week I provided ingredients for them to create gifts for their parents/caregivers. They included cards, a candle and two ornaments. One was a 3D paper ornament either made from pertty patterned paper or self decorated, their choice. One was an applesauce and cinnamon ornament. Sounds weird doesn't it? Other than the thiness our ornaments looked like these.

These applesauce and cinnamon ornaments went home with my students to decorate their trees. The kids enjoyed making them. We had a lesson on measurement (we tripled the recipe) as the ingredients were prepared in the mixing bowl. The resulting dough was rolled out on a table and each student chose from a variety of cookie cutters I had on hand. They cut the dough, removed the shape to a square of wax paper, cut a hole at the top of each ornament with a straw, and placed them on a bookcase to dry. With 20 of them drying the room sure smelled good for awhile! I purchased some pretty shiny ribbon for the children to thread through the hole once the ornaments were dry. We discussed the fact that these would not be edible once they were ready. ("edible" was added to the academic vocabulary folder)

Recipe

3/4 cup applesauce

one 4.12 oz. bottle of ground cinnamon

Mix to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Make a hole for the ribbon. Carefully, place on a rack to dry. Allow the cutouts to air dry for several days, turning occasionally.

Tips learned from experimenting with this before I took it to school for the kids to make: make sure it is at least 1/4 inch thick or a little thicker or the ornaments will break easily. Be sure to turn! The ornaments in the picture above look thinner than they need for easy handling by young children.