Keeping Up With Kirbys

I cannot believe we are ending 2014 and beginning a new year. I'm anxious, excited, nervous, scared.... Freaking OUT . <-not really. 2015 is going to bring so many new changes whether I am ready for them or not, so I guess I better get ready.   This new year will bring my baby's graduation and life as a college student. Wha?!  His heart  is set on USAFA and we should hear from them in January. He is seriously marking off the days on his calendar.  He has also been offered a paid visit to West Point Academy in New York and will fly out to visit them in March.  I think the key word right now is PATIENCE.  He's put in all the work and now he has to be patient. {I have to be patient} I obviously love pictures more than him. I feel like that will be my mantra for the 2015 year.  {PATIENCE}  I plan to finish my masters this spring. {patience} I have one more class and my ARP to complete.  Oh, and there is this big test that 4th graders take...I hear it's a bi

Well it's here...it's here, Christmas break is here!!  It seems as though it's here too fast but I am so thrilled it is.  I've linked up with The Inspired Apple to share a little Christmas Conversation. Stop by her blog to join the conversation. I thought I'd share a little about our last day of school until next year.   We had a wonderful classroom Christmas party. I'm beyond thankful for an organized and caring room mom. She truly made the difference.  We did a book exchange and I will be honest.....I have NEVER had a good experience with these. {the book that everyone wants} {the book that no one wants} Seriously, kids crying and upset because they want the book that their mom bought or another student's book because it pops up and their book doesn't.  After a few years of this I said "Nope, never again."  -(maybe because that was Kinder) This year my room mom suggested it.  I didn't want to be "bah-humbug"

Tomorrow is the last day before the break, it's a half-day, a busy day and a sugar filled day.  This year it actually snuck up on me and I almost didn't make anything for parents.   We have been completely engrossed in our novel, A Single Shard. { check it out} It has been the best book ever!!  I'm so happy my teamie convinced me to read it to the kids.  The kids and I have had so many wonderful conversations.  It's the kind of book that they beg you (yes, beg!) not to stop reading.  We just finished it on Wednesday and I was a crybaby mess!!  It is a tear jerker.  The sweet kids would get up and hug me and then get themselves a tissue to wipe their own eyes.  It is the kind of book that changes the way kids view reading. When we finished the kids could not get enough.  They wanted to know more and they REALLY wanted this book to be a movie.  I think they will be emailing the author soon.  I made a thinglink for the students to watch some videos about the au

Well ya'll, I have so many wonderful things going on in the classroom and it's all things techy.  I cannot wait to share a few of them with you.   If you haven't stopped by our class blog then you should.     { Mrs. Kirby's Kid's Blog } These authentic pieces of writing just make me so stinkin' happy.  I constantly check my email throughout the weekend to see if they have written anything.  Not because I told them to but because they want to. (insert happy teacher dance right here)  I took my very first student bloggers to the school board and they told our school board what a blog is and why they think it's important.  I gave each one of the kids that presented a small journal, sticky notes and pens to write their ideas about things they'd like to blog about.  This is what their journals look like 2 days later.... These kids cannot get enough!!  Look at all their THOUGHTS... BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!   Look at this fantastic fr

This year I wanted to get more TECHY. <-it's a word.  And as soon as I decided I wanted to do this, my school district offered a Digital Fluency course.  Funny story though, I couldn't even figure out how to sign up for it because it was TOO TECHY.  Yes, I'm that person.  But let me tell you.....I have learned so much!!   The biggest thing that I have learned and implemented in my classroom is a kid blog .  The kids LOVE it!!  The best thing about it is they are writing.....because they want to write.  They have an authentic audience to write for and they want to share their opinions and thoughts with the world.    Oh, and it's FREE!  There is a paid version that allows the students to choose their own backgrounds and a few other other things.  But while were are just starting out the free one is perfect.   {link to our blog }  Just recently we have finished reading biographies in my guided reading groups and some of the kids have shared about the pe

We only have 3 full weeks of school before our Christmas break. Can you BELIEVE it?? Neither can I.  Look who has dropped in to the 4th grade pod.    Yes, it's Steve and Snowflake from the North Pole.  {squealing}  I'm sure every 4th grade student will be on their very best behavior for the next 3 weeks and I cannot wait to see the shenanigans from these two. Really, there is so much to do and so much to enjoy I just want time to slow down.  I spent a little time this weekend getting the classroom in the spirit.  I found 8 hours of Instrumental Christmas music on youtube.  I think that it would be so wonderful to have this quietly planning in the background as the students were working.  {squeal}  Click on the link below if you need some wonderful mellow music to play in  your room too. ;-) 8 hours of Instrumental Christmas Music   I also have some wonderful activities planned for stations for the next 3 weeks.  Of course, I'm not quite ready to make activities

Okay, I'm a little embarrassed by my lack of communication with the world.  I told you that I was FREAKING OUT, then I went silent.  Scary Larry!!--Sorry about that.  It's been waaay too long for one blog to go back and share everything that has taken place since August BUT you should know that I'm LOVIN' 4th grade.  They are precious and independent and we are having an amazing time learning from each other.   This week has been our Thanksgiving break from school and time to spend with our families.  I love this time of year.  It. is. my. FAVORITE!  I love the coziness, the smells, the movies, the warm fires and the cuddles.  During this break my little sass, aspiring photographer, planned a photo shoot for me and the Mr.  This is the text that we received the night before our photo shoot... Did I mention she is 10??  This is serious business but we had a fun time playing with her.  Here's a sneak peek from our session:   She came up with

Tomorrow I will be taking my ESL supplemental test, so in order to prepare myself properly I am allowing myself to get easily distracted.  Not good!--Although, if you're looking for think tank ideas this could be good for you.  :-)  Yay for ADD!! Last year we implemented think tanks during an intervention time, which was an hour long.  The students were placed in groups of 2 and were responsible for reading a book, responding to the story, creating an activity, and then reviewing a skill.  Each week the students went through 2 books with this same format during this hour of intervention.  They eventually became independent through many weeks of practicing and lots of modeling.  Now that I have a year of these under my belt and have a better grasp of what I'd like to do I am moving to 4th grade.(did I mention a little bit of a freak out)  As with anything new you learn and grow.  There are lots of things I would change BUT..........RIGHT NOW I'M FREAKING OUT IN 4TH. :-)

Yes, it's true.  I'm moving to 4th grade.  Wha?!  After 13 years of teaching K-2 I'm moving to 4th......and I'm freaking out A LITTLE.  This grade has never been on my radar.  I've never been curious about it, never really wanted to move up any higher AND I definitely DID NOT WANT A TESTING GRADE.  Soooo......here I am a fourth grade teacher and I am determined to make it the VERY BEST.  I feel lost and a lot like a first year teacher.  I used to joke about stalking other teacher's blogs BUT y'all if you teach 4th and have a blog YOU ARE BEING STALKED and studied!  I want to learn everything I possibly can.   First things first, I needed to change the blog name.  I quite possibly spent more time changing the name than I actually blog.  This is sad but true.  Originally, I didn't want the name of my blog to be FREAKING OUT IN 4TH, although this is exactly how I feel, it just seemed too over the top.  I don't really plan on freaking out for long.  So

We wrapped up another week of measurement.  This past week was a lot of experimenting with different containers.  We filled them with beans, popcorn seeds, rice and water. Water day was a little crazy......we pretty much swam out of the classroom.  They loved it and there is no other way to truly understand capacity without a lot of pouring, dumping, filling and spilling. Next week we will learn about weight.  We will experiment with scales and different items to weigh (everything except the teacher is okay).  We will be making our very own balance scale.  I can't think of a better way for a kid to understand weight than by creating their own scale. I made a little unit to go along with our learning about weight.  Stop by my TPT store to pick it up if you need a little something extra.   Well, I have truly enjoyed my Mother's Day.  My little sweeties and my honey have made this day super special.  The kids got up at early and made me a wonderful breakfast in b

I think teaching area is my favorite!!  We have traveled around the room on Area Hunts, Raced to Cover an Area and designed the AREA of our bedroom.  <-This is a favorite of the kids.  They are so talented and CREATIVE!!   One of my sweet parents sent Cheez Its for a class snack......which turned into a fun and yummy area math lesson.   You can stop by TPT to pick up My Area unit.  I think your kiddos will LOVE it.      {click here } I hope ya'll have a SUPER SWEET day!!

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned how excited I was for that SNOW(ice) DAY many months ago but guess what?!---I'm not excited anymore.  Wanna know why?....because we have to make up the missed day.  Snow days are fun, making up days are not.   So what's a teacher to do??  I guess I'll have to make our make-up day FUN.  Tomorrow we will be doing a little review BUT the review questions will be hidden in eggs around the room.  Ummm....that sounds fun to me and I'm pretty positive I know 21 little kiddos that will think so too.  {click here } I'm not sure what ya'll have planned for Good Friday but if you're going to school like me then plan to make it FUN!