Keeping Up With Kirbys

Well, I'd say Operation Gratitude was a Success! Almost all of my kids brought in a bag of their sweets from Trick-or-Treats.  I'm pretty positive that some treat bags were a little smaller by the time they arrived at school. I'm grateful for their generous hearts and their desire to give what they had. Even some of my teacher friends brought sweets. We sorted and separated the chocolates, made circle maps of things to share in our letters, and wrote letters to the soldiers.   I LOVE that they wanted each person to receive their favorite candy and some were concerned about allergies. We ended up mailing 17 lbs of candy and 21 letters.   November 15 was the deadline to send candy but  you can visit Operation Gratitude if you would like to get involved another way.

Yes, that just happened.  Three FABULOUS "f" words.  Fonts. Freebies. and Friday.   I just LOVE fonts!  Something about fonts make me happy. Trust me, if I could play with the fonts while writing this I would....I'd have each sentence in a different font. Too much?! Some of these fonts were left over from FOURth grade that I had started working on and finally finished...better late than never ;-) {click here for NEW fonts} I'm loving the "donut talk about it" the most because my little mini me worked on that one.   Don't forget to visit Teaching Blog Addict for lots of wonderful freebies today! Happy Friday Fabulous Friends!

Have you heard of Operation Gratitude?  I am beyond thrilled that I found this wonderful opportunity for my 2nd graders to take part in.  This organization takes your child's excess candy and provides care packages to our military personnel.   I think I'm in LOVE with the idea of kid's giving up something that they love for someone else.  It's a lesson that goes beyond the curriculum and the school day.   You can find out more about Operation Gratitude and how you can get involved by clicking { here }.  I am also very thankful for Just Reed blog because she has created a letter to send home and templates for letter writing.  Stop by her blog and print them out if you would like to do this with your class.  I had to rewrite the letter without asking for money from students for postage.  You are welcome to use it if you'd like. { click here } I sent letters and gallon ziplock baggies home today and EVERYBODY was ready to give up ALL their candy.

Well, where do I begin...I didn't share a room reveal because I think I might have been pouting.  I haven't given you at least a monthly up to date because I have been trying to wrap my head around my teaching career.  There is no doubt that I LOVE teaching and the indescribable thrill I get when kids are excited to learn but things have changed so much.  Yes, I prayed and prayed about my move and I really feel like I'm exactly where God wants me to be BUT it's been hard. 14 years of teaching and I feel like a new teacher again.....lost, scared, and constantly second guessing myself.  In my new school no one knows me, there are rules for everything that I do, and at least 10 meetings per every rule to train me in the rules.  I left a place where everyone stopped and hugged to a very different environment.  I really wallowed in self-pity the first few weeks but I have since realized that was not going to work for me.  I need to pick myself up, smile and make a differen