Enjoying Spring Break and Playing the Noun Game

One thing I know for sure...

All of these sweet springtime elements are from Scrappin Doodles

I do love Spring Break. Not because I am going anywhere or doing anything "big"--but precisely because I am not going anywhere or doing anything big.

I'm just reveling in the fact that the hands on the clock can go all the way around and no bells will ring and no whistles will blow. Pure bliss!

So, I am going to spend part of my afternoon joining in on the next installment of Latoya Reed's Linky at Flying into First Grade (because the link will expire soon and I will be the last one linking up... again. At this point I am thinking I should change my bloggy button into the shape of a caboose!)

This past week, the task was called "The Noun Game," and it gave you the opportunity to name your favorite person, place, thing and animal!

1. Favorite Person: This is the hubs. He fills in the spaces in my life in so many ways. He is a volunteer tutor for the younger kids at our school twice a week, so he is forever "picking up something that we need" or "stopping by Starbucks" or "bringing something by" that I forgot. He wears a coat and tie to tutoring so that the little kids will know that learning to read is an important and serious business. Adorable! And then he spends time on his cell phone or looking through books trying to find a picture of a puffer fish or a trilobite or Gettysburg so that he can help bring the stories to life. On top of that, he is constantly setting something up, taking it down or building it or cooking it for an event at school. He listens to all of my stories and complaints and frustrations, and then knows just when to say, "Well, that's good"--even when it is the tiniest bit of improvement or a barely perceptible success. He's great guy. Best part: We've known each other almost 40 years...

Circa 1976

2. Favorite Place: I'd love to say some place exotic, but I like... my house. And I like... my classroom. I'm comfortable in both paces. And, of course, I like Starbucks, but that is a bit more transitory. I can stay in/on my bed and read or plan or work on the computer for HOURS. I'm a big fan of cozy. Give me some coffee (in a JOY cup) and I'm good to go. No fancy clothes required. Delight!

3. Favorite Thing: There are oodles of school-related things that I love. I love my Promethean board and my document camera. I love my laptop and all of my books and Sharpies and colorful clips. I love my decades-old paper cutter and my almost-brand new laminator. However, none of those things would be useful to me without my coffee. And not just any coffee. I love Starbucks--all kinds and temperatures and flavors  (except the green one. I haven't learned to like the green frapuccino yet.). I like Starbucks at home and Starbucks at/from Starbucks.

Here is my coffee cup wrapped up in a coffee cozy from Missy Squirrels. She's one of my favorite bloggy friends on the PLANET. You can visit her HERE. And you can check out her Etsy shop by clicking on the picture of the cup cozy! Missy Squirrels always makes me laugh! But you know what else? Missy Squirrels is also serious and warm-hearted and caring and compassionate (all at once). Oh, and she has a purse shaped like a chicken. With a name. Betty. But this paragraph was supposed to be about my love of coffee not (just) about my appreciation of Betty... Thankfully, Missy Squirrels likes coffee too. I'm not sure about Betty, though.

AND I like purple. Purple makes me happy! I have a lot of purple clothes. And ,many, MANY things in my classroom are purple. But, oddly, almost nothing in my house (decor-wise) is purple. I never gave that much thought until this minute. This minute, however, I AM wearing a purple sweatshirt and purple socks!

4. Favorite Animal: I am not much of a pet person. I did have a cat once... long. long ago. His name was Alex P. Kitten after Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties (The one with Michael J, Fox, right?). Eventually it was determined that Alex was a cat with some unique needs. If he were in my classroom, we would have to decide on a calm down area. And he would need some extra opportunities to practice being nice to our friends. Once, Alex (the cat) swallowed a piece of scotch tape. I was so traumatized, I almost had to ask the vet for some calm down medicine of my own! Alex flew to Colorado to live with some friends (of mine) and spent his days chasing ducks. And dogs. I no longer want to own a pet, but if I could pick an animal that I could just like from a distance, it would be a sloth or a manatee. Both are slow-moving, kind of chubby and not much concerned about being fashionable--just comfortable. I find those traits admirable and reassuring. This is definitely the kind of creature I could grow to love... from a distance, of course.

This sloth is from Scrappin Doodles. Click HERE to see him there!

Well, that's it for the nouns in my life. I have to scurry over and link up before LaToya closes the linky. I'm sure I'll be the last link again. Just call me the caboose.

Frame (above) and caboose are from Ashley Hughes HERE on  TpT

Don't forget to link up to LaToya's party too--or maybe you should aim for the next one. (Unless you can whip something up in the next hour or two). LaToya's got a plan for both of us, though. The new linky is already posted!

Check it out here:

Tomorrow is Easter. If you celebrate this holiday, have a wonderfully blessed and tradition-filled day. And whether or not you celebrate Easter itself, I hope that you will be able to enjoy a restful sunny Sunday with people that you love!

I Might Be Telling the Truth...

Hello My Bloggy Dears! I have missed you!

I'd like to say that I had sailed solo to Tahiti, or built a three story room addition or won the lottery, but, alas, no. I've just been overwhelmed by the craziness of being a sixth grade teacher when Spring Break and state testing are simply too close together!

Testing is only three weeks away, but all we can think about is S-P-R-I-N-G---B-R-E-A-K!

As a testimony to the state of mental exhaustion that has overtaken us, I misspelled "Spring Break" three times trying to type it in that last sentence. At least I caught my error before suggesting that I was waiting anxiously for Sping Break or Spring Beak.

In an effort to ease back into blogging, I am joining up with LaToya Reed at Flying into First Grade! I am already a week behind, so I have to jump in quickly before this link "expires," and then catch up on the new activity.

Week One's assignment {well THAT makes me chuckle} is to present the readers with two truths and a lie--and to leave you guessing (at least for a little while) which facts are true and which fact is untrue.

Ooooohhhh. I do like the sound of this! I've done this activity with my sixth graders in the past and we had a lot of fun. As I recall, they needed two sets of reminders. First reminder: There is a difference between "personal" meaning "about you" and "private" meaning "your parents won't be happy if they found out you shared this information with thirty-five of your closest friends." Sixth graders tend to blur those lines with some regularity.

Second reminder: The "lie" should be not be obvious. I remember students writing things like: "I won a million dollars yesterday" or "I stole three cheeseburgers and three hundred dollars at McDonald's last night" (So often, their world revolves around food, money, sports and video games!) Telling an almost-truth about themselves was not quite as easy for them to do! (Not to mention the importance of reminding them that this is a game and they are not supposed to be lying in the first place--especially if you are the one who stole my purple pen or broke that last roll of "boo boo tape"...) If you do try this activity with "bigger kids," these reminders might be helpful in the set-up of the game...

So, back to lying about myself...

Font from Hello Literacy... Chevron paper from Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs (see button at the end of the post)

Can you guess which two statements are true and which one is completely-falsified-so-that-I-could-include-it-here-for-the-sake-of-this-game? So...

Statement 1: While working for the Hawaii Department of Education, I got lost in a sugar cane field with my co-presenter somewhere in the vicinity of the school where we were assigned to work. We drove through rows and rows of cane plants (which poked into our windows and nearly damaged the car) for over an hour and narrowly missed having the workshop canceled on our behalf... Or...

Statement 2: As a seventeen year old employed at a doughnut shop, I misread the directions while making raised dough (such as that used for glazed doughnuts). As a result, once I mixed the warm water and dry ingredients, the dough rose out of the mixer, filled first one large trash can, then two, and then nearly half of the dumpster in the parking lot behind the shop... Or...

Statement 3: During my first year of teaching, I was on duty as the recess supervisor when three large dogs from the house across the street broke free from their backyard and found their way onto the school playground. Hundreds of children watched amused and/or horrified as I ran back and forth across the playground, among four square, hopscotch and tether ball games, trying to catch and capture the furry friends with only the help of my whistle and a commandeered jump rope...

Hmmmmm. Are you left wondering? Which ones ARE true? And which is completely made-up?

Thanks for checking in today! I hope that you will stop by Flying Into First Grade and learn some fun facts about some of your other friends in the Blog-O-Sphere. Just click on the colorful button above. And if you're not in the mood for scrolling upward, I added another copy of the link below!

The next time I link up with LaToya, I'll tell you the answer to my challenge. But for a bit of fun, you could leave a comment and let me know which fact you think simply cannot be true.

And just to make it a little more exciting... I have a little treat for you if you guess correctly correctly. I'll let you know Wednesday night (3/27/13) if your sleuthing capabilities have led you to the truth!

If you are on break this week, I am wishing you a delightful mix of fun and relaxation. If you're still waiting (like me!), I am wishing you patience and perseverance. And if your break is a thing of the past, I am wishing you a chance to reflect on the best-of-the-best moments of your time away from school...

The sweet fonts in my graphics are from Jen Jones-Hello Literacy at TpT and at her blog and the nifty chevron digital paper and the oh-so-cool numbers are from Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah on TpT! (Click the buttons or the links to see great stuff!)