Bonjour, été!

Ahhhh - summer time! The reason I became a teacher (kidding... only kidding). The past few summers have flown by and I've not accomplished a fraction of what I wanted.

This summer I'm COMMITTED.

I'm writing down my goals, actually keeping them manageable, and not over committing.

I really want this space to be organized, useable, and pretty. I think I finally have a plan to make it work and that plan centers around a huge workspace. (You can see my pinterest inspiration board here!)

Seriously. I did NOT take advantage of our pool enough last year. This year I want to be in it and using it and sharing it with our friends. Included in this "to-do" I want to have a pool party! :)

Kinda sad... I know. We still have boxes to unpack from when we moved. Most of the boxes have been opened and I just don't know what to do with the contents. Le sigh.

I'm not going to kid myself and pretend I spend my whole summer lesson planning - but  I do want to get spelling organised. I found a really awesome system used by a third grade teacher and I want to adapt it for my kiddos. 

I always have grand intentions of "being" with people over the summer and then it's the end of August and I didn't. Teachers are funny that way. We see each other everyday for 36 weeks and then on the last day of school you peace out and don't see/talk to/visit with anyone until work week. Not this summer, lovies, not this summer.

Shouldn't be hard, right? We laid 5 pallets of sod a few weeks ago and FMG constructed two "square footage" raised beds for me. Our tomatoes, jalapenos, squash, basil, parsley and dill are counting on me to not let them die.

So that's that. The six things I'm committed to this summer. We'll see how it goes! :)

A Sprinkle

Our sweet counselor at school had a precious baby girl last week. Just before she had her we gave Baby C and CCG a "Sprinkle" at school. She already has a beautiful little girl and just needed a few things for the new princess.

In lieu of  a sheet cake or cup cakes, we decided to make a cake ball tower - the cake pops on top almost look like a bouquet!

In the center of the cake pop bouquet is a candy melt C. The flowers on the cake balls and pops are all made from candy melts.

Thinking it would look like an elegant petitfour, the cake balls were nestled in mini baking cups.

I really adored the way the flowers came out. They were fragile, but not so delicate that they were hard to work with. I "piped" them onto foil using a baggie with the corner snipped and  the left over melted candy. A quick swirl in really warm water every now and then kept it just the right consistency to flow but not spread.

The flowers were attached with more warm candy melt. The pops took a little more work to stick than the balls. :)

We weren't sure if Big-Sis-to-Be was going to be there or not, so we wrapped up a pop just for her. These would make adorable (albeit labor intensive) favors at a baby or wedding shower.

The set up at school... The tower was generally disassembled to transport to school. The balls rode nestled in a shirt box and the bouquet was left in tact, gently wrapped in plastic wrap and nestled in a box with air filled baggies around it. It arrived with jsut a few broken petals.

I can't wait to meet Baby Calissa!

Think-About-It Thursday

Conversation I had with one of my (GT) kiddos about the recent elections and the Governor's race:

GT: So, exactly how do you decide on who you'll vote for?

ARG: Well, most people know there isn't a perfect person to vote for so they vote for the person who has the most things they like.

GT: Wait? There isn't a perfect candidate?

(I'm telling you... GT... homegirl thinks way beyond her 11 years).

ARG: Nope. Usually there is between three and four people who want to have the job. Most voters only look at two of the people running. Then they pick the one that they feel like agrees with them on the most things.

GT: Like the TAKS test?

ARG: What do you mean?

GT: Well, we get 4 answers. We cross out the two that are dumb. The two trying to trick us.

ARG: mmhmm....

GT: Then we look at the two choices that are left.

ARG: Exactly.

GT: But then, what doesn't make sense to me is that we're supposed to pick the BEST answer.

ARG: Right. The best answer.

GT: But what you KNOW that one is just the BEST. Not the RIGHT answer. Usually, you can figure out that both of the ones left are dumb, too.

ARG: (I have no answer.)

GT: So... people go vote for someone that is just the BEST of the two not-dumb choices.

ARG: So... how was gym?


Seriously, folks. Who knew? The insight? The transparency?

I'm so impressed. I love this kid. If only adults could follow that line of thinking! :o)

Think about it.

Adios, Classroom!

How do you know summer is here!?



My classroom looks like THIS!!!

Dearest pool, I'm on my way!

Thinking about Natalie.

One of my dearest school-days friends, Natalie, is teaching in Uganda. When I think about that I am totally overwhelmed.

As long as I've known Natalie, she's know this is what she was meant to do. Africa is and always has been her calling. I just can't even imagine how fulfilled she is. Her stories are inspiring and amazing.

You can read her blog here. See more pictures here. And last year she let Dewey come visit her and she wrote an awesome post for him on my school blog.

Those children are so lucky to have her! And she is so blessed to have them! Nat is an inspiration to me, and I don't even think she knows it! When I think about my behavior "problem" kids testing my patience, or how stressful testing is, or how I just can't wait to move on to a more interesting unit, I remind myself of all the wonderful things that go along with my job. And then I read a little Natalie.

Just Amazing:

"No Perfect People Allowed"

My sweet friend Elizabeth's Aunt Nancy (her blog here) has this post on her blog right now. Its the title of a series her church is doing right now. Everytime I just think about those 4 words I can't help but laugh a little on the inside.

I want to make this a sign to put on the door of my classroom. Seriously.

Duh. No perfect people allowed.

And, oh, I'm reminded of this everyday. My fifth graders say it like it is. They remind me a minimum of 5 times per day that I'm so far far away from being perfect. (As if I'd actually try...)

"Mrs. G, you spelled that wrong."

"Mrs. you said the wrong page number."

"Mrs. Gentis, you said all the even numbers but you said the answer to number three."

I find that the 'acknowledge, confirm, and move on' method works well.

"Yup. I sure did. I'm glad you caught that mistake."

"Oops. I'm only human."

But, really, I like to think that by not being perfect I take the pressure off of them to be perfect. I hope that at least one of my kiddos leaves my room at the end of the year willing to take risks, willing to try, willing to just be flat out not perfect.

Because those people aren't allowed, anyway.

Visit my un-perfect classroom blog: http://learningspace.nisd.net/gentis and my fun school blog http://learningspace.nisd.net/adventures

(Thanks, Nancy!)