Happy World Environment Day!

Happy Thursday everyone, and happy World Environment Day! 

The little wonders and I had a blast today, talking about ways we can help keep our environment clean and healthy, and the importance of acting now. I found some super cute ideas on Pinterest (where else?) that we had a lot of fun doing together. 

The first was a great craftivity from Lyndsey Kuster's 'The World is in Your Hands' Packet. The little wonders thought of some things they could do to help our environment. They then chose one of those actions and made a promise to the environment. This craftivity is such a cute way to display their promises. 

 I got the idea for our art lesson from Mrs T's First Grade Class. 

They turned out so great! They look fantastic up in our classroom.

First we traced our hand and arm, coloured it in, and then cut it out.  

We then painted our Earth with blue and green acrylic paint, being very careful to stay in the lines. My little wonders are amazing little artists. They take such pride in their work and show amazing imagination when given free reign. 

Once our globes were dry we cut them out and pasted them onto a black background. We then glued on our hands and to hold the earth, and decorated the background with gold stars. 

I LOVE how they have turned out. 

My OCD tendencies are hating the fact that there wasn't enough room for me to put them in a uniform pattern. I'm sure many of you can relate. 

On a non-environment day note - At the end of the day I had the children fill in their personal report comment that we include in their report. They colour in one of the faces to show how they feel about the different curriculum areas, their organisational skills, and their behaviour. There is also a space at the end for them to write about what they like about school. I had a read through them after the children left today and my heart was warmed with what some of them wrote. 

I'm glad they like spending time with me as much as I do with them. 

I hope you all had a great day, I sure did :)

BEST FEELING EVER!!

You all know what I'm talking about, right?? One of the best feelings we as teachers experience!

and oh what a feeling it is!! 

For weeks it's all I've been thinking about, and I know the teachers among you can relate. My team had our report writing day today, and I was able to allocate all my progression points, print out my 47 pages of reports, and hand them in for proof reading. 

I must say I'm a little proud of myself for completing them 2 weeks before the due date. 

I think I might reward myself by buying a little something off ASOS, after all it's been a while.  

I'm thinking of all of you who are still slaving away on your computers, and am sending my motivational thoughts your way.

It's that time of year again

If you're a teacher in Australia, you have no doubt begun the laborious task of writing reports. And if you're anything like me, you feel guilty doing anything BUT report writing. It is for this reason that I've had no time at all to share with you the great things I've been doing with my little wonders lately. From week 4 of term 2 reports are all I think about! And don't stop thinking about until they are all completed, uploaded, and ready to be sent home. 

I don't know about the rest of you, but my report writing sessions usually consist of pyjamas (or anything super comfy), the TV on in the background (disney movies with the volume down low), and a plethora of junk food (including chocolate, chips and candy). So far this has proved to be the most productive setting for me, so I'm sticking to it! 

The past few weeks have also been super busy at school. A highlight was our whole school Cross Country which was held last week, and it was the first time the Foundation, 1 and 2 students were able to participate. It turned out to be a beautiful day, which really brought out the best in our kids. Within our level there are some very spirited children who have been dealt an extremely unfair hand, and as a result have to overcome physical challenges daily. But these absolute little troopers didn't think twice about competing with their friends. Hearing the cheers from the other children as they neared the finish line made me feel so proud to be their teacher. They showed so much compassion for being so young. 

I wish I could show you all these determined little faces!
Turns out we have some exceptionally athletic little ones. I'm always very impressed when I watch our little wonders compete, they are all super stars in my eyes! 

Well, I suppose I'd better get back to my reports...please pray for me.

Happy teaching!