How to draw a dog... WOOF!

during CGA testing, we had to miss our music resource. So I decided to let the class have a little fun during our "music" time, and taught them how to draw a dog from the word dog. 

~ Here are some of our way cool and super awesome creations ~

I came across this fun activity on Pinterest, and found the directions on the website

HOW TO DRAW STEP BY STEP DRAWING TUTORIALS.

It Was So Gross, It Was Awesome!

We got to see the most amazing thing happen in our classroom today... our monarch butterfly caterpillar formed a chrysalis... and we got to see the whole thing happen! It was so gross, it was awesome!! Here is the video we made of the whole thing...

14 Eggs? On One Plant??

Just when I thought our butterfly life cycle unit study couldn't get any more awesome... this happens!

I bought a couple more milkweed plants to make sure we would have enough food for our current *very hungry caterpillars*... and I noticed when I picked them out that one of the plants had a few monarch butterfly caterpillar eggs on it... BONUS! When I got home and took a closer look at the milkweed plants, I discovered that one plant already had a caterpillar, and the other plant had 14 EGGS ON IT! CRAZY!! 14 EGGS!!

We are REALLY going to have some fun in the classroom now!

We Have Caterpillars!

That's right! We have monarch butterfly caterpillars in the classroom... three of them!

What an amazing way to start our butterfly life cycle unit. The class is so excited. We got to watch one of the caterpillars form a chrysalis last week. It truly was simply an AHH-MAZING thing to get to watch firsthand! 

So far we have one caterpillar that has already formed a chrysalis, one caterpillar that is HUGE and about to form a chrysalis, and one little caterpillar that just came out of the egg. 

This is my favorite time of year... and I was super lucky to have found a milkweed plant with so many caterpillar eggs on it. I cannot wait for our first monarch butterfly to emerge from the chrysalis. I know the students are counting the days until we set our beautiful butterfly free in the school courtyard.

Why I love being a teacher...

Teaching is such a labor of love. I have never questioned my decision to become a teacher. All my little ones... past and present... are super awesome, and will always hold a special place in my heart. There is not a day that goes by that one of my ahh-mazing students doesn't either draw me a beautiful work of art, write me the sweetest note, or give me the best squeeze hug ever! The artwork and notes go on the board to be admired all day, and the squeeze hugs make my heart smile bigger than I thought possible. I never have a bad day at "work"... my students won't allow it.

Over spring break, one of my adorable second graders, (the pretty young lady pictured here sitting with me on the playground), wrote me the most incredibly heart-melting letter imaginable... simply titled, "I Love You". I'll admit, as I was reading it, I got teary-eyed just thinking about how this beautiful little girl standing before me could have so much love and admiration for me. In that moment, I knew without hesitation that my cup truly does runneth over... and I absolutely la-la-love being this little girl's second grade teacher more than words can say.

Here is her letter...

I Love You

Mrs. Kearson you are so kind and

beatuful. I love you so much

I like your smile I am so glad

that i am in Your

classroom. You make my Day

special and you make my

Day shine. I like what

You Do to me you make me

very very kind. I will always

Do my Best for you and

for me. I like evry

thing you do for me and

the class. You help me

and the class. love Nevaeh A. i Love You.

(the most heart-melting letter ever written from a second grade student to her second grade teacher)

Happy Teacher Challenge: Day 2

30 Day Happy Teacher Challenge: Day 2

"Organize an area in your classroom that has become a bit chaotic (drawer, bookcase, your desk, etc.)."

Today's challenge was fun... I love to organize stuff! While my classroom is usually spotless at any one point in the day, and I had already cleaned out my storage closet last teacher planning day, I did have one area that needed attention... "that" drawer... a/k/a My Dirty Little Secret. That's right! I'm talkin' about the junk drawer in my desk. To say it needed attention is a bit of an understatement... it needed BUNCHES of love!!

So, during my planning period I got busy. I put together my super awesome new drawer organizer and started the purge and organizing. I think it turned out pretty snazzy. The challenging part of today's challenge will be sharing the embarrassing "before" picture... haha!

Please do not judge me too harshly... 

Rest In Peace
My Dirty Little Secret
August 2015 - March 2016

The loss of My Dirty Little Secret most definitely made me a HAPPY TEACHER.

Tomorrow... Day 3.



If you would like some more information on the 30 Day Happy Teacher Challenge, please visit Presto Plans blog. :)

Kevin Richardson: The Lion Whisperer

We watched an amazing video in the classroom today as a special follow up treat to our Jacksonville Zoo field trip. I was so excited to be able to share and show the class one of the most amazing videos on lions and hyenas that I have had the joy to watch. 

The children loved it!! We talked about the habitat of lions, conservation, what kind of environment the African Plains are made up of, what it means for an animal to be endangered, and how we can make a difference. It was an inspiring classroom moment, and captured the minds and hearts of all of my amazing second graders. Not only did they applaud at the end of the video, but they talked about how learning that there may not be any lions living in the wild within the next 20 years made them sad and want to do something to ensure that the lions and their habitat are protected.

Here is the 15 minute video we watched in class today...

Kevin Richardson is truly an awe-inspiring individual... you can see more of his videos, read about his conservations efforts, and learn more about the plight of lions at www.lionwhisperer.co.za.

Happy Teacher Challenge: Day 1

30 Day Happy Teacher Challenge : Day 1

"Pull a student aside to tell them how much they have improved or how proud you are of them."

Well, I blew today's challenge.......... RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER! 

Giving my students praise and compliments is something I already do daily, so I did not feel that today would be any different. I had three students in particular that I wanted to celebrate today for their hard work and amazing behavior, but before I even had the chance to pull these students aside, my whole class received a compliment from our Assistant Principal, Mrs. Hairston, that just had to be celebrated BIG time!

Over the past couple of weeks, my students have been working SUPER hard on their insect research papers... researching, filling out the graphic organizer, rough draft, editing, final draft... the whole sha-bang. Anyhow, today during our group planning we had to bring in our class research papers to share and grade according to the unit rubric. Well, Mrs. Hairston was so impressed with all the swonderfully~smarvelous work that my students had done on their research papers, that she said she thought she was looking at... drum roll, please... THIRD GRADE work!! My second graders were over the moon when they heard this!! They felt as though they had achieved so much... and rightfully so!!

Needless to say, I was able to celebrate the pride I have in my students in a major way today. And even with our whole class celebration, it still felt just as good to pull my three awesome students aside to let them know that I was a extra proud of the recent outstanding choices they had made both academically, and with their behavior.

Overall, today I was most definitely a HAPPY TEACHER.

Tomorrow... Day 2.



If you would like some more information on the 30 Day Happy Teacher Challenge, please visit Presto Plans blog. :)