A Journey Like NO Other

 Today has to be one of the saddest days of the year. It’s my STUDENT Teacher’s last day (tears & a big o’l 1^st Grade sad face)!

Miss. Schaefer has been such a HUGE asset and addition to our little school family! I have LOVED every moment we have spent together! She’s going to be a ROCK STAR TEACHER one day!!!! 

Here's a couple of pictures I wanted to share with y'all.

I put together a little basket and a couple of homemade gifts. One is a picture frame made into a "To Do" list for her desk (PINTEREST inspired)! The other one is my absolute FAV it's a "School Family Tree" the leaves are made from each of our Firstie Dual student's thumb prints. She fell in LOVE with it!!!!

A keepsake I hope she will treasure throughout her teaching career. Miss. Schaefer for sure has left her thumb print forever in our hearts! 

MES will miss you Miss. Schaefer!!

Part 2 of Thinking Maps Gone Wild!

Okay folks here are MES grades 3-5 and how FABULOUSY they are using thinking Maps…

I just love how 3rd grade has really used the maps in teaching writing! Thank you to Ms. Allen and Mrs. Moeller for sharing your student's work. I really LOVE all the beautiful writing on your bulletin boards!

Here's  a look at what Mrs. Baca's 3rd Grade Bilingual class has been up to with Thinking Maps! Beautiful work!!!! 

4th & 5th Grade are ROCKIN' the MAPS fo sho! Here are some great ideas using Thinking Maps in Science and Math!

Another great idea for a reference wall....Thank You Ms. Ruppert for sharing!

We also have a FABULOUS Art teacher who incorporates as many Thinking Maps in his lessons as possible! There is some absolutely beautiful art work created by our students. Mr. Ramirez has done an amazing job with using Thinking Maps to teach his art concepts! Check it out......

I want to thank Mrs. Hyland, Mrs. Benney, Ms. Ruppert and Mrs. Vandertulip for sharing their ideas with us! I really do work with an AMAZING, creative, fun and caring staff! I TRULY LOVE comin' to work everyday!!!

I hope that sharing the maps with y'all helps to inspire tryin' some of these ideas in your own schools or classrooms!

So to all my fellow teachers in the BLOGY world.... continue to get your TEACH ON!!!

Thinking Maps GONE WILD!!!

So the other day I was strollin’ down our school's hallways and had a “light bulb” moment! I was going to BLOG about our campus and all the AMAZING Thinking Maps posted all over our beautiful hallways!

So the next morning I went all over the school asking permission of my fabulous teacher friends, if I could share their ideas and Thinking Maps on my blog. They were more than happy to say “yes” and help out! I was also very honored to know that many of them follow my BLOG!!!

 We became a “THINKING MAP” school last year! We sorta BANNED worksheets on our campus! Authentic student work is essential to our students educational development.

We only get 2 REAMS of paper every 9wks! YES, only 2! It was a hard adjustment but we have managed the challenge!

We have many creative teachers on our campus and it really helps to see what everyone else is doing! Taking a stroll around campus is very inspiring and puts that beat back in your heart for the love of teaching!

I am a HUGE FAN of THINKING MAPS!!!! I love everything about them! We use our consumables in our maps so they are utilized as well but in THINKING MAP style!

Seriously, I love the AWESOME teachers I work with! It’s an honor to be a part of our MES staff!

1st up:

 Kinder Dual Language- Mrs. Haynes and Mrs. Castro are a "Dynamic Dual Team"!!!

The Spanish side of Kinder Dual:

 Mrs. Castro is a fun and loving teacher! I admire her dedication to making sure our students get a good introduction to the Spanish culture. I love to run across the hall on Fridays @10:00 a.m. to show off our SALSA moves! She has the kiddos up and dancin' even the shy lil' boys doin' their salsa moves! HA! LOVE IT!

Ms. De Groote is an AMAZING writing teacher!!! No really "AMAZING" still doesn't really describe her enough.... she's a ROCK*STAR writing teacher!

She taught KINDER for the first time this year and she has done a FAB job with those Kinderoos! I am in AWE every time I check out their work! LOVE her! She has mad skills and patience!

Here are some examples of how Thinking Maps are being used in 1^st grade

I usually give my Spelling Test in TREE MAP style....love it!

Thank you to my 1st grade team for sharing! Mrs.Vernon,  Mrs. Robbins, Mrs. White and Mrs. McDonald are a stellar group to work with!

I am seriously crushin' on our 2nd grade team! They are go getters fo sho!! They take Thinking Maps to a whole new level! FABULOUS work and creativity going on in the RED hall!

THANK YOU to Ms. Wolff, Ms. Cunningham, Ms. Parsons, Mrs. Vetter and Mrs. Smith!

Y'all are ROCKIN' it!!!

I love how they created a Q-Club (Quality Work Club)! ONLY quality work goes on the outside board. The students also get a lil' party at the end of the 9wks. if they have been on the Q-Club board so many times! How AWESOME is that....a great way to set expectations!

OH.MY.WORD!

Mrs. Vetter is the QUEEN of Thinking Maps! How cool is this... a Tree Map Display on her wall of all the Math concepts taught and vocabulary! It's beautiful....wish y'all could see it in person!

Here's the same concept with Phonics. Each spelling rule taught is displayed here for future reference!

WOWZERS!!! LOVE IT!!!

Mrs. Smith has a great station in her rotation using Thinking Maps! What a brilliant idea!

Excellent way to build vocabulary...CAAAUUUTE!

Love how they are using our consumables in their Maps.... nothing goes to waste! Remember we only get 2 reams of paper per 9 wks! Creativity peeps! HA!

Oh, Mr. Howell! He's the TALLest guy on our campus... a.k.a. Mr. Principal! The nicest, sweetest man ever BUT he means business! He and our fabulous AP have lead us into many new traditions this year. They have a grand vision for Morningside and I love where we are headed! Amen for GREAT leaders! No, I am not kissing up... it's the truth & they deserves some PROPS too!

It's late and I am behind on gettin' this post up....I will get grades 3-5 posted tomorrow and our Art teacher has some cool projects with Thinking Maps! Until then BLOGY world...get your TEACH ON! 

2nd Annual Dual Language/Bilingual Family Night!

I just LOVE this time of year! We have started many great traditions at MES…. one of them being Dual Language Family Night. It’s been a POTLUCK style type of tradition…. many DELISH dishes brought in by our wonderful parents and teachers. We have our students perform a song in both English and Spanish and this year we added door prizes and a really cool PowerPoint of all the GREAT happenings in DUAL!  

The Dual teachers are in charge of all the decorating…. can you guess who ran with it this year? Yup….ME and my fabulous student teacher!! We made our traditional Bilingual partner placemats. This year our 3^rd grade bilingual class made our beautiful paper flowers! Caauute!!

We loved spending quality family time together and we enjoyed watching the children perform. It was such a moving experience for all!

I love having a part in this magical place called Morningside!!!