February Happenings

I think CISP likes to squeeze as much as possible into February. :S

The first on the list of happening was the CISP First Annual Dance-a-thon. We're hoping to get a new building soon, and we wanted the kids to have ownership over what they were raising money for, so we allowed them to submit ideas to our development team and then vote on what the money would go toward. When I asked my kiddos for ideas, they suggested everything from beds for naptime (what naptime?) to mirrors at every desk so they could fix their hair through out the day (one of my BOYS suggested this one-and um, no!) to electronic whiteboards (can we say HAPPY TEACHER!) to new books for the library (YAY!!!!). The idea that won was the idea of a student common room. So, from 9 am one Saturday morning until 9 pm that night, students danced, danced, danced the day away.


We had volunteers teach everything from square dancing to swing dancing to the fox trot to the waltz. I was there from 9 am until just after lunch. I went home for a few hours, and then came back around 7:45 to cheer the kids on for the last bit. (That's when we broke into the "Hokey-Pokey" and the Limbo!)

I wasn't sure how my fourth graders were going to do, but since one of my kiddos stayed for the entire day (quite the feat for a 4th grader!), and several others were there for a good bit, AND since they turned out to do a pretty decent job of raising money, we ended up tying for FIRST place! 7th grade raised the most money--but 4th grade raised the most per student! SO proud of the awesome job my kiddos did! 

The next event of February was Winter Banquet. Winter Banquet is basically CISP's version of prom--or if your Czech, the Senior Ball (as in an actually ball!). The banquet is for students in grades 6-12, and also for parents and teachers. I love the fact that elementary teachers are not only allowed to attend, but also ENCOURAGED to attend! The banquet is held at a hotel. We start off with a nice dinner and then move on to an evening of dancing. Basically, it's a time to look pretty and have fun. :)

With my two wonderful roommates

Amazing co-workers and good friend!

One of my lovely fellow elementary teachers

Next up in busy February was 100th Day. Adventure Buddy and I got to work together to plan this 100-Fill-Fun-Filled Day. Here's a peek at some of our activities:

Fourth Grade eagerly waits to write a Googol (1 with 100 zeros after it)

We had 100 stations--writing your name 10 times, adding 10 stickers, etc.

Yay! We've been in school 100 days AND our kids are 100 days smarter!

Elementary proudly shows off completed 100 station papers.

 The final February event was the field trip to the Czech Christian school we have been partnering with this year. Field trips in Prague are FUN! We don't have a bus, so we use PUBLIC transportation. I occasionally watch the show "19 Kids and Counting" and in one episode the Duggar family was in D.C. They were talking about how difficult was to ride the metro with the family, because it was hard to make sure everyone got on and off at the same time. I can sympathize-a lot! To get to this school, we first rode the tram. Then, we caught the metro, and finally we took the bus. We had fun joining the Czech school for chapel and a movie, followed by games in the gym, and finally lunch. It was a fun day!








 

My Pinterest Addiction

I may just have a serious addiction....to Pinterest.

However, since I'm highly addicted to searching for teaching ideas, it's not a bad thing. Really! I promise! (Not that I don't also look for recipes and other random things on there--but I really do use it for work!)

In fact, my classroom may just be getting to the point where it is an advertisement on why Pinterest should be considered Professional Development. In fact, I think that a certain number of pins implemented in your classroom should be considered a CEU (Continuing Education Unit for those of you non-teaching people)...

So, here, ladies and gentlemen are my favorite Pinterest finds for my classroom (or "Why I Justify Spending So Much Time on Pinterest"):

My new favorite Anchor Chart: Paragraph Stoplight

I think almost every CISP elementary teacher has THINK in their classroom. I actually have Ephesian 4:29 posted right next to it. It's hard to see from this picture, but THINK asks kids if what they are saying is: True, Helpful, Inspiring (Encouraging), Necessary (Do they need to say it or is saying it Miss Miller's job?) or Kind.

I found this one last year and thought it was cute, so I made my own. All the reasons why a writers would write. We made the list as a class, and then I compiled the list on a chart..then I kept it because it was to cute to get rid of. :D

Another favorite find: A way to keep track of all my writing mini-lessons (I've taught more than that this year--these are just the main ones we've covered). Each cone represent one of the 6 traits of writing: Ideas, Voice, Word Choice, Conventions, Sentence Fluency, and Organization. Then, whenever one of my mini-lessons covers a trait, I add it to the cones. As you can see, I need to work on sentence fluency. :S

I got roped into teaching art for the first half of this year. I am not an artistic person, so Pinterest really saved my life when it came to finding art projects, just as this circular weaving project I found on there.

Another Pinterest art find. I colored the orginial picture that you can see in the top left. Then, I cut it apart in squares and numbered the back. The kids would draw a square and try to match the colors on a bigger square of paper. When they finished, they wrote the corresponding number on the back of their piece. At the end, I put both pictures together, so the kids could see the finished product. It's definitely an abstract piece. :D

 So, as you can see, me Pinterest addiction is complete justifiable...some of the time. Maybe if I cut back on some of those other pins....

Seriously, though, I hope you have enjoyed the small peek into my classroom and can see that my kids are learning. And enjoying fourth grade as well!

My Favorite Part of the Day

One of my favorite parts of teaching at a Christian School is that we open everyday with prayer. Last year, with my second and third graders we shared prayer requests. There's nothing wrong with that. Philippians 4:6 states: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.      What bothered me, was that my children were so focused on their own needs and wants (mostly wants, to be honest), that they often forgot WHO they were talking to during prayer. In fact, one day, one of my boys said to me, "God makes our wishes come true." To these kids, prayer was a time to give their wishlist to God. It was like writing a letter out to Santa...EVERYDAY.     So, this year, I decided to approach my prayer time a little differently. I decided to teach my kids how to pray. And I'll admit, I stole the idea from a fellow teacher from when I was in Guatemala. She taught her students to pray using the ACTS model (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). Everyday, they would focus on a different letter. I liked it, so I stole it. On Monday, we praise God for who He is. On Tuesday, they have a time to pray silently--specifically to confess anything they may need to--otherwise, it's a great time to talk to God quietly. Thursday is Thankfulness. Then, Friday is the day they share their requests. Friday have been a lot less about a wishlist and a lot more about sharing their needs. One of the other things I've done is allowed each of my kids a chance to prayer. We go around the room and each child says their own prayer--and I love it. Monday is probably my favorite. It's the day when I hear prayers like: God, I praise You that You are Almighty and Creator and You loved us and sent Jesus to save us. Thank you for being so big and awesome. This really is my favorite time of the day--when I hear my kiddos praying and talking to God--doing more than just give their daily wishlist. I love it!

Roman Holiday: Part the Second

     One of my favorite paintings is "The Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo. I love the imagery of God reaching down to man, and man's half-hearted attempt to respond...love, love, love the painting. "The Creation of Adam" is one of the many painting Michelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, located within the Vatican (which by the way is the smallest country in the world), located within the city of Rome. Obviously, on a trip to Rome, visiting the Vatican was a must. So, on the morning of day two in Rome, by two partners of adventure and I headed off to see the Sistine Chapel, amongst other things. First, though, we stopped by St. Peter's Square, to visit St. Peter's Basilica, one of the largest churches in the world. This is where I once again mention that I LOVE cathedrals. I forget sometimes how BIG God is, but everytime I am near a cathedral, I look at its massive splendor and realize that my God is MUCH, MUCH more massive and splendid...AMAZING!
We saw long lines to get in, and at first we were worried. Then, we realized they were lines for security and actually were moving fairly quickly (much faster than most airports, I might add), so all was soon well. And the basilica did not disappoint--it was beautiful...and massive.

     The next stop was to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. One of my favorite parts of living in Europe (besides the traveling...or the food...or the operas) has been seeing the works of great artists in person.  A work by Titian in Venice...Da Vinci in Milan and Paris...and now Michelangelo AND Raphael? Incredible. The Vatican Museums were amazing. One of our first stops was a part full of Egyptian artifacts--including several mummies (real live..um..dead mummies!). We also so Roman and Greek statues, the Raphael rooms, Matisse originals (Adventure Buddy has taught about him in an elementary art class before, so she was pretty excited to see those), and finally, the breath taking Sistine Chapel. At first, Adventure Buddy and I stood in the center of the room straining our necks to see everything, but then someone moved from one of the benches along the wall, and we had a chance to sit for a while and gaze. I probably could have sat there all day, it was so breathtaking. Of course, I kept returning my eyes to "The Creation of Adam". Love that painting. Adventure Buddy and I looked around for our third friend, and realized she wasn't sitting where she had been before. After trying to look through the crowds, we finally gave up and decided maybe she hadn't seen us and had already left. We decided to head out of the room and see if maybe we could catch her.
      We wandered through the rest of the museum (stopping to look at displays and out of the window at the Vatican Gardens along the way. We arrived at the bookstore at the end, and we still hadn't found her. We decided to text her and wait (giving me a chance to buy a bookmark featuring "The Creation of Adam"). Finally, we the three of us we reunited and we left the Vatican to continue our Roman Adventure.

       After lunch, taking a ride on the hop-on-hop-off bus for which we had tickets, and and visiting another cathedral, we wandered through a few markets. By the time we finished in the markets, it was getting dark. Since we weren't that far from the Colosseum, we decided to head over there to get a few night pictures. It was beautiful! The next part of our adventure eventually led us to visiting Trevi Fountain, all lit up for the night. Also, breathtaking. By then, it was time to eat. We came across a restaurant with a 4 our of 5 rating by Trip Advisor--Trattoria Gioia Mia Pisciapiano. We decided to stop there for dinner. It was amazing. The waiters were friendly. We had great food and great service, and it was much less expensive than we had been expecting. All in all, day two was a very successful day!

Bottomless

Bottomless

By a fourth grader

My mom once told me about bottomless, and ever since that moment, I've been thinking and thinking. It's so hard to imagine bottomless. When my thoughts say the word bottomless, I think and think, scratch my head, and think some more. So, when I'm falling into a bottomless pit again, I can do whatever I want, because I'm never going to reach the bottom! 

One of my kiddos just published this piece. It wasn't very long, but the student did such a good job of capturing voice, I had to share it. I can hear the child telling me this as I read it! :)

Roman Holiday: Part the First

     I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Audrey Hepburn. Paris When It Sizzles, Breakfast At Tiffany's, My Fair Lady--I love them all. So, when presented with the opportunity to go to Rome for "holiday" (as my kiddos would call it) for a holiday weekend, how could I say no? The thought of having my own Roman Holiday beckoned me to greatly to refuse. Added to that, my ever faithful adventure buddy also wanted to go. Who can refuse an adventure with Adventure Buddy?
     So, the day before Thanksgving (after a VERY long day at school), Adventure Buddy, another friend, and myself set off to explore The Eternal City. Rome is only a 2 hour flight from Prague, so we actually arrived in the city at a decent hour. We took a bus to the city center from the airport and made our way to our hostel--which was, thankfully, not too far from the train station where the bus deposited us. The next morning we woke up excited to begin our explorations.

Day One: Ancient Rome

     I figure that I am doing pretty well for a 27 year old. I've climbed the Great Wall and the Eiffel Tower, floated along the canals of Venice (in a boat), stood on Juliet's balcony in Verona, and have now seen and stood inside the Colosseum. IT WAS AWESOME! Just catching my first glimpse of it was incredible. I can imagine for even a person who does not have faith in Christ it would be impressive, but for a believer to see a place where so many men and women were unashamed to lay down their lives for Christ it was breathtaking. To know this was a spot where so many early Christians chose to honor and worship God above themselves--above their own lives--it was inspiring. And sobering. Would I have been that brave?

    So, we were all pretty excited to visit the Colosseum, but first we had to find the place where we could get the audio guides for our tours....easier said than done. The place was located on a back road and we may or may not have wandered around a while before we found it--but we did find it and eventually made it to the Colosseum. I've heard that Rome is VERY crowded during the summer. November actually wasn't that bad, so if you're planning a trip that might be the time to go. The temperatures were lovely--about 60 F--and it was pretty sunny during our entire stay.

     One of my favorite parts of the Colosseum was the cross that had been erected as a memorial to the men and women martyred for their faith in Christ.
      After a delicious lunch of pizza (it is Italy), we decided to head off to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. It was crazy to know that we were strolling through the heart of ancient Rome. The ruins of buildings and temples were ruins built by Romans! They were places that I'd read about in books. It was awe inspiring.

     I really enjoyed taking a break in the Roman Forum to read part of the "River of Time" Series by Lisa T. Bergren.
      One of the saddest parts of the Roman Forum to me was seeing an arch that was built to commemorate the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Part of the carving on the arch depicts the Romans carrying back the spoils from the temple. Seeing that, I realized that it wasn't a Greek or Roman temple or some other random temple for some other random god...that was THE TEMPLE, the temple built for MY God...and I know that by 70 AD Jesus had already died and rose again and the Holy Spirit dwelt inside believers (Acts really is an awesome book to read), but still, it was MY God's temple. That arch almost felt like a personal affront.

     After successfully exploring the Roman Forum, we set out to explore Palatine Hill. Our audio guide claims this was the birthplace of Rome. Apparently, Romulus and Remus were discovered here by the She-Wolf who then raised them. We explored some of the sights, but my favorite parts were getting to see orange trees...and palm trees...AND ROSES STILL BLOOMING! Everything was so green. Prague is dead and brown by this time of the year! Oh--and we also came across this amazing view of the Colosseum. It was quite lovely.

 By the time we left the forum and Palatine Hill, the sites were beginning to close down. We were also starting to feel worn out (from the combination of a busy week and travel and walking around all day), so we made our way back to the hostel to rest before finding a bite to eat. It really was a wonderful start to a wonderful trip!
  

The Nameless Frog Goes to Cesky Krumlov

My classroom is decorated with frogs. It all began, because right before my first year of teaching, my mom and I found some frog stuff left over from her last year of teaching fourth grade. It spiraled from there...

When I moved into my flat in August, I saw that one of my flatmates had left a stuffed frog sitting on my shelf, and through a series of events I decided he would be my classpet. I just haven't told my kiddos about it yet (I was waiting to take the frog on an adventure first). So, finally Fall Break came and it was time for the nameless frog to go on his first adventure--to Cesky Krumlov, a medieval town not to far from Prague (although, compared to other places I've lived--like Seoul or Guatemala City--Prague is a town, so really Cesky Krumlov is more of a village--it's quaint, it's fairytailish, it's small). But, anyway, back to the Frog's adventure.

 Froggy visited the castle. He even climbed the tower--but I forgot to get a picture of this, because he was in my backpack. He strolled through the castle compound (still in my backpack) and finally was taken out of it when I saw frogs as part of the fountain in the castle garden, reminding me he was there!

 Here is poor Frog trying to get to his friends in the middle of the fountain. Alas, they were too far away and he is one of the few frogs in the world who doesn't like getting wet. Poor froggy!

After that, I took Frog back to a part of the castle where you can overlook the village-town. He really enjoyed the view and was ever so excited to have his picture taken here. He was still sad that he missed seing the view from the tower. I know--I'm such a terrible person to have forgotten the stuffed animal in my backpack.

After all the wandering, my travel buddies and I were getting hungry. It was also getting cold. We decided that a nice, heart Czech meal was in order. Both Lonely Planet and Rick Steeves has recommended a restaurant called "The Two Marys". It served traditional Medieval Bohemian food. We got the old style Bohemian feast, which included smoked meat, potato cake, chicken, potato dumplings, millet cakes, cabbage, and salad. It was quite delicious. Actually, the whole trip was wonderful--even if I did get several strange looks from people for taking pictures with a stuffed animal. I'm an elementary teacher--what can I say.

PS--The Nameless Frog has since been named "Billy Bob" :)