Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Sigh.... Last Day. Go Get Your Summer Groove On Friends!

Today.. our last day... we potted herb plants for you to enjoy with all your summer eating! Thanks Sylvia for coordinating this fun last day project!! The big surprise today was our little bunny visitor! Our baby bunny friend hung out with us for most of the morning's planting activities! If we weren't planting, you can clearly see we were practicing making pyramids with our bodies! Team work and friendship was LARGE and IN CHARGE of any down time we had today, as we savored every moment together on our last day! Hard to describe what it's like to shepherd 19 trusting, wide-eyed, thoughtful, caring sweet academic young students through 180 days together, and then... to have to let them go!! Mixed emotions. Mostly joy and pride at all we've accomplished, all our learning and progress... amazing! I'm so grateful to have been your teacher. While I taught you, you also taught me, so much! Your energy and enthusiasm for learning is rare and special! The way you all look out for each other is awesome! I'd follow each and every one of you to 6th grade if I could! Have fun this summer, and remember to make reading and play a part of every day! You are all stars!!! Danny's comment during thoughtful reflection at the end of today, might have summed it all up... "Everyone in this room, right now, is pretty much my best friend". See... now you know what I'm talking about when I tell you about how special this class is! STUNNING YEAR, SECOND GRADE FRIENDS!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Balloons and Button Party... BOOYAH!!

More than your ordinary amount of pictures for tonight's blog... because it's BUTTON PARTY DAY!!!! Where do I begin?? We started off with preparations, button counting, messages, and pizza making! WOW! Take a moment to appreciate the "voice" behind that message this morning, and great job running the meeting Danny! Well done! Our pizza never tasted better! We all worked the dough, sauce, cheese, and TOPPINGS!! Then, it was snack time! Delicious!! It always tastes better when you make it yourself! After that it was time for the top secret surprise... Button Party Treasure Hunt! Students had to read clues to determine the hidden locations of their button treasures!! Some worked in teams, some worked alone, but everyone worked hard for those buttons!! So much fun! Our treasure hunt brought us to the bulb garden, Nurse Jeannie, the library, all over!! FUN! Next... it was time for water and balloons!! First we tried our skills at bull's eye balloon toss! Teams had to toss balloons on to the target, trying to accumulate the most points, while keeping score for their team! (Yup, math meets water balloons... awesome)! Next, we had our water balloon toss game. Partners tossed their explosive water balloons to their partners. Those who could catch it without "getting all wet" continued! Each time, the distance between partners grew! We've gotta give it up to Owen and Jake, Joe, and Ms. Wickline, and Skyler and Alena! WOW! HOW DID YOU CATCH THAT BALLOON WITH OUT IT POPPING????? The afternoon slowed down a bit with the movie, Spy Next Door (Jackie Chan knows his stuff). Very funny, and even better when you can make your own sundae while enjoying the movie! We ended the day with Juan's round of Zelda, and wonderful reflection of "the best day ever"!!! Being a good friend, citizen, worker, and caregiver sure pays off in 2W!!! That's for sure! That's what we call Button Party Day! If YOU'RE NOT a second grader, NOW'S THE TIME TO BE ONE!!!! BOOYAH!