It's Friday! We had a fun, productive week! Here are just a few highlights: On Thursday morning we were practicing our flag salute. I am a big stickler about this. I expect everyone to remain perfectly still, eyes on the flag, no matter what. I was in the Army for 3 years and my husband still serves, so to me, making sure my firsties show honor to our flag is a big deal. A few of my kiddos had decided to play around a bit during the flag salute that morning at our Wakin' and Shakin' assembly, so I took a bit of our math time to get this straight with them. I demonstrated the correct procedure for the flag salute and set out my expectations. We tried and failed the first time. I had to explain that I didn't care how much your nose itches, you don't need to scratch it during the flag salute. Actually, I said "itch it" which led to a discussion of whether it is more correct to say "scratch it" or "itch it". Boy, firsties love to point it out when you make a mistake! At this point it started pouring down rain. After oohing and ahhing for a moment (because we have apparently never seen rain before) we got back to the business at hand: perfecting our flag salute. I demonstrated again, reiterating that I didn't care if a marching band came in, my eyes would never leave the flag and I would stay at attention. We practiced a few more times, always having to stop as one student or another broke form by shifting weight, looking around or swinging their free hand etc. Eventually though, repetition and peer pressure got even the most reluctant kiddo to buckle down and we began the salute again. About 1/2 way through the Pledge of Allegiance there was a big clap of thunder and our lights flickered. The 2nd grade class across the hall from us started squealing and exclaiming loud enough for us to hear even through our closed door. BUT, not one of my students broke form and we continued with the rest of the Pledge without missing a beat! Talk about a true test! Needless to say I was extremely proud of them! I have also been the proud recipient of many love notes from my kiddos this week. I have been depicted as a princess, been praised as the "best techer evr" and even got this very creative name cutout: The best part though was at the end of today's assembly. As the classes were filing out, our music teacher started playing "What Makes You Beautiful" and when it got to the part "you don't know you're beautiful", three of my girls spontaneously turned and with big smiles on their faces, pointed to me. Aww, such sweethearts! And, just in case you don't realize how blind firsties can be, here is a picture of me taken just the other night: I'm posing for my very own Melonheadz, which I won in a giveaway! Can't wait to see how Nikki turns me into clipart! Now, lest you think this week was all about singing, flag salutes and complimenting the teacher, let me share one of our math journal prompts. I am also a stickler for actually drawing a picture to match the prompt and my kiddos are really stepping up to the challenge. Here are two different takes on the same prompt: Can you see the big difference in maturity levels I have in my room? But I love that they both came up with a way to draw the prompt (and the little one on the bottom did eventually write the addition sentence on her own!). We also started our Apple Theme this week. Unfortunately the copier went down Monday morning, before I got my copies made, which pushed all of my lessons back. We also had book fair walk through, Star Reading & Math testing and a dozen other little things that through off our schedule even more. thus, although we were supposed to depict an apple tree in all 4 seasons we only had time for Fall and Winter so far. I think they are super cute though! On Monday we will finish up with Spring and summer and then move on to our other apple creations. I am going to steal an idea from my friend Kaci over at Mrs. Hoffer's Spot and do this evaporation experiment: Source: mrshoffer.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest Alright, gotta go catch a nap, make sure you've entered my Happy Fall Y'all giveaway because the prizes are amazing! Click the picture to go to the giveaway post - it ends Sunday!