Young Author's Conference

This past Friday was the 3rd Annual Young Author's Conference at the school where I teach. For those who may not know exactly what a Young Author's Conference is- it's when students create their own book and then share it with their family, friends, and community! At our school, each student is responsible for making their own book. This year, students wrote nonfiction books of various informational topics. My class researched and wrote books on systems within the Human Body.

Teachers are not expected to decorate their classrooms for this event. However, it's not an option for me-decorating for a big day, such as The Young Author's conference, is viewed as mandatory in my mind. I absolutely love it and get so into it. I was in my classroom until 8:00 Thursday night decorating my classroom and getting it ready for Friday.

Last year I went with a Hollywood theme and my students were "Star Authors" and I loved that theme! I almost went with the same theme this year, especially considering I could re-use and not have to put a lot of money into it- but since all the students were writing books on the Human Body this year, I thought I would go with a "museum" theme. It ended up turning out pretty neat, I think.

This is the bulletin in the hallway right outside of my classroom. It was to be like the "welcome sign" outside of a museum. On the bottom right corner, it says "Hours of Operation, M-F 8-3:30. CLOSED SUMMERS" (I love that summer is 2 weeks away!!)

This was on the center of the floor and was created by two of my students. I was SO impressed with how it turned out. They designed it all on their own and it truly is better than I could ever do.

This idea was taken from Pinterest. I modified some things based on what I could/couldn't find at the store in the short amount of time I had to get it all ready, but I'm still really happy with the way it turned out. I wanted to tie the candy in with certain components of my students' research and it all came together really well!

I used Twizzler Bites as "heart valves" and Twizzler pull 'n' peels as "muscle fibers."

Blue Jello- like they give you in the hospital I guess?

Tropical flavored Mike 'n' Ike's as "medication"

Marshmallows as "cotton balls" and cheerios in water with red food coloring as "red blood cells"

Students had over 200 books from which to do their research

A few of my students wanted to decorate the board, so I let them :)

I sat my students in groups according to the system they researched and wrote a book on; this is the Circulatory System

At each section of body systems, I tried to think of something hands-on for students to share with guests (also an opportunity to share their expertise and link it to what they have learned). At the nervous system, I put some spices in little cups and had the students share with the guests about the brain's role in smell, etc.

The Skeletal System section- one of the boys who studied this system is gifted and he knew every single part of the skeleton and had it memorized and didn't mind showing off to anyone who would listen :)

A sweet picture of two of my students listening to each other read

And this is just plain funny. Ok, so this is Micah. His mom is a teacher at our school. He works for a local news station. He's also really, really tall. Well, a few of my students had apparently asked him if he played football, and he told them he played in college. The students asked him if he played for the Gators, to which he told them he played against the Gators. Since my students have great selective hearing, all they heard was "play for the Gators" and took it and ran with it and made him out to be completely famous. Next thing you know- Micah is signing autograph after autograph and I'm just laughing. Then, students were asking me if they could touch the pen he wrote with and keep it. It was hilarious and ridiculous all at the same time- considering they made him out to be famous out of their own mis-interpretation of what he told them. Oh, kids. :)

Micah's real reason for being there was to have the students help him write an article about the Young Author's Conference day so that he could post it on the website of Bay News 9, the station he works for.

Overall, the Young Author's Conference day was a huge success. Our classroom saw lots of visitors that day and the students had fun. The process of getting the books written and such is no easy task- but the end product is always worth it!

Moe's and Movies

Yesterday, Lauren, Whitney, Dayna and I met up for our monthly tradition of Girls' Night Out. (We weren't able to schedule our April night-out due to busy schedules, and Lauren was over in Wales!) Anyway, normally we just do dinner, but this time Lauren and Whitney suggested seeing a movie, too. It was a great idea and the movie they picked was hilarious! If you haven't seen What to Expect When You're Expecting, you're missing out!

Two of the funniest people I know.

These girls make great company!

There were several attempts to get this photo- and although still not great picture quality, it's good enough!

Each time we get together, I'm reminded to be thankful of friendships that began in college and are still continuing on! I have too many memories to count with these girls!

Photo Dump

Man. I've really been slacking on my blog lately. Three weeks 'til summer...and that's all I have to say about that. :) {Maybe in the summertime I'll get back to regular programming on my blog?}

So, here is a photo dump from my iPhone on what's been going on since my last update.

My roommate and I renewed our apartment lease for another year. It was kind of a stressful decision because being teachers at a school where our job depends on FCAT/standardized test scores, and we don't have those scores back yet and probably won't until end of June, how will we know if we'll be here or not? Of course, you can always terminate a lease early, but that's basically a big money-waster. So, at this point, we're choosing to trust and have faith that we will be fine. I let my roommate know, though, that this could be the last time I sign a lease with her (we've lived together for 4 years) because I so badly want to move north next year!

This is the restuarant where my sister works as a hostess. I think our family has been bringing them some pretty good business lately. :) I was home last weekend visiting my parents for Mother's Day weekend and we went to dinner here Saturday night. It's a neat little place that sits on the water. So when my friend texted me Friday morning to invite me to the beach in Sarasota for sunset last night, I recommended dinner at, you guessed it, The Old Salty Dog. :) My friends were impressed!

Not too long ago, my friend, Audra, and I were dining at Abuelo's after church. I saw some friends there who also go to my church. They came and talked to us before they left, and right after they left, a waiter came and put this delectable dessert on our table and said "someone here knew you and wanted you to have this." I knew right away who it was from and it was just too nice! There are genuinely good people on this Earth. It's in the little things. :)

I went to a 2-day teacher workshop at the beginning of the month. I posted on Instagram with this caption: "Teacher workshop=getting paid to color. That pretty much sums it up. :) But if you really want to know, this little masterpiece was my mask for a character in a Reader's Theater play I was a part of that day. It was a nice break from my fifth-graders-who-think-they-are-high-schoolers-but-they-are-so-not.

My mom and I went to the beach last Sunday for Mother's Day. My sister Korinne went with us too, but she was taking the picture. It was a crummy, overcast day at the beach.....and I left with a sunburn from only an hour and a half under an overcast sky. I should have known!

Me and my dad at Old Salty dog last week. He drives me crazy and makes me laugh so hard in the same minute. It's just how it is. Haha.

Last Friday night was my sister Korinne's high school prom. She goes to a Special Needs school for students with various exceptionalities. My dad works there, too. It's open to the majority of the students and it lasts for an hour and a half on the dot, 7-8:30. Quite different from most proms. :) It's cute. They have a DJ and popular music, but the lights are on and parents and siblings and teachers are there too. This year's theme was "Under the Sea." It puts things in perspective when you're in a room filled with kids who don't sweat the small stuff- and don't have a worry in the world. They are the sweetest people and don't cast any amount of judgment. It was a fun night!

Friday at school was another "Wacky Wear" day. This was Dayna's choice for Wacky Wear. I'm not sure if it gets any wackier. She's crazy. She calls herself "Aunt B" in this outfit and talks with a "New Jersey" accent. Please note the cane she's holding, and the pillows stuffed inside to create fat. This girl will be 95 years old, still with a very vivid and active imagination.

And then here I am on Wacky Wear day. This reflects a teacher who was tired and didn't pre-plan her Wacky Wear day outfit. So the next best thing was putting on two different knee-socks underneath my capris and wearing two different shoes. That was the extent of my wackiness, and I'm okay with it. It's hard to compete anyway with the exhibit above of "Aunt B."

This is little Liam. He's my friend Kelly's newest boy. Isn't he teeny tiny and precious? (He looks bigger here because he was in his little night gown, but I assure you- he's tiny!) He was born April 12th and this was the first time I got to meet him! I brought dinner over Friday night and enjoyed hanging out with Kelly and visiting with Gavin, her 2 year old, and holding Liam most of the night! I'm looking forward to babysitting soon!

Last night, four of my friends and I went to Sarasota for the evening to see sunset on the beach and go to dinner. It was a beautiful evening!

Being at the beach made me even more anxious for summer! It's certainly here- feels like it- now I'm just waiting for the calendar to say "June 8th!"

I've been cooking a tad more lately, and tonight I tried a new macaroni and cheese recipe in the crockpot. It was really good- really cheesy- trying to think of what I could have with it next time. Don't think I can JUST eat this. Haha.

Well, there's my long photo dump! The desire to be a more consistent blogger is there- just need to make it happen! :)