Miss J's B-day

This past Monday was my birthday. To begin the day, I was pleasantly greeted by eighteen little farmers. Each of my students had dressed up as farmers in honor of me being raised on a farm. The day ended with a party that included a choreographed dance by my students, eighteen hand made cards, and a farm cake. This cake was the most detailed cake I have ever had; everything on the cake was edible! The moms of my students worked so hard to make me feel loved and special.

Enjoy a glimpse of my fun day!

End of the year is in sight

After studying a unit on farming, I introduced my students to the Peterson Farm Brothers. These brothers have made two music videos of farming parodies of current pop songs. My students fell in love with the music videos. At the beginning of the 2013, we wrote the brothers fan mail and sent it off. After waiting almost three months, we received a reply. Not only did we receive a letter but an autographed poster. The poster is now on display in our classroom.

With only seventeen days of school left, the students are very ready for the year to be over. I saw an idea on the internet and brought it into our classroom. Being there are eighteen students in my class, we began a countdown - "The Last 18 Days of School." I blew up eighteen balloons and put a special activity inside each. Each day, a different student pops a balloon and reads the special activity. The first activity was a paper airplane competition. The kids had a blast making and testing their airplanes. It seems chaotic, but I would not have it any other way. 

Life as I know it

I took last Friday off from school; it was a great day. I slept in (at least until 7), I talked to family and friends from back home, I organized my room, and I made a new friend. As I was organizing my room, I heard some noise outside my window. My window faces the outside walkway that leads from the car park (garage) to the stairs going to the front door. At first I thought it was Kristin, my aunt; the noise from coming from where she stores the broom. After it did not stop I thought I should check out the situation. Was I in for a BIG surprise. The first thing I saw was a long tail. Thinking it was a snake, I quickly ran back inside, collected myself and grabbed my camera. 

A monitor lizard had made its afternoon napping locale on my window sill. Although it seemed to be a baby, he was at least 2.5 feet long! I have only ever seen these lizards near water. Being that our house is no where near a body of water, we do not know where he came from. Sandy, the name my five year old cousin gave the lizard, stayed for the weekend. We checked on him periodically and even tried giving him some leftovers from dinner. Broccoli and chicken are not a lizard's choice dinner. After spending about two days with us, the lizard disappeared and has not been seen since.

Bintan, Indonesia

With less than a month left of school, three friends and myself hopped on a ferry and spent the weekend laying on the beach. Bintan, a small island south of Singapore, was our destination. Only forty-five minutes on the ferry and we were in paradise! Although it was a rainy day in Singapore, the beaches of Bintan greeted us with clear skies and lots of sun. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed the day soaking in the sun. 

I found a hermit crab in the water. He poked his head out a few times and even tried to grab my finger.

Ahhhh....

Tranquility.

Angela, Kara, Laura, and myself - all teachers at ICS

It was such a great opportunity to get to know these great ladies.