Make Way for Ducklings

One of my favorite parts of Boston is the Make Way for Ducklings statues at the Public Garden.

These little bronze ducklings delight children and adults alike.

All lined up, following their mommy duck. Just like the story depicts.

After my last trip down to say "hi" to the ducks, I walked towards the Esplanade and the Charles River.

It was so fun to see, there in the river basin, a family of ducks.

7 little ducklings and their duck parents, swimming along.

8 ducklings in all,  just like the famed Ducklings.

Make way for ducklings, indeed!

P52: Week 20 around the sun

This week literally flew by! It did help to have 2 days off for the holiday of Shavuot. Essentially, we had a Monday and Tuesday, a "weekend," and then Friday - not too shabby!

The 3 days we did have were packed to the brim though! In language arts this week I taught everyone all about alliteration (see what I did there, hehe). The kids wrote some great alliteration "text messages" (thank you Pinterest) and they're super proud to see them hanging around the school. We also celebrated Shavuot as a school and the 3rd graders used foam pieces to create their vision of what Mt. Sinai looks like - they came out great!

The weather this week has been glorious too! Typical Boston, mornings have still been winter like but the recovery is makes the early morning chill worth it! Sunday I took advantage of the weather and went kayaking - so fun! It was also so great to have 2 days off and be able to savor the perfect weather. Makes me so ready for summer.

Well, 4 weeks of school left until that starts - insane!!


Highlight of the week: Seeing my students from last year (finally) and having them be so excited to see me after almost a year. Such memories!

Favorite teaching moment: laughing with the kids as they came up with hilarious alliterations, we were all in stitches over their ideas!

Random-osity: There is something about gorgeous spring evenings at home that makes me want to organize and tidy up...random, I know...

Also! I'm working on growing the blog's facebook page - won't you please join me over there as well? I post a sampling of the random things around me and would love to connect there (here) too!

Your turn and all the details:

- Post 1 photo or an many as you like each week on Monday.

- The button or text link should be present in your post - but not absolutely necessary. 

- Please visit some other blogs & leave some love & encouragement. 

- Submit the URL of your blog post - not your home page. 

Can't wait to see all your photos each week as we venture through 2013!

Project 52

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.kleinworthco.com" title="Kleinworth & Co."><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5PWHlxcnZnM/UNTnl4zpOHI/AAAAAAACEz8/Uj7hmQMY5-Q/s300/P52%2520button%2520image%25202%2520300.jpg" alt="Kleinworth & Co., Project 52, photo sharing, weekly

Scav Hunt Sunday: Fences and Fractions

Fence:

It's no secret I'm a sucker for an iron fence shot. I stumbled upon this fence downtown by a church, people had written messages on the ribbons and tied them on the fence. #bostonstrong

Three:

Three of the Make Way for Ducklings, I think these are Nack, Ouack, and Pack.

Sign:

Mixed message, much? I just thought this was funny, one sign saying do not enter and one saying walk.

Hands:

Hands on learning, that is. These fraction strips have made teaching fractions fun for me and the kids. Seriously, where were these when I was in 3rd grade!?

Cuddle:

Monday through Friday I have a well oiled routine that has me up and out the door with-in 15 minutes of the alarm going off. I love the weekends because it allows me to soak up the sunshine as it streams in my window while I cuddle up in my bed, a far cry from the usual up and at 'em I usually do!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

May Birchbox

My second birchbox did not disappoint! I'm so happy I decided to join and I am super excited for the other boxes I wil get! 

This months goodies included:

- Marvis mint toothpaste: very minty, but quite nice. I enjoyed the sample, but am sticking with Crest

- Runa tea: I love tea, I tried the ginger citrus and it was delicious, I can see it making a great iced tea

- Amika nourishing mask: I am in love with this! It smelled so nice and made my hair SO soft. Seriously happy with this one. 

- Coola sunscreen: smelled nice and was a perfect size for my kayaking excursion last weekend! 

- Sumita eyeliner: I don't wear that much makeup each day, but I can see this being great for special occasions. 

Thanks again, Kim for sharing all about Birchbox, I'm loving it!

ps - if you want me to "refer" you I get points that I can use to buy full size products!

Rollin' on the River

Sunday, the weather was AMAZING. Well, okay it started off cold and rainy, but then the sun came out tomorrow.  My friend Ben had suggested kayaking on the Charles River and we seized the nice weather and headed out.  

I've been kayaking on the Charles once before, but much farther done, near the harbor. This was a nice calm, scenic section. Just gorgeous.

We headed out downstream for a while, we figure we almost went a mile, at least! We saw a few beavers and a beaver lodge, too! There were tons of people out, some canoeing, some kayaking, some paddle boating, just enjoying the day. 

 I was brave and had my phone in a dry bag (my mother is cringing reading this...) and was able to sneak it out at a few calm moments and snap some pictures and I am so happy I did.

When we got back to the boat house, our friend, Deb who works there was just getting off of work and we all went back out, but this time on paddle boards! We went out for a while and then came back in again.

Such a fun afternoon, it was so nice to be out, on the water, a place I am most happy. I slept well Sunday night, too, that is for sure!!

P52: Week 19 around the sun

Well, this week was an interesting mix of exciting and craziness! In addition to the normal everyday excitements, the other third grade general studies teacher is going to be out for a few week and I am working on planning her classes and my own. Needless to say, I am running around a bit more than usual!

I did start the week, by celebrating with my class; we celebrated the end of their planet unit. The kiddos did such an amazing job presenting what they learned and we were all SO proud of them! We also baked cupcakes to celebrate another teacher's birthday and because when you're learning fractions, you just have to bake! I wish I could share those cute pictures, but alas, I can't...

I also had a fun afternoon out on the school grounds with my little photography after school club. They took some amazing pictures of the blooms and buds and I am planning on sharing some of their work soon!

We've had wacky weather this week too - half early, chilly spring, part gorgeous near summer, and one massive 90 minute downpour! Let's say the drive home nearly turned into a boat ride home! I may love winter, but I was pretty excited to see some claps of lighting, too!

Highlight of the week: A wonderful lunch and learning session after services on Saturday. We studied a piece of text that I haven't really studied since 7th grade and it was such a great and eye opening study session!

Favorite teaching moment: Baking cupcakes (in the name of fractions) with the kids - it was fun and just what we all needed after a long week!

Random-osity: I have an odd habit of after un-paper clipping a pile of papers, putting the paperclip onto a belt loop of mine. I then forget to take off the clip later. Needless to say, some of my pants have quite the paperclip collection!

Also! I'm working on growing the blog's facebook page - won't you please join me over there as well? I post a sampling of the random things around me and would love to connect there (here) too!

Your turn and all the details:

- Post 1 photo or an many as you like each week on Monday.

- The button or text link should be present in your post - but not absolutely necessary. 

- Please visit some other blogs & leave some love & encouragement. 

- Submit the URL of your blog post - not your home page. 

Can't wait to see all your photos each week as we venture through 2013!

Project 52

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.kleinworthco.com" title="Kleinworth & Co."><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5PWHlxcnZnM/UNTnl4zpOHI/AAAAAAACEz8/Uj7hmQMY5-Q/s300/P52%2520button%2520image%25202%2520300.jpg" alt="Kleinworth & Co., Project 52, photo sharing, weekly

Scav Hunt Sunday: Boston and Blooms

Perspective:

Last Sunday morning, the sun was streaming in through my window and I caught this awesome reflection of my bookshelf on the floor. I took this looking through the bottom of the couch towards the floor.

Golden:

A tabby cat at the greenhouse I wandered through last weekend.

Bloom:

The gorgeous colorful blooms outside the school.

Dark:

We had our first massive rain store and big boomer of the season on Thursday, the sky got super dark, super fast.

Local:

The cover of this month's Boston Magazine. No words to describe how wonderful it is. Those are actual shoes from actual marathon runners. Some local love.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

May Randoms v.1

 Blue skies...shaving cream art...planets

pre-dawn...boston strong...shoes at the memorial

fenway seats...dug out...fenway field

 play ball...sunny day...road trip

LIE traffic...pit stop for dinner...sky and moon

voting day...boston strong...texting fun

starbucks reflection...word game...odd groupon

mileage milestone...boston strong shirt...morning light 

symmetry game...planet presentations...lost flip flops

spring buds...fluffy clouds...pollen bombed

kid made games...new sneaks and new book...breaking in the sneaks

fractions = baking...spring downpour...bookshop browsing

Serendipity is Sweet -- Finding Serendipity -- The Long Road to China

What a difference...

On Tuesday we had the warmest temps in months, months! It was so nice to take my photography club outside to photograph the new flowers and buds.

To think that this was the tree outside one of the school doors a month ago... 

And this week - look at those colorful blooms!

I have just been loving the colors and sites of this spring.

I don't know if it was the long winter or the events of the past few weeks, but this year, spring feels like a wonderful, wonderful gift!

Out of this world planets

We wrapped up our space unit on Monday with a sweet presentation with the parents. The children each shared 3 "did you know" facts about space and then shared their binders, papers, and "space ipads" with their parents. It was so sweet to see them so proud of their learning! 

I chose a really fun way to let the kids represent their planet. I figured the painted styrofoam ball was way over done and wanted to do something different! Enter pinterest (who else?). I saw an idea for an Earth Day activity that involved shaving cream and paint to create a marbled effect on the paper, and I thought, "why not!?"

 We had a super fun time making these! The kids loved the idea of getting to use paint and shaving cream, heck so was I! It was a nice assessment too, since the kids needed to know exactly what color their planet was and any distinctive features it might have had too!

 

Aren't these AMAZING!! I hated to send them home yesterday and really wanted to save them for myself! It's so funny too, but they make me think of each child who made them, the planet they researched and represented somehow reflects them too, go figure!

Shaving cream planets: 

- shaving cream
- spatula
- popsicle sticks
- tempura paint
- paper in shape desired
- tray or plates to put shaving cream in
- ruler/squeegee

1) cut out paper to desired shape/size
2) put a a layer of shaving cream on your tray or plate and smooth it out with a spatula
3) drizzle paint colors around the shaving cream, don't cover the whole layer with paint!
4) use a popsicle stick to swirl/marble the paint around, you do want some white spaces left
5) place the paper onto the shaving cream/paint
6) lightly press down on paper so that it gets covered by mixture below
7) carefully lift up the paper and place it on a paper to set for 5 minutes
8) after about 5 minutes, take the rule or squeegee and scrape off the excess shaving cream
9) be amazed by what is left behind!

(I apologize for no step by step pictures, it was me and 9 active 9 year olds with a lot of shaving cream and paint around!!)

Kleinworth & Co.