Invasion of the Baby Chicks

Ladies and Gentlemen. It happened. We have been invaded. Our classroom was invaded by baby chicks this week!

So sweet and innocent! Don't trust them!!

You won't believe these little rascals. On Tuesday, they trashed our room, spreading notebooks, pens, and paper all over the place! They left little pieces of plastic, green grass behind and a note on the board: IOTBC. They also left tiny pieces of paper with IOTBC on them. Don't you worry, our kids were on the case! They spent the day trying to figure out what IOTBC stood for and collecting their clues.

Wednesday morning, we came into the classroom and saw the baby chicks' latest attack:

Sneaky little things 

They got me, too!

Yes. They tied yarn all around our desks and chairs! They even got me and my mentor teacher! As our kids pointed out, there must be a lot of them to get all that done. Our new clues were little chocolate eggs, more IOTBC slips of paper, a note on the board saying IOTBC, more green grass, and these little prints on some of the desks:

Hmmmm a new clue....

Our kids collected the clues, wrote them all down, and started hypothesizing suspects and what to do next. They thought IOTBC stood for It's Only The Beginning, Children (which, frankly, sounds terrifying). The kids figured whoever it was had to be small to get through our locked door. They thought maybe it was the Easter bunny (with the holiday just around the corner). Another guess was a leprechaun (with St. Patrick's day just this past weekend). The yarn made them think of spiders, and the wild card guess was poor Mr. O'Keefe, the teacher down the hall. According to the kids, he's been "suspicious" lately because he's been coming in our room with technology questions. Poor, unsuspecting Mr. O'Keefe. Our "clue club" put together some questions for our attackers and left them around the room:

My favorite is E. How scary is a creature that is all of the above??

Thursday morning, we saw our attackers faces! Baby chicks! Each student had a baby chick waiting for them, along with a nest of green grass, jelly beans, and a chocolate egg. IOTBC has been solved. One of the students even figured out it stood for Invasion of the Baby Chicks! What an adventure. We'll have to apologize to Mr. O'Keefe for the false accusation, even though some students are still slightly suspicious...

Baby chicks for the win!

After the big morning, we also had coconut cupcakes that I made for the class, a little spring surprise =]

Yum

Also, if you didn't hear on FB, I was offered a job with Achievement School District! You can check them out here. More details to come, but it looks like they want me in 4th grade so I am beyond excited to start preparing for my own 4th grade class next year! Snaps for fourth grade, you guys! To celebrate, my mentor teacher and the teacher next door got me a cake and a pretty notebook. I'm so lucky to have them and will be asking a million questions as I prepare for next year =]

Double yum

So pretty!

So we are officially on Spring Break! I'll be headed to Tampa tomorrow for a cohort wedding and am laying low until then. It feels so good to not have to be anywhere!! Hope you're having a great Friday =]

Spring (Break) Fever

Two more days! Two more days! Not sure who's more excited about spring break- me or the kids?! Hehe I'm so used to having spring break the first week of March at UF so I'm a bit overdue for a break. At least it'll be warmer this year =]

Today was class picture day and I got to be in it! This class is so special to me and I hope I can get a copy of the picture to take with me to Memphis! Speaking of Memphis, I passed both of my praxis tests (one middle school and one elementary), had a phone interview with Gestalt and a phone interview with KIPP, was turned down by KIPP (sad), and had a video interview with Achievement School District. So now I'm waiting to hear back from the other two interviews. That's the latest update.

You know how we've been focusing on leadership and the 7 Habits by Covey? Well we had this great big Leadership Expo a couple weeks ago and it was so fun! We stayed after school and the kids and parents came in around 6. They had a tour (led by the 5th graders) of the different habits in different rooms and then came into our classroom to check out their science projects and talk with us. I love getting to talk with their parents and getting to know them all better. They've all been so sweet and welcoming to me! I have been so incredibly lucky this year =]

Look how cute these are! 7 Habits-themed-snacks! The administration made them for our last faculty meeting. 7 Habits are everywhere =]

7 Habits snack pack explanation

Yum!

This weekend, I'll be heading to Tampa to celebrate a friend's wedding with some of my cohort girls, and then I'll have a couple days at home before (attempting) to go to New Orleans to visit my high school bestie. This is my THIRD attempt since September to get out there. So please ward off any hurricanes or flu virus' that look like they're coming my way!

And Now For Some Good News

You made it through Wednesday! Congratulations, just 2 days left until the weekend. How am I doing, you ask? Y'all are so sweet. I'm doing GREAT actually. Let me show you in pictures how everything's been lining up juuuuuuuust right.

Yay!

Got an email for a phone interview with Gestalt Community Schools (a charter school in Memphis). I actually had that interview today and I think it went well! I was cool, calm and collected. This would be for elementary, so K or 1st. The tiny ones scare me, but they make up for it in precious things they say. On to the next picture:

Yay!

Got an email for a phone interview with KIPP (another charter school in Memphis!) This interview is Friday afternoon. Again, their elementary is just K and 1st, but there's also their middle school, which has 5th and 6th. Maybe? Who knows. Next picture!

Yay!

I passed all of my Florida Certification exams. Now I just have to finish these pesky classes UF wants me to take. Two more classes and three more months of an internship before I can apply for certification (which will promptly be transferred to Tennessee, thank you very much).

And finally, though I don't have a picture to go with it, my mentor teacher said I could take over the classroom for the month of May- basically the last 4 weeks I'm there! It'll be after FCAT so pressure is off and we can experiment with some new lesson ideas. I'm just excited to completely take over! It was one part of the old style of interning I regretted not having.

Sigh. So yes, it's all coming together. Remind me of this when it inevitably all feels like it's falling apart ;)

Growing Up Can Be Fun!

Hi everyone! I have had a great week- is it sad that working (er. interning for no pay?) a 40 hour week versus a 50 hour week can make that big a difference? It's been great going home on time every day! I had a conference call with TFA on Wednesday. These are really neat. You call in to the conference call and put your phone on mute, then you log in online (I use my IPad) and watch the presentation. I feel like I'm on the Jetson's or something.

accidental Apple advertisement

I also got ANOTHER book in the mail, specifically for Memphis corps members. Bring on the reading!

In other job related news, I was contacted to fill out a job application with Gestalt Community Schools. This charter school reminds me a lot of KIPP and is really neat! They just started an elementary school this year so it'd be really cool to get in on the ground floor. Check out what they're doing here: http://www.gestaltcs.org/

Submitted my application today!

This weekend, I got to go down to Tampa to see Lexi- my teaching partner from my pre-internship last year. Nothing bonds you faster than spending all day, everyday with someone for a whole semester! We were lucky to have each other and she asked me to be her bridesmaid during school one day while the kids were taking a test. Haha perfect timing- no squealing allowed. She's getting married in July and had her bridal shower this weekend! I can't believe it's only four months away. She'll be moving to Houston and I'll be off to Memphis and we'll be grown-ups with classrooms of our own- so insane! Well, here are the highlights of the shower:

Isn't my teaching partner pretty!

The bridal party

wedding pictionary

I loved these pretty little teacups

toilet paper gown

ribbon and bow bouquet. who needs flowers??

So that's what I did this weekend! This upcoming week, I start my science course. Science and technology are the two courses standing between me and a masters degree! Let's get this show on the road!