This video won't load for me to the blog...

...but if you click on the link, you might get a laugh. Thanks to John for asking me to be in their talent show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoEXiRF63tk
Hope it makes you laugh!

Classroom Christmas Tree

Duly reprimanded and actually really honored to Katy's shout-out in her sidebar list, I am including some more teaching ideas on my blog.

Christmas decorations and fast finishers--the perfect blend. Above is a picture of a tree you can make with kid's handprints. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of the one my classroom made, as it really outdoes this picture, but you get the general idea.

My suggestions, and what made our tree fantastic, was this:
1. Outline the desired tree shape with masking tape (we made ours on our door, but any wall will do)
2. Show kids how to cut out hands. Some of them will get brilliant and realize that you can cut out about ten hands at a time. Depending on how long you make this activity, you might want to let them do that. For me, I said that five at a time was the limit. I had the paper pre-cut into hand-sized rectangles.
3. Tape the hands so that the fingers are at the bottom (unlike this picture, where the hands go up and out). Make fringed rows of handprints to create the illusion of a fir tree. The picture I have here (from online) has maybe 50-60 hands. In my classroom, we used well over four hundred. It looked as real as a paper tree could look.
4. Your students make the ornaments on the tree. This was a fun activity they could work on whenever they had finished their work early. We also scheduled in some time for completing the tree before Christmas.

The first of many pictures to come...

Here are some pictures from this Christmas Break. More will come when I have uploaded them from my new camera...including my first pictures of Rueben and Co...

But to get the party started:

Annual Family Christmas Pageant Cast



Joseph, Mary, and the Baby (also sometimes known as the Johnsons)


My first Nephew and Neice (Spencer and Emma)


The Cummings' sisters (Four consecutive girls) in Washington, D.C. (Pre- Messiah Concert, post-White House tour, Museum of Natural History, and Spy Museum).

Spoon Me

There's a new place in Provo that has gotten me completely suckered in... Spoon Me. It's the best Frozen Yogurt place I have been to-- as my old roommate Ashley would put it, when you finish your bowl of acai berry swirl, "you feel better, not guilty." I took Michelle, Melinda, and Ashley there in the middle of exam week in December, and we shot these photos.

Spoon Me may sound a little scandalous... and it probably could be. But there are two things I really love about that place. Number 1: its frozen yogurt. Number 2: The inscription next to the door: "No Spooning on Sundays."

Let it Snow!

It is snowing in Utah. Looking outside and seeing the flurried frozen rain from cumulonimbus-turned-stratus clouds makes me oh-so-excited! Christmas is in the air, and with all the season's bridal showers over (at least the ones that I know of) I feel like I can finally start getting into the Christmas spirit! Seeing the snow outside makes me want to bake something. Per a challenge from my amazing mom, I am gluten-free until next week, so baking something kind of seems like a bad idea.

Maybe I will look up some recipes for gluten-free cookies.....

12 days until Christmas!

Firsts

I called in for a substitute today-- by no means my first sub (per district meetings) but I was my first time calling in sick. Last night I had some pretty bad symptoms that are most often classified under the category of "migrane," I believe. I have been having tension headaches for the last several days but last night it kind of spiked.

This morning I debated whether or not it would be wise to teach, and I decided that a teacher, absent for one day and well rested, is better than a teacher who is at half performance for the rest of the week. I am glad to have had the day to relax and recoop. My roommate Ashley was kind enough to help me relieve the tension in my shoulders and neck.

So-- first migrane. First sick substitute need.

And first Tuesday at home this school year.

I'm excited to go back to my class tomorrow. They are going to be pretty ticked that I didn't warn them... I guess it's one of the perks of being a teacher. Despite all they teach me, I still know things they don't know...

And to all a good night

With December here, I am increasingly excited for Christmas. In 18 days, I will be going home-- and before that, I have many exciting things coming up. I will move into a new apartment, hopefully teach all of my lessons for the TWS (BYU's required case study and lesson unit outline for the classroom). I am also planning on having all of my Christmas shopping done by then. I am well on the way, and have only a few more items to purchase.

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year--ever. I love the Cummings' traditions, and I love spending time with family and friends in pursuit of good things and happy times. I tell people that our family tradition is Chimichangas and they most often do double takes...but I think it's the best ever...right up there with grapefruit cocktail.

To the Cummings, and to Christmas, here here! I cannot wait!