Friday, January 31, 2014

Five for Friday...Snowmageddon style!


Oh my goodness!!! This has been the craziest week I think I've ever experienced! I teach in Atlanta, and you may have heard Atlanta has had some snow problems this week (such an understatement!!).  
 
 
I'm linking up with Doodle Bug to share my craziness from the week  =)

 
http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-for-friday-linky-party-january-31st.html

 
1. The snow started falling around 11:00am, and when we dismissed at 1:45pm, the roads were already JAMMED! No one could get through! No buses. No day care vans. No parents.
 
At 4:00pm, we had about 800 students.
At 7:00pm, we had about 400 students.
At 9:00pm, we had about 200 students.
Our last student was picked up at 10:30am Wednesday morning.
 
I knew it was not a good sign when we started pulling out mats for the kids to sleep on.

Once we were down to only a handful of students, and they were settled for the night, I was able to leave. Except that I didn't have anywhere to go! The roads were icy and the traffic was gridlocked (may new least favorite word!). There was no way I would make it home. Thankfully, a loving teacher who only lived a mile away from school opened her home to teachers who couldn't get home. Can we say slumber party!?!


Snow orphans ready for a slumber party!
 
The next day, Wednesday, several teachers were able to make it home. However, the Chattahoochee River still stood between me and my house, and we've all seen the signs:
 
 
The roads were icy and the abandoned cars were causing traffic problems on the interstates, so I decided to stay put in the nice warm house where I'd been staying. I FINALLY made it home Thursday afternoon, just in time to hear that schools were closed Friday. Phew! What a relief! It's gonna take a few days before I'm ready to leave this house again!
 
2. My hubby was also affected by the Snow Jam (a name that makes this thing sound a whole lot more fun than it actually was!). He spent 8 hours trying to make his 8 mile commute. He eventually had to abandon his car in the Bank of America parking lot and trek in the snow the last 3 miles. He left a thank you note on his car, by the way, which I though was so adorably thoughtful.
 
 
We rescued his car when I got home Thursday.
 
3. Before the snow hit, we did do some actual learning this week. My para-pro was a HIT when we did our labeling lesson. After talking about labels and other text features, my para let us label her, which the kids thought was the most fantastic thing they had ever seen!
 
Teachers will do anything to help their students learn!
4. We're also learning about measurement. To practice measuring length, the students took off their shoe and traced it. One thing I've learned about teaching is that any lesson where kids can take their shoes off is a winner! Students estimated how long their shoe would be in cubes, and then measured it. To end the lesson, we ordered the shoes from shortest to longest.






5. Monday was also our 100th day of school! I didn't take any pictures unfourtunately, but I do have a couple of links to share.

This first link is to a 100th Day Ticket a co-worker of mine created. The students worked on 100 day activities all day, and as they finished, I marked that activity off of their ticket. I put yarn on this and my students wore it as a necklace. They loved it, and it kept them working hard! This is in Word, so you can change it to fit your class' activities.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2BrwiivR_fja3F3WlVIdXdzVGM/edit?usp=sharing

The second link is a super fun TPT freebie I found. I used a lot of the ideas from here including a fruitloop necklace (made in groups of 10 of 1 color), "If I had $100" writing prompt, "I can write 100 words," and 100th day snack mat. Hope it's helpful for you, too! 

100th Day of School Freebie {Printables}
 

4 comments:

  1. Hi I'm your newest follower! You have had a very eventful week. But also some fun learning! I love the label the sub! We have a linky party on Wednesdays. This week its any great ELA idea. I would love to hear more about the labeling and would love to have you come link up!
    Autumn Gill
    Coast to Coast Kinder

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  2. I died laughing at Tim's note! How thoughtful of him. You deserved the rest of the week off after everything you went through! Oh, and I love the labeling lesson. Sticky notes are always fun, but it's even better if you get to put them all over your teacher, right? Enjoy your weekend at home!

    Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
    Follow me on Bloglovin!

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  3. You poor poor thing! What a week! I cannot believe all those poor babies were stuck at school waiting for their parents while the teachers sat nervously twiddling their thumbs. Yikes! I'm so glad to hear you and your hubs are okay- his note is precious!
    Erin
    Short and Sassy Teacher

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  4. Oh my gosh! You were one of those stories we heard on the news!! I'm so sorry! What a week. The note is great. I hope you recover this weekend. The kids have something unique to write about in their journals!

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