The End of Year Crazies!

We made it to the end of the school year! Really, this year flew by faster than any other I've ever had. And now that we've been out of school for almost two weeks, it seems more like two days! 

Before school let out, we had a fabulous Field Day! The games were so much fun, and even the teachers got in and played.

The cutest game! Pitchin' Pigs...
The kiddos had to try to hike the
rubber piggies through the hula hoops
behind them. Then, regardless of
whether they made it through the
hoop, they retrieved the pig and handed
it off to the next in line - awesome relay!

Do you see that face? He's having a blast hopping down
the field and around a cone and back, racing
kids in the other classes. Then, all the teachers raced
each other - TOO FUNNY!

Good ole' sack races - fun for everyone!

Our last field trip of the year was to LegoLand! The kids had so much fun, and LegoLand fit nicely with our school's STEM initiative. Our STEM teacher uses Legos several times throughout the year to have the kids build structures, make battery-powered robots, explore circuits, and more.

 

 

For the last three days of school, the kids and I moved every. single, thing. to my new classroom. Can you say cah-ray-zy? This is right after school on the first moving day:

Thankfully, on the very last day of school, my fabulous room mom helped me get everything put away, organized, and packed up for next fall! This is how I left it:

Thanks to ALL great room moms!

SO, at the same time I was moving at school, we were moving into our new house!

Kitchen - before

The movers seemed to think that the best thing to do with all of our stuff was stack it on top of itself. I can NOT complain!

We are finally in our own house, I've had almost every room painted, and my hubby's being super-patient with me, letting me enjoy my summer and unpack slowly. It's a heaven-sent luxury to be able to paint, finally use all my pins for design and decor (outside the classroom), and give my girls their dream rooms!

New Tiffany Blue paint in the kitchen...LOVE!

Before we bought the house, I found these candle holders at TJ Maxx, and loved them. I knew they'd be perfect to replace the icky track lights in the kitchen. I drilled holes in the bottom of each one, bought new light kits for the track, and hung the repurposed light fixtures. I just have to cut the wiring to the right length...and I will. I promise!

Living Room - before

How to not get all grandma in here??? I'm working on unformalizing the living room. Yes, I made that word up, just now!

Living Room - in progress...I'm trying to decide what to do about that weird place above the lower left photo of one of our daughters. I designed these two vinyl ideas to cut using my silhouette, but I can't decide which one I like better. Let me know what you think!

The den, getting there, gotta hang pictures and open the blinds!

The den, as the movers left it...

While we're unpacking, I have to start packing. We're off to the beach for a week of vacation! What a perfect ending to a perfect school year, and a perfect beginning to our new life in our new home, and my new life in fourth grade!

My happy place...Sunset Beach, NC!

I have lots of ideas for integrating my subject areas - ELA and US history - that I'll be working on this summer. Although South Carolina has officially withdrawn from common core, our new state standards look so much like CCSS, I think you'll be able to find plenty to use in your classroom. Right now I'm thinking "big kid" stations, which seem kind of hard for me to find, but I know fourth graders certainly aren't too old to use them or learn from them. I also think they might be the perfect answer to the RTI requirements in my school. We have 30 minutes, per day, to work with the lowest achieving ten percent of students. Rather than use stations during guided reading groups, I think I'll be using them while I work with my RTI group. I'll keep you posted on how it's going, and let you know as soon as I have some stations ready.

XOXO,

Brooke