a little of this...a little of that...Christmas 2011

Better late than never...Maddie Sgroi sent me this darling group picture of our "photo op" after our Christmas Mass...aren't they the cutest?

Please note the Christmas banner hanging from the ambo...
Mrs. Evans and I made that a hundred years ago when we
still had "skills"...

This is Tina/Nellie/Duh? (no wonder she has issues...she has too many names) enjoying her rawhide candy cane from Luke Cairns...she doesn't write thank-you notes but her and the other girls LOVE their candy canes...thanks Luke!

Here are two of MY girls proudly modeling their doggie Christmas scarves made with love by the Rippetoe girls...aren't they positively sassy?  Love you Emalie and Ava!

Emma finally showed her face but I don't think she's really a scarf kind of gal...she's just doesn't have the panache to carry it off!

...and last but not least...MY new bunny hat!  Let me tell you, at recess time, those other kids have nothing over me!!!
 (talk about panache!)

Hope you all have a hat-filled New Year!

christmas mass 2011

Thanks to Grant Price, I have video of our Communion meditation song from our 1st grade Mass on Wednesday, December 21.  Our two soloists are Luke Cairns and Lily Nyirenda...with the rest of the first grade back up singers!  These kids are fearless, fierce and poised beyond their years...enjoy (over and over and over)!  This is our Christmas gift to you.


Thank you Norma Stefanciosa...musical director.

olio: a miscellaneous mixture (i do crossword puzzles) or possibly margarine...I'm never for sure

December is tough...first and foremost my kids are in charge of the last Mass of 2011...the day we break for Christmas...I can't even explain it.  However, there will be video and you will see...it's beautiful, awe-inspiring, unbelievable and STRESSFUL.  It's our gift to the baby Jesus, our parents, the school and the congregation...oh Lord...let it be good!  So...not a lot of blogging going on but I do have a few things to share...

I have morning duty in the cafeteria this week...two of my girls came over to discuss a book they were reading...do you even know the joy that gives me?  They wanted to know what a mammal was and was it different than a reptile...I could have cried!

Another one of our stories...about girlfriends...I love, love, love the illustration...lucky Carla to have such a good friend as Canann!

For those of you who remember the story about Simon Zore eating peas...here is the picture of him looking like he is swallowing hair...meat done rare does the same thing for me!
I'm a "little" concerned about his feet!

If this isn't a typical "man catches fish" story...the fish was SOOOO BIG...it wouldn't even fit on the paper...sure Karsten!

...and lastly...a brand new pair of Tom's sparkly red shoes...she clicked them together for me but neither one of us ended up in Kansas...will try another day!

pennies for patients...leukemia & lymphoma society

Last year St. Christopher School participated, for the very first time, in the Pennies for Patients fundraiser sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society...and we are doing it again this year!  Our itty-bitty school came in 3rd (per capita) of ALL Indiana schools!

If any of my blog followers (who don't already have kids in my classroom) would like to donate to this wonderful organization (all monies raised by Indiana kids stay in Indiana) you can send a check to:
Susan Connor
St. Christopher School
5335 West 16th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46224


made out to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.


To any teachers that might think this is an unfair advantage (there is a Dominos Pizza Party for the winning classroom)...I can only say...
get your own blog!

the writing process...and cucumbers

As any educator knows, the writing process (organization, word choice, topics, presentation, voice, fluency and conventions ) has become so important as tests are rapidly moving away from the multiple choice tests of yore.  Kids HAVE to be able to write and explain answers in every subject including math...writing IS a big deal!

So...beginning with "almost" Day 1 of first grade we introduce four new words a week...they don't just have to
know the word and the definition but they also have to know
what part of speech it is...we stick to nouns, verbs and adjectives...I am not strong enough to tackle adverbs.
After working on sentences "ad naseum" we are now writing stories and that begins with "thinking".

Is this the picture of a thinker?  (In real life, she's more of a talker...but for practical purpose of this blog...she IS a thinker.)  This step requires coming up with several topics that she feels she can write a good story about because she has sooooooo much knowledge about the subject matter...so she thinks and she thinks and she thinks...and bingo...she's got her idea!

I know...that was my reaction also!!!   However, since she had to come up with 3 topics that she felt equipped to write about...there are two more!

So after much deliberation...she made her final choice and cucumbers lost out to cats.  (I know...I was disappointed too!)  I sooo wanted to see a cucumber story!

Armed with her trusty dictionary she was all set to start her story...I tell them I want them to use 2nd and 3rd and 4th grade words and I don't want to be BORED!!!  I hate being bored.

I should have been
suspicious at this
point when she asked
how to spell
"cucumbers".

This is what the other side of
the "C" page looks like...we
use these dictionaries
to death!

Here is her "sloppy" copy with a little teacher review and editing...but not much!

And lo and behold...her final copy and illustration of a fabulous story with cool details.  I love the fact that her cat has color preferences and even a least favorite color...I was not bored a second by her story!

My only regret...it was not about cucumbers!


Featuring the musings, writings and illustrations of Miss Alaina Nault...first grader.

"he's an angry elf"...and bald-ish priest

Happy St. Nicholas Day everyone!

Fun afternoon in Room 7...we don't do this very often (like
never) but frankly, after learning three new suffixes in one day (-ly, -ness and -less) we needed a break...at least Mrs. Allspaw and I did...don't know about the kids!  Suffix -less is my favorite because I get to use Fr. Mike as as example of...
wait for it...HAIRLESS!

hodgepodge...

I  had some odds and ends in my files so am clearing out and doing some finish up work here.  The pictures of the stories the kids wrote about what they want to be were taken by my desktop Elmo...it does about everything except make a good cup of coffee (inventors out there...?)  Am anxious to find out who gets the three Elmos from funds raised at the auction...I have an opinion on that anyone...anyone?

I could use a good therapist...no matter WHAT kind. 

I LOVE the fact that the same year she gets her driver's license is the year the training wheels on the bicycle come off!

...and Rudolph arrived today...can Santa be far behind?

P.S. Any teachers out there that are thinking about a blog...this took 8 minutes tops!  Go for it...

and then there were three...

Once upon a time I met Austin Sgroi and was charmed...
and then along came Sam (I remember when he was born) and I was charmed again.  I have had the pleasure of having both of these kids in first grade and along the way have become friends of Maddie and Chris Sgroi and...THEIR WHOLE HUGE FAMILY!  Well lo and behold...there's a new one!!!
Alex was baptized December 4th at St. Christopher's Church and it was a party!  


I wanted to get a picture of the three of them and as you can tell...we couldn't quite get our act together (except Sam of course)!

So...after a do-over...mission accomplished.  To me, this picture below represents the past, present and future of Room 7.  BTW...Alex is quite charming also.                                                                             

hats of st. christopher...part 4

Johnny looks like he stopped off at  school on his way
to chop down a few trees.

If this picture doesn't put you in the Christmas mood...
nothing will...the spitting image of one of Santa's elves.

I bet Room 7 at St. Christopher School is partially responsible for the uptake in consumer spending this Christmas season...all in HATS!  

I do know this is a toothless frog!

Minnie Mouse!!!!!

A very exotic look Canann has put together for herself.

Not for sure because it's not of
my generation!?  It's cat-ish!

when i grow up...

Mrs. Allspaw and I were looking for a "quick" writing  project for a small group of kids who had just read a book about changes and we hit upon this idea.  Please note the illustrations...I have VERY talented kids!

Get in line Lauren...you're behind Natalie Predan, Mike Van Vertloo, Sarah Gillaspy and Julianne Allspaw...and I kind of still think I have "game"!  I do think you make a very pretty teacher though.

I love, love, love the flames coming out of the pans...that's kind of how I cook!

You go for it Luke...I'm all for good breath myself!

Getting to where you need to go is all important Makayla...who's the girl in the backseat?

Animals are so cute...especially the big drooling elephant!

I love all the details in the tennis balls...you go girl!

future head bangers...or not

As mentioned here, the first graders (a.k.a. "cool kids", a.k.a. "rock stars") made a music video for the school auction.  You can now see them in all of their glory.

(It might take a minute to load...)

Your tuition dollars at work!
video by Kelley Treado
technical support by Mike Van Vertloo