Let's Hear It For The CARDS!

David Freese at game 6, winning home run

Yadier Molina, after they won the whole thing!

THEY WON!!!

Woo Hoo! The Cardinals won the World Series 2011!
I can't believe it! They came from so far behind and proved to everybody
that they could do it!
Let's hear it for the boys! :)

What a Night

Tonight my husband is at work. So my night is consisting of making
Power Towers (courtesy of Teacher Tipster) AND
watching the Cardinals whoop the Rangers!! :)


To learn more about the Power Towers, watch this video by the Teacher Tipster!

Well hello Mr. Blogspot, haven't seen you in awhile!

LIFE UPDATE!

Wow! has it been a while since I have been on here! Sorry about that! Lately, I have been working, working, working, and loving it! I love my job, it's not a "teaching job" if you will but it is pretty darn close. AND I am getting my foot in the door. I have been doing a lot of Title 1 work and RtI work with K-4th grades. A lot of math and reading.

For my math students, I have been using a great website! It is Xtra Math  great website to help students increase their fluency in math facts. This week I started working with a small group of first graders in spelling and writing. And I am actually getting to use stuff that I did in student teaching! (I student taught in 1st grade).

So, as for work, it is going great. On the personal side...my husband and I rescued a cat from our local humane society.

Meet Frank, he likes to help with laundry

Also, other great news, I am an aunt (again!) To a handsome baby nephew!

Welcome baby Izaiah!

Last life update: My CARDINALS made it to the World Series! Go Cards!

Our Rally Squirrel! :)

Lastly, here are some pictures of some updates of my classroom!

My alphabet wall, where I feature the letter of the week for my Kindergarten students

The front of my classroom.
-Calendar time
-Numbers
-Star words

My lovely attempt at decorating my door! haha
A little pathetic, but hey I didn't have many materials!
Happy Fall!

Great Reading Resource!

This year I have been introduced to a great reading resource. A lot of you may already use it, but for those of you who are new to teaching, you will love this!

The Florida Center for Reading Research is a great tool to use. You can find individualized lesson plans for specific reading lessons.

Here are the steps to find the specific lessons:
1. go to http://fcrr.org/

2. on the right hand side click "Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading" (FAIR)

3. scroll to the bottom and click the last choice "FAIR student activities search tool"

4. click on what category you want
5. select your grade level
6. click show results

Hope you enjoyed my little piece of information!
Mrs. Crouse :)

Whew!

What a week it has been!
I have experienced my first "AIMSWeb" testing week. I am testing all the kids in our school {K-8} and I am tired! I still have 2 more days worth of testing. It has been a great learning experience though. I have been learning the names of all the kids (not that I can still remember them!).

Tonight was open house and I got to meet a lot a parents. It was so nice to really feel a part of the school. I really love my school. I am very hopeful that I will get a teaching job there sooner than later. As a reminder, I am a title 1 aide. Although I get my own classroom with this, it is still not the same as being a classroom teacher. I am excited to get my own classroom and my own group of kids! :) I just can't wait. But for now I will just be patient and wait for the Lord's time to place me in the perfect grade/class/school.

Thanks for listening!
{Mrs. Crouse}

I added a little more to my classroom. The months of the year and touch math numbers

Here is the rest of my room (which I obviously don't use or have a need for)
Any suggestions of how to cover all this stuff?

Kids Say The Darnedest Things!

Hey All!

How is everybody? Hopefully you are all enjoying your first weeks back at school. I know I am. I love my new school that I am working at. The kids are great, teachers are great, and the staff is great! Couldn't have picked (well I guess they picked me) a better school to be at!

So some funny stories: kids say the darnedest things! In the kindergarten class last week the teacher was explaining that they would be going to the computer lab later that week and that the computer teachers name is Mrs. Phillips. So later that week when they went down to computers this little boy came up to Mrs. Phillips and said "Hello Mrs. Screwdriver". How clever is he?! He works with his grandpa a lot with tools and handiwork that he put two and two together and remember a "Phillips screwdriver" and associated her last name to the screwdriver! How cute is that!

Another cute story came from a girl in first grade. She told her teacher that one of the boys in class was bugging her. She said "This boy is bugging me, he is just all up in my grill!" Isn't that funny! Kids remember the craziest phrases don't they? She also told us later that day that the boy was like a shrimp because she just really doesn't like shrimp. Because when she was 4 years old she tried a shrimp and hated it. So she wants to cook this boy like a shrimp because she just doesn't care for him that much! Ha!

Oh my! I can't wait to share more stories with you! Please share with me some of your funny stories!

Have a great week,
Mrs. Crouse

Where It All Goes Down Wednesday!

Well, it's a work in progress! haha I just got in this room yesterday! This is about all I have done. I work with kids one on one in this room. It is a HUMONGOUS room but I only use about 1/3 of it...maybe!

Today was my first day to actually use this space. I don't have any bulletin boards. But I have two white boards and a smart board. I am still waiting on a computer to hook up to the smart board though! Oh well, I'm just excited that I even have a space to call my own! :)