Hello November and Funny Kid Friday!

November is a nice time of year... well, a nice time of year once report cards are finished :) I'm joining Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching to share Five for Friday on this chilly morning... at least the snow that was predicted earlier in the week isn't on the radar anymore... whew!

1.  First off, I have to share a glimpse of our Halloween fun in the classroom last week.  Jonathan picked up a dancing hat for me! (Some wives get flowers, I get animated hats...) This gaudy, orange thing actually moves around a bit while cackling and playing the Munsters' Theme song! I couldn't resist bringing it to school... as much as the neighbors like seeing me in it, I thought the kids would like it more :)  My unsuspecting students and I were doing a sort of Mexican Hat Dance around it while singing our various Halloween songs, when all of a sudden it came to life! Everyone stopped in their tracks with eyes as big as saucers. They loved it and wanted it again and again... oh, goodie.

What a hat! It laughs, sings, howls, and dances!

2. I share a couple things that I want to REMEMBER for Conference/Halloween week NEXT year.  Take a look at my iPhone (I actually figured out how to take a screen shot- whoot):

I asked Siri to set alarms every twenty minutes, two minutes before the end of each parent-teacher conference. (Yes, this is something Siri can do!) WAY easier than setting a timer every twenty minutes. I have never been so on time for conferences.

I always set up a little waiting area outside my classroom door for parents on conference nights. I make sure there is kid writing and artwork, and class-made books for them to peruse. This year I put out York Peppermint Patties and water bottles, too. They enjoyed both treats so I'll do it again next year.

I also served these water bottles for our class Halloween party and they were a big hit (Note to self: remember bathroom breaks!) And then I took the leftover bottles home and suggested we hand them out for Trick or Treat. You have to SEE these bottles to know why I suggested it.

These were no ordinary bottles! Brilliant on the part of Nestle, who makes them. Well, my family looked at me as if I was nuts, but they put them into the caldron of candy that our trick or treaters choose from. HA! They went like hot cakes... or should I say, candy! Kids were fighting over them at the door. WHO KNEW! When I bought them they were on sale, two cases for the price of one, so they were even cheaper than some candy. I'm definitely remembering this next year and stocking up! It was good to know some kids choose water over sugar buzz, and so worth it to see the shocked looks on my own kids' faces as they flew out of that caldron... figuratively speaking, of course. Hee.

3. I love, love, love those cute pails that Target sells in their Dollar Spot. I have many sets and use them for all sorts of things. Look at this year's addition to the pail collection in the Monster Math area.

Halloween is definitely the time to stock up on monster supplies if you have a monster theme in your classroom. (The little plush monsters come by the dozen at Oriental Trading. We use them as math buddies and for various math activities. Click on the pic for a link to see them.)

But I have a word of caution about the buckets...

One of these things is not like the other... or should I say, is NO LONGER like the other! No more buying ribbon handled buckets for me! Those darn little scissor-happy kindergartners. Naughty, naughty!

4. I got an email from a teacher asking how I hang curtains over the shelves in my room. This can be seen most recently in Wednesday's post. I show how I made new student display space, and the curtains hang as backdrop. Click on the photo for a link to that post.

I have seen teachers put up tension rods and hang dowels to hang curtains. Some even use good old tape. I use velcro. I get the stick-on kind and run the hook side along the top edge. On most shelves where I've hung curtains there is a perfect edge to press it on to. Then I stick the soft side of the velcro to the top edge of my curtain. It sticks quite well– so well I don't sew it down with my sewing machine (Word of caution! Never run velcro with sticky back on your machine. You have to use the non-sticky kind or it gets really gunked up.) The curtains are not really curtains, just fabric from JoAnne's, which I do finish the edges of with my machine. I've found really good selections in the quilting section of the store. And of course, I use JoAnne coupons to buy the velcro and fabrics.

An added bonus of using stick-on velcro on the shelves is that it can be taken off when necessary, leaving no sign it was ever there. When I had to move classrooms several years ago, I peeled it off, and even reused it in the new room. I can't imagine having all my storage shelves exposed now.

5.  Yippee! It's the time of month for Funny Kid Friday! Link-up, link-up, link-up to share yours, or use the comment section. Remember, you can link up all month!

Here's my tale for this time. I now have in class the little brother of two older boys, both of whom I had in kindergarten several years back. I love their mom and looked forward to yet our third parent-teacher conference. As I was making notes on Son Number Three so I'd be ready for her conference, I remembered what she shared with me at our very first parent-teacher conference on Son Number One. She had commented on how Son Number One was learning to write very well! His writing was really taking off and he was writing all the time at home now. Then she asked me if she should thank me for that... or not... and handed me a note that said in very clear kindergarten spelling:

bg ft mene mom

Then she cracked up. We both did, as I realized that Son Number One had given his little, itty, bitty mom this note that very clearly let her know he was mad at her– Big, Fat, Meanie Mom, indeed! We chuckled even harder when I told her he was quoting great literature-- Lily from Lily's Purple Plastic Purse! That made her feel a bit better as she had not been happy with his description.

I reminded her of this funny incident at last week's parent-teacher conference.  We laughed all over again as she said that note truly was a keeper. Ah, kiddos, you gotta love them!

Okay, time to share your story in the link or comments.  Then go on back to read more fun by clicking on Doodlebug's button up top.

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