A Quilt is Coming

Tomorrow we are constructing a classroom quilt to cap off our heritage unit. Each student is responsible for decorate one quilt square that shares a bit about their heritage. Stay tuned for pictures!

Lending a Hand to Haiti

It is hard to image thousands of people perishing on a single day. Unfortunately, our country has experienced this in our recent history. Our neighbors on the island country of Haiti are experiencing it right now. I tried to describe to my students today that an earthquake can be devastating, but even more so when you don't have the proper structures, resources, and finances to stop or even aide the situation.



While at the University of Florida, my brother and I took Haitian Creole as our foreign language. I hate to admit that I don't speak a word of it almost ten years later. However, we both met some amazing students native to Haiti. They were hard workers and were truly living the American dream. I hope that they are okay, and that their families are okay.

If your family feels like lending a hand to our neighbors in Haiti, please check out the Red Cross website. I will be brainstorming for a way that our little humanitarians at Gilchrist can make something positive out of this terribly sad situation.

I Love Lily!

It is well known that I have a soft spot for most animals (I don't love birds near my feet or head). This adoration makes my husband roll his eyes a lot, but I think I learned it from my parents. Well, I have a new love and it's Lily the bear. You can watch her hibernate in the northern parts of Minnesota at bear.org. She was sleeping (duh) when I checked in with her and her belly was going up and down. Lily is about three years old and they suspect that she is going to be a mommy soon!

Lily's den







P.S. I also love her crooked nose! Bears don't care about plastic surgery!

Water Floating on Water!

My little scientists made water float on water yesterday! We started off our our Earth science unit looking into that important liquid that covers close to 75% of our planet. We were investigating salinity and water temperature.

Happy New Year!

We are in a winter wonderland even here in Florida! I hope that all of you enjoyed the holiday season with your family, and that we return to school with a renewed spirit! If you are the resolution type, then I hope that six days into the new year you find yourself on the right track. If you are like me, you think of a thousand things that you would like to do better or different in the new year. Here's to maybe getting a few of them right! I am excited to see my students tomorrow and to wish them a Happy 2010! To bring a smile to your face I've attached some pictures of our furry friends in Phoenix, Arizona. You might remember that we sent a surprise box of goodies to the Humane Society there. They loved it and sent us some pictures of their precious animals.

Great News for Christmas

My 24 students each performed a random act of kindness over the last 24 hours. That is their Christmas gift to the world! Enjoy this holiday season and start off 2010 with spreading joy and kindness to others!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Merry Christmas to all!

Make a Smilebox greeting