Birthday Extravaganza

Today is my son's 3rd birthday, but we had his party last Saturday. In honor of his birthday I will share the party festivities. It was a cowboy themed party which included a layer cake, straw pit, badge decorating, and horse rides.

I made the birthday cake which was box chocolate and vanilla with matching icing out of a can. I made the bottom chocolate in a 9x13 pan, and then cut it into a square instead of rectangle. The second layer was vanilla made in two 8" round pans. The 3rd tier was the slice of chocolate I cut off the rectangle bottom. I covered it all with icing, and  tried to make some design that resembled a handkerchief. The cake topper was a cowboy riding his trusty stead that was my husband's as a kid.

I bought some straw bales from a former student which served as our straw pit. We put down a tarp and spread out the straw bales. We threw $1.50 worth of pennies in it, and had all the kids dive in and find them.

My husband traced a star pattern on 1/4 mdf board and cut them out with a band saw.  We hot glued pins on the back. Once the party started the kids decorated them with markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Paint would have taken too long to dry. They wore the badges with their cowboy hats and bandannas.

We ended the party with horse rides. A former student of mine was raised with horses, and I knew the family very well. I called the mother of my former student and asked if she could bring one of her horses to our house in town to give short rides. She was very nice, and agreed. Her horse was such a prince, and all the kids were able to give him treats and ride him.

It was a great party, and I know all the kids loved it. My sons want to get a horse now. I keep telling them to ask their grandparents.

Birdfeeder

Our porch is prime real estate for bird's nests. My giant of a husband is tall enough to reach the nests to relocate them. Last year it was too late and a Robin already had eggs in it. We waited for the babies to leave the nest before the relocation process. My sons loved to watch the Robins on the porch. It was neat to see the eggs hatch, and the Robins feeding their babies. However, it was a mess. This year we put some blocks in the places that the birds would normally build their nests. The boys were not happy about the blocks because then they couldn't watch the birds on our porch. A birdfeeder outside our window seems like a great solution.

I kept an empty paper towel holder and cut it in half. I looped a cord through the roll and tied it. The boys used plastic butter knives to spread peanut butter on their halves. I only gave them approximately half of teaspoon of peanut butter on a separate plate in case of contamination to the jar. Then they rolled the peanut butter paper towel holder in birdseed, but spooning it
on the roll worked best in some places. We had left over birdseed from the birdseed scavenger hunt activity in a previous post. The boys hung their birdfeeders from a shepherd hook outside our living room window.

Using butter knives is a great way to teach safety skills and the proper use of a knife. The boys also worked on their dexterity skills trying to spread the peanut butter on the empty roll.

Bubble Birthday Wrapping Paper

My sons 3rd birthday is this Friday. His brother and sister picked out gifts for him, and I thought it would be pretty cool if his gifts were wrapped in paper that they made. It's also a fun crafting time activity.

I covered the dining room floor with an old table cloth, and then I covered the table with white paper. I then put a little bubble mix in a bowl with a few drops of food coloring. I had 4 colors, so each boy got two colors. They sat at the table and blew bubbles that were aimed at the white paper. When the bubbles popped they decorated the white paper. I had to move the paper around so the bubbles could reach all of it.

The boys loved this activity. They practiced their aiming, and tried predicting how the bubbles would fall. They tried mixing some of the colors to see what would happen. They also tried overlapping the bubbles to see what it would make. I compared their blowing to the wind outside, and the bubbles to dandelion fluff. When the dandelion fluff lands it's a new plant, unfortunately.

Hint: After the paper dries the edges may curl, so you can press it under some books to make it easier for wrapping. It would also probably be easier outside.

Earth Day Scavenger Hunt

Happy Earth Day! We celebrated by going on a scavenger hunt in our yard. The boys hunted for things found in nature to use in a craft. I had planned to go to a park for the scavenger hunt, but it was a little chilly this morning. We made quick work of it in our yard.

I made a list of items for them to find in the yard. My list was written and drawn. The list consisted of grass, leaves, flowers, sticks, bark, rocks, and sand. The boys added sand to the list. We collected everything from the yard, and we talked about picking things that could hurt us. I wasn't too worried about things from the yard. We put our collection on paper, and brought it inside to
make a collage. The boys glued everything to their paper. I used the hot glue gun for the sticks and bark. Otherwise, a glue stick holds everything pretty well.

This activity is great to help explain Earth Day to toddlers. Everything we collected was made by the Earth. If we hurt the Earth then we won't have these things; throwing our trash on the Earth hurts it. My 4-year old said that the brown leaves are dead, which led to a discussion about what's alive and dead and why.

Hint: Instead of taking bark from a tree, put paper on the bark and shade it with a pencil. Press the leaves and flowers between the pages of a heavy book before gluing in a collage to prevent wilting.

Bridge Building

Building with blocks and legos has always been very popular with my boys, so I took it a step further. Instead of building up, I wanted them to build across, which is how bridge building came about. Tinker toys would have a similar concept, but not as fun. Eating makes everything more fun.

I had the boys use toothpicks and 1 baggie of fruit snacks to put together a bridge. I showed them how to make it by putting together triangles. They just kept adding triangles. My 4-year old could have followed a pattern. If I do this again I will make one for him. My 2-year old lost interest after about 10 minutes and thought it was more fun to eat the fruit snacks like hors d'oeuvres using the toothpicks. This craft can go right into snack time, so make sure hands are washed and the table is clean.

I liked this activity because they were building, but they had to use some self control because if they ate all the fruit snacks the fun was over. My 2-year didn't gobble them up all at once because I told him he wasn't getting any more. After the bridge was made they started using their imagination to think of other 3D objects to build like robots. They also practiced their shapes. STEM: eat your heart out. (Science Technology Engineering Math)

Hint: marshmallows will work instead of fruit snacks.

Cottonball Seedlings

Above: Getting the hang
 of the squirt bottle.
Below: the germinated seed

I wanted to plant seeds with my sons, but it's too early to plant outside. We could start seeds inside with soil in egg cartons or pots, but then I would have to worry about my sons spilling the soil everywhere. Instead, I opted for the cottonball method, which is no mess and really easy.

I gave the boys a plate and told them to count out 10 cottonballs to put on the plate. I gave them a squirt bottle to spray the cottonballs. Getting the hang of the squirt bottle was tricky. My 2 year old squirted himself in the face a couple of times. After all the fun with the squirt bottle, they put the semi wet cottonballs in plastic baggies and added 10 cucumber seeds. We taped the seed baggies to south facing windows. After about 3 days the seeds started germinating.

The boys check the baggies everyday to see if they need more water. They touch the cottonballs to see if any are dried out, and give the bags a spritz from the squirt bottle. We talked about the seeds needing water like we need water. We also talked about naming the seeds because they are alive just like us.

My 4 year old son held up a pickle at the dinner table and told my husband, "this is what is growing in the window." I'm proud he made the connection that cucumbers are pickles, and that we grow our food from seeds.

Birdseed Scavenger Hunt

With the start of spring, and all the birds chirping, many people are out filling their feeders with birdseed. Instead, I brought some birdseed in the house for the boys to make birdseed scavenger hunts. I first saw this in a middle school classroom where students were enjoying it. I then saw it in the dentist waiting room.

I took some clean empty plastic bottles with lids (peanut butter jar and water bottle), and had the boys put some toys in them. They had to be little toys. For example, a lego man and a lincoln log. I had them count out 10 toys to put in the jars. We then put a paper funnel on the top of the jar for the boys to put spoonfuls of birdseed in. They filled the jars 3/4 of the way full. I put the lid on tight. Now
they move the birdseed around the jar to try to find the object. For older kids I would have put a list of what to find inside, but pictures work great for little kids too.

This was really good for the boys to learn spacial skills. They had to fit toys through an opening in a jar, so we got a few things stuck. I'm just glad we didn't have to cut open a jar to free any toys. I little lion was close to loosing his leg. They also improved their dexterity by scooping spoonfuls of birdseed into a paper funnel. It made a mess, but it allowed them to use the little Dirt Devil to clean it up.

Hint: use birdseed without corn, it will be less dusty.

Snack Time!

The food map by The Produce Mom
out of the Humpty Dumpty magazine. 

Snack time means smoothielious!! I have come across a ton of smoothie recipes, but I usually don't pay attention to them. My 4- year old son saw a picture of a recipe in a kid's magazine. He called it a food map. I thought that was so accurate that I tore the "food map" out of the magazine, and it's been hanging on our fridge since. I really like this recipe because it uses food that I usually have on hand, and the kids can read the recipe and do it.

We usually do the easiest smoothie choice. The boys throw in some spinach, an apple, a banana, ice, and water. Sometimes I add some honey and flax seed, but that's only if we're feeling fancy. The boys really like it because they get to use butter knives to cut the banana, and what kid doesn't love the blender. I like to teach the kids safe cooking practices instead of forbidding them. I also like when the kids can do things instead of me. You might call that lazy, and you might be right.

I think it's pretty important to connect kids to food. Everyone's push is healthy food to keep kids healthy. My push is just to educate kids about food: where does it come from, and why do we need it. I explain it like the flowers taking up the colored water. They need water to live just like us. The flowers eventually die in our house because they aren't getting the food they need from the soil. We need good food to live too.

Below: teamwork with the blender, keep the lid on!! Chop those bananas.  

Dye Flowers

Above: Starting the craft
Below: Ending the craft

Now for the fun blogging. The school stuff was fun, but not done with toddlers, which obviously would make it more fun. I implemented a schedule for my kids to follow when things got a little too chaotic. This schedule includes crafting time, so everyday I find or reinvent some craft for them to do. I actually do a lot of things I did in school, but I modify it for toddlers. (Hence the title: Ag Teacher to Ag Mom.)

This craft is dyeing flowers or veggies. My boys started with celery, and then we moved to flowers. The celery is pretty easy, and most people are familiar with it. We took glasses and filled them with room temperature water. Fill the glasses with approximately the same amount of water, so the kids can see which stalks of celery drank the most water. My kids added ten drops of food coloring. It was good for their counting skills, and it stopped them from squirting the entire bottle into the water. Well kind of, my 2 year old stopped at 6 drops and then had a giant squirt. We then used chop sticks to stir the water, which was more for them to play with. We cut stalks of celery off and added it to the water. The toddlers did use butter knives to cut the celery. We left the leaves on the celery, so they would show color too. After a day, viola, you get different colored celery. Eating different colored celery is fun, and they can see the "veins" of the celery that drank the water.

We did this same technique with freshly cut daffodils. We took it one step further by splitting the stem in half and adding each half to a different colored glass of water. It colored the daffodil two different colors, one color on each side of the flower.

Blue tipped daffodil after 12 hours

Hint: the fresher the flower or veggie the more water it will take up. The more water it takes up, the more color will show.

You can't really see the red,
but you can clearly see
the color split. 

Epilogue

School Update:

The 2015-2016 school year started without an Agriculture teacher. The candidate that signed the contract at the end of the year didn't pass her Praxis exam to get her teaching license. She retook the exam over the summer, but still didn't pass. The principal called me a couple days before school started and asked if I would teach the first week of school, and maybe the first month. I declined the offer, but agreed to make curriculum plans for the long term substitute. I was given a temporary contract to make detailed lesson plans with all supporting material for any substitute to follow. I emailed these plans to the principal each week, and I didn't have to step foot in the classroom or correct any papers. I enjoyed making the lessons, and all my supporting material is electronic so it wasn't hard to find.

After a month of my lesson plans they hired a teacher. He was hired on as a substitute, but he had an Agriculture Education degree. He lasted about a month, and then quit. I think he left because he wasn't doing FFA activities, and he was only hired on as a substitute. In January, at the end of the semester, he was going to have to officially interview for the position.

After a month of a semi-permanent teacher the district went back to long term substitutes. The long term substitutes are usually retired teachers. In this case, it was the retired science teacher. This time he was expected to make his own lesson plans.

My three kiddos

In January, the district officially hired a full time teacher that had just graduated from Iowa State in December. She is currently the teacher.

Personal Life Update:

When the school year started my teacher friend needed a full time daycare provider, so I started watching her 3 year old and 6 month old. So in August I had my 3 year old son, my 2 year old son, her 3 year old daughter, her 6 month old daughter, and my growing 5 month old fetus. This was a lot of fun for the kids. The three toddlers played so nice together. I implemented a preschool structure to keep everything moving smoothly, and to help the toddlers learn. I potty trained my 2 year old son, which took some time. This lasted until December when I gave birth to our daughter. I took some maternity leave, and the girls went to another daycare provider.

Back in September I started going back to the After School Program (ASP), which was three nights a week. My husband comes home from work and stays with the kids while I go to the ASP for two hours. I continue to do this.

I'm very lucky and grateful to be able to stay home with our kids.

Professional Development

The bottom half of my classroom mural is signed
with former student's names. I left my mark. 

Today was the last day for teachers. Throughout the day meetings were scheduled for the upcoming year. These meetings discussed the new professional development coming through, which had been focused on writing. Another meeting was scheduled to discuss new technology that the district will implement, and training for it. I looked through today's schedule and didn't see anything relevant to me, so I didn't go to any of the meetings. I stayed in my room, and finished boxing things up and cleaning. I wanted my room to look nice for the next person. I had my greenhouse to clean out too.

My principal didn't say anything to me about missing the meetings or leaving, but he did introduce me to the new teacher. It was the same procedure as the last candidates, but this time they offered her a contract right away. When I met her she had already signed the contract. My first impression was that she was so young. She seemed very nice and excited to start. She had just graduated from Iowa State.

At the end of the day, I turned in my final sign out sheet to the office. However, I kept my keys. This summer I'm working with the after school program, and we need a key fob to get into the building. It was nice to keep the huge ring of keys. It didn't feel as final.

Professional Development

Every year the administration holds a retirement brunch for the entire school district. This year was the first one I’ve been to because I have always been at FFA Contests. The food was pretty good. I sat in the back with my teacher friends, so I could correct my middle schoolers final test. I had to make them take the final exam on paper because they turned in their iPADs before I expected them to. Grades are due tomorrow, so I thought I was being efficient instead of rude. After everyone finished eating they called up all the service awards. It was so hard to believe that one of the maintenance guys has been with the school district for 35 years. He started right after high school. 

The program then showed a video of all the people retiring in the district. This year we have principals, secretaries, guidance counselors, bus drivers, and teachers retiring. The videos were really sweet because it went through their years service, and what everyone will really miss. 

Above: My teacher friends left me this note
 around the Superintendent's certificate.
Below: ISEA Excellence in Education
Runner-up Award press release picture. 

Then our superintendent comes on the microphone and starts talking. I wasn't paying attention because I was correcting papers. My friend turns to me and says she's talking about you. I stop and listen to her, and all I hear is my name being called and that I was the Superintendent's Excellence in Education Award winner. I stand up thinking she's just pointing me out, and then she waves me forward. I go up there to get my certificate. I go to shake her hand and she pulls me forward like for a hug, but not quite. Then it was really weird because she ushered me off the stage. It was awkward. I'm still shocked that the superintendent gave me an award. This is the same superintendent that I couldn't have a conversation with unless it was through my union rep. The same superintendent that tried to get me to work this summer when my extended contract is up. The same superintendent that took out crop insurance on the FFA field, and didn't think to tell me or anyone else. She used field profits to pay for the crop insurance though. She also didn't understand why I fought her for a portion of those field profits to go back to my program. I really feel that the superintendent was pressured into giving me this award. Back in November, I was awarded the Excellence in Education runner-up for Iowa. At the awards banquet I sat next to the president of the association that served on a committee with my superintendent. I'm guessing the association president congratulated my superintendent, which gave her the idea for this award. This is the first year our school district has had an Excellence in Education award. Either way, it was nice to get an award to finish out my year. 

Countdown to the End: Day 1

Today is it, the last day of my teaching career. The elementary principal has been on me all week about planting the new shrubs and perennials with my Horticulture class around the elementary. I thought today is the last day to get it done, so I took my two students down to the elementary. It's only a short walk away, so we didn't loose a lot of time traveling. We planted until it was already past 2^nd hour. I had a special ed teacher in my classroom all semester, so she covered my 2^nd hour class. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to say goodbye to them. I sent my 1^st hour girls back to class, and then I had my 3^rd and 4^th hour classes come down to finish the planting. We got it done just in time.

Adding dry fertilizer to the field. 

I also found a student that could have her mom come in with a tractor to pull the buggy wagon full of fertilizer to apply to the field. Her daughter rode with her to show her where to go. It all worked out really well. Planting is scheduled for Saturday if the weather holds out.

A former student came in to my greenhouse to buy flowers. She reminded me why I started teaching, to help kids. Now she’s already applying to vet school. She’s one of my success stories, so I’m glad she stopped by.

I know I made the right choice because I won't have to worry about liability issues when students drive machinery on school grounds.

Countdown to the End: Day 2

Today we had 60 minute classes, and only the odd period classes. The schedule was this way for final testing. Everything went as planned until one of my students said that she didn’t get a lot done when I was gone because they mostly talked about what happened to a classmate. I must have looked confused because that student then said, “You didn’t hear?” I asked what happened. Multiple students tried to explain, and I picked out the gist of it. A former student that graduated last year had a few people at her house over the weekend, and my student was playing around with lighter fluid. It got out of hand and somehow lighter fluid got on his shirt and somehow it was lit. He inhaled when it lit, and burned his insides, mainly his lungs. He burned his chest, and side of his face. The other people/students at the house didn’t call 9-1-1, instead they put this burned boy in a cold shower. The other people there took a picture of him and sent it out as a snapchat. One of my students got the snapchat and took a screen shot of it. He showed it to me, and it was the most awful thing I’ve ever seen. His chest and face were completely raw. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his face. He looked like such a little boy, and his face was in such agony. No one took him to the hospital until the next morning. I went through the rest of the day in a haze, and all I could think about was his face. 

After school I found his special ed case manager to see how he was. He’s in the Iowa City burn unit with second and third degree burns. He has to have skin grafts, and reconstructive surgery on his face. I spoke about this with other teachers, and some of the middle school teachers mentioned names of middle school students that were there. Some of the teachers questioned a student that was there only to have the response be, “he didn’t remember to stop, drop, and roll.” After hearing that my sadness went to anger, and I could not wait to be done teaching. Also, I thought I should report the picture that I saw to administration, just because they thought it was funny and a big joke. I’m a mandatory reporter, and that is most definitely abuse of a minor, not to mention bullying. I can’t believe they would do that.

When some students get difficult,
 I think of other students that have
 been successful. Above: my students pictured
with the Lt. Governor at an Expo we hosted. 

I know I made the right decision because I won’t have to worry about being sued by a parent for any reason.  

Countdown to the End: Day 3

My sweet boys during nap time. 

Today was difficult. I felt really sick, and I was trying to entertain my boys. We haven’t told them that I’m pregnant because I don’t want to confuse them. My three year old offered to rub my belly because that’s what I do for him when he doesn’t feel good. I told him to give me a kiss instead and that would make me feel better. My sweet boys made me feel better.

I know I made the right decision because sweet baby kisses will be given to me and not the daycare provider.

Countdown to the End: Day 4

My boys coloring instead of outside. 

Today I stayed home with my sons. My daycare provider took her week of paid vacation starting last Wednesday. My husband took Wednesday-Friday off, and I took today and tomorrow. It’s not ideal because I’m gone for half of my student's last week of school. 

I got a call from my substitute saying that the middle school will only have their iPADS for today, so they can’t do their final projects. What does the middle school plan to do for the rest of the week if the students don’t have their iPADS? This is something that they just changed because it was supposed to be at the end of the day tomorrow. I told my substitute to have them get as far as they could with their projects and turn them in. I told her to review with them for their final.

I had fun with my boys, but I was worried that I cooped them up in the house too much. It was really cold outside today. If I’m worried about this now, I’m more worried about the winter. I will need to look up some indoor fun activities.

I know I made the right decision because I won't get a call from work on my day off.

Countdown to the End: Day 5

I got to school today and realized that I wasn’t getting into my classroom. My doorknob has been a pain in the ass since December. You have to jiggle the key in the lock to get it to work. The janitors have been aware of it for a while. I went to get one of the custodians, and he couldn’t get into it. He said he would have to get the maintenance guys here to replace it. I finally got a new doorknob, but I was out of a classroom. I went to the ICN room, which is normally empty. Lucky for my students I can teach without materials, which is what I did for the first three periods.

I had the secretaries call my thieving senior boys to that room before school. Only one showed up, so I explained to him what was going to happen. I told him after senior graduation practice he was going to the office and paying for those purchases that were made with the school credit card. If they weren’t taken care of today, I would take it to higher authorities like the principal and their parents. I told him that I was giving him a chance to do the right thing. He is an adult, and should start acting like it really quick. I finished that by asking him what he was thinking. He had his head down and he just said he was sorry. The other student never showed up, so I’m guessing the word got to him. I asked the secretary if they showed up to pay the money. She said they both took care of it. I had gotten invitations from both of them for their graduation receptions. I threw them away today. I didn’t think I could go to them and see their families, and not say anything. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that they thought they wouldn’t get caught.

Students finished planting

In the middle of third hour today I got back into my room with a new doorknob. First hour I wanted the students to finish planting flowers in front of the school for graduation, but I couldn’t get at the flowers in my greenhouse. Instead I reviewed the concepts for their final in a few days. If there is one thing I’ve learned from teaching it’s to be flexible and have multiple plans. When I got back to the middle school I went to the library and found some students to help me plant the front of the school for graduation. We had 20 minutes to plant it, but it got done without a minute to spare. I noticed that the students that volunteered were my students, but others were from the after school program. When students know me and a relationship is in place they will do things for me that they wouldn’t normally do for other teachers. I will miss that. If they know I’ve been wronged they will fight for me. My first year of teaching I knew I belonged here because the students were so loyal to me. The last day of school that first year a community member yelled at me for having the student’s plant flowers in the wrong place. She did this after I sent all the students back to the classroom and the flowers were planted. She made me cry, and I had to get it together and go back to my class and teach. The stude

nts knew something was wrong, and one of them overheard what the community member had said. That one student told the rest of the class, and they left my classroom, and threatened to use Round-Up herbicide on her entire professionally landscaped yard for me. Administration heard about it and went to the community member, and I got an apology from that community member. That same administrator had me talk to those students in my class to talk them down from doing anything wrong against this community member. It’s those memories that have held me here this long. I have so many bad memories of community members and administrators giving me hell, but for every bad memory is a great one of a student trying to defend me, or they give me an example of their loyalty.

I know I made the right decision because there will be no one giving me hell, unless it’s my husband, someone from my own gene pool, or my offspring.