I am so proud...

Your kids are amazing! I gave them the opportunity to help and they came through like champs. About two weeks ago, I showed the students a blog where a fund raiser would take place to help feed families who literally ate from a dump in Honduras. They were all so touched and wanted to help.

On Tuesday, the fund raiser was taking place and a few students had brought some money but the majority had not. They were so upset with themselves. All morning I hear "man, I can't believe I forgot." So, I tell them to bring their money the next day.

I sent a comment to the blog fund raiser that we had $8 and would bring more the next day. That story spread like wildfire!!!!! People were so inspired by your children. When I showed the comments from others about the class those kids went nuts. My favorite comment was "We are feeding Honduras!" It was so touching to me.

When it was all said and done, the class brought in $24.50. It was amazing. I know they are givers! Your kids have learned what it means to help someone else. They now know they have to get involved! I could not be any prouder of these kids!

Read the comments from "The Dump Fund" post and see how inspired others have been from your children!

The Dump Fund

Today our class is participating in a fund raiser for families that live in an actual dump in Honduras. Daily they dig through other people's trash to find enough for themselves and their families to eat. They do not have homes, they do not take baths, they do not have cars.....they live in a dump!

You can go to www.treymorgan.net and see the details. Our class raised $8 and is going to try and bring more tomorrow. We ask you to join us in the effort to raise money to feed these people. We want to help and we hope you do to.

Using Technology to prepare for TAKS

This past week we have spent HOURS reviewing for our math TAKS test. One of the methods we used was to answer questions from a power point on the the response systems. Each student was required to work the problem and then respond. After everyone had entered an answer, the CPS system showed us the top five answer choices by students. This was a wonderful way to review the question and address any misunderstandings and to reinforce those concepts truly mastered.

On Monday we will spend more time reviewing and will play games like Jeopardy and the $100,000 Pyramid using the computers and team buzzers.

Remember our test is Tuesday, so make sure your student receives plenty of rest and eats a good breakfast that morning.

Math TAKS

We have spent HOURS getting ready for our Math TAKS on Tuesday, April 28. I am so proud how hard the students are working. They never complain (well, maybe never) and are so willing to listen and learn new things.

As a parent, you are the key to their success. I know the homework has not been easy and may have caused times of stress and irritation at home (I am a mom and completely understand). Just keep encouraging them and sit with them as they work. It is such a confidence booster to them to know you are supportive and are willing to listen to their frustrations and questions.

It will all be over soon. Your support has been awesome and I know they will be successful. Thanks for all you do!

Random Acts of Kindness

Today, our Bobcat Stars came to visit our classroom. We are so fortunate to have three great young men that volunteer to come to our classroom and teach us character lessons and just hang out to be our example. Thanks guys for coming today to teach us about kindness.

They discussed what random acts of kindness are and that we need to be those making the random acts. After our lesson, students completed a questionnaire about one of their friends. They circled adjectives that described their friend. Students then took turns reading what they wrote about their friends to the class.

We challenge you to write to us about the Random Acts of Kindness you have seen. We hope this becomes contagious and we spread kindness throughout Childress!

Poll Results

We had so much fun with our poll. Thanks to all of you who voted. The students analyzed the results and answered a few questions about the results.

On Tuesday we took notes about the number of votes and how many people had visited our blog to compare with the final numbers on Friday. See if you can answer our questions.

1) How many people voted from Tuesday to Friday? (49 people had voted as of Tuesday)

2) How many people voted for video, card and board games?

3) How many more people voted for outdoor games than video, card and board games combined?

4) How many people visited our blog from Tuesday to Friday? (82 people had visited on Tuesday and 207 on Friday)

Good luck. We would love to see your answers.

Lewis and Clark

Lewis and Clark traded beads for food they really needed. They had to use Sacajawea to tell the indians they were peaceful. Sacajawea guided them when they didn't know the way to where they going.