My Classroom!!

So a month in I am FINALLY posting pictures of my classroom! It was so much fun to put together and I just couldn't love my job any more than I do!! I am at Red Mountain Elementary in Ivins and I am teaching 2nd grade. My theme is MonSTARS! It has been way to much fun especially with Monsters University coming out.

My cute hall passes that my even cuter cousin Ellie made for me. 

We learned about our American flag, how there are symbols everywhere and what they mean. We

made a classroom flag, which ended up looking like a blanket...but it will be a great 

first year souvenir!! 

I love my curtains!!!! 

I have a MonSTAR of the week who is someone who has been working
hard in class and shows good MonSTAR behavior. This is where their  and About me poster will
be displayed.  

Don't want to end up here at the back of the classroom!! Already have had a few of
these! 

Whole class view! 

This is how I take my attendance and lunch count. They move their clothespin when they first come in. 

My birthday wall! Those are giant pixie stix with the balloon note attached. I have the balloon
in each month bag for each kid. So when it's their birthday it's an easy pre-made gift! 

My reading corner!

My schedule and classroom rules

When a kid gives an answer or is ever going above and beyond they get a smartie from
my "Smarty Pants!"

This has worked SO well for me! They all start on "Ready to Learn" and when they
get on "Role Model" they get a point next to their name. Once they get 5 points they get
a surprise from my surprise basket. 

This is to determine what stoplight working time we are on.  It tells the students if their voices should be
off, whispers or group work. 

Nothing is cuter then seeing my students get SO excited about having a responsibility and
the satisfaction they get when they do it well. Love it :) 

The beautiful Redwoods!!

These are the lovely people I went to Rotorua with! Tristan, Stephen, Keri, Pen and Me! :) 

The Redwoods were GORGEOUS!! I don't know if I have said this before but New Zealand is beautiful! Here are some pictures and video of the amazingly clear, blue and still water! It was so peaceful I loved it. Again...photos don't do justice. :) 

BEAUTIFUL!!!! :) 

Tamaki Village!!

This was a Maori village that we went to! I seriously LOVE the Moari culture. This was on of the coolest things I have ever been too. Here is how they welcomed us to their village. The "chiefs" had to accept their peace offering in order for us to enter the village. 

We got to learn a bunch of different moari games and saw how they weaved. Then they put on a show for all of us while they prepared out hungi which is the food they eat. It is a meal cooked underground. SOOO GOOD!! Best food! I can't even do justice what this experience was like, but it was a great way to end the trip!

Keri and I learning Poi

Zorbing!

So I got really lazy towards the end of  being in New Zealand and have had a few technical difficulties but I wanted to highlight some things even though I am home now! One thing we did was did a day roadie to Rotorua. These next few posts will be about that trip :)

Zorbing!! haha Funniest thing I have ever done! Pretty much just got thrown into this giant ball with water in it then got pushed down the hill. Here is the video!

The City of Auckland!

This was my first crosswalk experience. haha
And bythe way that is the theater
 that I am going to go
see Mary Poppins at!!! :) 

Keri and I have had a few adventures in the city. First off I would just like to tell you about the crosswalks here. When the little light of the man walking comes on you usually cross one way then wait to cross the other way right? Nope! Not here. People just take over the streets. I freaked out when it first happened I was pretty much thinking people were going to kill themselves! But we all survived. Our last city adventure Keri and I were driving down the street and then all of the sudden hear this music. We discovered that there was a fashion show going on in the middle of the streets and down the crosswalks with a red carpet and everything! It was a very exciting moment. Here are some videos of Keri and I struttin' our stuff and completely soakin up the moment. YOLO ;)

Then afterwards we had a lovely lunch at this incredible cafe that had the best name in the world. I didn't know I was such a big deal here until now....;) Not only is the name great but check out my french toast. haha

B-B-Bird, Bird, Bird...Bird is the Word!

Brookie and I decided to learn birds one day! She is just adorable in more ways than one. We first watched some videos of Birds making their nests and little birds hatching on YouTube. We learned what birds use to put in their nests and then decided to make our own bird's nest. We went on little bush walk and collected a bunch of rocks, sticks, leaves and twigs. During the walk Brookie and I had a deep deep discussion about trolls and fairies. It had just rained and so the rain on the leaves were just sparkling. I told her anytime she saw a sparkle in the bushes it was a fairy smiling.:)  Her imagination just went wild. It was quite the adventure. After we gathered our supplies she colored some very round rocks we found then assembled all of our findings together with string. Then...VOILA! We created our own little bird's nest and placed it in a tree. Brookie was SO proud of it and we learned a lot along the way as well. :)

New Zealand is Beautiful!

So I haven't said much about actual New Zealand! It is absolutely beautiful here and so green!! A lot different from the Rocky Mountain Desert back home. The birds are amazing...they are so tropical! I found these lovely love birds sitting outside my window yesterday....

Pretty cool aye? 

I have been really into running lately and have absolutely loved the scenery as I am shuffling along the roads of New Zealand. It was the first day of spring September 1st and Keri and I went and celebrated and ran a good fat 6.5 mile run at Cornwall park in Auckland. Here are some pictures...It was the ultimate New Zealand park with all of the Green rolling hills and the sheep and baby lambs walking along side of you. So adorable. :) 

Beautiful Daffodil Pathway!

Happy Spring :) 

 Please ignore the red-faced, hardly smiling, sweaty Kenzie ;) Look at those hills!

I'm loving it here! Just learning so much about myself and pretty much just everything!! :) Thanks everyone who has been keeping in touch and updating me on your lives. It means a lot!