Supermom

I'm going to do it. I am going to be incredibly cliche' and brag all about my mom for mother's day. I think it's warranted though, right? I mean, this holiday is mean to recognize how awesome our mothers and grandmothers are. I have been incredbily blessed with one amazing mom!

First off, my mom is one of the hardest working people I know. She is known for her endless energy and running around like a crazy person! When my parents got married, they both worked on my grandparents/dad's farm. My dad did all the field work and feeding, while my mom milked the cows. I call that true love, when you milk cows for your husband!

As if that wasn't enough, my mom got a second job when I started high school. That means she would wake up at 2:30 am, milk the cows, head to her second job which she started at 8 am and got done with at 2, then head out to milk the cows again by 2:30. Not to mention she did this while my sister and I were busy in school with lots of extracurricular activities going on. She is seriously superwoman.

Another reason my mom rocks? In November 2008, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Not only did my mom beat the cancer, she kicked its butt! While going through various chemo and radiation treatments, my mom continued to work and never called in sick. She still did everything she normally did as best as she could. In fact, my sister, my dad, and I had to run around and make her stop doing things!

Ask anyone who knows her and they will tell you she is always going, always smiling, and always willing to help you out. My dad and I tease her about being a people pleaser, but I know that I have inherited that exact trait from her! She is a blessing to our family and has been an incredible model of what a Christian woman, mother, and wife should be. Thank you mom, for always being there for me and for being as strong as a rock. Love you!

My mom, a crazy awesome person!

Funny Stuff

Kids are hilarious. Crazy funny! Their brains think in the most fantastic ways. There have been moments with my students where I simply bite my lip or we all just laugh together! I quite enjoy this, especially because I LOVE to laugh and enjoy these times with my students. As the saying goes, kids say the darnedest things, so here they are! A few more delightful, hilarious moments to share with you!

• One morning the upper school science teacher came down before school and was talking with my students. She was talking about their forearms, referring to the lower part of their arm. One of my students, after hearing the teacher say "You need to use your forearm for that!" replied with "We don't have four arms, we only have 2!"
• Every morning I start the day by saying "Good Morning 2nd Graders!" to which they reply"Good Morning Miss Ongna!" The other day, my students were particularly tired and mumbled their way through their part. I told them we were going to try it again, so I started out and quote loudly and enthusiastically said "Good Morning Miss Ongna!" Yeah...oops! Immediately we all burst out laughing at my ridiculousness. My students were then awake and very enthusiastic. So it all worked out! Totally all part of my plan...
• As my students were leaving the classroom on Friday afternoon, I stood just outside the door and gave them all hugs/high fives as they were leaving. They were all quite energetic and were yelling "Bye! Love you Miss Ongna!" A 6th grade student happen to witness this and said "Boy Miss Ongna, everyone just loves you!" I turned to her and said something to the effect of "Woot woot!" in a sing-songy voice and did a little dance as I walked away. I heard a bunch of laughter then someone say "She is weird..." I couldn't help but laugh!

As you can see, we have lots of fun in 2nd grade and at RTCS in general! This is such a great school! There is such a dedication to the students and to quality Christian education from everyone involved. These are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. The students are also phenomenal and the bond that occurs within this small school creates the fantastic atmosphere that fills the halls at RTCS!

I will continue to say, I feel unbelivably blessed to teach here. God knew exactly where I needed to be and where I would fit well, and that I know without a doubt it is RTCS. I have gotten the chance to teach with some phenomenal teachers and soak up all the knowledge I can, plus have some pretty fantastic times too! Lots of laughter comes from the teachers too :)

With 4 weeks left, I will continue to enjoy all the time left and I am sure there will be many, many more moments of laughter and enjoyment ahead.

I'll end with a favorite quote of mine from E.E. Cummings
                       "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."  

Abraham Lincoln hats we made after spending time studying him last week!

On Your Mark, Get Set...

There are officially 6 weeks left of the school year. 6 WEEKS! Where did the time go? Seriously?! I cannot believe it. I had a slight panic attack when I realized this the other day. I feel like I have so much more I want to teach my students! They are my very first class, its going to be hard and strange to have them leave my class!

At the same time, I can definitely see that these kids are ready for 3rd grade. I look back and see all they have learned and how much they have grown. My students are now effortlessly writing paragraphs, reading substantial chapter books, telling time, labeling possessive pronouns and object of the preposition in sentences, writing in cursive, and memorizing various dates in history, among  lots of other work they have completed.  They are ready! Almost...we still have 6 weeks left!

My students have been very busy, especially as of late. Lots of projects have come up in this later part of the year. It has been fun to dig into these projects and to see the students really enjoying them and the learning aspect that comes along with it!

One of the projects we started and completed before Easter was our Flat Stanley project. This was a 2nd grade tradition here at RTCS that I was not about to let go. This activity is based on the story of Flat Stanley. If you are not familiar with said story, here's the abbreviated version: Flat Stanley gets flattened by a bulletin board falling on him while he is sleeping. The book follows his adventures as his flat self gets to do cool things, including being mailed to visit his relatives! Enter in our project. My 2nd graders made flat/paper versions of themselves then mailed it to friends or relatives. They then took pictures of the flat child doing all sorts of different things, which the students then get mailed back, make into a poster or book, and hang them up at school. It was an awesome project and so fun to get to see where all the flat students went!

Here are 2 of the flat students!

Another project I had my students complete was a sort of mini project. We have been studying various important events in history in both our social studies and reading areas. One of our lessons last week in social studies revolved around the various symbols our country has. I had each student pick one of the symbols we talked about, make their own version of it, and write a paragraph in cursive about why this is an important symbol in America. They were not too thrilled with the cursive aspect of this assignment!

While that part did not excite them, they were ecstatic to get to use their creative energy. The projects ended up looking great! The paragraphs were also wonderful as well, with their cursive skills shining! It made me very proud to look at their beautiful handwriting that they have been acquiring this year.

The American Flag and a Bald Eagle

The Liberty Bell

Our last big project of the year will be the students writing their own book. This one is still in the beginning stages and will require creative thinking and great grammar, along with a lot of patience from myself! It will be a wonderful experience for them and most of my students are really excited!

So now I have my last weeks mapped out, projects wrapping up, and getting to the last chapters in many books. They're getting ready to go! I will say this again and again...I just cannot believe it! I am already reminding myself to cherish each hug and hilarious moments, all the light bulb moments, lessons, and projects, even amongst the days that I am feeling frustrated and/or tired. I love 2nd grade and I love this class. I plan to soak up every moment I can these last 6 weeks!