Dear Class, This is it. It’s the LAST day of school…and it feels so weird!! I loved getting to visit each of your houses to give you your graduation sign and some summer reading books. Our classroom is all packed up, and the last of the bags full of your cubby materials were picked up this afternoon. It’s been an eventful few months at our house since quarantine started. I got the office straightened up and all of the kids’ stuff moved to the playroom and organized, we refinished the dining room walls and ceiling, and the birds we’ve been watching grew up and flew away. I caught a picture of both parents watching the nest from the porch swing during a storm. The babies were old enough to be on their own, but they were there watching…just in case they needed help. I can’t wait to see the big people that you will become, and know that I will be here watching and ready to help if you ever need it! You and your families will always have a piece of my heart. Third grade is lucky to get you next year. You will be AMAZING. Love, Mrs. Smitley
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Dear Class, It's been a crazy week since I checked in with you last! I'm so excited to be moving to the junior high...and nervous, too. Change is hard and exciting at the same time. Knowing that I'm going to see you again in a few years as students helps ease the abrupt end to this year. And of course I'll run in to you all around town in the years in between. Hopefully, we'll be seeing each other at the pool and at the parks later this summer! I checked on our bird nests this weekend and a tragic accident happened. I'm the worst babysitter EVER! When I was trying to rehang the fern on Friday, I accidentally dropped it. It didn't fall far, but it did tip over and the babies tumbled out. I quickly scooped them back up and plopped them in the nest. I'm not going to lie, that was the first time I've touched a bird, and baby birds are gross. It was traumatic for them and me. Luckily, I saw the mom come back, and when I checked on them yesterday they seemed ok. Lucy was a bad dog this weekend and took off Sunday morning. She usually runs around the block and comes back, but apparently she wanted to go on an adventure in the pouring rain. She eventually came back over an hour later soaked and STINKING. She had to be kept in the basement until I could give her a bath yesterday...and she's still a little bit stinky, so she might need another bath today. Emma and Anna came with me to my classroom yesterday. They will be coming in for a little bit each day to practice piano since our piano is under sheets while we fix the ceiling and walls in our dining room. Emma helped me move the piano from Mrs. Hildebrand's room into our room so they can practice while I clean and pack things up. Emma has been a huge help...Anna not so much. She just likes to make messes and videos. This is the last week of school work. Next Thursday, May 28, I'll be at school from 12-3pm to hand you your things from the classroom. If you get your things when you come earlier in the week with a younger sibling, you can still come just to see the 2nd grade teachers and wave. We always love seeing your smiling faces! I'll be driving by your houses this Saturday to see you. If you will be busy Saturday, I can come Friday if you let me know. I can't wait to see you! Love, Mrs. Smitley Dear Class, We are almost done with the school year. Can you believe it? My kids are over doing school work at home, so I'm guessing some of you are too. Remember this week and next are when you can fill in the memory pages in the back of your memory book. You might try looking through your Seesaw journal to remind yourself of some of the things we did this year. I hope you got to enjoy some family time this weekend. I specifically requested warm, sunny days for Mother's Day Weekend so I could lay in my new patio chairs...but it didn't happen. I did have a pretty great day reading the last book to finish my reading challenge this year. I've read 60 books since January 1!! I'm going to have to set a higher goal since I've spent so much time reading during this shelter in place. The kids each gave me gifts. Emma took pictures of everyone and put them in frames for me, Luke gave me a gift Mrs. Scamihorn made for me (ha!!!), and Anna gave me a necklace and a concert free of charge. I keep checking on my bird nests, and Friday we had a baby!! The brown egg that was different from the others was the first one to hatch. I'll keep checking on them a couple of times a week. The moms get mad at me when I take the ferns down to peek. A couple of times I thought they were gone, and they exploded out of the nest in my face. Eek! I'll let you know when we have more babies! Love, Mrs. Smitley Dear Class,
Today I went to school and took Emma and Anna with me. It's the first time they've been in my room since you guys left. They don't have to wear masks, but they are suppose to stay in my room. They can't play outside on the playground, and they can't wander the school like they use to do. They were working on birthday posters for a drive by celebration this afternoon. We kind of left the room a crafty mess today, so we'll have to go back tomorrow to clean it up. Ms. Stone was a super awesome friend, and she came in to help me put your memory books together. They require a special binding machine that I always forget how to use. But they are done and in the mail! Most of you should get them on Saturday. They have your beginning of the year pictures when you were so little and cute, along with some projects, some Seesaw pictures, some memory journal pages, and a letter from me. The journal pages are part of your packet work for the next two weeks of schoolwork. You can do the ones in your memory book instead of the ones in the packet, so you can keep your memories in one place. I don't know about you, but I will ALWAYS remember the crazy year we spent together! Love, Mrs. Smitley Dear Class, It's been a week since I wrote last. I've been busy, but I can't tell you what all I did. Isn't that crazy? Some days seem to drag and others are over before I know it. Time is weird right now. One of my most favorite things this week were all the visits and treats and mail from you guys. I'm getting more real mail than ever before, and it's so much better than the bills and junk mail I usually get. Thank you!! I mailed out this month's newsletter and a fun activity today. Miss Danielle saved me a bunch of time by printing your addresses out on labels. She's the best. May birthday mail went out today, too. Can you believe that over half of our class will have birthdays while we are out of school?? That is so crazy, and this winter birthday girl is JEALOUS of the fun birthday things you can do outside. I'll give you a rundown on our past week. First, we spent A LOT of time in the sun. This time I remembered sunscreen! We are anxiously awaiting our neighbors opening their pool. We are a swim team family and miss being in the water. I usually help the littlest swimmers for the Marshall Aquatics Club, but I don't know if we'll be able to have a swim season this year. We've also been checking on our bird nests and planting and watering flowers. I'm not very good with figuring out what to plant where, so I just get a bunch of flower pots and hanging baskets. Those are pretty easy...as long as I remember to water them. The kids and I also moved their desks out of my office and into their playroom. Anna's been on a kick performing dances for us in the evening. She had Emma make her posters and tickets, and then tried to charge me $10 to come to her show. Can you believe that? Concerts are expensive! Finally, I'm trying to exercise more. Emma went on a run with me the other day. Ok it was a jog. Fine. It was a wog, part walk part jog. I HURT so much afterward. I'm getting old, and she had fun making fun of me. Kids are great. Whatever. I'm sure I use to do that to my mom, too. I'm going to attempt to run again tomorrow. If you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I'm too exhausted and sore to even type. Ha! I miss you! Love, Mrs. Smitley |
AuthorWelcome! I'm a second grade teacher in Marshall, Illinois who is now unexpectedly homeschooling my three kids while our schools are closed for the coronoa virus. While I've always wanted to homeschool, this was not how I wanted to do it! Archives
May 2020
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