New Teams and New Tykes

Happy Thursday everyone!!  So sorry I'm so late with my post today, time just seemed to get away from me!!  :-)  I know that some of you lucky ducks are done with school for the year, but we still have six days left!  Man, I LOVED those snow days in the winter, but I HATE having to make them up!!  :-) 

If you've been reading my posts for a while, then you have seen my mention of some changes for next year.  Well, one of the biggest is that our school will be growing quite considerably.  A nearby elementary school has finally been slated for renovations (after many, many, MANY years) and therefore will need to be closed for at least the next two years in order to complete the renovations and remodeling.  The teachers, staff, and students are being split up between two other elementary schools.  One of those is our school, and it is going to greatly change things for us these next two years.  This year, we have three of every grade level except for first and fourth which have two, and pre-k which has 1 afternoon and 1 morning session.  With the newest additions to our school family, we will jump up to four of every grade level, except fourth grade which will five and pre-k with 2 morning and 2 afternoon sessions.  Holey Moley!!  The teachers will be making the move to our building next week, and the students will be attending our school next school year.  In order to get us together as a staff, we have had several meetings and meet and greet activities.  One of my very favorite team building activities so far happened last night, and that is what my post will be about!

Last night many teachers from both schools participated in an event hosted by our local Wine & Canvas.  In case you've never heard of them, they are known for being a painting class with cocktails.  Usually the sessions are held at a local restaurant or pub, and a painting tutor walks you through the steps to create your own canvas painting.  It's not too expensive, and it is TOTALLY worth the small fee! We had such an AMAZING time learning about each other, laughing, and enjoying great food (no cocktails this time, but there's always next time!!).  So many of the people I work with are such talented artists, and I never knew that about them!!  I am proud of mine, though I am always over-critical of myself and it took me a while to warm up to it.  We simply followed the steps that were given by the instructor, and each of us created something similar yet unique!

I was attempting to make a painting with a Maryland blue crab, a replica of the sample brought by the instructors.

We all start with a blank canvas, 5 brushes of varying sizes, and a plate of paint that has all of the colors needed to make the canvas.  The instructor then tells us, and demonstrates for us, everything we need to know in order to complete the painting.

The instructor literally walks us through every step and then comes around to see if we need assistance (which, yeah, I totally did).  We use the brushes as guides to help us with the width and height of our lines, and different sized brushes to fill in and shade our outlines.

We followed step by step and created our very own masterpieces!!

This is my finished product!!

Here are the steps I took to complete my crab.  Follow them from top left as if you were reading a comic strip!

Here is K-Town, our entire kindergarten team!!!  I'm the one on the far left (I really am not a fan of having my picture taken...can you tell??)  :-)  I love how they are all different and yet equally awesome!!

We got to hang out with the new teachers and reminisce with those we have worked with for so many years now.  This year marks my ninth year as a teacher, and I have learned something new every year.  I hope the next ten years are as awesome as the first!!  :-)

Check back in a day or so to hear all about how we're handling the last five days is Room 130!!