Read-A-Thon and a Few Other Things

This weekend we stayed home and caught up on a week's worth of chores, errands, and HOMEWORK. At parent teacher conferences, Cooper's teacher informed me that while he is reading at a 5th grade level, and can read over 170 words per minute, his AR goal was in the toilet. He needed to have 40 points at the end of the trimester and he had 10. Now, I like AR for the most point but I don't like that it's not an accurate reflection of a student's reading ability.

However, Cooper wanted to go to the AR party so we began working to bring his numbers up. This weekend we were within 12 points, so we had an afternoon of reading. Well, they did. I wrote lesson plans.

Luckily, he read 13 books in one day and made his goal; we can all rest easy this week!

Here is his victory moment:

In other news, last weekend Amelia had a birthday party for a friend, so Cooper and I had the rare opportunity to go to lunch together:

He was absolutely perfect and extremely polite. He knew exactly what he wanted to order and told the waitress his order, punctuated with "please" and "thank you". He was also thrilled to have an adult-sized Sprite, which he completely consumed. The rest of the day he was running to the bathroom.

Also, I finally caught Amelia during ballet class when she was doing her dance on pointe. Here is a video. You won't see her much the first bit--she's in a black short-sleeved leotard with a dark purple skirt in the front by the mirror. But if you listen you can hear her shoes. When the girls start the circle she comes by. You can tell it's her because she's on her toes. :-)

Valentine's Day Mania

First, for some reason my kiddos were really excited for the Superbowl this year. Amelia wanted to have a full-out party. I told her we'd have a party if she could answer correctly four questions:

Me: How many quarters in a game?
A: Two?
Me: How many points is a touchdown worth?
A: Four?
Me: What is the guy called that catches the ball?
A: Quarterback.
Me: Which teams are playing?!
A: Broncos and the other guys.

Since her knowledge didn't warrant the time or effort of a party, I pulled it up on the computer for them to watch, and they got comfortable. It was just fine, and they both learned a lot about the game of football!

For Valentine's day, Cooper's entire third grade had an etiquette party. They learned dances, how to escort girls, and basic manners. The picture below is one the school posted.

If you'll notice, 27 students listening are intently to a lesson on etiquette. Then there's mine! :-) Love. That. Kid!

We all made out like Christmas morning in our respective classrooms. Unfortunately, Cooper ate his loot before we could see it:

But hey, he drank an entire bottle of water, so I'm sure that helped dilute the effects of all that sugar!

They stay happy and sugared up until bedtime. I came home with a sackful also! I didn't think the students would think of me, but I was inundated with cards, candy and notes!

Eight more weeks of student teaching then graduation. Oh, and hopefully a job. :-)

New Talent!

Cooper has been taking cartooning classes, and yesterday we saw the progress he's made:

This is about six months ago:

And this is now:

He even taught his sister how to draw:

Valentine Day post soon! Like, tomorrow.