Friday, August 29, 2014

Welcome Back!!! {{Freebie}}

This summer has gone waaaaaay too quickly!  Not to mention that the weather was so mild, I wouldn't even  count it as "Summer".  Here in northwestern Illinois, it rarely got out of the low 80's and the humidity was NON-EXISTENT!  I know, I know, I shouldn't be complaining but we couldn't even enjoy swimming because the pool was just too dang cold!  

But of course, as soon as we head back to school the temps soar into the 90's, with heat indexes in the 100's!
As a side note, the elementary teachers in my building were nominated in the ALS ice bucket challenge.  And I gotta tell ya, after several days of sweaty, hot classrooms, this felt VERY refreshing.

So here we are, about to wrap up our second week of school.  I am actually kind of proud that I found time to hammer out a blog post with all the changes that we've endured so far.

To be honest, there were too many academic changes to mention.  And frankly, I hate thinking about some of it because it just ticks me off.  So I'll avoid blasting my blood pressure through the roof and save you from the gory details.  
But one of the great changes is we have a new principal who has really busted his tail to learn this job.
I can't imagine the pressure he has felt coming into a building filled with women who have pretty much run themselves for the last 5 years.  He is kind, funny, courteous and knows exactly how to run this ship.  We welcome him and look forward to working with him for many years to come.

Another great change is our building:  The entire school got new flooring and an updated paint job.  
Here is the impressive before and after shots of our hallways.  It is so much brighter and inviting.  

Now. . .  on to the freebie!
I don't know about the rest of you, but during the summer, we have a hard time sticking to a "bedtime" at my house.  And I can only assume that this is a problem in most households over the summer.  So that got me thinking. . .  
The Pigeon is always full of excuses.  In this great book, the Pigeon comes up with every excuse possible to keep from going to be.  I wanted to do a small (very small, as in, tiny) writing activity with my kiddos on the first day of school.  We read the story and then talked about all of the Pigeon's excuses to stay up late.  Maybe the kids had used one or two of these very same excuses before???

So after we shared our own excuses, they colored, cut out and glued their pigeons together. . . 

Wrote their own excuses on the speech bubble. . .

And wallah!!!!  The pigeons came in many different colors, too!

So, so cute!

So enjoy this fun and cute freebie!
{Click on the image above to get your own printable.}

~Stacy