American Graduate: Teacher Town Hall Meeting

My principal, two of my teacher friends and me!

Today was a great day, scary, but great! WJCT held a Teachers Town Hall Meeting to address dropout prevention in America today. Today's meeting will be broadcast all over Florida on May 24th at 9 pm. I've been a nervous wreck worried about doing this for the past two days. But it was great!
This is Al Letson.
He was the moderator. He has his own show, State of the Re:Union on NPR and PBS.
To answer a question we had to stand up say our name, school and grade. 
This was how my turn went ~
Fern: Fern Smith, 3rd Grade, Grove Park Elementary School
Al {interrupts}: I graduated from Grove Park Elementary!
Fern {yelling}: Seriously? Grove Park? You need to come back to us and be a role model speaker!
OK,  it didn't make too much sense, but I was nervous!!! 
So we went up to him when it was over and asked him to come speak to our children. We were so excited that he was a "Grad Made Good!" He and I grew up a few blocks away from each other and he graduated from my high school 7 years after me, Small World!
He was very gracious! 
I learned a lot and many different teachers had many different points of view, but the wonderful, underlying thing was that every teacher's ultimate concern was our children.

I took a picture of his poster on the way out ~ I'm a geek, I will admit it! 

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Welcome New Followers ~ A Personal Post About My Florida Weekend!


 This Was Last Weekend BEFORE the FCAT!
So I heard on the news this morning that Montana was getting snow. Snow? Seriously? Yep! 
So I thanked God again for letting my husband retire in Florida and both of us finding work in my hometown! I am sure the northerners love the snow, but after being snowed-in at the Dallas Airport for two nights in a freak blizzard with two children and nothing packed because it was only a 2 hour flight....oh, and the airport ran out of cots, food and water because no-one could get to them in such heavy snow....I will probably NEVER leave the south again! :) Just sayin'!
The picture above is Saturday on the beautiful St. John's River and the picture below is the view from my seat on Wastin' A Day, our boat.
For the past couple of months I've been injured {fell out the back of our truck with my Dad's wheelchair, at 45 you don't just bounce off the sidewalk anymore...} and then I had a sinus infection and bronchitis and felt DEAD DOG SICK! So my previously scheduled Blog Posts had been rolling along & I was getting more and more followers! But I had not been here very much, so thank you very, very, very much for checking in and reading some posts!
I thought I would take this post to tell my new friends a little about my beautiful Florida!
We just finished building our "retirement" home on beautiful Fleming Island. I grew up 5 miles to the north of us and I teach at the neighborhood school I would have attended if my parents had moved to Orange Park before I was in 7th grade. Lots and lots of friends growing up went to the school I now teach at and I love tell the boys and girls that story!
I love this picture of the clouds on Saturday because it reminded me of the clouds in the opening of ♫The Simpsons♫ TV Show! When the hubby agreed, I spent most of the day singing "The Simpsons" to him! I couldn't remember any of the other words. Childish? Yes, but oh, so fun!
We have a group once a month that gets together on a Saturday afternoon, it is called the OP Gathering and it is for any alumni of our high school, our families and friends. I ♥love, ♥love, ♥love it because I have reconnected with many old friends. So we docked the boat at our favorite Tiki Bar on the water and headed out to the Gathering. Then went back to the Tiki Bar where we ran into some friends, some teachers and even a principal or two! It was a great Saturday night!
Whitey's Fish Camp {Tiki Bar}
This was the sunrise Sunday morning as we brought her back from the night at our marina
{the pool}
back to our storage on the base! But I am such a geek, I love the base and I love the planes! My hubby was great slowing down so I can take some new pictures. I love to show them to my students, many of them are poor and anything, anything at all that might encourage them to stay in school and find a career!! The boys especially love when I bring in plane pictures.
We call this the "money maker" in our family when one flies over. 
This is why our family gets to stay in Florida.
This is the beautiful P-3 Orion.
My hubby and his friends say, "Fixing the planes of yesterday to fly tomorrow's missions!"
I think it is so funny that it kills me every time! Some of the planes are older that me! I know, hard to believe right? :) I've been on many P-3s before I meet my husband. The different commands all adopted our schools and during the 1990s it seemed like-every-single-field-trip was to see a P-3!
Another P-3, I love how the four engines look. We have one of the props from a P-3 in the man cave in our new house, we have a lot of "plane" themed items in the man cave....just saying, my office is decorated a little bit differently than the man cave....
Here is the first P-8A Poseidon at NAS....it looks just like a 737.
"No where to run, no where to hide!" 
Sounds a little better than, "...the  planes of yesterday!"
These wonderful birds will keep the hubby in Jacksonville for many years to come! Yipeee!
So that was the weekend to "stay home, but get away!" I've worked hard all year with my third graders and even tutored a majority of the third graders on my team. I needed a no stress weekend so that I could hit the ground running this week. 
FCAT 2.0 ~ your new scoring scares us! 
I'm just sayin'!
Thanks for becoming a follower, new or long-term! If you know of any friends who might like me, send them my way!
Thanks ~Fern!
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First Day of FCAT in Florida!

FCAT! Get it? She's a Cat & She's Upset That She Got an F!
I ♥Love This! Today was the first day of FCAT. When we were done and the tests were collected, we still had to remain quiet because other grade levels were still testing....so I bring out the big guns, a new pack of copy paper and the smelly Mr. Sketch markers. Since I teach Math and Science we don't have a lot of chances for free time and they were giddy happy! My very favorite came up to me and said, "Mrs. Smith, here is an FCAT for you. She's a cat and she's upset that she got an F!" I thought it was wonderful, I made a big fuss and she said, "Should you put it on your blog?" Should! Could! and Would! I ♥love it!

Here is another great picture for your evening...YEP! We crammed a couple of symmetry lessons in last week before the FCAT....this cutie now makes symmetrical masks and tapes them to his face! He is such a good boy and is enjoying symmetry so much, how can anyone tell him no!?!?!
So, yes, today was stressful with our 3rd grade ~ YOU MIGHT BE RETAINED, FCAT!!!
BUT, these are the moments that I really love to be a teacher!

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Easter is Over, Now What To Do With All Those Eggs?

This Math Center Is One of My Students' Favorite! 
I keep this one out year round, I think it is because the eggs are so colorful. Inside your leftover Easter eggs write math facts, the problem in one side and the answer inside the other. 

For example: 11 x 1=  on one side and then 11 on the other side. 

They can play this game all sorts of ways...
1. Play alone, just matching up facts
2. Play with a partner, just matching up facts
3. Play with a partner or alone, turning all the half-eggs upside down and using it as a match game. Turn over two egg halves of the same color to try to make a match! T

This is our class favorite!




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Today is the Day! Let Us Rejoice in the Lord!


May the spirit of hope that Easter brings,
Help you find contentment in little things,
And restore your faith in the Lord above,
Who gave His life for the ones He loves.

From My Family to Yours, Happy Easter! 
Fern Smith
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