Word Art...Productive Thinking...TAGXEDO!

Third grade G.A.T.E. students tried PRODUCTIVE THINKING for the first time this week!  Students listed the many, varied, and unusual words to describe themselves in their journals.  I loved hearing how the students perceived themselves...great thinkers, great words, great kids!

Students logged into www.tagxedo.com to load their descriptive words.  They were able to choose the color combination, font, and shape for their word art.  These will be proudly displayed outside my classroom before coming home.  I hope you all will enjoy this keepsake of a glimpse of your child's personality and perception from 3rd grade!

AES WinSouth Credit Union to Open Soon!

Fourth grade G.A.T.E. students have been involved with "employee training" this week to become TELLERS and RUNNERS for the Albertville Elementary branch of WinSouth Credit Union.  All 3rd and 4th grade students are welcome to open a REAL savings account through WinSouth at our school.  Our business hours are Tuesdays from 7:45 - 8:30.  All AES students will receive an application to open an account and interested students and parents can fill out the paper and send it back to AES.

Students who wish to save with us can do that on any Tuesday morning.  This week our 4th grade G.A.T.E. students learned how to properly fill out a deposit slip with their name, teacher's name, account numbers (made up for practice), and amounts (play money, also for practice!).  We had a little fun by letting students make up a name for their deposits..."Elvis Presley, George Washington, and Taylor Swift" all banked with us this week! :)

In the picture above, students are lined up waiting to deposit their money into accounts.

Students will actually accept deposits and must "balance their drawers" just like tellers at a real bank!  (Again, this was play money for our practice day...we open on the first Tuesday in October for the REAL deposits!)

We hope to have great participation with our accounts this year.   This real-world learning experience teaches students how and why to save, how to fill out deposit slips, how to balance an account, and actually receive real account balances by mail.  

First Day of GATE!

Finally!  I've been waiting to see my GATE kiddos! GATE class began yesterday, August 25th.  I loved seeing all the smiling faces of my students - new and old!  Our first day was spent mainly talking about our plans for the year...seeing the big picture of what is to come...and learning where to find things in the classroom.  Third graders had their pictures taken for their AES Ambassador badges and began their torn-paper self-portraits.  These are always a favorite of mine!  The students' personalities shine through their creation of their own likeness through tearing paper.  I'll post these masterpieces soon!  Fourth graders came right in and it felt like a family reunion seeing each other again.  We've begun talking about our big event this year...Research Technology Projects for competition.  I can't wait to see what creative endeavors and products the students will create during our year of self-expression through Folk Art!  Welcome to GATE!

It's almost time....THE BEGINNING OF SCHOOL!

....a work in progress...

It's that time of year...the time when teachers head back to their classrooms to dust and shine, reorganize, plan, and decorate!  The past two nights I have been in my classroom getting things "back to normal" to start our school year in GATE.

Check back often to see more about what I have in store for GATE students at AES.   The picture below is the beginning of my bulletin board outside my classroom.  I am excited about the many possibilities we will encounter as we use higher order thinking skills, research methods, and most of all our CREATIVITY to learn and create

FOLK ART!

Hats Off to Tigers!

Olivia Wood is a 4th grader who loves cats...not just any cats, but BIG CATS!  It has been her dream for two years to hold a fundraiser at AES to benefit the local Tigers for Tomorrow.  Olivia and her family visited Tigers for Tomorrow last summer.  She and her friend, Ethan, created a brochure about Tigers for Tomorrow for the Regional Technology Competition to share about this non-profit organization with their friends.

On May 21st, Albertville Elementary teachers and students who chose to share a donation of $1.00 were able to wear a hat to school all day!  We raised $309.70 to donate to Tigers for Tomorrow. Our goal was $250-$300 so that we would have enough to purchase a new tiger toy.

Today, Pockets the Macaw, and friend visited AES to accept our donation.  

Thanks, Olivia, for a great idea to benefit such a worthwhile organization!  If you have not visited Tigers for Tomorrow near Collinsville on Untamed Mountain, maybe you and your family would like to visit this summer!  Thank you, AES teachers and students, for supporting this service project!

State Technology Competition ... GREAT SUCCESS!

Eleven AES GATE students traveled to Auburn University in Montgomery on Saturday, April 26th for the State Technology Competition.  All of these students represented our school, our school system, our city, and their families well! I was so proud of how they presented their projects...like little business professionals!  Their behavior was wonderful and they were great sports cheering for each other!

This was our team anxiously awaiting the awards program!  Elaina was pulling "double duty" this weekend!  She was judged then left to play a softball tournament just down the road!  Since she missed the picture, I didn't want her to be left out!  This picture is from Regional Competition where she won three medals!

One of the sweetest moments of the weekend was seeing these three girls holding hands while being judged!  So precious and supportive of each other!

Meri-Lil, Caroline, and Ella Kate won 1st place for their video production titled, "Manners Matter!"

Canaan presented a website that he and Will created about Greek Mythology.  They won 2nd place!

Emma shared a website that she and Julissa designed about China.  They even used pictures of Mrs. Yu visiting our classroom.  Their project won 1st place!

Adyson's original website, "Fashion Through the Decades" won 3rd place!

Aislie's love for Sea Turtles is evident in her website about saving sea turtles!  She won 1st place!

Congratulations to the whole team for a great, fun weekend in Montgomery!  

A special thanks to the parents for spending your weekend supporting our GATE class.  I know it was an expense to make the trip and a whole day (or two) out of your weekend.  I greatly appreciate you all making the effort!  Great memories were made and I hope that the students will remember this awesome experience representing our school system.  Thanks to Albertville City Schools for paying the registration for students to compete and to Mr. Tidmore for traveling to Montgomery to support all of our Albertville students!

 Look for an article in The Sand Mountain Reporter about this great group of kids!  Maybe it will be in the Tuesday, May 6th edition.

Time Capsule Reunion

What a great group of seniors!  Back in 2006, a group of 4th grade gifted students at Albertville Elementary studied time capsules...what they are, why people make them...and they created their own.  These have safely been "buried" in my classroom since 2006!

Tonight we unveiled the "artifacts" inside!

Time capsules ready to be opened...

Bulletin board with pictures of the students "then...and now!"  The current pictures also have printed the students' plans for this fall.  They are all going to school, many have scholarships, and are all motivated and driven in their collegiate plans!

Before the opening of each...

What's inside!?

Back in the good old days of WAES Broadcast!

What a great way to end a school year...and begin new lives for these students!  I am so proud of each of them.  They are all leaders in band, choir, athletics, academics, ROTC, but mostly leaders in LIFE!  Their futures are bright, their outlook is positive...I am blessed to have taught each of these students!

Congratulations, seniors!