We had a special guest!

Ronald McDonald paid our school a visit and even joined us in our classroom! They were giving our staff free coffee but it sure was fun having him around! :0)

Ever wonder what your children love to listen to? Here's just a few videos they love! They can even be educational when you all the captions, LOL!

The classes in general LOVE this one...Plus it teaches phonics! :)

 

Of  course our girls love this one and the boys pretend they don't but you know the deal!

 

 

They all sorta agree on this one...

 

The love to dance with this one...

 

 These are only a few of the videos we enjoy! It's funny, but our babies will get their work done if I promise they can watch one of these videos. They are precious to watch as they sing and dance. Hopefully I can video that and share it on the blog as well! :0)

One of those days...

You know those days... No matter how much I hoped for the day to be perfect, too much of the real world invaded life over the weekend and tried to cause so much stress and anxiety that my days were becoming a nightmare instead of the awesome day I was longing for... I've taught long enough that I can usually paste a smile on my face and not allow my outside world into my classroom but I have a few intuitive students who are wise beyond their years! I'm not sure if it's the dark circles under my eyes or the lack of humor they've become so accustomed to... I may never know for sure how my heart babies knowI need them but they do... They hug a little tigher, they compliment me even though I look awful. They declare I am the best teacher on the universe... They do their best to make my day better! They know I love them and I am thankful they are part of my life! They know I wouldn't trade them for anything although they know I set expectations for my dears! :0) Anyway, I saw this on pinterest and it seemed perfect for me! It said exactly what I wanted to say so I wanted to share it with you! This is truly my prayer...

We are almost there or at least I'm hoping we are1

Besides pictures, posts, and a few other things on the blog we want to start recording our class time and things that are important for us. We are going to have try outs and many jobs that will allow each child to participate in some aspect! We are getting the room ready to turn into a television station or so is our goal. I may be contacting several of you for your help. Your child will come home with a script to practice in front of the mirror just to practice where to look. If you have relatives and friends that want to read our blog and see what is going on, please have them follow our blog! We are putting a lot of effort into our blog and want to share it with the ones we love! More to come soon! :)



Veteran's Day

Many people ask, " Who is a veteran?" There are many different views about what makes someone a veteran but I thought I would share with you the answer  that I like the most. :)

 Possibly the best answer to the question, "Who is a veteran," was answered by an unknown author who  once said:

"Whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life." - That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."

I agree with this author wholeheartedly! I will share with you some links to other webpages and some pictures that are very meaningful to me.

Here are some pictures of family and friends that serve our county:

Here is a poem written in honor of Veteran's Day:

Words cannot express how important
those who serve our country are.
Their courage and determination have
guaranteed the freedoms we enjoy.
This year, I am especially moved by
and thankful for all that these
men and women do.
They will never be forgotten.

Happy Veteran's Day



Here are some links to help you understand more about Veteran's Day... Enjoy and be proud you are an American a place that allows you to be yourself with other's giving their lives to give you that freedom!
http://sunniebunniezz.com/holiday/veterady.htm

Here are some of my homeroom students showing off their pansy...They are a beautiful bunch to this teacher!

The Things We Do For LOVE...

Despite our young age we wanted to show our support of JES's Fall Festival! In case you can't tell, it's our take on Junie B. Jones, Party Animal! Mrs. Burnette and Dr. Favazza got our party on!!! Mrs. O'Quinn joined in on the fun but went MIA at picture time! :)

 

 

 

 

 

Recess...Need we say more?

Here are a few pictures of us just hanging out with friends and taking a much needed break from our studies. We live for recess, LOL! Don't you?

              Addison, McKenzie, and Kinsley

       Annie and Lizzie

Cayla, Harley, and Katee Bug

Curtis

Kellen, Brayden, and Austin aka Rootbeer

Kaelyn, Kijana, and Patricia

Kiyah



I wish I could do that!

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise...Our principal, Dr. Priester planned a special assembly for our students at JES several months ago but teachers were sworn to secrecy. Jesup Elementary students attended a live performance with Chinese Acrobats! I am not sure who was more excited, me or my students! We want to send special thanks to Ms. Kim Dudley for taking pictures so we can share this rare opportunity on our blog! These people were phenominal! They actually started training to perform these stunts when they were 7 years old. Yes, they were in the second grade, just like us! We were blown away at how skilled and talented they are! They were very dedicated to have become so accomplished! THANK YOU, DR. PRIESTER for this special treat! Your thoughtfulness in planning this event for us was extremely sweet!

 

 

Watch it live... Thanks, Ms. Dudley

This is how we roll...

 

Our classes have the most amazing boys and girls you will ever find. We are all special in our own way. We think the dynamics of our group helps our awesomeness shine through. Here, see for yourself...  

Sydney and Mom posing for my pic!

  

Courtney and Akira checking out our ship in Savannah!

 

Daniel sharing his birthday spiderman cupcakes with our class and his sissy.

Paco smiling for the camera during our field trip to Savannah, GA.

Jacy checking out the sites on our field trip!

Genius in deep thought! What could he be thinking?

Jaylan adorned with facepaint...


Caleb ready to do battle!



Austin stylin out at the Fall Festival!



Heidie the perfect princess!

Jacquavious taking in the sites!



James, the best cowboy in town!

Donna enjoying some popcorn from the snackbar.
 

Why have a blog?

Welcome to a new year at Jesup Elementary School. We have shared these past 11 weeks together and so far it's been a blast! Our new textbook adoption in conjunction with TKES and SLO's have most certainly kept us all on our toes! As a grandmother and aunt to some amazing children I thought how wonderful it would be to be able to share their school experience with them although distance maks it impossible for me to be there in person. I know that many of my students have family scattered across the United States as well and would probably love a venue in which they can follow the progress of their family member. I have dedicated this blog to all the family members and friends that want to be a part of our class but the miles between us and super busy schedules make it almost impossible to do so.
This blog was created to accomplish several things. We hope to establish a means in which parents or family members can be a part of all the exciting things that are taking place in our classroom. We hope to make it possible as well  for our extended family and friends to help us celebrate our adventures with us regardless of where they live. Dr. Favazza is a “Meme” and she understand how awesome it would be to be able to be a part of her grandchildren’s educational endeavors regardless of how far apart her family may be geographically. Social networking is becoming an integral part of the majority of families these days. We hope to utilize this tool and merge this concept towards an educational platform. We plan to showcase our class accomplishments and share our successes. A famous old saying reminds us, "It takes a village to raise a child!" We think our blog can serve as our village newspaper!  We hope this will be something you enjoy! We hope think it will be a real treat!

A little bit about me...

Hello! My name is Dr. Ona Michele Fender-Favazza and I am a 2^nd grade Language Arts at Jesup Elementary. I began my career as an elementary school teacher in 1988.  During my years as a teacher I’ve taught most grades and subjects at the elementary level and enjoyed all of them!  I have lived the majority of my life Pearson, Ga. I will always think of Atkinson County as my home!  I was fortunate enough to teach at the very elementary school I attended as a little girl. It was an awesome experience! I assumed I would always be a hometown girl but I moved to Screven, GA for a new adventure in life.  Looking back, it seems I've been in school for an eternity. I started school when I was 5 years old and I'm still at school today, lol! I have earned several degrees in education and have a doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology. I did my residency at Bayside Behavioral Health Center in Sarasota, Florida. I also worked at Greenleaf Hospital in Valdosta, Georgia until I moved to Wayne County. I taught night classes at Altamaha Technical College for several years and perhaps taught several of you. Recent health issues have made it almost impossible for me to teach during the day and at night. I love teaching Psychology classes to adults but my first love is teaching elementary school students. I thought of retiring this year but I never felt at peace with doing so. My mothers has always said that teaching is a ministry and I most certainly agree.  I felt in my heart I needed to continue working at Jesup Elementary with my second graders. I am so thankful I didn't retire! This year has been such a blessing! My students are awesome and we are having a blast! We hope you will join us this year on our educational journey! We are absolutely loving it, it's such a treat!  In our classroom, learning is S-W-E-E-T!