Thankful and Grateful

I'm a tad behind on #ThankfulNovember, so let's play catch up.  I slept in and had a nap today, so forgive me in advance for the long post (and wedding day teasers)!

To recap, I've already expressed appreciation for good substitute teachers, personal days, Amazon shopping deals, early voting opportunities, daylight savings time, sleep, field trips, chaperones, crafty friends, good friends, and DIY projects.

I've got a good dozen other days to catalog, so here goes nothing:

(As a side note, I give shout outs to some products and people below.  I was not paid for my opinions, I just give them freely whether or not I'm asked.  These are not paid endorsements.)

1)  My hair dresser and friend Chelsea.  Not only did she create my gorgeous wedding updo, but she gave into my desires and hacked off six inches a week later.  She's amazingly reasonable and if you're in the Las Vegas area, go visit her at {The Salon at Lakeside}.  They even have groupons available!  

2) My wedding coordinator, Lyndsey.  I'm not quite done processing the wedding and the frustrating parts, but she was amazing from start to finish.  Again, if you're in Las Vegas and looking for an event space, {Wedgewood at Stallion Mountain} was simply amazing.

3) The school district.  It's rare for me to praise CCSD considering the shenanigans that have been pulled, but the adjusted contract means I have the entire week of Thanksgiving off.  Hallelujah!

4) Etsy sellers.  There are many things I'm quite crafty at.  Printing thank you cards, etching glass beer mugs, coffee mugs, and making custom stamps are not in that category.  

We ordered our bridal shower thank yous, bridal party thank yous, wedding thank you cards, and other stationary from {MarryGrams}.

Our groomsmen gifts were etched beer mugs from {BlackRockEngraving}.  He was amazingly helpful and from my hometown, which was a fun bonus.  I thanked him (Ben) on his Facebook business page and he responded immediately, inquiring about the wedding and reminding me to tell my momma if she wants to open an Etsy shop (to sell her quilts), he'll help her.  What a stand up guy!

Look how great those mugs look (I assume they were full at one point):

We thanked our make up gurus with these cute mugs from {All That Glitter}.  These mugs were packed full of chocolate and a Sephora gift card, because that's the way to their hearts.

Lastly, our awesome self-inking stamp from {Pretty Sweet Party} has been such a blessing as I'm doing all our wedding thank you cards.  Ours looks like this:

But ya know, with our info on it.

I am a firm believer in supporting small businesses which is why I'm so thankful to these Etsy shops for providing what I needed for my wedding.  It feels nice to support Ben (BlackRock) or Leslie (All That Glitter) rather than some mega corporation.  


5) Small businesses.  I have 3 ({Jamberry}, {Younique}, and {Teachers Pay Teachers}).  Together, they help subsidize the insultingly low paycheck I get for teaching three dozen ten year olds each day.  

As a thank you to my loyal readers and followers, everything will be at least 20% off in my TpT sale from Black Friday until Cyber Monday.

Happy shopping!


6) I'm thankful that so many of our friends and family members were able to celebrate with us at our wedding a few weeks ago.  It was awesome to be surrounded by the people who made us who we are and share our vows in front of friends and family.

7) I'm thankful that we got to spend time with my family after the wedding.  My mom and aunts hosted a brunch the Saturday after the wedding and then we all went out to dinner.  They did tourist-y things in between while I napped.  It was nice to get to squeeze in some extra bonding time because we don't see them often enough!

8) I'm thankful for close friends, both literally and figuratively.  Our power went out on Friday morning, impacting nearly 15,000 residents in our neighborhood.  Luckily Mrs. H wasn't impacted and let me come over and get ready for work because the flashlight feature on my cellphone simply wasn't cutting it.

9) I'm thankful for my students.  Not only were they (mostly) well behaved for their substitute teacher, but I walked back in last Wednesday to this:

Cue all the awws.  One of my students also got me a glittery Batman mug and chocolate.  She definitely knows the way to my heart!


10) I'm also thankful for the new store {Boxed Lunch} and it's amazing assortment of all sorts of fandom things I didn't know I needed (like my new Ravenclaw sweater).  However, they donate food to kids with each purchase, so I don't really feel bad about my impulse shopping.  Plus it was buy one item, get something else 30% off...which is how we ended up with vanilla mango beard oil for B.  He is quite excited about it.

11) Obama and Biden memes.

I'm not ready to accept what's happening politically in our country.  Tears were shed. I'm #stillwithher.  However, these are giving me some hope in the time of darkness...especially when they're Harry Potter themed.

12)  I'm grateful that our teacher gradebook is online.  I graded seven different assignments today (thirty five of each).  I also watched six episodes of Gilmore Girls, took a nap, and walked the pup because balance is important.  I'm grateful that I could enter all these grades at home and it's one less thing to deal with next Monday morning.

13) I'm thankful for opportunities.  With the Read by 3 state grant, I sold my preps to work on professional development and mentor new teachers (and various other tasks).  It's been an adjustment period for sure, but I'm really loving mentoring and working with new teachers.  We unfortunately had one resign due to personal reasons and I wish her the best on her next adventure, but I'm choosing to look at the positives.  I get to sit in on interviews tomorrow to hire a new teacher.  I've never done that before and I think it's kind of nifty!  I'm optimistic we'll find someone to fit into our school community (meaning they must love potlucks, because we do those often!)


I'm thankful that tomorrow I get to sleep in, have a grading party at Panera planned (with gift cards, so I'm not spending money), and visit the post office to drop off our wedding thank you cards and my dress to be cleaned/preserved.  

What are you thankful for?

Thankful November, day 14

That {parent-teacher conference} I shared about yesterday?

Not only did it go wonderfully, but the mom brought me hot chocolate:

Score! It's nice to feel appreciated.  It was a very positive conference.  The student took responsibility for his actions and we talked about ways to help him improve.  It was presented as a united front, she told him she was proud of him, and thanked me for my hard work with him.

I wish all my parent teacher conferences were like that: parents working with me, supporting their kids, appreciating my efforts, supporting education at home.

Most are like that...but there's a few hostile ones I dread.

Good thing parent-teacher conference day isn't until December!

Thankful November, Day 8 My Students

With so many students, it's easy to get bogged down with all the demands.  Grading thirty five of anything gets rather tedious.  When it's thirty five essays, I have to give myself small rewards for persevering through the task (and no, I'm not kidding).

So instead I'll share how truly wonderful my students are.  On average, they're pretty great.  They're also people, so we have good days and we have rough days.  They're pre-pubescent and sassy.  It's November and they're antsy for a break.  It's a tricky time.

However, I get hugs on a daily basis. I have, at any given time, thirty students who are truly happy to see me.  

They are so ridiculously excited about every little thing we do.  Commas? Thrilling. Multiplication warm ups? Amazing, especially if they are allowed the extra special treat of writing on their desks.  Our read aloud? Nothing quiets them faster than me pulling out a well loved copy of The Lightning Thief.  

Plus, cute gifts like this sweeten the deal:

How adorable are my families?

I'm using class dojo and it's really helped improve my parent communication this year.  I'm also using it in conjunction with my class blog (weebly), which is passcode protected because I post students' pictures.

Here's a snapshot:

Plus they reply! How fun. We've talked about online norms and appropriate ways to communicate with one another, so it's nice to have an authentic way to embed lessons on digital citizenship and online responsibility.

The one comment?  One of my students said she's going to beat me to graduating Storm.  My response? I hope she does. She's been on fire and it's great.

There are many things in education that are wearing me down.  Luckily, for the most part, my students aren't part of those problems.  They are the part of my job that I consistently love.

In an effort to focus on these happy moments with students more consistently, I found this adorable notebook at TJ Maxx:

I'm going to keep it at my desk and record those happy moments in the classroom.

What are you thankful for today?

October Goals

As I {previously shared}, I got through about half of my {September} goals...and that's okay.

Let's do some goal setting for October!

1)  For the love of all things holy, I need to finish this dang book:

It's good, I'm just struggling to find time to read independently...without pets on my lap.

2) Purchase and start this highly anticipated book:

I thought it was Annabeth's brother, but alas, Magnus is her cousin.  It's in the newest Scholastic book flyers that I distributed, so I'll be buying myself one.  There were lots of other great books, so I might spend some of my points and stock up on new things for my students.  

3) Work on our wedding website.  We decided (okay, I decided) to make a free one to fill our out of state guests in on events.  I've started one on the knot, I just have to finish it.

4) Buy a new computer.  B's is....eight.  Yes, eight. It's a third grader.  It's time for a new one.  We're visiting my family at the end of the month, so it's a perfect time to get my brother's feedback (since he works for Microsoft) and get a new one.  It's not perfect timing (because it never is), but we've been putting this off for about a year.  He needs it for school and I need it for work.

5) Make the second {DEN ambassador meeting} even more awesome than the first!  I've already got a few more teachers interested in attending, which is great.

6) Attend a cultural event.  We're actually going to Greek Fest tonight, so this one will be easily accomplished!  One of the great things about Vegas is that there are lots of fun things like this.

7) Visit the {Bellagio gardens}.  We went over the summer and enjoyed their underwater display, but I guess they've changed it again for fall.  It's free to get in and there's a chocolate store nearby.  If B doesn't want to go (or has class), I'm sure I can talk some of my gals into going...right?

8) Make something with apples.  It might be an apple pie.  It might be apple cinnamon sangria.  Okay, it will probably be the sangria.  A friend just sent me a video of a new recipe and it looks fairly easy.

9) Have a girls day.  We're doing a Frankenstein Jamberry Wrap Swap on the 17th and playing with make up (always fun), but I want to do a happy hour with my bridesmaids (the ones that are here).  I also want to do a happy hour with some of my lovely coworkers.  Y'all down for that?

10) Catch up with old friends.  It's been far too long since I've talked with some of them on the phone.  There's been some childish antics with "friends" here, so I'm ready to cut my losses and focus on the amazing people that I do have in my life.  

11) Start Battle of the Books!  Mrs. H, the librarian, and I have been hyping this up to the fourth and fifth graders.  We're collecting permission slips and getting ready to start our after school book lounge.  We're offering the kids some guidance, but the Battle of the Books is totally up to them.  We wanted to give them extra reading time in the library after school and offer structure, but it's up to them.  

12) Catch up on grading (almost done), finish the next two regions for social studies (the West Region is part way done), and maybe even get ahead in terms of planning (a girl can dream).

13)  Continue to be extra patient with my students.  Some of them have a lot going on at home and act out in school because they're having trouble coping.  This is totally understandable, it's just taking some additional patience on my end.  Patience that I quickly feel I'm running out of.  It's hard with 34 students.  It's hard when some of them are able to focus for thirty seconds at a time and constantly shout out.  It's hard to continue to be patient when I have ten different private hallway conversations with a student on a daily basis about class norms.  But...it's necessary.  

14) Figure out my school costume.  We're doing a theme for fifth grade...and the theme is balls.  We're not the most appropriate ones, I know.  It's more of a joke for the adults.  I'm thinking of being a disco ball or a bowling ball.  Totally fine costume by itself, but then when the teachers realize that all of the fifth grade teachers have something to do with balls...hilarity will ensue.  The kids won't get it.  But it makes us giggle. 

So apparently my "top ten" got a little over zealous and I now have 14 goals for the month.  But...overplanning is how I live my life.

What will you accomplish this October?

More Classroom Snap Shots

Sometimes I get overwhelmed looking at other classrooms.  The amount of time and care (and money) that other teachers have spent is admirable.  

I just don't have the patience (or budget) to do ridiculously adorable organizational things.

But instead of jumping into classroom shaming, I'll share a few more classroom snap shots of how I've dealt with some of the typical classroom organizational challenges.

Decision 1: Bathroom Log

It's generally a good idea to keep a bathroom log.  It's an easy way to keep track of students and in case there's a fire drill, you know who is gone.  (Also, in case the fire alarm was pulled, you know who was out of the room...speaking from experience on that one.)

I like the magnetic boards (cooking trays) where each student has a number, but that wasn't going to work with three dozen magnets.

So I got super fancy here folks...and use a notebook.

Yup, there it is! Bright yellow and right by the door.   I model how to use it and one usually lasts the whole year.  

Total cost? Maybe fifty cents.  

Total time spent?  Five minutes?  

Worth it.

Decision 2: Returning Student Work

Coincidentally, it's in the same picture.  One of my student jobs is paper passer, so at the end of the day, they file papers in everyone's folders.  I've used the same crate for a few years now and appreciate that Target makes them in cute colors. 

The desks underneath hold blue privacy screens.  We use them for testing time in the classroom.

The polka dotted magnetic clipboard holds nurse passes.  One is at the back of the room and one is at the front of the room.  I found the mini clipboards in the dollar spot (yes, Target again) and added magnets myself.  There's also a pen attached so I don't have to search for one in a moment of emergency.  (Granted, fifth grade emergencies tend to be blood related because someone lost a tooth, but you can never be too sure!)

The pink tub (which were two for a dollar at the Dollar Tree) holds clothes pins with students' names.  When they are ready for a conference, they clip their name to the polka dotted string and keep working.  

Decision 3: Supplies

As much as I don't like losing two valuable shelves (my only two wall shelves), I like the ease of creating this student friendly supply station:

Each table has a bucket with color coded supplies.  The smaller tubs hold post-its, note cards, scissors, and highlighters.  Highlighters are split into yellow and every other color because sometimes we need two colors for tasks.  One of those colors is always yellow so I eliminate fighting.  You'd be surprised how feisty students can get when there is only one pink highlighter to share.  The red backpack goes with us in case of emergencies and the last remaining bucket holds calculators.  

By week three, I'm not really having any major issues with class supplies.  They ask to get what they need and are treating the materials with respect.  It's a win-win situation because they are on task and I'm not dealing with the headache of finding materials. 


Managing these three small, but crucial things has saved me many, many headaches.

Where are your favorite spots in your classroom?

How do you stay organized?

How do you make your space accessible to students? 

ABCs

Once again I find myself appreciating the cute, fun culture of my new school. With the school year winding down, we are doing an ABC count down until the end of the year.  Each day is a different themed spirit day!

Here's a recap of what we've done and what's coming up next week!

A day: Art Day

To be fair, we started calling the day ancient day because none of the computers wanted to connect to the server!  

I talked to my students about how book covers sometimes change over time.  We looked at examples (Hatchet, the River) and non-examples (Number the Stars).  

We talked about the different emotions that were evoked by the illustrations and which book cover would be the most appealing to read.  

I then had them redesign the covers of their favorite novels.  They had such a great time with our craft project and it was nice to be able to integrate reading and art!



B day: Beach Day

Students brought in beach towels and we enjoyed reading outside!  Granted, it's close to 100 degrees outside, so our reading time didn't last too long.

My students were super excited about my towel choice:

 

C day: Crazy Hair Day 

I babysat my nephew and niece the night before, so it was rough getting up this morning so I passed on the spirit day.  I also had an IEP, so that was my excuse with my colleagues. A few of my students really went all out and it was great to see how excited they were!

Next week will bring...

Disney Day
Exercise Day
Fruit Day
Geography Day
Hat Day

I'm not sure what I'll do for Disney day yet.  We'll be doing some brain breaks and stretching for exercise day.  Fruit day may involve a potluck.  Geography day will not only include learning about the Southern Region, but also Google Earth explorations as well!  Hat day is self explanatory and perhaps the day my boys are most excited about!

What fun end of year activities does your school do? 

Aww

I'm loving the fact that my new school is open dress because I get to see their cute personalities reflected in their cheetah print leggings and sport shirts.

While they can't wear them inside, there's also been a surplus of hats.  Now some of my boys are rocking football ones (naturally) and then we get to tease one another about football teams and scores.  One of my students wore a 49ers one after they'd lost to the Cardinals (my team), so naturally I asked him if he loved the game as much as I did.

I like that my classroom is such a positive place where we can  joke about things and feel comfortable with one another.

Recently, two of my boys have shown up in coordinating Batman hats.

Now, to say I love Batman would be an understatement.  I have a Batman class sign and hundreds of comics at my house.  So the fact that my students noticed and then made the effort to wear the hats so I'd notice is simply adorable.

I'm also being gifted quite frequently by my students.  I've received a half dozen bracelets, drawings, and flowers (picked from someone's yard).

It's nice to be at a school where I am appreciated. It's nice to be surrounded by happy students.

Getting to Know My Munchkins

Since I'm starting at a new school, I'm coming in at a disadvantage.  I don't know these kids or their families.

So I pushed myself to try to learn as much as I could about my new bunch of munchkins.  I gave them several "about me" surveys and this year, actually took the time to read them.  I mean between all their beginning of the year forms, we're looking at five hundred pages or so...good thing it was a three day weekend!

It took a few hours, but I'm glad I did it.  I learned a lot about my new students (and their families).  I can easily name off ten fun facts about each kiddo, which is impressive considering I've known them for five days.  I also made notes about what I saw during their games of 20 wins and various first week sorts.

Here's a top ten list of things I've learned:

1) I've got some pretty eclectic kids.  Some told me they love Mean Girls, others are in Tae Kwon Do, some learned the difference between debit & credit cards this summer.

2) Almost every single one said they struggle with spelling and reading multisyllabic words, which only justifies my decision to spend 10 minutes a day doing phonics during whole group reading.

3) A few of them live around the block from me.  I've never had students live so close. I will probably see them out riding their bikes or have them visit on Halloween.

4) They are pretty vocal about their feelings on reading.  Some love Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, others hate the series with a passion...and weren't afraid to show it!

5) I've got supportive families.  Some filled me in on situations at home, some voiced their concerns about where their kids fall academically, but most want to be involved which is a welcome change.

6) Some already listed me as their favorite teacher, which is adorable. It also makes me worry about their previous teachers...but we'll have a great year.

7) Quite a few want to learn how to use the dictionary.  I don't know if their third grade teachers skipped that standard, but we'll be sure to cover both traditional and electronic dictionaries this year. (Ninjawords.com is my favorite!)

8) They're really good at coaching one another.  I don't know if I should give their previous teachers credit for this (or perhaps their parents), but during our math games they were helping one another.  Yes, there was friendly competition but they were genuinely wanting one another to grasp the concept at hand.

9) They work well together.  Some of them said their best friends are in the class.  I've only had to move one child in the first week.  Very few needed a gentle nudge about participating with the group and I'm thinking it was because they already knew the answers and didn't want to give it away. I'm pleased they want to talk to one another.

10)  They are full of joy.  They're inquisitive.  They want to learn.  This is the best possible scenario I could ask for as a teacher.

It's going to be a great year. 

Facebook

I have a teacher facebook.  It's completely separate from my personal account and it's a great way to connect with families and students.  Every so often, I'll get messages like this: 

This will possibly be one of the hardest things about moving to a new school.  My old students can't just come visit me unless their parents are willing to make a twenty minute drive across town.  

At least I'll be able to keep in contact with them online!  I do love hearing about the books they're reading :)

Thank You's

One of my students brought me this:

The gesture is sweet but I think she's secretly trying to bribe me into letting her read Tuck Everlasting. Her group just started Number the Stars and she's convinced it's the best book, ever.  She's on chapter three but has already proclaimed this book as her favorite...ever.

These are my students.

Final meeting for Book Club

Last week was our final meeting for Battle of the Books.  Our school competitions are this coming week and the district finals are on the 25th of April.  I'm excited to take my winning team to face off against the other schools.

I haven't given them any instruction on the books and they held their own small groups.  I'm really proud of how much work they've put into this competition.

One of them even made treats, which was adorable:

Plus they're loving book jeopardy! 

I promised my students we'd play with our small group books during standardized testing time (since they'll need something fun after a long day of bubbling!).

I love watching how much they love reading.

It's the little things

Out of no where, I was presented with this adorable hand-made gem:

For no reason at all.  My kiddos are really cute sometimes.  

Annotating Their Thinking...

We've been working on "stop and jot" where students "read with a pencil" to record their thoughts.  Perhaps I've done too good of a job modeling my metacognition and what goes on inside my brain.

I was reading over their most recent tests and here are some favorites:

Text states: "Then, before flying a new airplane, NASA will test it in a wind tunnel to make sure it will fly as it should." (excerpt from What are Wind Tunnels? by David Hitt)

Her response? "oh, that's safe!"

There were also numerous "that's cool" and "that's big" comments, which made me giggle because this student legitimately got that excited on her reading test.

But my favorites:

Text states: "...some wind tunnels are made to test hypersonic speeds.  That is more than 4,000 miles per hour!"

Her response? "Oh, that's like how my mom drives."

Excerpt: "...the rebels didn't have enough gunpowder to shoot back." (from George vs. George)

Her response: "go buy some more, duh".  If only the rebels had it that easy!

Thank you child for your metacognition during testing.  I know you weren't trying to make me laugh, but you did.

Quick & Easy Strategy for Students

I have some fifth graders who like to rush through their work.  I also have some kiddos who get overwhelmed by an activity sheet, so I found an easy strategy for both.

Take an ordinary file folder:

Cut the front side into several parts:

And viola!  

For fast finishers, they have to have the top part complete and correct before moving on. 

For students who are overwhelmed, they can only see part of the activity and tend to be less anxious about the work.

Tech Support from Facebook

I have a teacher facebook.  

It's in no way linked to my personal one and I use it as an extension of my classroom.  It's a nice way to remind students and parents about what upcoming events we have happening at school.

I'm friends with current students, parents, former students and other colleagues.  My profile picture is of the sign outside my door and I think every other status is related to books or being kind.  There is truly nothing on there that I wouldn't feel comfortable showing my principal...or her boss.

I had a message from a student that she had something urgent she needed to ask me.

Immediately I went into uber-protective teacher mode and assuming the worst.  Was she being bullied?  Is there a problem at home?  

Oh no.  

Her urgent question was how to customize her Google chrome background because she was jealous of my Avengers one.

These are the urgent problems my kiddos need help fixing!

I walked her through it because well, who wouldn't want an Avengers background?!

I love that they feel comfortable asking for help and that I've created a safe space for them.  Obviously technology is important and part of my job is to turn them into digital citizens (one customized background at a time!).

On a side note, we had the impromptu mini-lesson that we DON'T WRITE IN ALL CAPS because it looks like yelling on the computer.  I'm glad they're enjoying blogging so much!  It's so great that they're internalizing that they're writers and have different audiences.

(We did have to have the conversation that LOL JK :)  does not belong in our final draft papers.)

At least they're learning and enjoying it!

Silly Students

Sometimes my munchkins leave silly things on my desk:

Oh kiddos! 

Well that's fun!

Today I got this surprise on my desk from a student after school!

I love how well they know me!

notes

Sometimes my students leave me notes on the bottom of their assessments. 

If they're done early, I have them reflect on their learning by telling me their clicks and clunks.

Instead of having them get up, turn their privacy screens and tests in, which causes other students to rush and be done too, I have them sit at their seats and just reflect on their learning.

I got this note today on the bottom of a student's test:

Her group is reading another novel instead of the Reptile Room next (Series of Unfortunate Events) but I told her we might come back to the Reptile Room and she can always check it out from the library.

I'm glad she's enjoying reading more.  It reminds me of why my job matters.

random acts of kindness

It's been a frustrating week.

It's hard to maintain a positive attitude when things keep getting broken or stolen.  It's getting expensive to replace hard cover books and most recently, my personal laminator.  I understand that accidents happen, but I'd just love if my students listened more when I told them not touch things and gave explicit instructions.  It's not a secret that teachers are underpaid and the cost of supplies is rising :(

However, I'm trying really hard to focus on the small, positive moments.

We had an awesome training by our counselor on 3 words.  We had to pick 3 words and mine were "appreciate the positive".  That's what I'm trying to do!

(Those of you at my school site, I promise I am trying...even though I may be grumpy...)

So here is my positive note:

One of my students was out last week because he had a family vacation in Washington.  I appreciate the family scheduling the trip around our weird fall break (staff developoment and Nevada day) so the student only missed one day of school--and a field trip day at that.  

This student is in RTI, very quiet, frequently wiggly and needs a lot of reminders to be on task.  I'm inclusion and have been for years, so I'm used to this behavior.  Heck, I'm not able to sit still for more than twenty minutes without trying to multi-task, so I can't hold it against them.

He was back on Monday and surprised me with this magnet:

It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but my awesome magnet is mostly pink and sparkly :)

Clearly he understands my preferences in life!  If only it was polka dotted...

Kid vention

Today we went on our field trip to Kid Vention in Henderson:

On the way there, I read aloud The Lightning Thief on the bus.  Our sweet old bus driver was a little bit confused when I asked for the microphone to host a read-aloud, but he willingly obliged.  To be fair, I wasn't going to take no for an answer, so his compliance was appreciated :)

As a side note, the read aloud did not go as well as I expected.  I sat on my knees, facing the back of the bus and between the construction zones and swerving, got a little car (bus?) sick from reading.  Plus, some stinkers in the back were being disrespectful.

At least we tried to cram in more reading :)

We got to the ampitheater:

We saw four debates today:

And my students got really, really into it:

Hurray for democracy and voting!