Cool Like A Mint: Behavior Toothpaste STEM

Have you ever seen the idea

of comparing words to a tube of toothpaste

on the internet, Pinterest, etc.?
I have.
What a super cool visual to
teach kids to think before they speak.

Well, I came across this idea last year,

and I used that analogy with my kids.

I'm not really sure who first  came

up with this....
but they are BRILLIANT!
Yah they are!

Thank you for sharing!!!

I made it into a STEM activity for my students,
Of course you did!

and they had so much fun learning

about how they should always

think before they speak.

Last year, I came up with
a verbal story I told my kids....
maybe one day I'll share that....
but I haven't finished it on paper yet.

At the beginning of this school year
I used the same STEM concept again...

but I changed it up and I made it

into a little rhyme-rap for my kiddos.
I threw in little Life Saver Mint candies
that they all received
once they showed me
that they were being
Cool Like A Mint
at school.
Gotta love the incentive of candy!
Some of my kiddos
had to work a couple of days
to get that little mint!
But then.....
They Were Cool Like A Mint!

This year I'm teaching half-day First Grade

and half-day Second Grade 

Math and Science.

I did this activity with both of my classes.

At the beginning of the year,

we ALL need to go over

behavior and expectations.
Every.Single.Year.
Every.Single.Grade.

I had some of my 2nd grade students

in my class last year,

but this is such a great lesson on

watching what you say...

that it never hurts to do it again.
Nope!

Sometimes it takes hearing and doing

something several times before it sticks!

PLUS the rhyme-rap was new for them.

It's called: COOL LIKE A MINT STEM

...and I'm sharing it here with anyone

that would like to use it.

Click Here To Download The STEM activity.

  
Click Here to Download
my voice saying the rhyme/rap.
You probably have
 a much better voice than I do...
so go ahead and rap it yourself for your class!
Believe me....they'd love to hear you
in all your coolness!
Bwahahaha!
(Or at least they'd appreciate your willingness to take a risk!) 

 Download the Powerpoint, and then
click on the Slide Show Icon
(on my PC it's on the bottom middle/right section
of the Powerpoint).
Click on the forward arrow button
to get to the rhyme page
and click on the little voice icon
that'll show up to the right hand side of the Cool Cat.
There's a voice icon on both the color
and the black and white version...
they are both the same rhyme-rap.

 The kids won't be able to put
all of the toothpaste
back into the tube....
But they'll love trying!
much like when we apologize,
we can say we're sorry,
but it doesn't completely 
erase the hurt feelings
we may have caused with our words.

I like to also relate this to science...
Thomas Edison didn't ever give up,
much like many scientists.
We have to teach our kids that it's OK
to not get the "Right Answer" immediately.
Sometimes we have to just keep on trying! 
(Which also goes hand in hand with making
verbal mistakes.)

On a personal note....

I have NOT been Cool Like A Mint

on so many different levels

for the past couple of weeks.

Hurricane Irma has affected

many Floridians....
I wondered how you were doing?!

we are all just a frazzled mess

(or at least I am---there is

NOTHING cool about me)!

My town was not affected

like other places in Florida,

but Floridians (including people in my town),
have been a little traumatized by Irma.
I'm sure!

Some evacuated the state.

Some ran from one side
of the state to the other

(as Irma seemed to be going one way
and then the other).

Many Floridians have been
inching through

parking lot traffic

on the highways...
We saw that here on the news!

Praying to get to a gas station

that actually still had gas...

before running out of gas,
and coming to a complete stop
in the middle of the road. 
What a nightmare!

King Common Sense was in Texas
for Hurricane Harvey.

He texted and told me that

I needed to leave with the kids

on the Tuesday BEFORE the storm hit.

People thought I was nuts,

to leave so early....

but when my husband

says to go....

I've.
Gotta.
GO!

That's called 23 years of marriage.
Or as I like to call it....maiwage.
That's also called he was hanging
with Harvey and didn't want your crew
to do the same with Irma!

I quickly made 5 days of Sub Plans,

submitted and got 5 days worth of substitutes

and left at 2:00 am the next morning.
Oh my word!!!

We drove to Alabama

to stay with my

Aunt and Uncle.

There was absolutely no traffic,
and no problems getting fuel.
Thank God for that!
That changed by that evening.

We were extremely fortunate to have

family who took us in,

and who had plenty of

room for us.
What a blessing!

We were able to stay

in their beautiful, spacious lake house

during the passing of the storm

with several of my cousins

and their families.

My cousins called it their REFU-CATION.

Thank goodness for family
who can make you laugh

when you just want to sit and cry!

We all stayed
for well over a week.
Impromptu family reunion...
...sponsored by Irma!

When I left,

I drove out at 5:30pm
on a Wednesday evening

and drove through the night

until 5:30am Thursday morning.
School was cancelled for 7 days,
I can't even imagine!
so I only needed 1 day
out of the 5 days of sub plans I created.

Teachers had to be back by Friday,

or I would have stayed in Alabama

since our house lost electricity.

Losing electricity may not seem
like that big of a deal to some....
but if you live in Florida (or Texas)
it's an
ABSOLUTE  NECESSITY!
Yah it is!

My husband's office
next to the house

was struck by a tornado

during the storm,
so the electricity

in our area
was very much gone.
Wow....

Kaput.

Since teachers had to be at work
by Friday (2 days ago--11 days after I left)
for a Teacher Work Day to make sure everything
was fine for students to go to school
this Monday (tomorrow)....
AND I was so worried about getting stuck

in gridlocked traffic on the way back...
I decided to drive as much as

I could this past Wednesday night.
Yikes....of all times for your husband
to be out of town!  UGH!

Luckily, the traffic ran smoothly.

There was much more traffic than there

typically is during the middle of the night,

but it was smooth sailing.

Karate Ballerina

(my oldest who took over her father's role

of keeping Mom on track during this storm)

and her boyfriend--Captain Snook--
 bought several gas containers

and filled them up for me in Alabama

so that I wouldn't run out of gas with

my two youngest in the car on the way back.
She was raised right!

She actually came to the house

the Sunday before
I unknowingly

would be evacuating and 

made sure that I had water, food,

and diesel on hand for the generator.
What a good girl!

She had told me to start prepping
that Saturday before 

....but...
I was diligently ignoring her.
I bet you won't do that again!

I told her that my life had been too

stressful up to that point,

and that the Cosmic Powers That Be

knew that I just couldn't handle one more thing.
Unfortunately, that's usually not how life works.
Just saying...

They would take pity on me.

Hurricane Irma was not going to come our way.

I.Was.Wrong.
Very wrong...

Karate Ballerina knew I wasn't listening to her,

and she knew that her dad was out of town.

So she came over, borrowed my bank card,

and went to get everything she thought I'd need.

Thank goodness for children with common sense!
And no.....
I will never claim that they got that from me!

She and Captain Snook went to Alabama
with us, and they left

the day before we did
since he had to get back to his work.

They gave me advice on which back roads

I should take on the way home.

It was important to take back roads

as the main freeways were too congested.
Again, saw it on the news.
Crazy!

On the trip back to Florida from Alabama,

we actually got lost around

1:00 am in the pitch black,

empty back roads of Georgia.
Nobody ever tells you how dark
a back road can get in the middle of the night.

It was me, my 16 year old,

and my 7 year old in the car.
Yikes!  That had to be just a bit unnerving!
We were using our GPS System,
but then a road with the same name
as the one we were following popped up,
and got me completely and utterly lost.

I saw a police officer in his trooper car,

so I followed him into a parking lot.
Thank God for small favors!

I pulled up to his car

and rolled down my window.

Hanging out the window just a bit,

with my hair pulled up in a messy,

curly heap on top of my head,

I said, "Excuse me....
Can you please help me?

I'm trying to get back to Florida,

and I'm lost!"

The Officer just looked at

my frazzled state of being,

smiled a kind smile,

and gave me directions

in a Deep Southern Drawl.

I.Just.Love.America.

He was a huge, muscular,

African American Police Officer

with the kindest tone of voice

explaining not to worry...for some

reason many people get lost in that area,
because of the 2 similarly named roads.

He told me how to get back on the

right path to Florida,

and then he followed me until I got

back onto the correct road.
I'm surprised you didn't melt into a puddle 
of grateful tears and ask him for a hug!

It just brings tears to my eyes,

that I live in a country that I feel

comfortable and confident in stopping

any random police officer
on a pitch black, desolate road
 and ask them for help.
Truth!

As we drove away,

back on track to Florida...

I pointed out to Golden Boy and

The Darling Diva that the police officer

that helped us was a shining example

of what I've been telling them

for many years...

We are so very blessed
to live where we do.

....sniffle...sniffle...

alright....dry your eyes...enough!

Be Cool Like A Mint, Regina!

Focus!

When we drove up to our house at 5:30 am,

all I wanted to do was sleep.
Oh, I'm sure!!

That did not happen

for the next 4 hours.

Instead, I cleaned out our

two refrigerators that were both standing in

melted, goopy, mildew puddles.
Oh my grossness!!!

We cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned.

EVERYTHING got thrown out.

Even the batteries that

we keep in the freezer

had to go.

On the way back home,

I was listening to the news

(in order to stay awake)

and they were talking about

the smell of death

that was permeating the air

in some hard hit places in Florida.

They had cadaver dogs

going out to find people,

but the dogs weren't able to

find anyone in that area (thank goodness--
as in, that smell was not really dead people---right?).

When I walked into my house,

I realized that the smell
that was smacking me in the face

was perhaps the smell

that they were talking about on the news.
It was a smell
that I had never smelled
before in my life.
...and it was TER.RI.BLE.

I talked with King Common Sense

and he told me that yes....
that IS the smell.

Oh.
Well now I know something
that I never wanted to know.
BLEK!

It has taken a lot to try to get rid of that odor.

Luckily, I met a very nice lady
who cleans houses for a living yesterday.
We were just randomly talking
about our Storm Stories,
when I mentioned the smell
permeating my house.
She suggested I take small,
opened boxes of baking soda
and place them in and around the refrigerators.
You've never heard of that trick?
Most folks around here always
have an open box of baking soda in the fridge.
She was a Godsend!!!
This morning, I woke up...
and the smell is finally dissipating.
Go Away Bad Smell!
Go Away!
And Don't Come Back Until I Say So!

hehehe....it may not be a Green Monster,
but it does make one feel greenish to smell it!
Blek!

I just got my electricity today...
Wow....you don't realize what you've
got until it's gone!

So being Cool Like A Mint 
has a another totally different
meaning for me!
Late this Sunday morning
(as I was roaming around my house in pajamas),
I heard a knock on my door.

I was so excited to see the electrician at my door,

that once I realized who it was...

I threw open the door.
I had no bra.
Aw snap!
But I didn't care.
Which is rare.
Normally I care.
Whether or not
I have on proper underwear. 
LOL!

So there you have it.
All it takes is 13 days of stress
and 4 days with no AC
for me to lose any sense of decency.
Oh, I'm sure you weren't the first
nor the last to have that reaction
to seeing him at the front door!

Now that I have
Air Conditioning.
NOW
I can truly be...

COOL LIKE A MINT!
(and properly clothed)

On a serious note, so thankful
that you and your family 
were able to stay safe through 
those terrible storms!