Time to Go!!!

I am so ready for this school year to begin! I have met the parents and my little kiddos.  They were so cute at the open house, playing together, you could see their excitement...and their nerves.  Now we are just waiting for the first day.  I kind of think this part is worse.  I'm ready, plans are ready, supplies have been put away, projects and activities are prepped and yet... I'm just waiting for it to begin.  I know I will regret these words when I am exhausted, but I want to get started!

See you on September 5th with the fun of the first day and then one of my favorite projects.  I'll be up to my knees in paint on Friday, but I love how these turn out!

I love to shop!

More importantly, I love to save! I don't go crazy about it, but I love it when I see that 50% off sign in stores... better yet 60% or 70%.  I love shopping for clothes and I pride myself on not ever paying full price.  When it comes to teaching materials, sometimes you have to, but not today!  Thanks to the Teachers Pay Teachers Back to school sale!

Some of my favorite purchases today (I hope I do the links right!)

These are great activities and they come with multiple ways to complete them.

The pages in this packet are a perfect way to work on letter sounds while practicing cutting.  I love activities that the children can work on their own and they are not just printing and coloring.

I am so excited to use these this year.  I am getting each student their own necklace.  I will be busy this week printing these and getting them ready for the year.  I think my kids are going to love this!



It's so hard to find good religious materials that are appropriate for kinders.  I love this packet. The posters and follow up writing activity are great!




So much in this packet it is ridiculous!




Penguins are a favorite of mine.  I love this packet and will be adding to my already fabulous unit on penguins from Deanna Jump.

Can you tell I love Teachers Pay Teachers? These are just a few of the things I purchased. All of these teachers are so talented and it is so perfect that there is a place that we can all benefit from their talent.  Sale ends tomorrow, so teachers get on that! 

My bad...

So I guess I missed the rest of Teacher Week '13.  I got wrapped up in things school related and didn't have time to post.

Truthfully, though I had nothing to add to the classroom management conversation.  I don't use any clip charts, incentive charts, or behavior charts.  I expect my students to pay attention, follow directions, and do their best.  Don't get me wrong, it's not all sunshine and puppies in my room, but it works.  However I think I may try something I read on another blog this year, Behavior Beads.  I'll be putting that TPT sale to good use tomorrow.

Anyway, a few tips:

1.  I used to keep my craft projects in bank boxes.  First I had 2 boxes, then 3 and so on and so on.  It took up a lot of space and things kept falling out.  I bought these 4 bins that I can stack on the shelf and keep closed.  I labeled them this year so I know where everything is.

2.  My favorite piece of organization is my Lakeshore daily bins.  I used to use a folder for each day's work, but sometimes the projects were bigger and wouldn't fit.  These bins make it so much easier and if I am ever out unexpectedly, everything the sub needs is in that day's bin.

3.  These are the chair pockets that I have used for years.  Someone made them for me from ebay.  I don't remember the seller, but I do remember that I got 25 for less than I would have spent for sacks I had to replace every year from a catalog.  I sew the name tag holder on every summer after I wash them.  They're great!

4.  Lastly, my children's books.  Like every other teacher, I have an addiction to children's books.  My book cart only holds so many books, so I keep the ones I am not using in labeled boxes.  I use a sticker system to keep things organized and when I switch them out I simply replace the same colored sticker.

Well, I am taking a short break this week from my classroom while they clean the hallway floors.  My room is ready for kids to come and take a look around on August 27th and my parent folders are ready for the 26th.  Sadly, summer is almost over.  And yet I am excited to meet my new group of sweeties!

Teacher Week '13- Now Teach!

I like to think of myself as pretty organized.  Everything has it's place.  After teaching for over 10 years, I have learned what works best for me.  I am blessed to be in a classroom that has great closets.  After moving classrooms this year, I discovered that the closets in my new room are at least a foot wider.  Woohoo!!!

This is my arts and craft closet.  I also store my Reading teaching manuals and listening center CDs.

This closet has math manipulatives, readers from our series, my math manuals, and various other teaching tools.

As you can see, I have a lot of stuff.  That is what happens when your mom worked at a Teacher Store for years.  It's crazy that I use it all- not every year, but often enough.

I didn't take pictures of where I keep student supplies.  I have closed containers of crayons, markers, pencils, glue sticks, and scissors.  I keep them in one of those wheeling carts.  This way when we do a project that needs them, we just grab the container and bring it to a table.  The children have their own crayon boxes with crayons, pencil, and glue stick in their chair pockets.  I purchased my pockets from someone on ebay 5 years ago.  They are made of denim and I wash them every year and they still look great!  

In my area of my classroom is where I organize my handouts, workshop activities, and work station centers.  I use those awesome 10 drawer carts- one for each month.  In one cart I have workshop and work station centers and the other has my master copies for the month.  On the shelf, I keep my materials for the week in the Lakeshore Organizer.  One of my favorite purchases ever!

So that's how I try to stay organized.  I'm sure I'll get more ideas from the other posts.  Check them out at Blog Hoppin.

My Classroom Tour

I had to move classrooms this year due to increased enrollment in our PreK (yeah)!  It meant I had to pack over 10 years of stuff and move it down the hall, unpack it, and deal with the panic moments.  Fortunately I only had one real panic attack when my furniture didn't fit, but thanks to my ever so calming father, all is well now.  I still have some work to do, but it is looking more like my home away from home every day.

My favorite thing I have done so far is my door.  I haven't written my student's names on them yet, but this is what I expect my door to look like.   Assemble the Minions!

Here is the view as you walk in the door, excuse my pile of junk on the table. 

This is the area where most of the "play" happens.  Also, please excuse the computer mess.  It still needs to be set up.

This is to the right of the last photo.  I just hung up a curtain today that covers the cubbies.  I love storage especially when you can hide it.

Here is the front corner where one of my work stations is located. Also a spot on the board for the anchor chart we are working on and you can see my laptop for the Promethean Board on the left.

Another work station area where the kids work with the pocket chart activity, begin the Write the Room activity or use materials on the shelf.

The view from the back of my classroom.

My area- notice my love of penguins on the windowsill. 

And I just had to add the table of to be finished work.  So not done yet...

So that's my classroom all set up and neat.  I should take pictures after the kids have "lived" in it for a month.

Teacher Week '13

Well, let's see if I can mess this up! I am going to try to participate and add my thoughts to Teacher Week '13.  No idea what I am doing here, but here goes...

Meet Me!
   

Photo from Nacre Dance Company website

    I've been teaching kindergarten for over 10 ten years in a Catholic School.  I taught 3rd grade for a couple of years before being switched to kindergarten.  I always thought I wanted to teach K, but when the switch was made, I knew I was where I belonged.  I love teaching these little ones and being their teacher when they learn so much.  Let's face it, those kids that come in on the first day grow so much by the time they graduate.  So many milestones and so much fun along the way.

         Now with the Common Core Standards, things in kindergarten have changed.  Since I started implementing these standards, I realized that my students could handle more of a challenge and higher expectations.  However, I am not ready to let go of the fun that needs to be in kindergarten.  There is no reason that meeting these standards means you have to cut out the fun.  Not in my classroom!  We work on reading, writing, math, religion... ok too many things to list, each day, but you'll still see craft projects, block play, and time at the kitchen center.  And let's not forget that all important part of the day, RECESS!!! 

         Outside of the classroom, as you can see, I am a dancer who thought she had retired only to join a modern dance company last year.  I am continuing to dance this year.  It makes me exhausted in a good way! I've danced since I was about 5 years old and majored in dance in college.  Coming back to it after a few years, I realized how much I loved and missed it.  I'm so glad I found it again.  It really helps to have something to focus on outside of teaching.

         Well that's me...oh and one more thing

First day back!

I tend to get a little crazy when I first go back to my classroom. I guess I just get overwhelmed and then when the inevitable wrench gets thrown at me, I panic first.  Then I calm down and try to make it work.  Well the first day in my classroom was stressful. Moving furniture with my awesome dad was going well until I found out the whiteboard couldn't be moved, so I had to change the plan. The pictures below we're the framework before I knew they couldn't move it.  Now my still awesome dad is coming with me on Monday to cut my rug to make my tables fit.  I'm still a bit unsure about my set-up, but we'll see. To say I am nervous about that is an understatement. It will be fine I know, but the stress leading up to it is not fun.  I'll just keep praying...

Here is a bit of the disaster that is my classroom right now (and before the change in plan). I'll take more on Monday if I don't have a panic attack!

View from the front corner

View from other side

Right now I just want the Classroom Fairy to come in and put it all away, so I can get to the fun part- decorating!