Elf Fun!!

We had a special delivery at the beginning of December from the North Pole!  Our principal and assistant principal did an awesome job of playing along and brought the package to the classroom.  The box was ice cold (since it was directly from the North Pole).  The kids were all so excited to feel it.  We opened it up and read the story right away.  It was nice to be reminded of their innocent excitement.

Of course our first job was to give him a name.  We brain stormed a list of all the names that the children thought of, then voted the list down a couple of times.  We were left with these names...

and ended up with Spider Man...really?!?  Anyway, I call him Spidey.

Spidey has had quite a bit of fun in our classroom the last couple of weeks.  Here are some pictures of his adventures.

Just hanging around, learning some letters.  Later that day he managed to wiggle out of his little hat and fall down.  Yikes!

 

Playing with some math manipulatives.

Looks like somebody got caught in the cookie jar!

Spidey can definitely spot naughty and nice behavior from up here.

Thanksgiving Flashback

 

 

I didn't get a Thanksgiving post up like I had planned, but I still wanted to share these super cute turkeys that we made.  I started with this adorable turkey pattern from Teachers Pay Teachers, then changed the wings by using handprints instead.  They turned out so cute that I even had a dad ask for the pattern when he came to pick up his son so that he could make one with his little girl.

 

Here is the link to the original turkey pattern.  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Free-Goofy-Turkey-Pattern-165974

Gobble Gobble!!

Okay, okay...I've been MIA for quite a bit and while I could tell you how crazy life has been, I will spare you the lame excuses because that what they are - excuses.

First, I have an amazing class of 24 kindergarten darlin's.  Yes 24.  It sometimes seems like a lot, but some of my friends have closer to 30 in their kindergarten classrooms so I have decided NOT to complain. 

I wanted to share a really awesome activity that we did a few weeks ago.  One song that my team mate and I chose to use as an end of day song is Will.i.am singing "What I Am".  I've posted it below (in case you haven't seen the cute video), but it is really inspiring song about all the wonderful things that kids can be.

Even more perfect, we had just learned the sight words 'I' and 'am'.  So we watched the video a couple of times and brainstormed a list of character traits that we could attribute to ourselves.  Then I gave them a page with the words 'I am ______________", with I and am dotted out for the children to trace.  They did an awesome job and the pages looked so cute on the bulletin board. 

They wrote such wonderful sentences as "I am beautiful.", "I am respectful.", "I am happy.", "I am nice.", "I am strong."

I made a cover and then made it into a class book. 

 

I love having the kids make class books.  Its an excellent opportunity for the children to be successful with their writing and to publish their work. 

Let the games begin!

It's almost here!!!!  Our school officially started Thursday, that's when 1st through 5th graders came back to school.  Our district uses those first 2 days of school to meet one on one with kindergarten students and their parents.  I really like having that opportunity to meet with my new darlin's and their parents, answer their questions, and hopefully alleviate some of the anxiety.  Kindergarteners begin Monday...TOMORROW!!!

I put the finishing touches on my room this weekend and finalized some details on my lesson plans this evening.  I can still think of dozens of things I coulda, woulda, shoulda...but all in all I think I'm in a good place.  Here are some pictures of my room before the kiddos come.

This is the view when you come into my classroom.

 

Here is my calendar board / math focus wall.

I opted to forego a traditional teacher desk this year.  This is my small group table and teacher corner.

 

This is looking towards my class library and Reading Street focus board.

 

This is a view of my word wall, birthday poster, job chart, and writing table.  I want to put a skirt around the bottom of the table.  The one I had on last year didn't stay on very good.  Does anyone have a good suggestion??

 

I am so excited to get all my kiddos tomorrow.  I hope that they are excited too.  It should be so much fun!  I don't want to give away all my exciting plans, but I will post tomorrow how everything went...if I'm not too exhausted.  Now if only I can get to sleep tonight!

 

 

 

This teacher suffers from summer slide too.

Ok...I have been a teacher for over 13 years and although I like the teacher's schedule of having summers 'off' (which is a topic all of it's own), I have discovered that I am a much better person once school starts.  Don't get me wrong, I love the freedom to go camping in the middle of the week or to run errands on a Tuesday afternoon, or to stay up late watching movies...or celebrating a friends wedding :-), but I think I like myself better--and I think my family likes me better-- when I have a schedule and a more defined purpose. 

 

My grandma used to tell me a little rhyme about a girl who had a curl right in the middle of her forehead.  When she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad she was horrid. 
During the school year I somehow manage to get myself and 3 school aged children feed, dressed, and to school on time...I teach...plan with teammates...tutor...participate in leadership teams...help my children with homework...cook dinner...clean the house...etc. etc. etc.  Yet, in the summer all of our routines go out the window.  It is not uncommon to find the children in pajamas at 2:00 in the afternoon...to dine on oatmeal for dinner or potato chips for lunch...or to find a stack of mail that I haven't been motivated to open yet.  I would feel better if I had at least caught up on some reading or cleaning or even a craft project.  But that doesn't seem to be the case.  I just to a little bit of everything, but not enough of anything. 

 

Never fear dear family.  School starts next week and you will get me back 100%!

I can't believe teachers get the summer's off!

Me either ...and probably because in reality - we don't!  At least not the 2+ months of no work sense that some people think.  I was talking with my principal and some other friends the other night about getting ready to come back to school and start the new school year.  I had said (tongue in cheek) that I think I had been at school probably at least once each week during the summer break.  The problem was, after thinking about it - I think it might be true! 

Our district has 10 weeks of summer break.  I don't know where Phineas and Ferb go that they get 104 days of summer vacation!!  That's 3 and a half months, but I digress. 

 

Week one:  Alignment committee work
Week two:  Summer training.  Our district calls it SPA (summer professional academy).  Very misleading.
Week three:  Out of town training, summer school meeting, and getting my classroom ready for summer school.
Weeks four and five:  Summer School
Week six:  Summer School closed for Independence day.  I DID NOT GO IN TO SCHOOL AT ALL THIS ENTIRE WEEK!!!   Whoo Hoo
Week seven and eight:  Summer School
Week nine:  Okay, it my defense, I wasn't going to go in at all this week, but I went in to meet with a new teammate on Friday and ended up working the entire day in my classroom.
Week ten:  Another SPA opportunity and I have to finish my room.  Once we officially start back, there won't be much time - if any, to work in my room, so I need to get it done.

Also, I didn't even include the reading, printing, cutting, creating, planning, etc. that seemed to take up more time than it should have.

Now, before anyone gets their feathers ruffled...yes those were all my choices, and I feel very fortunate that our district pays us for our SPA classes.  I also love the break that we do get in the summer and I am not AT ALL complaining about my job!  Its more of a recognition of my inability to maintain a good balance between home and work.


All that being said.  I love love love my job and I wouldn't trade it for a 9-5 job in a million years!  And I know I'm not the only one :-)

Don't Miss These Freebies!!

I want to share this Fourth of July opportunity with you...and I hope that you see it in time to participate.  Dozens of Facebook pages have come together to offer some great freebies (I think that there are 42 of them).  All of these Facebook pages are devoted to primary education and the freebies that they are offering are really cute.  I just finished going through the 'hop' and I was able to download dozens of fun games, activities and worksheets that I can't wait to print! 

It is set up really easy to do...but block out a little time, I think it took be almost an hour to go through all of them (definitely worth the time, though).  First you will need to 'Like' the Facebook page, then click on the link "Freebies on the Fourth".  After you have looked at and downloaded the freebie, you can click on the link "Click here to 'hop' to your next freebie!" and it will take you right to the next page and you just repeat the process. 

Here is a link to get you started.  Happy hopping.
Kinder-Craze Facebook page

How Do You Manage a 'Flippen Classroom'?

Ok...perhaps that was a bad play on words.  A 'Flippen Classroom' refers to Flip Flippen, a renowned speaker and psychotherapist who created a program called Capturing Kids' Hearts. 

According to Flip, "If you have a child's heart, you have his heart."  I was fortunate enough to go to the 3-day Capturing Kids' Hearts training last summer and it is such a wonderful way to approach classroom management.  It's foundationally about creating and nurturing relationships.  In our school we use the techniques not only with our students, but with each other as a staff as well. 

It would be impossible to explain the program in a blog post, but some of the things that we do include...

• Greetings - I greet my students with a handshake each morning.  It teaches students how properly greet another and it gives me a quick picture of how someone is doing before they even walk in the door.  If a student is having a bad morning, it gives me a chance to help them 'reboot' before a bad morning turns into a bad day.  My administrator also comes through each classroom each day and shakes the teacher's hand and tells them 'good morning'.  What a great model for the students!!
• Good Things - I start each day by giving students a chance to share something good that has happened or that they are looking forward to.  First they get to share with a neighbor, then I usually call 5 or 6 students (using sticks with names on them) to share with the whole class.  We clap or cheer for each student that shares ...and as part of our classroom community, 'when one of us claps, we all clap'.  At my school we also start each staff meeting with 'Good Things'.  It really is just a great way to start a day...or a meeting.
• Social Contract - At the beginning of each school year, the students I and work together to decide how we should treat each other.  Everybody gets a say and all the ideas are written on a big sheet of chart paper.  After it's finalized, everyone signs their name -including the teacher.  For beginning of the year kindergarteners, who haven't quite learned to write their names, I've used thumbprints.  I also create a social contract for each separate group that I have, like literacy groups.  We also do this as a staff at the beginning of each school year as well.
• Affirmations - Some teachers are AWESOME at doing this!  Affirmations are short notes that you give to someone to tell them something nice that you have noticed about them or to give them a compliment.  Students give affirmations to each other and our staff is really great about giving affirmations as well!  It really has given my day a lift when I walk into my classroom and one or my sweet colleagues (or one of my administrators) has left me a note telling me that I'm doing a great job.  One of my goals this year is to be more intentional about using affirmations.
• Four Questions for Misbehavior - Simply put, instead of 'nailing' a student for misbehavior, your are giving them a chance to change their behavior (which is what we really want anyway, right?) and retain their dignity.  1st - "What are you doing?" 2nd - "What are you supposed to be doing?" 3rd - "Are you doing it?"  4th - What are you going to do about it?"
• Launch - The launch is a way to send students out on a positive note.  It can be a song, a quote, a cheer, a saying...really whatever works for you and that you and your students can stick with.  It's a way to provide some closure and to send kiddos out the door with a smile.

I know that I'm forgetting a ton of things that are part of the program, but I will say that it is life changing.  It definitely changed how I interact, not only with my students, but with my colleagues and my own family as well.

Our school also uses Keystone, which is a character education program that is offered through the Flippen Group.  We use it school wide which is nice because everyone is learning about the same character quality at the same time and we can use common language with the students.

If you are interested in Capturing Kids' Hearts or Keystone, you can find more information at their website.  http://flippengroup.com/education/index.html 

Right now I'm reading a book called, What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most, by Todd Whitaker. 

I had seen a link for it somewhere, but I was sold on reading it after watching a video of Todd Whitaker on YouTube.

If you have read this book or have used any of the 'Flippen Techniques' (sorry, I couldn't resist), I would love to hear what you think.