An Unfortunate Event

So, yesterday I decided that I would clean up my jump drive and get rid of any junk I had in there to make room for more memory.  In doing so, I accidentally deleted my precious Kindergarten file.  Just to give you an idea of how precious this file was, allow me to list some of its contents (in bold and all caps., as if I were crying hysterically):

LESSON PLANS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR!!
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
MY GRADE BOOK
MY TOT (Teachers of Tomorrow) INFORMATION (In which I sponsor)
RTI INFORMATION
FIELD TRIP INFORMATION
PARENT INFORMATION
BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IDEAS 

I am not sure if any of you have ever experienced this, but if you have there are stages we seem to go through....The first stage is Indenial, then there is the Absolute Dispair stage (In which we feel the need to cry out in utter anguish), and closely following is the I'm putting on my teacher pants and getting over this stage.  I seemed to have experienced all three stages within 3 minutes. I learned the hard way that I will always need to...

Because....

 Just a little "I totally screwed up humor!"

Until next time....

Live, Laugh, and Love 2 Teach!

DIY and Freebie

DIY

So, here are a couple of awesome Do It Yourself activities for the classroom!  This activities have been tried and true.  My kinders love them and so do I!!

Reader's Theater/Puppet Show

With felt board let down and Dramatic Play header (to keep it staple).

With felt board tied up and without header.

So last summer I read Debbie Diller's "Literacy Work Stations" and was totally inspired to create this dramatic play area.  I went to Hobby Lobby and gathered a foam tri-fold, a gold poster, red mini borders, red fabric from, and black felt cloth.  Grabbed a glue gun, laminated and Viola!  There are sections on the board that allow for a more interactive display.  I mainly used the board for retelling stories, but you can do soooo much more.  This is the perfect spot for reader's theater, creating a play and acting it our using props, felt board stories and more!!!

What's That Sound? and Stretch the Word

I created these boards during my internship and they are still going strong! I used a foam tri-fold and cut it in half, used mini word wall letters and bought Everyday Objects picture set along with Alphabet picture sets form School Aides (the teacher resource store in Jacksonville, FL). I will start with "What's that Sound?"

I used this board in the beginning for my kinders who needed help identifying beginning sounds.  Later on in the year this center was used to identify final/ending sounds, beginning blends and ending blends. This center is awesome for Daily 5 Word Work! There is a worksheet I created that goes with this to show students work.  They have to draw the picture and write the letter or blend.  Keep reading for a free copy of the worksheet!

This board is used to help students practice stretching their words, which is ohhhh so fun to do in kindergarten (sarcastically speaking).  However, this really helped my kinders and it was pretty fun seeing how much they improved in this area throughout the year!  This center works well for Daily 5 Writing.

Sooooo, if you plan on creating this center visit my Teachers Notebook or TeachersPayTeachers store for the free worksheets that go along with it or just click here.

    Enjoy!

Remember That Zoo Theme?

Well, my kinders had a zoo fieldtrip back in May and I decided to add some upgrades to my Zoo Thematic Unit!  When I introduced these activities to my kiddos they were totally stoked!  Check it out!

Here are some of the addition and subtraction centers.  Read the word problem and allow students to solve by drawing the picture or using little animal manipulatives.

                                

These pattern centers were pretty fun as well.  Once my kinders finished maneuvering the patterns they completed this cut, paste, and draw worksheet.

                  

We took a class vote on our favorite zoo animals and graphed it.  Students were able to follow along on their individual graphing worksheet.

This was also a fun number/word/picture sort.

                    

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love write the room activities for kids.  When I created this activity, I purposely didn't label the animal cards that you would stick around the room.  The idea is to laminate the cards and write down your own words (family words, sight words, letters, numbers, etc.) This will help make this activity fun and meaningful for you whenever you use it!

This memory game activity has also been upgraded somewhat!  Now in addition to the option of playing picture/letter or letter/letter memory game, I have created one where you can match the picture with the word (for those readers of yours).  I created these memory games by buying animal print craft paper form Hobby Lobby and gluing it to the back of each game piece before I laminated them.

There are plenty more activities including sound segmenting centers, zoo noun sorts, zoo passport, etc.  If you like what you see click the picture below to go straight to the link.

Click here to but this unit

Chow For Now!

Time to Reflect

As you know, I am back in the college grove!  I have been taking online courses for a little over a month now and I am gaining a ton of information about the Learning Profession.  This week's topic was all about taking the time for reflection.  Of course, we as teachers do this all the time (subconsciously and consciously) as we are on the go, but do we collaborate with each other as we reflect?

Today I am sharing my homework assignment with you in the form of this question:  What do you plan on doing differently next year? Why?

 Last year, I really needed to work on making math fun (it is definitely not my favorite subject).  So I switched my teaching schedule so that math was the first subject taught and I made sure to include awesome math centers to help make it engaging.  The results were AMAZING!  I even became more excited about teaching the subject and my kiddos could tell!

This year, I really want to work on promoting interdependence among my students and create some fun, engaging centers that are effective throughout the school year.  I also need to focus on prioritizing when it comes to lesson plans, homework, and other school work. My list could go on with a billion things I want to change, or introduce within my classroom, but now I want to hear from you!  As you reflect on the school year what are some things you plan on changing?

Let me know!

Stay Strong

This Friday is the last day of school for me!  And this is how I felt all this week:

This week had to have been the busiest week I have ever experienced this year.  On top of the normal end of year procedures (gathering materials, packing/unpacking, and submitting end of year paper work), I have had plenty more going on. 

On Monday, my kinders had their graduation celebration!  I was sooo proud of them!  We practiced the week before and I was honestly very nervous about the outcome.  Their little bodies were so antsy during practice and the kept singing ahead of tempo.  However, something happened on that magical night of graduation.  They actually came together and performed as if they were ready for first grade!  

On Wednesday, my TOT helpers (Teachers of Tomorrow) went on a field trip to Adventure Landing!  Let me just say, that was totally AWESOME! This year Mrs. Kumrow (my partner in crime) and I sponsored the TOT program.  Those kiddos worked so hard throughout the school year helping their teachers organize and set up.  We decided to take them some place fun to show our appreciation. It was so much fun going on a field trip with a small group of third graders.  Very different from going on a field trip with 20 kindergartners. 

Finally, on Thursday, we had a FIELD DAY!!!  Lots of fun in the sun!  

Needless to say, I'm exhausted!  But I wouldn't trade this job in for the world.  I had such an amazing group of parents and students this year, I am so sad to seem the go.  Hope you all have a very relaxing and productive summer break!

My Summer Bucket List

I decided to link up with Deanna Jump to share my top 10 summer wishlist!  So here goes!

1. Create some TPT/TN activities
I definitely plan on increasing my store supply.  I have already written down a few ideas that I can't wait to create!  Don't worry, you will definitely get a sneak peek of everything that goes in the store.

2. TRAVEL
I don't care where as long as it is anywhere but here!  I am ready to hit the road.  I know there is an awesome I Teach K! conference coming up with the TPT conference immediately after.  I would imagine that this would be the perfect place to travel.  Maybe even make it a road trip experience!!!

3. SUMMER CAMP
Yes, I will be working part-time at my school 's summer camp.  I'm excited about putting my on spin on teaching and making it even more fun!!

4.  REARRANGE MY CLASSROOM
I have a relatively small classroom and although the floor plan was just fine this year, I can already feel that itch for a change of space.

5.  CLEAN OUT MY STORAGE UNIT!!!
Okay, so I have collected a few thousand education materials over the years.  Now it is time for me to go through it all and rediscover what I already have.  I would show you a picture, but honestly, I'm embarrassed!

6. PD READING
I will definitely be digging into some Debbie Diller books.  Especially "Math Workstations" and "Making the Most of Small Groups." I will also be blog hopping to see what other good reads are out there!

                             

7. EXERCISE
I am very determined to get fit and eat well this summer! I already have a work out routine now all I have to do is follow it.

8. COOKING
Okay, I admit, I don't really like to cook.  So, I will be practicing the skill of cooking.  Quick and easy meals mind you. Pintrest has become my best friend lately when it comes down to looking up some fun meals.

9. WEDDING PLANNING
Whoop! Whoop! Most exciting thing on my to do list!  I am so ubber excited about planning out the details of my wedding.  It so hard not to get so caught up in it all.

10.  RELAX
Notice this is the last thing on my to do list.  Meaning most of the time, this is the one thing that doesn't get checked off the list, but I promise I will get some R&R this summer!

I'm Back!!

I am very excited to announce that I have come back to the world of blogging!  Since I've spent almost an entire school year off the grid, I must update you on the wonderful things that have happened this year.

First and foremost, I'M ENGAGED!! I am so excited to begin the preparations to spend my life with the bestest man in the whole world! (Yes, I know bestest is not a word, but I thought I'd pull a Dr. Seuss on ya!).  What is so awesome about this is that my fiance, Shaun, had my principal and my students from last year involved in the proposal!  My principal interrupted a very intense writing lesson and had a bunch of my students from last year come in holding signs that said WILL....YOU....MARRY....and then Shaun came in with ME!  It was PERFECT!  He even brought in cupcakes for my kinders to celebrate with me :).

Secondly, I have started school.  I'm four weeks in to online Master's Program in Reading and Literacy so pray for me!  Although I'm nervous about online classes I'm also excited.  I plan on taking everything I learn and applying it into the classroom.

Thirdly,  I have a new Kindergarten team that I am working with.  I am happy to say that we make a pretty AWESOME team! We already have so many cool ideas for the team and we have already developed an awesome rapport.

Finally,  My kinders this year were a blast!  We learned so much and had so much fun now it's just about time to say goodbye. I'm going to miss those kiddos but I'm already excited to meet my next group of kinders.

Well that's all for now!

Live, Laugh and Love 2 Teach