It is that time of year when we teachers need to spend a moment to thank those people who are the back to school helpers. Those who help and support us as we make the shift to ready our classrooms. Summer Self Back to school time transforms me. During the summer I am a full time wife and mommy who organizes activities and keeps everyone busy, a domestic goddess who gets everything done around the … [Read more...]
Change Meet the Teacher to Meet My Heart
Welcome to Meet My Heart day, formerly called Meet the Teacher. Today was Meet the Teacher. I saw the faces of my upcoming 22 little loves and I couldn't help but think... This is the moment God starts to open my heart up to the little wonderfuls that I met tonight. Let's Break Down the Truth First, are they going to listen? Nope.Are they going to sit still? What a joke.Are they going to be … [Read more...]
Why Do They Need All Those Supplies?
One reoccurring topic at the end of every summer is... school supplies! Why is that list so long? Do we really need to bring EVERYTHING on the list? WHY? First, let me inform you guys of a little secret. Supply lists are a HUGE pet peeve of MANY teachers. That is right... we hate them too. So why do we do them? First, we have to. It is usually a requirement on our check off sheet … [Read more...]
Brown Bear Game
I start the school year off using the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You Hear? It is just a fun way to review colors and show my little ones that they are readers! And books can be used as a tool. And I want my student to see that they can PLAY TO LEARN. One of my favorite classroom games is called Fill the Ten Frame. It comes with three versions of a record sheet. You are … [Read more...]
First Day of School Funnies
Teacher DREAM about the first day of school for years. The first day of school is this huge goal we all work towards. And we plan for it all summer long, each and every summer. And the week before school starts, Those dreams turn into nightmares. It gets real. It gets scary. And it gets funny. So, in the season of back to school. Let's share our first day of school … [Read more...]
Sensory Bag Idea & Freebie
Check out this fun sensory bag idea you can use at the beginning of the year or as a review game any time in the year! All you need is a dry sensory idea, a baggie, and paper. Check out how to create this activity for your classroom. The Inspiration for the Idea First, I saw this AMAZING idea on Pinterest all about sensory bags using sight words and … [Read more...]
Start of the School Year Stress!
Welcome... BACK to school! Class has been IN SESSION for a week now. Here in GA, we start early. I made this welcome banner as a last minute decorative idea for my classroom and I LOVE it. I am digging how it matches the ABCs. {#teacherproblems} I had to sport my new Kindergarten ROCKS shirt my former TA gave me. {She got her own classroom this year. So this is good news! And she is the … [Read more...]
First Day of School Freebie Sign
Check out this first day of school freebie sign. Today was the first day of school. I am BEYOND tired! But, you know how it is... first day of school tired is the best kind of tired, besides rocking your baby tired, I know. I made this sign for my personal kindergartner and my class to use to hold up for their pictures. It isn't anything special, but is it FREE. Click on the picture or {here} … [Read more...]
How to Use Google Forms for Meet the Teacher
Hey all! I am so blessed to have the opportunity to meet with all of you at conferences and share my passion of integrating technology into classrooms. I love suggesting and "idea" and seeing the fireworks in your eyes of WONDER. Sometimes it takes someone showing you how to use an idea in the classroom to light that fire. Honestly, once you get over the learning curve, most technology is … [Read more...]
Working on the Room… So Grab Some Tips
I am back at work and working HARD to get my room ready. {Isn't it funny how hard we work to prepare our rooms for new students? I mean, we just took care of how many students last year and yet we have this need to make the room better, cleaner, more organized... and we spend our own money.} After I taped down 24 name plates to my tables, I decided to make new ones. {Why oh why … [Read more...]
A Few Small Tips for Prepping Your Room.
Today was my first day back in my classroom for the new year. My classroom is my home away from home... my happy place. Room Prep with Pocket Charts Apparently this summer I got a little pocket chart happy. I accumulated (aka purchased) 2 clear/see thru pocket charts. black pocket charts, and a set of colorful, small pocket charts that I grabbed at Walmart. I have no plans for these … [Read more...]
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books
My students LOVE the Old Lady books by Lucille Colandro. I love to use these books to work on sequencing right away, since it can take a while master this skill. I also use sequencing to take about words like before, after, next... etc. We also use ordinal numbers like 1st, 2nd, 3rd... etc. I also snagged a class set of these books and made a recording of my voice to turn … [Read more...]
