Never a Dull Moment

No day in Kindergarten is ever the same and I never know what to expect next.

*It was picture day and all the students had on their cute dressy outfits to document their very first school picture. Picture day also took place on one of the hottest days of the week and the day when our air conditioning at school decided it didn't want to work right. Well what happens when you add picture day+96 degree day+no air conditioning? You get an undressed child! That's right...while reading a story to my students I had one little boy stripping out of his shirt fanning himself. Next thing you know the students weren't interested in the book anymore instead they were interested in the shirtless child sitting across the rug from them.

*What happens when you need to use the bathroom on the playground? You grab a few of your buddies and head to the fence of course! I was tying a childs shoe the other day and when I stand up from tying the shoe to examine the playground I have three boys lined up at the fence about to take action. I immediately yelled and told them to come over to me. They said but we had to go to the bathroom. I reminded them they were not at home and they must go inside to use the bathroom. Talk about getting a good laugh and being thankful no other children were around except for the three outdoorsmen!

You know you are a teacher when....

...you go in a store looking for something specific and come out with everything but what you were looking for.

This week we are studying the Life Cycle of an Apple. I have read online of several good books to use with this unit so off to Barnes and Noble to find them I went. I couldn't find any of the apple books but came out with some great treasures!

1 Rhyming Word Puzzle
1 Ready, Set, Count! Puzzle
4 Foam Puzzles (colors, numbers, alphabet, and transportation)
1 The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat
1 There was an old lady who swallowed a bat!
1 The Tiny Seed
1 "100th Day Worries"
1 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

I can't wait to read them in my class so I am sitting here reading them tonight! I LOVE children's books. What are some of your favorites?

This weeks apple unit includes some yummy apple snacks but sadly no new apple books!

Labor Day Weekend

Wow, what a fun but quick "long" weekend! How come the weekends you have a day off seem to be just as quick as your regular weekend? My Labor Day weekend was slammed pack with wonderful times and precious memories.

Matt and I headed to visit his parents and brother after work on Friday. We spent Saturday and Sunday enjoying our time with Matt's family. We did many things and several things we did were firsts for me. We relaxed and enjoyed each others company. We also ate many delicious meals. On Friday night when we got there we watched "Say Yes to the Dress" which happens to be Matt's mom and my favorite show. It was fun watching all the dresses and hearing everyones opinions on them. We have two great men for watching that show with us! On Saturday morning we went to the Flea Market. What an adventure! There are some great treasures that you can find there. I enjoyed looking at all of the different gadgets, antiques, and treasures. The weather was beautiful and perfect for a Saturday walk around the Flea Market. We went shopping at the "underground Target" and other neat shops and looked at houses in the afternoon. At night we headed to the Durham Bulls game and enjoyed a great game, company and fireworks. Sunday morning we played NPR puzzles, went to church, and hung out before we hit the road. Thank you to Matt's family for such a fun weekend! I look forward to coming back soon!

On our way back home we stopped to celebrate my Grandma's 96th birthday! Ma is such a special lady to me and I am very thankful for her. She is an example of a good Christian lady, a wonderful teacher, friend, and leader. It was fun to celebrate her!

Some pictures from the weekend follow:

Matt, Olivia and I. Whenever my little cousins are around I always have to share Matt with them. They have fallen in love with him!
Cousins and Ma at her birthday party (We are missing quite a few cousins here)

Suzanne and I ready to cheer on the Hokies. She loves the hokies!

Matt and I at the baseball game.

The bull lights up and smokes when someone hits a homerun. One homerun was hit during the game.

Back in full swing

School is back in session and I have been kicked in high gear since the beginning of August. That is why I have been a ghost on my blog for a while. I hit the floor around 6:20 and go go go until I get to bed between 10 and 11. There is no resting for a Kindergarten teacher, I am always on the go and moving about.

I have a cute yet challenging class of 21 this year. They each are unique and fun and wide open little kids. I have many interesting stories everyday! After 11 days I am finally getting in the swing of things and not looking like I was ran over by a truck at the end of the day.

The best things about Kindergarten is they LOVE their teacher and let you know it. One day we were reading a book called The Kissing Hand and it taught them how to use sign language to say "I love you", while I was walking across the room one of the little boys held up his hand and showed me the sign. I call that strategy melt the teachers heart. The kids are also great for my ego, I am told multiple times a day that I am pretty.

One thing I always hope for in my classroom is that I can be a witness to the kids even though I am in a public school setting. I have had a few opportunities as the kids have opened up to me. During our weather time one day I asked them why does it rain, and several of the kids said "because God is watering the earth". I smiled and said I think so too! Then I heard a little one singing "Jesus Loves Me" and I told him that was one of my favorite songs. But my ALL TIME FAVORITE was after reading the book Brown Bear Brown Bear I had the students draw a picture of what they saw looking at them and one little boy excitedly came up to me saying "look at what I drew! It's Jesus watching over me!" We talked about how great it was that no matter where we go Jesus is always with us.

Here are a few pictures of my classroom:

Circle Area:

The tables:

Our Story Tree: After every book we read we put a new leaf on the tree. The kids think we will have 1,000 at the end of the year. We will have a lot but I do not think it will be that many.

My desk/Information Board:

Shelves:

Computer/Writing Table

One side of the room:

Calendar Board/Reading Area:

I had a picture of my homeliving center but it accidently got deleted. :(