Plymouth Has Come To TK

Well, it took me and my son about 2 1/2 hrs to put together, but we finally created our Native American "Village" and Mayflower ship.  We came to school to put all the items together so the little ones would come into class and be excited and when we came into the school we received a stinky surprise.  Some of our Pumpkin Literacy project decided to implode and cause a great deal of smell and mess.  It took us an hour to clean it all up, and THEN on the way out the wonderful, sturdy garbage bags that the school provides, broke and nasty, smelly pumpkin guts fell out all over the place.  Oh... what we do for our little ones!!!!

 

Sorry about the rant!!  Never the less... We created and finished our little history exhibits and they were ready for my guys and girls!!!  They loved it!!



My son really wanted the kids to have a "stove top" to put the pot on over the flames, but we couldn't figure out what to use, so he rigged this string.  It lasted about an hour with the kids... but it was cute ;)

 





I made the flames, logs and rocks during our 3 day weekend over the Veterans Day holiday.  The tutorial I used can be found here... but I have to say I really just free handed it and sewed them together as best as I could.  I figure the kids don't mind the tattered ends, and I was right.  They just loved it and have been using it for so many different things.

This is our TK Mayflower.  I couldn't find a photo of the sail without kids in it, and due to privacy issues at our school I am unable to have kids in the photo, even if I block out their faces... sooooo, this is our sad little sail-less Mayflower.  We added some telescopes, oars and the kids have been using our blocks to make planks, bridges and seats everyday. I am so happy with their use of the areas.

 

Next week I will add more props to each center.  We will introduce some clothing, utensils they used and some animal "pelts" to create Native American clothing.  These have been such popular centers this past week, I am seeing a lack of focus when I pull kids for individual work time.  I am thinking I may have to create a work area for individual work time away from the hustle and bustle of the free centers.

 

I am excited to be able to start adding things to my blog.  It has been a long time since I was blogging everyday on my Kozy Kids blog but I am starting to remember to get on her more often!!

 

 

Leaves and Fall

Fall has finally made it to our neck of the woods here in NC and what a beautiful sight it is.  The weather has a nice chill to the air, the breeze brings with it a wonderful fresh air smell, and we are loving spending amazing mornings outside in the Outdoor Classroom. 

 

Last year my team teacher and I decided to utilize an area in our nearby nature area, that is owned by our school, but shared with the community.  We took the students out there and let them play, just PLAY.  We found the results to be dramatic.  The time outside in the natural environment brought a calm to our rowdiest students, it brought a confidence to our shyest students, and it brought out abilities that our students didn't even know they had.  It was wondrous to see.   

 

This year we brought our newest charges out there and although they love it we have had different challenges than last year.  Some of our boys are a little aggressive with the sticks and the "play" has become more of the fighting type than the exploring type.  The last few weeks has been a lot of work for us teachers, but as we continue to creep along the learning path the students are beginning to get it.  They are beginning to see the leaves as roofs for fairy houses, they see the logs as balance beams and the sticks as something to help them balance and not a weapon, and they are beginning to see the beauty in the squirrels, insects and sound of the rustle of leaves in the breeze.  Amazing!!!

 

We decide to take the book Leaf Man by Lois Elhert to the Outdoor Classroom and read it in the round (which is a place we created to sit and talk).  We pulled out the blankets and found spots on the logs and enjoyed a great rendition of the book. 

 

Then it was time to create our own Leaf Man with things we found in the Outdoor Classroom.  What fun we had!!!

 

 

Our Outdoor Classroom is a special part of our program.  Hearing the words, "Get your boots on!" is like music to the 4 year olds ears.  They get so excited and can't wait to get out there.  It is a great way to connect our classroom learning to real life experiences and I am so happy to be working in a school that has one. 

 

We also completed our first Family Project.  We love including our families in our classroom work and this was a fun way to start that home-school connection.  We did a Pumpkin Literature Project.  The students choose a pumpkin, then choose a book, then choose a character from the book and made their pumpkin into that character.  We had some great characters!! The kids loved to talk about their project as they created them at home and I loved getting the play by play from them as the week went by, then to finally see them all come in was exciting for them as well as me!!!

Don't you love them!!! 

 I don't know if the minion is my favorite or the Llama.

 

It is wonderful to love your job as much as me!!!

Classroom Photos... Finally!!!

It has been very hard keeping this blog up and running and I apologize for not writing each day.  I, of course, forgot my good camera at home on the day of our Halloween party, but we had our kids documentation camera so I took some photos with that.  A little blurry, but that's okay :)

 

My room is quite big actually.  But it seems like I have no wall space to use.  I have a beautiful USA map and I have no where to hang it up so the kids can see it/use it.  So, it sits under my science sensory table waiting....

 

 

 

 This is a view from my doorway to the room... I acquired both my supply cabinet and my team teachers cabinet since my room is bigger.  So that little bump out is occupied with cabinets, water cooler and refrigerator.

 

 Again, another view from the doorway... you can see my tables in the middle, my circle area and Smart Board, my writing and science area beyond the meeting area, and my block area. I made the pumpkin bean toss game for our Halloween Party, the kids loved it.

 

 A wider view... my housekeeping is off to the left where the play stand is and next to the housekeeping is the free art center and across from the art center is the sensory/easel area.

 

 This view is from my writing center... that is my bathroom door to the right, my desk area and the cubby area at the door.

 

Close up of my desk area.  It's a mess and I am having a hard time organizing it.  I try, but I am a piler upper... Then I try to put things where they belong each day after school and I say to myself... "Ahhh... that's where that was."  In front of my desk is my computer desk where we usually have 2 tablets for the kids to use, but I was charging and downloading some ebooks on to them at that moment.

 

So, that is my classroom, just a few weeks late... Okay, a few months late ;)  It has been a great year so far and I wish I had posted about our tasting party, outdoor classroom, literary pumpkin project, and all the wonderful things we have been doing.  But, now that I am back on this computer for something other than report cards... I will get back on the blogging wagon!!  So, hopefully I didn't lose all my 7 followers ;) and someone will read what we have to say :)

 



Feeling A Little Overwhelmed

 Okay, I haven't forgotten that I was supposed to post some new photos of my classroom, but......

I am STILL in the process of working on it.  Wow, getting a whole new room up and going from that totally bare canvas... well let me tell you, it is overwhelming!!!  I am not only exhausted, but my mind is fried from all the decisions about bulletin boards (which are not even up yet), where the Smart Board will go, carpets, do I have to much furniture? not enough furniture? is the Monster Theme going to be to scary for 4/5 yr olds? What about specials, here come the special teachers asking when I want to have Art, Music, Science... but of course they only have 20 minutes 1 day a week ;)  so it isn't really what time I want to have specials, they are just trying to be nice I guess.  All of this and I haven't even got the cubby tags up yet and all my little TKers will be here on Friday for student orientation!!!

Oh My!!!  I still have lots to do!!  Although, when I look back at the photos on this here blog... I realize all I have accomplished and know I will get it done, and it won't look half bad either ;)

I'll take photos before I leave tomorrow and post!!!  Since it had better be done before I leave tomorrow or I'm in trouble!!

I hope everyone else is doing a better job at organizing and getting those rooms ready!!  I can't wait to see pics of what your doing in your rooms!!

A Peek Inside the Classroom...

I came into school this week to work on my classroom.  You see, I had shared a room last year with another teacher and since our enrollment went up, I was given my own classroom this year, Woo Hoo!!  Which is GREAT, but it comes with a lot of stuff to do!!!

 

I have an empty canvas!! 

 

 This is the view from the door as you walk in. It is a large room, but I'm bummed because my windows don't open.  I love fresh air and wind blowing through the windows... but, oh well.

All my furniture needed to be ordered, as well as curriculum supplies.  I had boxes of furniture in my room, but no curriculum stuff yet.  Hoping it will come before school starts.

 

 Here is the wall next to the door.  That is where my desk will be and that door leads to the bathroom.  It has the cutest little toilet!!

 

 I have this weird bump out on the next wall... It will hold my cabinets, water cooler, and fridge.  I inherited an awful fridge from our concession stand that is huge.  But, I need it to store lunch boxes so I will take what I can get :)

 

 That is one of my wonderful sons, who gave up his whole day to help me unpack boxes and get situated.  He was a real Godsend!!  Over on the wall is all our nap mats... they are brand new and smell like rubber, so we need to air them out.  I'm glad I remembered from last year.  Those large boxes are my new shelves and my desk. 

 

 Just another shot of the back wall...

 

 This wall will house my Smart Board and white boards.  I was thinking that it will take up a lot of wall space and I am worried I won't have any space for bulletin boards, kids art work, or some of my curriculum materials.  Oh the dilemma's!!

 

  

 Now we are back where we started... 

 

 

 I am losing sleep over trying to imagine in my head the best scenarios for where all my centers should be.  How do I utilize all the empty space and yet keep the flow of the room going.  You will have to stay tuned to see how the room progresses :) I will be going in on Monday, hopefully I will have some more of my ordered materials come in, and I can get things going .

 

 

 

 

I Teach K!!

 

Ok, I know that it has taken me a long time to get this blog post up, but man I have been busy!!  After the I Teach K! conference I was home for about 18hrs, when I packed up my boys and traveled to Long Island, NY to visit Grandpa!!  Then when I got back, I pretty much turned around and started getting my empty classroom in shape (photos to come)

I loved the I Teach K! conference!!  It was awesome.  Better than any other educational conference I have been to!!!  I met so many new friends, shared so many new ideas, and came home with to many ideas to even use.   My brain was, and is, swirling with ideas I want to implement in my classroom this year.  Yet, I know I cannot.  I need to pick 1 or 2 ideas that I can actually do, and will meet the needs of my kids this year. 

 

Before leaving for the conference, Tracy and I linked up with some fellow bloggers on Facebook who were going to the conference alone.  We made plans to meet up for dinner the first night and hopefully we would all hit it off and we would have people to "hang" with during the conference.  Well... it was great!!  I made friends for a lifetime!!  We all had so much in common and everyone was so easy going, it was easy to get a long.  I don't think we had breakfast, lunch, or dinner alone the whole time we were there.  We also were lucky to have at least one person to sit with in our workshops.  It was great.  They all have blogs, so pop on over and check them out!!

 

In the picture above...

Tracy - Tales of a Kindergarten Classroom, Me, Susan - Teaching Doodles, Cara, Holly - Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections, Amy - Teaching in Blue Jeans, and Elizabeth - Kickin It in Kindergarten

 

A highlight of the trip was meeting Debbie Clement.  Those of you who do not know this quirky, fun, and wonderfully talented person you need to pop on over to her blog, Rainbows Within Reach, and read up!!!  She is amazing and is one busy person!!!

Tracy, Susan and LC were lots of fun at the Blogger Meet Up!!  We had drink, snacks, and lots of give aways!!  What teacher doesn't like a give away!!!  Lcie is from Germany and her blog, The Beezy Teacher is great!!  



One of my favorite workshops was by this guy, Matt B Gomez!!  A kindergarten teacher in Texas, who is so tech savvy, I am jealous!!  I wish I could get some of his ideas off the ground. I went to his Virtual Field Trip workshop and WOW!!  I was blown away with what can be done in just a few minutes a day with the kids.  It opens up their world to so many things and that Smart Board won't collect to much dust!! 

 

There was so much going on that week... workshops, speakers (Ron Clark was wonderful by the way, but needs his own post!!), friends, and the exhibit hall (which I spent way to much time in!!)  We also got to do some sight seeing.  I loved it all, but while on Freemont Street we found this guy below...

 

He was really cool... I had to take a picture. Well, I don't know if you have ever been to Vegas, but he has this little sign, with a container, that says, I dance for tips!! or something like that.  Well, I didn't want to see him dance, I just wanted a photo.  So... I snapped away and as I started to walk away, he pointed at me and said, "You don't want me to come down there do you??" and then proceeded to point to his tip jar.  Come ON!!!  Really.  So I grabbed a couple quarters and walked away.  Interesting.  The Vegas Strip was mobbed with these type of people.  Girls in Show Girl attire taking photos and getting "tips", heck I even say an old Bert and Ernie, complete with Rubber Duckie... but11' man their costumes were mangy.  So, be aware if you go!!!  If you want a photo... be prepared to "tip!!"

 

Ok, this post is way to long now!! I really need to say goodbye!!!

A Fall Family Project

 I know that it is not Halloween, or even Fall right now, but I wanted to show off the amazing little pumpkin family project we did last year with our TK class.  I got the idea from my son's 2nd grade teacher, but he had to read the book, write a book report, and then make his "Character Pumpkin."  It was such a fun family project for us, I thought the TK families would enjoy the project too. 

We asked each family to choose a book, read it, and pick a character from it to make their pumpkin into.  We had such a great response.  We had children who wanted to complete the whole pumpkin on their own, and others that made it a family project.  They came out great!!

 

I think my favorite one was the mummy mini pumpkin!!  It was so simple, but the cutest little guy I had ever seen. 



I think this little batty guy was fun too!!

 

I'm trying to remember what book this little lady came from, but I can't remember.  Maybe a Pinkalicious book??

 

 

This is a view of all our great pumpkins!! 

 

 

I love themed projects and Halloween/Fall is a great time to do them with our families.  We also do our Star of the Week themed family project for each student.  Each student gets a large piece of poster board and they can decorate it anyway they'd like.  We have had some students just use crayons and stickers, and others who went all out with photos, writing, and magazine cut-outs of their favorite things.  It is a lot of fun looking at them and giving the students a chance to explain them to their classmates.  I can't wait until next school year and more family project!!