Classroom Reveal.....Almost finished....

Hello Friends,

I met my "littles" on Friday. Even after all my years of teaching, I continue to get excited for a new year. All those eager little faces and apprehensive parents...... There is just something about the beginning of the year that is delightful and exciting.....

I thought I would share a few photos of my classroom. I am not completely finished; but really, really close!



I love this reading nook. I have had this beach umbrella in my classroom for many years. This summer, I ALMOST replaced it with a newer one, but the colors of this one fit so perfectly with this room, that I thought I would give it another chance and I am glad that I did! The letters for READ are simply KG Second Chance font in Power Point that I blew up REALLY big and then copied onto colored card stock. 

This is the first year that I did NOT do a complete overhaul on my classroom library. I am happy with how it worked last year, so there are no changes there. I think I purchased the black plastic shelves from Lowes.


Here is another little reading nook. This is where I will have my CD players set up for my kiddos to listen to a story.  You cannot see them from this photo, but I also purchased 6 scoop rockers that my kids can use when sitting in this nook or actually anywhere in the classroom where they are comfortable and not in the space of another child...... You also can see my "pile" of filing on the bottom right that I must get to before the first day of school.... sigh.... filing is ALWAYS last on my TO Do list..... :)



I moved my reading table/small group area to the front of the classroom.  I don't have it completely organized yet, but my splurge this year is my new teacher cart! I can't wait to have everything I need to teach a lesson right at my fingertips...  and by the way... that is not an outside door that I am blocking with the cart! :)


You can "kind of" see a table with striped place mats on the bottom right of the photo. This is my iPad table. I am hoping to give my kids their own space when using their device. We'll see......


 Here is my religion bulletin board and you can see the iPad table a little better in this photo...

  Here is another bulletin board... nothing really new, but it sure brightens up the corner of the classroom!

I love owls, so here is my little classroom collection of owls.


So... that's it for now, my friends... I need to scoot and spend some time with my family today....

Here's to a wonderful and rewarding year to everyone!

Until next time!

Blessings,

Back to School Decorating and Wish Lists with Oriental Trading

Hello Friends,

Oriental Trading contacted me and asked if I would be willing to do a review on some of their products.  They have a great link for teacher supplies, so I agreed. Here are my reviews...

The first item is this CUTE Chalkboard Safari Animal bulletin board set. I am using black/teal and chalkboard items for my decor and this set was PERFECT for adding some fun to my reading corner. It is not completely finished. I still want to add a little table on which to place a CD player for my kiddos to use for LISTEN TO A STORY. But.... I am loving this little corner and those cute animals, letters, and trim!
http://www.orientaltrading.com/chalkboard-safari-animal-bulletin-board-set-a2-13742572.fltr?prodCatId=2576

This bulletin board set is BIG! I used the extra animals to add some cuteness to my storage shelves.

And...... enough to add some decorations to my birthday door.... not finished, of course. After the circles are all up and once I meet my kiddos, I plan to take photos of them and attach to the circles.

I am also loving these poster sized chalkboard animals with their simple sayings - Be Yourself, Be Creative, Have Courage, Stand Tall, Dream Big, Be Yourself. They are large enough to put above my word wall (My word wall is not finished yet!) and my kiddos will be able to see them. Oriental Trading suggests that you laminate them for durability. I did not laminate them because the glare of lamination sometimes bothers me. Even without lamination, they still have a shiny surface.... :)

http://www.orientaltrading.com/chalkboard-safari-animal-posters-a2-13742586.fltr?prodCatId=2576

I like for my kids to wear name tags at the beginning of the year; especially to their "specials" classes. I also like to have name tags available for any subs I might have. In the past, I have attached name tags to lanyards, but the lanyards have always been too long for my kiddos and ended up being a "spin" toy, so I often stopped using them early in the year. This year, I found these chalkboard safari animal lanyards. I think they will be large enough to fit over the heads of my kinders, but also snug enough that they won't be able to spin them around their neck! (fingers crossed) I added these chalkboard safari labels to the end. I don't remove the backing from the label. Instead I punch a hole in the top and insert the hook. I created name labels by using an Avery template #18660. They are clear labels, so the animal faces show through. Laminating the labels will give them extra durability.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/chalkboard-safari-animal-name-tags-labels-a2-13742582.fltr?prodCatId=2576
I am looking forward to trying these dry erase markers with ERASERS in my small groups. I like the fact that they have erasers attached. No more looking for erasers or using fingers to erase. Since I haven't used them with students yet, I am unsure as to how long they will last, but using them in small groups should lengthen their life.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/black-dry-erase-markers-with-eraser-caps-a2-56_67.fltr?prodCatId=550067

I am working on putting together my birthday bags that I give each of my students for their birthday. I still have a few more things to add, but these birthday pencils and Pete the Cat birthday cards will definitely be a part of them. I also found these birthday crowns . I have always given my kiddos a crown to wear for the day, but trying to measure their head and then stapling the ends together has always been a headache... Without fail, I would have to remove the staples and try again causing numerous staple holes in the crown. BUT these crowns have a velcro closure! My kiddos can decorate their crown and when they are finished, I can easily fit it on their head. Yay!

http://www.orientaltrading.com/bright-crowns-a2-13721330.fltr


http://www.orientaltrading.com/pete-the-cat-groovy-birthday-bookmark-awards-a2-13748651.fltr?prodCatId=551424

One thing that I am going to try this year is a wish list from Oriental Trading. They asked me if I would like to try it and I said that I would. I was a bit nervous about how it would all work, but it actually is really easy. To create your wish list, you log in (or create an account if you do not have one). Then when you click on a product, you will see two choices - add to cart OR add to wish list. When you click Wish List your item is saved and becomes an online registry. Once your wish list is complete (or even before you are finished), you can click SHARE. A small box will appear. Click and choose "URL" and you'll get a link that you can share with parents or anyone that you would like to see your list. Easy peasey!

https://secure.orientaltrading.com/web/login/displayLogin


Here is my Wish List link. Feel free to visit and get some ideas.... :)

So that's it for now, my friends.

Until next time....

Blessings,

Just so you know.....I was provided the Back to School products featured in this post from Oriental Trading for review purposes. Please know that all opinions offered in this post are honest and completely mine.

Back in my Classroom and an All about Me poster - freebie

Hello Friends,

I have 3 weeks before I meet my new group of kinders. Yesterday, I spent the morning in my classroom. Basically I just stood in the middle of the room and looked at "stuff" that I THOUGHT  I had purged when I left in May. ...but .....it sure didn't look like I had! Whew..... How will all that stuff in boxes and crates fit in my classroom? Ugh......


The GOOD thing, though, is that I really do enjoy organizing and setting up my classroom. I like to make little changes each year; keeping the things that work and revising the things that don't. I also like to look over curriculum from years past and do the same thing; keep things that worked and delete things that don't. It's the life of a teacher...... We can't wait to get it all put away in May/June and then get excited to put it up in August/September!

If you are like me, you are looking at some All About Me activities for the beginning of school. I just revised my packet. I took out quite a few pages that I felt were unnecessary. Because of this revision, I also lowered the price - A LOT!  If you previously purchased my All About Me pack, you should re-download it. I think you will like the changes. At the beginning of the year, I need resources that are simple and quick for my new kinders. I think I streamlined this enough that it can be used early in the year.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-Lets-Make-a-Book-137599


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-Lets-Make-a-Book-137599

I also have a FREE All About Me poster that you can access as a Google doc. Please download it at home and not on your school server. MANY school servers will not allow you to download from outside the network. If you get a message to ask for permission from me to share this resource, try it from another server because the link is set for PUBLIC. :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1ubUzeAYMczcHoyMmxCbWRxVjA/view?usp=sharing

My classroom theme this year is going to be chalkboard. So, I am creating (and purchasing) everything chalkboard. I just finished my Alphabet cards. I added realistic photos to them instead of clip art. I LOVE cute clip art, but thought I would go for realism this year. There are large photo cards that I plan to hang up in my classroom, but also small ones that I plan to use in small groups. I also made a mini student black line book that correlates to the poster cards.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Realistic-Alphabet-and-More-Photo-Cards-2695748

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Realistic-Alphabet-and-More-Photo-Cards-2695748

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Realistic-Alphabet-and-More-Photo-Cards-2695748
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Realistic-Alphabet-and-More-Photo-Cards-2695748

This resource took me ALL summer to complete. The librarians got to know me by name at the end of the summer! LOL! Tons of research has gone into its creation BUT that doesn't mean that I won't be revising it. I try really hard to stay true to current changes, so if anything doesn't seem quite right to you, PLEASE contact me and I will check it out!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/ABC-SCIENCE-A-Science-Activity-for-Each-Letter-of-the-Alphabet-A-Z-BUNDLE-2688203

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/ABC-Science-A-Science-Activity-for-Each-Letter-of-the-Alphabet-Part-1-A-M-2612013

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/ABC-Science-A-Science-Activity-for-Each-Letter-of-the-Alphabet-N-Z-Part-2-2688080

You can try out a sample of ABC science HERE


So, that's it for now, my friends! Make sure that you enjoy these last weeks of summer - the first day of school will be here before you know it!

Until next time!

Blessings,