Christmas Thoughts...

Every time that I start thinking about Christmas time, I start to worry. I worry that I'll have some babies that won't get exactly what they want for Christmas. I worry that I'll have some friends who get too much for Christmas and become ungrateful. I worry that I'll get so full of holiday cheer that I forget to feed my dog. I worry a lot and about everything. One big thing that I have learned that I am not worried about is spreading the cheer, whether it is through Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. I love every second of all of it. 

I wanted to share some of the things that I am doing during the month of December. 

Each day, I let my kids have some fun and practice all of their skills through centers. In these centers, there is a mix of literacy and math related games. This month, I purchased a December Math and Literacy Packet from the Printable Princess and I am LOVING it! There are so many great games that you can simply print and laminate. Each game offers a recording sheet and answer key, but I like the kids to work together and to answer the questions as a group. I have used some of the answer sheets, but have found that these games are great practice with or without them. 

Find this pack here!

In Reader's Workshop, we use a variety of easy readers and just right books to practice our reading strategies. Each week, we get one new book to practice and take home. I generally like to use paper books so that they can circle sight words, color in the pictures and sometimes even add their own sentences. This month, I've created an easy reader that the kids LOVED! We have been reading and retelling the polar express and they wanted so badly to be able to read the entire story. It got my mind turning and out popped this easy reader that includes many of our sight words! 

Find this book here!

In Math, we have been playing a game that my kids can not get enough of! Snowball toss is a great way for my kids to practice combinations of 10 as well as adding fluently. This is one of my whole group lessons as well as a center for the month. It is free in my store!! 

Find this game here!

I'm loving the learning going on in my classroom and I'd love to hear what is going on in yours! 

Traveling Principal!

I really quickly wanted to share this great thing that my principal is doing! She shared with me a story of how her office is a revolving door of teachers and students and she wanted a way to take her office with her. She is so great about coming to our classrooms to see what our kids are learning and how our teachers are teaching. I think that this cart is going to make this so much easier for her!

LOOK AT THIS CART!

Isn't this so nifty! She will have everything she needs right here! This is sort of like a rolling bag of assessment materials that I find myself taking home with me a few times a month. I use a scrapbooking bag to house all of my assessment portfolios on each child. My bag has everything I need to do assessments on the go! We are fortunate enough to have a computer lab for our students to use, so this bag travels with me each time that we go. I have learned to throw my data binder in here as well. Whenever I need data on a student, voila! 

This was a really quick post, but I wanted to share the traveling principal story and how I take all of my assessment materials with me. 

Sorting and Classifying

So this week is all about sorting and classifying! My little kinder kids began to learn this when we started learning about shapes. I found that they were easily able to differentiate the shapes, so now it time to do it with real life items! 

I found this great chart from First Grade Blue Skies Soaring Into Kindergarten! 

We will make this chart and discuss the ways to sort different items. From what I've seen, it is easier to start with the manipulatives that you have in your classroom and then work on random items. A friend of mine said that she collects a bin of all the things that the kids want to touch from her desk and she lets them sort by their use! It is a great way to keep them engaged because they want so badly to play with all of those items that are just sitting their taunting them. 

We are also going to use a product that I've created to sort shapes, size and type (letters vs. numbers). There are pages with the pieces to cut included as well. 
 

Click on this link to find it in my TPT store! 

We are going to use a song from The First Grade Parade


I am so excited to use these ideas and get to sorting! Check back next week to see pictures of our learning! 

Today is the day!

Well, today is the day to give it my all. I'm going to start blogging and I am going to start sharing ideas and resources that I have found to assist my teaching! I have made a few items of my own, but want to venture out even further and start sharing my thoughts and ideas with other people as well! 

I am going to start with a little bit about myself. I am 23 and I am on my 2nd year of teaching kindergarten. I know it is so crazy to be teaching this young!  I was able to get hired in my cooperating school right after I finished student teaching and I could not be happier! I am in love with the staff, the students and the family. I could not be more blessed to be where I am. I live with my parents, my younger sister and our dog named Bailey. Bailey is as much one of my kids as the kids at school. I graduated from Rhode Island College with my Bachelors of Science Degree in Early Childhood with a concentration in Special Education. I have a knack for technology and love exploring new platforms for creating resources, using resources and sharing ideas. In my school, I've somehow become known as the "tech guru" and I am always around to help everyone. 

Now, I'll tell you why I started this blog. I wanted a way to share my resources with the world and to promote my products as well as others. I am finding that I am learning all of these wonderful things about education and I just want to share it with the world. I have found so many great free resources by using pinterest, google search, teachers pay teachers, following other blogs and by searching teacher's notebook. I want to share those with every other person out there who is looking for resources! It isn't fair for me to get all of the good stuff, I want you to have them too! 

So, if you like what you hear, please follow me as I begin my journey into the world of educational resources!