Field Trips!

Don't you all just love field trips? Or, like me, do you love them and dread them all at the same time? Last year I ran a marathon right before our big field trip, and ended up missing the day of school because of an injury. I was sad that I missed it, but was also relieved to have someone else handle it for me :) (Did I just admit that? hahahaha)

We go on 2 field trips in kindergarten. The first one is in the fall to a pumpkin patch. It's not your ordinary pumpkin patch, though! The bus ride is about 45 minutes and they have a mini petting zoo, ferry boat ride on a small lake to the other side( with fun stuff that pops out of the water), pumpkins, a haymaze, a lesson on wheat AND a train that takes you back to the front! It's so fun! We take 2 buses, 1 for am/pm teacher, Mrs. Sneaker and the other for the full day teacher and my am class. Once we get there, we each begin at a different station and rotate. It is a blast!!

learning about wheat.

train ride. 

 the kids get to pick one pumpkin to keep, the only rule is that they have to be able to carry it.  We have been fortunate to have the Container Store donate bags for the pumpkins to go home in so we write their names on them beforehand and then the bags are super sturdy. 

Riding the ferry

The other field trip that we go on is fishing is the spring!! It is so much fun!! We go out to the same area as the pumpkin patch, which means a big bus ride again! As a team we think it is a fun and special experience for the kiddos to ride the bus all the way out there, even if there might be somewhere closer. We have chosen places that make their lessons educational and kid friendly. And seeing the kids excitement is well worth it!! To read more about our fishing trip, check out Our fishing trip, a blog entry written after our trip last spring. For now, here are a few pics!

having fun

this is what kindergarten fishing looks like! so cute!

Happy Fisherman!

What field trips do you go on? Link up with Kinders On The Block and share your experiences!!

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Blog Mixer

Umm? Mixer? Yes please! :)


Yearn to Learn is having a blog mixer! Check out some of my fave blogs and then link up with your own!
In your link up find the following:

1.  A blogger who is a "New Kid on the Blog"
(Let's say someone who has blogged 2 months or less and has less than 200 followers)
Down Under Teacher - This blogger is so adorable! She shares so many great ideas and I love all of her freebies!And of course, I read everything she posts in an australian accent ;)
2.  Post a blogger in your same grade level
Sneaker Teacher- 1 word...a-maz-ing! Mrs. Sneaker rocks my socks! and its not just because she is my awesome teaching partner! She has inspired me so much this past year! Not only does she have exciting and fun ideas that she posts about on her blog, she has the best writing style of anyone I know! I'm sure most of you follow her already, cuz that's how I found you! But, if you don't...YOU NEED TO! :)
3.  Post a blogger in a different grade level






 Jena is awesome! she is a great blog designer (shoutout for Bee's Kindergarden's new look!) and she is an awesome teacher is so many fun ideas that she shares with us all!
4.  It's all about the button. Find a cute blog button and post it.



 Gladys rocks! and I mean, really, who doesn't love heels?? I admire her so much!

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Welcome cards

I am planning on sending out these awesome welcome cards (I got the idea on the pro teacher forum listed in my vistaprint below!) For kinders, I'm not sure how far in advance I will know who's in my class, but I'm hoping to get these out! We'll see!

(I got the postcard from Keen on Kindergarten, check her out! She's got great ideas!)

Do you send home a welcome note? Link up with First Grade Frame of Mind and share your ideas, too!

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Classroom Jobs

I am loving all of the classroom job ideas that Mrs Dillard's 1st grade shared! You've got to check out this linky party, fun!

For the past 3 years I have used a chart that I got at the dollar store with a fish theme. it had 8 fish bowls and fish for each child to have their own. So cute! The only problem is, I ran out of fish (they started to get beat up, even when laminated) so, I threw the chart out and luckily this coincided with my new classroom theme.

I've been on the hunt for the perfect bee themed classroom job chart, but just hadn't found the perfect one. THEN, this linky party came along. WOOHOO!!Down Under Teacher Shared her BEE themed board, and it is EXACTLY what I have been picturing in my mind, and the best part is....it is FREE!! How cool is this??? I'll have the same jobs as previous years (might add some cute ones I've seen, but its hard to manage so many jobs in 1/2 day kinder...so i'm not sure)

Here are my jobs...

Table boss (5) One from each table. they pass out papers and get supplies for their table. The kids love this job :)

Attendance- makes sure all of the kids put their picture up when they get to school, takes down pictures at the end of the day

Lab Boss- helps make sure the learning labs are cleaned up and put away properly (need to teach this job better next year :) )

Books/recycling (2) takes notes, recycling, etc to the office when needed (I want to change the name of this...but not sure what yet)

I might add line leader (we don't walk the halls that often, so I haven't had this in the past)
door holder (need this one!)

What do you do? Be sure to share your ideas with


And don't forget to join my parent involvement linky party!!! :)

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Top 10

Join in on the fun! Go Fourth! With Mrs. Owens

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Classroom Management

Classroom management in kindergarten is all about Transitions!

Join Miss Kindergarten's Classroom management Linky party to share your ideas on classroom management!

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Parent Involvement Linky Party

*The discussion is starting to get really good, and we'd love you have you join in! What do you do at your school or in your classroom to help encourage parent involvement?? What amazing things have you seen happening?? Link up and share your ideas. I've already got some new ideas to try next school year!

Here's what I've been doing:
*Classroom blog and email updates
*Friday Folders
*Meet and Greet
*Sign-ups for volunteers
*Volunteer Calendar

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Back to School Supplies

I was lucky enough to come into a well oiled machine when it came to supply organization! These ladies were PROS! 3 years later, I still love the way we do our kinder meet and greet. The week before school starts we have a evening where families come, check in, meet their teacher, and drop off their supplies. Once they check in with me, they kiddos go into the classroom/hallway where there are spots labeled for each supply item. once they have sorted them, they can check out the room and get their picture taken. This is also when I have parents sign up volunteer info (days available, contact info, etc).

Once the rush has died down and everyone has dropped off their supplies, there is an ice cream social in the cafeteria. We head in about half way through, and the kids go on a short bus ride with chaperones while we introduce ourselves/go over general information about kindergarten.

During this time, a few volunteers (not current parents) put away all of the supplies for us. So when we are done, everything has been put in its closet/place and we are good to go!! How awesome is this??

Now a little disclaimer: We will be changing this a little bit this year. in the past, we have not participated in back to school night because we do the meet and greet. this year we are planning on doing the meet and greet without the presentation. We will then give a more in depth presentation to our class only the first week of school at back to school night.

We used to have a bbq (before I came) it was called the Kinder Q. How cute is that??? aww...budget cuts...


How do you organize your classroom supplies?? Check out Mrs. Kincaid's Linky Party and share your ideas!

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Transitions

Transitions are a tricky thing to master! My first year of teaching, my principal had me really focus on transitions, and I must say as hard as this was at the time, it's been a great help to my teaching! With smooth transitions and clear expectations, I am much more able to utilize the short 2 hour and 20 minutes I have each day with my kinders.

Here are some of the transitions I use

1. Morning routine

• Music- when the song comes on, it is time to clean up. When the song ends, if everyone is seated on the carpet, we get a "gumball" (incentive chart reward towards earning a party). I use Sing and Spell volume 1 and 2 from heidisongs. This is an AWESOME tool for practicing sight words as well. my kids LOVE them!

2. Carpet transitions

• Magic word- when I say the word of the day, it is time to walk quietly to our desks.

3. Lining up

• I either excuse the kiddo''s by table group, color they are wearing, or age. Sometimes I also throw in a letter in their name (all kiddo's whose name starts with A)
• We sing the song before we walk in the hall

 My hands are glued behind my back, 

I'm standing straight and tall

my eyes are looking straight ahead

I'm ready for the hall. 

• My teammate, Mrs. Sneaker found an AWESOME cd by Mark D. Pencil (lol) that she used for lining up. The kids LOVED it!

4. Clean up from play time

• when I chime the bell  (i give a few reminders before I chime the bell), if everything is cleaned up, I will pick a magic piece of garbage. the kiddo who finds it will get a small prize (usually a candy heart) Great way to clean at the end of the day!!

I also use these various tools

• clapping a rhythm.
• Give me 5 (eyes, hands, bodies, mouths quiet, ears listening) If they are really good at this, we get a gumball.

Sounds like a lot, but the transitions really work well when taught and practiced! The hardest part is in the beginning, making sure to keep them accountable to doing exactly what you expect before you move on. 

What do you do? Join in on Little Miss Kindergarten's transitions linky party and share your ideas!

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scholastic books

Have you ever heard of the scholastic warehouse sale? I went and it was PHENOMENAL!! everything was at least 50% off and I got some killer deals! I went to round out my leveled library, and found more than enough to fill it up! Scholastic has always been my favorite place to find inexpensive classroom books, but this sale takes the cake!!

Best part? With the sale prices and the 25$ fast pass coupon, I only spent $165!! Sounds like a lot, but here's a glimpse into SOME of the books I got! :)

Now i'm busy labeling and covering them all, not as fun of a job! :)

Where do you like to shop? Check out Ladybug's linky party and share your best finds!

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State Shout-Out

I've joined a state shout-out at Primary Connections. c'mon over and represent your state!

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Favorite TV shows!

Okay, so in my favorites list I have reality tv...I LOVE reality tv! So, in honor of that, I will list my top 5 for Primary Connections linky party!

1. The Hills...oh how I miss you :)
2. So You Think You Can Dance...I cry and text with my dad during the entire show!
3. Biggest Loser...another tear jerker and dad texter! :)
4. Jersey Shore (enough said.)
5. Real Housewives

What's on your faves???

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Summer To Do List Linky Party

As if I really needed to start thinking about this list (It runs my mind already!) 6 more days!
I'm joining Littlest Learners linky party. Hop on!

Before the school year ends:
1. start/finish gift buckets
2. bind alphabet books
3. Classroom field trip FISHING!!

Classroom To-Do
1. Organize library- thanks to Ladybug's teacher files I will be creating my leveled library this summer! I have already started leveling my bookshelves, and have found that a lot of my books do not have a Scholastic level...hmm...not sure, might end up having 2 library systems? I want to have the leveled library for the class to be more involved in quiet reading time vs. random book look. We'll see how it works! This weekend I'm off to the Scholastic Wearhouse sale with the fabulous Mrs. Sneaker and hoping we can snag some good deals on beginning leveled readers!

2. Create a more structured learning labs. The past 3 years there has been little structure to learning labs (aka play) besides having only 2 kids per play area (sign up board regulated) But, with only 2 hours and 20 minutes a day, I'm leaning towards having more standards driven games instead of free time (maybe the free time will be once a week instead) This will include sight word games, themed labs in math, listening stations, etc. Thanks to Teachers Pay Teachers and Extra Special Teaching I've already got a bunch of ideas started!

3. Invest in a new rug. I want one like this:

anyone know of a good place to find this at a good price? My teammate is going to get one, too! We've had the oval shaped alphabet one for year, which is great, but there tends to be a lot of chaos around sitting in your own space. I've been doing tape spots for awhile now, and it's finally time to give in! :)

4. Die-cut over 30,000 (I think that's the number we came up with last year) alphabet letters. We do ALL of our word wall letters over the summer so that all we have to do is pull them when we need them throughout the year. It's a BIG task during the summer, but well worth the work! Check out our word wall words here. Last summer I did this while planning a wedding...maybe not the best project to take on, haha. This summer should I much better!

I'm sure there's more, but I'm content with just these HUGE projects for now! haha. 

Fun To-Do List :)

1. READ! I've got the new sookie book and another book I've had on the back burner between school, bible study and book club. I'm so excited to read for fun!

2. Take care of the garden/hopefully have some grass growing soon! :) I am a newly converted OCD gardener and loving it!

3. Go camping! I <3 camping

4. Lay by the pool/lake/ocean/just plain outside as much as possible

Ahh..This sounds good!

What's your summer looking like?

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Word Wall

I've joined Ms. M's word wall linky party. Here is our word wall in kindergarten! Each week we make the new word as a class. The copy that goes up on the board is a laminated copy I made previously. Each summer I dye cut thousands of letters (no joke!) to prepare for the school year. I make all of the letters for 105 students. It's a big job, but it is so nice to have them ready!!

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