Welcome Gift and Getting Closer to Getting Ready!!

Well, I spent the day in my room again today and I am getting CLOSE to being ready!  I will be taking pictures and posting them soon.  I wanted to show you a welcome gift that I will be giving the children on our first day of school.  I got this idea and printable tags from Mrs. Miner's Kindergarten Monkey Business


 

The link above will take you to her post and tags!  So, today my kids and I went to Old Navy and had a blast buying several of their super cool bouncy balls!

They had fun placing the quarters in the machine over and over!  They were $25 a piece. 

So, using Mrs. Miner's awesome tags, I will be giving these to my students on the first day!

Open House will be on Thursday for me!  I have an idea that I will soon be sharing that I will be using that day!  Stay tuned...

End of Summer and a New Bloggie Friend!

So, my family and I just spent a mini camping vacation at a Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park and Resort!  We were able to camp with two other families that we are close with.  Great fun was had by all kids and parents! 
                                             
While there, one of my close camping buddies, who is a third grade teacher, had a co-worker that was also camping there!  Julie is the author of a WONDERFUL blog, Thoughts of a Third Grade Teacher!

We had lots of great bloggy chats and she was able to teach me some great things about Blogworld! 
Please check out her awesome blog!
Well, tomorrow I head back to the classroom!  My to-do list is long and hope to accomplish a lot!  I will be posting pictures soon!  I am looking forward to sharing more detailed information on many aspects of my classroom management and activities!

Palm Tree Creation

Well, I know I have been MIA lately!  I did go to my classroom on Friday and spent the day setting up more of my classroom and testing a few more students for Kindergarten!  Too cute!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of my classroom progress!  However, I do have a picture of my palm tree that I took to school that day and placed at my carpet area.  I added a monkey to a branch for a final touch!

Please excuse the stuff in the background!  This tree was inspired by Mrs. Jump's palm tree and her instructions.  I used bulletin board paper for the trunk and leaves.  As Mrs. Jump used, I have a stripped umbrella in place as the frame for the tree leaves.
I am so excited to now be a part of Me and My Kindergarten Gang!  This is a wonderful site for Kindergarten Teachers to post and share!  I am looking forward to being a part of it!


I will be spending the next week with my family and may not be posting as often.  I will be back to posting soon! Next week I will be at school daily so that I can complete all of my preparations!  I will remember to take photos this time!

Pete the Cat Has Arrived!!

Today, my Pete the Cat books arrived and the doll!  They are so cute!  I read the books to my own two kids and they LOVED them!  The doll is just perfect.  I think I will read the first one at Open House/Orientation and then the other on the first day of school.  I am very excited to use all of the resources that I have acquired from wonderful bloggers out there!
Fran at Kindergarten Crayons has many freebies in her blog to go with these books as well as some TpT items!  Be sure to check them out!  They are awesome!  Also, Deanna Jump has great Pete the Cat tpt items! 
Also, Camille over at An Open Door has created a school hunt using Pete instead of the Gingerbread Man!  Awesome!

DIY Linky Parties!

Plumdoodles is having a Pinterest Linky Party! Also, Running With Glitter is having a Linky Party on our creations!  I recently pinned a filing cabinet picture onto my Pinterest page from Mrs. Lee's Kinder Kids!  She used Modge Podge.  I knew just what could use this special touch!


I decided to do this with my plastic drawer unit that will stay by our Morning Meeting/carpet area to hold all of our needed materials.  It was just white.  I really like how it came out!

                                                    

What have you pinned and created lately?

Classroom Setup Day #1!

Well, today my two kiddos and I ventured to my classroom.  I was excited to see how nice everything looked when I walked in!  Our custodion does an AWESOME job of making our school look SPECTACULAR!  The floors are shining and our furniture is placed right where we asked them to be when we drew our maps back in June.  Just a few minor changes that I decided upon today and furniture was all set!  Here are the pictures I took with my phone today when we first got there.

This photo is from the corner where our bathroom is. 

Above is from my door.  The bathrrom is just next to the trash can.  You will see later that I was able to take care of the top of the filing cabinets today...it has been bugging me!

This is also taken from my door.  The opposite corner is my carpet area.  See how the floors shine!!

We spent 4 1/2 hours there today!  Below, it may not look like a lot was accomplished, but I was able to take care of some problem areas that have been bugging me and made a few new storage decisions. 

Here are some photos at the end of our day!

My cupboard with the drawerson top are where I keep their Book Boxes.  Each child has a drawer.  This will be my 4th year with them and I have been very pleased with how they have held up.  The red and blue tubs are where we keep their Writer's Notebooks.  The long blue shoe organizer is where I keep each child's "bucket" for our Bucket Fillers program...more info. on that later.

You can see my door at the other corner.  Do you see the small white shelf unit under the blue bulletin board?  I usually put a plastic blue tablecloth skirt there to hid my stuff.  Would you stick with blue this year or go to green?  If so, what shade...I don't know if you can see it very well.

I don't think this looks much different than my before picture!  I have to do the calendar board yet in the far corner.  I also did some organizing there, but did not snap a picture yet.

This is taken from my carpet area.  Loft was unloaded today as I usually store things there over the summer.  My Listening Station is on the other side of the large blue shelf unit.  You might be able to see the large pile of STUFF behind my desk next to the primary colored shelf...lots of work to do there!  The green board is my word wall.  The white section will have blue paper and will be my Focus Board where I will use Mrs. Jump's awesome Mrs. Jump's Common Core Standards Posters from her TPT store.     I think these are just great and will enjoy using them.  I have an idea on how I will store them when not in use.  That will be a later post!

Well, I feel great about my accomplishments today, but have a LONG way to go.  I look forward to sharing more progress later.  I will also show more specifics too.  I hope everyone else is doing well with their classrooms and for those who are already in school-enjoy those sweeties!

Yea! Tomorrow is FINALLY the Day...

I get to go to my classroom!!  I have been enjoying all the posts on everyone's progress as they get their rooms ready!  I have been making lists and piles so that I am READY to GO!  My two little helpers and I will spend the next two mornings getting a good start on the set up.  Friday I will have all day on my own in my room as well!  School for me will not begin until the day after Labor Day.  However, with a few extended weekend getaways planned and the fact that I want to enjoy the very end of summer, I am getting started now so I won't be so stressed later!
Wish me luck and I will post pictures VERY soon!

Have You Heard?!

Have you heard?!  Me and My Gang is now opening separate lounges for different grade levels!  They are currently looking for interested authors for each K-3 Level!  Please click here for all of the information!  I hope to see you there!

$5 Buzz Book Today Only--Hurry!!

The KCrew has their Buzz Book on sale today for only $5!  It usually sells for $50!!!  Hurry and grab yours, I sure did and CANNOT WAIT to use it with my class this year!!!  Don't forget, it is until midnight tonight ONLY!!  The Promotional Code is: 5friday.

Back To School Activities Linky Party!!

I am having so much fun seeing everyone's photos as they are preparing their classrooms for the new school year!  It makes me wish that I could get into my room!  However, it will be the 15th before I will be able to step foot into my room!  Our school year begins on the day after Labor Day each year.
I am anxious to hear about what everyone has planned to do with their students during those first few weeks of school.  I thought it would be fun for us to share our back to school crafts/activities! Although I do not have many things available to me from home to share, I was able to come up with a few to share. 

 Above is a picture of a craft that is similar to one that I have done in the past...but I am thinking of trying this one instead. This apple and the one I usually do involves tearing paper.  I really like to work those fine motor skills with these types of activities.
 The other project that we do in those first days invlove the first letter of their name.  I give each child a large cut out of the first letter in their name.  Then, I provide foam sticker shapes.  They peel and stick the stickers to cover their letter.  It is a great fine motor activity while helping them to learn the first letter of their name!

Again, I will add more to this post soon!  So, please LINK UP BELOW and join the party!  I can't wait to see what everyone has to share!
TBA is also having an Ultimate Linky Party!  Be sure to stop by and see what other Linky Parties are going on in Blogland!

Another AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!

The Moffat Girls are having another awesome giveaway!!  She will be giving away 3 Printable Reader Sets for Beginning Readers!!!  These sets were created by Teacher Tam! 
These readers would be PERFECT for the classroom!!
There are three ways to enter by Friday, so hurry!

A Giveaway...Go Check it Out!!

Jackie over at Here We Go Lootpy Loo is having a giveaway!  She will be giving away an item from Mrs. Wills awesome tpt store!  That is not all! She will also give away a new copy of: 

  You will have 4 ways to enter and the contest ends on Monday, August 8th!  So, hurry over there and enter!

TBA! How Awesome it is!!

I started to join the Blog world back in October.  Stalking more and more blogs by the day!  I secretly wondered if I was the only one who was going nutso over teaching blogs!!!  Then, TBA came along!  TBA has brought so many teachers and their blogs together and has helped to create such an awesome community of caring and awesome teachers!  Though I have not met these wonderful blog authors, TBA helps us to come together and create a bond like no other!  If you have not yet seen this blog, I stronlgy urge you to check it out!!!!