Five For Friday!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching 'Five for Friday' linky.

I cannot believe how fast this school flew by.  Don't get me wrong, there were moments that seemed to stretch into eternity.  But, overall I would say it seemed to go by pretty quickly.  This was our last week of school.  We had our graduation ceremony, which is always bittersweet.  I am so proud of my little sweeties and all they have learned, but hate saying goodbye to them.  Here are a couple of pictures of my soon to be kindergarteners.

We also said goodbye to two more co-workers.  Our team got together at a local winery to wish them off.  They will be close, so hopefully we will still see them often.  (Can you tell I have trouble saying 'good-bye'?)

Some of my besties and I have signed up for golf lessons.  One co-worker's husband used to golf professionally and he has so graciously offered to teach us how to swing a club.  (Not sure he knows what he is in for.  :) )  It will be a blast, no matter what!

My guy and I are planning out our summer get aways.  He is a man of routine and likes to visit the same places.  I am a little more fly by the seat of my pants.  We are a good combination together.  I am planning to take him somewhere he has never been.  I can't wait!

I made a game to share that we play at circle time.  My little ones LOVE this game.  One of my co-workers, whom I team taught with last year, introduced me to this one.  It is called "Jump".  What is so great about it is you work on any skill you choose.  My freebie has shapes, but you can use colors, numbers, letters, letter sounds, etc.  To play: everyone stands up, the teacher holds up a card and all together your little learners say what is on the card; insert several "jump" cards into the stack.  When you hold up the "jump" card, everyone yells "jump" and, of course, jumps!  This is a great way to add movement to learning.  The sweeties think they are playing a game.  You are able to work on specific skills, so it is a 'win-win' for everyone!  Enjoy.  :)

Click HERE to download
Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

What Will You Do Differently Next Year?

As the school year winds down and I have a chance to reflect, Kim from Finding JOY in 6th grade is hosting her first linky party~What Will You Do Differently Next Year ?  I am sure I could come up with an endless list, but for now this is what I settled on.

What do you want to do differently next year? Link up with Joy and let us know!

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day. :)

Baseball Freebie!

Last spring we did a baseball theme at school.  It was so much fun.  At the end of our unit we played another class for a "winner takes all series"!  (Not really, we didn't even keep score :) )  Anyway, as I was attempting to organize my materials I ran across these.

Click HERE if you would like your own copy

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Five for Friday!

Woop Woop! My second Five for Friday in a row. It almost gives the illusion I am organized, especially this time of the year.  :)  Anyway, here goes:

• We had water day at school.  It was sunny, but not exactly hot.  The good thing about my little ones is they just want to play in the water.  They don't care if they are cold.

• We had to say good-bye to two of our friends who will not be coming back next week.  Originally our last day of school should have been May 23rd, but with snow days added on we have to return after Memorial Day.  Two of our graduates going on to kindergarten next year are leaving on vacation with their families and will not be back next week.  It was quite emotional.  One of them burst into tears at the end of the day and sobbed uncontrollably.  I had to carry her to the bus.  Talk about pulling at your heartstrings.  Needless to say, Valerie and myself found ourselves sobbing right along with her.
• We made these poems for the end of the year. I got the idea HERE.  They turned out adorable. 

• One of my co-workers was transferred to a different building next year.  :(  We all got together to tell her good-bye.  Good luck Cantrell.  We will miss you.  My colleagues are amazing.  We need to get together more often, outside of work.

• I am hoping the weather is nice enough to do this over the weekend! (Disclaimer:  That is not me on the boat; I don't even own a boat; I am just hoping my friends let me tag along!)  :)
  
• At school, we have been practicing for our graduation ceremony next week.  My sweeties are performing "One Small Voice" by Jack Hartmann.  It is the sweetest song and the movement to it are enough to make you cry. Here is the You Tube link of Jack showing the motions to the song.  What other songs have you used for the end of the year celebrations?

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Summer Bucket List Linky!

I am excited to be participating in this SUMMER BUCKET LIST linky!  I love all three of these bloggers and have been following all three for quite some time.  I really haven't had much time to put together a bucket list for summer, but if I could choose to do anything it would be:

• Hang out in San Diego or more specifically Hotel Del Coronado.  I have been before and LOVE that place.  San Diego would be my dream place to live.
• Exercise!  In my mind I am very fit.  In real life.....not so much :(  Right now I am very motivated.  Let's see if that stays the same once I have free time.  :)

• Go to I Teach K! in Las Vegas.  It would be my version of Hollywood.  I would be in teacher heaven having the opportunity to learn from the best.  :)
• Jazz up my classroom with these fabulous finds from Really Good Stuff.
  
  
  

Travel to one (or both) stores.  :)

 

Work on my blog, TpT and Teacher's Notebook Stores

and SLEEP!

What's on your bucket list?  Click on the link above to add yours.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Moore, Oklahoma Relief Effort

My thought and prayers go out to all in Moore, Oklahoma.  Hearing the stories of loss and devastation is heart-breaking.  Also, hearing the stories of courageous actions, especially those of heroic teachers protecting students brings a sense of admiration and pride to be a part of the teaching community.  Teacher's Notebook has put together donations from shop owner's and the proceeds will go to help relief efforts in Moore, Oklahoma.  I donated my S'more Early Learning Camping Pack.  There are over $1000.00 of products bundled in a pack available for purchase for only $20.  Check it out by clicking on the Teacher's Notebook banner above.  Thank you.  

May Budding Blog: Linky

May Budding Blog: Linky

I happened upon this linky while downloading a fabulous freebie from Danielle Lunney over at Apples, Ink, and Mischief (Don't you love that name!) Then, I saw it again on Lacey's blog at Challenges Make Life Interesting.  The linky is hosted by Jess at I {heart} Recess.  
I thought I needed to join in.....so here it goes.  :)

 1. Why did you start blogging?

I originally started blogging about two months ago.  I have followed several teaching blogs for awhile and was so inspired by their creativity, generosity, and sense of community and wanted to be a part of that.   I am no tech expert so it has pretty much been trial and error. 

2. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?

I teach special ed pre-k so I cover most everything.  I think, though, that my learning time activities are my favorite.  I can incorporate interactive whiteboard activities, art, science, etc. into my lessons.  My little ones get so excited about learning.  It is fun (and rewarding) to watch.

 3. Describe your teaching style.

With my students I need to be very structured and follow a routine that allows them to know what to expect.  Surprisingly it takes little time for my sweeties to get it.  I try to instill a sense of family in my class.  We care for and take care of each other.  I want school to feel like a safe and loving place to be. 

4. Give three interesting facts about you.

·      I have a part-time job at Anthropologie.  I should give it up because it seems like I don’t have a second to spare, but I love the company and the people I work with at the store.

·      I moved my daughter to Arizona a year ago after she graduated from college, where she now teaches middle school.

·      I am starting to take additional graduate hours past my Master’s degree.

 5. Do you have a TpT store? If yes, post the link :)

Yes, I have both TpT and Teacher’s Notebook stores.  

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Preschool-Wonders

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/lola

Thank you Jess for allowing me to showcase my blog.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Camping Early Learning Packs

I learned something very valuable today.  I have shops in both Teachers Pay Teachers and Teacher's Notebook stores.  Other than a little different formatting and a small percentage of commission that is taken, I thought they were pretty much the same.  Big difference in the size of files they accept!  I have been working on my camping pack for awhile now and whenever I would get a new idea of something I wanted to use in class, I would add it to the pack.  Well, apparently it got so large for the TpT store I had to break it up into two packs.  Therefore, at my TpT store I have a "S'more Early Learning Language and Literacy Camping Pack" and a "S'more Early Learning Math Camping Pack".  

You can check out my TpT Early Learning Language and Literacy Pack HERE

You can check out my TpT Early Learning Math Pack HERE

However, my Teacher's Notebook shop allowed me to download the whole file so both the language, literacy, math, and craftivities are in one place.  It is a little cheaper to buy the pack that has everything........just so you know.  :)

Click HERE to see this at my Teacher's Notebook shop.
Here are a few things offered in my camping pack.

In addition, I have one more camping freebie to offer.  This is a language activity that doesn't necessarily have to be done with a camping theme.  I ended up creating it in the middle of our activities, so I gave it some camping clipart.  :)  Little learners sort activities/games by whether they are done inside or outside.  Of course there are a few that could go either way.  Maybe that would be a good time to pull out the hoola hoops and do a venn diagram!

 

 

Click HERE to download.

Thanks for reading (and I love comments)!  Have a great day.  :)

Five for Friday!

Yay!  I think I will get it together to be able to participate in my second Five for Friday linky. Here is my week in review.  

1) There is going to be a new baby soon in the family.  :)  My guy is going to be a grandpa for the first time!  We hosted a baby reveal party for the lucky parents to be.  The first vote was correct. It's a girl! 

2) I was able to spent time with my babies.  My son just turned 21.  It seems like it was just yesterday he was a newborn in my arms.  New mamas, be sure to treasure every moment with your little ones.  It is true what they say......in just a blink of an eye they are grown and gone.

3) We had track and field day at school this week.  Our little sweeties had a blast. Events included: three legged races, ball roll, musical chairs, steal the bacon, obstacle course, egg race, and ice cream station!

In the morning we attached arms instead of legs for the three legged race.  In the afternoon we did it the traditional way.  It was amazing to watch them figure out how to work together.

The winner of musical chairs in the first round. 

The ball roll.  There were two teams competing against each other.

The egg race.

4)  One of my sweeties is moving away.  This was his last day with us.  We will miss him. :(

One last class picture before he leaves.

5)  We are finishing our camping theme.  We have had so much fun with our activities.

A hodgepodge of our art activities from the week.

Pretending to camp.  This was very popular during centers.

Originally I had planned to put these pages together to make a class book, but since school is almost out for the summer we decided to put display them on the bulletin board.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

A Camping We Will Go!

We started our camping theme last week.  Here are some of the fun things we have been doing.  During circle time our little learners "went fishing" with shapes. They chose a shape card by picking it up with a magnet attached to a stick fishing pole.  They matched the shape fish picture with the same shape fishing pole picture.

During learning time, our sweeties hid in a sleeping bag pretending to sleep while a "bear" visited the campsite and stole a camping related object.  The little learners had to tell us what was missing.  

We also took turns getting in a small pop up tent with the light off in our room.  Ellison shapes cut from black construction paper were held up to the tent.  We used a flashlight to shine on the cut out.  Each learner had to guess from the shadow what the object was.  There were lots of giggles.  Everyone has been loving the fun.

Today we made the cutest little campers in sleeping bags.  The patterns will be included in the camping pack I am currently working on.  

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Manic Monday Freebie

Just in case you missed my last camping freebie, I am offering it again today.  I have not posted it anywhere else except on my blog.  It will be apart of my larger camping unit I will have for sale, once I am finished with testing it out.  :)

Click HERE to download

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)