Cats, Cats, Cats

Last week in Phonics we talked about the letter C.  I get excited when there are lots of different activities that start with the letter of the week we are studying.  I have a bulletin board in my room with the letter of the week and pictures that start with that letter.  Each day we discuss the pictures and it helps the students to hear the beginning sound that we are learning.
Our Principal at my school is great!  She is very supportive and used to be a Kindergarten teacher herself!  She loves cats.  I don't really feel the same way as she does!  Sorry to all you cat lovers!!!  The only pets I had growing up were fish and we always killed them!  My family got a dog when I was finishing college and that was a huge thing for us!!!  My feelings have changed a little bit now that I have a dog, but it has not really changed my feelings about cats!  Sorry!!!  
The Kindergarten teachers decided we would write a little book about cats for our principal and give it to her to treasure forever!!!  We read several books about cats, and then I shared with the class we were going to make a book for our principal because she loves cats!  They were sooo excited!  They could not wait to give it to her!  They came up with such funny things about cats.  (I also think they were still thinking about our marriage discussion the other day.)  They kept on talking about their cats being in love and having babies and kissing!  I promise I am not teaching them these things!!!!! 
We put our book together and called our principal down to our room so we could present her with our special book.  She LOVED it!!!  The students were so excited to give her their work.  They told her that she could leave it in her office for other students, teachers, and principals from other schools to read.
I wanted to share some of my favorite sample pages from the book.  If you want to read the whole book, make a trip down to our wonderful school!!!  We would love for you to read it!

(Kissing cats!)

(The cat is getting married.)

(The cat is sleepy.)

(The cat has a boy friend.)

(The cat is having kittens.)

When I went in the office this afternoon, it was out for everyone to see!  It made me one happy and proud Kindergarten teacher!

taking care of business

I got a new student the other week.  I am sure you have all felt the same way about new students.  The first few days your mind is mean to you and you begin to think the worst!  I have said it before and I will probably say it about 50 more times before the year is over just because it is the truth....I have the best class!  They love to learn, they love anything we do, and they love me! 
My new kinder fits right in!  He is a great student and has the best manners!  He is kind to everyone and is so smart!  I am so lucky to have 23 great kinder friends in my class now! 
The other day there were some boys in the bathroom being loud and so another assistant went to check things out because they know the rules about the bathrooms!  When she went in she found two boys in the same stall!  One of the boys was my new student, "A," and the other student was from another class.  So of course she began questioning their business.  The boys explained to her that they went to preschool together and that they had reconnected!  They were excited to be friends again.  That didn't really answer her question though!  So she asked why they had been in the same bathroom stall!  "A" told her that he was going in the stall to use the bathroom that his preschool friend had just come out of and noticed there was some pee on the seat!  "A" was not going to use the bathroom with that all over it so he had his friend come back to clean up his mess!  "A" apparently didn't think his friend would do it or meet his cleaning standards so he felt the need to stand in there and watch to make sure it was done properly! 
I love the fact that he was just trying to make sure things were neat and clean.  He knew he didn't do any thing wrong!

arranged marriage

After 10 days at home the kinders finally came back to school!  I was so happy to see them!  Most of them seemed happy to see me too!  Had a few frowns and tears, but they didn't last long!  As my kinders came in the classroom they told me what they had gotten for Christmas.  I just listened and laughed to myself because they were thinking we hadn't seen each other since Christmas break.  I felt the same way after not having school for a whole week because of the snow and ice!

Today as I was demonstrating how to correctly draw a person on the board, my students complimented me on how good I drew and then continued to suggest things I should add to my picture.  I took their suggestions and drew a necklace, and a watch, colored my dress my favorite color, and then it was suggested I draw a ring.  As I was drawing a simple plain ring, a conversation that I was not expecting started...
Student A: Ms. Brown, I want you to get married.
Me:  Well, I do too, but I have to have a boy to marry first.  I also have some requirements!  (I quickly decided to add this in because I didn't want my students to tell me they wanted to marry me.  Some parents have told me that their little boys have crushes on me.  Cute...but don't want to be encouraging this!)  The boy has to be 25 or older!!!
Student A: Can I be your flower girl?
Me: Of course you can!  I will let everyone come to my wedding but it is not going to be happening any time soon!
So I finish my drawing and give instructions for their assignment.  I thought the conversation was over....apparently their minds were still processing this little side conversation we had just gotten distracted on. 
Student B: Ms. Brown, what about my dad.  He is 30!
Me: (thinking...oh crap...what are they going to go home saying tonight....) I can't marry your dad because he is already married to your mom! 

As the students worked, they are talking to one another about the girls/boys of their dreams!!!!

...so I will dream too!

snowcation!!!

Today is day 3 of my snowcation!  I have actually enjoyed this vacation a lot!  There has been a lot of movie watching, book reading, cleaning and organizing, and of course sledding, playing games, and eating!  I feel very fortunate to live so close to my aunt and uncle.  They have been the ones to do all the cooking!  We have had our traditional snow meal which is pintos and cornbread, bbq, and grilled shrimp.  They also fixed very yummy snow cream!  Yesterday we all played a game of Monopoly for about 5 hours!!!  Don't think I have ever played a game that lasted so long. 

she has mastered snow ball catching!

my mom wanted a picture of me sledding...this is how it turned out!

During this snowcation I have really been thinking about my little kinders (and missing them)!  I think about how excited I know they have been to stay home and play in the snow for three whole days!  I can picture their sweet little faces sledding and eating snow cream!  I am sure they are having a blast.  I am also thinking that it is day 3...they are probably driving their parents crazy and going a little crazy themselves!  I sure hope they have enjoyed sleeping in and having no homework to do!  (because they always act like homework is such a big deal)   I am also hoping they have read a book or two (or at least looked at one)!!! 

It was just announced that tomorrow will be day 4!  Oh well!  I guess I will go to school and get some stuff done!!!
I did have good lesson plans for this week!!! 

seuss makes things more fun!

My oldest sister has a hobby I wish I had.  I don't have the patience for it.  I would rather go out and buy something!  She sews!  She makes the cutest aprons, oven mitts, pot holders, and baby burp clothes.  I can't wait to have my own house one day to be able to buy a lot of them and wear them while I cook up great meals for my husband and kids (I will be dreaming about this for a while)!!!  She sells her things here at etsy.com.  I love that she makes these because I have so many friends getting married and having babies, and these make fantastic gifts. 
As I have talked about in previous posts I love homemade and handmade gifts.  They are so special knowing that someone thought about you while putting their own time into making something just for YOU! 
Emily does that a lot.  She is very thoughtful and creative in her little sewing business. 
I have talked a few times about having a teacher apron.  I have thought it would be fun to wear and having everything right there on you and not worrying about where you put something (because I do that a lot).  I didn't know Emily was making me an apron for Christmas.  I was super excited to open this...

My own teacher apron!!!  It is perfect because it matches all my Dr. Seuss stuff!  I love the bright colors, the polka dots, and the FUN pockets!  My students have asked everyday for me to wear it!  I am able to put so much stuff in it!  I have put markers, pens, pencils, stickers, and smelly chapstick.  The smelly chapstick idea came from a friend who also teaches Kindergarten!  She shared the idea with me from a Dr. Jean workshop she went to.  (I want to go to a Dr. Jean workshop REALLY bad!  Love all her ideas and songs.) 
I use the smelly chapstick when I see students working hard on something.  I use this instead of using candy or stickers.  They love to smell it while they are working.  I just put a little dab on the hand they are not using to write with so they can smell while they are still on task! 

I love my apron and it adds uniqueness to my classroom!  Read what Emily had to say about it on her blog too!  Thank you Emily for the great Christmas present!!!!  I love it and so do my kinders!!!

The Browns' Hilton Head Vacation

Christmas vacation was a blast! Lots of good family time. Hilton Head was perfect. Lots of good food, shopping, and resting! I LOVED riding our bikes on the beach! Such a fun experience!

I am glad to be back at school though! I missed my kinder friends! All but two had big smiles on their faces yesterday. One was mad that he had to come back to school and one cried a little but they both got over it fast. I loved hearing what Santa brought them and the funny stories they had to tell me about their break! I really loved to hear that they missed me!!!!
Can not believe that it is January and the year is going so fast! I have to remind myself to treasure these last few months. Everyone has told me that I am going to be so surprised about how much growth they make this semester! I can't wait for that!
Hope everyone is having a great start to 2011! I am excited for what God has planned for me this year!!!