butterflies

Our caterpillars arrived 3 weeks ago.  We enjoyed watching the caterpillars grow every day, turning into a pupa, and finally coming out of their pupa as a beautiful butterfly!  We studied each stage of the butterfly life cycle, and the students made a little book about the different stages. 

 Day 1

 Day 3

 Pupa Stage

 Butterflies!



We also did some fun stuff with Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

In college I did an author study on Eric Carle.  One of our assignments was to pick a book and make something that connects with the book.  I wanted to make something that would last through my teaching years.

My mom and I worked together to make a felt board.  I shared this with my students.  I gave each student a felt illustration, and when I read about what they had, they came to put it up on the board.

  

I put this in a center after we did it as a whole class.  It was a huge hit.  They loved retelling the story.

We also wrote about the hungry caterpillar. 

"If I were a hungry caterpillar..."

...I would eat 1 apple, 2 cakes, 3 lollipops, 4 cheese, 5 cookies, 6 pumpkins, 7 oranges, 8 chicken, 9 pie, 10 pears, 11 grapes.

She made sure to include it ALL in her picture!

...I would eat carrot, cupcake, pizza, cheese, and an apple. 

He had drawn a lot of other foods but ran out of time and room on his paper to write it all!

Today we let our butterflies free.  It was exciting as we watched each one fly away!

my twin

I am so glad that God gave me a twin.

I am glad that I get to share a birthday with her! 

Amy is THE funniest person I know.  She always makes me laugh.  One time she got mad at me and said she was not going to talk any more and she also added that I would not laugh any more.  She was right. 

I love her laugh and I love laughing with her. 

We have shared everything.  Clothes, birthday parties, cars, 1st day of school, college apartment, bedroom, and pretty much every thing else! 

I would not trade being a twin at all! 
People have always asked about being a twin, but it is hard to answer because I do not know any different.

We were born an hour and a half apart.  She was ready...I was not.

We are so different, but so alike!    

Amy is so beautiful.  She is so fun to be around.  She loves life and makes sure to have a good time no matter where she is.  

She loves Jesus, youth, and ME!  

She is the one I always call first with good news and the first one I call when I am sad and need someone just to listen and give advice!  

She is going to Divinity school and she wants to be a youth minister.  She is going to be a great one because she has awesome qualities.  

I can not say enough good things about her!  

If you know her...your life will never be the same!!!!

  

Amy, Thank you for being my best friend and a great sister.  I am so glad that I get to share so much with you.  You are such an inspiration to me and to so many other people.  I am so glad that we have each other.  Thank you for always listening to me and letting me cry even when it is for stupid reasons.  Thank you for loving me no matter what!  Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me. 

I am so proud of you and where God is leading you. 

I know He is going to do BIG things with you. 

I love you wombmate!!!!

25

I remember thinking 25 was going to be so old!  Well today I turned 25, and I don't feel too old!!!  I had such a fun day!  There were some great surprises and lots of hugs from my kinders!  I am so glad I was able to spend the day with them.  I got really cute cards and sweet gifts. 

My assistant and kinders had a little surprise party for me.  It is so fun to watch and listen to them as they try to keep a secret!

Another surprise is that my sister came!  I got a phone call in my room that there was a parent who was insisting on coming down to my room to talk to me who was not very happy.  I was really confused about who was so upset with me and why, but I went to the door and it was my sis!  I was so excited to see her. 
She brought me some beautiful flowers, and she got to join our party because it was her birthday too!!!

Tonight we celebrated with our big sister and parents.  We had a fun night going to dinner and playing putt putt!  I enjoy family time and this was a perfect night!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, and I can not wait to see what God has in store for me this year!!!



things we do for the students!

Test week is here! 

I think (and hope) our encouragement helped! 

The sweet 3rd graders brought us thank you notes and cookies on Monday!  What a nice thank you!!!

 

Tuesday started our tests.  They test for 3 days!  My mentor asked me to dress up like a cheerleader with her.  She has told her students all year that she is their biggest cheerleader.  I dressed up to encourage them as well. 

My students and I went Tuesday morning to cheer them on!

A couple of my kinders made up some cheers for them.  So stinkin' cute!!!!

My favorite, "Go 3rd grade. You are the best. Never give up on your sparkle test!"

Before we left we shared some of our brain sprinkles with them.  As we walked out the door I heard a 3rd grader say that he already felt his brain growing!!! 

This took a lot for me to wear this uniform because I did not go to this high school.  I went to another one in the county so of course we were rivals!  I never thought I would wear something from this high school! 

I did it for the students!!!!! 

I owe a BIG apology to my alma mater!!!

just a note

I have always loved getting notes in the mail.  I love that someone was thinking of me and decided to write me.  I love text messaging, facebook, and email, but I love "old fashion" mail. 

As a kid I really felt special when I received mail, so something I have tried to do this year is send postcards to my students at home. 

I don't tell them that I am sending anything to their house because I want them to be surprised.

I just write something that is short, sweet, and something that will make them feel good about themselves.

This time I sent a picture of the class as their postcard. 

 This is super easy and a fun way to make your own postcard. 

3 simple steps:

Print off a special picture.

Write your sweet message on the back and put on a stamp.
Mail it!

eog encouragement

The EOG. 
It is our state's end of grade test! 
3rd graders are the first elementary grade to take the test.  I remember taking this and dreading it. 

I have never been a good test taker and just get so nervous before any big test.  I do feel bad for these kids.  I feel like there is a lot of pressure that is put on these tests. 

I am so glad I am not teaching a testing grade!!!  If I did I think I would be even more nervous than my students!

My mentor teaches 3rd grade.  I love the attitude and the way she talks about the test with her 3rd graders.

  She calls it the "Sparkle test!"

She tells them this is their time to sparkle and shine.  She doesn't tell them that they are going to have to take a state test or that this sometimes determines if they move to 4th grade.  She stays POSITIVE!

The Sparkle test is next week.  All the 3rd and 4th grades have worked SO hard getting ready for this.  I knew I couldn't do something for all the classes because I don't have enough money, but I knew I wanted to do something special for her class.

I had her come up with some good test taking strategies that she has taught her students this year and I have typed them up as reminders leading up to the EOG. 

Each day my Kindergartners are making a special delivery to the 3rd graders to give them some encouragement to really sparkle and shine on their test! 

Yesterday was the first day.  They were nervous but so cute! 
I had one student read their tip and then we passed out treats to each student and gave them big high 5's! 

("Try your best and YOU will blow the test away!!!")



I love that my kinders can be encouraging to the "big kids" and begin to hear about important test strategies.

eventful day!

Only 3 more Monday's left in this school year!  AHH!!!  So crazy!  It is hard for me to believe how fast this year has gone.

Today was a very eventful day.  This time in the year there is so much going on.  We are finishing up assessments, EOGs are starting for 3rd and 4th grades, and there is still lots to teach these kinders! 

We are counting down to the last day of school.  You know that I wouldn't have just a plain boring countdown.  What kind of Kindergarten teacher would I be?!?!?

We are having a countdown ABC style!  I am calling them "ABC days!"  Each day is a different letter and to go with the letter is a theme. 

So far we have celebrated....

A- Stuffed Animal Day

(didn't take any pictures)

B- Bubbles Day

 
(note to self...DO NOT buy Crayola colored bubbles!  They are SUPER messy!!!!!!)

C- Chocolate Day 

Today was Chocolate Day!  They came in first thing this morning talking about it!  I made 5 boxes of chocolate pudding and picked up several table cloths from the Dollar Tree.  We were all set!  I made sure to set some rules...like no licking the table, no touching other friends' pudding, no spreading pudding on your face or clothes!  I counted to three and they were allowed to play free!  They laughed and laughed!  It was so cute to listen to their enjoyment!  To make this a little more educational, I made them practice writing their name, letters, and numbers!  I enjoyed watching as they played in the pudding sneaking little licks off their fingers!

As we were cleaning up several students said that this was the best day! 

Chocolate can make any day better!

This also came today in the mail....

We started our Caterpillar/Butterfly unit today!   

When I pulled the jar out of the box and showed what was in it they started asking lots of questions. 

One student asked if this was going to be our class pet!

I am SO amazed by this metamorphosis!

As I was looking up facts about the whole metamorphosis transformation over the weekend, I became very interested and excited to share these cool facts with my kinders.  

If you have never watched this...it is a MUST!  I am so glad that when I was Student Teaching my cooperating teacher ordered these for her class.   

I am going to try to take a picture of the process these little guys every day. 

Day 1


Check back tomorrow for another blog post about what my Kinders are doing to encourage our 3rd grade buddies for their EOG!

mama-licious

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom is such a wonderful and beautiful person.

I am so thankful that she has shown me the love of Christ.

I am thankful that my mom is one of my very best friends and that I can talk to her about anything!

We enjoyed lunch out and the company of family was just what we all needed!

To all you Mom's...thank you for all you do! 

Thank you for the love that you show your children and the role that you play in their lives.

The role of a mom is so important.

When my students call me Mommy, I take it as an honor because as a teacher to my 24 kinders I want them to know that I am always there for them and that I love them.  They are each so important to me!

So even though I am not a mom I still feel like a mom to 24 kindergartners! 

Mother Goose

Mother Goose is an imaginary author of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.  May 1st was Mother Goose Day. 

I think it is safe to say that only a teacher would have that date on her calender!   

When I was a little girl my dad apparently won his precious little girls a talking Mother Goose from our local county fair! 

As a little girl I loved listening to Mother Goose read to me and I always followed along with the book.  She had books and tapes that you could purchase.  Most of the books that she would read were fairy tales.  I loved watching her mouth move, eyes blink, and head twist side to side.  It made reading fun!  I loved her!

Mother Goose and me when I was around 3. 

So in honor of Mother Goose Day we spent the morning reading some nursery rhymes and fairy tales!

We also enjoyed listening to her read The Ugly Duckling!

My students were so amazed by her! 

Some were begging me to let them take her home!  I am so glad she is still in great condition. 

giveaway!

My sister makes aprons, pot holders, and oven mits as a hobby!  She loves to sew and has an eye for cute fabrics and has a pretty cute model!  She has a shop on Etsy.  Her shop would be a great place to check out ideas for Mother's Day!  AND she is giving a discount this week too!!!  So for all those summer wedding you are going to and birthdays and teacher appreciation gifts you want to get...now is the time because you get 10% off.
The whole point of my posting this is that she is having a giveaway on her blog.  All you have to do is go to her blog and leave a comment.  It is super easy and you will have a great set of pot holders to give to your sweet Mama on Mother's Day!

Here is a link to her blog.

Go there now and add a comment! 

teacher appreciation

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. 

I know that I am appreciative of so many things.  So even though people are thanking me for my work as a teacher, I want to thank others for making my job so great!

I am thankful for...

my students...each one is so sweet and so special.  They make me laugh and make work not feel like work.  Almost every day they tell me they do not want to go to First grade because they do not want to leave me.  It makes my heart so happy.  I also love that they feel loved by me.  I have always wanted my students to feel loved and special.  I have a new student who tells me that I treat him like a Mama and when he leaves in the afternoon he likes to say, "bye Mama, I love you!"

my assistant...she is such a great help every day!  I am not very good at delegating and she just jumps in and does what needs to be done.  I am so thankful to have worked with her my first year.  I don't think my classroom would have been so successful without her help. 

my co teachers...each one is so special to me.  They support me, love me, encourage me, and share with me!  The Kindergarten teachers have made such a great team.  I am also thankful for each staff member at my school.  They have welcomed me in and allowed me to fit right in at our school. 

support staff...my principal and assistant principal are amazing.  They have given me so much support during my first year of teaching.  I love working for these two ladies so much.  I am so thankful that I can be myself around them. 

parents...I have been amazed by the support of my students' parents this year!  I have so many who have been willing to volunteer in my classroom.  They have sent in lots of school supplies, snacks and treats.  It means so much to me when I get an email asking what kind of supplies I am low on because they want to send in some things that we are in need of!  I am also thankful that they are taking part in their child's education.  Friday night we had Spring Fest.  It was a fun evening of each grade singing a song about America and playing on the playground and eating some great hot dogs and hamburgers.  I had 13 students come that night!  That is half of my class!!!! 

my personal parents and sisters...they have supported me every single day!  I have vented a lot to them and they have heard soooo many stories about my students.  Each have visited in my classroom and that means so much to me.  My parents have spent a lot of money on things for my classroom and different needs that some of my students have had.  My parents even spent their Friday night watching my students sing at Spring Fest!

I am thankful for my school system and the support of our community.  I am thankful for having a job and for having such a great first year experience.  I know that as this year comes to an end and I get sad (because sometimes I do not like change) I can look back and know I have SO much to be thankful for.  I know that these 24 students I will have spent 180 days with will always have such a special place in my heart.  I know that I have made an impact on their lives, but those 24 cute, sweet kids have made such an impact on my life!!!!

I have so much to be thankful for...it brings tears to my eyes.  

Thank you God most of all for blessing me in all the ways that you do! 

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week there are some awesome sales that I will be taking part in.  You might want to check them out too!!!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lesson-Plan-SOS-Teachers

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Anna-Brantley-6

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Primary-Perspective/

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Erica-Bohrer

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kathleen-Pedersen

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/One-Extra-Degree

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Michelle-Oakes

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Made-For-1st-Grade

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Babbling-Abby

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Cara-Carroll