Friday, May 27, 2011
New Position!!!!
I am so excited to announce that I have a teaching position for the fall. I'm going to a wonderful school with high parent involvement, I will have a classroom of my own (I did not pick the co-teaching position), and I can work at the school anytime I want during the summer. Needless to say I'm so excited!!! For those of you that have been following, thank you for the support and comments. I feel so blessed to be going to a great school with awesome teachers, a wonderful principal, and a happy staff. Now I'm off to celebrate a wonderful Memorial Day weekend at the beach! :)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
1st Grade Awards & Co-teaching
I'm very bittersweet about the end of the year! I want a break from my kids but I will be so sad when the school year is over. Every year I do awards and a ceremony for my first graders. You could use these awards for any grade level though. We are having our ceremony next Wednesday. Only 9 more days left of school!
Click here to download!
Awards
On a totally different subject, I have been on four interview the past few weeks. Principals cannot tell you if they want to hire you until Friday, May 27 at 5:01. Hopefully I will have choices of which schools I want to go to but I have run into a dilemma. I like two schools equally! Both schools have high parent involvement, excellent principals, creative teachers, and I think I would be happy at either one. One school is doing co-teaching and I could be hired for grades first through third. (This school also includes a gym membership at the YMCA.) The other school I would have my own class and I would definitely be in first. I know I would be blessed to work at either school but I wanted to hear some feedback on co-teaching vs teaching on your own, so please leave comments!!
Click here to download!
Awards
On a totally different subject, I have been on four interview the past few weeks. Principals cannot tell you if they want to hire you until Friday, May 27 at 5:01. Hopefully I will have choices of which schools I want to go to but I have run into a dilemma. I like two schools equally! Both schools have high parent involvement, excellent principals, creative teachers, and I think I would be happy at either one. One school is doing co-teaching and I could be hired for grades first through third. (This school also includes a gym membership at the YMCA.) The other school I would have my own class and I would definitely be in first. I know I would be blessed to work at either school but I wanted to hear some feedback on co-teaching vs teaching on your own, so please leave comments!!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Peace*Love*Teach
Miss Kindergarten: 300 Followers Giveaway!!!!!
I love the signs Hadar makes check all of them out on her website! I hope I win this time :)
Saturday, May 14, 2011
100 Things
100 Things I LOVE about teaching:
I have been slacking in the blog department lately due to the madness of May. I graduated with my Masters in Reading last weekend which was a great milestone in my career. I also found out that due to rezoning I will not be teaching at my school next year since I'm on an annul contract. :( Now I'm on the hunt for a new job...which is stressful! So I thought in light of everything I need to reflect on what really important and what I really LOVE about teaching:
1. the children
2. back to school time of year
3. decorating my classroom
4. reading
5. hearing a kid sound out a word
6. hearing a kid use their reading strategies
7. seeing the lightbulb go off in their head
8. crayons
9. coloring
10. school supplies
11. hugs
12. flowers (weeds) my kids pick for me
13. smiles
14. colorful sticky notes
15. smart boards
16. calendars
17. recess
18. singing songs
19. children's books
20. summer
21. stamps
22. stickers
23. field trips
24. the dollar store and target dollar sot
25. new books
26. fun writing paper
27. notes from my students
28. when a child says "I love you"
29. when a child accidentally calls you "mommy"
30. lamination
31. new activities
32. getting new ideas from teachers
33. planning ahead
34. sharing writing and author's chair
35. bulletin boards
36. field day
37. the first day of school
38. sentence strips
39. holding hands
40. teacher appreciation week
41. children's art
42. white boards
43. sharpened pencils
44. colorful pens
45. teacher workdays
46. teacher blogs
47. labeling everything
48. rugs and pillows for the rom
49. morning meeting
50. Magic school bus videos
51. Daily 5/CAFE
52. centers
53. chimes
54. computers
55. my fellow teachers
56. getting a compliment
57. when a child says "I missed you" on Monday morning
58. guided reading tables
59. tye dye shirts
60. teachers bags
61. Scholastic
62. Lakeshore
63. grading papers so see how well my students did
64. holiday parties
65. laughing with my students
66. working in small groups
67. having a job that feels like a hobby and is a passion
68. games
69. notepads
70. instructional teaching books
71. folders
72. creating new activities
73. loose teeth
74. raised hands
75. new technology
76. baskets
77. clear storage
78. thank you notes
79. jokes
80. open house
81. meet the teacher
82. pre-planning
83. learning something new
84. when I see active engaged learning
85. when there are no behavior problems
86. greeting and goodbyes each day
87. supportive parents
88. encouraging colleagues
89. causal days at school
90. special assemblies
91. independent reading
92. lunch on the picnic tables
93. making a end of the year slideshow
94. neat handwriting
95. themed activities
96. playing music in the classroom
97. having my student full rapt attention
98. reflecting on a great day
99. having an awesome parent teacher conference
100. making a difference everyday
I have been slacking in the blog department lately due to the madness of May. I graduated with my Masters in Reading last weekend which was a great milestone in my career. I also found out that due to rezoning I will not be teaching at my school next year since I'm on an annul contract. :( Now I'm on the hunt for a new job...which is stressful! So I thought in light of everything I need to reflect on what really important and what I really LOVE about teaching:
1. the children
2. back to school time of year
3. decorating my classroom
4. reading
5. hearing a kid sound out a word
6. hearing a kid use their reading strategies
7. seeing the lightbulb go off in their head
8. crayons
9. coloring
10. school supplies
11. hugs
12. flowers (weeds) my kids pick for me
13. smiles
14. colorful sticky notes
15. smart boards
16. calendars
17. recess
18. singing songs
19. children's books
20. summer
21. stamps
22. stickers
23. field trips
24. the dollar store and target dollar sot
25. new books
26. fun writing paper
27. notes from my students
28. when a child says "I love you"
29. when a child accidentally calls you "mommy"
30. lamination
31. new activities
32. getting new ideas from teachers
33. planning ahead
34. sharing writing and author's chair
35. bulletin boards
36. field day
37. the first day of school
38. sentence strips
39. holding hands
40. teacher appreciation week
41. children's art
42. white boards
43. sharpened pencils
44. colorful pens
45. teacher workdays
46. teacher blogs
47. labeling everything
48. rugs and pillows for the rom
49. morning meeting
50. Magic school bus videos
51. Daily 5/CAFE
52. centers
53. chimes
54. computers
55. my fellow teachers
56. getting a compliment
57. when a child says "I missed you" on Monday morning
58. guided reading tables
59. tye dye shirts
60. teachers bags
61. Scholastic
62. Lakeshore
63. grading papers so see how well my students did
64. holiday parties
65. laughing with my students
66. working in small groups
67. having a job that feels like a hobby and is a passion
68. games
69. notepads
70. instructional teaching books
71. folders
72. creating new activities
73. loose teeth
74. raised hands
75. new technology
76. baskets
77. clear storage
78. thank you notes
79. jokes
80. open house
81. meet the teacher
82. pre-planning
83. learning something new
84. when I see active engaged learning
85. when there are no behavior problems
86. greeting and goodbyes each day
87. supportive parents
88. encouraging colleagues
89. causal days at school
90. special assemblies
91. independent reading
92. lunch on the picnic tables
93. making a end of the year slideshow
94. neat handwriting
95. themed activities
96. playing music in the classroom
97. having my student full rapt attention
98. reflecting on a great day
99. having an awesome parent teacher conference
100. making a difference everyday
Monday, May 2, 2011
Tie Dye
Tie Dye
I tie dyed today with my lovely little firsties and it was so much fun! Every year we tie dye for our field trip and field day. We only did two colors red and blue so they came out red, white, and blue. Yeah, America! Last year I did rainbow tie dye with all different colors but that was a little more difficult. I recommend using a parent volunteer if you want to do multi colors. It is super simple using two colors though. I used Tulip One Step Tie Dye Kit and then Rit Dye when I ran out of the Tulip dye. Having used both I know would recommend using Rit dye, you get more dye. Here are the steps I took to tie dye with my kids:
1. Before you tie dye rubber band all the kids white shirts. (Make sure each kids names on the shirt.)I rubber banded them from the middle with 5 rubber bands. Make sure you twist the rubber bands around a few times and that it is tight. It makes a sunburst effect that looks great.
2.The day of tie dying call each kid over one at a time to the sink. Have each kid squirt the dye in each section leaving no white areas. Then pat the dye down to make sure it is sinking into the shirt. Place the shirt into a plastic bag and wait for a few hours. One hour is enough but the longer you wait the better!
3. After a few hours take the shirt out of the bag in the sink. Wash the shirt off and then cut the rubber bands off. Then wash again with cold water. Squeeze the shirt to rinse out the dye.
4. Hang the shirt up to dry outside. Once they are dry take them home to place in the dryer with dryer sheet to make sure the dye has fully set in. This step is not necessary but I like to do this so the shirts smell nice and the dye won't run.
5. Have fun wearing your tie dye shirt! :)
I tie dyed today with my lovely little firsties and it was so much fun! Every year we tie dye for our field trip and field day. We only did two colors red and blue so they came out red, white, and blue. Yeah, America! Last year I did rainbow tie dye with all different colors but that was a little more difficult. I recommend using a parent volunteer if you want to do multi colors. It is super simple using two colors though. I used Tulip One Step Tie Dye Kit and then Rit Dye when I ran out of the Tulip dye. Having used both I know would recommend using Rit dye, you get more dye. Here are the steps I took to tie dye with my kids:
1. Before you tie dye rubber band all the kids white shirts. (Make sure each kids names on the shirt.)I rubber banded them from the middle with 5 rubber bands. Make sure you twist the rubber bands around a few times and that it is tight. It makes a sunburst effect that looks great.
2.The day of tie dying call each kid over one at a time to the sink. Have each kid squirt the dye in each section leaving no white areas. Then pat the dye down to make sure it is sinking into the shirt. Place the shirt into a plastic bag and wait for a few hours. One hour is enough but the longer you wait the better!
3. After a few hours take the shirt out of the bag in the sink. Wash the shirt off and then cut the rubber bands off. Then wash again with cold water. Squeeze the shirt to rinse out the dye.
4. Hang the shirt up to dry outside. Once they are dry take them home to place in the dryer with dryer sheet to make sure the dye has fully set in. This step is not necessary but I like to do this so the shirts smell nice and the dye won't run.
5. Have fun wearing your tie dye shirt! :)
