Kitty Pumpkin

I saw this All You Magazine at the store the other day, and I thought this cover was too cute!  Love the small pumpkins transformed into kittens.  Looks like it wouldn't be too difficult to recreate either.

 

Spider embroidery

I got this long sleeved purple Halloween shirt from Goodwill the other day.  I just love the design, and I think it would be fun to try to embroider a web similar to this some day.  The picture doesn't show it very well, but the web is sparkly silver.  It's a bit wrinkled. Oops.

 

 

I'm not much into the ghouls, witches, and Jack O'Lantern shirts at Halloween, so I was glad to find something like this.  I also enjoy a good owl or bat Halloween shirt.

Icky Sticky Shelves Solution

Our classroom has some fairly old furniture, and because we continually are required to have our shelves labeled, there was quite a buildup of sticky tape residue all over them.  Ever use packing tape on your shelves?  You know the cleanup nightmare.

 

Here's what we did.  Items needed:  Goo Gone, Razor blade/scraper, sanding blocks.

 

 

I got this pack of two sanding blocks at the Dollar Tree.  They have rough on the front and back, and then the middle is foam.

 



 

I would use this method at your own discretion.  Our shelves are old, and the finish is worn off in many places, so damaging the finish really wasn't a concern.  Also, the sanding blocks we used were abrasive enough to get the yuck off, but at least in my case I didn't notice it taking off much finish.  It was kind of like using a really scrubby brush or sponge.

 

It is simple enough to do.  Just Goo Gone, scrub with the sanding blocks, and if there are any bits of anything left like tape remnants that's where the scraper comes in handy. 

 

Here is an example of a before.

 



 

And here is an after.

 



 

It may not look like that much, but the stuff on that shelf was so stubbornly stuck on I was impressed that it came off so easily with this method.  I hope it helps you too!



Spring Break Countdown

In Pre-K we love to do countdowns to special days.  It is a good reminder for the kids and teachers. :) It helps with one-to-one correspondence, counting, and number recognition (We always write the number of days left on the board.).

 

This is one we have for Spring Break.  We display it on our dry erase board. 

 

  I printed the reproducibles from Twisty Noodle.

 

I made the basket the size of a paper plate, and I increased the size of the eggs as well (using a copier, and the maximize/minimize feature).  I colored them using both markers and colored pencils.

 

The basket used two paper plates.  The basket picture is cut in half so that the handle is on the back plate.  The front of the basket is on the front plate.  The front plate has been cut in half, glued together for additional strength, turned around so the front faces the front of the others, and then taped to the back so that it forms a pocket.  I hope that made sense.  I apologize for not taking pictures.

 

 

It can now hold the eggs.

 

 

For a finishing touch I made grass to "hide" the eggs.  It is laminated green construction paper cut in half, and then the tops are cut irregularly to make it look like grass.  I kept the length of the cut about the same, but I alternated the angle of the top of the grass to make it remotely more realistic.

There's a chocolate bunny at the end for that very special last day!

PreK Line up - Math integration

It is quite helpful to have the floor marked in some way to show the children where to line up.  We decided to integrate math as we transition to different activities (such as lunch, playground, etc.).  The children have color groups, so we have the opportunity to correlate them in that way if needed.  So far we have called the children to stand on a certain shape, a certain color, and a certain number.  We will also use this to review patterns.  There are two shapes for each number so that we can instruct the children to put one foot on one shape and the other foot on the other (Hopefully avoiding turning around and talking in line, twirling around, etc.).  

There are 20 total spots.  The shapes were made by laminating construction paper, cutting them out on the die-cut machine at school, writing the numbers on the shapes with a Sharpie, and using contact paper on each set of shapes (20 sheets cut to size) to stick them to the floor.  This should *hopefully* be easier to pull up at the end of the year to prepare for the floors to be waxed over the summer. 

There are a few closeups and then a full length picture.  This has been a great classroom management tool. 

Sensory bags for Writing

There are many parents and educators out there who have made sensory bags for various purposes.  In my PreK class we've been learning pull lines, slide lines, and circle back as an introduction to writing, so we gave the bags a go.

I've often seen the recommendation of using $1 hair gel to make the bags.  I went looking at our local Dollar General, and I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I stood in the aisles tipping various bottles of (cheap) liquid around until I found something that I thought was gel-like.  

I found these $1 hand soaps, and I added some food coloring to them to get the desired colors.  

I also bought some $1 shaving cream to make some fluffy bags.

The finished product looked like this.  It help up reasonably well (We used Great Value sandwich bags from Wal-Mart).  I had to replace a few over the course of the day if a child got a little to rough with one and poked a hole.  The soap poured fairly easily into a new bag if I snipped off a corner with scissors.

This kind of shows how the bags work.  

It's a bit of trial and error to find the right amount to initially put in the bag to give the needed effect.

And there you have it!

The kids love them.  They were great for our small group / special activity table.  We made a few rules.

1.  No picking up the bags.

2. No squeezing the bags.

3. No pounding on the bags.

4. One bag per person. (Trading is okay.)

Basically, keep the bag flat on the table, and (gently) use your finger to write/draw in it.  

A few things to note: Shaving cream bags only last for about a day because they loose their foaminess.  The soap I used got little suds after a while, but it just turned into a different sensory experiment.  I used these bags for a few days before throwing them away.

Our classroom door

Here is our classroom door prior to all of the decorations from the kid's crafts.  We went simple.  

We would have to cover it with flame retardant treated fabric if we covered the door.  The Fire Marshall doesn't like butcher paper covering the entire door.  

We put PreK on the door in big letters so the parents/guardians would know where to come to drop off their children and sign in.

The border on the window was added for a pop of color and to tie it in to the inside bulletin boards.

The Welcome sign serves not only as a welcome, but also as a way to show the expectations of our classroom.  

Thank you to this blogger I found through Pinterest for the idea for the Welcome sign.  I used Microsoft Publisher to create it.

Our Family Tree

We are in LOVE with our family tree for our classroom this year.  

I drew inspiration from the blogs listed below. 

(All currently pinned to my Classroom Ideas Pinterest board.)

Tree 1

Tree 2

Tree 3

I then free-handed a tree trunk on brown butcher paper, laminated it, and cut it out.  Note: I cut the tree along the lines I drew on the paper after I laminated it to save myself from not only having to cut it out twice, but also to keep from wrinkling the branches as they laminated.  

\

I laminated these dots from Creative Teaching Press, purchased from The School Box. 

(I honestly don't remember if I have the 6" or 10" dots.)

I used a glue gun and started layering.  

\

The finished product, sans family pictures.

I added a sign created on Microsoft Publisher.  I have always liked that pre-made bubble frame they have as an option.  I just changed the colors to match our tree better.

I goes great with our class bulletin board.  I'll post it at another time. ;)

Quick Fix -- Inside of a cabinet

Here's quick fix I did at home a few weeks ago.  Sorry the picture quality isn't the best.  

The inside door of the cabinet on our Ikea computer desk.

Clutter that had been sitting behind our laptop.

Add cork board squares (trimmed to fit and stuck on with double sided stickies).

Voila!

A place to stick anything I need to hide inside a cabinet door.

This would be Pampers & Huggies codes to enter online for points.

Back to School Notebook for the teacher

So, I decided this year that with the variety of meetings and training that I attend each school year that it would be useful to have all my information in one place where I store all of the information that is given to me. I got the idea here.

My 3-ring binder doesn't look as good as hers, and I am going to wait for the year to start to label my dividers, but I have the essentials to get ready for a new school year.  I went ahead and used a 1 1/2" binder.  I am going to slip my planner in the front pocket.  Also, I'm going to print out my education Pinterest boards so I have all of my information right there for when I get board at inservice.  Hahaha.

How to print Pinterest boards here.

At the front of my binder I have a pencil pouch with some oversized index cards & post it notes in case I need to bookmark something or if I have a good idea/remember I need to do something in the class the next day.  There are some pens, a Sharpie, and thin Crayola markers.  In PreK, you never know when you might need to color something.  ;)  I also think those will come in handy with my planner.  I plan to add some White Out too.

Underneath you'll notice the Five Star notebook to take whatever notes I need to.  It will be a good place to brainstorm for my lesson plans as well.

I already had some basic dividers.  

I spruced them up with some scrapbooking paper.  I glued the paper to the front with a glue stick, cut off the excess, and punched the holes wtih a 3-ring hole punch.  They turned out cute!

At first I used the excess paper (They were 12 x 12 sheets) on the back of the divider to make a two sections in case I wanted to make a chart or put a few quotes there.

I opted on the rest of them to leave the vertical paper off so that I would have more room.  

I slipped the rest of the paper in the back sleeve of the binder to make it look nicer.  It may be replaced later by something official.  I like this for the time being.

After the pencil pouch & notebook, here are the dividers ready to go.

After that I took a pocket folder and cut it in half and trimmed it down to fit in the notebook.  Use a 3-ring hole punch if needed.  I turned it around so both pockets faces towards me.  Trim accordingly if the pocket folder already has hole punched.  I can put handouts, etc. in these.  We have a tendency to get things at our staff meeting that are supposed to go in our files in the classroom.  This will be a good place to temporarily store them.

Something I may do is write some of these reminders & encouragements on the back of the dividers' (or print them out and glue them!)

Back to School Prayer

The Kids Who Need the Most Love

Discipline

There are more on my Parenting & Education Pinterest Board.

That's all I have for now!

Looking Toward a Bright Future!

Here is a fun, simple fingerprint activity to do with young children.  I did this with one of my classes.  

Our school & grade was listed at the top of the paper.  I made that document on Microsoft Publisher.  

A parent volunteer cut out copies of the jar pattern for us.  The pattern came from the Mailbox.  I don't think the one I linked to is the exact same one, but it is close.  

We used a yellow washable ink pad for the fingerprints.  To minimize mess we had it available as a small group, and we made the rule that each child could only use his/her pointer finger.

After that we told the kids to make the fingerprints into lightning bugs/fireflies using colored pencils or crayons.

They turned out cuter than the sample I made for myself!

Teacher Tested. Kid Approved.

Welcome to my new blog!

A few things to start us off:

1)  Thank you to my co-teacher Trish for the AWESOME blog name!  I have been toying with the idea of this blog since May, and I couldn't think of a good name.  She came up with it in a snap.  ;)  

2)  This won't be an every day, or even every week kind of blog.  I'm going to try to upload ideas (most of the time with pictures) that have either come from our own great ideas, borrowed from fellow teachers, or borrowed from fellow Pinterest users.  

3)  I will try my best to give credit where credit is due.  I'm smart enough to realize that there are many people who have come before me who have great ideas.  I'm just clever enough to reuse them.

4)  Many (if not all) of the things from this blog will probably show up on Pinterest.  This basically exists as a venue for networking our ideas with other teachers out there.  I have another blog that journals our family activities.  This helps to keep those separate.

5)  I am very conscientious of student confidentiality, so I won't post names or pictures of kids in my class, other people's classes, or former classes of mine.  If you ever see blurred parts of an image, then it's probably where I have edited it for confidentiality.

6)  You may see a few non-educational ideas pop up on here.  After all, I try recipes and other things out in my home, and I will share my successes (and failures with you) when I have the opportunity.

Enjoy!