Sinterklaas

Last Friday Sinterklaas came to visit the boys and dropped off treats in their shoes. Here are some pictures of the boys. They were so excited about his visit!!

Free bingo

I found this link for free Christmas bingo and I think the boys will love it. It is free until Dec 1st.
Here is the link ...http://theteacherwife.blogspot.com/2011/11/limited-time-only-holiday-bingo-freebie.html

Winter Wonderland/Great Deal

I am so excited about turning our classroom into a winter wonderland next week. Before we left on Tuesday I started bringing in the decorations so I would be prepared for Monday. I can't wait for our walls to be filled with Angels, trees, gingerbread , and etc... Don't worry I will post lots of pictures of the crafts projects that will soon fill our room. Mr. Elf will also be coming to live in our room for the next few weeks. That's right we have our very own elf on the shelf that will join our Winter Wonderland. I think the boys will love Mr. Elf and finding him every day. The next few weeks are going to be so much fun!!!

On a side note I want to tell you about a great new website I have found for Christmas Cards this year. If you have not checked out Tiny Prints website yet it is great!!! There website is...http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/picture-christmas-cards.htm
 I love Christmas Cards and love saving the ones we get from year to year. I am currently in the process of making a book of all of our old Christmas cards for us to put out every year. I have also found several great ways you can display current cards on Pinterest. I pinned several ideas to my Christmas board in case you want to check out some of my favorites.  Well I hope you all have had a wonderful day !!!!
Don't forget to check out this great website...
http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/picture-christmas-cards.htm

Dino Snacks

These are the Dino snacks we made in my after school adventure to go along with the Dr. Seuss book Oh, Say Can You Say Di-no-saur. I thought they turned out super cute!!!!

Fall Tree Paintings

This week for our art center we made fall trees. First, we painted the boys arm and hand and pressed it on to the paper to create the trunk and branches of the tree. Then, the boys were given corks and could paint the leaves how ever they wanted. I thought they turned out fabulous and have added some great color to our classroom.  Here are some pictures I took of one our students creating his fall tree.

Great Deals!!!!

Teachers if you are needing games for your classroom Toys R Us has some great deals!!!! I bought 10 games this weekend for under $20. Be sure you check out these great deals.  Here is a link to their website...http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=2255956

I love the Kodak Slice

So in case anyone is wondering I do LOVE our new class camera. The Kodak Slice is just as Fabulous as I hoped it would be. It is so easy to use. I really enjoy the touch screen on the back of it and how quick you can go through your pictures. I also like how easy it is to load the pictures to your computer. I would definitely recommend this camera. I will post some pictures soon!!!!

Cedar Hills Farm

Last Friday we took a father/son field trip to Cedar Hills Farms. It was great and I wanted to share some of the pictures.

Dollar store games

 I am discovering that you can make lots of great games for super cheap.  In fact, I recently made this coin game for one of my centers by spending one dollar.  It was so easy to make too. I bought a pumpkin ice mold  at the dollar store and cut it into 2 pieces. This way two boys can play at the same time.  Inside each pumpkin I wrote a different coin's name or worth. Then the boys were given coins and had to match the correct coin in the  pumpkin. It is a fun and festive way to encourage them to learn their coins , and it only cost a dollar. So head to the dollar store and get busy!!!

Class Camera

I am so excited our new class camera arrived yesterday!!! We ordered the Kodak Slice, and I can't wait to start using it. It seems to be super user friendly with it's touch screen back. I have it charging now , but get excited because our class pictures are about to be even clearer. It is a picture perfect day here in SK!!!!

Coins Coins Coins

 During my next few posts I will share my favorite ways to teach money in Kindergarten.

One of my favorite ways to introduce money is by having the students add coins to equal the current date. We do this daily during circle time in the morning.  I learned this trick during my student teaching and it really helps them learn what each coin is worth. Its super easy too.  All you have to do is print off some coins, stick magnets on the back of them, and you are ready for this activity.

Have a great day!!!!

Great Websites

Good Morning,

I just want to share a few websites with you that I think our great!!!

http://pinterest.com/- I love this website. If you are not pinning yet you will soon be an addict!!!

http://thefrugalgirls.com/teacher-discounts- I love discounts and coupons and this link will tell you where you can get teachers discounts. i think this is pretty fabulous!!!

http://www.erincondren.com/store/- I ordered a planner from this site a few weeks ago and it is fabulous. If you need to get organized I would recommend shopping here. It is a bit pricy, but I am so pleased with my purchase!!!

http://www.drrobertbrooks.com/writings/articles.html- Last week Robert Brooks came and talked at my school .  He was a great motivational speaker. This is a link to his website where he has multiple articles for you to read.

I hope you all have a fabulous day!!!

Pick me Jar

One of my new favorite things is the "pick me jar" I recently made. It is a jar that has all of our boys class numbers in it on Popsicle sticks. We use this jar when we ask the boys questions ; so we know that everyone gets a turn. This way we do not have to worry about one student being called on constantly or another student never getting a turn. It was very easy to make. Here is what I did ...
1. take any jar you have at your house and clean it out ( I used a spaghetti sauce jar)
2. spray paint the lid
3. cut scrapbook paper to fit the jar and glue it on the jar(our room is monkey themed so I chose monkey paper)
4. write numbers or names on sticks( I chose numbers so I could use them year after year)

5. start using your" pick me jar" and never worry about whose name you have called on again!!

Have a great day!!!

My very first blog

So, I picked my profile picture for a reason because I want my blog to be like we were sitting down for coffee and I am telling you about my day.  I hope my days  will make you laugh, make you think more creatively, and inspire you to do what you truly love. I am very blessed because teaching is what I love ,and what I believe God has called me to do.  Some days I will tell you about my adventures in the classroom, and believe me there are plenty of those since I teach kindergarten to twenty boys. Other days, I will share pictures or links of what we are doing currently. I hope you are all having a great day and will join me again in Teacher Talk.