Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday again. It's been a crazy long week, and I am very ready to sleep in tomorrow.

 This week I have spent most of my time getting my classroom ready for my new friends. Since I was not able to get in early at all, it was a very busy week. I wish I had remembered to take a before picture because Monday morning I had all of my furniture in my room, plus the office and one of my pod mate's furniture in my room as well. It was a little overwhelming! Thankfully the moving guys who helped clean last week came while we were in a meeting and moved all the furniture back (albeit in the wrong spot). I have the best husband who took 2 vacation days just to come in and help me set up. He was amazing! There is no way I would have been anywhere near ready without him this year. I'll blog more about my class set up next week during Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week. 

Today felt like Christmas!!! Several years ago I transferred to the school I am at now. In doing so I left a school that had Smart Board, Light Speed systems, and Document Cameras in every room. My new school had the sound system when I started there and installed Smart Boards my first year, but Document Cameras were only given to the upper grades. Kindergarten had Viz Cams, which are alright if you don't know the power of a Document Camera. I hated the Viz Cam. It was too dark, and I had to unhook part of the Light Speed system to get it to work. It was really a pain. In the spring, I actually told the school librarian I did not want it back. Well today I got a new Document Camera!!! I think I squealed and jumped up and down when I heard I was getting one!!! Truthfully, I was in the line for the copier (you know the never ending line at 2:30 before the first student contact day) and actually left the line to go pick it up. Yes!! I left the copying line for this wonderful present. It's all hooked up and ready to go. Oh I can't wait!!!! I might still be squealing!

The beginning of this month I had a Pampered Chef party for my friends. We had the best time! So in among the craziness of this week all of the goodies we ordered were delivered. On Wednesday when I was sorting through and packing up every one's stuff, I felt like Santa Clause. I never realized how happy kitchen stuff makes me. Everyone needs kitchen stuff!

Last night we had Parent Orientation at my school. I work at a relatively large school. We have 8 kindergarten units and one self contained unit. Florida also has laws pertaining to class size limits. The kindergarten class limit is 18 students. Schools are fined for students over the limit AND for students under the limit. There are ways around the limit once certain counts occur during the fall, but for the most part, classes stick pretty close to it. Currently, I only have 9 students on my list. This is pretty similar in all of our units. At last night's orientation (which was 3 hours long), eight of my students and their families came. This was a really good turn out! I have a lot of positive and supportive parents, almost all of the families spoke English, and I did not have anyone run around the room, roll around on the carpet, or trigger any major red flags. I have several that do not know how to spell their name but it will be alright. I'm excited to see what will happen in the next 180 days of school.  However, if our numbers don't go up we may lose a unit or two. We will have a few more students enroll on Monday but I don't think we will get 40 students coming our way to ensure we keep all of our units. All I know is Monday will be crazy. 

What better way to end this week than laying in bed with Miley? Please forgive my gnarly hair, but that is what happens on a Friday night after a 50 plus hour week. This morning, I just wanted to sleep for another two or three hours so cuddling with her was a perfect ending. Tomorrow I will be sleeping in and then delivering some more of the Pampered Chef orders. 

Be on the look out for a few freebies this coming weekend. I'm working on a few projects and will share them once they are ready. See you all next week!

Five for Friday

Yay! It's my first Five for Friday!!!! This week hasn't been very exciting as I've mainly enjoyed being done with summer school. I'm still not able to get into your classroom yet, which means it's forced me to slow down a bit.

I started the week hosting a Pampered Chef party last weekend. My Pampered Chef consultant actually set up stations, where we did the cooking. Each station had 3-4 people, and everyone got to use the toys gadgets and help make a portion of the dinner. It was really fun and delicious!!! Plus, my house got super clean, and my husband, Bobby, got more things done around the house that have needed to be done for a while than I had even expected. Most importantly it was really nice to have some of my best friends over and enjoy every one's company. Seeing all of their smiles and  feeling the excitement and joy everyone had, made all of the adoption news we had received a few days earlier not quite as scary. You can read about that here if you want.

I have spent quite a bit of time sleeping in, taking naps, and watching TV with these two. I think they would love if someone could stay home and cuddle with them every day. Farnsworth (my dog) is a shar pei mix of some kind. He is almost 11 years old. When Bobby and I moved to Florida we actually adopted him and his brother right after our first hurricane we had ever experienced. I can't believe how crazy of a time it was, but one look and I knew I had to have them. Many vet visits later, we had two healthy adorable puppies. They were exactly what we needed after moving 1200 miles away from our family and friends -true companions. Several years ago, Goober (Bobby named him) had kidney failure and we had to put him down. That led us to adopt Miley. Our life has never been the same!

This week I also completed a huge goal of mine. I created the documents necessary for the friends in my room to have an interactive HFW notebook. We have 127 words. Sometimes I feel like my friends don't always have enough interaction with the words besides flashcards, Heidi Songs, and word walls. I'm so excited to use it this coming year. You can find it in my TPT store. This is also one of the biggest project I've ever undertaken and put on TPT. Go me!

This morning Bobby and I got up early and went golfing. I got a new golf bag last month so I was super excited to go. Yes my bag has polka dots. Yes it is has accents of pink. Yes it matches my pink clubs and yes, it goes nicely with my white and pink push cart. I do realize this is probably not normal, but it makes me really happy!

And, what better way to spend the last few days of summer when you can't get to your classroom than on vacation? No - seriously. I could sit at home and work and rework all the things that I want to and need to get done. I would drive myself crazier, or I can totally remove myself from that option. Plus, after teaching all summer, I did need a vacation and thought it might be nice to spend a few days before having to go back relaxing in the sun. So, this will be my view for the next few days (and a lot of good food).

Next week I will have much more to share as I there will tons happening!!!! Until then, I better go work on my tan. Tonight we're watching Wall-E by the pool.

A New Product!

I have definitely enjoyed my week off! I have spent lots of time sleeping. I still can not get into my classroom though. I am one of those people who has their classroom done by now. This is silently killing me I think. Next week will be interesting . . . I hope it all gets done.

About a month ago I started a new project - to create an Interactive Notebook with my district's Kindergarten High Frequency Words. I don't know about you, but my friends have 127 words to learn. Is it me or does that seem crazy to you? Well, I finally finished it this afternoon (it was my goal), and have uploaded it to my store.

There's actually 4 different parts (one for each quarter) and then one large bundle. Here's the link for the bundle in my TPT store.  I'm quite proud of myself! Let me know what you think. If there's anything I need to change or add just let me know.

Now, I must finish packing and be off for a little sun and relaxation before the supreme craziness of next week sets in.

The End of Summer School

Yes you read that correctly. I am normally not one to do summer school. However, the district I work for set up new summer programs to combat summer learning loss and paid teachers at their normal daily rate of pay. My school was selected as one of the host sites as well. So, for the past 6 weeks I have been teaching a small class of incoming kindergartners (in my own classroom) from 9 different schools in our district. While there has been challenges, it has also had enjoyable moments.

Friday is our last official day- woohoo! I am ready for a vacation, but my brain is starting to get really confused because I am seeing everyone start to get in their classroom and set up. I want to set up too! Since my school was a host site, it has to be cleaned this coming week (it has been contracted out). My principal is hoping we can be in by Thursday. Ummm . . . the husband and I are leaving Thursday for vacation.

In the mean time I have been trying to get as many things ready as I can for the coming year, but haven't had lots of time to create many things on my own. Oh how I love TPT!!! Thanks to these wonderful ladies, this is what I have been up to.

Diary of a Teachaholic had these great monthly labels in her TPT store for free. I printed them on sticker paper and they were perfect for my monthly center storage bins. I was able to revamp my parent handbook as well this last week. For years I have compacted everything into a trifold brochure but this year I stepped out and made this flip book available here. This week I made my first Scentos purchase! I know! How could I have waited this long? Well, thanks to Ms. Wogly and her TPT store, I was able to download these adorable labels for my summer school friends which were free and Projects and Polkadots had these adorable birthday labels in her TPT store for free as well. Every year I create some kind of a magnet for my parents with my name, the school number, and my email. These are ready to go now too.

Big Brother is calling - who will go home tonight and win the next HOH? 

Operation Organize

This last spring, I had this wonderful idea to organize all of my Kindergarten resources I have acquired the last two years. I already knew I was probably going to have to take home most of it, due to one of the district's summer school program being held at my school. Then this happened . . . 

SERIOUSLY? What was I thinking? I had created one giant mess!

Here is what I was able to accomplish from the massive chaos. 

I purchased a LOT of photo boxes . . . as in 35 from Michael's. I know plastic bins would be more durable, but some how whenever I need to go purchase more plastic bins, the style I had originally bought is no longer available. Then I just end up with mismatched bins and drive myself crazy. Michael's always has photo boxes so I can always pick up more if I ever need. So basically I sorted all of my stuff out and started filling boxes. I created a label for each box and used mod podge to adhere it to the front of the box. My favorite boxes are my letter ones. In past years I would have to go to four or five locations to get all of my goodies to teach each letter. This year, I can get one box out and all of those goodies will be in one place! I'm hoping this will be a time saver this coming year!

For almost two years I have been using the plastic scrapbook paper organizers to store anything related to each month. Mostly it holds my centers . . . LOTS and LOTS of monthly themed related centers. While I still need to create some new labels for them, I did take the time to clean them out as well this summer. 

While there are still a few more things to finish as part of Operation Organize, there's something about being organized at the beginning of the year that makes me feel like I can take on anything in the new school year. Does anyone else ever feel that way? 

High Frequency Words and Vocabulary

How many High Frequency Words are you students expected to know by the end of the year? This is a question that is often on my mind. My kindergarten friends are expected to know 127 words. Yes you read that correctly - 127 words! Is this normal?

So, how do I organize all of those words for the word wall? I use an index card box and three packages of index card dividers. I turned the dividers around and numbered them by week. Then at the beginning of the year, I take the time to sort the cards based on the week they will be introduced. This may not be much, but with the 897 other things that have to be done each week, it is really nice to just be able to pull the exact words I need with minimal effort.

I also sorted my vocabulary words a few weeks ago so they are easier to locate too. I love having visually appealing vocabulary cards for my friends, but in the past have been overwhelmed with trying to dig through to find them . . . maybe it's more like try to remember where I stored them, having no luck, and reprinting them again. So as part of my goal to make this coming year a bit easier, I organized all of my vocabulary cards! First I sorted all of them. I wish I had taken a picture for you to see them laid across the entire floor. After that, I took some scrapbook paper I had laying around and cut it a tad larger then most of my vocabulary cards to create dividers. Each divider is labeled with the content area and the type of vocabulary cards in the section. Originally I thought I was going to have two bins of vocabulary cards, but I was able to fit all of my Reading, Writing, Math, and Science vocabulary cards in the one bin. WooHoo!! 

My husband did not quite understand how excited I was to organize my vocabulary cards. He was more excited that it didn't cost him any money. Oh the little things. 

10 Things About Me

1. I make a list for EVERYTHING EVERYDAY!!! It may drive my husband crazy, but it helps keep my brain on track for what I need to get done.
2. I grew up in Northern Illinois. Ten years ago my husband and I moved to Florida.
3. I love Disney World!!! Thankfully I have a season pass that allows me to go whenever I want.
4. I have a secret love for reality TV - all things Bravo, Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race, the Kardashians . . . yes it's unhealthy.
5. I have an old dog, Farnsworth and a cuddly cat, Miley.
6. Everyday I am thankful for God's plan. I'm afraid to think what might have happened had He let me do what I had planned.
7. Mod Podge and glitter are two of my favorite crafting supplies.
8. My husband and I are in the process of adopting. You can read about that HERE.
9. I love my friends. Since my husband and I live so far away from our family and where we grew up, our friends are like family to us.
10. I have a secret talent that most of my Florida friends don't know . . . I sing. Music played a huge part of my life in high school and college, but it's not something many people from my grown-up life know about. It's pretty funny when people are walking through my room during calendar time or any other time we're singing and just stop because they had no clue.