Small Victories

This past week has been very exciting in our classroom.  The long awaited pet hamster has finally arrived.  The kinders were so excited to greet the terrified little critter to our room.  The first thing that they wanted to do was to take him out and let him run around. I had to gather the kinders and remind them that this little creature might be just a little nervous with so many big faces peering in his cage, and that maybe we should wait just a little bit to take him out.  They conceded, and were willing to wait, just for a bit.

 When our little critter came out of the cage, the ever important job of choosing a name became the hot topic. I was more than happy to let the kinders choose a name, and what happened next still makes me smile.  One kinder organized a polling station of sorts.  He flipped over a clear bin, sat behind it, and asked his classmates to vote for the one of the two names that her heard mentioned.  His peers were instructed to drop a foam block into a coffee filter indicating their name selection. Democracy in action!

Where did time go? I cannot believe it has been almost a full month since I have posted anything! 

The past month has been full of exciting learning, fun activities, and a few challenges (which is to be expected).   Most of September was spent learning the rules and routines of the classroom.  I have a very cohesive group of kiddos, and they learned the routines quickly.  Every once in awhile we have a day where we pause, review, review, and oh, review the expectations of the classroom.   Practice makes perfect. 

October has been very busy!  This past week was spent talking about " All About ME!!"  which I think is my Kinders favorite subject.  The kiddos have been very busy working on their "All About Me" books and self portraits. I was able to incorporate the Jamie Mayas All About Me Math & Literacy Fun pack that I purchased on TpT. If you have time, check out her blog.
http://mrsmayaskinders@blogspot.com.

I realized last Friday that I completely missed Fire Safety week...  All is not lost! Next week I am planning on talking about community helpers, which happens to include Fire Fighters.  Whew, fire safety covered!

School Days!

These first few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity! If I sit back and think of all of the things we have done in the first few weeks of school, I get exhausted!  So far our school year is off to a great start. We are getting our routines down and working really hard at following the rules of the school (and classroom).
I continue to be impressed by how well these kiddos adapt to change. There are some days when our schedule needs to change because of an assembly or special event, and the kids just go with the flow. 

Curious about our day... here are a few photos.... working on shrinking the pics....

Success!

Last week our school hosted our first ever KinderCamp! I can say that it was a HUGE success.  I had 13 eager kinders attend camp. I was very happy with the turnout, our community is very small, so 13 is a BIG number.  I am hoping to continue to offer kindercamps in the future! 
I was also highly motivated to have my room ready to roll for camp! I feel a little, dare I say, ahead??  The kinders seemed to function in the room, and I did not see any major areas that need to be rearranged.  Whew!! What a relief.  Now I can put more of my time and energy into planning lessons and creating smartboard stuff (technical term). 
I am ready to browse TPT, and Teacher's Notebook, watch out checkbook!

I am on a roll

For my classroom, I love Owls!

I made this one for the wonderful 1st grade teacher

Once we fill the jar with marbles, it it popcorn time

Marker, pencil, or pen holder??

Not quite sure what I will do with these yet...

My Cricut has been one busy "robot", as my husband calls it! Once I get going, whoa! Watch out!  Last year I had good intentions of making a where are we sign, but I never got around to finishing it. Well, this year, I have made not one, but two! I was having such a good time letting my creative juices flow, that I called up the first grade teacher and asked if she wanted one too, which she did! 

I wonder how to...

I wonder how to...
Ok. I used to think I was somewhat computer savvy, until I tried to grab a button from one of my favorite blogs.  I guess I thought it was pretty self explanatory, but when I clicked on it nothing happened. So, being the type of person who does not give up, I hopped on over to First Grade O.W.L.s blog, to see if I could grab that button. No luck.... However i found all sorts of other great stuff- including a giveaway!  Check it out"

I wonder...

I tend to be a very curious person. When I am teaching, I like to provide numerous opportunities for the kiddos to explore, and just be curious.  Many days I start a lesson or introduce a topic with a question/statement of "I wonder..."  I am never disappointed with the kiddos responses.  They have such great ideas, ideas that I would stifle if I made a different statement, such as "what is" 
Wonder, where will it lead me this year?