Paw-sitively Adorable!

Gotta do the teacher thang and brag a little on my classroom…it’s borderline too colorful, full of cute puppy touches, and ready for 13 Kinder babies to help me make it home. Today’s our first day…praying it’s a good one! I’ve certainly put in the front work, and I know the Lord is on my side…but as always I’d appreciate any prayers for me & my kiddos!

Our school theme is “Aloha” and my theme is puppy-dogs, so I tried to combine the two for my classroom door.

Here’s our outside kinder hallway…

And little Hawaiian dogs to show off their fabulous work…

This is the inside of my door…I manage to thoroughly confuse people on my name from time to time with the “Huxley Happenings.” They think it’s my name. Sad really.

School map, birthday calendar, Brownie Points, helper, rules, classroom pledge, and conduct chart. Just in case you were wondering. 🙂

Our front wall…phonics letters, calendar “stuff”, graphing / Daily 5 area…and my amazing purple chair!

Another view of our calendar area…it’s kind of small, but we’re going to be doing a lot of our calendar virutally (hopefully!) so I think it will work out okay…

Notice the portrait of Huxley hanging in the background…lookin’ sharp my little man!

My little crowded teacher area…wish I had taken closer up pictures of the cute dog-themed scrapbook paper I used…

That’s our word wall and class library back there. Love my Kohl’s stuffed animals and composition notebooks!

To the left is my closet / book shelf, in the middle my small group / easel, then the listening and computer centers.

I got this idea from a blog…it’s a place to hang the anchor charts that I make with the class. If you look carefully, you’ll see the little puppy clips to hang the posters with…I’m so happy with this back wall!

Pinterest strikes again, with a little bit of Heather thrown in to help make my tissue paper flower chandelier. We do it big in Kindergarten!

Math manipulatives…

ABC strip, cubbies, and ABC books…

A new addition this year…chalkboard! We’re going old school…

Reading manipulatives, student work files, and our check-in spot.

Just showing this next pic to demonstrate how small my room is. I stand in one spot, take two pictures without having to move my camera much at all, and you can see my whole room.

(*Also, check out the magnetic oil drip pan hanging on the front shelf…I got it at Wal-Mart for like $10 and it’s so fun!)

So there it is. Now just picture me in there, along with 13 of the cutest little kids you’ve seen. (But don’t tell them you think they’re cute. They already know it…and will probably use it against you. *wink*)

Here’s hopin’ this year is dog-gone good!

KEEP CALM & THROW ME A BONE…OR A PRAYER!

Graduation Day Memories…

Well, it’s here. The last day of school…time for Kindergarten Graduation! It is as completely adorable as you can imagine…caps & gowns & tassels & bazillions of pictures. We’ve got our little poem ready, our rockin’ Pete the Cat song, diplomas & medals & a sweet little reception all planned out. When all is said and done we will present the class of 2024…holy moly! Doesn’t that feel like it’s forever away?!

This has been a really sweet little class. No major behavior problems (beyond the cursing that somehow managed to happen fairly regularly…from the 5 year olds)…excited about learning & willing to participate in *most* of my antics…and just these big, adorable, occasionally frustrating personalities. Every year I seem to bring out the fiesty in my students…what does that say about me? 😉

I always get mad at myself at the end of the year, because there have been so many hilarious moments and quotes that I have yet again failed to write down. It’s no different this year…but we have had some serious laughs along the way. Here are some of the memories I hope to carry with me from this year…

*The incredible, incredible growth I saw from most of my students. It is crazy to have them come in barely knowing their alphabet and leaving reading. Seriously reading. Or for them to hardly be able to write their name and to leave writing sentences (it’s a stretch for some of them, but they’re getting there!) It’s crazy and exciting and a little mind-boggling when I think back to where we started.

*Some of the total sweethearts that I have. I’ve got a couple who have helped take care of me on days I didn’t feel 100% and I hope they don’t lose their kind hearts.

*Watching leaders blossom, kids find their “sweet spot” and start learning like crazy, and this one particular little guy who has matured leaps and bounds in like the last month alone. They really do grow up so much in one year!

*Bahaha…hearing them say “Yeah, my mom taught me that at home….” when I’ve only spent weeks teaching them to do that very thing. What am I, chopped liver?! (*Except for the kid who can already count combinations of coins…I definitely did not teach him that. Future accountant?!)

*Laughing when kids replicate literature…like my one little guy who can soooo relate to Kevin Henkes character Wemberly, from “Wemberly Worried.” I’ve definitely had to reassure him / answer some questions for him on some interesting topics!

*My adorable little ESL students who just wiggle their way into my heart…I have so much fun with them.

*Seeing how literally kids this age take EVERYTHING. It is wildy frustrating at times, but ya gotta laugh to keep from crying, right?!

*Listening to their wild stories & all the things that their parents would probably die if they knew it was being repeated at school. (Every heard a teacher say “I’ll believe about half of what they say about you if you’ll believe about half of what they say about me? Well trust me, that is sooo true!)

*Having to remind myself that they are little parrots…the new phrase we’ve been over-using is “That is so rude!” The funniest example of the parrot phenomena was the day I told them that sometimes when they leave I go stand in the corner and cry (they totally knew I was joking…and that they drive me crazy sometimes!) only to have one of them go straight outside and tell her grandmother that as they walk away from the school. Lesson learned. 😉

*Pushing them to independence, something that some of them have never been pushed towards before. I know at times other teachers think I’m hard on them, but the truth is that they can do far more than most people give them credit for. It is so cool to see the light bulb come on when they realize that they can do a lot of things for themselves…

*I know I’ve already mentioned it, but this class has definitely thrown some cuss words out there. A few times on purpose, a few times randomly inexplicable, and a few times while trying to sound out other words…like “fuzz.” Next year I’m going to make a sign to hang outside that says “Caution: Blending Happening” so that I’m not held accountable for the bad words that come out of their mouths.

*Knowing that some of these little ones are going through hard times at home…through things I’m so not able to relate to…is a reminder of all the blessings that I have in life, and of how this job truly is a ministry.

The silly, heartwarming, heartbreaking, head-scratching, hard-working times we’ve had together this year have brought us all very close together…and now they are graduating and leaving me. I’ve been trying to convince them to just stay with me in Kindergarten again next year, but go figure…they don’t wanna! 😉 And even though odds are they won’t remember much of their kindergarten year when they are all grown up (I hardly remember anything from mine…sad day.) I hope the feelings that they have when they look back are warm and fuzzy and full of love. They’ve got a piece of my heart for sure, and I pray heaps of blessings on them in the years to come.

Congratulations Kindergarten class of 2012!

KEEP CALM & GRADUATE ON