One of my most FAVORITE things about blogging {besides all the AMAZING friends I've made} is definitely the opportunity it gives me to reflect on my teaching. I love having this little online *scrapbook* to document some of the things I have going on...not to mention, it's been a great resource for visual reminders :) AND...I absolutely LOVE that blogging has helped me to collaborate with some of the best educators all over the country! Truly is amazing, y'know?! I've had this little blog since 2010, so I figured it was time to go back and dig through the archives to reflect on a few things from the past. Then I got to … [Read more...] about Throwback Thursday…A Weekly Linky!
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Chalkboard Swagger…a Giveaway!!!!
Hey y'all! I got to spend the day being professionally developed. The topic?! Administering the DRA. I've been assessing kids using the DRA since I started teaching 11 years ago and ohmiword...I still learned A TON!!! Such GREAT info!!!! I'll be spending the next two days getting some guided reading training....and I can't wait!!!! I don't care how long you've been teaching...you can ALWAYS learn something new!!! Well...I'm super excited to tell y'all that I'm teaming up with my precious friend, Cheryl, from Primary Graffiti to giveaway some absolutely precious Chalkboard Swag for your classroom. … [Read more...] about Chalkboard Swagger…a Giveaway!!!!
May In Rewind {Busy Much?!}
Before I go any further, it must be said… Happy summertime to you! Our summer started yesterday and I’ve been spending lots of QT with my sweet boys since school let out. LOVE THEM TO BITS!!! To say this past month has been busy would be the understatement of the year. Totally fast and furious…and now it’s all over. Another year come and gone. Hard to believe I just finished my 11th year in the classroom! I was really nervous to go back down to Kindergarten this past year, but truth be told…it was WONDERFUL. WAY better than I could’ve imagined. I’ll be staying put this upcoming year and I’m … [Read more...] about May In Rewind {Busy Much?!}
75 End of Year Slideshow Songs
I know that many of you have already started your summer vacation, but I have 10 more school days left. I’m not complaining. I’m actually trying to slow time down just a little. Once this year is over, my sweet first born will be a Kindergartener and my baby will be in pre-k!!! Waaaaahhhhh!!!! PLEASE…tell me how to STOP time altogether!!! Well…maybe after the last day of school. Right now, I’m busy gathering all of the pictures I’ve taken this year and compiling them all into a slideshow to play at the end of year party and send home with the kids. I’ve been on a little song hunt for the *perfect* music for the slideshow. Although I … [Read more...] about 75 End of Year Slideshow Songs
Farm Fun, Cinco de Mayo, & a SALE!
SO, last week was pretty much amazing. We were learning about farm animals and…as my dear friend Abby would say…the kids were *12 kinds* of excited :) First up, our dear friend, the cow. Y’all. I can’t even begin to describe how much my littles LOVED learning about cows!!! We read several fiction & non-fiction books about our little bovine buddies. As we read our non-fiction books, we created a little cow chart and gathered lots of fun facts about cows. Then we followed it up with a little interactive writing and student writing craftivity. LOVE. I wrote the cow facts on the black spots and … [Read more...] about Farm Fun, Cinco de Mayo, & a SALE!
Earth Day, Telling Time, & a Mother’s Day/Father’s Day Freebie!
It’s Saturday and I couldn’t be happier that I have absolutely NOTHING planned. Those are the best kind of weekends, aren’t they?! I *might* venture off for a pedicure because my feet are a little scary right now. BUT…other than the mid-day pampering, I have a whole bunch of nothing planned and I LOVE IT!!!! This past week was FULL of non-stop learning. We didn’t confine our Earth Day festivities to Monday, but instead we did a little something to celebrate each day this week. I can honestly say that I think my kids are experts on the 3 R’s. One of my FAVORITE Earth Day songs is by my FAVORITE artists, … [Read more...] about Earth Day, Telling Time, & a Mother’s Day/Father’s Day Freebie!
Kim Sutton, An Earth Day Freebie, and Some Fun Ideas!!
Guess where I was yesterday?! Spending the day with THE Kim Sutton!!!! If y’all have never had a chance to see her in person, I *highly* recommend attending one of her workshops at some point in your life! She is AMAZING! I had so many A-HA! moments yesterday!! That woman is BRILLIANT when it comes to teaching math! I’ve been using many of her resources and materials for several years now, but to hear her explain things in person is a totally different ballgame. Here’s a little peek at some of my fun… Now I’m spending the day getting ready for one of my FAVORITE days tomorrow…EARTH DAY!!! Are … [Read more...] about Kim Sutton, An Earth Day Freebie, and Some Fun Ideas!!
Five for Friday
I’m not complaining, but BOY…this has been a WEEK!!!! I figured I’d sum it all up in a little five for Friday action because I really don’t have much to blog about this week. Wah-wah. SO….I’ll do a little SEVEN for Friday instead :) 1. I had my first migraine on Tuesday. At least, I’m pretty sure it was a migraine. SO nauseous and my eyes were in SUCH pain!!!! The most intense throbbing in my temples. Came home from school and fell asleep at 5. Didn’t wake up ‘til 10 and moved from the couch to the bed and passed out. Any tips for stopping a migraine before it starts?! If this is a … [Read more...] about Five for Friday
What’s the Buzz?
SO. I know I’m not the only one. Who else has their countdown on? 38 days for us. Not that I’m keeping track. But yes…38 days. I can smell summer in the air. Speaking of summer, I started a new workout program(ish). I’ve been getting up every morning and working out here at the house before school starts for a while now. I was using a few different videos, but after being inspired by my beautiful best friend {you have GOT to read her story HERE! Her progress pictures are INSANE!!!} I decided to try something new! Last week I started Les Mills Pump. I am in LOVE. I … [Read more...] about What’s the Buzz?
Hey, Little Ant!
I’ve been slacking on remembering to bring my camera to school, so I keep forgetting to snap some pics of what we’ve been up to! We’ve been goin’ buggy these last couple of weeks and I just wanted to quickly share some of our writing “ant”ics :) We started our little insect unit learning about our favorite little picnic pests. We read a few little non-fiction books about ants and then followed it up with one of the cutest fiction stories, “Hey, Little Ant” by Phillip and Hannah Hoose. LOVE this book!! We did a little response to text writing craftivity to pull it all together. Y’all…these crack me RIGHT up!!!! … [Read more...] about Hey, Little Ant!
Recap.
My life seems to be moving in fast forward right now, so I’m doing good just to “rewind” and recap all the fun we’re having in Kindergarten! Last week was B-U-S-Y. So here goes… We started our week with “Kite Day”! The kids made kites in art class, so the whole campus {all Kindergarten} took a little time out of our day to fly our kites. It was the most perfect, windy day! Couldn’t have asked for better!!! Thank you, God for that BEAUTIFUL day! We mixed a little kite and Easter fun in our literacy and math tubs. The kids did awesome! Top left writing activity via Sarah Cooley … [Read more...] about Recap.
The Plants Dance
I don’t really have a “plants dance” to share with you, but the words rhymed and I’m all about “catchy”, so I went with it. Happy Sunday, friends! Can you even believe Easter is next week?! Where’d the time go?!?! I have NO idea, but I’m not complaining! This just means we’re a little closer to summer! Woot!! Speaking of Easter, I’m home today and my laminator *might* need to be replaced after all the use it’s been getting this weekend! HA! Here’s what I’m prepping…. What do you have in store for the week?!!? This past week, we learned ALL about plants!!!!! And I don’t want to … [Read more...] about The Plants Dance
Party Rockin’ In Kindergarten
Hands down, Kindergarten writing is my favorite. I love the way the kids stretch out their sounds, and the way they organize their thinking and then translate that to writing just kills me. This *might* be my favorite writing to date!! Haha!!! “I’m so sorry Mrs. Carroll. I’m sorry for party rockin’. Do you like George Strait?” #partyrockininkindergarten #neverlaughedsohard #georgestraitismyhero In other news, I don’t get the hashtag, but all the cool kids are doing it so I thought I’d join in :) ***************************************************** For those of y’all asking about my … [Read more...] about Party Rockin’ In Kindergarten
Can I Get a YEE HAW?!
For those of y’all that live in Texas, you know how crazy we are about our state. For those of you that don’t live here…I’m sorry ;) HA! I kid! Sort of…but seriously…you must know that us Texans are PROUD to call Texas our home. Honestly, I can’t imagine living anywhere else…except maybe Hawaii…or a remote island in the middle of the Caribbean…cabana boy optional ;) We spent the last week before Spring Break celebrating all things Texas. While a certain Doctor was celebrating his Seussy-ness, we were knee deep in Texas symbols, Armadilly Chili, and lots of country music :) Our precious music teacher … [Read more...] about Can I Get a YEE HAW?!
Five for Friday
I’m linking up with Doodle Bugs on this very last day of my oh-so glorious Spring Break to bring you a whole lot of randomness. I have loved EVERY single minute of this break albeit insanely busy. I had big plans to do a whole lot this week, but home improvement projects kept us at home pretty much the entire time. 1. You would’ve had to see the before to appreciate the *almost* after. We had this NASTY carpet on the stairs and in the big room upstairs that was completely stained and gross from the cat that lived here before us. The hardwoods have been installed and I’m ECSTATIC to tell you there is NO MORE … [Read more...] about Five for Friday
I’m Goin’ To Chicago…Who’s Comin’ With Me?! {& Some Math Tub Fun}
I got a little email from SDE back in December asking if I’d be interested in presenting at The Extraordinary Educators Conference this summer. Ummm. Let’s see. My first thought was, “ohmiword…bless their hearts. They emailed the wrong person.” Second thought…after realizing it was, indeed, addressed to me…was “ohmiword. Why would they POSSIBLY think I have anything to offer?!?!?” I had a range of other thoughts as well, but for brevity’s sake, I won’t share those with you ;) HA! Seriously though. Oh.MY.WORD. For real?!?! To be sitting in the same ballpark as some of these … [Read more...] about I’m Goin’ To Chicago…Who’s Comin’ With Me?! {& Some Math Tub Fun}
Life Sized Subtraction
When I taught first grade, I remember my kids had a little difficulty understanding that the greater number had to come first in a number sentence when subtracting. I know that kids can memorize like nobody’s business, so I think it’s EXTREMELY important to get them to understand WHY so they know how to apply as the skill progressively becomes more challenging {how’s that for a long, grammatically incorrect sentence?!?!} We’ve talked about the symbol we use for subtraction and lots of key words, so it was time for some hands-on fun. To introduce the concept, we started with a fun…SUPER simple…hands-on, whole group activity that my kids … [Read more...] about Life Sized Subtraction
Rewind. Just a Little.
Who else thinks Valentine’s Day rivals the craziness of Halloween?!?! The chaos would explain my absence from the blog last week. I needed a little break! Here are a few things that kept us busy last week… Y’all might remember this little probability activity I did with my firsties a couple of years ago. My kinderbabies LOVED it!!! And they loved eating the candy afterward, too! Found this PRECIOUS Valentine idea from Polka Dots & Puppies and decided it would be the perfect little *sweet treat* for my kids this year. They were SO excited! I mean seriously…who doesn’t love bubbles?!?! … [Read more...] about Rewind. Just a Little.
100th Day & Counting…and a couple of Freebies
I’m still in a little *shock* that the 100th day of school has come and gone. My kids were SO excited about the monumentous milestone that they just couldn’t contain themselves. My own little man talked about it for DAYS before it was time to celebrate! Just take a look at this little 100th day cutie and that insanely interesting pose… We started planning for the big day weeks in advance. First up…planning our 100th day t-shirts. Thanks to Pinterest, we had our mother/son idea in about 2.5 seconds. And let me just say that we weren’t the only ones who went for this look! HA! AND…let me tell … [Read more...] about 100th Day & Counting…and a couple of Freebies
Walruses & Groundhogs…It Was That Kind of Week :)
It was a busy week in Kindergarten, so I won’t stall any longer :) Here’s a look at what we were up to this week! We were knee deep learning about all things Arctic…animals, that is! My kids were SO into it. It was really quite precious, actually. I can honestly say that I’m pretty sure they’re *obsessed* with walruses. They couldn’t get enough!!!! We started out our learning with a little tree map to organize our thinking. After we did a little research and gathered lots of info about these 2 ton mammals, we transferred all of our knowledge into writing. As important as it is to write about … [Read more...] about Walruses & Groundhogs…It Was That Kind of Week :)
The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly
This *might* be one of my favorite penguin books… The Penguin Who Wanted to fly {by Catherine Vase} is PRECIOUS. The story is adorable, but the illustrations are downright ADORABLE! We did A LOT of non-fiction penguin related activities, but we had to stop it down for a bit and use this book to make some text to self connections…along with a little craftivity, of course! Making connections is a HUGE piece in our reading assessments and we try to seize every opportunity to get our kids to make those connections! We made text to self connections with this writing prompt… {click the pic to download!} I love, love, … [Read more...] about The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly
Five for Friday…on a Saturday
I’m linking up with sweet Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching for a little Five for Friday fun. Except, today is Saturday and I’m a day late. Story of my life :) But I have a really GREAT reason…. 1. My sweet sister had a BABY!!! My nephew is finally HERE! And I am head over heels IN.LOVE. He is precious. Absolutely PERFECT. She was induced on Wednesday and finally had him on Friday {my half birthday ;)} I LOVE this kid!!!!! God is SO good!!!!! 2. Speaking of my half birthday, my sweet babies at school threw me a surprise half birthday party…cupcakes and … [Read more...] about Five for Friday…on a Saturday
Why I LOVE This Time of Year in Kindergarten {Writing}
I LOVE this time of year for SO many reasons, but one of my **favorite** things to reflect on this time of year is my kids’ writing and all the progress they’ve made since the beginning. I know that writing is an area I’d LOVE to improve…I hope that as long as I’m teaching, I’ll want to improve the way I’m doing things to make them better for the kids. I’ve taken bits and pieces of writing training I’ve had over the past 10 years and combined them altogether into how I teach writing today. In my classroom, we write EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. We write in response to our guided readers {this is during small group…4-5 kids at a … [Read more...] about Why I LOVE This Time of Year in Kindergarten {Writing}
Digging Through the Snow
After looking through my Facebook feed, I think it’s safe to say that MANY of you are digging your way through the snow this week! Well aren’t you lucky?! I was chipping away at the frost on my windshield this morning, but then it warmed up to the high 50’s and all was *almost* right in the world :) I’ve been a little MIA this week because we’re testing our Kbabies! Have I told y’all how much I LOVE mid-year testing?!?! Because I honestly really DO!! I LOVE seeing all the progress my kids are making!!! Sure…it’s definitely time consuming…but I LOVE the results! I’m SO unbelievably proud of my … [Read more...] about Digging Through the Snow
