Tissues, tea, and sweet dreams for munchkins!

 

This is so my island...covered in teacher stuff instead of food! I've been a busy bee today!

 

First up, tissues and tea! This is just a little something to hand out to parents on the first day. There are always a few that are pretty teary eyed at the idea of leaving their baby behind in our gigantic school building! So I created this label and attached a pack of tissues and a teabag with ribbon. 

  

 

 If you would like the labels, you can find them for *FREE* at my TPT store!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Tissues-and-Tea-818414

 

 

The next project is the cutest thing ever, and the best way to get your munchkins excited about school before they even come! I found this idea on pinterest last year! Yay for pinterest! The poem inside is really adorable. I attached a baggie full of confetti stars inside. These are for them to sprinkle under their pillow the night before they come to school! So cute!! You can find the original idea/free printable at Sunny Days in Second Grade!

Throwback Thursday!

I'm linking up with Cara at the First Grade Parade! And I haven't been at this blogging thing long, sooo...I'm using a post from just last week! This post was all about Math Sprints...stressful little things! I'd love to hear some feedback from some of you on whether or not your schools are doing sprints and how you manage them, what you think of them, etc....

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Have you heard about sprints?? I hadn't until late last school year. Sprints are a timed math fluency test. I'm still not so sure I love them...they bring back horrible memories of the mad minute for me! One whole minute of awfulness where I got to struggle with the likes of multiplication and division! And the red circles all over my paper when it came back...shudder! Clearly, I have some math baggage people!

Anyway, to give a sprint you time your students for 1 minute. They get as much as they can completed and when they hear the timer, they put their pencils down. Then you get them up and moving for some fun math counting and movement. This can be as simple as doing a few exercises and counting while you do them, or putting on a math youtube video and letting them jump around and dance. Below are some that my class really loved last year. They can all be found on youtube!

 

 

Anyway, after your break you will set the timer again for students to finish. Apparently, a good sprint is supposed to be just hard enough that no one in your class will finish it completely. I always had a couple of those smarties finish though! If they finished within the first minute, I just had them turn it over on the back and write their numbers as high as they could go. 

One of my issues with sprints is that kindergarteners aren't so happy with the idea of stopping something when they're not done. You will hear lots of cries, "But I'm not done!!" I do have to say that once they got used to it, they did do much better with that. You just tell them that it is practice for them and them alone and that not finishing is ok. I also had issues with students starting before I said to start. I just started taking papers away and telling them they couldn't "play the game" because they weren't being fair to others or themselves. This only happened a few times and then they knew I meant business!

This year, I plan to do a "Tortoise and the Hare" theme to introduce sprints. I would much rather the students go at their own pace and get more correct, than to be so concerned about finishing first! I definitely want them to strive for accuracy above speed. Although maybe that is in direct contrast to the overall purpose of the sprint! Whatever! ;)

And furthermore, I will NOT be marking their sprints with red circles! In fact, you don't even have to grade them yourself! After finishing a sprint, you go through it together as a class. Students mark smileys next to the ones they got correct. Then apparently, you are supposed to have students stand up for getting 1 correct, 2 correct...blah, blah, blah until the few are left standing. I always skip that part though! I feel it is enough for them to know how many they got right themselves. And I really don't want to spread a competitive spirit amongst my munchkins. Soo...yeah, I don't do it! My own math issues surface again apparently! 

I have created a packet of sprints for kindergarteners in the beginning of the year. This packet only goes up to number five. I intend to created numbers 1-10 soon! If you would like to purchase it, it can be found at my TPT store, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Math-Sprint-Bundle-for-Numbers-1-5-812324  

If you just want to get your feet wet with sprints, I also posted a freebie, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Counting-with-Dice-812337

Happy sprinting!

I heart crafting, organizing, and coconut almonds!

 

Today I worked on my little corner of the world in my classroom! The dreaded desk area! Ahh! I really should have taken a before shot...nuts I say, nuts!!! I was going for a home away from home look! I am in LOVE with my ribbon chandelier!! Yay for that lovely little idea from Abby at The Inspired Apple! I really should take a close up of it too! It came out super cute!!

 

After finishing that project, I munched on some amazing coconut almonds...yum! I'm pretty sure they're better than candy!! And I'm pretty sure I will buy them forever and ever!

Then, I finished the Teacher Toolbox! And it came out so stinking cute! I am so excited to have everything labeled and easy for not just me, but the other adults in my room to be able to find!! No more digging around in the black hole to find a paper clip! The labels were FREE from, Kristen Doyle at Chalk and Apples. You can find them here in her TPT store, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EDITABLE-Teacher-Toolbox-Kit-Turquoise-Dot-Theme-272592. And the best part...they are totally editable! You can even use your own favorite font! And why yes, that is a Harry Potter sorting hat sitting all cute on top of it! I'm most definitely a Gryffindor! :)

And before calling it a day, I hung my cute little banner! This was also inspired by Abby at the Inspired Apple! She has some great instructions on how to make this cute little guy without sewing a blessed stitch! You can find them here, http://www.theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/2013/07/tbt-no-sew-fabric-bannerbunting-tutorial.html.

What are you making for your classroom?

Math Sprints...Munchkin Land Style!

Have you heard about sprints?? I hadn't until late last school year. Sprints are a timed math fluency test. I'm still not so sure I love them...they bring back horrible memories of the mad minute for me! One whole minute of awfulness where I got to struggle with the likes of multiplication and division! And the red circles all over my paper when it came back...shudder! Clearly, I have some math baggage people!

Anyway, to give a sprint you time your students for 1 minute. They get as much as they can completed and when they hear the timer, they put their pencils down. Then you get them up and moving for some fun math counting and movement. This can be as simple as doing a few exercises and counting while you do them, or putting on a math youtube video and letting them jump around and dance. Below are some that my class really loved last year. They can all be found on youtube!

 

 

Anyway, after your break you will the timer again for students to finish. Apparently, a good sprint is supposed to be just hard enough that no one in your class will finish it completely. I always had a couple of those smarties finish though! If they finished within the first minute, I just ad them turn it over on the back and write their numbers as high as they could go. 

One of my issues with sprints is that kindergarteners aren't so happy with the idea of stopping something when they're not done. You will hear lots of cries, "But I'm not done!!" Once they got used to it, they did much better with that! You just tell them that it is practice for them and them alone and that not finishing is ok. I also had issues with students starting before I said to start. I just started taking papers away and telling them they couldn't "play the game" because they weren't being fair to others. This only happened a few times and then they knew I meant business!

This year, I plan to do a "Tortoise and the Hare" theme to introduce sprints. I would much rather the students go at their own pace and get more correct, than to be so concerned about finishing first! I definitely want them to strive for accuracy above speed. Although maybe that is in direct contrast to the overall purpose of the sprint! Whatever! ;)

And furthermore, I will NOT be marking their sprints with red circles! In fact, you don't even have to grade them yourself! After finishing a sprint, you go through it together as a class. Students mark smileys next to the ones they got correct. Then apparently, you are supposed to have students stand up for getting 1 correct, 2 correct...blah, blah, blah until the few are left standing. I always skip that part though! I feel it is enough for them to know how many they got right themselves. And I really don't want to spread a competitive spirit amongst my munchkins. Soo...yeah, I don't do it! My own math issues surface again apparently! 

I have created a packet of sprints for kindergarteners in the beginning of the year. This packet only goes up to number five. I intend to created numbers 1-10 soon! If you would like to purchase it, it can be found at my TPT store, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Math-Sprint-Bundle-for-Numbers-1-5-812324  

If you just want to get your feet wet with sprints, I also posted a freebie, http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Counting-with-Dice-812337

Happy sprinting!

Teachers Tool Box!

So have you seen those cute little teacher tool boxes floating around on pinterest?? The funny thing was, when summer started, I decided to organize Matt's tools...haha! Poor guy! Now I have to help him find stuff! But I bought him one of those cute little tool boxes to put nails and such in...I haven't gotten around to organizing that for him yet! 

Well a few weeks later I saw the teacher toolbox on Pinterest! You use it to hold all your odds and ends...rubber bands, tacks, paper clips...the stuff that always gets lost in your desk!

No... I didn't steal Matt's!! Haha...not that he would care if I did! I marched happily into Home Depot, found my toolbox and then went in search of some pink spray paint to make it pretty! Here it is drying in the sun!! 

I also got some teal spray paint while I was at it! I used it to paint some ugly primary colored bins! I use them to hold all the materials for my different reading groups. Now they are pretty too! Yay! No more yucky red, blue, and yellow!

Haha! I may have painted my flip flop while I was at it! I am the worst painter!! 

I'm starting to feel motivated now!! I think I may head into my classroom next week and get BUSY!! Stay tuned for how my toolbox turns out!

 

Back to School Bash Giveaway!

 

I went to a professional development workshop today and my head is spinning!!! Ahh! More on that later...what will fix a spinning, whirling mind??? Why entering for a fabulous giveaway of course!! Go to http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com, from there you will be able to enter to win some really amazing prizes! And winning prizes is just the ticket for those back to school blues! Happy entering and good luck!

The Leibster Award

   

Thanks to Tracie at The Kindergarten Penn for nominating me for the Liebster Award!

The Liebster Award is for blogs with less than 200 followers in order to promote that blog, show appreciation, and hopefully draw more followers. To accept this nomination, you need to do a few things first:

1. Link to the person who nominated you.
2. Answer questions from your nominator.
3. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate five or more blogs with less than 200 followers.
5. Pose questions to your nominees. 

Here are the questions Tracie asked of me:

1.  How long have you been blogging? 

About 1 month

2.  What is your favorite grade to teach?  Kindergarten

3.  Do you use a computer or pen and paper to write your plans?

Pen and Paper...I'm old fashioned when it comes to my plans! I like to be able to cross things out when I need to!

4. Who is your favorite clip art artist?  Jessica Weible at JW Illustrations. She is responsible for the cute ruby slippers on my page! Love them!

5. Do you have a TpT shop? 

Yes! Check it out here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jamie-Neely

6. What time to you get to school in the morning? 

Usually around 7:30ish

7. Where did you go to college?

SUNY Cortland and Binghamton University

8. What is your favorite color? 

Yellow, but I find myself increasingly drawn to pink!

9. What would your job be if you weren't a teacher?

A children's book author or a yoga instructor for kids!

10. Why did you start a blog?

I was inspired by all of the amazing blogs I started following last year, and thought hey...maybe I could do that!

11 Random facts about me:

1. I am a child of God, a daughter of the King! My favorite verse is Zephaniah 3:17! Check it out! It will make you smile! :)

2. I have now been married for a little over a year to the love of my life, Matt!

3. One of my best friends is a furry golden retriever named Ryder.

4. I decided I wanted to teach Kindergarten when I was a senior in high school. My youngest sister was in Kindergarten at the time and had the worst experience ever! I saw firsthand how important that first year of school is. We get to set the tone for whether or not a child is going to like school...or not! 

5. For someone who teaches people how to read, I don't read very carefully myself! I'm forever getting the wrong items at the grocery store because of that!

6. On that note...I can't cook to save my life!

7. I love the number 42...it's seriously everywhere! Even in Finding Nemo...42 Wallaby Way, Sydney! 

8. I love ANYTHING coconut!! Well, except coconut water...that stuff is seriously gross!!!

9. I like all things girly and sparkly!

10. My favorite movie is Pollyanna! We could all stand to play the Glad Game now and then!

11. Someday, I want to live on or as close to a beach as I possibly can! Haha...come on teachers pay teachers! Let's make that dream a reality! ;)

Now I'd like to nominate a few blogs for the Liebster Award. If you'd like to participate, answer these questions and link back. What a great way to connect with new bloggers!

Nat Kat in the Hat

Crayons and Whimsy

Mrs. Grooms Room 

Kindergarten Holding Hands and Sticking Together 
The Educated Crown 

Questions for the Nominees
1. What's your favorite school supply?
2. What animal describes your teaching style?
3. How many years have you been teaching?
4. What's your favorite restaurant?
5. Which season do you like best?
6. Do you have a TPT store?
7. What subject do you most like to teach?
8. Do you have a class pet?
9.  What's your favorite part of your classroom?
10. If you could hire anyone in the world to teach your class, who would it be?

Don't forget 11 random facts about yourself!

Have fun! :)