Monster Madness!!

With Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to do a unit to celebrate Halloween or at least the fun activities that the kids are going to celebrate anyway. But, I didn't want to celebrate the same 'ole same 'ole ghosts, witches, goblins, pumpkins, etc. So, I looked on my new favorite site, Pinterest . I pinned so many different ideas and also bought a Monster Madness packet to use which had literacy and math games to do with the kids! You can find the packet here.

So, without further explanation, I wanted to show you the class set up before last week started:

 Job charts:

Our calendar board: 

Some more of the calendar: 

The "good work wall"

Don't you love how the monsters are eating and holding their work? I think it's just adorable!

Here are some math games and activities that we have done. All of them I found either from here or here:

Shape monster glyphs:

 

Writing Activities:

Monster roll and write: 

Art Activities:

Monster treat bags from Blog-Babble:

Monster boxes..

I'm going to use my monster box for a tattletale project.  You can find the tutorial from Giggles Galore.

I'm going to put the monster in an open space in the room with this poem from Room Mom 101:

I am going to ask the kids to write down all their tattles on a piece of paper (now, obviously my kinder kids can't actually write words yet but they have learned all their sounds and we have been practicing writing the sounds they hear in the words) and then they will feed the tattle monster their tattle. I will no longer have to hear "teacher, teacher...so and so is doing this!" and "teacher, teacher...so and so just did that!" ... Ahh... I will finally have quietness amongst the tattles, hopefully!

I hope you enjoyed my monster unit. If you have any questions, please ask! We are still in the middle of our second week with the monsters, so expect to see some other goodness!

Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Through the Lens Of A Child!

This last week, when I was downloading our MONSTER pictures, I found a bunch of pictures that my boys took of the classroom. It's amazing how little kids view their world around them. Take a look:

A Sneak Peak Into The Week

"Hi There!" 

Did I scare you?

He's not supposed to be scary.


He's supposed to be funny!


This is Larry. I don't know why we gave him that name.

But here he is.


He's hanging on my classroom bulletin.

Can you guess from this picture what we are going to study the next two weeks? I have an amazing unit for my three little guys. It's fun, exciting, and we are going to learn some really cool stuff! Stay tuned for some pictures of our classroom and what we have been working on.

This post has to be quick today. I have to clean my classroom frog tank, hang out with Miss B and then we have our Women's Bible Study! Please check back later this week or weekend for an upcoming post just for Women!  It's also going to be fun and exciting...and ... interactive if you want to participate!!

How was your Tuesday?

Kid's Say....

 image from here

I have been MIA lately on this blog and I apologize. With work, baby, husband, chores, bible study, youth group, karate etc. The blog is one the last on my to-do list. However, I am slowly finding more time for this blog and hope that I will be able to post more frequently here soon.

We are on our third week of school! THIRD week already. I was just informed that we only have about 15 weeks until Christmas break. Crazy!

Anyway, I started a new thing for my classroom this year because I can't get over how funny and interesting some of the things my kiddos say. I cut some index cards in half, hole punched them, and put the cards on a loose leaf ring. When I hear something from one of my kiddos, I write it down. After a while I am going to post the index cards around the room to see if parents, other teachers and students can figure out who said what!

I want to share with you what some of the kids have been saying:

"Am I go to China teacher?" 

-student talking about putting his shoes on wrong.

"That one is the penis one." -student

"You mean puniest" -me

"Ya teacher, penis!" -student

"Umm.... Okay." -me

-talking about the size of the fish 

 

"God just heals everything, right teacher?" 

- talking about a 'boo-boo' that is healing

"It's a BLASTEROFFER" 

 -a kiddo talking about his lego creation

"Teacher, I'm taking you to Hawaii! You forgot coconuts, sand and water. Lets go!" -student

"Okay, Iceland, here we come!" 

-another student talking about where to go while playing 'airplane'

"You can kill them [Lions] with a canon!" 

-playing with the puppets

"I have teeth like dinosaurs now, teacher!" 

- after brushing his teeth

"After 100 days we get to party! But, we still have days of life."

-Talking about 100 days of school party

"NO! I am a first grader becasue I am taller!" 

"It's bad stuff...killing...you will have no heart if you kill."

-Talking about Transformers 

It's amazing how kids' minds work! I mean, they have some pretty fascinating stuff to tell us if we just listen. This is going to be an ongoing project and I hope to have my room full of inspiration and laughs from my kiddos in kindergarten. Which one is your favorite? What is the funniest thing you ever heard from a child? Let me know in the comments!
 

My Classroom...

Here is my classroom. It's bare. It's new. It's beautiful and just waiting to get covered with student's work!

Calendar / Math Board

(we are adding stuff slowly)

The Library 

(i already changed this by putting the bookshelf that's on the left to the right and the bookshelf to the right on the left :) ...

Dramatic Play and the Art Lab:

Looking at the door and the computer area along with the cubbies:

Our Science Lab with our frogs and fish:

The kid's cubbies and coat racks along with all the teaching material:

 

The Smart Board: 

(this is where the kids get their instruction): 

And there you go! It's still a work in progress as I find out what works best for my kiddos. It will be ever changing until I find something absolutely perfect (which probably will never happen!).

I love it.

Ode To Clint: Inspiring Coach!

It's not everyday that teachers in rural Alaska (aka: The Bush) get national recognition for all their hard work and dedication to their students, so when I saw an opportunity to nominate an Inspiring Coach for the Brooks Running Program, I didn't hesitate to nominate Clint. Yes, he is my husband, but that fact doesn't make it any less important. He inspires me and others in so many ways. Clint is either working, tutoring, coaching, or volunteering his time for after school activities as well as runs a Dojo and ABKA Karate program. He actually has very little time for himself.

To nominate Clint I had to write two different essays (1) that highlights his achievements and coaching experience and (2) how he inspires me as a fellow teacher.

This was the requirements for me to be able to nominate Clint:

Now on to the good news! 

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......

.....

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Clint is one of the finalist for this program!

Let me say it again with more spunk.....

Clint is a finalist for Inspiring Coach!!!!

Whew! 

Here is what Clint has been given for the White Mountain School XC Running Program: 

I am so excited for the running program next year, and even more excited that I can brag about my husbands greatness, because he really is just that..Great. He takes so much time and dedication in helping our students succeed in everything that they do, it's nice that he's able to get some recognition for it... Recognition that would help our students in achieving their dreams as well! 

So here's to Clint... Raise a glass of bubbly with me (since we don't have wine in the village, I'll just pretend with my water glass) and congratulate my wonderful husband! 

Not only does he get all of the above, but his profile (along with the essays) will appear on the Brooks website! I'll be sure to put the link on the site when it  comes available in June! 

He also has a chance to win the GRAND PRIZE of: 

Which would not only help out Whit Mountain, but other schools around our district as well!

Let's see if he can make it all the way!

Good job Clint...I may have written the letters, but you were my inspiration!

If you want to see updates of the activities that Clinr is involved in, including his Karate class, go to his blog here

all images are from the Brooks site here

Art...Art...And More Art!!

White Mountain School is not only a great school to work at because of the staff, students, and community. It's a great school because it acknowledges the arts...So much so that we have had the pleasure of having an Artist in Residence for the last two years Clint and I have been here (they have one every year!). Last year, we made the fence with Sarah Conarro. Here is the project we did last year. 


This year, we have another Gal who has been working with our students on drawing self portraits, and working with the staff on ceramics!

Here she is working with my kiddos this afternoon:

Stay tuned for another post on the staff artwork that we created!

Little Dribblers

Last night, we held a Little Dribblers game for all our elementary basketball students. To say it was fun would be an understatement... It was a BLAST!! It was a nice time for parents and community members to see the hard working basketball players play on their home court!

If you would like to see some (awesome) pictures of the game, go to Clint's blog by clicking here !!!

First Day...

 

 (a sign made by one of my second year students)

The days leading up to my first day back I was a mess. I would start crying when I looked at Bria or when I would smell her while holding her close. I would tell Clint, "I wish there was a way to become a Stay-at-home-mom" If there was a a way. I would take it in a heartbeat. But for now, it's going back to the classroom :)...

Thursday was my first day back at work and my first day away from Bria. It was bitter sweet because as much as I absolutely hated to leave Bria (we haven't been away from each other since she was conceived last April) I was excited to get back to my school kids and classroom.

When we first dropped off Bria at her babysitters. I was okay. I knew she would be taken care of, loved, and played with just as if she was home with me.

It ended up being a great first day back with my kids. They were just as excited to see me as I was to see them. We read, sang songs, played, and of course learned.  They showed me all their projects from when the long-term sub was here, who by the way, was amazing! I am really glad that the substitute the district picked for me was so good! I couldn't believe how much my kids learned in such a short amount of time....Kids are seriously like sponges. 

But... After a fun day I couldn't wait drive the snow machine (yes, I drove the machine for the first time...in a blizzard mind you) to pick up my sweet baby. When I arrived at the babysitters, she was sound asleep and looking pretty happy, which made me happy that it went so well. Did I mention they are also using cloth diapers? 

We are so blessed to have friends in our lives that are willing to help take care of Bria while we are at work.

Buddy Reading!

It's been a while since I shared anything that was school related, and I'm so excited to share this particular activity with you. Clint asked if it would be okay if his kids came down to our classroom (see, we are in a different building from the rest of the school) and read to us! It was a no brainer and I instantly said "YES!" exactly in that tone.  It was very nice to have older kids read to my younger kids and it was nice to see the interaction between the two age groups! At the end, Clint read a book called Do Not Build a Frankenstein to both groups. He made it fun and interactive and engaging- it was also amazing to see that my three and four year olds sat quietly while he read. It's usually quite a struggle to keep them seated for an entire book!

Enjoy :)...















This will be an activity that we will do every Tuesday! It will be a great opportunity for both classes to participate in Language Experience!