another super easy bulletin board.

I love bulletin boards.  They're fun to put up and let me use some creativity.  However, I also love having some displays that are easy to switch out.  And I mean...simple.  Here's my newest {genious} bulletin board.

It hangs right outside the front door and instead of posting an objective {gasp!} it says "Celebrating growth & personal best" so any type of work sample can go up at any time, even if it isn't something I'd typically fill a bulletin board with.  It's only been a few weeks but my kids love it.  It's encouraging and really does motivate them to try their best!

But wait...I am getting ahead of myself.  ;)  It's Currently time with Farley!

Regina Spektor.  Love.  Especially Fidelity.  Our photographers turned us on to this song when hubs & I were still dating {long distance} and now this channel helps me relax after a stressful day.

Thank you to my VistaPrint Groupon that was expiring and I had to quickly {and I mean right that second} make some choices...ta da!  If the pink wall didn't make this office mine, Little Miss Glamour has claimed it now!  ;)

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a heel girl.  But my new school is a little more relaxed so I'm adding some cute flats to my collection.  I mean, it's for work, so...I didn't really have a choice!  {shoedazzle.com  Click the pic for free membership!}

Honestly.  I made my sweet 4 month nephew crack up for a good 30 minutes through the computer.  How amazing is technology?!  Ugh.  I LOVE him!!  {and catching up with my sister of course}

Apparently there is a song to go along with this story but after 9 years of making up my own jazzy rendition {complete with on-the-spot skatting...sklee bah!} I really don't think I could switch to the actual song that accompanies it.  My kids love this song and we sing it through the whole month of October.

And sometimes in May.  ;)

Happy fall y'all!  Off to Homecoming at my husband's alma mater!

fall = time to integrate science & literacy.

Our hallway tree is updated!

Today I added our leaf books to the apple books.  We recorded our observations from our leaf walk combined with using the word wall.  Boom.  Super lesson.  Also super easy.  Just find some good fall vocabulary cards or make your own by drawing pictures and labeling!

Then we used our fall collections to make leaf creatures.  Thank you Lois Ehlert, we LOVE the Leaf Man!!  Actually, we started with the printable leaves from the Harcourt website.  And tomorrow we're going to choose some items from our collections to jazz 'em up a little bit.

We're also going to do some writing.  Either labeling the parts or writing a sentence...haven't quite decided yet.  ;)  Watch for updated photos tomorrow!

In the meantime, you should probably go over to Lanier's Lions to get this adorable Roll & Record freebie.  We played it today {"1st grade math?! You guys are too smart!"} and look forward to using it the rest of the month.

I love finding great activities to add to the rotation!  If you're looking for more, you're welcome to follow my Fall or Halloween Pinterest page!

how to draw a person. kindergarten style.

As cute as they are, we don't need amoeba people in kindergarten. You know the ones: circle faces with legs shooting out of the chin and arms sticking out where the ears should be. They're typically blue, purple, green or any other color that skin isn't.

I always start teaching how to draw a person with choosing the appropriate colors. Crayola has multicultural crayons that are fabulous for drawing people. There was some {unnecessary} talk of political correctness when they hit the market, but a product that allows every child the option to represent themselves accurately is nothing but greatness in my eyes.

As I was teaching it this year, I started singing a little song.  I made it up as I went so don't be too critical.  Although, I have to admit, I quite like it.  :)

Yes, your kids will laugh hysterically the first few days you sing this but after a few practices they'll learn to control themselves and use it as a way to check their work. I randomly hear my class singing it now throughout the day and it makes me chuckle, but we don't have naked people hanging in the hall! ;)

sorting letters.

Just a quick one today friends.  We've been out serving our community this morning {and hanging out with Emily from The Biggest Loser...holla!} and I am zonked.

I did just create this for an alphabet or word work center this week, though, and figured you might like to have it.  :)

I'm always looking for activities or lessons that will help with alphabetic principle.  I feel like there's not much variety with letter ID because they just have to learn the formations but I did hear about letter sorting and thought it'd be great in a center.  I couldn't find a printable mat so I made one.  It is SIMPLE but it'll work!  There's a generic one and one specific to capital or lowercase letters if that's how you roll.

Your kids can use magnet or letter cards just to practice sorting or you can give them an additional mat to use as a recording sheet if you want the data for your records.  You could also print out a page of letters and have them glue the letters down as they sort.  Oh so many possibilities.  ;)

Have a great weekend!  Feel free to share your best letter recognition strategies in a comment!

fall fun {and cookies!}

Heather at TeachingMy3 is hosting a fall blog hop and you know I could not pass that up!  Here are a few of my favorite fall things to do in the classroom...plus a yummy bonus at the end!

{fall journal books}
I love these little babies.  Obviously, because I make them into apples, pumpkins and leaves!  You can use them in a writing center, word work center, during writing instruction or recording observations during science.  Sometimes I make them with plain paper and other times I use the printables.  Just depends on how I'm feelin!

If you use them in an independent center, students can use them as vocab books, writing & illustrating vocabulary terms.  {our leaf books usually have fall words...squirrel, acorn, leaves, scarecrow, crops, etc that they copy from our chart}  If you use them during science, they can hold predictions & observations {how much the pumpkin weighs, if it floats, how many seeds there are, etc}

{johnny appleseed}
Can you tell this is a pot?!  lol  This was one of those spur of the moment ideas but I have to tell you, I think they're adorable!  :)

I was looking for a pattern to make pot hats for the kids but decided to just make my own & use it as a writing display instead.  No pattern to share...because it is easy.  Cut rounded corners on a gray piece of construction paper & cut strips of brown paper.  Ta-da.  The apple I used gave my early writers a little trouble so I'll use this one next time...bigger lines!  ;)

We used Teri's Johnny Appleseed bubble map after reading about him to figure out what to write.

{leaf painting}
I just saw this on Pinterest this morning and had to add it to my Fall board!!  How beautiful are Kelly's shaving cream painted leaves?!  Attempting it this week...probably not in nice clothes.  ;)

And now the bonus...making my favorite fall yummy ever.  They are delicious and I end up making batches and batches each fall because everyone loves them.  Here's the recipe.  You're welcome.  ;)

{oatmeal pumpkin chocolate chip cookies}

Link up with Heather for lots more fall fun ideas!  :)

you gotta take the bad with the good.

You know how getting bad news can really bum you out?  That was me today as of about mid morning.  I got some sad news about a situation that is completely out of my control and I was just bummed.  I wasn't an emotional wreck and it didn't throw me off my game, I just felt like I'd lost my sparkle.

So I threw up a quick prayer {prayer in school?! yikes!} and tried not to think about it too much.  When that didn't work, I kept trying.  Reminding myself that it's out of my hands and that God always has a plan.

No sooner did I forget about it, my kids became extremely responsive.  They were focused.  They answered questions.  I was in the zone.  Totally teaching mode.  Then something amazing happened.

I have a little girl from another country {Burma?  Nepal?  Bhutan?  We're still trying to figure that out...} and for 3 weeks we haven't really been able to communicate.  It's a little frustrating from my standpoint, knowing I can't actually get through to her to explain the whys behind not coloring on other people or not stopping to touch every piece of artwork in the hallway.  But she's making steady progress and we'd hit a lot of roadblocks so I'd kind of stopped working on figuring out the logistics and left it to the office.  This afternoon, our guidance counselor came down with an older student and said she wanted to give it a try and see if they could communicate.  By George, you should have seen. her. face!  She lit up like a rocket when someone was able to speak to her in her own language.  I almost cried.  Story bonus: I learned how to say stop, sit down, good job and thank you in a way that I KNOW she understands!  :)

{that was bright spot #1}

We finished the day and it was time for dismissal and another after-school meeting.  I had a quick snack, finally had the chance to pee {hee!} and made my way to the media center.  I got all the way there {in my 4 inch stilettos, thank you} when I realized I'd forgotten something.  So I had to go all the way back and get it.  When I got there, a lady from a nearby church was just coming up the hallway.  She had received my wishlist and was bringing every item I requested.  Brand new 3-step ladder, Dirt Devil, card stock and glue gun sticks.  Deee-livered.  Amazing!  I have never experienced this type of support - especially from a non-school source - and I really couldn't believe they'd actually gotten everything.

{bright spot #2}

All of that to say...whether you believe it's just coincidence or that God gives us glimmers of hope in our down times...

{from blackandtypeshop on etsy}

...or anything.  It's not always easy to see the good in a day, a moment or a situation.  But it's always there if we try.  Or wait long enough to understand it.

betcha can't keep a straight face.

I saw this commercial last night as hubs was flipping channels and made him go back immediately.  What a great message!

We had a rough day in class today and I'm tempted to show this clip tomorrow just to put a positive spin on the fact that it's a new day and we can all {teacher included} make new choices.

Regardless of your day or life's current circumstances...watch this 30 second commercial.  You'll be glad you did.

And I betcha can't keep a straight face.  ;)