I got my job back!!

Soooo first, I am feeling all kinds of guilty for not posting in forever. As I've mentioned before, I received a layoff notice last year and have just been crossing my fingers and hoping that California could get a budget together and my district could find the money to bring me back. Well guess what?! They called me last Tuesday and offered me a kindergarten spot at a new school. No more 2nd grade, which makes me a little sad, but I am really excited to be back in kinder. I wasn't really able to do much in my classroom until last Friday and we start back on Tuesday. Yes, TUESDAY. Not a lot of time. Crazy. 

The really good news is that now that I know what grade I am teaching, I can start creating things and taking pictures and posting very soon. I really have missed sharing with you all. Oh, and if you are a kinder teacher, please leave me a comment so I can come stalk your blog or Pinterest! 

Vocabulary Template and Exciting News!

I was accepted as an author to "Me and My Gang". It was originally made for 2nd grade teachers to find each other, but now the girls who started it are opening it up to other grade levels. Head on over and get yourself an author spot.

Also...

I made this page to go with our Imagine It!/Open Court adoption. I had the students write the word (broken into syllables) in the long box, a picture in the smaller one, and the rest is self-explanatory. Hopefully some of you can use it as well! :)

I have a confession to make...

... Pinterest has kind of taken over my blogging. I am loooving all of the ideas out there. When I first started using Pinterest, there were no other teachers out there using it and classroom pics were so hard to find. Now that we have all found each other through Blogland, I am spending hours pinning away. It's kind of crazy too because it seems like we all kinda like the same things -- even outside of teaching. So I just thought I'd share some of my favorite things I have pinned lately...

Obsessed with this balloon idea from Mrs. McComish at Monarch Madness. She is new to the blog scene and has some really cute classroom pictures you guys should check out. Not to mention she is having her first giveaway... $20 to Target. 

Cupcake Linner Ribbons?! Yes please. Totally cute and super easy to make. This idea is from Charlotte's Fancy. This site is super addicting. It's not all crafty and cutesy though. 

How cute would it be to get ahold of your teacher friends' class lists and make them these as a little Back to School gift. Adorable. The idea is from K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, sister)

I.need.these.now. How much cuter would everything be if this bordered it?! Print Candee on Etsy of course.

Not only does this look super colorful and cute... it's sooooo true...

Just when you thought Shark Week was over and you were safe...

And because I am hoping that I am not the only one who tortures myself by watching Criminal Minds, at night, in the dark, while I am home alone, which obviously makes me the biggest scaredy cat ever --- I leave you with this.

Matt Damon defending teachers! Looove it!

Have you all seen this?! I have always been a Matt Damon fan, but now I am going to leave my boyfriend for him  loving him even more! Check out this video!

Happy Birthday Freebie!

Hey Bloggy Friends! I just wanted to share with you all what I do for birthdays in my classroom. Mine is coming up -- 2 months away, but it's close in my mind. ((I've even started a Pinterest board full of gift ideas so when people ask me what I want I don't have to answer with the usual "hmmm. I dunno.")) 

Soooo.... back to what I do in my classroom. 

I print out one of these... I color it and type their name on it. I obviously had to take the name part off so it would be more "blog sharing friendly".  ((I have such a love/hate relationship with PDFs right now. ))

You can click on the picture to get a copy of it.

Then I make a class set of this... the Birthday Boy/Girl gets to share some things that want for their birthdays and I draw a quick sketch of it on the board and label it. Then the students head back to their desk and draw what they wish they could give the birthday b/g. It can be something we discussed or something else. ((In kinder - I had a boy that would always give the girls a princess Barbie. Sooo cute!)) Then they sign their name, turn it in to me, and I make it into a book. Also, in kinder I would use a tracing font so the kids could trace Happy Birthday ____ and Love, ____. 

Classroom ABC's

So, I was doing some "Summer Cleaning" of my files and blog posts and accidently deleted a post ((totally thought it was a draft)). I didn't think anyone would miss it so I never reposted. Well, much to my surprise, people are actually reading this little ol' blog of mine and using the stuff I post. I have been getting a lot of emails for the Classroom ABCs form that was on the post I deleted, so I thought I'd put it back up here. 

I have to tell you... I did not come up with the ideas of ABCing your classroom rules/procedures. I originally saw it on Christina Bainbridge's website. I loved the idea so much that I googled "classroom abcs" and a ton of other teachers do it as well. If one of the letters' words on here doesn't work for you, check these websites and I am sure you will find something. 

1. Mrs. Bainbridge's Class Website

2. Mrs. Sano's Class Website

3. Pro Teacher

4. Mrs. Niemiec's Class Website

5. Mrs. Gerew's Class Website

Anyways, here it is and hopefully you can put it to good use!

If you want it in Word, just email me and I will send it your way - fonts attached! :)

Click the picture to download a PDF.