Classroom Fun!!

Okay, so I finally uploaded my photos of our fun activities we did over the past two weeks in class.  This being my first year in Pre-K, I found myself taking a lot of photos because everything my little kiddos were doing impressed me so much!  I'm also linking up with CFC's awesome blog to let everyone take a peek in my planbook!  So be sure to check out all the awesome ideas everyone posted & be sure to leave feedback! :)

 Annnnndd.... here we go, my first linky party, annnnnd my first blog about things I'm doing in my classroom! I hope you enjoy!

The kiddos practiced their names with clothes pins on laminated sentence strips.  I was sure to write the clothes pin letters on BOTH sides of the pins, just incase the pins were backwards.  This activity really surprised me because it took the kids a good while to complete it.  We will definitely be working on more activities to improve their fine motor skills!  Either way, they definitely loved this activity!

 

Next, my kiddos made mosaic names!  I applied the glue for them and provided small construction paper squares.  We also discussed the letter formation of each letter, as I applied the glue in the way in which you write the letters.  Does that make sense? The kids were so impressed about how they were able to decorate their names!  They're really going to love it next week when we do a similar activity but with balls of colored tissue paper!

 

I really loved this activity!  I wrote each kids name on a sentence strip, and then again on a second strip and cut it into pieces, laminated and added Velcro!  Each kiddo had to match their letters to spell their names! 

 

I was really impressed with our first day of peg boards!  One of my little ones made a red border around the board, this was really interesting to me because from what I've seen most of my little kiddos just put the pegs in any order! 

 

We got a little creative this week with magnetic letters!  Each student practice spelling their names on magnetic boards, and also practiced matching letters on a ABC placemat!

The next few things were to practice our fine motor skills!  Each kid practiced the appropriate uses for scissors and learned how to manipulate them.  To make it a little easier on their first try, the kids cut up pieces of thick contact paper scraps!  I got these from another teacher!  I didn't think it was a great idea at first, but it worked out awesome and was actually a lot easier for the kids to cut than regular paper!  The thickness of the contact paper allowed them to grip it better and to learn to cut! 

  

 I also loved this activity from Lakeshore!  (Click the link to go directly to the product/item info)  The kids practice their fine motor skills by feeding the animals!  THEY LOVE THIS!!  They make munching noises as they feed the bunny, puppy and monkey (not shown).  I highly recommend this product if you teach students who need to work on their fine motor skills!

I Made It!

Well, it's official... I made it through my first week in Pre-K!  Coming from second grade, I definitely underestimated all the little things kids learn from the lower grades before coming to our classrooms!  It is impossible to try to list all the things they have not been taught or that they have not seen before, but I'm sure you can get the idea!  My little kiddos were eager and ready to come to their very first day of school...EVER!  Of course there were some tears, but by the end of the day everyone was sweetly snuggled on the floor for their nap and my assistant and I were wiping our brow in relief!  Only to find out nap is a bitter sweet experience if it's your first day and you didn't know you were supposed to make all the kids go to the potty before going to sleep. (Lesson learned)

I'll definitely post SOON to share pictures of our centers and fun activities we did this week!  I know this is SUPER short, but I felt I needed to post something since I've apparently neglected my new blog already!!

Irene...Are You Serious?!?!

So, as I'm sure most of you heard, the east coast was rocked by hurricane Irene this past weekend!  We lost power at my house for the entire weekend, and learned to really live with nothing.  Sounds spoiled I know, but it was definitely hard.  Every minute that went by, with nothing to do, all I could think of was my unfinished classroom and all the laminating I left on my desk, waiting to be cut out!

Alas, today, Tuesday, our school regained power and teachers were allowed to return!  After missing Monday and Tuesday's workdays we were all rushing into school today to prep our classes for our Open House tomorrow evening!

I came in partially expecting my new furniture, and thousands of dollars worth of manipulatives to have been delivered, since my Pre-K class currently has nothing in it for this upcoming school year!  But of course nothing was there due to... IRENE!!  So I did my best "pretty up" the class and to try to overlook the lack of tables and "things".

Hopefully tomorrow, I can turn this room into something miraculous by 3pm!  I'll keep you posted!

There's a First Time for Everything!

Welp, there's a first time for everything!  I've decided to start a blog, as much as I never saw the point of it, I fell in love with many different teacher blogs and thought why not share my own classroom ideas?  So here it goes!  I'm not sure what to blog about first except for what I am doing now.


This year I will be in my fourth year of teaching and my third grade level taught!  My favorite question people always ask is "Oh, what grade do you teach?" and my answer is always.... "what have I not taught!?"


My first two years I taught adorable first graders and in my third year teaching I was lucky enough to *loop* up to second grade with my class.  What an experience that was!  I learned so much about myself when I was able to explore different avenues of teaching, because I already had a very high comfort level with my students and their families at the start of the school year.   The end of the year was bitter.sweet as I said goodbye to my kiddos of two years.  Some of them definitely needed a break from each other, but in the end, we were all a big family.


This year I am beginning yet another journey in teaching... PreK....
Our program is funded by VPI (Virginia Preschool Initiative) and this year many Virginia schools were given a grant to add another PreK classroom to their school.  When our school added their second PreK class, I seemed like a good fit.  So this year I will be dipping my toes into something new... again!


So to get this blogging thing started, I guess I will start by keeping you posted on my new classroom set up!!
My only current classroom picture is of some of my new organizing labels.  Needless to say, I got a little carried away with my labeling.  But I love how colorful and organized my cabinets are turning out!