Krazy in Kindergarten!!

I think I should rename my blog "Krazy in Kindergarten" because that is what these first 5 weeks of school have felt like!  We have a new math series, new online data system & report cards, full implementation of CCSS, and no more Young 5s program (which means an influx of 4 year old kindergarteners)!  It has been cuh-raaaazy!!!  I feel like it’s my first year of teaching and not my 17th!!!

 

I’ve had so many things on my blog to-do list and never enough time in the day to get to any of them.  Soon I hope!

 

I did get to cross one big thing off my list, though.  I finally finished some projects I’ve been working on and uploaded them to my very own TPT store!  I’m so excited (and a little nervous, too!)

 

So far I have 3 products available:

Number of the Day Practice Pages

 

 

Number Posters for 0-10

 

 

Roll-a-ColorWord

 

In honor of my new store, I am offering 20% off my products from today through Monday, Oct. 8th!  If you find something you like, please leave feedback and let me know what you think!

I’ll be back soon to share pics from my classroom and the “kraziness” in kindergarten!!

Take care,

Kindergarten Common Core

Whew!!!  I survived the first 2 weeks of the new school year!  How do I always forget what kinderkids are like at the beginning of the year??
 

 This year our district is fully implementing the Common Core State Standards and it sometimes feels a bit overwhelming!  I just came across this book today and decided to check it out.  I’m so glad I did! 
 

 

 It’s a huge resource (over 600 pages) full of great posters, activities, and/or centers for each of the kindergarten standards.  They are colorful and engaging!  I can’t wait to begin using them in my own classroom!
 

 If you’re looking for a great all-in-one resource for teaching the English and Math Common Core, then you should definitely check out the Kindergarten Common Core Workbook!  It’s priceless!

Technology Tip Tuesday

It’s Technology Tip Tuesday for Teacher Week at Blog Hoppin’!

If your school is anything like mine, budgets are tight and the costs of copies are at a premium.  In order to save money (and paper), my colleagues and I often copy student work pages and center activities in half-size (2 to a page.)

I will show you how you can do this in Adobe (it also works in a similar way in Microsoft Word).

1.  Open up the document you would like to print and click File, then Print (or just click the printer icon in the toolbar).  This will open up the dialogue box shown in step 2.

2.  Click the Properties button next to your printer name.

3.  A new box will pop up and you will first click on the Layout tab. (Yours may look a bit different depending on the brand of printer you have, but it should still say “Layout”).  Next, choose Multipage.  Check to make sure that 2 is the number showing under Pages per sheet.  Then click OK.

4.  Finally, choose Pages and then type the page numbers (separated by a comma) that you want to appear half size.  If you want 2 copies of the same page on one sheet, then just type the same page number twice separated by a comma (EXAMPLE:  To print page 1 twice on the same paper, type 1, 1).  Then press OK and it should begin printing.  :)

Clear as mud, right??  I hope that wasn’t too confusing and that you find this tip as useful as I do.  If you have any questions, email me and I will do my best to answer them!

Now, hop on over and share your own Tech Tip!!

Teacher Must-Haves & More Freebies

It’s teacher week at Blog Hoppin’ and I’m linking up for Must-haves Monday.

Here are my “must-haves”:

1.  COFFEE!!  I have to have my morning coffee with my favorite creamer!  I make my own every morning since I live only 30 seconds from my school and pass no coffee shops on the way!

2.  My laptop computer – When I started teaching, we didn’t even have computers in our classrooms and maybe one or two school-wide!  I’m so grateful for how much easier it  is to prepare lessons using technology!

3.  My Kindergarten "Peeps" who are also 2 of my best friends!!  I couldn’t imagine having to teach without them on my team!  (I don’t have a pic of all of us & I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want me posting it anyway! )

4.  Mechanical pencils – My favorite kind of pencils especially when I’m in a meeting or testing and can’t get up to sharpen dull/broken leads.

 

5.  My Droid RAZR – I just got it in May and it’s my first smartphone.  I LOVE it!  It’s great having my Google calendar, email, and blogs all at my fingertips!!

What are your “Must-haves”?  Link up at Blog Hoppin’ and share!

And now for the freebies!!

These are two forms that I give to the parents at Open House and ask them to return on the first day of school.

This is a student information sheet that I keep in a binder all year and refer to it often.  I copy it on colored paper to help me keep track of it with all the beginning of year paper work being turned it at one time.

This one is a transportation form that the parents fill out to let me know how their child gets home daily.  I keep this on file all year and the parents know that any changes to what is on this form need to be done in person or in writing.  We only have 2 options for our students (pick-up & bus).  If you would like another option added, email me & I would be happy to make changes for you!

I copy this onto yellow paper and there are 3 on a page to save copies!

I hope you find these useful!

September Newsletter Freebie!

I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my monthly newsletter templates for what seems like forever!  My motto this summer has been “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans!” because that is certainly what has been happening to me!

I’ve decided to offer my September template as a freebie for all my (patient) followers!  It is a powerpoint file and is editable.  Some of the headers I use are “Look What We’re Learning…”, “Mark Your Calendar”, “News & Notes”, “Birthdays”, “Help Wanted”, etc.  (Tip:  To save on colored printer ink, I usually just print mine in Grayscale and then copy it onto colored paper.)

Click on the picture to get a copy of your own.  It will open in Google Docs and then you just need to go to File then Download to open it in Powerpoint.

 

I hope you find this newsletter useful!  I hope to post the rest of the months soon!!!!

Take Care,

Sneak a Peek Linky

I’m linking up over at Blog Hoppin’ to share my recent purchases from the Back to School Sale on TpT.  There were so many things on my wishlist but I had to narrow it down to these fabulous items!

I love the activities that Kathleen at Growing Kinders creates and was so excited when she added a new back to school unit!  I purchased these three units from her store! 

   

I bought this great bundle to help my kiddos master their letters & Dolch word lists 1& 2 from Marsha at A Differentiated Kindergarten!

Deedee Wills has great products in her store, too, and I narrowed it down to these purchases:

   

I can’t wait to start Reader’s Workshop with this great unit from Kim Adsit’s store!

I rounded out my purchases with these 2 great units from Julie Lee!

 

I’m knee-deep in printing, laminating, and cutting right now, but I can't wait to use all my new purchases!!

Head on over to Blog Hoppin’ to share your newest purchases, too!

Take Care,

Pen-Pal Pair Up!

Happy Friday!  I wanted to share with you the Perfect Pen Pal Pair Up that Kelley at Teacher Idea Factory is hosting.  I signed up yesterday and can’t wait to find out who we’ll be pen pals with this year!  It is quick and easy to sign up.  Just click on the picture below and it will take you to the Google form where you, too, can sign up! 

You can sign up even if you don’t have a blog!  If you want more info. about this great opportunity, click here to go to Kelley’s original post! I hope many of you take advantage of this great opportunity!

Take care,

Slow Down, Summer!

Yikes!  Why is the summer going so fast???  I feel like my to-do list gets longer and longer and the time to get it done is shorter and shorter!

Between out-of-town baseball tournaments and trying to restore some sort of organization to my chaotic house, I haven’t had much time to work on my editable newsletter templates.  I’m hopeful this will be the weekend I get them done!   I’ve used these for a couple of years and love them – I’m just changing out the graphics and tweaking a few things now.  I hope they’ll be worth the wait!

On another note, I thought it would be fun to tell you more about myself and link up with Mrs. Lemons and her Tell me more, tell me more! linky party at her blog Step Into Second Grade.

These are the top 8 things about me.  (I couldn’t come up with 10!)

1.  First and foremost, I have four boys who I absolutely adore! They are 13, 11, 8, & 6 and keep me S-U-P-E-R busy.

This was taken last summer at our favorite beach/campground.  We have a trip planned there in August!  Yay!

2.  The other “boy” in my life is my dog-son, Jedi!  He is a Bichon Frise/Maltese mix and the smartest, cutest dog ever!  (OK, so maybe I’m a little biased.)  He is 2 years old and my first dog ever.  I wouldn’t trade him for the world!

Isn’t he precious??

3.  I love all things Star Wars (hence the dog named, Jedi)!  I’ve been obsessed since the day my dad took me to see The Empire Strikes Back when I was 8 years old!  I’ve seen every movie at least a dozen times!

4.  I llloooovvvveee coffee!  I have to have my coffee in the morning and then I am ready to start my day.  My favorite creamer is Almond Joy by International Delight and I was ecstatic when I saw that the new bottle no longer had “Limited Edition” printed on it!  LOVE IT!

5.  I enjoy running and am working my way back into it after 2 separate injuries sidelined me for almost 2 years!!   I have to keep reminding myself to take it slow but that can be so frustrating sometimes!  I use this free app on my Android phone to help me track my runs:

6.  I love music and love to stream my playlists through Rhapsody.  I pay for the monthly subscription and use it on my Kindle Fire, Droid phone, and home computer.  I even use the Rhapsody app to listen to my playlists while I am running!

7.  My 2 favorite snack foods are Snyder’s Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzel Pieces and Lay’s Dill Pickle Flavored Potato Chips!  I can’t seem to get enough (which increases my need for #5 above!)

8.  Reading is one of my passions and I got a Kindle Fire this year and love it!  I always thought that I wouldn’t like the e-reader format because I like to be able to hold a book in my hands but I’m definitely getting used to it.  The best part is that I can carry a whole library of books and magazines with me everywhere!

Now head on over to the linky party to learn more about some wonderful bloggers and to link up yourself!