Where it all goes Down.. and a Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday Charlie!!!

Okay okay, now to the main reason I am posting today! Where it all goes down! I honestly don't have many pictures of the room, but the ones I have pretty much tell all.

This is my reading loft. All kindergarten classes come standard with one in my school. My kiddos love this! My best friend handmade my pillows for me. Each day my class visits the loft. They choose a pillow and a book and read. Well, look at pictures haha! I want them to be comfortable while they are reading, so if it means that they lay down, then I am down with that. 

This is my nook. You can see the cubbies behind my desk that are full of books and binders. You can also see part of my kidney table. The kidney table is actually where my assistant runs the daily math center. I also let students sit there for morning work and snack time.

This is my baby right here!! My whole group area! You see my nice calendar area. We use Everyday math. So if you are familiar with this, than you know that there are 8 daily routines that we have to do. All but 2 are on the board. You can also see part of my Word Wall, my number line, my Morning Message board (which actually turns around and holds my tablet with the weekly poem for Shared Reading), my tv, my projector area (surrounded by bananas), and the sacred Comfy White Chair. 

This, my friend, is where it all goes down!

Leave me some love, or Charlie some birthday wishes!!

Why Yes, I am a Teacher too!!

Blog Hoppin is hosting a Linky Party today called Meet the Teacher. I thought to myself - what the heck! I'll do it too! (ps - check out their blog!!)

Tell us a little something about you...

Well, let's see..... I am about to celebrate my 25th birthday in September. I grew up in small town USA, well, Mississippi. I went to a small private school in the MS Delta. I decided to go to Delta State University because I knew it was the best school for teachers. So, while all my fellow classmates where headed to Ole Miss and MS State, I was headed to the land of the Fighting Okra. I met my now husband, Will, there and married him in June 2009. We moved to Brandon right after. We got Charlie in September 2010. That's me in a nutshell :)

                 How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching for almost two years. I graduated in December 2009. I took a job teaching 2nd grade in January 2010. I taught 2nd grade again at the same school the next school year. This past May I accepted a job in a different school district teaching Kindergarten.

You might not know...

I am in graduate school! I will graduate with my Master's in Education this December from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS.

What are you looking most forward to this school year?

I am so looking forward to watching the growth of my babies! I love being the teacher to begin the school and learning process! I have seen them learn so much in the 2 weeks we have been in school! I know that the rest of the year is going to be amazing!

What do you need to improve?

I need to improve my discipline system. My school focuses on positive behavior. We are a PBIS school if you know what that is. I have some kids who don't care if they are not rewarded. I need to figure out what I can do, positively, that will keep them under control.

What teaching supplies can you *not* live without?

My MacBook Pro that the district gave me, sticky notes, and my hot glue gun!!

Well, there you have it! Join the Linky Party! And leave me some love on this Monday evening!!

I Won!! :)

What a way to end my Friday!!

I checked my Blogger and sure enough, I had won the giveaway hosted by The Teacher Wife, First Grade Factory, and Mrs. Patton's Patch!!! If you do not already follow these sweethearts, you must do so!

I was able to choose 2 activities from each of their Teacher Notebook stores, so that is 6 new fun downloads for me!!

I am so grateful to blog and be able to have chances to win such cute and high-quality items!

Hoping that you have a happy ending to your Friday as well!!

Meet Leo

This is Leo. I named him Leo because I wanted him to appeal to both genders in my classroom. I bought Leo at Kohl's last year along with a new copy of the Grouchy Ladybug, since my copy was getting a little worn. I wanted to have a traveling "pet" this year with my Kinders, and found him hiding in the trunk of my car over the weekend. So, I decided to name him Leo and let him visit my little friends. I happened to have a ladybug notebook that I have never used before, so before my kiddos arrived this morning, I typed up a little intro note for the notebook so that my parents would know what was going on. Leo travels home with one student each night. The student is to illustrate one activity that they did with Leo and write a sentence explaining the drawing. My kids were so excited! Bryce got him tonight and told me before he left that if Leo was bad, he would write me a note. Precious! I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with and letting the students tell the class during carpet time about their adventures with Leo! Hopefully I will be able to post some of their entries for you to read!

I survived week One!

Thankfully the rest of my week went by pretty uneventful - all children got home correctly and I slept easy because of that. I have 19 sweet kiddos this year - 11 girls and 8 boys. I have 3 that cannot write their name, 1 that doesn't even know how to spell her name, and 1 that is reading on a 2nd grade level. It is going to be an interesting year!

I wanted to post a few pics of the finished room, but I haven't figured out how to find them on my new MacBook. Did I mention that my school district bought 900 MacBooks this summer for the teachers? 1.2 million dollars on computers! But - I get to bring it home everyday to play on! I am still trying to figure things out on here.

Last week we focused on the Kissing Hand and this week we will be reading Chrysanthemum. We start CCSS hard and heavy on week 3. I placed an order on Amazon today for 6 books for our units. Will is being super supportive of me buying what I need-thankfully!!

So, all in all, I did survive. I did catch a cold, of course, but that just gives me the excuse to talk Nyquil and pass out at 7:00. :)

Oh My Gosh - Can't Believe I Made It Home!

Let me state for the record - I have only been teaching for 2 years.

I had the bus mishap of the day. Yep. Every teacher's nightmare right here. 

Without my knowledge, a student was moved from one bus to another because I wrote the wrong address down for where to drop her off! She was supposed to be dropped off at her aunt's house (and I knew that!!) but I wrote down her house's address down!! AAGHHHHHHH!

Long story short, Mom came to the school ranting and raving (which I can understand!) but luckily my principal calmed her down and she left happy with me and the school. 

I, on the other hand, am still horrified!

Happy first day of school (and Kindergarten) to me.