Bloggers Meet In The Real World!

Yesterday I had a blast meeting these lovely ladies at the N. CA Kindergarten Conference! It began when I saw Fran  standing near Heidi's sales table.  It was so fun to meet her in person and get to talk with her about a million different things!  She of course is a ton of energy and fun!  We were able to sit together during the Keynote speaker Ronald Mah who reminded us that being playful with our students and allowing them time to play is so important for their development. He was seriously funny and yet very serious about what is best for children.  Loved him!  Fran and I had lunch outside in the sun and talked non-stop of course! It was so fun to meet the lady behind the Crayon Box! 

I went to a fabulous workshop with Dr. Jean about Math.  It was filled with songs and chants and good ways to teach math.  She is amazing in her workshops and so kind and friendly in person.

I couldn't get into Heidi's workshop, but I can tell you that the teachers who did were so happy!  The lines at her booth were so long all day and lots of cd's, DVD's and books were sold.  I truly enjoyed talking with her about her class and her booming business.  She was so kind and willing to share even after a long day of workshops! 
After our workshops, we met the other blogging friends for dinner and lots of conversation.  It got super loud at one point and the other diners were giving us some "looks", but we didn't care much about that.  We just moved into the lobby to keep the conversations going. Hugs all around when we left for our homes and hotel rooms. 

What a great day of learning and meeting fellow bloggers (and stalkers!)  Thank you Fran for organizing our meet-up!

Me, Stacey, Kat, Jennifer, Camille, Fran and Heidi

Fran Kramer, Dr. Jean and Me!

Here are links to the blogs of the ladies I met yesterday:
Kindergarten Cowgirl (Kat)
Kindergarten Crayons (Fran)
Heidi's Songs 
Dr. Jean
An Open Door (Camille)

Thank you ladies for the fun conversation and I hope we continue to "meet-up" in blog world and hopefully the real world too!

Off to The Kindergarten Conference

In just a few minutes I will be heading to The Northern California Kindergarten Conference to learn even more new ideas for teaching my darling kindergartners!  I love the feeling of excitement and mutual enthusiasm for all things Kindergarten.  I am sure to be singing, doing some silly movements and hearing about the latest research in learning for 4-7 year olds. I hope to be in a worksshop with Heidi Butkus and listen to Dr. Jean (they may even meet us for dinner!)  It will be a wonderful day!

Of course the highlight of my day will be when I personally lay eyes on Fran from Kindergarten Crayons and I get to sit with her and other fellow bloggers at dinner tonight.  I will be sure to share with you how that goes.  It should be a blast! 

Wish you all could be there with me!

Do you ever feel like this?

Do you ever feel like your head will explode with so many amazing ideas that you are finding on blogs and Pinterest plus all of the traditional ways of getting ideas?  How do you choose which ones to do when they are all so great?  Does it make you wish your days were longer with your kids? (Oh my!)

I am having so much fun learning new ideas on all of the blogs and Pinterest, but I am also spending way too much time preparing the activities I buy and pushing my kids so hard to fit it all in.  They are doing amazingly well and we are having lots of fun along with our learning.  I just wonder if it is a bit much at times.

I still have to use the District adopted programs and the many activites I have loved from the past 20 years I have taught (of course they have changed a lot over the years, but you know what I mean!)
I teach a 1/2 day program and it is so hard to fit everything in I want to do.  I need to resist buying every cute unit I see on these blogs...it is just so darn hard!

How do you decide which activities to do and which units to buy?  Thanks for your ideas!

This Week In Pictures and Links (1/9-1/13)

Today was my first day back after the Winter ( dare I say Christmas) break and my kiddos were wonderful!  I was truly happy to see them and they remembered how to behave and everything!  Woohoo!
This week we are beginning a study of Seasons and Weather.  We are also working on the sight word "me", numbers 11-20 and blending sounds (phonemic awareness) as well as short a. 


I am going to post my pics and add links.  This takes me a really long time, so if I don't add a link to your product or idea, please be patient...I will get there!

Group Time activities:

This is my Morning Message for today (Tuesday)  We are focusing on our sight words, word endings, the th digraph and the seasons.  Our new sight word this week is "me". The helper of the Day will cirlce the sight words and take this home.

I got out some cards from our HM series and had the students match pictures to words.  I first said each sound and they blended them together.  Our focus is blending sounds and short a. They did great!

I will introduce the Weather book they will do in centers this week by reading this in the pocket chart.  I will read a weather book first and have the kiddos brainstorm types of weather.

As a group we will sort pictures into the Four Seasons. Then they can do this independently as well.  Season Sorts

I made this chart based on one I saw on Pinterest.  We will complete this today.  Link to come...

Now For Our Centers...My centers are all must do activities.  The students work in their table groups and complete 2 centers per day.  Each center has 2-3 activities.  If they are finished early, they read a book on the rug or complete an "I'm Done" activity which is typically an activity from a past center. I work with the reading center and my wonderful PM partner works at another center (typically the math one)

Center #1 is always our "Heart Word" Center.  This week the word is  me
Students warm up with letters and sounds fluency practice and then practice our sight words with the blue rings. Then they read the red book 3 times and circle the sight word. Next they write the word 6 times in the "Words I Know by heart" book.  Finally, I give students books that contain the new word me and other books with previous sight words.  this is also when I differentiate by giving individual students books that fit their reading level.

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Center #2 the students will warm-up with this great letter and sound fluency game.  From Donna Glynn

Next the students will practice handwriting and written conventions by "shadow writing" these weather sentences.  (this is from a book I have had for years)
The students will copy the sentences right below in their best handwriting.

Center #3   Here the students will warm-up with this sight word game.

Then the students will write in their journals about a topic of their choice.  They have dictionaries and word lists for ideas.  The little worm spacer is from Lakeshore.  Very helpful!

Center #4  Students will complete this fun Seasons book.  They cut and paste the picture that best matches the season in the camera page.  Then they will go back and color.  The Seasons book is from our science program.

Center #5  Students will start in the listening center.  This is a book from Houghton Mifflin (yes, I do  use our program once in awhile)

Then, they will complete this Weather book I created (see freebie on a previous post) and read (look at) weather books.

Here is the book in the pocket chart (also a freebie)

Center #6 The students will warm-up with a math game from our math program.  They will cover the number that the adult says until all are covered.  then they remove the balloons and say the number again.

Next they will complete this math page from our program.  It reviews numbers 11-20.  It will be very challenging to go backwards from 20!

Finally the students will have fun with this awesome game from K. Pederson

I will have them play independently. 

From Growing Kinders

I will be adding the Links very soon and sharing the adorable snowman art project we are making on Wednesday.

I hope seeing these activities is helpful!  Please leave a comment if you have the chance.  I truly appreciate hearing what you think! 

Back To School On Monday!

Wow!  I had a wonderful two weeks with family and friends (and some blogging too!) The first week was very low key since I was sick with a stomach bug for most of it and spent lots of time on the couch asleep!  The second week I took my daughter on a trip to Disneyland and also stopped in on my son in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  So much fun and joy! 

Now the problem is that I am not ready to go back to teaching!  I usually spend more time in the classroom over the break to get reorganized for the new year.  I did go in to clean up all of the Christmas decorations and get out some of my January things.  I have most of my centers for the week ready and plans in my head for what I will be doing, but I am still in a bit of panic mode!  Thank you to all of the amazing blog posts about Winter and January.  They have helped me to "get my head in the game."  Today I will go in and get ready...

So hopefully I will post what I will be doing this week later on tonight. I will be making a new daily calendar page for my students.  I'll post it as a freebie soon.

For those of you who have already been back this past week.  I hope it went well!  To those of you who start back on Monday...here we go!  Happy New Year to all!

My Most Supportive Blogging Buddy

My Most Supportive Blogging Buddy is

Fran Kramer of Kindergarten Crayons!

Fran introduced me to the "blogging world" when I first started my blog and she was my first follower! She created a beautiful post about me and encouraged others to check-out my new blog and they did!  I was so thankful and happy to see new followers and I owed it all to Fran!  Since then, she continues to inspire me with her amazing products and fun posts about teaching.  I can't wait to meet her in person!

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Weather Watcher Book Pocket Chart freebie

I have created pocket chart words to go along with my Weather Watcher book.  Thank you to all of the sweet ladies who have given me positive comments.  I totally eat them up! Pocket Chart Freebie