Press .......

all i have to say....

this is awesome!!!

the first day

the classroom is ready


the teachers are ready



the centers have been tested by a sweet little face


and all is ready
for the 24 sweet friends
who will show up in my door way this morning,
the first day of kindergarten,
with bright eyes and anxious feelings.
we have met some of them
and we have prayed for all of them
and we are excited to get to know them!

and we want you to get to know them too!

this year, we will have a class blog
:)
and i, along with my little friends, would love for you to read
and to comment on
all that we are learning in our little class

our first post should be up sometime around 3:00 this afternoon.

never to old to learn

i have always loved learning
but i've never been all that good at it
i do things a little differently
i always have
i do things in my own time
especially when it comes to learning
learning takes me lots of time
and lots of watching
and lots of hearing
and lots of observing
and lots and lots of doing

since flake left,
turbo has been trying very hard to teach me new things
she hasn't yet been successful with teaching me
-how to give her more food
-how to share the bed with her
-how to play with teeth
-how to pick your nails on most everything
-how to stay up all night long
-how to sleep all day long
-when it is ok to pet her
-that hissing noises and groaning noises are really not scary
i guess she will keep working on those things....
just like all my other teachers,
she will have to be patient with me
while i learn in my own time.

however, i'm quite shocked
that it only took me a mere
two months and two weeks to learn something new
especially from a cat....

turbo isn't all that bad
when she is sleeping!

and days go by

And days go by
I can feel 'em flyin'
Like a hand out the window in the wind.
The cars go by...
Yeah it's all we've been given,
So you better start livin' right now
'Cause days go by...
*Days go by--Keith Urban
and the days certainly have gone by
since the last time i posted...

on wednesday
my little friends and i went to a play
in a big kid class (aka second grade)
the big kids had worked really hard
on learning their lines
making costumes
and props
and background for their own production of
jack and the beanstalk
my little friends had the most fun watching the big kids
act out the story of jack and those magic beans.
after school, i went and got my hair cut
not a big deal to most people...but for some strange reason i just don't like getting my hair cut
but when i got home and little flake approved....

i was excited about my new cut!

on thursday....
my little friends had field day...
i was totally excited
i love field day
we all had matching shirts....

and we were ready to go
we talked about our expectations for the day
and we talked about all the fun we were going to have

the day was so very nice
overcast and cool
which made for being outside so very nice....

16 stations full of fun and enjoyment
we started at station 12
and made our way around
when we got to station 14
one of my little friends made a not so nice choice...
he decided to choke a friend
leaving me to think
really?!?! did i just see that with my eyes?!?!
sad...but true...
i asked him what his punishment should be...
he said
"be done with fun"
and that is exactly what he did

so there he sat...being done with the fun.....sitting beside me (also having no fun), and watching the rest of our friends enjoy field day

that was....until we got around to station 9
and all my little friends lost it
seriously....
for some reason my entire class got in a fight over a ball...
and that is when i decided my little friends were done
my assistant and i marched all our friends around the track and back inside.
and we rested our bodies until we could make good choices again
oh choices
after school....i got to go out to dinner with some great friends and celebrate the end of the school year! yay!!

on friday
some school friends and i met for breakfast at ihop before our last day. one of our friends was moving....so we needed one more time out with her before she left :(

then we had the joy of going to school
one more time
and my little friends had the joy of being kindergartners .... one more time...
this day was exciting in so many ways
but most of all
because mr. caterpillar
the one who my little friends have watched grow and learn each and every school day

went from simply a caterpillar
to a big beautiful butterfly
each day we have added a number to mr. caterpillar
and watched him make his way around our room
we used mr. caterpillar for so many things when it came to learning
he helped us learn our numbers
he helped us learn about patterns
he helped us learn to skip count (by 2's and 5's and 10's)
he helped us learn about how living creatures change and grow
we just love mr. caterpillar....
but my little friends loved his new form just as much!
we were all so excited to see mr. caterpillar become mr. butterfly
that we had to show our friends from next door too
they were super excited too!!

after mr. caterpillar became mr. butterfly
my little friends helped to take all the tape off of mr. caterpillar
and then we put his numbers in order from 1 to 180
fun for them
help for me
....all of us benefited from the activity!

after all our fun with mr. caterpillar,
we had a lot of fun playing outside
and eating ice cream
and just taking in our last moments as kindergartners
and as soon as the bell rang....
the kids
and their teacher
were OUT THE DOOR!!!

after school, i met one of my bestest friends for dinner, who also is a teacher, and we had a blast talking all about how our year had gone, and how thankful we were that the year was over :)
yay for dinner and friends!

on saturday morning
i headed to the airpot (at 4:05 am)
to fly to texas to see flake
it was so exciting to see his precious face!!
we had lot of fun on saturday driving around his new home town
looking at new things
and just talking
and being together

:) i sure had missed him!

on sunday we got up....looking for something to do
a little too late to find a church
so we decided to rent a jetski and head out on the lake
we had so much fun
the best part for me was seeing the cows by and in the water

i have never seen a cow even close to water....
so i just couldn't get enough of how cute they were in the water
flake couldn't get enough of the real estate on the lake

neither of us could get enough of being together

and just having a blast!

i also got the joy of meeting his landlord
all i can say is that he is an interesting man
and by interesting i mean
annoying and weird
but .... to each their own

on the way home from dinner.....
we saw an armadillo
flake had been told that he would never see one alive in texas....
and i made it my mission to find one alive....
and was so super excited that we found one only days after he moved down!
:)
sadly....i didn't have my camera with me
and have no proof....other than we both saw it

on monday
flake had to go to work
which didn't make me all to happy
being that i was left to find something to do
i did have a job of finding him a cleaners
and meeting him for lunch
i did both of those things
as well as explored around his new town
i didn't find very much that was exciting to tell him about
not for lack of trying
but for lack of exciting things to show him
it makes me a little sad
that he has moved to a place that has no target or radio stations....
but i too will adapt
(right?!?!)
after he got off work, we had another great night of being together....
we went out to eat and went and looked at the cutest little house
and when we got back to his new home
i got my stuff together to leave the next day
:/

on tuesday
i took flake to work
and went back to his new home
and got ready very slowly (aka i texted with a few friends for about two hours, before i got ready)
after getting ready, i headed to the store and printed a picture for flake
to keep on his desk
and then i went to his work.
i met all the great people that he is working with,
and then hung out with him until it was time to leave for the airport
my heart broke a little when he dropped me off, and then headed to a meeting he had scheduled in austin
but
i had plenty of time (while waiting for my delayed flight) to think about how lucky i was to have spent such a great weekend with him
and that i will again see him in only two weeks
and that these days are flying by
like a hand out the window in the wind
:)

tattle tale

there came a day when i had heard
my little friends tattle tale one to many times
that was the day that the tattle tale box was introduced into my class.

the same day i introduced the box, i explained to my little friends that for the tattle tale box to work, my little friends must write down who did it, what they did, and their own name.

so....for the next few days....most of the notes looked like this...




some of the kids....got it
most of the kids....well....didn't get it...

so after a few days of some of my kids doing what they could to convey the meanings of their tattle tales (and totally struggling), i suggested that they could draw pictures of the problem, but i still needed names.....

which left me with these.....




now my only problem
is trying to figure out.....
exactly what the person did?!?!

so what do you think???


what on earth did this person do???
my assistant said....someone got upset because someone else passed gas!

and.....did someone tattle on me??

and if so...what did i do???

measurment

i wait all year long for this day
i count down the days to this day
like i do to the 100th day of school
and like i do to the 180th day of school
(which happens to be 21 more days!!)

this is the day we make body cut outs!

this lesson is part of our measurment science kits....
we use these body cut outs for tons of things
we use them while we learn about units of measurement
(non-standard and standard)
we use them to talk about how we are alike and different
we use them to compare and contrast our own bodies

but the number one reason i love to use these body cut outs

is to laugh at how the kids see themselves!
:)

oh outside

this past week, my friends and i went on our very last field trip
for the kindergarten year
we spent the day exploring nature
at tanglewood park

we listened to stories about being in the woods and meadows
we listened to stories about using our senses
we listened for new sounds,
we looked at the clouds
we rolled in the grass
we learned that getting dirty wasn't too bad
we had fun looking at fish, trying to catch frogs, and capturing bugs
we had a blast....

then we got back on the bus
to head....
to the park!

where the kids played played played
until it was time to eat lunch....
and then played played played until they couldn't play anymore!

it was a super beautiful day
full of fun exploration
and learning!

green is good

at school
we have a discipline chart that has colors...you know kind of like a stop light, but we use paws....and we have five colors
i despise the whole negative discipline thing....
but it is what it is...and i do it because i am told to....
but i honestly feel like the kids would get farther in life if we focused on the positives, and redirected the negative..... especially in kindergarten
and this is why i'm on the discipline committee,
and why i feel the need to give my granola (as my assistant principal describes my "hippie" ideas) approach to discipline but until change happens....we will continue with how the world is right now.....

each day, the children start on green,
and move through colors as consequences for their behaviors.
so green is good!
i do what i can to encourage the kids to stay on green (or scare them to do the right thing), and promised them at the beginning of the year an everybody on green paw party if we all could do the right thing for a number of days.....
our goal was 100 days, with every one on green!
i realized quickly that if we got to 50 days....that was going to be an accomplishment worth celebrating.....
so in april....
we finally did it!
50 days with EVERYONE on green!
i set out to find green things....
that could reward them for their behavior....
we had green apples,
green peeps
broccoli
celery
and apple grape juice in green boxes....

i was oh so excited for their accomplishments
AND
totally surprised that i had NO broccoli or celery left over!

sharing is caring!

so my school bff
sent me a text the other day that said
"some lady is bringing some books to my office, i'll let you know when they get here, you can have some for your classroom."

YAY! free books! i love that!

i got a text from her friday that said
"seriously?
the books....
ARE HERE!"

OH BOY! :)

so after school, i talked to her
and she told me the story
and it was just toooo sweet not to share...

so a lady, who is a parent at another school in our school system,
and her daughter
brought the books to our school.

the sweet lady said that the kids at her daughter's school had heard that the kids at our school didn't have very much money for books, and the kids decided do do a book drive.

they collected three huge boxes full of books

and decorate the boxes to let the kids know they were thinking of them

just cause!

how stinking sweet is that!!!

my kids don't know it yet,
but they will spend tomorrow reading, reading, reading,
and making thank you note cards
for these precious children who thought enough about them to share with them! :)

what better way

field trips are such a great way to learn things!!!
back in april....
my little friends and i went with the kindergarten on a field trip
to the most amazing place ever...
and when i say amazing, i mean amazing for the kids AND the teachers....
the moment our buses drove up,
the workers at the heritage theater were waiting for us.

the heritage theater is a small little school house, which was started by a retired teacher (i found out later that it was started by the same retired teacher than flake and i went looking for while we were on our honeymoon, because he knew that she had built a school house museum on the blue ridge parkway. we were unable to find her, because according to the locals she had 'closed her school house museum down to start some theater back where she came from.' you can imagine his excitement to know she was still out there influencing young people's learning like she had for him.) this retired teacher decided that she wanted to expose children to all different types of things from the past, but allow them to learn with an hands on approach. the retired teacher, who calls her self granny blue ridge, works with her friend mama blue, and some high school students to give children this cool experience.

as soon as granny blue ridge and the others took all the kids from the teachers, they divided them into 6 groups. the workers took the kids through 6 different stations, and taught them all about what kids did a long time ago...the toys they played with, the schools they went to, etc.

all the while....
the teachers got to sit in rocking chairs and be pampered....seriously....they had drinks, snacks, lotions, little massage things, manicure and pedicure materials, books, magazines, and time just to relax!

it was an awesome experience....
the kids got to make their own toys, just like the kids a long time ago would play with, and they got to experience other toys, which made their learning so much more meaningful to them
and at the end of all the fun, the kids got to learn one more thing....
how people made and enjoyed music a long time ago....

and what better way to learn that....
than laughing at your teachers,

as they played in a band!!

warning!!!

if you have kids
you need to know all about this
i'm for sure going to go to school
and talk with my kids about
this horrible epidemic...
it is totally scary
and only we can help to keep kids
and ourselves safe
being a child of the 80's
i am so thankful that the vaccination was available
but kids these days....
they have other things to worry about....
so being the adults in their lives....
please please take heed to this warning
and get the children in your lives vaccinated!

frustrated

i just received an email that said....

You will be getting a new student Thursday morning. He is coming from Mexico.

seriously....
i have no problem with getting yet another e.l.l. kid....
but shouldn't there be some cut off for transfers
or for that matter....new enrollments

i mean it is hard enough on our transient population
when an e.l.l. kid transfers from one school to another in our county....
in fact, our county research says transferring sets an e.l.l. student back a minimum of 6 weeks

but...that is when the kid has actually been in an english speaking environment....
how completely unfair is it that these poor kids are enrolled....
with only 57 more days of school, and expected to be able to preform at grade level by the time the school year ends?!?!?!

and to make matters worse, this poor baby (and all the other ones who move to our school from mexico), can not be held back, even if he is not ready for first grade. by law, we are not allowed to hold a child back due to a language barrier....which i completely understand, however, if we are teaching them basic things they need to know to be able to be successful in school....
i feel it is so much more important they have a firm foundation to build on, than no foundation at all!

please pray for this little kiddo,
he is gonna need it!

quote

my little friend....
who happens to keep me very entertained
who happens to be 5
who happens to be a boy
who happens to be special (living with a diagnosis that falls on the autism spectrum)
who happens to be very articulate
comes up with some awesome things to tell the class....
all school year long i have heard these things come from him
and wondered....
wow....why would a 5 year old say that

"you aint the boss of me....mrs. boy is"

"bom chicka wah wah"

"mrs. boy, i don't smoke weed"

"i'll suspend you"

"what the hell"

"i drink beer."

"my uncle said he was gonna beat the hell out of me if i didn't stop calling him an asshole"

"would peter griffin say that?"

well, i'm not sure how you feel, but for me....
i'm pretty sure this takes the quote of the day....week....month....year award

"i'm not pregnant"

but just incase you might not think so,
i'm sure he will repeat it another 100 times today,
just as he has been for the past week!

reasons to laugh

to stay happy....i laugh
so i'm always looking for a reason to laugh
usually i don't have to look too far,
especially with my little kids at school


my little friends are into the popcorn song
i wish wish wish i could find a link to the song...
so you would be able to hear it, however....i have no clue who sings it,
either way
they LOVE it!


they beg to hear the song....over and over
and i allow them to hear it, and dance to it
at least once a day


i noticed this week,
that one of my friends
either has mad skills
or he watches napoleon dynamite's dance scene over and over
please disregard the quality of this video....
i took it with my phone
and when i uploaded it to blogger,
it made it "big"
so the quality seems to be worse than it should

ideas

last week we started talking about groundhog day…..
introducing a new concept with my little friends is always very funny to me….
especially to hear the ideas that they come up with when they are describing a new thing…..

so what is groundhog day??

according to my little friends…..
groundhog day is….
a day you eat turkey with your family
a rat
a bear
a family day to eat
a family day
a home day
rock and roll
you lay up, dig up food for winter, go to sleep
a coloring day
a rock and roll chair
a bad day
a rock and roll cow

after we made this list….

we talked about what groundhog day really was….
and that is when we made our own predictions about what the groundhog would do today.

15 of my friends said the groundhog would be scared….
and we would get more cold days
1 of my friends said the groundhog would be happy to be awake….
and close his eyes…so he wouldn't see his shadow!

personally i'm totally excited that phil saw his shadow!

numbers

totally random....
but here is a run down of the numbers going through my head right now!

9-the number of days i have gone without signing into blogger....

2-the number of nights i begged flake to take me to bw3 for wings.....

6-the number of wings i finally got from bw3!

3-the number of days since having those wings....i have been wanting more! :)

7-the number of nights i have gotten home from ...where ever.....and gone straight to bed

1-the number of nights i got home this week before 9:00....which is just not ok!

1- the number of times i have talked to robbie in the past two weeks....really that is just not ok!

16-the number of groundhogs that looked for their shadows yesterday while we were at school.

16-the number or groundhogs that saw their shadows....and decided we needed 6 more weeks of winter...


28- the number of markers that my kiddos used to complete our science project

85-the number of minutes it took me to put the science project board together.....

70-the number of minutes i wasted while working on the board....on worrying about where things would go on the board.....
i wasted this time.....because i realized i did not want my kids board to look too good....
cause i don't want them to win.....because then they will need to present their findings....and i don't want that stress....for me....or them! :) ha!


3-the number of times turbo puked in the bed this week....seriously

2-the number of teams playing in the super bowl

0-the number of teams i care about....in the super blow....basically because i love the game, not who is playing!

3-number of mornings i got up and went to the gym this week.....before work

10-number of times i have heard the run/walk podcast that i have been using for training....
i'm totally sick of the music....and i'm really ready for the next level! :)

6-the number of guided reading books that i made picture cards for today...with 6 pictures per book, and 6 sets of pictures for each book....which made for a lot of cutting and a lot of glue and a lot of index cards

7-the number of books i should be making the picture cards for....so that makes for 6 more sets of six pictures each.

515-the number of minutes i spent in meetings this past week.....big improvement from the previous week....

4-the number of episodes of snapped i have watched today......

11-the number of times i have laughed out loud ..... because of snapped....
shouldn't this show....not be funny?!?!

17-the number of report cards that i finished....after working on them all weekend long....last weekend!

3-the number of times one of my kiddos at school stole something this week.....

3-the number of times the other kids told her that she was not being "trustworthy"
(ha!)

1-the number of blog buttons i made this week.....i do love making those buttons! :)

6-the number of times some random number called my phone...yesterday within a 5 minute time period.....why?

403-the number or entries you all have written....and my google reader has stored....since i last had the chance to log into blogger....

things i can't count......
the number of times i heard my name this week.....but said incorrectly! :)
the number of times i laughed.....
the number of times i reminded my kids at school of their rules at school.....
listen, learn, play and have fun.....we need to be nice, show respect....and smile!
the number of times i have said prayers for some special people who are needing things...or who were waiting on things this week.
the number of times i have felt overwhelmed by the new lesson plan format at school.
the number of things i'm blessed with
the number of times i've been thankful for everything i'm blessed with!

pizza.....

i laugh a lot
mainly at the things that the kids at school say and do
today .....
was no exception to that rule

this afternoon
i caught one of my friends
with a marker in his mouth

i looked down at him and asked...
thinking i knew the answer to my question....
"what is all over your mouth? and your hand?"

he looked up and me ....and said....
(in the best napoleon dynamite voice i've ever heard....)

"duh, mrs. boy, it's pizza!"

happy in my heart (again)

god bless these faces!
however
i must say that i'm super excited
and happy in my heart
that today is the last time i am going to
see their faces
or
hear their voices
for 18 days!
woo-hoo! :)

i will tell them today,
as they leave
"i love you,
i will miss you,
but ... mrs. boy is
going to LOVE her home days!"

happy in my heart

"that makes me happy in my heart"
is a phrase i say a lot with my little friends

this past few weeks,
i personally have had a hard time feeling "happy in my heart"
when it comes to work
i really have had way more times in my days where i was feeling "sad in my heart"
i have felt so overwhelmed with particular things that i have been neglecting to focus on the things that made me "happy in my heart"

so here are somethings that made me say
"that makes me happy in my heart"

1. hearing one of my friends "use his words" for the first time.
we have had a long and hard battle with how he handles his frustration....and watching him solve his problem by using his words and then walking away gave me the greatest feeling of accomplishment..... (we just wont talk about the fact that he kicked the snot out of someone less than 10 minutes later)

2. SNOW (and 2 hour delays)

3. laughing so hard at this letter from a parent

yes she wrote it to.....
mrs. boy

4. getting to wear jeans to work :)

5. "special teacher's meetings" with school bff and others! :)

6. when my friends from last year come by to say hey in the morning.

7. hearing one of my friends say to another friend (while rubbing his back)
"are you making good choices today?"

8. finding new materials for the sensory table, science center, and art center at the dollar tree!

9. kindergarten thanksgiving feast.....and hearing all the kiddos say what they are thankful for

10. my friends trying to earn a trip to the "pizza party" by being caring

11. kiddos coming to school like this


12. pe week=no recess
usually this would make me sad that my kiddos don't get to go outside
but with no recess my friends get a whole hour in learning centers

13. getting kids names off the angel tree

14. getting gifts for the angel tree kids.....and not breaking the bank! :)

15. last bankable day of the month (aka payday!!)

16. hearing the popcorn song

17. my little friends writing our class book.
(each week we make a book based on our predictable chart....so not only do they feel accomplished that they can read the book when they are done, but they love to look at their pictures)

18. realizing i still have no concept of how to teach ordinals
(you know; first, second, third, fourth, fifth, etc.)
each time i try, i end up laughing at myself!

19. hearing my kiddos sing the "days of the week" song to figure out what tomorrow is

20. realizing that one of my little friends looks just like a babydoll in our class.....
and laughing so hard about it that i couldn't breathe


so....
even if i have a lot going on,
which tends to make my heart sad
i am oh so glad and thankful that
no matter what,
i have moments each day that
"make me happy in my heart"

people in your neighborhood

sesame street said it best when they taught us this song....
oh, who are the people in your neighborhood?
in your neighborhood?
in your neighborhood?
say, who are the people in your neighborhood?
the people that you meet each day!

this past friday, my little friends at school got the joy of learning all about community helpers.
and i got the fun job (along with my grade level) of helping them learn! :0)
each one of us kindergarten teacher picked a "job" that we wanted to teach all the kids about.
i was totally excited to give my friends, and all the kindergarten kiddos, a personal experience and let them know that they could one day grow up to be something special to their own community!


oh, the postman always brings the mail
through rain or snow or sleet or hail
i'll work and work the whole day through
to get your letters safe to you

cause a postman is a person in your neighborhood
in your neighborhood
he's in your neighborhood
a postman is a person in your neighborhood
a person that you meet each day

dr. gabs and i
had a lot of fun
dressing up to help
our little friends learn!
and needless to say,
i don't think our little friends
will ever forget the day
their silly teachers
came to school dressed up like
people in their neighborhood.