Well, it's here!  The end of another year.  This one is especially emotional for me as my son is graduating in 2 days!!!  I will spare you the tears and uncontrollable sobs since I did that already at his Baccalaureate on Sunday.  The slide show with baby pictures gets me every time!! 

And to make it even more emotional I have a special place in my heart for this group of Kindergartners, too.  They are a truly special group of kids. (sniff, sniff)

As this year comes to an end (3 more days), I am getting things ready for next year.  I have my notebook (kindergarten bible) ready to go so I can begin my lesson plans quickly and easily in August.

 I have my goals listed, my shopping list written out, and my "make it" list written out all in my journal.  Along with my reading list for the summer, which includes:  Developing Number Concepts by Kathy Richardson and Literacy Stations by Diller.  I am also looking for a good resource on guided reading (need to step it up) if anyone has some suggestions.

 I found this awesome chalkboard cloth the other day and I can't wait to see what I can create with it. (told ya, I like to sew)  I already have a few ideas in mind.  I will post pics when I'm done! 

But, what I am most excited about ....is heading to Vegas in July for the I Teach K conference.  I am fortunate enough to be going with Tammy Clark of Mrs. Clark's Kindergarten blog and the 3 other K teachers here in our building!!!  I have my handouts printed and in my notebook (yeah, I know "old school" but I have to highlight and write notes out, it's my processing method) ready to go!  My husband thinks it's hilarious that Vegas will be swamped with all these K teachers.  He has a mental picture of the people who work the Vegas Strip running for their lives at the thought of it!!

It's going to be a great summer even when I watch my son walk onto that college campus to begin the next stage of his life.  I wonder if there is some rewind button I can hit at that moment to take me back about 13 - 14 years????  Happy summer to all!

FROGS!!

We have been having lots of fun with frogs this week!  I found these frogs at the dollar store this past weekend and decided to use them for a jumping contest.

After we practiced a few times, we measured our jumps with unifix cubes in ten trains ( to encourage them to count in groups of ten & then count on) and recorded our jumps on our data sheet.  Then the students shared their data and wrote about it on their sheet. 

We did discover that these frogs do not hop on carpet!  But put them on a smooth surface and they work great!!

Bugs and Plants

For the past few weeks we have had lots of fun with plants and bugs!  I love our art that we labeled!
Tomorrow I have some pictures from our first day of Frog Fun!!

Here Goes!!

I love Kindergarten!  What a fun place it is!  I love that my little cuties inspire me to be better every year!  So I am working on my "to do list" for next year as this year comes to a close.  This year I started keeping a journal so I could write notes to myself through the year about what I liked, disliked, or wanted to add to certain units and lessons.  This has really helped to look back at it as I am making my "list".  I already have a shopping list ready for my garage sale and dollar tree rounds this summer!  I love to find a bargain or a freebie for my classroom.  For example these cute pillows in my reading center that I made from old football t shirts (our class theme is centered around our high school football team).  I just cute the bottom off the tshirt to make it a square shape and stitched up the arms and bottom after stuffing it with polyfil.  Total cost $3!

And these carpet squares I found at our local dollar store and taped together on the back with duct tape.  They are great in my math center.  They never move or come apart.  Total cost $4!

And my newest addition a vinyl polka dot tablecloth used to cover 2 icky blah tables.  Total cost $3.50 and I have leftovers for another project!