Back to School 2014

It's back to school time and I am super excited again this year with my teacher teams! I am also super excited with the decorations I just ordered from Just Artifacts I ordered the big paper lanterns in pink, purple and black patterns. I can't wait for them to arrive!! I ordered these....

Plus I ordered a solid color of each....so a total of 9 lanterns. I am lucky that I am allowed to hang things from my ceiling. :) I plan this year to just have a color theme, rather than an animal or character as I have done in other years. 

It has been a crazy few months for me with lots of time needed for family needs. I hope things settle down and I can get back to blogging more regularly. I have had some computer problems again so I am back to my ancient and slow computer. I can't really make or draw on it because when I do too much it freezes and shuts down. Once I really investigate computers I will replace the "good" one.

So this year I will re-do my room using the above colors. I think I will do black backgrounds on all my bulletin boards and use the colors for border. I want to keep it clean, bright and organized this year!!

I did a LOT of throwing away at the end of last year so hopefully this year my set up will be quick. Last time I was at the school my floors were being waxed so I couldn't get in to set up but hopefully later this week I can go in and take some before/after pictures. I love the before and after pictures dont you?

I have a few back to school boards on Pinterest that might be helpful with your planning and organizing. I also have as a brand new COLLABORATIVE board called "Elementary Doors and Bulletin Boards". The "rules" are simple....just pin elementary bulletin boards and decorated classroom doors. :) If you would like to pin to my collaborative board it's super easy!!

1. Follow me on Pinterest.

2. Send me your email/pinterest user name.

3. I will add you and you can begin pinning. 

Joy of Kindergarten

I have a few packets which might help you with your beginning of the year planning. There is a sale right now on Teachers Pay Teachers using the code BTS14. This will give you an extra percentage off. TPT Sales are a great time to stock up on products you will need throughout the year.

September Kindergarten Common Core Homework

I like to go through my "wishlist" and try to purchase some of the items I have saved. I also use the sale as a time to check out new teachers to TPT. I know some prefer to buy from only teachers with a particular amount of followers but I have seen great products from newer teachers as well.

I will be back soon to share my other new craft project and before and after pictures of my classroom. Enjoy the rest of your summer!!!

September Kindergarten Homework Pack

I finished my classroom today. I have a few little items to tweak but I think it looks very inviting and kid-friendly. I took before and after pictures...I really did, I promise, but I can't get my phone to charge so I will have to load them later this week. This year I will have 11 children in a combination of resource and inclusion. I will do some pull-out to my classroom for Language Arts, Writing and Math. I will also spend as much time as possible with my students in their Kindergarten classrooms. I have several students with behavior goals...my favorite(!!!)... and no I am not being sarcastic!! I love working with children with behavior difficulties. Since I have so many I asked the Assistant Principal if I could implement a Social Skills Group this year and she said "Sounds great!" Yahoo, can't wait to put that in gear. I will target activities or behaviors in which they struggle. My classroom is very organized and we follow a structured schedule.

My first day of school is tomorrow. We have a district-wide meeting followed by building staff meetings. In the afternoon we get a few hours to work in our classrooms. Then, at 4:00 they will throw open the front doors and we will have Open House. I should be sleeping right now but I also just finished (finally) my September Homework Pack and I really wanted to share it before things get crazy this week. If you ever purchased my other two weekly packets this one is a bit different. I went through the comments and emails from teachers who had used those and made a few changes. With this monthly pack you will receive four individual weeks of homework. Each week has five activities and a reading log. All of the activities are aligned with the Kindergarten Common Core Standards. I will be doing monthly homework packets from this point forward. Here is a collage which shows more of the pages from this packet. I did my best to fit as much as possible on each page to reduce copy size. Each packet will be 4 pages per student for a week of homework. September Kindergarten Homework Packet

 It's not too late to get in on the  Five Things I Will Miss About Summer Linky Party. I hope you have a wonderful school year!!