What's Been Keeping Me Busy!

I'm sure a lot of you saw this post from last week.  If not, surprise....I'm expecting!  Currently I'm 14weeks, 4days and our due date is May 24, 2012 (aka our 4 year wedding anniversary)!


If you're worried about this turning into a mommy/baby blog, it might!  I'm still going to be posting plenty of teaching ideas and other randomness, but I definitely want to document this special time in our lives!


We found out back on September 22nd (feels like forever ago)!  

Our first ultrasound was October 26th at 9w5d.  Our little peanut was moving ALL around and it was so neat to see the baby so active, so early!  We were able to see and hear the heartbeat and it was all so amazing! 

Check out our little teddy bear!

Finally, after a month (felt like forEVER), we had our elective 3d gender scan at 14w2d!  We chose to do this because the office was running a pricing special and we figured it would be a great chance to check up on our little peanut again.  I'm already a worrier and it's hard to go an entire month without seeing my little babe!  Plus, who am I kidding?  I was dying to find out if we were having a little baby boy or a little baby girl!  I'm a planner and I'm ready to pick out some blue or pink gear!  Our experience was wonderful and once again, our baby was moving all around!  The 3d ultrasound is so clear and so amazing!  (Not to mention they display it on a HUGE flat screen for you to see!)  Here are a couple of the pictures we got of our adorable Baby BOY!

I'm thankful for.....

The start of our family!  <3  I've been waiting (very impatiently) to announce this to blog world and now that I announced to out of town relatives, I feel it's time to make it official!  Baby P is due May 2012!

Chip and Dixie are very excited!

Fact.

Anyone else love The Office as much as I do?!  I saw this post over on Allie's blog, Table for MORE and wanted to join in!

 

Fact...

I am addicted to [what some may consider trashy] reality TV (Teen Mom, Real World, Real Housewives, etc.)  I am addicted to what some may call not-so-trashy reality TV (Top Chef, Project Runway, etc.)

Fact...

I have not updated the music on my ipod for approximately 2 years.  I'm too lazy to figure out what songs I want to download and sync up!

Fact...

I eat cereal dry.  I hate milk so cereal must be dry.  The only cereal I'll eat with milk is Rice Krispies and I only use chocolate milk for that!  (Go try it now, you'll be addicted.)

Fact...

I am addicted to lip gloss/balm.  I probably have 8 in my purse, quite a few in my work desk drawers, more in my car, some on my nightstand, some at my vanity, etc.  It's everywhere and I love it.  My current favs: old school Carmex, Nivea, and e.l.f. hypershine lip gloss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fact...

Going to Target and just walking around is like therapy to me.  It makes me happy, even if I don't buy anything.

Fact...

I avoid conflict at all costs.  I love watching drama if I'm not involved but HATE being involved in any sort of argument or disagreement! 

Fact...

I don't like most breakfast foods.  I enjoy a nice belgian waffle and also like [dry] cereal, but otherwise, count me out!

Fact...

I'm addicted to smoothies.  I might need one right this moment.

Fact...

I do not wear khakis.  Maybe this is because while in HS, I had two jobs where I had to wear khakis every day.  For some reason, I hate them now.  I wear black pants, gray pants, jeans, or comfy pants at home!

Fact...

My favorite socks are knee socks.  I get cold very easily and love having tall socks.  Please note: these socks are never plain, they are usually crazy colors and patterns. :)

It's Wednesday, so what?!

I know I've been a bad blogger. This week report cards were due AND I had conferences at TWO schools AND tomorrow morning will be my 2nd visit to the doctor in 4 days. Seriously, I feel like I have good excuses.

Anyway, I decided to link up today......because I feel like saying, "So what!"






This week I'm saying So What if....

• I have been counting down the days until Thanksgiving break for weeks.  I need a break!
• I have a big secret that I've been holding in and I still haven't decided when I'll tell my blog friends.
• I did laundry a week ago and it's still on the drying rack in my laundry room.
• I get stressed out when my DVR is full, but still can't find time to watch any of my shows.
• I was relieved when a parent was a no-show for a conference last night.
• I can't wait until summer.

What are you saying So What to this week?  Head over to Shannon's blog by clicking the button above and link up!

Teaching Sight Words

Word wall words.  I know every teacher has a different approach of introducing new words.  I have kindergartners who are struggling so I like to introduce about 3- 4 words a week maximum, depending on the difficulty.  Each week, I informally assess which words we can "retire" and which words should stay on our "words of the week" list for another week.  I display our words of the week in this [Target dollar spot] pocket chart in our group meeting area:

We practice spelling, writing, and reading these words in many different activities.  I keep the words in the "Words of the Week" pocket chart 1-2 weeks.  When the words retire, I move them to 2 locations: our big word wall and our interactive word wall.  Our big word wall hangs behind our computers and is not accessible by students, but can be seen by everyone.  Our interactive word wall consists of 26 library pockets (A-Z).  When a word "retires", I stick that word card in the corresponding pocket so students can go grab it when they need it.

 I know this may sound like a lot of prep work, and I'm not going to lie...the first year, it is!  It took me a while to make the letter cards for my word wall and the ABC pockets.  However, these will be reusable every year!  (Plus, if you want to save time, you can always buy pre-made stuff...I was just trying to save some $!)

On top of the things I already mentioned, I also use word card rings.  I have enough rings for every student in my class and these rings are used for games and in centers.  Eventually (when we have more words), I will be sending these rings home with take home books as practice.  Some of the centers we use these for include computer ("paint" sight words on Pixie), dry erase (practice writing sight words), and word work (make sight words out of magnets, letter tiles, etc.).

How do you teach your sight words?  

Tattling and Big Books!

Yesterday I posted about some of my classroom management techniques.  I accidentally left out one other thing I have in my classroom.  I have seen the Tattling Turtle in many primary classrooms and love how it eliminates tattling!  I didn't want to spend the money on the turtle so I created my own 'Tattling Teddy'.  My kids love him.  So far, they haven't written anything, but sometimes they tell Teddy what happened (instead of telling me)!  I love the time it saves.  I got the bear at the dollar store and the little note box on clearance at Target (it's actually a desktop trash can). 

Last year I borrowed big books from our school book room, but I didn't have any to keep in my own room. Translation: I never had to come up with a storage solution for big books!  This year I am fortunate enough to have a huge supply of big books that stay in my room!  They were in a storage closet and I wanted them out so we could use them as often as possible for shared reading.  I found that this lamper from Target works great!  Just a tip for those in need of a cheap solution for these awkwardly large books!

Classroom Management Monday!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  I spent the weekend at a cabin in the woods and it was wonderful!  We hiked, played games, visited, made s'mores, and had fun with family.  It felt good to get away from the "city" life for a weekend and just RELAX.  I didn't have ANY cell phone service and it was kind of nice.


I thought for Monday I could share a few of the management techniques I use with my kindergartners.  I teach kindergarten intervention so most of my students are behind....emotionally, socially, academically, behaviorally, etc.  I want to have a system for individual students as well as a whole group system.  This is what I decided on and it has been working great!


My clip chart.  I know there are mixed opinions on these, but my kids love it and it works very well for us.  Each student starts the day "good on green" and has the chance to move up to blue for making good choices, and can move up even higher to purple for having an outstanding day.  If a student is making poor choices, they move down to yellow as a warning.  I always remind students on yellow that they have the ability to "change their ways" and go back up to green.  However, if they continue to make bad choices, they move down to red and I send a note home about their day.  (I also send a note home when a student moves up to purple.)  The kids get very motivated by seeing other students move up.  I've also found that when a student is on yellow, the rest of the class does a good job of reminding that student to make better choices.  (So cute!!)  Here is a picture of my chart.  Click the picture to download the file.  I just printed each page on colored paper, mounted on matching construction paper, and laminated the whole thing.

For whole group management, I wanted to come up with a strategy that  allowed students to work as a group to earn something.  I decided to use the "marbles" technique because it is simple, cheap, and effective.  To go along with our star theme, I call our marbles "star stones".  Every time I catch the class working hard and following directions, I add a star stone.  When we fill up the jar, the entire class will get a reward (I haven't decided what yet)!  I usually give the students an idea of when I'm thinking I might add a star stone if they aren't all on task.  This is another time when they work well together and remind each other to do a good job to earn star stones.

What classroom management strategies work for your kids?  What have you tried that didn't work?