First Week Accomplished!

It is Saturday around 11:30 a.m. and I'm still in my jammies.  Ahhhhh...it feels good.  :) 

This was our first week with our new schedule.  It was a bit of an adjustment transitioning from one preschool class three afternoons a week to a preschool or prek class every morning and a kindergarten class every afternoon.  Let's just say 5:30 a.m. and I are not best friends yet, but we sure will see a lot of each other this year.

My body is tired and sore.  I think my brain may have shut down sometime on Thursday.  However, my spirit is soaring!  We have an amazingly intelligent and entertaining group of children this year.  They have made me laugh, made me proud, and made me thankful every day this week.  I am blessed to have the honor of spending the year with these students and I pray that they and their parents will feel the same when our school year ends. 

I saw this first day photo idea here and knew we had to do it this year.  I loved how the pictures turned out.  I printed, laminated, and placed each picture on the children's cubbies for the second day of school.  They enjoyed taking their special photo home.  Here are some of our cutie pies on their first day...

New Year, New Room Pt 2

Our kindergarten room makeover is complete.  We are ready for our students to arrive tomorrow morning.  I am looking forward to a great year in our colorful new room.  I would love to write more, but I have 5,000 things to do before morning.   I know all of my fellow teachers understand.  :)

Chair Cleaning Tip

We have a large number of older tan children's chairs in our room.  You know the kind with teeny tiny little grooves that love to grab onto dirt and never let go?  I wipe them on a regular basis, but they always look dirty.  Today I discovered that Scrubbing Bubbles is a GREAT cleaner for these grime hoarding chairs.  I just sprayed the chair and left the cleaner on it for about five minutes.  I used a small scrub brush to swish the cleaner around the seat and them wiped it clean with a paper towel.  I was amazed at the result.  The chairs look so much better.  I am posting a before and after picture.  The chair doesn't look as dirty in the picture as it did in person, but hopefully you can see the difference.

                            Before

 

                             After   

My Tools





Intro Classes for Preschoolers

Our classes begin one week from today.  The past week has been filled with painting, cleaning and preparing materials for our three rooms.  I have much more to do before our preschool intro classes on Wednesday and Thursday.  I believe an all-nighter may be in my immediate future. 

This year I decided to offer a one hour intro class for parents and students.  This is a mini version of a typical preschool day.  The children will have the opportunity to be in their new classroom, meet the teachers and fellow students, and experience some of our daily activities.  Parents remain for the entire class and can get a taste of what will be happening in our classroom this year.  My hope is this special introductory class will lessen the first day separation anxiety and tears.  I don't want the first day to look like this...  :)


I would love to hear ideas from my fellow teachers about easing new student's fears and helping them feel safe and comfortable as the year begins.  Please leave a comment and share your tips. 

Happy New School Year Everyone!

Easy Chart Storage

Nothing is worse than a warped chart.  I've found a space efficient way to safely store and easily locate my school charts and posters.  I purchased a multi-tiered skirt hanger with clips from Walmart.  They are available in many stores and at Amazon ranging in price from $6-$25 depending on the brand.  I would go for the $6 choice.  :)

Simply clip charts and posters to the hanger clips. 

    

 This storage solution takes up very little space.  You can hang on a fixed or portable clothing rack and the tiered design makes it easy to find and remove the chart you need. 

New Year, New Room!

This year we will have our first kindergarten class at 360.  So exciting!  The new kindergarten room is one I decorated for children's ministry many years ago.  It is a great space, but needs some remodeling to turn it into a fun and functional classroom.  I'll post some before pics today and hopefully some amazing after pics in a couple of weeks.  I am loving the transformation process.  A fresh start is always a great feeling.  I can't wait for our first day in our new room!

Lots of patched up spots from removing old shelving on the wall...    

 

I love the large color blocks and plan to use the bottom ones for our word wall...


Still have a mess even after clearing out a large amount...

A New Adventure

My first attempt at blogging...interested to see how this new adventure goes.  Over the next year I plan to share the crazy and exciting world of teaching three different classes.  I'm looking forward to the challenge and thrill of teaching my three-year-old, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten students.  I hope you will join me.