999 Followers... WHAAAAT????

So I just noticed I'm 1 person away from 1000 followers! I'm pretty psyched about that, considering I've been MIA since September! I apologize but this time next year I'll be gearing up for my graduation for my graduate degree in Early Childhood Studies: Teaching Adults.... so I can teach early childhood college classes! I can't tell ya'll how excited I am! I love teaching my babies, but I also LOVE the early childhood field and can't wait to be able to educate others about it! Maybe I could even juggle both, we'll see!

But anywho, I wanted to catch ya'll up on what I have been up to both personally AND in the classroom!!! A LOT has been going on!

Over Spring Break, I went to Alabama and visited my best friend since grade school! We had such a great time together!!! Shopping, getting our nails done, eating out, seeing Oz and eating some delicious cupcakes! AMAZING! =)

A few weeks ago my baby sister and I ran the Color Run in Nashville and had a BLASTY BLAST!

I totally had a green mustachio afterwards- so that was awesome! My lil sis looks adorbs though!

Okay, so my baby sister isn't really a baby... and she isn't little. She's clearly taller than me and loves to point that out often! So thanks Steph!

The day before we ran, we found out my grandpappy passed away. Our family was heartbroken! He left behind a beautiful wife I call my Mama (aka: "mum-ul"), 11 children, over 30 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Just me with a few of the cousins! Grandpappy finally got his family reunion he always wanted <3

When I found out about Grandpappy, I wanted to do something special in honor of him so I made this and ran with it on my back during the Color Run. 

I had a few people stop me and give me hugs when they realized he had passed the day before. It meant a lot to my sister and I that a stranger would take the time to give their condolences like that.
But my mama has been so strong through it all! <3 We really enjoyed seeing our family after so long, but really wished it were under better circumstances.

I got to hang out with my brother and cousin Kirstie who are also both in the teaching profession! My brother subs in Missouri and LOVES it... and check out his HILARIOUS LICENSE PLATE. He is so funny! My cousin Kirstie is finishing up college soon and I am so proud of her! =)

And one more personal picture.... look how big my niece is getting! She is already 19 months! Where has the time gone?! She has developed (what I call) a "stink face". It's basically an angry scowl when someone comes up in her face when she's not in the mood for it or doesn't know you. It CRACKS. ME. UP! Oh... and I found out that Sonorah is going to be a big sister this fall!!!! I was so shocked and excited!

Okay, now onto some classroom fun!!!

I won this awesome scento marker display from one of my blogging besties "Katie" over at Little Warriors! Her hubby made it! Isn't he talented?!!! The kids LOVED it Katie! Thank you!

 Our art teacher came around and took pictures of all the teachers, blew them up, cut them into little squares and give them to the kids to color in! Afterwards, she collected them and put them back together. These are currently filling up our hallway outside of the office of our school... Didn't they turn out amazing???

 

I finally got my new rug and LOVE IT!!!!!!! The kids were so excited as well!!! I love how big it is and colorful!

 Lisa, my awesome k-colleague and bestie made everyone of us these fact family flowers! She has a student teacher and tried to make a few things while her student teacher was teaching! How precious did these turn out????

Yesterday we planted our flower seeds and I used colorful popsicle sticks with their names on them. (The popsicle sticks just so happen to match their table colors!)

This week we finished up our letter writing unit by writing letters to a soldier that is serving overseas! The kids did a wonderful job and some of their pictures were so adorable....

Dear Soldier, My name is Mashayla. I am 5 years old. Thank you for fighting bad guys. Love, Mashayla

Dear Army man or woman, My name is Josie. I am five years old. Thank you for keeping us safe. What is your favorite color? My favorite color is purple. Love your new friend, Josie <3

I LOVE her drawing!!!!

Check out the Eagle! =)

Dear Soldier, My name is Anthony. I am 6 years old. Thank you for saving my family. Do you have kids? Love, Anthony

Dear Soldier, My name is Courtney, I am 5 years old. Thank you for keeping us safe. What are you doing there? Love, Courtney

My name is Dezirae. I am 5 years old. Thank you for risking your life and keeping me safe. Love, Dezirae

We also made flower diagrams... they turned out so precious!!!

2 were absent, so they'll make theirs on Monday! ;)

This one was made by one of my little artists! We labeled the flower parts and added what the flower needs to grow! (Sun, rain, soil and love!) I only stapled one side of the dirt so you can open it up like a book to see the roots underneath!

Well that's what my spring 2013 has looked like!!! I hope to be back again soon with some more end of the year fun! Thank you all for being such loyal followers and sticking with me this year!!! I may have a freebie or two coming your way!!!!!!!! =)

Sweetest song for Kindergarten Graduation

Hey friends!!! I know I have been MIA!!! (My master's classes are getting pretty intense!) But I was looking up some fun songs to sing with my kids and I came across this ADORABLE song you could play for the kids on their last day...

I know it's a little cheesy- but I think the kids and parents would LOVE it! You can go to their youtube page and find out where to download the song! =)

(I'm in no way affiliated with the song-writers- just wanted to share since April is just around the corner!)

Addition FREEBIE!

Hey friends! I'm back with a little freebie! It's nothing fancy, but it will really help your kiddos understand the concept of addition!

Introducing....

{click on picture to go to free download!}

There are 7 different versions of these mats. Some have 2 to a page so you can print them onto colored paper, laminate, and then cut them in half to use in small groups or whole group activities. 

There are also work mats with numbered lines for you to use to assess or put in a math station! 

I am so excited to being our addition unit this week! I'm such a nerd! =) 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy this freebie!!! 

More to come soon!

Love Notes

Hey y'all!!! I know it's been way too long since my last post! But I've got some super cute Vday, St. Patty's Day and Easter clipart just waiting for me to create some freebies with- so maybe next weekend I will get some creative juices flowing! But for now, I'm linking up with Amy from Literacy and Laughter to share my love notes! =) (Click the heart above to go to her post!)

“Lovely List”

Name: Jessica
Grade you Teach: Kindergarten
State: Tennessee
Birthday: May 4th
Favorite Colors: Teal and Pink (me too Amy!!!) =)
Lucky Number: 30
Favorite Subject to Teach: Literacy
Go to Snack: Lately it's been jazz apples, popcorn or this amazingness...

TV Show: The Biggest Loser, Grey's Anatomy, New Girl, Modern Family, GLEE, Drop Dead Diva, oh the list could go on... ;)
Last Movie You Watched: African Cats- it was amazing!
Music You are Loving Right Now: Elenowen- ya'll need to check them out!!! They are amazing!
Always shopping at: Target, Old Navy,
Word of the day: DANCE!!! -My 16 month old niece has been doing it all night! I love it! =)

“We’d all love to know…”

What are your favorite hobbies or what do you enjoy doing during your free time? I love to be crafty, play with my niece, read, spend time with the family, and go to the movies!

Your favorite vacation destination? The BEACH. =)

The best advice you’ve been given? "You should avoid talking bad about yourself because it poisons your mind with negativity. Anytime you hear criticism- from others or yourself- it has the potential to be extremely disheartening and lead to more negative thoughts and feelings. You can't control whether someone else talks badly about you, but you can certainly avoid speaking disapprovingly about yourself. Don't validate your self-deprecation by speaking those thoughts out loud or even by allowing them to stay in your mind." - Angela Watson "Awakened"

Most rewarding part of teaching? Hearing my students read, write and master their math skills while using the strategies I've taught them! =)

What are you known for? Hah! Teacher wise- I'm creative and a great team-player. (B/c my k-team is so AMAZING!) And my teacher friends compliment me on my blog!!! =)

2 random facts:

#1: I'm famous. (In case you didn't know...)  Okay, not really- I'm totally joking. My sister sold a picture of us as kids in our tap-dancing costumes to awkward family photos...

 and since then we've been on a puzzle....

"THE" puzzle...

the opening credits of the NBC show "Best Friends Forever" (which didn't last long- I wasn't too impressed!)
Here's my .04 millisecond of fame! It's at the 3 second mark... It's the little things friends! ;)


 and most recently, the 2013 Awkward Family Photos mini-calendar! hahaha

We're on October's page! =)

#2: I think my cat- Beyonce is going through her teenage phase. She really enjoys scaring the heeby jeebies outta me! One day I was searching all over for her around my tiny little house... and here is where I find her (she was stuck too- LOL) 

Most recently, her hiding spot was in my backpack... I was working on my master's and went to grab a pen from my backpack and she popped her head out and scare the living daylight out of me! I about died from laughter. Silly girl!

The Loves of Your Life: 

My niece- Sonorah

 I didn't think she could get any cuter... and then I put pigtails in her hair for the first time. She she LOVED them. I can't handle it. Tonight- Nana put in "African Cats" while she was eating dinner and Nay-nay was glued! I was too! I love movies like that! Anywho- at the end, she came back from taking a bath and started to play. As the credits started rolling and a pretty song was playing, she started to shake her booty and head at the same time as she was trying to dance and I just couldn't handle all the cuteness at once! All I could do was laugh! I'm pretty much obsessed with her. I'm one of THOSE aunts.

You've already seen a picture of Beyonce tonight... but I have to share this one of Nala- who clearly loves me so much in this picture!

This is Jovie. I'm stealing her from my sister... ;) She stayed with me all last week and I've talked my sis into giving her to me for another week...

Now it's YOUR turn to create your LOVE NOTE post and link up with Amy!

FIrst week back- stations and organization!

Hey all- just wanted to share some pictures of what I've been up to these past few days!!! 

I changed my station tub labels finally so they match each station label on the rotation chart! Now I don't have to run around the room looking for each activity and where the kids put it! (I was originally using these tubs to differentiate seatwork station- but that  will come later!)

New tub labels!

Here are my centers for our first week back....

Work work center: rhyming words

Big book center (FREE response page found HERE)

Writing center (I still need to print off the picture cards!) I'm going to have them make a list of things they need to build a snowman! (page from packet found HERE)

Our ABC station- stamping word family words

 These are their anchor tubs- activities to do for the early finishers!

Opposites game

Color word songs and matching colors to color word activiity

Puzzles

Fine motor skills

Classification puzzles

Pocket Chart Station

Recording sheet for pocket chart center
can be found in packet HERE (TPT)

Where we keep their library books and check-out folders! This helps me see who has library books to return throughout the day!

New mailbox system!!! =)

After a hard morning- I opened up my planner to discover this scripture I had written for the New Year a while back!.... talk about a God moment =)

Finally posted the dramatic play center words I bought this summer from Growing Kinders!

And funny story- as I was cleaning and putting all their dramatic play toys into bins, I noticed the baby dolls that have been in the room since i started 4  years ago and never realized how OLD they are! hahaha- I think it's about time to get some new ones... ;)

My room - all ready for my kiddos!

New week we are beginning our unit on shapes! I made this chart (inspired by the one found on Kindergarten, Kindergarten!) to fill out as we learn about each shape! 

Here are pictures of our math stations this week:

Trace each shape with stickers

pattern block puzzles

shape puzzles- i love how these have real life objects to match!

Kids will use playdoh to make shapes (We were going to use wiki-stix, but I'm out!)

And I washed the chair pockets my mom made over break and put new name tags in them! 

 Inside their chair pocket- they keep their writing folders, math journals, poetry journals and crayon pouch!

 And on their tables, the little caddy holds extra pencils, glue bottles, and glue sticks.

Hope everyone is having a great start to 2013!!!!