D.O.G.'s & Deals

I am really excited to be trying some things this year!!! I have heard SOOO many teachers comment on using binders instead of regular 'take-home' folders. I decided that I am obviously missing out on something! I have heard them called M.O.O.S.E folders, B.E.E. folders, etc... Well, our school mascot is a bulldog. So we are going to have D.O.G. folders. D.O.G. standing for Daily Organizational Guide. I will post all of my labels and print outs for the inside later this week (hopefully!)

I knew I would have to pay for these out of pocket. I bought the binders at Sam's Club (I think it was around $7.50 for 6 1-inch binders). I bought clear pencil pouches at Walmart ($0.76 each). My tabs came from the Dollar Tree- $1 for 10 tabs. I needed 4 per child- so... I bought 8 packs. I will be honest. I really should have spent the extra $5 on the tabs and bought them from Walmart. They will serve their purpose. Let's just hope they last a month. Ha! I think I did pretty good budgeting for the binders. I usually pay at least $0.50 each for the take-home folders and I think this will be a better system once the year gets going.

Here is my HUGE mess!





After a lot of clicking, sore finger tips, and a few puppy prints (I had to put my doggie out in the yard! He was trying to be a little TOO much help!), I had a finished product that I was more than proud of:





I hope my classroom parents are too!

I did a little bit of rearranging this summer. I am not really sure what the inspiration was behind it. This will be my fifth year teaching and I am in my 3rd classroom. I have taught Kindergarten all 5 years. Year 1- I started as the Tabs (our equivalent of in-school suspension) aid and was moved to Kindergarten six weeks after school started (when we added a 9th unit). That is definitely a story for another day- but that was my first (Tabs) classroom and then my (2nd) Kindergarten classroom. Our school is pretty new, but Kindergarten has 8 classroom in its 'pods' and my classroom was with first grade. I moved to another room when we dropped to 8 units and a room was available last summer. I think I just didn't know what to do because I wasn't moving rooms this summer! I had to move furniture instead. When I moved my shelves, I ended up with a huge wall without anything on it. I have been wanting one of the divided shelves to store some additional center manipulatives. I haven't been able to find one under about $80 though. (Yikes!)

At Walmart the other night, as I was making my last $100 trip... which is what I said last week... I found THIS shelf:



Price tag?????
$24.96!!!!!

I think I did one of those heel-clicking leprechaun jumps right there on the aisle!



It only came in black and most of my other shelves are white. But I have a lot of red and black in my room and I bought some red baskets to go on it. If I can talk my sweet husband into putting it together tonight- because for $25 you know it's in 647 pieces- then I might have pictures tomorrow!

Kindergarteners Do Kandinsky

One of my FAVORITE things is teaching art. I know, I know- WHEN do I have time to teach art? I don't! But I MAKE time- because I feel like it is REALLY, REALLY important to my students. There are kids who may NEVER be the best at reading- but they may have something special when it comes to art. Even my worst behaved students follow the rules when it's art time! I know I don't make as much time for it as I need to, but I try to to at least squeeze in a few pieces each year. My favorite from last year was "Kindergarteners Do Kandinsky". I did this on the day that we did letter "K". I always tell them a little info about the artist. I showed them some artwork. We did not have LCD's last year, so I had to call everyone to my personal computer to show them. Thanks to a grant, I now have an LCD and a laptop. Donorschoose gave me a screen, but I haven't been able to get it yet because of the summer. Maybe I will have it soon!!!!

For this project, I decided to do the famous "circles". It was a great lesson to review shapes and colors as well as art history!

I picked a few primary colors and quickly sketched the circle outlines. I let the kids choose which colors to use and where to use the colors. After they dried, I laminated them, quickly arranged them according to color, and made them into one large piece. I thought the end result was fabulous!



I thought it was SO fabulous that I kept it in my classroom and I intend for it to stay there forever! :)

The year before I did "V is for Van Gogh". We did these Van Gogh paintings, which were a little more time consuming, but the end result was STUNNING! I can honestly say that I did help with the vases (they were cut out) but the flowers were different sponges that kids used by themselves. Every parent in the class had a fit over these!







Got any GREAT art lessons to share???

Look Who's Been Spotted

I'm so excited that after so many months of my addition to teaching blogs- I'm going to start one of my own. It is true that I can barely keep up with my personal blog. But maybe I will at least be able to share a few ideas! I have gained SO much from reading the inspiring blogs of other teachers. I can't wait to share some ideas that are my own, as well as some that I have borrowed.

This year, we are doing a "Welcome to KinderGARDEN" theme. We all chose a different bug or garden animal. I am doing ladybugs.

Here is the outside of my door and hallway. And YES- It is is SUPPOSED to say 'Look Who's Been SpotteD in Kindergarten'. I cut all the letters out with my Cricut and lost the "D" somewhere between my house and school. I had to cut another one out and take it back the next day. Ha ha!!!





I drew the lady bugs off and painted them- I am not really a fan of pre-made bulletin board sets. I always like to add something 3-D like the grass and flowers. As for the door... I thought about writing the names of my students on there, but I think I will leave it. Our lists change so much, I will probably just post a print off by the door. I MAY add a sign over the door that says something like, "Kindergarten is the SPOT to be" or something fun like that. Any ideas? :)



Thank you Leslie at Kindergarten Works for the wonderful blog design!!! I don't thing anything could have fit my personality any better!!!

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