Summer Bucket List

I'm linking up with 3 amazing bloggers for a cute little Linky!

Here's my summer bucket list:

Adventures with Wade and Henry.

 Here we are at a museum we went to this winter over break.  Henry (above) and Wade (below). 

I'm in a Color Run in July.  It's a 5K race.  At every 'K' they splat you with a different color.  So, you start out with a white race shirt and by the end you are totally psychedelic!   Totally FUN!

Take more pictures.

Be the Ellen show.  A girl can dream, right? 

I just signed Wade up for swimming lessons, so I'll be spending 1 or 2 days each week at the pool.  (No, this isn't my pool... I wish!)

Dust off my Cricut and make some darn cute school things AND scrapbook pages.  I'm behind.  I think the last page I did was Christmas.

Read the Stieg Larson series of books.  I'm |-----| this close (that was my fingers spreading oh so close together) to finishing the Hunger Games, and I'm ready to start a new series!  Anyone want to tell me if it's a good series to start??  Or a different recommendation??

There you have it, my summer bucket list!

Oh, and I'm picking a winner tonight for my Groovy Giveaway, so click, and enter to win big!!!

And while you're clicking, click the cute little graphic at the top to join the Summer Bucket List!!

Meanwhile, it's my birthday, so I'm off to celebrate.  Any bets as to what my husband and boys will be getting me???  I'll be sure to let you know when I blog tomorrow about the winner!!

Hodge-Podge!

TGIF friends!!  :)  I have a lot coming at you today, so sit back and enjoy the ride :)

If you haven't heard of Miss Squirrels then I'm going to guess you've been living under a rock.  No, really, she is a bloggy-bestie of mine and it's not just because we have the same name!  haha :)  She is having a giveaway once she reaches 250 followers (only 8 more to go!)  she is hosting a giveaway and has asked me, Reagan, and Holly to join in.  (I must say, I'm honored to be a part of this with these amazing bloggers- they are def. in my top fav blogs!!!!)  Anyway- follow that little nut Miss Squirrels and let's get this party started!!!


In other news... I've decided to join up with to do 12 on the 12th.  It's 12 pics of your day on the 12th.  Well, I'm a day late and a dollar short... but I can still link up, right?  Sure I can :) So here you go... my 12 on the 12th.

1.  Woke up and ate breakfast.  Here's my Henry (youngest) eating awfuls and benas.  (That's Henry-speak for waffles and bananas.)

2.  I filled my sensory tub with Easter eggs.  They get to hide things in them for their center partner to find... things like money, letter tiles, unifix cubes, pattern blocks...

3.  In Religion, we are learning about the 12 disciples.  In Matthew, Jesus makes them fishers of men.  We made fishy faces and acted out how to be fishers of men (using kind words, helping a friend, doing what's right...).  I decided a man hanging from the end of the fishing pole wasn't a great idea, so I used this one instead.  The kids LOVE glitter (and well, really I do too- so it was a win-win!) so when you put anything with glitter, it's automatically an engaging activity!

4.  We start our week long pop tabs war this coming week.  My Kinder parents were ahead of the game and already sent some in- so we almost have our first tub full already!!

5.  I ate a Reese's peanut butter egg.  These are my favs- yum.  My mouth is watering for another right now.

6.  My class just finished reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle.  This group of kids have been so interested in chapter books.  I've read them Mudshark, Judy Moody, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle.  I'm wondering if we have time for another one before summer hits.

7.  Ran to town to pick up microphones for our junior high musical.  We are doing Annie, Jr.  It's shaping out to be really cute!!!  I'm excited.  It's this coming Thursday and Friday nights.

8.  Worked on a few projects for my photography hobby.

9.  I may, or may not have eaten another Reese's peanut butter egg.  I'm tell you- I live for Easter so I can have me some peanut butter eggs.  I heard they made peanut butter BUNNIES!!  I need to find them!  

10. Played with my boys for a bit.  I think I just realized something... I've never shown you pics of my boys.  (have I??)  Well, without futher ado- here's my boys, Wade (left) and Henry (right).  No- they aren't twins.  They are 2 years apart!!!  Henry is just a BIG MAN!!

11.  My town has an auction every Thursday night (I don't go every week, just when the mood strikes me), so I went with my mom and dad while Ben stayed home with the boys.  I walked away with an old wood bat for Wade and Henry and 2 camping lanterns.  My mom and dad bought my family a state park pass- so we plan on camping it up this spring/summer- so I thought they were good picks!  I dont have a pic of the actual loot I got, but here's where I went.

12.  And to cap off the night, I went home, snuggled in bed to read my newest addiction (besides peanut butter eggs...) with Ben while he watched TV.  I'm at the "tick tock" part.  I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, there, now go link up too- even though you're late like me!




Oh, and one last thing- hop over to

and leave her a comment on her Community Unit giveaway.  The first 5 get it for free- and I'm going to be #1- so hurry before they are all gone!

What's NOT wrong!

In the teaching profession, we are filled with ups and downs.  Today, I want to focus on the UPS! (and no, not the men in brown uniforms...).

So, I found Mrs. Davis' Carried Away in Kindergarten linky party "What's NOT wrong Wednesday"

So, here's how it works... list 5 things that are NOT wrong with your life- the perfect recipe to have a positive outlook!!

Here's my 5:

1. PreSchool is NOT wrong.  We are taking Wade, my oldest son, to PreSchool open house tonight.  I'm so over-the-moon-excited for him, but I am also very, VERY nervous.

2.  Classroom Tidy Time is NOT wrong- at the end of every day, we do a classroom tidy time and clean up anything that was misplaced or needs thrown out.  Perk for me?  It's nice and tidy when they leave my room!

3.  Pretending to not know an answer to something a child asks is NOT wrong- it teaches them how to problem solve and think about things in different ways.  (I never leave them stranded for answers... I just pretend I don't know and lead them in a direction of where to look.)

4.  Glitter is NOT wrong- I looove glitter- it just makes things so much prettier!  Yes, it's messy, but it's so NOT wrong!! :)

5. Random Acts of Kindess are NOT wrong.  I challenge my Kinders to see the good in people and to be the good for people.  If I see them being kind or respectful they get to find a star.  (See my post on Finding a Star HERE!)

So, there you have it- 5 things that are NOT wrong today, and oh, so right!
Thanks, Mrs. Davis for such a positive linky party!

Currently...

So excited to be a part of Farley's Currently list...  I can't figure out how to download the template- when I click on it, it just shows me a thumbnail, no download-able option.  But, will that stop me?  NO!  NEVER!  NOT A CHANCE!  :)

So, here's my currently:

Listening: to my 4 year old talk to his Papaw on the phone.   
Loving: the idea of friends coming over for spaghetti tonight!
Thinking: I should clean the house before our friends come over
Wanting: some garlic bread, YUM :)
Needing: to wrap my gifts- it's hard to find time when the kiddos aren't around. and let's face it, I like to blog-stalk when they are napping.
Stalking: Misters and Misses.

It's not a teacher blog, but it's a good friend of mine's blog and she has some pretty cute things to write about.  Check her out HERE!

and Merry Christmas!

-Staci

Link Party

I just linked up to my second (or was it third?!?) linky party!  Click on over and check out what great ideas Beth at Living Life Intentionally has rounded up for us!  I linked up my Creation Story post which you can see HERE or why don't cha just hop on over to the linky party and see what other fellow bloggers are giving out! 

Thanks, Beth for rallying us together to compile that HUGE bank of ideas. (I think my idea was number 226, now that's a lot of ideas!!!)

Literacy Center Organization

Found another link party, and thought I'd link up again! :)
Check it out here:
Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations

Topic:  Literacy Station Organization

I have to give credit where credit is due, and I'll say I got most of my literacy center ideas from Kindergarten Works.  This website has been a great boost of energy I needed.  Just when I was getting comfortable in Kinder, I got this volt of energy that sparked me to do some fun, new things!  Change is good, right?

So, here goes:
I have 10 literacy centers.  I have the kids rotate through them by keeping them with their classroom jobs partners.  So, when it's time for them to rotate, I just move 1 popsicle stick instead of 2.  So, the popsicle sticks say "Line Leaders" "Computer Equipment" etc.

I keep all of my materials in white tubs I bought at Wal-Mart.  

A teacher friend's dad made this cubby for me!  LOVE IT!!!!  I gave him 1 bin for measurement, told him I wanted 12 bins and bada-bing, bada-boom, DONE :)

I use 5 of the 12 bins for Literacy Centers.

So, let's take a look at each Literacy Center I have:

1.  Big Books.

At each station, I have pockets with "to-do" ideas for my Kinders so they know how to spend their time at the center.

Big Books "to-do":  Read with a pointer or Rainbow your words. My big books are stored in the back of this block wooden easel.  (The to-do cards are attached to the side-my picture should have been zoomed out to show you the easel, sorry 'bout that.)

2.  House

House to-do: Look up words to write.  Make a shopping list.  Call a friend.  Type an e-mail.  Read to Lucy.  (At the beginning of the year, we took a class vote and named our baby doll.)

I sent out a call for broken household items and received a Nintendo DS, iPod Shuffle, iPod touch, iPad, screwdriver, digital camera, 3 misc. cell phones, the cutest toaster I'd ever seen, and so much more... needless to say, our house station is STOCKED!

We made a classroom phone book, so the kids can "call" their friends using our phonebook on the lifeless cell phones.

3.  Writing

Writing to-do:  Look up words to write.  Mail a letter to your friend.

I took a free printable from Kindergarten Works and enlarged it and put it in a document so I could print it on envelopes.  The kids love this!  They feel like grown-ups when they drop their letters in the mailbox.

4.  Detective Center

Detective Center to-do:  Write in your detective Log.  Find the letter or word.

This center is in one of those white tubs, so they take the tub to a designated spot in the classroom to do this center.

I put a few seasonal books in there for the kids to look through.  They get clipboards and laminated paper magnifying glasses to look for the words I specify each week.

5.  Playdough

Playdough to-do:  make a word with playdough.

Got these free printables from Kindergarten Works (Thanks!!)

6.  Letter Tiles

Letter tiles to-do:  Spell your spelling words or sightwords.

7.  Retell

Retell to-do:  Retell your favorite story.  

In this bin you will find 2 books, props, and a black pillow case.  I sewed one end over on the pillow case to make a place for a tension rod to go through.  The kids put the tension rod through and hang the curtain between the 2 doorways of my coatroom.  All I did for props was scan the book pages, print them, cut them out, laminated them, and put them on popsicle sticks.  They LOVE this!! :)  I've got a few 3D props that they can use too- plastic fruit for The Very Hungry Caterpillar; stuffed Clifford dog for any Clifford books, etc.

8.  Poetry

Poetry to-do: Match words you know.  Highlight words you know.  Circle words in your Poetry book.

My poetry station is in a corner of my coatroom hanging on the side of my metal filing cabinet.  They get to read the poem (We've read it several times in class before I put it at the Poetry station), use the index cards to match words, and circle words in their own poetry books.

This is a little invention of my own: I created a word document with 5 rectangles on it.  Colored the rectangles blue, red, yellow, green, etc.  Printed it out on to clear transparency film and ta-da!  Highlighters! :)

9.  iPad station.  I am fortunate enough to have 2 classroom iPads.  The kids are allowed to 2 choices of Apps they can play on during Literacy centers.  I use iPads also during math, quiet time, small group instruction, one on one instruction, and as a reward for good behavior.  They are the BEST!

10.  Teacher station.  That's me! :)  We use a blending board to make our spelling words.  We read a book that is all about our letter of the week.  We clap syllables.  We name rhymes.  You name it, we do it!  I record it all in my handy dandy Literacy Binder for quick reference at conference time.

So, there you have it.  My 10 Literacy Stations.

oh, I also do cross-curricular learning centers in the afternoon, and I store all my center materials in cereal boxes.  Here's a pic.  Let me know if you want to know more! :)

Word Work

I found a link party on Mrs. Patton's Patch and thought I'd send over my ideas I use in my classroom.  So, here goes:

Top 5 ways I like to incorporate Word Work into my Kinder classroom:

I use cheap magnet letters and an extra metal shelf I had laying around in my classroom- the kids spell our spelling or sightwords for the week on them during centers.

I use a blending board at the teacher center during our morning literacy centers.  A teaching friend of mine- her husband made this for me.  It's simply a piece of wood with 2 notches router-ed out... one for the letter cards to sit in, and one for the piece of plexi-glass to sit in.  Works GREAT! :)  

Thank you, Mr. Handyman!! :)

The kids touch the letters as we say the sound, and then run their finger along the entire length of the board to blend the sounds together to read the word.

I use a miniature pocket chart and letter tiles to let the kids spell words during literacy centers.  This week: find a picture of your friend and spell their name using correct capitalization.

Got this handy-dandy printable from KindergartenWorks.  I'm loving this blog, and this playdough idea for my literacy center.  Thanks KindergartenWorks!!

Finally, I use these mesh sheets for my kids to write our spelling or sightwords on.  This creates a bumpy texture for the kids to feel their words once they write them.  I got these at a teacher store, but you can certainly use those plastic cross-stitch sheets too!

So, there it is... 5 of the ways we do word work in my classroom! :)  Thanks for stopping by!