It's Time For A Fantastic Back To School Sale!

GET READY TO SHOP!  GET READY TO GO!  GET READY TO FILL UP THAT SHOPPING CART! 

It's time for the Back to School Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers 2013!  There's a super-tremendous, highly gigantic, extremely ginormous shopping sale for the next 2 days only!

There's also an extra discount code!  If you enter it at checkout, you'll get an additional 10% off of whatever you purchase, store wide!  That is nice!!

Kimmie's TpT Store

Everything in my store is on sale and there are also FREEBIES that you are welcome to download too! 

I hope find some things to help you have a great year!  My cart is overflowing with wonderful resources! 

Have an awesome shopping experience Sunday and Monday! 
Thanks for the kind comments and questions!

Kimmie

Teacher Week '13! Friday- Tips and Tricks!



This week has been so busy!  I'm posting this a day late, but better late than never!  LOL!

If you're a teacher and you're reading this, you probably have lots of tips and tricks already!  I've been thinking about how to add additional opportunities to communicate classroom activities with parents.  I already write and send home a weekly newsletter.  It contains weekly info about what we're learning in Reading/Lang. Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies.  I also use it to tell about upcoming events, birthdays, PTO happenings, school and district events.  I list sight words and specific things to work on and I also promote opportunities to purchase great books and other products from Scholastic. 

So I've decided to create an email list and send the newsletter electronically to parents.  That way, if they prefer, they can read the newsletter online, forward it to grandparents and caregivers or just print the sections they want to keep.  I will still send a hard copy, but I think that this will encourage them to read about what's going on in Room A-1 and to be more informed on a weekly basis. I think it will also help to keep lines of communication open with parents that do not live in the same home as their child.  In the past, I've often sent 2 newsletters home with a kiddo, one for each parent, but I'm not sure if the newsletters make it to each parent.  Sending newsletters online should help with that! 

I'll let you know how it goes!  Thanks for stopping by to read this blog post! 
This is the end of the posts for Teacher Week '13!  I hope you've enjoyed reading about all the fun Teacher Week topics and I appreciate your kind comments and questions!

Thank you so much to Blog Hoppin! for hosting this Teacher Week '13 Blog Hop!!

Enjoy the start of this new school year! 
Kimmie

Teacher Week '13 - Thursday Taming The Wild!

 

Well, I'm playing catch up this weekend!  I've been working day and night to get ready for my first day back to school! 

This post is going to be short and sweet!  My classroom management routine is pretty simple.  Short and simple directions, lots of praise and encouragement and a logical consequence if my friends are not doing the right thing.  I'm super consistent because I think that's the key to success with behavior management. 

Each month I give every child a copy of a blank calendar.  To be consistent with the school wide behavior plan, I mark the calendar day with the behavior letter each kiddie earned.  At the end of the week the kiddies can earn a prize from my prize box!  They can also earn rewards for great table teamwork, small group teamwork or individual behavior each day!  

I don't have a classroom chart that shows who has great behavior or one that shows the degrees of behavior because there are always a few friends that need more encouragement and structure than others.  In Kindergarten we are learning about good behavior and how to have good behavior.  I don't want to set a negative tone for the whole day by visually reminding a kiddo of a behavior problem.  I would rather use the problem as a learning experience and a teaching moment, redirecting the behavior and the kiddo so that it ends on a positive note! 

Thanks Blog Hoppin'!

Tame those Wild Ones!  We can do it!
Have a wonderful week!

Kimmie

Teacher Week '13 - Wednesday Organizing!

 

Hey Y'all! 

It has been a busy week!  I'm still in the middle of rearranging organizing my classroom.  If you stopped by yesterday, you read about how I had gotten my room ready and then changed my mind and decided to twirl things around!  So now, I'm digging out!  I worked all day and I'll work all day tomorrow too!  Maybe, just maybe, I'll have it all put back together by tomorrow afternoon!

 

I've had a couple of things slow me down.  Two of the plastic supports for my wooden shelves broke apart and now I'll have to go to Home Depot or Lowe's on the way to school in the morning.  Uggg. 

 

 

This is a picture of leveled book shelves in my room.  I have a LOT of books!  There are lots of ways that you can organize leveled books but because we use the Guided Reading Letter Leveling, I have my books organized in that way.  

 

Scholastic.com has a great link to help level books!  Here's a link from their website that shows a comparison for the leveling system.

 

 

Scholastic Guided Reading Leveling Chart

 

 

And here's a helpful link to the Scholastic Book Wizard!

You can plug in a book and find out the reading level! It makes quick work of finding out the reading level of the books in the classroom!  I hope you love it as much as I do!

 

 

 

 

Scholastic Book Wizard

 

 

 Thanks to Blog Hoppin' for this fun Teacher Week Linky Party!

 Blog Hoppin'

 I hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for stopping by to check out the Wednesday Organizing for Instruction Post!

See you for tomorrow's post!
 Kimmie

Teacher Week '13! Tuesday Classroom Digs!



Thanks for stopping by to check out Tuesday Classroom Digs!

I'M NOT READY.

Why not?

We don't start school until Monday and I'm still working on it! Hard!

Today I decided to rearrange.  It was already arranged, but I decided to make some BIG changes!

I pulled out the long shelves and stacked them, one on top of the other.  I pulled out all the

Reading/Lang. Arts, Math and Science activities and reorganized them and then put them away. (Almost.)

So, I'll show you the mess I made!  And then next week I'll show you the finished room!

 

 

Here's how my room looked this morning!

 

One of my former Kindergarten kiddies and her friend stopped by to help me for a little while! 

So sweet!  I always appreciate a few extra hands to help!

 

So, tomorrow I'm working all day and also on Thursday!  I think I'll be able to get that room ready by Thursday!  That's my goal!

Wish me luck! 

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and thanks to Blog Hoppin' for putting it out there!  I'm always glad to have new friends follow my blog!
Take care and have a fun and productive week!

Kimmie!



It's Teacher Week '13! Let's Talk About Me Monday!

Blog Hoppin'

Talking about Kimmie!  This should be interesting!  LOL!  Well, here are some things that you find fun about me!  Let me see how many numbers I'll need!

1.  I'm getting ready to begin my 20th year as a teacher!  I've taught 2nd grade and 1st grade and for the last 11 years, I've been in Kindergarten!  It's the best grade ever!

 My TpT Store



 

 

2.  My hubby Jim and I have been married for 30 years!  Our anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks and that will mark our 31st anniversary!  Wow!  He's a wonderful man and we spend lots of time together!  We have two smart, beautiful girls and we're so proud of them! AND we have another member of our sweet family!  It's Gigi!  She's our chubby little beagle!

Sweet Little Gigi! Who could resist that face?

www.spinning.com

3.  I teach SPINNING!  I love to Spin (indoor bike, high intensity aerobic exercise! - Not to be confused with weaving or spinning yarn! LOL!)  I've been a Spinning Instructor for about 14 years!  I also teach Pilates, YogaFit and HydroRider, which is Spinning in the deep water pool.  I love to exercise and I like to make it fun for others!  I do resistance training, I run a little and take all kinds of exercise classes at the Health Plex near where I live in Cincinnati! 

  

    

   

4.  I love to cook!  I think I'm a chef!  I've been a vegan for almost 16 years!  It seems like forever and I'm so glad!  It's definitely a life choice and most of the time it's easy and simple.  It's a little tricky when we have to travel, but it's getting easier as restaurants become more interested in offering healthy low fat veggie choices!
 

 

 www.vegnv.com

I think this is so true!!www.gopantone.com

 

 

 

5., 6., 7., & 8.  This summer my husband and I went to Las Vegas so that I could present at the I Teach K! Conference!  That was awesome!  I met some really fun teachers!  It was lots of fun!  One of the summer highlights! 

Debbie

 Deedee

Deanna

I also elbowed my way up to meet Kim Adsit, Kimberly Jordano and Kathleen Pederson!

Thanks girls!

Here's a photo of the Blogger Meet Up 2013! 

Where are you?  Do you see yourself? Can you find me? (Middle, about 3 from the right!)

 

 

9.  After the conference in Las Vegas, Jim and I took a little vacation for the first time in about 20 years!  We've been kind of busy with work and the girls and giving all our money to The University of Cincinnati!  Finally, we were able to spend some time together and enjoy Palm Springs, CA, the Grand Canyon and the area all around Sedona, AZ!

 

 

                                           

 Palm Springs, CA

 

 

 

 The Grand Canyon!  So Beautiful!

 

 Sedona, AZ   A Gorgeous Area!



10.  Tomatoes!  We are growing lots and lots and LOTS of tomatoes!  We have 32 tomato plants and the tomatoes are starting to get ripe!  There's nothing like a Cincinnati tomato and we wait all summer for them to ripen!  We grow many, many varieties and I love them all!  Brandywine, Grape,  Roma, Cherry, Black Cherry, Big Boy, Better Boy and Early Girl are some of our favorites! Need a few?  Come over!

 



 

 I could go on and on!  That's a lot of Kimmie info!  Tomorrow is another day and another fun blog post coming up! 

I love doing these Linky Party Activities! I learn so much about FABULOUS bloggers and the GREAT ideas that they have and the WONDERFUL places they go!

Blog Hoppin'

Thanks for taking the time to read all this! If I think of something else I'll add it later!
Have a great week!

 

Friday Linky Party- Five For Friday!

Doodle Bugs

I love doing the Linky Party thing!  It's always fun to see what everyone is doing and to gain inspiration and motivation! 

So, here we go!

1. I've been shopping!!  I've been to lots of Dollar Hollers to pick up some cheap inexpensive and fun Center stuff!  Yahoo!  I think it's fun to shop for creative and colorful Center activities!  I found these blue baskets and I'm going to use them to store (and air dry) watercolor paint brushes!  The index cards come in packs of 4 colors, perfect for ABC and sight word practice.  The clock is to show when we go to Centers and I know, "Who" will love the owl stickers!

 

2.  I've been working on the Kindergarten Common Core Curriculum and I've posted it as a TpT Freebie and a Facebook Fan Freebie too!  The standards are put into a monthly format over the school year to help align our lessons to the Common Core!  Did I mention that it's a FREEBIE?

 

 

Kindergarten Common Core Curriculum

Facebook Fan Page

 

 

3.  Reading and Reviewing and Revisiting!  I love to take a look and reread those books that are so important to the beginning of the school year!  Then I also try to find something new to read, either a short article or a piece by another teacher author.  Here are a few of the books that I like to revisit before school starts and that I've already started rereading!

 



The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson  

 

Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller

 

Guided Reading: First Good Teaching For All Children by Fountas and Pinnell

 

 

4.  I work on my school daily schedule!  Here's an outline of what I start with and then I add and tweak what I need to each week because in Kindergarten we just have to be flexible!

 

 

Schedule for the Beginning of the Year

Daily Schedule: Here is a general schedule for our classroom. We’ll add on activities as we go, but this will give you a framework for our busy days!

8:05-8:15 Attendance, Lunch Count, Pledge

8:15-8:30 Handwriting Without Tears

8:30-10:00 Calendar/Songs/Phonemic Awareness

Reading/Making Meaning/Phonics

Reading Activities/Interactive Writing

Science/Social Studies

10:00-10:45 Math Investigations

10:45-11:20 Specials

Mon. – Music Tues. – P.E Wed. – Tech Tools Thurs. – Art Fri. - Music

 (Library on Thursdays at 10:15)

11:25-11:35 Clean Up/Ready for Lunch/Mystery Box

11:35-12:25 Lunch/Recess

12:30-12:50 Teacher Read/SSR/Guided Reading

12:50-1:30 Writer’s Workshop

1:30-2:05 Centers/Guided Reading

2:05-2:15 Clean Up/Pack Up/Ready to Go

2:25-2:30 Dismissal
 

5.  I try to spend a little time relaxing!  It's nice to be home, following my own schedule and routine!  It's nice to take time to plan and create some delicious food for myself and my sweet hubby!  Every weekend I look forward to spending time with my smart, beautiful girls!  We're having a Waffle Breakfast this weekend!  You are welcome to join us for good food, good fun and great conversation!

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this post!  I love to link up with new friends and old friends!

Have a great week!  See you soon!

Thanks Doodle Bugs!

 

I would love for you to follow me!  That way we can be connected! 
Kimmie!