Heading Back to the World of K!

Here we are almost ready to head back to school! I've had a very busy summer this year!  I decided this was the summer to downsize all my junk!  The Mr. and I spent about a month working to get rid of more than about 35 years of stuff we've accumulated, saved and stored.  Almost 4 truckloads later, I'm beginning to think I could get rid of 4 more!  Where does all this stuff come from?
Oh yeah, not just me but also a couple of sweet girls!

The last few days I've been back to my classroom, trying to get things out, set up and ready to go.  Here's a little peek into the beginnings of my 2015-2016 classroom!

I'll be headed over to continue set up on Tuesday!  Hopefully the final touches will be put into place by Wednesday or Thursday! I'll share some additional photos as I go!

Have a great day!

Work It Wednesday - Free Weights!

Work it Wednesday

Welcome to this Work Out Wednesday Post!  I didn't know about this Link Up until today, but I thought I would join in anyway!  Thanks to Katie King for motivating me to post!

Queen of the First Grade Jungle

Today's workout is free weights. 

 I usually pick 2 or 3 muscle groups to work on when I work with free weights.  I'm trying to do weight work twice a week.  Today I picked out exercises from this book that I really like to work arms, shoulders and back muscles. The workouts are listed according to muscle groups, with detailed pictures, suggestions for routines and sets. 

Amazon.com

I have several pairs of free weights ranging from 2 lbs. up to 25 lbs. but today I used the 15's, the 10's and the 5 lbs. weights.  

I usually work out 5 or 6 days a week.  Spinning is my aerobic workout of choice!  I teach Spinning three days a week.  I try to lift weights two days a week and on Day 6 I do a different activity like Pilates, Yoga or neighborhood walking.

When I'm at home I love to do Pilates!  I have many DVD's that star Ana Coban.  She is an excellent instructor with Gaiam. Here's one of her beginning DVD's and it's a good one!

Amazon.com: Pilates with Ana Coban

I like to work out for about an hour each time but sometimes it's a little longer. It took me many, many years to find an exercise activity that I really love but I finally did. I could Spin everyday.  The thing is, we have to cross train.  It keeps things fresh and it keeps us healthy.  Mixing things up builds strong muscles and muscle burns fat!

I really want to be HEALTHY AND STRONG.  All the other good things that come from doing exercise are fabulous, but being healthy is the top priority.  

My best advice is that it is very important to be consistent and don't give up!  It's not always easy to find the time or the motivation.  Yada, yada, yada, just do it.  Get it done.
Think about and focus on how GREAT you'll feel when it's finished!    

Slip on your favorite gym shoes and get started.  

Get moving!  It's all worth it when you feel healthy and strong! 

Good Luck this week and work hard!      

My Personal Side - Favorite Cup Link Up!

What a fun Linky!  This one is hosted by Classroom Confections!  Yay!!  I think it's always fun to find out about the "Friend behind the Blog!" 

Here's a little picture of my current favorite mug!  It's, "Oo-la-la lovely!"  I love the little owls!  Look at them in their sweet berets!  It's so cute!  I do love to have coffee in the morning.  I have about a 40 minute commute to school so it's nice to have something warm to drink on the drive in.  My favorite is Millstone Hazelnut Cream but I also like Starbucks once in a while.  

I haven't always been a coffee drinker because I much prefer a Diet Coke any time of the day!  I'm trying to give up the DC but every now and then I have to get a fountain DC.  Target is a great place to have a DC while I'm shopping.  Way fun!  When I was on vacation I found that Circle K has a VERY large fountain drink cup that I filled with the drink of choice!!  

Yes, it was fabulous!  

Thanks for taking the time to find out a little bit about "My Personal Side!" 

How about you?

Enjoy your day!

Tell All Tuesday Summer Linky Party

Summer is the perfect time to sit back, relax, and enjoy some time to reflect on the previous school year.  It also gives teachers time to daydream and think to the future.  In honor of summer and the time time off we're giving ourselves from our teacher reality we want to know your dreams for your teaching career.  For this Tell All Tuesday we'd love for you to share your "Teacher Bucket List."  What hopes and dreams do you have for your teaching career?  Do you want to go back to school to become a reading specialist?  One day become principal of your school?  Or something else in the realm of teaching?  Dream big and don't hold back!  Share your Teacher Bucket List with us today!

Tell All Tuesday Linky Party

Here's how to join in on the fun:

1. Grab the picture and banner above and use it to link back to this post on your blog.

2. Save the Teacher Bucket list picture to your computer.  Using a tool of your choice (I used Power Point) write your Teacher bucket list and upload it to your blog post.  

2. Write a post about the topic of the week.  
This week is: Teacher Bucket List

3. Add your link below.

4. Advertise your post using any social media of your choice.  

Grow My TpT Store, Blog and Fan Page:  I really enjoy working on my TpT store items and I love to write but the problem I run into is available TIME!  This year I hope to be able to structure my available time a little better.  I have a full time Kindergarten classroom, a part-time job and with all the other things, it's a bit hectic at times.  My plan is to set aside specific times dedicated to working on my store, blog and fan page because I'm going back to school in the fall!

Complete My Principal's License:  This summer I have applied to attend an elementary Principal's license program.  I love being a Kindergarten teacher and I also love mentoring, guiding and helping new teachers!  I am looking forward to going back to school when we go back to school!

PhD in Early Childhood Education:  Someday, I want to finish my PhD.  It's a long term goal but every step I take leads me closer to that goal.  Over the years I have obtained my Masters and enough additional credit hours to probably have another Masters!  It just shows that I am a life long learner!  I learn something new every single day and certainly enjoy gaining knowledge in our field!

Presenting Workshops In The Future:  Presenting at the ITeachK! National Kindergarten Teachers Conference in 2013 was AWESOME!  It was interesting and I certainly learned so much!  It's my dream to continue to present at workshops and conferences all over the country!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post!  I hope you'll take the time to link up so that I can read yours too!  

Thank you to Diana at My Day In K! for creating this fun Linky Party!

April Homework Packet Is Up and Ready!

April Homework Packet on TpT

I hope you're having a good spring!  It's been raining again today,

so, just in time for April, I've finished my April Homework Packet and posted it on TpT!  Yeah!  Rainy days are sometimes very productive!

 There are activities for each day with two additional reading bonus activities for you to use!

 *Calendar to show activities at a glance

 *Language Arts and Math activities for each day

 *Practice with rhyming, syllabication, beginning and ending sounds

 *CVC word practice

 *Fill in the missing middle vowel sound

*Sentence Scrambles and Word Scrambles

*Creative Response and Explanatory Writing

 *Practice with common sight words

 *Practice with writing word families

 *Book response activities

 *Practice with adding -s and -es to create plurals

 *Identifying numbers, writing numbers from 0-20

 *Skip counting by 10's and 5's

 *Counting to 100

 *Addition and Subtraction to 5 as well as challenge addition and subtraction for your Smarties!

*A Number Bond Activity

*Decomposing Number Activities

I hope you'll jump over and check it out on TpT!  I've been working on some other activities for my kiddies.  I should have those ready sometime this week so watch for additional posting this coming week!

If you've already had a little Spring Break, I hope it was enjoyable and if you have time to enjoy this week, please do something fun!

Have a great week!

Time for a Super Sale!

There's a sweet SALE going on over at TpT!  Tomorrow is the last day so jump on over and check it out!  All the things in my store are on sale because I appreciate all my teacher friends! 

Pick up some great resources at a discounted price!  

Have fun over at the store and shop it up! 

Time for the March Homework Packet!

It's finished!  And it's finished before March has even started!  I have to laugh a little because sometimes my world is so busy that I just get things done right before I need them.  I know no one else is like that but it does happen to me!  So here is the latest addition to the Homework Packet Line Up!

March Homework on TpT

Here's what you'll find in this packet! 

There are activities for each day with two additional bonus activities for you to use!

*Calendar to show activities at a glance

*Language Arts and Math activities for each day

*Practice with rhyming, syllabication, beginning and ending sounds, opposites

*CVC word practice

*Fill in the missing middle vowel sound

*Practice with common sight words

*Practice with writing word families

*Book response activities, characters, setting and main idea

*Practice with adding -s and -es to create plurals

*Identifying numbers, writing numbers from 0-20

*Skip counting by 10's and 5's

*Counting to 100

*Addition and Subtraction to 5

I hope you find this as helpful as I do and as fun as my kiddies do each month! 

Have a great week!

Cool Valentine Technology Links!

Hey all!  If you're looking for some computer games that are fun and educational for this week and Valentine's Day, check out these suggestions!

How about www.pbskids.org for some great activities? 

   

Curious George - I Love Shapes Game

Here are a couple other suggestions for computer games to use this week at www.nickjr.com!

Dora and the Lost Valentine

This is a website that will read "Arthur's Valentine" by Mark Brown out loud! 

That's pretty fun!

Arthur's Story Online 

Don't forget about one of our favs sites, Starfall!

There are so many great games and activities for the kiddies, it's sometimes hard to redirect them to a different site!

Connection Words Mini-Book

There's a mini book listed on this site called,  "Make A Valentine" that teaches connecting words, such as and, and because.

We use Starfall and PBSkids in our rooms often!

I hope you can find something helpful and useful for the kiddies in your clasroom this week!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

                     

February Homework Activities!

Hi!
I just wanted to share my new February Homework Packet!  I just finished it and it's ready to go on TpT!  It's loaded with daily homework activities for Kindergarten Kiddies!  There's a wide range of activities for the kiddies to work on and most can be done independently at this time of year!

February Homework Packet for Kindergarten Kiddies

Here are some of the activities that I've included.  I hope you find them helpful and useful for your classroom kiddies too.

*Calendar to show activities at a glance

*Language Arts and Math activities for each day

*Practice with rhyming, syllabication, beginning, middle and ending sounds, opposites

*Practice with common sight words

*Practice with writing word families

*Book response activities, characters, setting, retelling

*Practice with adding -s and -es to create plurals

*Identifying numbers, writing numbers from 0-20, skip counting by 10's

*Addition and Subtraction to 5

It's just in time for a great start to your February Homework activities!

Have a great week!

Five For Friday!

Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!  It's always fun to do Linky Parties!

It is so cold outside!  Snow is on the way! I'm so glad to wind down on this Friday with a little fire and a nice cup of coffee.  What a long week!  Saturdays are my "Work Free" days.  "Work Free" for school work, but "Work On" at the house!  I have to have one day where I don't do any school work so that I can catch up on other things! 

Balance! (aka Balancing Act!)

So inside this sweet little cup is one of my favorite coffees. Are you a coffee connoisseur?

I gave up my favorite, favorite, favorite drink.  I loved the DC. Diet Coke. Drink of Choice.

Lately I've been trying out different kinds and flavors of coffee.  It's interesting and fun to go to the smaller coffee shops around Cincy!

How cute is this?

Now all of this relaxing must be accompanied by a good book!  Here's the book that I've just started!  With all the cold and flu germs swirling around the school, I think I just need all the help I can get to stay healthy.  I hope I have time to finish what I've started!  I've read all of  Dr. Furhman's books and this one looks to be a very interesting read! 

Want to know about boosting your immune system by making great nutritional choices?  

Check out this book and let me know what you think.

I found a new and interesting website to help my kiddies with a variety of skills!  

ABCya.com.

There are many reading and math activities as well as other learning games for the kids to play!  I'm still working to explore all the games myself but so far, I've found it to be a delightful website for my kiddies!

This week and for the next few weeks I'll be reorganizing my leveled collection and my classroom book collection.  To say that this is a BIG project is an understatement!  I have so many books.  There are bins of books all over my room and it's time to sort them out again! 

It's going to be a busy week!

Thanks to Doodle Bugs for hosting this Linky Party! 

Have a wonderful week! 

Kimmie

Ready for the 2015!

Well, it's time to head back to school tomorrow.  I have to be honest!  I've really enjoyed the winter break for these two weeks and I'm having a hard time motivating myself to get into the groove!  I think this year I've promised myself to do things a little differently!  For the first time in a long time I'm an empty-nester!  I don't really like that but that's where I am!  It's kind of hard to get used to.  For so long I've had little ones at home and teenagers running in and out but now it's kind of quiet.  Too quiet!  Don't get me wrong, quiet is okay sometimes, it's just different than what I'm used to having at home!
So I've picked up another Spinning class and I've resolved to exercise EVERY SINGLE day.  I think that might also help me to lower my stress level!  Stress?  You probably don't have any stress either. LOL!  It will also help me to lose a few pounds.  That will be nice!

I did make a new homework packet for my classroom kiddies and it's available on TpT.  Here's the cover.  There are reading and writing activities and math activities as well.  Each homework activity is a half page and is the packet is print ready so that it's easy to copy and give out to your kiddies!

January Homework Packet

The other thing I want to do this year is work a little harder to make this blog better!  I have some good ideas for things I want to post and I'm going to do that in 2015!  Thanks for taking the time to visit!  I hope you have a great start to your new year!  

Kimmie