Classroom Walk Through

So I decided to break this up because there is just too much to talk about and if you're anything like me after two or three paragraphs I'm over it. So I decided to show a little at a time. School doesn't start for me until Monday but I have been KLS (Kindergarten Literacy Survey) testing for the past three days. It's looking like its going to be a great year!

Here we go...

I grabbed this "Welcome to Kindergarten" banner off of Kinder Craze 's TPT Store

This is our Carpet. I love how it has a circle on it. I can't image what it is like asking Kindergartners to make a circle.

There is my rocking chair that I made new cushions for this summer.

Next... our Library. This is most of it I have another bookshelf hiding. I came up with the bulletin board on my own but it was inspired by this packet at The Teacher Wife The Teacher Wife. It was meant for the kids to fill out a strip of paper for each book that they read. then they put their strips of paper in their pocket on the bulletin board. once they get to 100 strips of paper they can make a paper chain and display it in the room.

I'm borrowing those cute stools from my sister-in-law this year.

I bought the bins that are on the bookshelves by my teacher table at Big Lots. I think I got as many as a could between the two Big Lots we have in town. I had intended on using them for my library but I think this look better. Then I made my first freebie! The labels for my bins in green and blue chevron. You can get it in PDF or Word Document

Moving on... I grabbed my Schedule Cards off of The First Grade Parade It was another freebie.

Last for today, I want to give a big shout out to my Mother-in-law for these AWESOME chair pockets. I'm so excited! They turned out great. They were definitely a surprise. : )

Well that's it for now. I'll be posting more here and there. Keep and eye out.

Setting Up

So I went back to school this week and have been busier than EVER! Well at least it feels like that. I been taking pictures to show you before and afters but I'm not quite done yet. : ) Today was our first pre-planning day. It was pretty overwhelming but it was a very important information. It's hard to take it all in at once. Afterwards I did some mindless work to decompress. Anyways enough of that. Here is a picture of my classroom on Monday after I unloaded all of my stuff.It gives me a headache just looking at this. I was pressed with the question I'm sure many other teachers are as well... Where do I start? As always I figured it all out and took it one box at a time.

That's my mom sitting there. She was a great help. I also had my sister (in law) and her fiance come in and help me. They were a HUGE help. They did the time consuming things like cutting, gluing and sooooo much more. I am blessed to have family around and willing to help. Yesterday my other sister (in law) came to check out my classroom and help me with a few things. 

Please be looking out. I'm hoping Friday I will be completely finished to do a classroom walk-through to let you know how I did it all. I'm excited I think you're going to like it. : ) 

ta ta for now

Play-Doh

I've been told that we use Play-Doh A LOT in Kindergarten. I had planned on making my own if that's the case and today was my first attempt. Let me just say it's AMAZING. I found this on pinterest(like everything else I use in my classroom) at the Domestic Superhero. I will be making Play-Doh from now on. It only takes 10 minutes to make a batch so with 6 batches it took an hour. I love that this recipe only makes two small containers full, so that I dont have a huge container filled with the same color. The more colors the better. : ) The link above shows the original post. Here are some pictures of my creation and the original recipe at the bottom. I'm curious to see how long it lasts, and how often I'll need to make it compared to the brand name Play-Doh.

Donors Choose

Check out my Donors Choose projects I have going on. I have two: Exciting, Intriguing, Playful, Learning and Chart Caddy Craze. This is my Donors Choose page: Mrs. Hatt

I have 4 months to get them fully funded and then they are dropped off the website. I've got my fingers crossed!

Spread the word.

New Curriculum

Super excited about getting a new reading series this year. This morning I'm at an inservice to learn a lot of the ins and outs of this new Journeys curriculum. What curriculum are you using in your classroom?