Fine Motor Mats

I don't know about you but I love fine motor activities! I love to provide opportunities for students to build their hand strength because I know how important that strength will be for writing! I've created some fine motor mats that are perfect for giving those little fingers a workout! As of now, there is a fall version and winter version with spring and summer coming later. I've only used the fall with my students so far but they had so much fun with it! You could even increase the difficulty by having students use tweezers to place the objects on the mats instead of just their fingers. I like how versatile these mats are; you can have students glue whatever object you choose on or put in a plastic sleeve so students can cover the picture but then remove to use again! 

Click here to see my Fall Fine Motor Mats

Click here to see my new Winter Fine Motor Mats

Lucky Ducks

How was your week? Full day kindergarten starts for me on Monday so I'm using this weekend to think through what Monday will look like (I don't know about you but I normally only think through one day at a time in the beginning of the year!). One thing I'm adding to my classroom this year are lucky ducks! I've used them before but not like this! I saw something on Instagram (check out miss2ndgrade to see her ideas!) In the past I've used them as a "mystery student" but this year I'll be combining the academic side (instead of "pick me" sticks) with behavior (instead of a "mystery student") and am so excited! For example, I may pick a lucky duck as we line up and go into the hallway to watch. I may pick a lucky duck to answer a question as well. To go with our lucky ducks, I may a positive note that I'll send home when a student is chosen! I haven't decided if I'll fill out a note every time but think this will be a fun addition to our room! You can find my note as a freebie in my TPT store! 

Talk to you soon! 

First Week of School Recap

My district went back to school this week so this was a week of catching up with colleagues, PD, putting my classroom back together, open house and meetings. It feels like a blur and while the end of summer means getting up early and all the things, I'm excited to meet and fall in love with a new group of kindergarteners! I wanted to share two Amazon purchases that arrived this week that I'm also exited about! 

I had to get on board the bubble poppers train when I saw they came in numbers! And the popsicle came with them AND it has letters and numbers 0-6 on it! I think these will be a BIG hit! Click the picture to find them on Amazon! 

I ordered these bubble poppers to go with a TPT resource that I managed to snag during the BTS sale! Click the picture to get your own set on Amazon!

And here's the resource from Simply Kinder I'll be using with them! Click the picture to get it for yourself!

My other Amazon purchase are these headbands! I'm so picky about headbands because almost all the ones I have eventually give me a headache but these don't! They are SO cute and comfortable and I've gotten several compliments on them! These are one of my favorite Amazon purchases! Click the picture to order your own set! 

Have a great school year and we'll talk soon!

Summer Wrap Up and a Freebie!

I know I've said this before but I'm getting back to blogging! As I sit here, I'm burning a fall-scented candle and engaging in my end-of-summer tradition of watching all four seasons of Hart of Dixie :) I've made my back-to-school to-do list and am savoring my last few days of sleeping in before teachers return to school on Monday. I'm excited about a new school year! After teaching virtually all of last year, I'm excited to actually have students with me each day! I didn't have a clue what virtual kindergarten would look like but I feel like it went well and I had the sweetest group of kiddos navigating the unknown with me! We all learned so much through that experience but I'm so thankful to be teaching in person this upcoming year! I also wanted to share a freebie I recently added to my TPT store! I always like to get my teammates a beginning of year gift so I found these great scented markers at a local Home Goods and added a cute little tag! 

Enjoy the rest of your summer and we'll talk again soon! 

next steps

The teacher in the picture was from August. She had no clue what this school year would hold. It's been amazing in so many ways but also hard. What I've taken from all that this school year has brought is a stronger faith in God. Not knowing what the future is going to look like can be scary but I know God is in control! Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." It's hard not knowing how to plan for the next school year. The space I took this picture in is my virtual classroom space. I decided to go ahead and create a place for that because that's helped me feel prepared. I can't imagine doing school online - a huge part of kindergarten is the social aspect of interacting together and teaching kids those important social skills. But I'm coming to the place of realizing this is out of my control and I can either stress about every detail or trust God. So I'm choosing to trust. God has shown His faithfulness to me time and time again and I know this will be no different! 

Flat Teacher Adventures

I am so excited about this project! I kept seeing teachers posting about it on Instagram and finally found what all the fuss was about! The file includes a parent letter, poem for your students and a writing paper! I made my bitmoji bigger than the page that was included but it still fits inside a long envelope. I really hope my students have fun with this and I can't wait to see what they come up with! You can click here to purchase your own Flat Teacher Adventures on Teachers Pay Teachers! 

"My Bugs Book"

Hey all! It's been a while! I thought I was done blogging but I'm giving it another go! I want to share about my newest Teachers Pay Teachers product that I've uploaded! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to create things to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers! With the exception of this year, we usually learn about insects in the Spring. My kindergarteners are always so interested to learn about insects! I've created a huge packet with graphic organizers and pages to label the parts of each insect - lots of ways for students to record all of their learning! I can't wait to use this with my students! 

Find this product and look at the preview on Teachers Pay Teachers