Valentine's Day Fun!

Ugh, once again I've neglected my teacher blog. I don't know how all those wonderful teacher bloggers do it! I feel like every time I'm doing something blog-worthy in my classroom, I either don't have my camera or I'm too busy with the kids to take pictures.

Thankfully, on Valentine's Day I remembered my camera AND took some pictures! Since the Candy Corn Bandit (thanks Babbling Abby!) was such a hit in October, I decided to recreate it for Valentine's Day. 

The set up: before Specials I told my kids I had some candy for them after PE. While they were gone, I put up the clues around the building and hid the candy with my across the hall neighbor. Then, while we were out clue-hunting, she put the candy back on their desks. It worked perfectly!

They came back from PE to this:

No more candy!

But, there was a clue...

We found another in the library...

And by the gym! The kids all thought it was so funny the "thief" was so close to them while they were in PE.

They took off down the hallway! Thankfully I have understanding administration who don't mind a crazy class running through the hall :)

Another clue by the front doors...

And then another in the cafeteria!

That led them to the front office.

And back to the room where the candy was waiting!

It was so much fun and such a huge hit! After, I had my kiddos sequence and label all the places we found clues. Great way to tie in some key standards while still having Valentine's fun.

Where's Elfie?

Here are a few photos I've snapped of our class Elf. The kids love coming in the room in the morning and looking for him! Several really think he's real, although a couple are suspicious. Either way, it's been a fun addition to our class and a great "good behavior incentive".

Elf on the Shelf!

Meet "Elfie"- our newest classroom addition!

He's the cheaper, plush version of Elf on a Shelf, but I don't care. And the kids didn't even notice! He was sitting on my desk this morning and they were all so curious. I of course played it up and acted like I didn't know where he came from.

First thing we did was name our Elf. The 3 choices were: Santa, Elfie and Johnson. Don't ask me where Johnson came from! Elfie won by a landslide so Elfie it is. 

To play up the whole "he's watching to see if you're good" notion, I made up a batch of Elf tickets. If Elfie sees a kid being good, they get a ticket. They write their name on the ticket and put it in the basket (pictured aboved). Each morning I'll pull a name from the basket and that child gets to have the Elf for the day. I told my kiddos that if we have so many tickets, I'll pull one name in the morning and one at lunch. That way lots of people get time with the Elf! 

Do you do Elf on a Shelf? What do you do? I'd love to hear your ideas! 

Happy 2012!!

Happy New Year! I joined the masses last night and went out for a night on the town with my boyfriend and several of our friends. Here we are all dressed up:

It was definitely a fun night and I'm very excited to start the new year! 2011 was quite a year- mainly full of either pre or post surgery worries, complications, outcomes, etc. I'm feeling really good and just ready for a normal year.

So of course I have to make a few resolutions. Hopefully I'll keep at least some of them!

- Be more organized- I'm usually SUPER organized but have slipped a little recently. Hoping to get back on track.

- Eat healthier- I realize everyone under the sun makes this resolution, but that's because it's a good one!

- Eat less take-out- not only is it healthier, it will save money $$

- Be financially responsible- I'm not getting any younger, time to stop squandering away those millions of dollars I'm earning as a Kindergarten teacher (can you detect the sarcasm?)

- Do more for myself- I'm always doing things for other people. I need to remember to take time for myself.

What about you? Are you making New Year's Resolutions? I'd love to know what your goals are for 2012! I'm off to enjoy my last 36 hours of freedom before I have to go back to school (and yes, I did count!).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick picture of what I did yesterday with my kids. I'm thankful for the sweet 16 kindergarten I have! (even if they drive me crazy sometimes)

Thanksgiving

So many Kindergarten teachers get to to do super cute themes all year long. Because my school is a themed magnet school, we're somewhat limited by what we can do. I have 4 themes that I have to follow- one for each quarter. They are very time consuming (and very fun!) but don't leave a lot of time for outside themes.

However, this year I'm determined to squeeze a mini Thanksgiving unit in there. I was searching on Pinterest and found some super cute activities:

Source: mrsnelsonsclass.com via Clare on Pinterest

I thought they could write (or me write for them) "I am thankful for _____" instead of the poem. That way this keepsake has their own writing on it.

Source: mrsnelsonsclass.com via Clare on Pinterest

We did the letter T a few weeks ago, but this one is just too cute! They could add the writing "T is for turkey." Maybe as a center activity or something?

I'm also planning on doing a writing lesson on writing the steps to something. Of course we'll have to do the popular "How to cook a turkey" writing activity. Once these are finished, I'll be sure to post pictures of how they turn out!

So thankful for my 16 wonderful, energetic, enthusiastic, loud, sweet, loving Kindergarteners :)