My little scientists

Have you been wondering where I went? Well, let's see...in the past few weeks, I have had to enter 11 grades per child per subject (11 grades x 6 subjects x 17 kids!) into a new computer grading system, I've been to Providence, RI to visit my sister and I've been to Jamaica for a much needed vacation!

But before all of that, I took my kids on a "learning expedition" to our local nature center. It is a great place that really does a fantastic job of introducing kids to nature. It's especially great for my little inner-city babies. They loved it!!

Here they are examining the frog pond:
I of course spent the entire time saying "don't lean so far! move back! not so close!" I was just convinced that someone would fall in. Luckily, we all stayed dry and even spotted a few frogs! We took a class picture in front of a huge sycamore tree that we'll visit again soon to see how it has changed with the season.

I am loving getting out and about and seeing what little scientists my kids are becoming! They are really exploring and discovering our world and I'm just so glad I can be a part of that.

What's in my bag?

I saw a cute post recently on another teacher blog about teacher bags. I can't remember where the post was from, but I agree completely with the statement that teachers love tote bags. I have an entire closet full of tote bags. Seriously, I have a problem. But, I use all of them and they all have a purpose.

I have used several different tote bags in my short teaching career. When I was an assistant, I used my backpack because I was also in grad school at the time. Then while I was student teaching, I used a medium long-handeled tote from L.L. Bean. It was great, but a little small for what I needed.

When I started my real job, my realtor gave me a super cute tote bag as a "happy new house and happy new job" present. It is bright green and pink (my favorite colors!) but the sides are soft so it didn't hold its shape. This year I've been using a variety of old totes...until now

Enter, this beauty:

A large, long-handeled tote from L.L. Bean. A tote devoted solely to teaching. Thus, the "Ms. H" monogram. I am in love! This tote is awesome. It stays open and upright, the straps go over my shoulders for easy carrying, and it holds everything I need. What's in it? Well, since you asked...

the "orange basket" (turn in paper place) from my classroom, full of papers to be graded. The pink box holds my Mr. Sketch markers, great for grading papers because the kids love the smells!

A package of sentence strips. I've been using sentence strips a lot more this year, but usually only have time to make them when I'm at home. So I figured I needed to just keep a pack at home so when the mood strikes me I'm ready.

My lunch container (this day it was leftovers) and my water bottle. I go through about 2-3 bottlefulls a day.

Random laminated things that need to be cut out. These have been in my bag since the beginning of the year. I just hate cutting stuff out! But they're here if I'm ever in the mood.

A small notebook (holds my to-do lists), an umbrella and my personal clutch. All important things to have.

The only reason there isn't any more random crap in my bag is because it's new. Check back with me in a few weeks (heck, a few days) and there's sure to be some post-its, a few check stubs, a ruler, some pens, a hair clip and even more random things.

So there you have it! The secrets of my teacher bag revealed. What's in your bag?

the A to Z's of Clare

I found this meme from a blog I follow, Wardrobe Oxygen. Since it's Sunday morning and I'm feeling lazy, I thought I'd share it with you. Here's all you needed to know about me, from A to Z:

A: Age: 26

B. Bed size: Full. It’s the bed I (and by “I” I mean my parents, lol) bought for my senior year in college when I lived off campus. Seriously considering upgrading to a queen, just waiting to win the lottery.

C. Chore that you hate: Unloading the dishwasher. Even though it takes just a few minutes, I always put it off.

D. Dogs: Biscuit, my adorable 2 year old miniature poodle. I love him!

E. Essential start to your day: a hot shower. I’m not awake until I shower.

F. Favorite color: pink

G. Gold or Silver: Silver. I don’t think gold looks good on me for some reason.

H. Height: 5’3.5” after my surgery I was 5’4” but I think I’ve settled a half an inch

I. Instruments you play: I took piano lessons for a little while when I was 9-10 years old. But it’s hard to play anything when you can’t really read music! My siblings got all the musical talent.

J. Job title: Kindergarten teacher extraordinaire

K. Kids: currently I have 17 (my students, lol)

L. Live: in my hometown

M. Mother’s name: Mom, Mama or Mommy. Usually Mama

N. Nicknames: Clare-Bear by most of my friends, Clara-belle by my parents, the Belle by my cousin, and my sister calls me Sister (I call her Sister too)

O. Overnight hospital stays: being born, brain surgery when I was 5, spinal fusion when I was 26

P. Pet peeves: cracking knuckles, people who aren’t on time, people who drive with their turn signal on

Q. Quote from a movie: I can pretty much quote Legally Blonde in its entirety, but my favorite is “whoever said orange is the new pink, is seriously disturbed”

R. Right or left handed: Right.

S. Siblings: Sister. She’s three years younger and probably my best friend. Although we still fight like we’re teenagers a lot of the time. Going to visit her in a few weeks and I can’t wait! (she’s a super genius and currently at Brown University getting her 2^nd master’s degree) And my brother is 2 years old and my hero because he beat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and is now in law school.

T: Time you wake up: my alarm is set for 6:02, but in reality that’s 5:53 because my bedroom clock is 9 minutes fast. It’s odd but works for me.

U. Underwear: I’m a VS girl

V. Vegetable you hate: raw tomatoes- I like them cooked, like tomato sauce and tomato soup, like ketchup but if you give me a sandwich, I will pick them off.

W. What makes you run late: Facebook and Pinterest

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Oh lord, I can’t even count how many x-rays I’ve had. I’ve had scoliosis since I was 5, so that’s 21 years of x-rays several times a year. Add that to several for my right ankle (sprained 6 times, never broken) and a few wrist/hand x-rays. I’m surprised I’m not glowing right now.

Y. Yummy food that you make: Where to start? Last night I made apple dumplings and chocolate-chip oreo brownies. Both got rave reviews. I also make a killer macaroni and cheese.

Z: Zoo animal: Flamingo. Because they’re pink!

my students at the zoo this past spring, standing like flamingos

So there you go! If you want to fill it out and share, please post a comment. I'd love to learn more about you!

training

I wish the title of this post meant that I'm back in marathon training. Not quite. I have started running, but VERY slowly and for short distances only. I was getting a little down on myself about it, but then had to remember that I had 2 metal rods and 22 screws implanted in my back only 4 months ago.! (p.s, I've been discharged from PT. woo hoo!!)

No, the title of this post refers to training my children. Not potty training (thank goodness!), classroom training. I had forgotten this year how hard it is to start a new school year. A new year full of kids who don't know my way of doing things. We have to start at the beginning...the very beginning.

I wanted to blog about this mainly to remind myself when I forget it in 45 weeks (that's how long until the start of school next year, fyi). And to remind myself that it does get better! My kids are slowly but surely getting the hang of things and learning how to do things my way. Because in my classroom, it's my way or the hallway :)

math journals

This week I introduced math journals to my kids. These are just some spiral bound notebooks I got at Staples for about $0.12 a piece. The kids got to pick what color they wanted and then decorated them with stickers! They were so excited. Here they are decorating their journals:

We have "worked" in our math journals twice now and both times it has been great. The kids love it because it's pretty much the one time I let them lie down on the carpet. They get 2 crayons to use (so I can distinguish between problems) and have shown some great creativity! So far it's just been "draw me 3 balloons, write the number 4, etc." type of problems. If you have any suggestions for using math journals in Kindergarten, I would love to hear them!

Kitchen update!

A few weeks ago, I blogged about making curtains for my Home Living center in my classroom. Well, I finished them and was so excited to hang them up! They turned out so cute. I inherited some dress up clothes, so I hot-glued some clips to the wall and added them to the center.

What do you think?

The kids keep asking me when Home Living will be "open." But then one of them reminds the others that they haven't learned the rules yet. Once we go over the rules, procedures, where things go, etc. the kids will get to visit this center. Can't wait to see what they make me! (that's their favorite thing- making me food)

My class

I just uploaded a bunch of pictures from my camera, including this one from yesterday. We were about to go outside for recess when I realized I had all 17 kids present AND I had my camera with me. Perfect photo op! I took individual pictures that I'll use throughout the year for various things, then of course had to get a group shot.

Here's our "crazy" picture:
For privacy purposes, I had to blur out their faces, but they are still pretty cute! This type of picture definitely shows their little personalities. Check out little man in the red shirt in the middle :)