Meet the Teacher Monday! Everything You Wanted to Know About Me and Maybe TOO Much!

Hello Friends!

Today is Meet the Teacher Monday! So here is a little bit of information about me.......

1.  I am currently starting my 19th year of teaching kindergarten! Wow! That is a lot of years! I have to say, though, that it really does not seem like 19 years. Teaching 5 year olds is just such a sweet treat and I couldn't be happier with what I do from day to day!

I also tutor after school.... Love that, too!

2.  My husband and I will be married 30 years this November! Another WOW! My time with him has been amazing and I couldn't ask for a better partner in life. He is funny and kind and gentle and everything that makes a good husband good! He puts up with my moods and he is my best friend. We met on a blind date. I actually was shown a picture of him before our date, but he went into it TOTALLY blind! I knew I wanted to marry him after our first date, but it took him awhile to realize that I was a good choice for him, too!

 This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us....

And here is our wedding picture 30 years ago!

 This is a picture of us now.....

3.  We have a farm, but we don't live on the farm! When we were first married, my husband's father was still farming full time. I was teaching full time at a small town north of Champaign and the farm is 20 miles south of Champaign. So we made Champaign our home and didn't really think about moving to the farm once we settled in the "city". My husband commutes to the farm every day!

4.  I have 3 wonderful, grown children! My oldest son was just married this January to a beautiful young lady with whom we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! My only daughter graduated in Studio Arts and is trying to make it in the Art world in Chicago. So far nothing permanent, but she is determined and I know something will show up soon! My youngest son just finished class work at Loyola University in Chicago and he, too, is now throwing his hat into the job ring...... fingers crossed.... hope, hope!

5.   My husband and I like to travel and I feel like we have not done enough of it! The thing with me is that I LOVE the traveling once we are there, but do not really enjoy the actual traveling! What I mean by that is that I still get motion sickness (Yuck!), so the getting there is usually not fun.... BUT once we are there it is always amazing! Last  year we traveled to Rome, Italy and the year before that, we traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic. Last March, we traveled to New York City. This summer, my daughter and I traveled to San Francisco. I have quite a few places on my bucket list that I want to travel to..... Ireland, Hawaii, Paris.........

Here we are in Prague....

 New York City!

 

Rome, Italy!

 I am blessed to be able to still travel with my wonderful parents, too! Here is a picture of my beautiful Mom and me in the old Alameda, California,  Navy Base

And here is a picture of my Mom, Dad, my daughter, and my awesome sister in law in San Francisco...

My daughter and me in San Francisco

My husband has a pretty great family, too! I just don't have the pictures of them like I do my own family!

6.  If you read my blog, you know that I love to garden. This summer because of my foot surgery, I was unable to do very much which has made me feel sad. Luckily, my wonderful husband has kept the flowers alive and I have a lovely parent who has kept the school garden alive this summer. Being in my garden brings me such peace.......

7.  One flavor that I adore is vanilla! I can live without chocolate, but don't take away my vanilla! I love snickerdoodles, Dairy Queen vanilla soft serve, and Special K Vanilla Crisp cereal bars. I even love the COLOR vanilla! I also love cinnamon and coconut!! Yum!!
Dairy Queen Pina Colada Smoothie...... ARRRGGGHHH! Too delicious!!

8.  I am a children's book hoarder! I have HUNDREDS of kid's books........ I am addicted and do not know how to help myself!! Mo Willems and Lois Ehlert are two of my favorite authors, but I love them all! Here are a few pictures of my book boxes (Please ignore the mess! I am still setting up my classroom!) I have 4 times that many children's books! Many of my classroom library books are from my personal collection. But I also have special theme boxes that I only get out on special occasions..... They are my babies, and I know that I will have to go through them eventually and give some away.....

9.  I live in corn and soybean country, but love the ocean and Lake Michigan....... These are two of my favorite pictures of my son and daughter fishing in Lake Michigan......

This is my oldest son on a boat in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin....

And this is me... the ONLY way I will ride in a boat!

10.  And finally..........I have the best kindergarten team in the world to work with! I am thankful for them everyday. They are creative, fun, and willing to try anything if they think it will benefit our students! I am soooooo lucky to work with these wonderful women! Thank you Lisa and Lea!

So that's me! Make sure you link up on Blog Hoppin and share YOU!

Until next time!

Blessings,
Cindy

Five For Friday!

Hello Friends!
I am once again joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday linky! Yay!

So let's see.....

1.  I was given this lovely boot on Monday to use while driving! Because my surgery was on my right foot, I have not been able to drive. But once I received this lovely boot, I no longer feel like a prisoner in my own home! I am a bit nervous about teaching in the heavy walking boot I have to wear, though. I was in my classroom a few days this week and after about 3 hours, I was exhausted and my feet felt like they had been working forever!

2.  The doorbell rang yesterday and these BIG packages from Lakeshore Learning were on my porch. I was looking forward to this delivery and couldn't wait to open them! I am super excited to have new supply caddies for my tables. My old ones were getting pretty yucky; no matter how much I cleaned them! And I am also  excited to try out the magnets! I was told that these were the best, so I plan to try them out on my Word Wall. I like for my kiddos to be able to remove words from the Word Wall if they need a word, so I needed a strong magnet that stayed on a laminated card. I was sooo frustrated last year with the magnets I used because they kept peeling off the back of the cards. Fingers crossed that these work!

  I was a bit disappointed in this organizer. When I ordered it, I was very excited to find something that had color coded trays. But when it came, the trays were cardboard... we shall see if they hold up... I am still deciding if I want to keep them which is why they are still wrapped in their plastic. Has anyone ever used them?

3. I went a little crazy at Walmart and The Dollar Tree yesterday.........

4.  Can't forget the Blog Hoppin Teacher Week next week! Hurray!

5.  Finally, I have spent the whole summer revising, editing, and creating the resources in my store. Whew! Now, I think it is time to take a break from that and concentrate on the new crop of kinders that I will be meeting in 10 days. Here are a few of my newest resources...

Until next time!

Blessings,
Cindy

Back to School EMagazine for 2013 Now Published!

Hello Friends!
I am so excited to announce that the Back to School EMagazine for 2013 is published! Melanie, from Schoolgirl Style and April from A Modern Teacher are the authors of this super, cool EMagazine and  There are some really awesome teacher bloggers featured and I am honored to be a part of them! Wow! The magazine is full of teacher Back to School "must haves!"

When viewing the EMagazine, make sure that you click on the items featured on each page and don't forget to check out all the awesome blogs!

I just have to give a shout out to Melanie and April.... They are amazing bloggers and I love reading their wonderful ideas! I stalked Melanie last summer when I was decorating my classroom! Check out her blog Schoolgirl Style, HERE. And April from A Modern Teacher is just as amazing! Check out her blog HERE. I have to have the lunchbox she has featured on her Home Page!

Click on the image below to read this amazing magazine! Be patient! It takes awhile to load! If you get an error message, reload your page!

Until next time! Blessings, Cindy

A Five Frame Math Freebie and a Fun Way to make Polka Dots!

Hello Friends!

 I thought I would share a Math freebie with you and a fun way to make polka dots!

First, the polka dots....... I LOVE polka dots! There is just something fun about these little dots and I think they bring a brightness to any DIY or classroom project. Many of my kiddos like polka dots, too, and because of that, I have plenty of sticker dots around. But, sticker dots can be expensive, so I came up with a fun way to add them to a project with very little expense!

 I got this idea when I was cleaning my classroom in May and had to throw away old, dried up glue sticks. I just kept feeling that surely there was something that I could do with them. So I rescued a few of them and they have been sitting in a box in my house all summer. A few nights ago, I was tossing and turning and just could not sleep. It was during that time that I had my "Ah ha" moment! Could the old glue sticks be used as paint dobbers? When I got up in the morning, I tried them out and they worked! Woo hoo! The only thing, though, is that the paint that is used must be smooth and creamy. If it is thick and lumpy, the dots do not come out as well. The glue sticks clean up nicely with a wet paper towel and can be used again!

To take this idea a bit further, I was contemplating how this could be expanded to a math or literacy center and I came up with this idea........the kiddos can make their own Five Frame cards using dots and index cards. This is an inexpensive and hands on way to practice decomposing numbers. After the cards are dry, kiddos can use them to decompose numbers and create number combinations.

 Click on the image below to download a copy of this math FREEBIE! The cute border is from the very talented Ashley Hughes!

Until next time!

Blessings,
Cindy

Character Education - RESPECT (For Little Kids)

Hello Friends!

This week I have been thinking A LOT about how I am going to begin the school year. I still have been unable to get into my classroom, so I have been putting my efforts into curriculum. One area that I feel is so valuable is setting the foundation for respect in the classroom. When my kinders come to school for the first time, everything is new and exciting for them, but it can also be overwhelming. Even though many of them come from a preschool or daycare setting, coming into a BIG school for the first time with new faces and places can be a bit scary. Teaching kids respect for each other, their classroom, and the school creates an environment of trust and kindness.

In our school, we are required to teach a character trait each month. Because I teach in a Catholic School, we call these traits "virtues." Our kinder team has fuddled around trying to come up with meaningful ways to get little ones to understand the virtues and make them real, but we just haven't found anything that has worked for us. So, I decided to create a resource that we could base our lessons upon that would be something that little kids would understand. It is my hope to create a character trait packet once a month. In the summer, this sounds doable, but once school starts (gulp), we shall see!

So...... the RESPECT packet that I just finished is written in a repetitive text style. The word RESPECT or RESPECTFUL is highlighted on every page. Because little ones come to school not always knowing daily schedule expectations, I have broken a common early education day into parts. For example, the first page says "We can read respectfully." This is a simple sentence that carries BIG meaning. This is a great opportunity to discuss classroom expectations for reading i.e. buddy reading, finding and putting away books, care and handling of books.

I wrote this resource as an introduction to the concept of respect. It was not written as a unit; rather a discussion starter for a concept that is revisited many times throughout the school year. The book, poster, and large letters spelling respect can be brought out and discussed often.

 

Many of my resources include real life photographs of the concept being taught. But finding exact real life clip art of real kids is almost impossible. So, this particular resource is full of wonderful clip art from some really amazing clip artists! I also included a fun, beginning of school craft that is easy for little ones to complete.

One story that we read during our discussion of RESPECT is "No, David!" by David Shannon.
Because of copyright, I could not include our "David" craft in my resource. But I can share it with you here. I love discussing David because he is the OPPOSITE of respectful and he causes little ones to giggle. The BEST part about this story, though, is the fact that despite David's bad choices, his mother tells him at the end that she loves him. What a wonderful time to discuss forgiveness! If you would like the background sheet for the David project, click HERE. The "David" project is a bit more advanced than the project above!

Until next time!!

Blessings,
Cindy