Dear parents,

I LOVE your child. No seriously…I really do. Sometimes I think people forget that teachers are human too. And ya know, teaching is hard work! I know you probably hear people say that all the time (and yes, they are probably teachers). Soooo, obviously I’m a teacher so my opinion is a little skewedJ.

 Teaching is the hardest MOST rewarding job I’ve ever had! I’ve never wanted to do anything else. But let me tell you something! Teaching takes a lot out of you. Every year we open our hearts to your kiddos. I don’t know if you realize it but there are times we lay awake at night and think about each one of our babies. I wonder if Kipton is feeling better? I really need to work with Olivia on her number bonds. I just love that little smirk on Lyric when he knows he should be working. The list could go on every single night. We spend seven hours five days a week with your baby. We learn what makes them happy, what makes them giggle, how we need explain something for them to understand, we know all about their favorite characters, and how many teeth they have lost. We share birthdays, tears, hugs, and books. When we love—we love hard! Your babies take up a huge space in my heart! I will always be here for them and be happy to share in their joys and sorrows throughout life.

 So next time you hear a teacher using her “teacher voice”, looking a little tired or sounding a little frustrated, just remember how much love we put into our job. We promise to have your child’s (and all of our other babies) best interest at all times. We LOVE them. We care for them. We support them.

Thyroid Awareness Month

January is Thyroid Awareness Month! A couple years ago I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, which basically means my body doesn’t produce enough of the Thyroid hormone. My dad and older sister, Adrienne, have the same condition. When I went to a health screening I found that my Thyroid levels were off and went to the doctor. I have now been on medicine to help keep my hormones in check and it has seemed to work for the most part!

It is very important to pay attention to your body and the changes that your body may go through in life. I was feeling very tired and lethargic but assumed that I was tired because of teaching! I had no idea that my body was trying to tell me that something wasn’t right.

Hypothyroidism has lots of different symptoms that can include the following: weight gain, puffy face, hoarseness, muscle weakness, elevated blood/cholesterol level, muscle aches, tenderness, and stiffness, dry skin, painful joints, thinning hair, slowed heart rate, depression, and impaired memory. Just to name a few—Ha!

Hypothyroidism can be pretty well controlled with medication but it can be frustrating to deal with because your levels don’t always stay the same. If your levels change, the dosage may need to be altered also.

No but really, having hypothyroidism sucks! It is what it is but it makes it difficult to know if I am feeling tired from work or if my levels are off again. It can also make it difficult to lose weight which I am currently battling with. Anywho I am making the best of it and if you are suffering from the same thing please don’t hesitate to reach out! I would love to help anyone else through this with me! J

Here's to the NEW year!

2018 GOALS

1 BLOG more

2 add at least 4 new resources to TPT

3 get MARRIED

4 smile more worry LESS

5 start bible journaling

6 lose 20 pounds

7 start craft store

8 try two new fitness classes

9 drink more water

10 have a monthly girls night

Classroom Reveal 2017-2018

I can’t believe the summer is over and we are ready to begin a new school year! This is my fourth year teaching kindergarten. J I love my home away from home! Check it out!!!

 

 

LAST Day of Kindergarten!

I can’t believe we have reached the end of the school year! I am so proud of each one of my babies for all of their hard work this year! Everything about the end of the year is so bittersweet! We have spent 180 days together, learning, laughing, and maybe even sharing a few tears! We have grown close and have become a part of each other. I will always hold a special place in my heart for your child! And next year I will hold it together when your baby walks past my room to meet their new “favorite teacher”. I am a little sad, mostly happy, feeling blessed to have the best job!

 

Kinder at the Zoo!

We love learning all about the Zoo! For the past two weeks we have worked hard on our Zoo Animal Research Unit! This is one of my favorite units to teach because the kiddos really love learning all about the different animals! It is also a great way to integrate several science and social studies standards! We started our unit by introducing seven different animals. I love to use National Geographic kids to learn some fun/fast facts about each animal. Then we charted facts for each animal. Each child picked one of the animals we learned about and made an animal research report. The kids LOVED it! Every day they were begging to work on their report. J  I used several pages and ideas from Creekside Teacher Tales! You can find the unit HERE! 

 
 
 
 
 
 

101 Days Smarter!

HAPPY 101st DAY! I cannot believe that it has actually been 101 days of school. This year will be my third year teaching and I feel like each year goes faster and faster! My class this year is too sweet--I mean I love love love my other groups I've had, but this one is full of the sweetest babies ever! They are just a very emotional lovey group! I just love them! We had so much fun on our 101st day.

Usually we celebrate the 100th day but this year I decided this idea was too cute to pass up! I don't think I will ever go back! We decided to have each child bring in a white tshirt and on our 101^st Day of School we did everything DALMATIAN! I found a 101^st Day of School Unit already made on TPT so I did not have to put in any extra prep. You can find the unit I used HERE. Below I will share some tips for making the Dalmatian tshirts! J

1.     Send home a note for each child to bring in a PLAIN white tshirt. This will save you from having to buy 20+ tshirts yourself. J

2.    Buy sponges from the dollar tree! I bought some sponges and cut them into different size circles. Make sure you have paper plates and black paint!

3.    I put down large sheets of butcher paper on the table and laid the tshirts right down! We stamped 10 spots on their shirt at a time. We discussed counting to ten quietly to ourselves while we stamped. Although, in kindergarten you know we get distracted easily—so some of our friends lost count a few times! HA!

4.    We continued to stamp by tens until we got to 100 and then stamped 1 more!

5.    After we were finished stamping, we hung our shirts to dry. I brought in 21 hangers and we used them to hang on our wire in my classroom. If you don’t have a wire, you may want to do one side of the shirt at a time!

The shirts took a while to dry depending on how much paint the kiddo used on their shirt. I am thinking we may prep our shirts the day before or a few days before our 101^st day so we can wear them ALL day at school instead of having to wait for them to dry.

We had so much fun on our 101^st Day of Kindergarten! Enjoy our hard work!