It has been quiet....BUT...

It has been quiet in BASICS land...WHY...I have been on summer break! Because I went on summer break, I decided not to post about the craziness that I did with my family for our summer....but let's say that I went Back to the BASICS in a completely different way! We vacationed, went to the beach, relaxed, played games...all those fun things.

I did find school invading my vacation time a few times! The first was a HORRIBLE dream that I had. I did not have my class list, and had a dream that I had 30 kids (remember I am a special education teacher-class size is about 14-17 kids, on average), no assistant, crazy children, etc. I woke up in a cold sweat! It was scary! I realized that I was worrying about my class list, and contacted some people...with my new information I could sleep a little better for the rest of the summer!

So my class this year: I have 17 students. I have 5 students returning from last year. I have 6 girls (I think) and 12 boys...totally different then last year!

This week, I went back to school. We had paid meetings on Monday and Wednesday (I went to the beach on Tuesday) and then our first 'real' day back was Thursday. We got to work in teams...since I am all alone this year, I got to spend some time in my classroom...which was nice, because when I left, I was in the middle of moving classrooms. I came back to everything moved, but huge piles everywhere! I needed all the time in my classroom that I could get! Although I did not take any pictures, I got a lot done, and I will take pictures on Monday.

Let me just say...I LOVE MY NEW ROOM! It is bigger than last year. There is more space. My areas are set up! I think I am ready!

Kiddos show up on Monday! I will be up early on Monday! I will be at school early. I will be greeting my students (all of them) with a smile! At lunch, I will walk to the upper grade classroom (at a different campus-right next door) and will say hello to some of my students from last year. I will be happy to see them too! And in the back of my mind, I will take a big breath...I have 17 students to take care of! And at 4:30 (after those kids go home) I will make sure that my own two children had a GREAT first day of school! It is THEIR first day of school too! I can't believe that on Monday,. I will have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader!

JUST BREATH!

Where has the time gone?

My last post was in February...OOPS! I planned on blogging while I was on vacation in April, but time got away from me!

I think I really enjoyed my month off...I wanted to do a short post about what is happening in my life...all that crazy stuff that you do when you are not thinking about about work...Here are some of my favorite things!

Right before I went on vacation, it was a birthday celebration!! At my boys' school, they got to dress up for it and that weekend we went to the library to celebrate!

We went to the library again for the boys' school. They had an awesome program to help students like reading! They brought in some authors and their books...If we purchased the book, the author also signed them...We bought TWO books! Here are some pictures of one of the books...

 




Animal House, by Candace Ryan, is so much fun! The author and illustrator have created a full set of characters to bring the book to life! My boys went back and forth between the books and the characters all afternoon!












The second book that we purchased while there was the book Scary School, by Derek the Ghost. Scary School in our house was a GREAT read aloud...funny, interesting...a great read!

One of our new, favorite finds in the area is a painting place called PURPLE EASEL! Here is our last painting that we did....my 5 year old is very interested in adding details (you will see the eggs, and the black circle-which is the hole to the center of the earth--big fans of the Guardians)!

If  you live close (southern California) check out Purple Easel at www.purpleeasel.com.









Baseball season has started in our house! My oldest plays baseball...that is his game ball!










Baseball season in our house means CARS BASEBALL! It is a great adventure each day, with two active boys!










And finally, my vacation has been filled with these two little critters! My newest dog, Angel, was adopted on New Year's Day from the Rose Parade...you may have seen him on one of the floats (I will have to do a whole post on his story)! We also got our Guinea Pig a harness and now can bring him outside too!









So...as you can see...even though I have been out of action for a while, I have been BUSY!

But...now we are back in the swing of things! I got my students back today...and our day was GREAT! Maybe I will post about it tomorrow...but then again...maybe not!

Fun in February

    

It has been a CRAZY month. Absolutely CRAZY! We have been so busy...between our 100 day celebration, Valentine's Day and some other fun stuff, my kiddo's have been working away! I am dedicating this post to a variety of stuff we have done in February.

So to start with: VALENTINE'S DAY!

Our first group activity was to sort a bag of candy hearts! We were on minimum days for Valentine's Day, because of conferences...so we did a few activities only! After we sorted our bag of candy, we laid them out on our carpet and discussed which color was the most, the least, etc. (I did have a second bag that they could eat!)

And the highlight of my Valentine's Day...I have my students pass out their cards...one at a time! For my kiddos, it works on many different social areas! Some of the most important...waiting their turn, saying thank you, and being polite! I am also able to sneak in name recognition, because my kids have to write their classmates name on each card!

But this guy was so excited to pass out his cards! And he went to every person, and said "Happy Valentine's Day!" to every student! It was GREAT!







Next is our 100 Day....what a CRAZY day that was!






We read some great books about the 100th day of school!

Our big craft for the day was...we used a hundreds chart to lay out 100 beads...and then we laced them! This takes my kids awhile...all while working on numbers, fine motor skills, and patience!








These were my two favorite crafts for the 100th day of school...

Another student made a 100-eyed monster!

One of my students (and her parents) made a 100 flower bouquet!

And with all of these fun days...there is always time for some fun...and learning...

      

For awhile...it was really cold outside...so for PE one day...my students had to work in pairs (difficult for some) and got to play with their stacking cups! I took a lot of pictures that day...they built towers, and shared...it was awesome! 

It was really cold outside for awhile...so we had to have some indoor recess...and for my kids, that means I take out some of our Lakeshore stuff...The sensory ball pack and the Let's Get Moving! Activity Mats.

(Our two pieces from Lakeshore that we used for our inside recess)

We love the exercise pack for our inside recess time! Students get to jog, hop, skip. march, run...and do a lot of other activities! There are 15 activities in all for students to complete.  Students had to catch a ball, then they had to state what the activity was on their mat....then the whole class had to complete that exercise! They had a great time....In this picture...they are trying to do the crab walk! 

Finally...Happy Dr. Seuss Day! Here is our GREAT project that we did with my kids. I printed out a hat template and a bow tie template...and let my kids decorate away. Then they had to cut them out...and finally I put them up in my room...Their face is from a picture that I took earlier in the year, and printed at an 8x10 photo. My kids were so excited to see their new pictures on the wall!

Like I said...we have had a busy month! 

Math time: 1 to 1 Correspondence and Counting

Working in a Moderate-Severe SDC, I get kids at all levels...which means I have groups that are working on a variety of different levels, doing a variety of different activities.

Today, I want to share one of my favorite math activities...my kiddos love it! We did these activities: actually two of them...the low and the high...

For my low kiddos, we are working on 1 to 1 correspondence. It is a hard concept for them...but with this activity, I think they might get it...

This is what they see when they first come to sit at the table.

A piece of white copy paper, with yellow dots (I have used green, blue, red, pink, etc). This gives them the outline for what they need to do. Next to their white paper is a page of stickers. My students with better fine motor skills get smaller stickers...my kids with worse fine motor skills get larger stickers. 

Their job: place one sticker on each dot!

 Here are my kiddos working hard on their activity! This student actually asked for more! I added more dots and he worked away! When he finished, we counted into groups of 10.

The beauty about using this activity is that I have started using it with many concepts...colors, shapes, letters, etc. Students trace letters with stickers, place stickers of the same color in a colored box, outline shapes with stickers...and they love it every time!


My other groups had a different math activity to work on 1 to 1 correspondence and counting.

We actually used a white board to work on addition problems. Since most of my students are working on adding with objects, I decided to pull out the dice and counters. We had many opportunities for counting, matching numbers and adding using this method!



















The students would roll the dice (we used a single dice for our first day). Then they had to use their counters to build each number. My middle groups stopped at that step...building numbers to six can be quit difficult for them.

My higher students had to put both groups together and add the groups together.

It has been awhile...

     

So...what have I been doing? NOT thinking about work....

In the time that I have been off-track (being on C track means that I have a break from Thanksgiving through New Years), I have been BUSY! Most of my busy-ness has not been work related!

Here are some of the things that I did while I was on vacation...

1) I did complete my trade days assignment. I got to work in a special education kindergarten classroom...and I LOVED every minute of it! Maybe it was knowing that some of these kiddos would be mine next year...or that we got to do crafts all week...but we had a GREAT time! One of my favorite projects...

These snowmen were SO cute...and worked on so many skills! They had  to write their name, choose their snowman's accessories, and some worked on cutting. One of the best parts of these activities is the ability to individualize the work that they do. One of the students in this class is blind...so his snowman words a little different. He is working on braille, so we had to build his name using braille (the letters were only for the teachers).

 2) The day after I finished my trade days assignment, my family and I headed to Minnesota to celebrate the holidays with family. It was crazy busy! We stayed for 10 days, and we fit in so much in those 10 days that we sometimes feel we need a vacation from our vacation. On this vacation, we introduced the Elf on the Shelf for my 5 and 7 year old boys. THEY LOVED HIM! We actually have TWO elves--Cliff and Ben! We decided to do two elves because we split the time between the grandmas....and since you cannot touch your elf (a rule my 7 year old took very seriously), we needed 2 elves.

Why did I discuss the Elf on the Shelf here?? I am really thinking about introducing the Elf on the Shelf to my classroom when I switch calendars (within the next 2 years!) My elf will be used in the classroom to introduce our daily art project, cooking activity or other FUN event for the day...because I can tell you...I am SCARED when my class goes modified traditional...

 3) We baked cookies...well we decorated cookies and cake pops for Christmas...here are the CUTE cake pops that I did...after everyone went to bed...

4) Finally...my favorite gift...I got an EYE-FI connector for my camera...if you haven't seen/heard of it...it is very COOL!

This very cool device links your digital camera (mine is a digital SLR) Once you take a picture, it saves your picture automatically to your computer...and will also put it online...very cool! I am excited to use it...both for my classroom and for personal use!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season so far! 

12 in '12

I thought I would join up too...something to keep my blog up to date...so here is my 12 in '12.

http://www.ateenytinyteacher.com/

12.  Favorite movie you watched

This is only easy for me because I haven't watched many movies this year. Between raising two boys and working, movies seem to be the last thing that I get to do...so I would say it is between two movies...Hunger Games and The Rise of the Guardians....and my favorite would have to be Guardians!

I love the story...and I love the effects! It is a wonderful movie! If you haven't seen it, I would definitely recommend it!

11.  Favorite TV Series

This one is actually hard  for me. I have a whole line up of shows that I watch...so my favorite show varies depending on the day...I would have to say that my very favorite show...is Law and Order: SVU...I could watch those marathon's all weekend...and that is what I watch on Netflix when I work out....

10.  Favorite Restaurant

I am so boring. I don't really think I have a favorite restaurant. Our family favorite is Red Robin...YUM!

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9.  Favorite new thing you tried

I haven't tried very much this year. I can say that I went on my first Disney Cruise...that was AWESOME! I don't know if I would say that it was a favorite thing I tried...but it was so much fun! And...as a family...we cannot wait to do another one!

8.  Favorite gift you received

I don't really receive a lot of gifts...and honestly...I don't  really mind. My house is cluttered enough as it is! 

With that said...I would have to say my favorite gift is a gift I gave myself...moving to a new school! It was a lot of work getting everything packed, cleaned and unpacked...but it has been worth it! I love everything about my new school...the people that I work with, the students that I am with...everything!

7.  Favorite thing you pinned

A pretty simple picture that I pinned...but the reason that it is my favorite is that I have made these bottles for my students...and they LOVE them! I use them all of the time...my kids use them to calm down, look at...we talk about color mixing, etc. 

And just to let people know...I have pinned 876 pins and 307 likes! WOW! I am crazy! I can also say that I have a lot of favorite pins...depending on the board...LOL...

6.  Favorite blog post

I don't know if I have a favorite blog post...maybe it is because I have just started...but no favorite blog post yet...

5.  Favorite accomplishment

This is hard too! I don't know if I have had very many accomplishments this year...sometimes I think that my greatest accomplishment is that I get up each morning and can still smile when I get to work!

4.  Favorite picture

This is a picture we took sitting outside in our backyard. I believe it was October or November already...beautiful weather...

3.  Favorite memory

I would have to say my favorite memory of this year was the Disney cruise that we went on! It was awesome! The entire family had a great time on our cruise. We also did a family cruise to South Dakota...a lot of fun visiting Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and all of the other sites!

2.  Goal for 2013

I am kind of excited for 2013! I have a birthday to bring it in (I am a New Year's Baby, after all!) So, to celebrate, we are going to the Rose Parade...I am so excited! But, I digress...that is not my goal! My goal is to spend more time with my family...Isn't that every teacher's goal!

1.  One little word (ala Farley)

Rested! Why RESTED?? I am Off-track...at least that can be my One little word until I go back to work in January...LOL...

And that's my 12 in 12. I hope I didn't bore you too much!

It has been a LONG time!!

Sorry for the delay! It has been a crazy few weeks...or months...haha...but while most teachers are preparing for the holiday season, my students went off track from Thanksgiving through New Years. The only good thing for you (and for me) is that I get to catch up on some of the things that we have done...and prepare for some of the things that we have coming up.

In the time since I have posted last (before Halloween, I believe), we were pretty busy! We celebrated Halloween with pumpkin activities. We celebrated Veteran's Day with some activities and a few veterans came to our school. We talked a little turkey talk before going on vacation! I will do a photo dump here of all of the different things that we did before we went off track...It will be fun to show in pictures!

So first...Halloween!

Here are some of the crafts that we did.

Our circle pumpkin. 

We did some fine motor activities.
We got to string beads and make a necklace!

Our pumpkin day activities...

We gutted a pumpkin...my students  LOVED the
feel of the insides of the pumpkin.

In learning about our pumpkin, we talked about the size,
the feel of the pumpkin, how tall and round it is (using string
and cubes to measure the pumpkin). 

Our carved pumpkin. Pretty generic face, but my students
enjoyed telling me the shapes for the parts of the face.

Some other activities we did on Halloween...

We did a spooky graphing page!

We practiced counting skills...putting pumpkin pompoms
on a vine...

 Our Thanksgiving turkey page...We used Q-tips to decorate the turkeys. I then cut them out and mounted them! Very cute!

For Veteran's Day...A cute poem, with their hand prints attached!

So, a busy few months! A lot of crafts and activity happening!

I know that I still need to review the other sections of the curriculum that I use...BASICS2...hopefully later in the week...