A Quick Hello

I have been super busy today.  I did some running around with my mom early in the day.  After lunch I picked up my BFF's girls and we played outside all day long.  We rode around in the golf cart, worked in the garden, and played in the sprinklers.  After bathing three kids and cooking supper I am beat! Finally, Shawn is off of work for a day so we are going to spend tomorrow together having a little family time. :) I'll see you guys on Monday.  Have a great weekend! Happy Father's Day!

The Daily 5 Book Study Chapter 1

I decided to join up and do this Daily 5 Kindergarten Book Study with some really great kinder teachers.  If you know me, then you know that I don't actually teach Kindergarten, I teach Pre-K.  But, with our curriculum getting more rigorous, and with us using the Kindergarten Common Core Standards, I figured it couldn't hurt.  (And maybe, just maybe, it will help me get some more followers.)

I am a Daily 5 nut! I love the Daily 5! I found it my last year in second grade and was in heaven.  All of my teacher troubles seemed to just wash away when it began.  All last year, as a new Pre-K teacher I felt like it was my first year teaching all over again.  What a nightmare! I kept thinking to myself, there has got to be a way to incorporate the Daily 5 into my Pre-K routine.  So when I found this book study I was so excited.  This had to be the answer to all of my problems.  And, as I read chapter 1 again, through the eyes of a Pre-K teacher, the book started to talk to me.

Tammy at Live Laugh Love Everyday in Kindergarten lead chapter 1 and provided these questions for her readers and book study participants to reflect on. (She also provided the SUPER CUTE pictures)

1. How do I teach new behaviors?

Just as with any 4-5 year old, my kids need constant reminders.  I have to admit, at the beginning of the year I am on it.  Reviewing the classroom rules and reminding the kids how i expect them to behave at their seats or at the carpet.  Then as the year goes on, I wind up having to constantly tell several individuals to stop whatever it is they are doing and get back on task.

2. How do I teach expectations?

 When starting "centers" (which were; Lego's, wooden blocks, Play Doug, Baby Dolls, etc.) I started by introducing one thing a week. If it was the puzzles that I wanted the kids to learn how to use, I would get out a giant puzzle and we would all sit around it in the floor. I would discuss with them how the puzzle should be used and how it should look when they are done (cleaned up). After the first day, we would review the expectations and then the kids would "practice" with a partner.  Unfortunately as the year progresses I wind up spending less and less time focusing on expectations and more time on the alphabet/sight words and all of the songs that we sing.

3. How do I monitor student behavior? whole group? small groups? individual?

This is where I start confessing.  I am a control freak.  When it comes to my classroom I have high expectations and they better be met.  However, when I was using Daily 5 in my second grade room, I found myself much more relaxed and as a result, I was much less stressed and frazzled at the end of the day. I do use a clip chart.  I like the ones that start in the middle where I can have kids move up when kids display desired behaviors or make a good choice, or move down for bad choices.  I will move kids up and down all day.  I like that kids can correct the bad behavior and get rewarded for it instead of being "stuck" where they had to move down the chart. I was reading on  Kindergarten Smiles blog where she commented on this question.  I like the idea that she had for creating a clip chart to monitor where her kids are on the Daily 5 and how she plans to use dot stickers to limit the amount of kids who are allowed on each task at a time.

4. What do I do when a student is not exhibiting desired behavior?

Yell. Get frustrated. Go on and on about what they are doing. Wast a LOT of class time.  Well, not always but, does anyone else have those moments when you think that if little Johnny does that one more time you just may loose your mind?  I did find myself getting very frustrated with my little babies last year.  I mean, why shouldn't preschoolers be able to act like my second graders did?  (Just kidding!) But let me tell you, moving from 8 year old kids to 4 year old kids will put you into a state of shock! I had NO IDEA how to handle behaviors in a Pre-K room and I had a son in kindergarten, you would think that I would be able to handle 9 more of him.  There were days when I would sit and cry at the end of the day.  What happened that that teacher who loved her job so much that she would never quit? I found myself reflecting back to what I loved about my second graders and how easy it was to manage them, and I would think, why isn't there a Daily 5for preschool/kindergarten? I knew how to manage a classroom, that had always been my strong point but I could feel myself slipping further and further away.  I'll be honest, I never got there last year. I floated through the year and thanked God every day that my principal did not walk through.  If she would have come in I would have pulled it off and made it seem that I had it all together but in truth, I was falling apart.  I was swimming against the current and about to drown. (Wow, I just realized just how bad it really was.)

5. Whose classroom is it?

Mine. Mine. Mine. I can hear myself now, " You are not going to act that way in MY room."  "I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in MY classroom."  How sad! That is NOT how I wanted to be.  I said I wanted a sense of community in "my" classroom.  We had class meetings at the carpet.  I allowed the students to "share" things that were important to them.  I just couldn't let go of that control for fear of sinking under.  I reflect back once again to my second graders, now we were a tight group.  I loved them, they loved me, we all got along (most of the time), we were a family.  Where did that go?  I guess it floated down that current that I was fighting.

6. Locus of control?

Honestly, when I looked at this question the first time, I was like "What? What is that?". Then as I read, "Ohhhhhh. OK.".  I guess this goes back to me being the control freak that I am.  I do use the treat box and the stickers, I have to admit.  I mean, what kid doesn't love a McDonald's toy or a Tootsie Roll? There were kids who naturally got it, they knew that they wanted to learn how to read, or how to count so they just took it upon themselves to be attentive and try hard. 

7. Where are supplies stored?

Kids have their own supplies that they keep at their seats.  The scissors are safely kept on a small shelf in the middle of the room where they kids can get them when they need them. (They were in their supply boxes but after one kid cut his hair and another cut her shirt to pieces I decided that they were best use on an as needed basis.) Any materials that are needed for the task of the day I place on that same shelf so that they are easily accessible.  The rest of the time, they are kept in the supply closet.

How Does Your Garden Grow & A Praise

First, the praise.  Thank God for the rain! Just when you think you can not go any longer without a rain before your crops turn to dust, the Lord provides.  We got an awesome rain on Monday and what a sweet rain it was! God Is Good!

Shawn was home just in time too.  Our garden has decided to produce faster than we can keep up.  We have squash and cucumbers coming out of our ears. :) The corn has started coming off, and boy are we happy.  The difference is, I can freeze the corn for the winter, I don't know what to do with all the rest.  I guess I am going to have to take up canning. (Maybe I'll check Amazon for a book when I get done here.)

Here are some pictures of our bountiful harvest.

These are Sun Flower plants. 
Hunter wanted to plant those, so they are his.

Our Sweet Corn patch

This basket was filled a few times.

The Okra is just starting to come off. 
Once it gets going we will fill the basket 2-3 times a day.

These are the squash plants. 
You can see the cucumber plants in the back by the corn.
There's a row of okra to the right.

Shawn is looking for some green tomatoes for me to fry up.

Corn.  This was an exciting moment!

Yesterday's groceries

We had this twice!!! :)

Hunter was very proud of this very large (over ripe)
cucumber he found.  So we drew a face on him.
Cucumber Man got lonely so I found him a friend.

This Week's Friday Fave 5

1. Rides On the Tractor
I used to get to ride with Shawn quite a bit.  That was before I became a mommy.  So, since the little guy was gone with my dad I decided to take advantage of the time alone and go for a ride on his big green tractor.

No, that's not Shawn's tractor but you get the idea.

2. American Pickers and Storage Wars- I can't get enough of those shows and I can't figure out why.  I stayed up till well after midnight a couple of nights ago, watching Storage Wars.

3. A big glass of sweet tea! YUMM!

Minus the lemon

4. My favorite cup.  To put my sweet tea in of course. Tervis Tumbler Given to me by one of my sweet Preschool kids last year.



















5.  Camping- I am so ready to go.

Sweet Girls

Today has been quite a day.  It started off with my baby leaving to go to the lake with my dad for a few days.  SNIFF SNIFF! I don't know how in the world I am going to survive till Sunday.  After lunch I decided to go visit some sweet little girls.

My two favorite girls

Meet Kadence and Kensley.  My best friend's little girls.  Now when I say best friend I mean practically sisters since we were 8! And even though she now lives 8 hours away we can always pick up right where we left off.  The girls are here visiting their Grammy and Poppa so I decided to get some time in with them.  I got pampered.

Kensley did she left hand, Kadence did the right. Then they moved on to my makeup.  Green and blue blush and eyeshadow, sparkly powder all over, and I do mean everywhere legs and arms included and completed with fake eyelashes right in the middle of my eyelid.  I tell you, I felt like a queen.  HA HA! The important thing was, they had fun.

 I went out to the farm for a ride on the tracter after I left there.  Shawn took one look at my hand and said "You are going to take that off aren't you?"  Sure! They will want to do another color tomorrow.

 

Home Decor

The wait is over! I have been waiting for some time now to purchase curtains for my bedroom. When I purchased my bedding there were no matching drapes, so I have been searcing for some time now for something that would work perfectly.  I FOUND IT! If you haven't shopped on ETSY yet, it's a MUST.  You can find EVERYTHING there. Here is a link to the shop where I just made my purchase Rocky Top Design.











I went with fabric D for the panels in my bedroom and fabric E for a valance in my bathroom.
In case you were wondering, this is my bedding. I sure hope they work as well as I am expecting them to.

So now that that project is complete I have been inspired to start a couple more.  (Shawn is going to kill me.) haha. I HATE the curtains in my living room.  I never have liked them to be honest.  I got them when we moved in because I had to have something to go on the windows.  Now I want something more trendy and cute.  So here is my living room now. 














BLA! The rug is the ONLY THING with blue in it.  EVERYTHING in there is some form of brown.  So... I have decided I want to add more blue by going with something like this:

These pillow choices came from the ETSY store Posh Street Pillows but I am sure that I can find that fabric for my curtains as well.  Then I can head over here and get some coordinating pillows to throw on my couch.  I JUST CAN'T WAIT!

And then there's THIS room.  The guest room AKA Shawn's room. Unfortunately it is going to take a lot more than some new curtains and some pillows to fix this room.  Apparently I was really in to brown about five years ago. I would like to paint these walls a light gray and change the bedding and window treatments completely.  I haven't shared this little plan with the Hubbs yet.  I'm sure he will be thrilled to hear my plans.

Here is what I want to see in there: Yellow and gray.  These fabric choices can also be found at Rocky Top Design and,  I found more pillows with some coordinating fabric that I love at Posh Street Pillow.

This folks, is why I teach.  I have to have my summers to get all of my projects done around the house.

Friday Fav. 5

My top 5 things this week:

1.My team! The St. Louis Cardinals. 

One Cardinals specifically. Yadier Molina  SO CUTE!

2. The BEST COOK BOOK EVER! If you haven't tried any of The Pioneer Woman's recipes, DO IT NOW! YUMM!

3. Gardening.  I can't get enough of my pretty flowers.  And the food from my garden is the best!

4. Reading.  BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS! I love to read.  Here are few of my recent favorites.

5. Pinterest.  OMG! I can't get enough!  But, I am finding so much inspiration (pinspiration).  My classroom would be fabulous, my house would be super clean and organized, and I would be in great shape, if only I could get off of there.  HAHA!

* One of these days I am going to figure out how to create a link between pictures and the website they come from.  Be patient with me while I learn.

So what are your favorite things?