ST. PATRICK'S DAY COUNTING MATS FOR TEEN NUMBERS

Happy March, teacher friends!

That's right, it's already March. I can't believe it either. It feels like we blinked and February was over. Today I'm sharing a fun, simple, free activity that's perfect for this month!

My students love anything themed and I love when they get to practice growing their number sense. I also love it when activities can be combined with anything that develops their fine motor skills. Counting mats are a great combination for this kind of practice! Your students will love these free St. Patrick's Day Teen Number Counting Mats. They'll be an exciting addition to your math lessons or hands-on center this month.

Grab this FREE activity and read about the various ways you can use them in your classroom over at The Kindergarten Connection. 

VALENTINE'S DAY COUNTING CENTERS

Confession time: Incorporating themed centers is not one of my strengths. I tend to stick to what works. That doesn't mean that I use the same centers over and over. I do have a sufficient amount of activities, they're just not always themed. My themed centers for the year can fit into one plastic bin.

Why does this bother me? Well, this year my team has tried to stick to a weekly theme. And you know what? The kids LOVE themes. We try to immerse the students in it entirely across subject areas. A few weeks ago our theme was penguins. We read penguin books, learned about the life cycle of a penguin, and even made our greeting for Morning Meeting: Waddle Like a Penguin.

Knowing that incorporating a theme into as many aspects of our day as possible helps keep my students engaged and excited about learning, has made me realize that I need more themed activities for our centers.

Valentine's Day is coming up and I've been working hard to add themed activities to our learning fun. From Valentine's Day STEM (written for The Kindergarten Connection) to a Cards Writing Center, and now Counting Centers for Math! The following 3 activities are ideal for students to practice identifying, representing, and writing numbers 1-20.

Valentine Cooking Clip Cards

I absolutely love clip cards because it allows students to work on an academic skill while practicing their fine motor skills too! But I also love them because when I accidentally misplace my clothespins (oops!), my students can use dry erase markers to circle the answers and that helps them practice their writing grips. Win, win! 

I love including recording sheets whenever possible. They're especially helpful to have on hand for early finishers. The recording sheet for the Cookie Clip Cards allows students to practice reading and representing numbers in ten frames. 

Valentine Delivery Counting
This center is one of my favorites because students get to "deliver" valentines. The center includes number cards for 1-20 and valentine envelope cards to get "delivered"/counted out to each number card.

The included recording sheet for this Valentine Delivery Counting Center extends student learning by allowing them to count a given set of valentines and record the number. Teen numbers in particular can be tricky for young children to learn, so I love that this focuses on the number formation aspect of numbers 1-20.

(A Chocolate of) Counting Puzzles
Chocolate and counting? Yes, please! My kids love puzzles and the chocolate theme makes these even more enticing. Fair warning: you may be in the mood for chocolate after seeing Creating4 the Classroom's ADORABLE chocolate boxes.

Just because number formation can be challenging, the recording sheet for these Chocolate Counting Centers also has students practice counting and recording numbers 1-20.

If you're like me and want to include more themed activities in your center rotations, grab any of these single resources using the links under the pictures or check out all 3 in the bundle here:

HEART ENGINEERS: VALENTINE'S DAY STEM ACTIVITIES

It's time for another holiday teacher friends and that means even more themed fun! What's better for Valentine's Day than hearts? My kindergarteners absolutely love anything that has to do with building so on this special holiday, I combine STEM fun with all things hearts. Your kids will love these Heart Engineering STEM Activities that come with free printable recording sheets to help your students extend their learning.

These activities are a great addition to your math, science, or Valentine's Day Party plans. I hope you and your students have fun exploring, playing, and learning!

Grab the FREE printable and learn about these Heart Engineering Activities over at The Kindergarten Connection! 

WRITERS WRITE CARDS CENTER

Alright teacher friends, I don't know about you but sometimes I really struggle to come up with a variety centers for my kiddos. This is especially true for our writing center. I have several go-to activities that they love. The activities are rotated so they're not doing the same thing all the time but it still feels repetitive to me. I would love for them to be exposed to different kinds of writing that are simple to complete for them and simple to set up for me.

This is the thought that made me decide to create templates for different kinds of writing we all do in real, every day life. With Valentine's Day coming up, cards seemed like the perfect first center to try.

This writing center will have 2 options: prompted cards and blank cards for students to make their own. 

Make Your Own Cards: 

1. Start with a piece of paper oriented in landscape. 

2. Cut it right down the middle (lengthwise).
3. Now you have 2 cards ready to fold.

4. Fold the top down the bottom.

5. Decide which way you want your card to face and create! 

Prompted Cards

It always amazes me when I see the ideas my students come up with during independent writing time. While I'm sure this will be no different with the blank cards, I still wanted to expose them to a variety of card types. 

The cards I created for our center include: 

Thank You

Birthday

Holiday

Get Well Soon

Friendship

*Plus a blank template to print w/ dotted lines (for those of us who have trouble cutting straight, like me!) 

If you want your students to enjoy some card making fun, here are a few prompted cards you can grab for FREE, just scroll to click the pink box below the picture. 

If you want more cards, check out the full resource I'm using with my students: Writers Write Cards Center.

Want to save this post and come back for your free resource another time? 

DIARY OF A TEACHER ON BREAK

Hey teacher friends,

Raise your hand if you have not taken nearly enough time for yourself in the past (and by past I mean recent present). Are you raising your hand? I am. I've spent way too much time working this year, and while I'm proud of my accomplishments and the growth I see in my students because of it, I also know that focusing on work as much as I have is not healthy.

As I left school for winter break last week, I promised myself that I would not spend my entire break working. In fact, call me crazy, but I am not doing any school work this break. I am blogging and I am working on my TPT business a tad, but still definitely not full time. I am incredibly grateful to have a full 2 weeks off and intend to make the most of it. I asked teachers on Instagram this question to the right... and of course I didn't think to share the results on this blog in time.. but I do remember that most teachers selected "catch up on work" in this poll. 

I did not write this post to share every detail of my break with you. I wrote it to be honest about that fact that teachers NEED breaks. We need periods of time where we don't focus on work and we do enjoy our time off. I wrote it to hopefully inspire other teachers to do the same. If you're like me and struggle to keep a healthy work-life balance, I hope this post inspires you to get started. If you've been trying to be more intentional about taking time for you and for self-care, then please share in the comments how! I'm sure we'd all love to get more ideas on how we can better take care of ourselves :) Teachers are human too and we need rest.



DAY ONE: Busy Can Be Refreshing

Yoga has quickly become one of my favorite self-care activities. My daily routine used to be work, cook dinner, work, sleep. I'm bored just typing it. When my mother-in-law texted me to join her at a yoga class a few weeks ago, I was hesitant. Now, I'm incredibly happy that I went. I've seen positive impacts on my mood, health, and happiness.

Side Note: If you're looking for gifts for any kiddos in your life, I ordered this set of legos and Goldieblox from Amazon (not affiliate links) for the student birthday party I went to. A co-worker told me about Goldieblox and now that I ordered some as a gift, I'm thinking we need some for our classroom.

DAY TWO: Quality Time is Important

Sipping coffee quietly in the morning is one of my preferred way to wake up. Please tell me I'm not the only one that ends up rushing around drinking my coffee and getting ready during the work-week. It's an added bonus when I get to drink my coffee with my husband (we both know not to talk before finishing our first cups).

We also went to my mother-in-laws for a pre-holiday and early birthday celebration for my husband. Spending time with the ones we love is another great (not to mention, free) self care practice. 

DAY THREE: Christmas Shopping is Hard

It was difficult not to work today. This was the first day I had absolutely nothing on my schedule and I literally did not know what to do with myself. Then, when I couldn't find the Christmas gifts for my family that I wanted to find, well, even more panic set in. Let's just say thank goodness that I accidentally forgot to cancel my free trial of Amazon Prime a few months ago.

That nap was definitely a necessary self-care practice. Yoga too :)


DAY FOUR: Retail Therapy is Okay Sometimes

I am not a person that loves retail therapy. Actually, I often get buyers remorse. However, my purchases on Tuesday were necessary and some were even made with a gift card, yay! After my morning coffee, I went shopping for me :) Y

I bought 1 new outfit from the Loft Outlet (Yay for a 50% off sale!!) and a few accessories from Altar'd State, where I had a gift card to.

Another fun self-care practice: getting dressed up. When you don't get to do it often, makeup and hair can be fun :)

 

My fun finds from Altar'd State and some photo booth fun with hubby at the holiday party :) 

DAY FIVE: Lazy Days Are Totally Necessary 

Yep. Today was lazy. And that's ok! Oh and it was filled with puppy cuddles ... another self-care activity that I highly recommend.

I'm also completely willing to admit that I spent the entire day in my pajamas. Some days should be like this. I hope you'll have a completely lazy day in your near future too :)






DAY SIX: Being Productive Can Be a Form of Self-Care

Even though I spent the day at home, it was a productive day. And I think that days like this can be a form of self-care, because who doesn't feel good when they cross things off of their to-do list?
Hallmark movies are of course important for happiness too.

DAY SEVEN: Celebrations Are Fun

This day was my husband's birthday! Ok I know what you're saying ... well it's not anyone's birthday.. How am I going to have a celebration? The point I'm trying to actually make here is that we shouldn't have to wait until there's a reason to celebrate or spend quality time with people we care about. Get together with friends. Bake some cookies (or buy some to make life even easier). Spend quality time together without your phones. Just enjoy not working and be happy.

A few other things we can all do this break to take care of ourselves and our mental health include: spending time with family, Starbucks trips, going to the movies, baking, and spending time with friends. 

How do you plan to take care of you with the rest of the time you have left on break? 

TEACHING IN DECEMBER: MAKING IT MAGICAL AND MEANINGFUL {plus some freebies}

Happy December, teacher friends!

I know that December can be a very busy time, not just at home, but also at school. But can I just state something... I love teaching in December. Yes, our students might be a tad chatty. Yes, we have deadlines to meet and prepping to get done for when we get back from break. So yes... this month can be stressful. Until I take a step back and think about those sweet little ones we are so blessed to teach every single day.

This time of the year is incredibly magical to them. We truly are fortunate to get to teach during this special time. We have an opportunity. We get to create an environment that incorporates the magic of  the holiday season and academic skills. And that's exactly what I strive to do during December. Here's how:

READ HOLIDAY BOOKS...JUST FOR FUN

These past 2 weeks I used 2 books to teach literacy skills (The Gingerbread Man and The Polar Express). I also read my students as many holiday and seasonal books as I could. But we read them just for fun! Do I ask some comprehension questions? Sure. Do we make predictions? Absolutely. Do they turn and talk to share their favorite parts? Of course. In general

though, my goal is just for them to love and enjoy reading.

A few books I love to read my students are:
- The Polar Express
- The Gingerbread Girl
- The Ninjabread Man
- Gingerbread Pirates
- How to Catch An Elf
- Splat the Cat: Merry Christmas
- Snowmen at Night
- Snowmen at Christmas
- Is It Hannukkah Yet?
- Turkey Claus

PLAY MUSIC

So I'm one of those teachers that loves playing soft instrumental music all year long. It's always on in the background as my students enter the classroom. I've found that it helps to keep a calm start to our day. During December, I love to play instrumental holiday music. In the past, I've played instrumental music found on You Tube. This year, I purchased Quiet Work Music for December from The Primary Techie. I absolutely love it. The music is calm while giving the perfect holiday feel. My students love it. 

BRING IT ALL TO LIFE

This is my favorite part. Here are a few ideas for bringing this magical season to life.

With The Gingerbread Man: Create a life-size setting as a class. To do this I used large green

bulletin board paper, Lincoln Logs, and the character cutouts from this Gingerbread Man Book Companion Freebie by Primary Graffiti.

Go on a Gingerbread Man Hunt. For the entire last week of school, my students have been searching for the Gingerbread Man. They created "Missing" posters and went on an actual scavenger hunt using QR codes around our school. We used the resources from my Can You Catch The Gingerbread Man? Scavenger Hunt. At the end of the week, they're going to actually find the gingerbread man at our school's holiday sing-a-long assembly (another great way to bring the magic of this season to life).

I just love Kindergarten writing <3

With The Polar Express: During the week that you're using this book to learn comprehension

skills, pick a day to turn your classroom into the actual Polar Express. To do this, we used my play kitchen, 4 rectangle tables, and string lights. Everything was wrapped in black bulletin paper. We even created an opening for students to step "onto" the Polar Express. The second picture shows our Polar Express display from 2016, which I love a little more because we had more string lights (insert heart-eyes emoji here)

MOST IMPORTANTLY... EMBRACE AND CHERISH THE CRAZINESS

I definitely do not shy away from activities that have a chance at being a little bit of a challenge. For instance, taking my class of Kindergarteners on a scavenger hunt with iPads. But what makes it worth it, is seeing their happy faces learning and enjoying what we're doing. Crafts with glitter, and glue can be messy. But I absolutely love watching the joy happening in our classroom. That's literally all I can say. Accept it. Embrace it. Make it magical. 

 

The pictured resources above are all freebies :) Find them here! 

Candy Cane Craft - Miss Kindergarten

Gingerbread Craft - Miss Mandy

Subscribe to receive my Winter Writing Paper and Gingerbread Man Book Response: 

I'd Like To Receive Free Resources

ORGANIZING CENTERS TO MAXIMIZE STUDENT INDEPENDENCE

Hey Teacher Friends!

There are so many amazing ways to organize centers, but it's important to find a system that works for you. True Teacher Confession Time: When I first started centers in my classroom (as a first year teacher) I was so lost. The idea of my students rotating around the room, where to store centers, how students would get them ... I just couldn't wrap my head around it all! As a result, my centers definitely were not as efficient and effective as they could have been.
Looking back, I'm glad I had this experience, because it allowed me to develop a system that really works for me and my students. Today I'm going to share how my center system increases student independence in my classroom .... and I teach Kindergarten, by the way.
Just because they're my favorite... I'm going to show you my Math Centers in this post (but my Literacy Centers work exactly the same).

STORING YOUR CENTERS

First things first ... you need a space to store your centers once you have them. My first year teaching, this was literally just 2 crates. That's it. One for math, one for literacy. This was fine... but I would recommend having multiple crates or storage bins. Decide if you want to organize by month or by skill. I've always organized by skill. I do currently have 1 separate bin with monthly themed centers, just because I don't have a lot of those. Now the bulk of my centers are organized in cubbies by skill. Other great storage options include sterlite bins and drawer bins.
PREP TIME: Each activity is printed on cardstock and laminated. At my last school, laminating film was hard to come by... so everything was carefully placed in ziploc baggies and I hoped for the best. It wasn't the most durable... but it worked. Lesson to learn: don't fret if your school doesn't have a working laminator or if you just can't afford one for your home use. That's ok!! Your kids will still get the instruction and independent practice they need :)

Think about what you have in your classroom already or what you're willing to purchase to store your centers. Write those ideas down now so that you don't forget.

YOUR WEEKLY ACTIVITIES

Now that you have some ideas for how to store the centers you're not using, let's think about the ones you are. Creating a system that helped my students independently get and clean up materials has transformed our routine and their independence. Parents who volunteer are amazed when they see how simple it is for my students to get and return their materials on their own. You can have your students doing this too!!
First.... you're going to need storage. But don't worry - I have the perfect solution for teachers on a budget: The Dollar Store!!! I grabbed these 4 bins because I have 4 centers. $4 for Math Center Bins?? Yes, please! (Ok... I did spend a little more because I needed 4 more for literacy centers and 4 more for morning work.... but still).
Next, I label each bin with these Math Center Labels. These labels correspond with my Math Center Rotation Slides (which I'll talk more about below). I label the bin and the space model (the model some more) where I'd like the bin to be returned. Everything has a place and that's what makes this system run so smoothly.
Finally, I put all of the materials I'll need for each center that week into the bins.

If you're just starting out with math centers: think about what kind of centers you want to have each week. I currently use the MATH model: Meet with the Teacher; Apply; Technology; Hands On. Write down your ideas. 

USING VISUALS TO INCREASE STUDENT INDEPENDENCE

Using visuals (and auditory cues) during centers helps my kiddos know where to go, when to start, and when to clean up. After grouping my students by strengths and needs, I teach them to use the center slides as a resource for where they need to be and what they need to get. This takes practice, practice, and more practice. When we practice getting materials and moving to centers, we also only pretend to do the activities. Students then listen for the auditory cue (that's built right into my center slides) to know when to clean up.
One of my biggest struggles during the day is time management. This is especially true during small groups. That's why I use the Center Slides with Automatic Timers to keep us on track. All I have to do is play the slideshow and let the timer do its thing. When time is up, a bell rings and students know to clean up. I don't have to say a thing!

Plan out how you'd like your students to know when to start and clean up their centers.

If you have any questions about how to get your centers up and running smoothly, please let me know! I'd love to help you out :) Comment below or click the email button on my homepage to send me an email.