Randoms ~ 2013

Over the summer this teacher took up some hobbies! I absolutely loved reaping the benefits of having my first summer as a teacher off! I have a love for fast things and baking. I took up some motorcycle classes as well as a cupcake decorating class. Can't wait to start baking some cool cupcakes for my little kinders this school year!

Taking the class made me more excited about riding! I'm more intrigued now than ever. Next I'm going to look into learning more about the mechanics of a bike. As much as I love riding, I more than likely will only ride on a track somewhere remote. Can't trust these MI drivers!!

This class was so much fun! Not only did I learn how to decorate but I also learned about the different frosting to use and how to use frosting inside the cupcakes!

My para knows me a little too well! This was my 'back to school' gift from her! Gotta love it.

Our first 'Fun Friday' of the school year. The little ones watched Despicable Me and my para made some cupcakes to go with the movie! What can I say... we share a love for baking cupcakes, LOL.

Went to 'Painting with a Twist' with the staff! This was super fun. I look forward to going back. VERY relaxing!

GO TEAM 109! ~ Classroom Reveal

Ahh! The beginning of the school year can be so hectic! I've been meaning to post what I've done in my classroom so far. Totally revamping my room compared to what it looked like before! Wish I had a before and after. I got hired after the school year started last year so I never had the time to really get into setting up the room. Having the summer off this year,  I was picking up stuff all over the place to spice up my room and PINNING of course (my room is totally PIN-spired!)! Finally, I've got it looking how I want it, a fun and engaging learning environment. More pics to come!!

I decided to go with a sports theme this year to promote teamwork, problem solving skills, encouragement, support, efficiency, etc. It touches on so many aspects to promote a diverse, engaging, and effective classroom that is student led.  GO TEAM 109!

This bulletin board has to be one of my FAVORITE boards I've EVER put together! On the baseballs I used our Detroit Tigers colors blue and orange. Gotta rep the D!

This is going to be my Reading Center/Library area. I will be adding an author study and themed books of the month bookshelves and a CAFE board to the wall.

Picked up these awesome bins for my library from Dollar Tree. I will be labeling the bins by genres and themes.

My sports themed Word Wall. Found these awesome letter cards from Mimi's Dollhouse! I put up images of cameras and will be stressing each time we learn a sight word that we take a 'snapshot' and capture the word into our brains.

I am absolutely in love with these polka-dot curtains I am using to cover up open shelving in my classroom. I had a vision and my awesome para went to work! I also, placed all the books and matching stuffed animals I've collected over the years on the top. This is always a big hit with my students and visitors coming into the classroom.

My para found this cute giant-sized Arthur at the public library! The kiddos love him! She also put together the cute little crate seats you see under the table.

I love this bulletin board idea I picked up from one of my favorite bloggers over at A Cupcake for the Teacher. I also picked up these great genre posters from Me Teach Good.

The little ones love going up to the Growth Chart and seeing how tall they are!

Cute coloring pages that I used from Mrs. Miner's Kindergarten Monkey Business for the first day of school.

I bought the splotched design duct tape that I use for the students to stand in number order when lining up.

I'm really excited about my Recycling Center outside of my room! The kids love to go down and sort the recyclables near the office. For the paper I plan on taking the kids on a little "field trip" to the recycling bins in our school parking lot where we will recycle the paper from time to time.

 I'm a big fan of my MI sports teams as you can see! :-) I made these table signs and gave the students "team names"! This year I'm going to try and let the students pick their team names after we come back from holiday break. I'll let them create a logo to go along with the team name they've chosen.

On the other side of the sign I have the team numbers which I found from Learnings a Hoot.