Five for Friday...Fun, Fun, Fun!

I made it through week 2!  I know it will get easier and I won’t be dead tired every day after a few weeks, but boy do I forget what the beginning of the year is like.  I forget how much time must be spent on procedures and rules.  I forget how YOUNG they are…lol.  I actually have several that aren’t even 5 yet!  Despite all of this it was a fantastic week! 

I am linking up with Kacey atDoodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday!  Be sure to check out all of the great posts, after you read mine of course.

On Monday we start by going over “Our focus wall” for the week.  We are continuing our way through the alphabet and adding sight words.  We learned the number 2, the color blue, and finished up learning all about triangles.

These were our Cc and Dd circle maps.  The kiddos love making these.  I think they just try to come up with things they think will be hard for me to draw so they can all have a good laugh…even though that is supposed to be against the rules.

We also discussed the “rules” of coloring this week.  

This anchor chart is a few years old, I do agree it is starting to get a bit tattered, the original idea was from Pinterest.  Sorry, I don’t know the original pin, I have seen similar ones numerous times.  When I made this a few years ago it was way before I had given any thought to blogging and never thought I would need to know where I got the idea.  Now, any time we need to color in class I just gently remind them to be sure they are using 3 star coloring. I leave the chart up for a few weeks until I am sure they are always doing their best.  It works wonders!

This week was a whirl wind and I didn’t get many pics snapped.  Also, it could be that I forgot my camera bag like 3 days in a row.  We were learning all about ourselves, our friends and our families.  So for Friday fun day we made Friendship salad.  

This was an idea from Kim Adsit at Kindergals.  Each child brought a fruit to share.  We cut them up and put them all in a bowl.  I brought in a pretty mushy brown banana and asked the kids if we should add it to our salad.  Of course they all shouted, NO!  I asked them why and they said because it was rotten.  So it lead to a great discussion about what would happen if we have one “rotten” banana in class.  That it ruins the fun for everyone.  They all decided they did not want to be that rotten banana.  It was a great community building activity.

With our “cooking” and learning about the letter C this week.  We then made these super easy Chef paper bag puppets from Creation Castle.  They were super excited and they came out pretty cute!

I received my second Stitch Fix this week as well.  The way it works is you fill out a profile and a personal stylist picks out items for you.  You receive them and have 3 days to decide if you want to keep them.  There is a fee of $20, but if you keep anything it goes toward your purchase, and if you keep it all you get an additional 25% off!

Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the clothes on me.  My teenage boys weren’t too keen on taking my pic.  They were involved in a quest on the computer…lol.  One major difference between having boys and girls..lol.  They really don’t care about clothes.

I love that it comes with a card from your stylist with tips of what to pair with the items that they send to you.  It totally takes the guess work out of it.

                      

This black shirt was cute, but the back was entirely lace.  I know you are supposed to wear a shirt underneath, at least I would think so…but it just wasn’t quite my style.

This tank again had the lace thing going on…what are they trying to tell me.  I just didn’t care for the blue and black together.

This silk tank was just hanging on me.  Like a box.  My waist is the one thing I like to accentuate, not cover up.  I am so short it just made me look like a little barrel.

Truth be told I almost didn’t even try this dress on.  I liked the color and the fabric was super soft.  However I have this condition called, “cankles”, where there is no difference between my calves and ankles…lol.  Yes it is a real medical condition… I am sure of it.  Anywho, I don’t wear dresses that show off this lovely condition.  I live in pants or Maxi’s.  I did try it on and it was a total disaster.  I could have fit two of me in the top part, yes I also have no boobs!!  Sorry TMI I am sure.  Thank goodness for Victoria Secret or it would be embarrassing.

 My last item was this beautiful pair of earrings.  They were very pretty and silver is my color.  But, once again they wouldn’t work for me.  When I was in grammar school I had on dangly earrings while on the swings and they caught on my coat and about ripped out of my ears.  As a result I can only wear post earrings now.  Otherwise they would have been keepers.  So I batted "0" with this fix, but I hope the next one will be better.  If you want to give it a try, just click here.  Even though I didn’t keep anything it still was lots of fun and I am hopeful that the 3^rd time is the charm next month.

Today I got fantastic news.  My Donors Choose project for a huge classroom rug was fully funded.  Have you tried Donors Choose?

It was super easy, the website walks you through every detail.   You choose what you need for your room, answer some questions, write a short essay explaining how it will benefit your class and why you want the item(s).  That’s it!  They give you a maximum of 4 months to get fully funded.  My project started June 25^th and it was fully funded today.  So it only took me 59 days to raise $522. 

Isn't it just beautiful! I am over the moon excited and I know my kiddos will be too once our new rug arrives.  I have heard of teachers getting iPads, Elmo’s, art supplies, books, you name it.  You should give it a try.

I am off to date night with the hubby. Fun, Fun!!  Hope you all had a great week.  I love to read your comments, so leave me some love.  Be sure you are not a no reply blogger I like to respond via email. 

~Laura

Five for Fraturday!

Happy Friday Saturday friends.  Boy this summer is just flying by.  Dare I say BTS is looming very quickly for me.  I just finished Kinder Camp this week and teachers have to be back Aug 5^th, meet the Teacher night is Aug 7^th, and the first day of school is Aug 11^th.  I don’t even want to count the exact days.  I have tried to make the most of my time with my family and get in some great PD too.  I tend to get a bit long winded...so I apologize in advance...lol.

 Today I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Fraturday to give you a quick recap of my week.

It started off FANTASTIC.  The hubby surprised us all with an impromptu trip to the beach.  Even though it was only for the day it was wonderful.  It is one of my favorite places to be.  We just kicked back, relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

My younger two sons and nephew went with us and they had a blast driving their supped up remote control cars on the beach.

It was hilarious to watch the people drive by and the boys cars were going faster than they were.  Several had to stop and watch their crazy driving…lol.  My oldest son didn’t join us…the beach is not really his thing.  Which is totally ironic considering he will be attending UC Irvine in the fall, which is like 5 miles from Huntington Beach…lol.  But, he was busy building a computer for a friend anyway…which is totally his thing. 

We stayed until the sun was almost gone and then had a yummy meal at my favorite place, Pismo Fish and Chips.

We had our last week of Kinder Camp this week as well.  We continued working on fine motor skills, social skills, class room etiquette and of course some fun too!

If you have kiddos that need some practice writing their letters and numbers to 30 you can grab this cute freebie from Lauren at A Teachable Teacher.

We ended the week with a fun water day and a piñata.  The kids had a blast!

I managed to get all of my pre-assessments done during Kinder Camp as well.  Thanks to ESGI.  If you have not checked it out you really need to.  It is fantastic and cuts your assessment time in half. You give all of your assessments right from your computer or iPad.  Then it automatically totals everything up and there are graphs and charts summarizing all of your data so you know exactly where all your kiddos are and what you to need to teach or re-teach. Be sure to check back on Tuesday, I will be giving a full run down of all the features of the system as well as a chance for you to get a free 60 day trial and a discount.

I also received my first Stitch Fix this week.  I was totally excited.  If you don’t know what Stitch Fix is let me give you a run down.  You sign up on line and a special stylist picks out items of clothing and/or accessories based on your answers to style questions. You can link a Pinterest board of styles you like as well. When it arrives your try everything on decide what you want to keep and send the rest back.  If you keep everything you get an additional 20% discount.  The fee is $20, but that is deducted off of the total of anything you decide to keep.  Then in 3-6 weeks, you decide how often, they send you your next “fix”. It also comes with a card from your stylist that shows you what to pair each piece with to make a complete outfit.  So it is dummy proof, haha! Plus the bonus for me, I don’t have to go to a store…lol. As you may remember we live in the middle of nowhere so I thought I would give it a try.

The clothes were very pretty and the fabrics were super nice and comfortable.  However, none of it fit me… this time.  The tops were too big or just not my style. I have like no boobs…lol.  If it weren’t for Victoria Secret I would probably be a negative number.  So I have a difficult time finding tops that fit right.

The black stripe skirt fit, but I didn’t like the look of how the stripes were.

The dress was cute & comfortable…but about 4” too long.  I am short people and the thought of wearing my 4” platforms to school is just not a good idea.  I am looking for things to go back to school so this one will have to go back.

Honestly, I didn’t even try these pants on.  They are super skinny…so not me.  I carry all my weight in my lower half and have always been self-conscious of that.  Plus, they were cropped length.  I have “cankles” friend.s.  That is where your calves and ankles just pretty much run together, with no real size difference.  So I do not want to highlight that fact.

Sorry I have no pics of me wearing the clothes I didn’t have anyone at home to take pics for me and after a few dozen attempts at “selfies” I decided to just call it a day.  If anyone can offer me a good tutorial on taking selfies I am all ears…lol.  I will be sure to have photos of me with the clothes next time. If you want to give it a try for yourself just click here.  It was totally fun even though I didn't keep anything this time.

This week has been a printing, laminating and cutting marathon.  I can not bury my head in the sand, even if I want to.  School is coming quick and I am a little OCD about my room, so I have been trying to get ready. I know it will be all worth it in the end.

What have you been up to this week? Link up with Doodle Bugs and leave me a comment I would love to hear all about it!

~Laura