First Week Back

Well, I have officially started back to work this week, so I can actually say TGIF! So far, we have had 2.5 days of training, so I have only been in the classroom 1.5 days. But I just wanted to share a couple of things I have made and done. I am also at a different center this year, so there will be plenty to organize and prepare!

This is one that I thought would be easy for the beginning of school because most kids already know this rhyme. The pictures are held on by velcro (or they WILL be as soon as I can get the thing laminated, resource room laminator died). I will probably choose one person to help find the right picture and place it in the correct place.

Helper chart. Although I really love this one, I can't take credit for it. The teachers that were there last year made it, but I wanted to share as it is SOO cute! (Close-ups below)

And.... my favorite area so far. Writing center. I love the little square things on the left, red and green. They are kind of like eye spy bottles with letters hidden amongst the beads!

One last thing I wanted to share is a CD that I have reserved from the library. I want to use song 9 which I heard used over the summer at the library's toddler storytime. It is an action song where the kids put on their glasses and get ready to read the book, but oh no! Is there something scary in there? Quick, shut the book! It's very cute and I think it will be a good transition into storytime.

New Addition to our Classroom

So, in case you didn't know, we have a class pet, Cutie the hermit crab. He used to have a friend who isn't with us anymore. Well, I finally got around to getting Cutie a new friend. Although Cutie is quite a bit bigger than the new guy and I wasn't sure if how he was going to react when I introduced the two. Cute did do a bit of bullying at first (or at least that's what it looked like to me, though I am not an expert in hermit crab behavior), but seems to leave the other crab alone for the most part now. The new little guy is a bit timid when you hold him. He will come out of the shell right away, but get scared back in easily.

 Although there are 4 shells in there, there are only 2 crabs, Cutie is the greenish shell and the new one (he doesn't have a name yet as I will let the kids name him) is the pearly looking one on the far left. 

 Cutie and the new guy feeling each other out.

Our newest friend in Head Start!

Also, I will share a few deals I found at the back to school sale at Office Max. I originally went to pick up 10 of the 1 cent spiral notebooks (the limit is 5, but you can get double if you're a teacher) and some of the 15 cent glue bottles. But I ended up finding these $.99 deals as well.

 Awesome for writing area and Kindergarten Readiness! 

Normally I would buy play money from the dollar store, but I have noticed it seems like you are getting less and less in the pack for a dollar, so while this one didn't come with coins, it seemed like a good deal because we all know just how long it takes for play money to get torn up with 3 and 4 year olds. (Especially with my class being primarily 3's this year)

Also, stayed tuned for my first contest announcement coming soon!