Argh! It's almost time to go back to school!

Our school theme this 2014-2015 school year is centered around Pirates.  In honor of our new theme this Fall I have created a set of Daily 5 Code Anchor posters. The Class Code helps the students focus on the expectations of our Daily 5 time. It can also be used for Center time. I have even included a poster for Center Time. 

In my class I plan to have Peaceful and Polite Pirates - however, we will always be Mrs. Black's Koala Class because I love Koalas and I just love the way our class name rolls off the tongue!

Click on the picture to see it in my store and while you are there check out my newest FREEBIE It's a set of colorful motivational certificates for your early learners who learn to recognize all of their color words.  

Getting Ready to go Back to School

My awesome Kindergarten Team met yesterday to plan for the new year! It was great seeing these ladies. We work so well together and that makes all the difference in going to work! My favorite thing to hear every morning is "It's going to be a GREAT Day in Kindergarten!" spoken by Mrs. Hayes as soon as she walks down our hallway. No matter what kind of morning you have at home as soon as you hear those words you can't help but smile and think "Yeah, it IS going to be a GREAT day in Kindergarten!"    This was the last slide in my slide show I make every year for my parents. I'm the one in the middle and Mrs. Hayes is on my left. I LOVE these gals!

Another FREEBIE on TpT!

I have been burning the midnight oil creating more resources

for my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

 

I just added a new FREEBIE today titled:

Common Core/Essential Questions and More Posters

 

 

*FREEBIE*

 

I have a lot of visitors walk through my classroom and many times they are parents who are looking for the "right" school for their future kindergartener. While I want to take a moment to chat with them I like to have these posted where they can read about what we are learning in kindergarten.  These posters are a great way to show everyone what Standards we are working on and the Essential Questions we want to answer during our learning time. Click on the *FREEBIE* under the picture to grab yours. Enjoy!

Creative Teaching Press Giveaway!!

School is just around the corner!

Did you know that Creative Teaching Press is giving away $200.00 of Creative Teaching Press dollars to 10 lucky teachers to buy their classroom a new back-to-school outfit for the 2014-2015 school year!?!  That is $200 to spend on everything Creative Teaching Press ! I know I could sure use $200.00 worth of their fabulous products! How about you? I found out about this great giveaway on Inspired In Style. I love that site! So many fantastic ideas to use in your classroom design. Check out their blog today by clicking on Inspired In Style !!

My TpT Store is now officially OPEN!!

I have finally taken the huge step into the land of TpT as a seller!! My heart was racing as I clicked the SUBMIT button to upload my first item. So many thoughts were racing through my mind. What if I forgot to credit someone for their digital papers, frames, clipart, fonts?...ahhhh! I am sure for those of you who already sell your great resources on TpT have a system in place to help you remember to credit those who make those wonderful items. Psssst...what's your secret?
I'm sure it just becomes second nature the more you create.

Now onto the FREEBIE that has been posted on TpT.

Anchor Charts are Awesome!
The kids really pay attention to their messages and having the charts posted around the room reminds me to review those messages when something is not going smoothly.
   I love Daily 5 but I don't like the repetitiveness of all the anchor charts so the Koala Kinders have a Class Code that applies to the five areas. I do start out the year creating the chart paper style so that the kinders have ownership of what Daily 5 should look like. After several areas are introduced we talk about a code that everyone will strive to follow during Daily 5. Then I bring out the Koalas Class Code posters to hang up for everyone to see. The kinders love the Scrappin' Doodles koalas and the sparkly ribbon used to hang them from the ceiling. The simple text makes the code easy to recite and remember.

Click here to check out my store and download your free  Koala Centers and Daily 5 Anchor Posters. This can also be used for centers and includes a poster title "Our Class Centers Code"

Shout out to "Surfing to Success"

      My goal this summer is to create  my own koala clip art for my Koala Kindergarten class. I have so many great ideas and pictures swirling around in my head but alas I am tech-challenged. Aagh! 

I have been trying my best to create something that I feel would look cute, clean and pleasing to the child's eye but I keep hitting the proverbial brick wall of technology.  Would you believe that I am even married to a great guy who writes software for a living but after 29 years of marriage NONE of the techy stuff has worn off on me. Grrr!

      So.... I went back to TpT and started looking at the Tech Tutorials where I found  Mercedes-Hutchens from Surfing to Success. I found her site on Facebook and messaged her my questions. Guess what!?! This beautiful lady helped me! We chatted on Fb while I tried all of her tech suggestions and I am finally getting over that techy brick wall. I am so excited! 
      Here are my first pair of little koalas. What do you think?

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mercedes! Everyone be sure to check out her TpT store, blog, and Fb page out. She has a lot of great ideas on them!
       

Wonderful Weather

The weather here in Missouri has been exceptional. I have truly enjoyed the milder than usual temperatures. My hubby finished redoing our back deck and after adding a Sun Setter awning it has become my favorite place to sit. There always seems to be a breeze to make my wind chimes sing the song of relaxation.