Kinder Tribe!

Yesterday I told you all a little bit about myself, and today you get to know more! #kindertribe has a new fabulous blog and I am linking up with all these fabulous kindergarten teachers to tell you a little bit more about me! Make sure to follow the KinderTribe blog for lots of tips and tricks if you are a Kindergarten teacher! You can find our group on Facebook, also.
So here is a little bit more about THIS kindergarten teacher! :) 

• I have really grown to love teaching kindergarten. Honestly, when I started off the whole idea totally scared me! I was so used to teaching little youngsters, toddlers and preschoolers! I was terrified of messing up and failing my students. But some wise and wonderful mentor teachers along the way encouraged me that God chose me to hold this position and because He put me there I would do amazing things. I am so grateful for this opportunity of spending time with these kids helping them to grow and learn in such an early year of their life.

• Of course I can't live without my iPhone and my Erin Condren planner. These two items paired with post-its and flair pens should be enough to help me remember all the things I need to do all the time, right? WRONG. For some reason my memory seems to be getting progressively worse, but I just accredit that to all the classroom ideas, meetings, and appointments that are swirling around in my brain. It helps to have tools to help me with my to-do lists!

• I LOVE MO WILLEMS. He is seriously a children's literature genius and his books are fabulous. The Elephant and Piggie series is great for emergent readers. I have EVERY book in the series and they are constantly read in my classroom. My kiddies are always asking to read them. He also writes another hilarious series about a Pigeon who wants things that are probably not the best idea for him. So great..

• Kinder Craze has always been a favorite of mine. Maria's style is so clean and classic and I love her ideas. The best part about Kinder Craze are all the ideas for Christian schools! I teach in a Lutheran school and Maria makes and blogs about fabulous ideas for religious curriculum! Thank you, Maria for being an awesome inspiration! :) 

There you have it people! More to know about me. Check out the link-up on the KinderTribe blog and share with us a little more about you! :) 

Tell Us About You Tuesday

So update on my Sunday Scoop, for those of you who saw, I was hoping to get to take a day trip to the city one day this week and today was the day! Beautiful weather, yummy cupcakes, and good times with my Momma. SO much fun!

Now, to get to the post for the day - Tell Us About You Tuesday! 

 Well, I am beginning my 4th year of teaching Kindergarten this fall, and I have loved every second of it! I worked as a preschool/daycare teacher during my summer/winter breaks senior year of college and I loved that as well. I have a BA in Early Childhood Edu and am currently in the process of deciding where to begin my adventure into Grad school, with a focus on Early Childhood Special Ed.

My family is great, and we like to do lots of fun things together. We especially like to take trips to Disney World, our main vacation spot! This summer (in 1 WEEK) we're headed to Disney Land in California and I CAN'T WAIT! 

The Disney PhotoPass guy who took this picture was the most charismatic man I have ever met. He had to be to get us to take this photo!

I recently moved out of my parents house, leaving my precious Penny Lane to hang with Mom and Dad. She is a sassy little princess Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and we wouldn't have it any other way. 

I have some of the greatest friends around and I couldn't imagine life without them! 

If you know me, then you know I LOVE DISNEY. Some may say it's unhealthy (ahem, my best friend) ;) but I love it. I've always been a Disney girl, ever since I could talk, according to my mom. It's a big part of my life and I love being able to share that joy with my Kindergarten kiddies!

I think that's all I will share for now, but I can't wait to get to know all of you a little more. Make sure you head over to Freebie-Licious to link up and post your Tell Us Tuesday! :)

xoxo,

Must Have Monday

I love these link-ups, and especially this week's link up thanks to Freebie-Licious!

My Must Haves

Papermate Flair Pens. Enough said, right? I am obsessed with these pens and love how they come in a variety of colors. I found the set on Amazon during the school year for about $8 and I bought a bunch! Amazon is a great resource for finding great deals on fun things! :)

Swiffer sweepers are a life saver in the classroom! Things get dusty really quickly in my room thanks to our fabulous air conditioning (which I love). Swiffer sweepers are so great for getting that dust up quickly.

Cardstock has become my new favorite thing. I never really used it prior to this summer, and the possibilities are endless! I worked with a fabulous teacher this summer during our early childhood summer session and she had some fabulous ideas using card stock. We created mini books for our students of all the pet visitors who came to help us learn. The books were super sturdy and a great keepsake! 

Creative Teaching Press makes some fabulous stuff. For me, I never have enough yellow chevron bulletin board boarder! It's the perfect accent to my bulletin boards and allows me a pop of yellow to go along with the primary color theme I have in my room. 

My last must have is my #KinderTribe and social media. Without social media I would not be able to easily access all of the genius knowledge you all share about your classrooms, management, songs/poems, math, science and exploration activities, and all around fun things for Kindergarten. Click up by my header to follow my various social media accounts (including my brand new Instagram account @kindergartenalphabetsoup too!)

There you have it! My Must Haves for the year!! Can't wait to read about all of YOUR must haves and maybe acquire some new ones myself! 

Freebie Bible Verse poster

Hi pals! Here's a quick link to a little freebie Bible verse poster I made today. Comment with a verse you'd like to have created into a printable poster!

Click HERE to download :)

The Sunday Scoop 7/19

It's my first Sunday of summer, basically meaning I don't have to go to school for any reason tomorrow for the first time since we got out for the summer! Woohoo!! So here's my Sunday Scoop as I prepare for my week of summer. :)

My "have to do's" aren't even that bad... I just need to remember to do them! That laundry thing really gets away from me. 

I am going to be giving a little QR code seminar to my coworkers once I come back from vacation in 2 weeks or so and I am looking for ideas! Share your favorite posts/ideas/tips about QR codes in the comments below! I will compile them together and do a big post about it later.

I am really hoping that I get a chance to go downtown and to the beach this week, as I haven't done either yet this summer! I love visiting the city and exploring, let's just hope the weather in Chicago cooperates!

And of course, I am counting down the seconds until we leave for California! The Disney anticipation is KILLING me!!! 

xoxo,

Out with the old...

...and IN WITH THE NEW! My new blog reveal is SO adorable and I love love love everything that Tenille did for my new layout! Make sure you all go to Designs By Tenille to check out her work. She's incredible! Thanks, Tenille!! :) Also, how cute is my custom pal, created by Polka Dots and Pals, included in the blog header?? Love love love!

Along with my new blog layout I am launching a brand new teacher Instagram account! Click the little Instagram logo on my blog header to follow my new account, @kindergartenalphabetsoup :)

Also, it's officially my summer! I finished everything at church with Vacation Bible School in mid June and today finished teaching our Early Childhood summer session Pet Shop! We had so much fun learning about different types of pets, and I even acquired a class pet in the mix.

Meet Rizzo the Hermit Crab (named after Anthony Rizzo on the Chicago Cubs)

That's all for today. Have a fab summer pals!!

xoxo,

Chalkboard Giveaway #3, #4, #5!!

Congratulations to Lanie White who was the winner of the 2nd Chalkboard Giveaway! I am going to be doing the last 3 giveaways simultaneously so make sure you enter all three! You'll have many chances to get your name in the running a few times so be sure to check all the options out. Good luck, pals!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

There you have it, folks! I can't wait to hear how you're all spreading some kindness the next few days.


xoxo,

Chalkboard GIVEAWAY #2!!!!

UPDATE! Here's Giveaway #2! Our winner from giveaway #1 is Holl Homestead! :) Congratulations! There are a few new ways you can put your name in the pot this time around. The 2nd giveaway will be live until Saturday at midnight! Good luck, everyone!

Well teacher pals, I am officially addicted to the Target Dollar Spot! My "Currently" post from last week stands strong this week again. I am an ALLSTAR Target Dollar Spot addict. But it paid off today. I know MANY of you are on the hunt for the "First Day Of" chalkboards, and I had some good luck today and found 5!!!! My big goal when I started this blog was to share ideas and collaborate with teachers to make our lives a little easier, and a little happier. Therefore, it's GIVEAWAY time! I bought all 5 of the boards, and I will give each one away to 5 lucky followers! There's a few things you can do on the giveaway to get your name in the pot more than once.

I am giving away one chalkboard at a time, so check back for the 2nd-5th giveaways if your name isn't chosen the first time. Good luck!!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

xoxo,

Currently...in July!

I just realized that my Add Comment buttons are NOT working, check out my instagram if you have questions or comments until I get it all fixed :) You can find me @xo_teach Thanks guys!

Hi fabulous friends! Can you believe it's JULY?! I decided to link up with Oh Boy Fourth Grade and share with you all my July "Currently" :)

I am listening to LOTS of country radio this summer. Chicago's new Country station (95.5FM) is SO GOOD! Also, who doesn't love that dreamboat Sam Hunt?

I am LOVING the weather, especially after we had the wettest June in a while. It's so nice to have the windows open all the time!!

I am so excited for my little spontaneous trip to visit my bestie Brittany from Nifty in First Grade for the 4th! We're going to take her cutie cute son to his first 4th of July celebration. I can't WAIT!

Anyone have any good DSLR travel tips? I am so excited to finally have my camera to bring with us on our vacation to Disney Land but I am currently struggling to figure out how to carry it around! I already have only planned to bring it 2 out of the 4 days so I'm not lugging it around the whole time, but any tips would be appreciated!

I need to stop spending money, the struggle is real. I keep eating out (because it's so convenient!) and hitting up Target...sometimes twice a day...which brings me to my AllStar section, I am an AllStar Dollar Spot fanatic. I can't get enough, the products are SO CUTE! 

I am also using this post as a teaser for something really exciting that I am planning on doing very soon involving the Container Store and my classroom! :) 

Until then, be kind to one another! 

xoxo,