How to Catch a Leprechaun!

This week was full of sunshine and rainbows! We got to go outside to the park EVERY DAY (No more inside recess!!!) We are LOVING the warmer Spring weather up in Chicago. 

Not only did we learn about rainbows, thanks to St. Patrick's Day we also got to make Leprechaun Traps! It is such a great group activity to build communication, problem solving, and creativity! The kiddos made some great traps! 

I created a little sequencing recording sheet freebie to go along with this activity, which you can find on TeachersPayTeachers.

Happy teaching! Happy Spring Break to any of you joining me this week! :) 

xoxo,

The TRUTH about being a Kindergarten Teacher

Hi all! What a week I have had. I had the pleasure of attending the ILASCD Pre-K/Kindergarten Conference in Chicago. I love every single second of this conference!! (Even the super long lunch lines..) I always feel so refreshed and ready for new and exciting things to get rolling in my classroom. I think that my favorite part of the conference is the general feeling of "We're all in this together!" I was lucky enough to hear many wonderful Kindergarten teachers speak this weekend, some of my favorites were Shari Sloane, Kim Adsit, and DeeDee Wills. While they had many of wonderful ideas to share (which I am so excited to start to implement in my classroom) their general message was this, we are not alone in this thing called teaching Kindergarten.

Linking up with The Kindergarten Connection, click the picture to check out her blog! 

To a Kindergarten teacher it's no secret that we have our work cut out for us. However, to the world, they may not realize it. There are a lot of misconceptions about Kindergarten, but that is because it has changed SO much in such a small amount of time. I don't think many people realize what Kindergarten really looks like today! I love those shirts that say things like "I am a shoe tying, poster laminating, hug giving, book reading, tear drying, question asking, life changing Kindergarten Teacher." We wear many hats as Kindergarten teachers and the best part is we don't have to do it alone. I have the amazing gift of a co-teacher at my school who I can collaborate and create with. She and I bounce ideas and procedures back and forth, working together to help better our students' learning. Some of you may not have that luxury, but I want to remind you, there are MANY other Kinder-teachers out there that are tying shoes, while singing a transition song, and using the eyes in the back of their heads to see the student who is lined up and waiting patiently for you to say "Wow! Great job!" That is what I love about blogs, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. There are so many outlets for us Kinder-teachers to collaborate, plan, learn, and grow with our fellow teachers around the globe!

So keep on, keeping on Kinder-teachers! We have the BEST job in the world, and we get the privilege to spend a year in the lives of these future presidents, artists, professors, and creators, who will most certainly change the world someday.

Keep Smiling!
xoxo,

Compassion International

Hi Pals!  Well, it's COLD up here in Chicago, therefore no school for today. What a perfect excuse for a little bloggin'! Today I wanted to share with you all my journey so far with Compassion International.

Compassion is a Christian organization that provides sponsors for children in different parts of the world who are in need of schooling and other resources. Through their sponsors, these children are able to attend a good school, learn about Jesus, and help to give themselves more opportunities to better their lives and the lives of their families. When students attend a Compassion center they receive good meals, Christian fellowship, and an education.

I was introduced to Compassion at an event that I chaperoned called Youth Quake. This country wide youth retreat gives Junior High students the opportunity to worship, discuss, and enjoy fellowship with other youth groups in the area. Compassion partners with Youth Encounter, and each year many of the coordinators of the program share their personal testimonies and stories about their involvement with Compassion.

I began sponsoring for a few reasons. One of those reasons is that I am a teacher. As a teacher I feel it is my calling to help bring up and build students to their fullest potential. Another reason I decided to sponsor is my belief that one of my callings is to help out the children of our world. Sometimes living in a suburb of Chicago I find myself totally ignorant to the trials of the world, or I even find myself turning away from learning more about how to help out of laziness. This is unacceptable. I believe that God calls us all to help our neighbors of all kinds, whether close to home or far away.

So long story short, I began sponsoring Josthin, a 5 year old boy from Nicaragua. Since sponsoring him he has sent me 2 letters (written with the help of his school tutor). Each time I receive a letter from him it's like Christmas morning! I am so happy to be so personally involved in his life and showing Christ's love to him. On the 1 year anniversary of my Compassion sponsorship of Josthin I decided to sponsor a little girl, Lucky. Lucky is a little girl from Africa who I fell in love with when looking at her little picture. Because I have recently sponsored her, I still haven't received any information about her, but I am looking forward to hearing from her soon!

The COOLEST part of Compassion is that they offer opportunities to go to your sponsored child's country and meet them. One day, I will do this. I am going to finish off this post with a picture of my two cuties. I would love to hear from you if you sponsor a child, or if you decide to sponsor a child after learning more about Compassion! You can find out more information by visiting www.compassion.com or finding them @compassion on Instagram!

Elf in the CLASSROOM! Jesus Style! 

Hello wonderful teachers, friends, neighbors, bloggers! I am back and ready for some fun! I'm sure you've all heard of "Elf on the Shelf" but have you heard about the newest craze sweeping schools across the country? Elf in the Classroom! AND even more specifically, Elf in the Classroom, Jesus Style!!! I know many of you bloggers and teachers are in private schools, like myself, and are always looking for new and fun ways to incorporate Jesus' teachings into your other subjects. I wanted to give new life to the Christmas story for my students, and help them look at the different parts of the most well known story from the Bible with "new" eyes. That's when Elf in the Classroom, Jesus style was born! I know there are a few of you out there doing this same thing, and what an awesome way to share the message of Jesus' birth!

How do I introduce Elf in the Classroom, Jesus style?

Elfie came to our class in a most surprising way. On the 2nd of December (I was SICK on the 1st and SO very sad about missing day 1 of Elf!!) when the kids arrived to school there was a fancy box with a letter labeled "To: Kindergarteners" sitting on my teacher chair. I hid Elfie in one of my classroom decorations and HOPED no one would spot him! As many of you already know, Kinders are quite observant! Luckilly, no one spotted him until it was iPad time (of course!). Once he was spotted, we decided that the special package and letter were probably something to do with the elf. I read the letter to the class, which contained an explanation of the elf and his visit, as well as what he was going to DO while visiting. Here's what the letter said!

Dear Kindergarten,

Are you excited for Christmas? I am too! Can you guess what my favorite part about this time of year is? I LOVE telling others the story about Jesus' birthday! I love Jesus just like you. I have sent my special Elf to help you remember the most important part of Christmas, sharing Jesus' love. He likes making people smile, so he might be a little silly during his visit. Because he is your visitor he asked me to let you all name him. What name will you choose? Elfie, Buddy, or Scooter? I hope you enjoy his visit and I hope you all remember that Jesus loves you very much! Tell someone else you know that Jesus loves them too! :) 

From, HO HO HO

PS: Don't touch the Elf! He might get scared!!!

After reading the letter I introduced our Adventures of the Elf on the Shelf books to the class. In these books the students will be drawing/writing about the Elf's adventures each day. Here's Elfie from Day 1! His full name is Elfie Buddy Scooter, we couldn't choose just one.

Day 2 we found Elfie taking a snooze in the Kleenex! He shared another box with us so we weren't out tissues for the day. This made for a nice day of "teachable moments" where we talked about sharing, and the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000!

Day 3 we found Elfie propped up on top of our interactive whiteboard. Uh Oh! Some kiddies scared Elfie by getting a little too close for comfort!

Day 4 Elfie was a nice little Elf and brought us some Veggie Tales Christmas movies for our movie day! What a treat that we ALSO got some popcorn to enjoy with our movie!

Day 5 Elfie was dressed as a Shepherd, wanting to join us in sharing the story of Jesus with everyone! Check out the cuteness!

Day 6 (which is TOMORROW) the kiddies are going to find Elfie zip lining across the ceiling using a CANDY CANE! (uncontrollable giggles will occur, I'm sure) 

Check back for more ideas coming soon, as well as check out xo_teach on instagram each day for all the antics! Use #elfontheshelfjesusstyle so we can all see your cute elves! 

Thanks, pals! XOXO

We're SO busy!

Can you believe how quickly the first week and a half of school has flown??? I know many of you started a lot longer ago, and for some of you, today was your first day. I am already back into my routine, and feeling like this year is flying by! We have been so busy working on things that I have neglected to take a single picture of the class in the zone! They have been working so hard, and I am looking forward to how this year is going to go.

I am on Instagram (see the link up on my header, its the camera icon) and you can check out the September Photo Challenge that I am doing! 

Here's Day One! Labor Day Activities!! (shopping, One Tree Hill on netflix, and Mac&Cheese!)

Today we worked on a fun project that I like to call the Traveling Alphabet. Many teachers in Lutheran Schools across the country are exchanging letters. We made 25 Alligator A's to send out to our friends around the USA, and we will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the rest of our alphabet! The kids even had to stop production of these for a fun filled FIRE DRILL today, and they still were able to come back and finish them. :) 

Alligator A!

I will keep you updated on all the fun letters we will be receiving in the near future, and maybe you'll see your school represented! Don't forget to follow me via email, on twitter, or on Facebook to receive updates as I post! Check the social media links up by my header for easy access to all things Little Miss ABC! :)

New Blog LAYOUT!

How cute is my new blog design!!! I want to tell you all about Diana at Custom Blog Designs, because she is awesome to work with, and was able to get my design done SO quickly! :) 

Her blog as all the steps written out for you, super easy to understand! If you are thinking of having your blog redone, or maybe thinking about sprucing up your Facebook cover photo or twitter background, I would totally recommend her! Her prices are very comparable as well, you get a lot!

SO take a look around, check out all the new things (social media buttons and navigation links on my ADORABLE new blog header) and let me know what you think! Please check out Diana's blog to see all of her designs, too!

Back to School post to come this weekend (YAY Labor Day! YAY 3 DAY WEEKEND) so keep your eyes out for that. 

 

Keep smiling!

xoxo

Redecorated Room Reveal!

Alright Pals, its that time...Back to school!! I cannot believe that summer is actually over, but having a newly decorated room is making it a little easier to get back into the swing of things! 

I want to start off by sending out a big thanks to my new friend Karen at The Classroom Creative for some adorable decorations, and a new teacher friendship! Look for more of her and her business partner's items to come! Check them out on TpT and on their blog! 

Ok, let's get started! I started off the redecoration by choosing my color scheme. I decided to go with Primary Colors! They are perfect for Kinders!! Once I decided on the color scheme, I began searching for different supplies to coordinate. My pride and joy of this redecoration process were my crate seats (see the previous post!!) which fit in PERFECTLY and really tie everything together!

Crate seats!!!

Reading corner! Books all labeled using Kinder-Craze's
Library labels! 

Meet the Teachers bulletin board is a quick and easy
board for Back to School! :) 

Big Book bin from the Container Store! It is a large Elfa drawer!

Any questions please leave a comment! Feel free to share on Pinterest and take pictures and show me if you use any of this as inspiration for your classroom redecoration!!! Talk to you all soon! Happy Back to School!!

xoxo,

Little Miss ABC