Dear sweet little kinders,

Dear little ones,
Thank you oh so much for this cold. I truly appreciate coming to school feeling icky just because I dislike writing sub plans. Oh and a double thank you for coming to school sick and gluing yourselves to me because you feel crummy and just want some extra love. I hope you feel better soon but I really hope I feel better in the morning! At least be extra nice to me please because it depends on the minute whether or not I will be able to talk or not.
Love, Your very thankful teacher.

On to another note-I get to go back to college next week to talk to the seniors in the program I graduated from nest week! I'm super excited to get to talk to them and encourage them in their job search!

I have loved getting to know everyone better with this game of tag.I was much better at this version than I ever was with the playground version.

~Allyce~ 

P.S. This nerdy kinder teacher thinks its pretty awesome that I did my 90th blog post on my 90th day of teaching! Maybe I will work it out so that my 100th post is on the 100th day :)

Tagged.

I was tagged by  Elizabeth over at Twins, Teaching and Tacos for this super fun questionnaire! First of all I LOVE her blog. Second I wish I had taco Tuesday every week like she does! There are rules and requirements. Enjoy.


So here are the rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.
4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

 My 12 facts. As you know I am a random person-this will be no exception.
1) I turned 23 yesterday-I feel no different. Honestly I still feel older than my age says I am...
2) I am not capable of truly sleeping in. This morning with no alarm I was awake at 6:30. That does not mean that I am out of bed yet however and it is now 11:29. 
3) I have always wanted to be a runner. I am seriously considering taking this up...at least a few days a week.
4) I am a vegetarian-no it's not because of fluffy bunnies its because I didn't really enjoy the taste of meat-now I don't eat it because my tummy doesn't like it-I would like to try to eat it again though-at least a little.
5) I LOVE taking pictures! But I do not like having my picture taken...
6) I have watched One Tree Hill since the very beginning- I have to see it through to the end. 
7) When I drive to school in the mornings I sing...all the way there. 
8) I HATE birds. and Snakes. and Bugs. 
9) I am VERY ticklish. I mean it's ridiculous.
10) I love to bake (I actually love to cook too) but I hardly ever eat what I bake. I would rather see other people enjoy it.
11) I own a TON of books...most of them I have read...in my future home I would love to have a library room-with an entire wall of books. In fact my dream house has a turret and in the round room it creates I would have it lined with book cases and I would have a window seat where I would read. 
12) I have collected spoons since I was about 7. I have a ton-they are currently in a box...

My questions from Elizabeth. 

1. Where is one place you would like to travel? There are a ton of places. I would love to see some of the states on the other side of the country especially the somewhat southern ones.

2. What is your favorite thing about teaching? The kids and the fact that they are always so excited to learn!

3. What is one thing about teaching you would change? All of the politics involved. If we could just teach and people would realize that we are doing a good job then all would be good.

4. Do you have any hobbies? I love photography.

5. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?Spending time with friends and family. I also love to curl up by the fire with my dog and a good book.

6. What book have you recently read? I am very slowly reading Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand. I wish I had more time and energy to read it faster.

7. Do you have a hobby? I love photography. Can I add teaching to this?

8. What kind of technology do you have in your classroom? I have 3 desktop macs for the kids. I have a projector and a document camera. Then I have a school issued laptop for teacher use and I usually take my personal one too.

9.  If you weren't a teacher, what career would you have?I honestly don't know. I have never wanted to do anything else-because everything I ever thought about included things that I could never do.

10. What is your favorite topic/subject to teach? Literacy I think. Mostly because in Kinder they are SO excited to be learning to read.

11. What is your favorite type of candy? Chocolate. Especially when you add some peanut butter or some caramel...

12. What type of music do you enjoy listening to? I listen to Country music. Ever heard of Reckless Kelly? I have many other favorites though. 

Alright now it is my turn to ask the questions.

1) What technology do you wish you could have in your classroom?

2) What is your favorite grade to teach?

3) Do you eat in your staff room?

4) How many elementary schools are in your district?

5) What is your favorite way to spend a day off?

6) Where do you go when you need to think? Or just completely relax.

7) Do you use standards based grading at your school?

8) What is your FAVORITE dessert?

9) What is your guilty pleasure tv show?

10) Do you play a sport?

11) Pets?

12) What is your very favorite childrens book?

Now for the people I am tagging...

1-Mrs. Davis at Carried Away In Kindergarten.

2-Meredith at Keen on Kindergarten. 

3-Christina at Mrs. Bainbridge's Class 

4-Mrs. Bell at A Place Called Kindergarten  

5-Jeannie at Kindergarten Lifestyle

6-Sarah at Waiting on the Butterflies

7- Kristin at A Teeny Tiny Teacher

8-Mary at Adventures in Kindergarten

9-Kelli at Castles and Crayons

10-Erin at Eberharts Explorers

11-Kimberley at 1st In Maine 

12-Bonnie at Living a Wonderful Life

Ok I think finding 12 people was by far the hardest part because I was having such a hard time deciding! Now it's time to go do some tagging-(is that against the rules? I know it is on the playground but does the blogosphere count too?)

~Allyce~

 

for the next 15 minutes

it's my birthday. It was a good day. Relaxing for the most part-hey I even got to try to take a little nap! Hope you all had a good day.

Question for you-Do you go to High School sporting events in your town? What are your favorites? What are your least favorites? Just thought I would ask. I will give my answer probably tomorrow before my day late birthday dinner.

short and sweet.

I had a strange week. Full day Monday and Tuesday, half day Wednesday (for the kids at least) full day today and no kids tomorrow. I will be sitting in a district wide training on standards based grading... need something to keep me occupied-maybe I will take a coloring book and some crayons...do you think that would be frowned on? I will also be needing LOTS of coffee... Better get up earlier than I did today.

So the whole point of this blog was to sing you a little song. Did you see the moon tonight?! GORGEOUS!
Here is the song. it's cute.

There's a wee baby moon

lying on his back 

with his funny little toes in the air-r-r

but he's all alone in the big blue sky

and the wee baby moon doesn't care.

Baby moon keep shinin on me babymoon

The end. Time for bed. Hope you all have a FABULOUS FRIDAY!

ok. This is not school related.

So several people. Like Kristin  and Sarah I am a sucker for watching the Bachelor. And I decided to write what I thought while watching. Won't be as funny. mostly me complaining to myself so the roommates didn't have to listen to me. So if you don't want to hear it than close this tab now. If you want to see my thought reel please continue.Oh and sorry for grammar and typos-I didn't edit.

seriously did you just tell them to not waste their time talking about the weather?!

distracted by roommates-gummy bears were FLYING! and I couldn’t stop laughing.

let nature take its course?! honestly. Is he going to take these drama queens camping!?

you came on a show with 25 girls and one guy and you are still crying about it? I have absolutely no sympathy.

get over it! he will not only be dating you. oh goody you get to see him. you don’t get to hug him like she does. haha (sorry that was sort of mean.)

I would rather not ride in a helicopter-especially with Ben.

You came on a dating show-and you are so so nervous to spend time with this guy. If you were on a group date you would be complaining that you were not spending enough time with him.

seriously with the sparkly water scene…

peace and quiet and BUGS! oh my!

Pity party. Made me think of Willy Wonka with them on that couch foot to foot. haha Of course you don’t see the connection you think that he is automatically in love with you.

you are better at group dates. stop being so awkward! “We’ll have nice lines.” Don’t waste time talking about the weather! hehe. lagging conversation is an understatement. This is just plain awkward to watch.

(I hate commercials. Usually skip them…should have.)

you just sealed your fate-why waste time on a relationship you don’t see going somewhere.

ooh dig! someone who gets along with everyone else.

Are you going to eat all of that food. Or just let it look pretty. “This fire is hot.” really?! that is what you say.

Communication is your flaw…REALLY?! hadn’t noticed. GEEZ.

if you want to know more then ask some questions! You have still gotten nowhere! Except saying ask questions to each other without asking any actual questions.

Did you seriously give her a rose! That was the WORST date ever!

a slow burn-like watching water boil or paint dry? That is what watching that date felt like.

oh of course it’s your knight in shining armor. Not. more like a guy in jeans-that are all wet now because he went through the river.

his hair-really-it just needs to be cut. (sorry long hair on guys just isn’t my thing.)

who is going to catch one of the other girls or ben first? Have you really caught a man before? Not sure-you are a bit loony.

group date into 1 on 1. Seriously. You are CRAZY girl! Those other girls are not going to like you.

fishing for compliments. (pun completely intended!)

a conversation about mustard?! my word. this is just plain dull.

Ben why didn’t you take that black thing off your back side? it does not look cute.

4 times? and you don’t fall in love easily. interesting.

third group date-don’t talk about the weather-you were warned. and you are not complaining about the group thing. really-yes you are. now you talk about death.

did he truly just tell someone she was crazy?! HOORAY! finally!I am very proud of you Ben! And telling her that she doesn’t take it seriously. YES! I like you more now Ben.

Your heart feels for her but in your mind you are celebrating-don’t deny it!

I really don’t like Courtney.-roommate called her a gold digger-I think she called it.

Does anyone know if Ben gets to see the commentary as they are filming? Nevermind. Figured it out.

lets hope that this accountant doesn’t live up to the accountant stereotypes.

ooh. Kacie B got to go back to his room. if you really want them to get along then taking one to your hotel room wasn’t really the best idea…I mean really think about it!

Courtney- GET A BIGGER TOP! This is uncomfortable for me to watch. She is showing the true her. He is freaking out a bit I thinkJ Glad he is catching on that she is NOT nice!

you seriously gave her the rose?! She is a mean girl. And you say you want all of the girls to get along!

must get some sleep. Will watch the second half tomorrow. Just can’t handle anymore tonight.

should you answer it. seriously?!

hiking.up. will she be afraid of heights too? Oh and no trespassing! well this could get interesting.

I don’t care who he is I would NEVER climb into a small hole and be willing to “drop” EVER! No thank you! Not even to make good tv. That would scare the cr*p out of me! oh and most definitely not in a bikini.

I will add here that I like Jennifer. She is a good one. A little less drama with her… thank goodness.

oh my word. do they really sit around their room and gossip the whole time that they are not on dates. and AWKWARD when Courtney walks back into the room and gives her evil grin.

one question-how do you get out of this crater? that is something I would have asked before getting in.

why is he jumping into the relationship histories with everyone already? Seems like he is asking these questions earlier than others did…

of course it’s raining. gotta say that wasn’t what I was thinking when I was sprinting to my car in the Costco parking lot this weekend. I was thinking about the fact that I was freezing and wet!

she got the rose. awww. I like her. But I also really like her scarf.

Oh geez a concert really. At least it’s not a private concert. those are awkward. I do love that song though. I may or may not have sang it REALLY loud in the car on my way to school this morning.

Now it’s cocktail party time. Not sure I am ready for the drama that comes with these…

Courtney I am pretty sure you are the bomb that everyone else is waiting for… or is that just me.

holy put those boobs away! yikes.

all I can think right now is “that’s a tattle. I don’t need to hear it right now.”—anyone else have that reaction?

Casey S. You are looking at Courtney through a rose colored glass. (apparently so is Ben. Since he fell for it and actually gave her the rose.)

The weather. Yeah not so bad. Looks like that here now- but add 50+ mph winds… and flooding. yeah. not cool.

Ok. Courtney and Casey-this is BAD. You are trying way too hard. You are good at trying to play it off to the camera but you are not good actresses…

ok it is not snow coming down here. darn.

Courtney is just plain mean. Please go away. I don’t like you. (I know I told my students not to say that today but this is just plain bad.)

Rose ceremony! Finally!

Got roses-Courtney, Jennifer, Lindsey, Jamie, Nikki, Kacie B, Elyse, Blakeley, Casey S, Emily, and one more but I can’t remember who.

Goodbye Monica-maybe if you put away your chest he would have kept you but I think he was a little uncomfortable. 

There you have it. My thoughts. If you made it this far you deserve an award. I barely made it to the end. 

a lovely day.

Today was a lovely day looking back on it.
I will say that my drive to school today was pretty scary...the road was frozen so I slid part of the way to school. SCARY.
But then we had our field trip this morning-now mind you this was supposed to be a walking field trip. So I went to school today prepared to walk (aka tennis shoes) in the cold (aka jeans and sweater) and rain (aka coat and I brought clothes to change into when we got back to school). Well due to the ice and the 31degree temperature WE GOT TO TAKE THE BUS! Hooray!!! (insert cheers from the staff when they announced that on the loud speaker this morning!)

Prior to knowing about this field trip I had scheduled my second formal observation of the year for this morning. And well I hate rescheduling and even more so I just wanted to get it over with. So I kept my time and so we returned to school at 10:00 (recess time! thank goodness). I had 15 10 8 minutes to get my room ready (I had made my copies before school-not on the copier though because it hasn't worked correctly since Thursday. I printed them on the hall printer. You gotta do what you gotta do.) I found my unifix cubes, drew my pictures on the board and made sure that my desk was still clean (it was!) so my principal could sit there.

The lesson started out alright. Principal had two different people show up and talk to her in the middle of my instruction though which distracted the kids a bit more than usual. But the kiddos got the point. We measured things using unifix cubes. Pretty funny in some cases. We are going to discuss it more tomorrow. I also have my post conference with principal tomorrow after school-lets hope she thinks that the lesson was ok. I'm not too worried just hate waiting.

This afternoon we celebrate the Chinese New Year by making paper lanterns, reading a story and watching youtube videos of the Dragon dances. The kids absolutely LOVED these videos! I swear we watched 10 of them while they were decorating their lanterns. There was dancing and lots of "Wow!" "That is so cool!" comments. 

Also did a little happy dance (yes in front of the kids, the substitute aid and the school nurse) when I got the all clear in my classroom for no lice! Just the word makes me cringe!

I love that I teach in a little district-I mean TINY. I got a birthday card from my superintendent today. 5 days early but it sure put a smile on my face this Monday morning!

I will say that I am EXHAUSTED today. I had too much fun this weekend doing non school stuff. Ever been to blue grass night at a small town tavern? If not and you are looking for some serious entertainment then here are my suggestions: find one, be the dd, and just watch the people and stay until the very end. This kinder teacher didn't get nearly as much sleep as planned this weekend but it was definitely worth it!

Hopefully I will get a chance to write again this week-maybe I will even remember to take some pictures-even better maybe I will get a chance to go to the beach that I can see from my window (since I haven't touched the sand since October. Awful I know!).

Hope everyone else had a lovely Monday too! Gung Hay Fat Choy!

My week. (it was a strange one)

Monday we had the day off. It was lovely. I of course didn't get any school work done.

Tuesday we had a 2 hour delay because of snow. It was nice because I got to school pretty much at my normal time so I got a TON of work done!

Wednesday  we had NO SCHOOL because it snowed in the town where I work...but no snow at my house. So it was a bit boring.

Thursday we had a regular day-except I only had 15 students again:) Fabulous number.

Friday we went to school on time. But it wasn't a regular day because at the end of it we had a district wide Pep assembly. (Note: nearly all of our pep assemblies are open to K-12 but this was the first time I was brave enough to take my kiddos.) Well lets just say I don't think we will do that again. I had one little one laying her head on my calling me mom (YIKES! "I'm not your mommy-your mommy is at your house waiting for you." that was my response each of the million times she said it.) And another one laying her head on my shoulder crying the whole time because she was tired (hey so was I! Does that mean I could have cried through the whole thing-IT WAS SO BORING! One of the activities was watching high school kids put puzzles together-can you say zzzzzzzz...)

Which brings me to the part of my day yesterday when I was seriously ready to declare naptime for everyone because they were all tired, grumpy and unfocused. This may or may not have included me...

So last night I went out with the girls when I got home was just the perfect way to end the LONG day. But not until after my mom and sister +3 of her friends came by my school and helped me clean my classroom! HOORAY for help on a Friday afternoon! I may or may not be doing a little happy dance when I walk into my classroom on Monday morning. ( I will be sure to let you know.) One of the friends looked at me-completely seriously- and said, "How do you teach Kindergarten and not lose your mind?" I laughed out loud. My response, "Well I can't say that I still have my whole mind. But pretty much I just laugh my way through the day. Truly."


 Today as my roommate was unpacking a bag of our new roommate she found cream of tartar-my first thought "PLAYDOUGH!" So yes I do believe that I will be making some playdough today. I think I need to make a list of things titled "You know you teach Kindergarten when..." and include "You see cream of tartar and your first thought is 'I can make playdough!'"

I will also be making Chicken Enchilada's today. (Yes I am a vegetarian-but my friends aren't. So I will pick around the chicken and everyone will be happy.)

Hope you all enjoy your Saturday! Sorry for the LONG rambling post-again.  Here are a few snow pictures.