The Final Five....

This is my final Five for (Friday) of the year. Probably not EVER. But as the 2015-16 year has drawn to a close for my students, it is a officially summer. Ironically enough it is chilly in Kansas and we have not had any 100 degree days yet. I don't think we've even hit the 90's yet. I know I thought it was oppressively hot when it was in the mid-upper 80's last week. But I digress.... once again, I am late to the party and I'm posting on Saturday. But I'm joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for the May 20th Five for Friday linky. This means posting five "random" things from my week or day. So here goes....

1. Last week we learned about Frogs! We read from Tadpole to Frog and then we also read some Froggy books. This made a nice end of year display for my now First Graders!

2. Bubble day! We practiced at home to make sure the bubbles turned out.

Then we tried it out at school. Students got to try out the homemade bubbles, store bought bubbles, and just had a great time together!

Giving everyone a turn to try to make a giant bubble.

One of my students even used their hand to make bubbles!

 I had so much fun working with the students and helping them blow bubbles that I didn't get any pictures of the BIG bubbles!

3. Family fun! I made myself a couple new coasters while teaching my daughter how to put them together.

My Punkin is making coasters for an end of the year gift for her teacher, who loves anchors.  She bought the material with her own money. I love this girl's heart.

4. First grade preview! We buddied up with one of the first grade classes and had a giant morning meeting where we shared how we do morning meeting, then they shared how they do morning meeting! Afterward we paired up (or made a trio in some cases) and toured the first grade class while the first grade buddies explained procedures from first grade to our Kinders!

5. We had a shirt signing party! We had shirts from our trip to the zoo so we put them on and signed each other's shirts to start off our day! This was a really fun way to remember each other!

I hope and wish the best for these kids as they head to first grade. But we have grown quite close this year and I will miss them tremendously. I always look forward to the next year and to meeting my new class, but it is so hard to let these little learners go and grow up! It was an amazing year! 

Five for.... well, I managed to miss Friday again!

Five for Friday on Saturday (again)! But I still wanted to post five things from our week and link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

This week I am posting five random things from my week. I don't always feel like they are all that random and I remember when I took pictures throughout the week with this linky in mind! This week, I have an eclectic mix of home and school.

1. Sight word practice! We've learned our 27 Trick words for Fundations. We added some words we "just needed" to be able to be good readers, we learned our color words and we know number words for numbers 0-10 (and we are familiar with 11-20). We recently added a sight word center for end of day centers that involves turning over a sight word flashcard, saying the word, writing it in shaving cream, erasing it and doing it all over again. This is a crazy-fun center. I have had a lot of fun with it and after I smooth out the shaving cream that has been sprayed on the table, I like to give high 5's. Sometimes shaving cream gets in our hair and, well, everywhere. Maybe this is why we love it. (I even corrupted some of our 5th grade technology helpers one day)!

2.We are learning about Frogs and life cycles! They are working so hard to write a sentence about what they learned about the life cycle of a frog and then add a picture with details and five colors that matches what they wrote. This is a Kindergarten writing standard and they are giving their very best!

3. My fur babies! My youngest put bandannas on the dogs the other night. They are so much a part of our family! The little dachshund is named Hundley and the terrier mix is Alice! We've had Hundley for almost 8 years and Alice for 1 year!

Alice is not good at holding still for photos! 

She is even wiggling in this picture!

4. Mother's day gifts! We gave our mom's an impatiens in a decorated cup and a card that read: Dear (fill in the blank-- one friend filled in Dad's name since Dad is his primary care giver): My love for you grows and grows. Love, (sign your name).

I love these! As a Mom, this would be favorite gift because of the hand print!

5. Well, I don't really have good pictures for this one! I'm just throwing a few personal/family things together as one! Thursday, my youngest had an MRI of her head and had to hold perfectly still in that tube for over 30 minutes! She did an amazing job and we are waiting to hear back from her doctor to see if we can solve the mystery of her frequent headaches. And my 19 year old (almost 20, oh my) is home this week! I didn't snap any great selfies! But we got up early on Friday even though I took a personal day and we got in line for Hurts Donuts! We had to get the maple bacon long johns too!

Someone asked if the maple bacon ones were even good.... they were amazing! I am, however, postponing the blood work I was supposed to get done this week so my arteries have a chance to recover!

In summary, I am blown away by what my Kinders handwriting looked like at the beginning of the year and the difference I see now! I also marvel at the vast diversity in their progress! I love their willingness to work hard and persevere when things get tough! Pencil grip, letter formation, letter spacing.... they are learning so much! And they will be Firsties in a few short days!

May 2016 Currently

It's time to link up with Farley for the May post of Currently. I was saddened to read that this is the last month to join the Currently linky. Read about everyone's day.

I needed a new show. So I just started watching "The Catch" on hulu. So far I like it.

Loving life. My life has been good for awhile, but I finally feel like I'm starting to relax and enjoy the goodness. And there have been so many "little things" cluttering up my mind that I have started to let go of. Ahhhh....

Thinking.... well, I am finally looking forward to summer break (if you want to call it a break, I have so much to accomplish before the next school year). But mostly I think about how much I still want to accomplish with these little guys before they are officially first graders. And sometimes I worry about them over the summer. I have such a hard time letting go. So, it's a miracle that I am finally looking forward to summer and not worrying so much!

Wanting some alternative seating and if it could appear by magic that would be great. Thanks.

Needing a different car. A reliable car. Bummer.

Truth: I have not been enamored with my blog recently. Mostly because it is so easy to just post stuff on the facebook page.