Backwards Day

Today's theme day was Backwards Day. Everyone in my class came to school with their shirt on backwards! In the spirit of things, I even switched my shirt around. We got some weird looks, but oh well, the kids loved it! We also celebrated Backwards Day by walking in the hall, you guessed it, backwards! It was actually really nice, because the kids couldn't speed down the hall like they sometimes want to.

We did some neat projects this week. My favorite was apple painting. I sliced an apple in half, stuck a plastic fork in each half to serve as a handle, then let the kids take turns dipping it in paint and stamping it on the paper. The texture of the apple made really neat patterns on paper! Pictures will follow!

We also glued candy corn to a letter C template. I set them out to dry overnight on Monday and hung them up Tuesday morning. While they looked very nice, it only took a couple of minutes before the candy corn starting falling off. Not just a few, mind you, but about a third of the candy! Oh well, I took them all down and sent them home with the kids.

Another fun project that turned out better than I had expected was something called a bio-poem. I made a sheet with a list of questions to ask each child, then after their interview, they drew a self-portrait. I then glued the paper to a sheet of construction paper that was their favorite color. The final effect was really neat!

Lastly, to celebrate friendship, today we made friendship art. That entailed each child drawing on a piece of paper with another classmate. Sounds easy, right? Well, I tied one of their hands to their classmate's hand, so that one child was drawing with their right hand, one with their left. It looked really interesting! Since we had an uneven number in the class today, I tied my own hand to one of my students' hands, and we worked together. I was the person with the left hand free, that made it interesting. All in all, a good week.

Project Picture!

Here are the donuts that we made a couple of weeks ago to reinforce the concept of circles. We used brown paint on brown paper and I brought in real sprinkles to put on top. We've received lots of compliments!

Hairy Harry

During our circle time, one of the many things that we do is discuss the weather. We have a weather song that we sing, then I appoint someone as the meteorologist (yes, I use that word with them) for the day. Their job is to go to the window and look at the weather. They then report to the class what the weather is, then we turn the weather wheel to the correct picture.

After that, we have a guy made out of brown felt that I pull out for the next part. Since everything must have a name, it was decided that his name is Harry. He's attached to a square of white plastic, and we have a bag of plastic clothes, each with a piece of Velcro on the back.

After getting the weather report from the day's meteorologist, I appoint someone for each of Harry's articles of clothing. One person chooses which shirt Harry should wear. There are several shirts, jackets, and a rain coat to choose from. Someone else chooses the shorts or pants. Another person chooses the shoes and someone finishes him off by selecting a hat (if needed) and his sunglasses. When Harry has his sunglasses on, he looks like the poster for Teen Wolf, hence the name.

Because we have a different person selecting each item, Harry looks pretty funny sometimes. Last Friday, which was incidentally Dress Silly day, poor Harry was wearing a green tank top, purple shorts with yellow rain boots. Oh well, he fit the theme! The kids enjoy dressing Harry each day, and are learning something about making clothing choices based on the weather!

Argh!

No, I'm not trying to talk like a pirate, but I am very frustrated from today. One particular little boy decided not to listen to anything I said today. He was purposely doing the opposite of whatever I asked him to do. If I asked him to not throw something, he did. If I asked him to clean up, he kept playing.

At one point I'd had enough and was escorting him to the time out chair. He would not sit down. Usually he'll whine about it, but he'll almost always sit. After umpteen times of bringing him back to the chair, I was ready to scream! He also kicked me and punched me in the mouth. (Luckily he doesn't hit that hard.) Finally, a teacher stopped by to give me a bathroom break, I asked her to send someone from up front to my room.

Luckily the person I wanted to come, did. She tried the same things I did, but maybe having another person say it was the ticket. Or the fact that there were now two of us telling him to sit in the chair. He did eventually sit.

After that incident, he was a little better, but not much. However, when I sent him to time out again, he did sit in the chair. He really wants to be a "good boy" as he puts it, but he has absolutely no impulse control. Oh well, we'll just call it an off day for him. I'm sure tomorrow will be better!

Donuts, Disco and Dinosaurs!

Our shape of the month is a circle, and I was looking for fun ideas to reinforce that shape. I saw the idea to make donuts, and added my own twist! I took a sheet of brown construction paper, traced two concentric circles to make the donut shape. I then had the kids paint the "donut" with brown paint, then we sprinkled candy sprinkles over it. The finished project looked good enough to eat, and I received lots of compliments from parents and other teachers! Pictures will follow as soon as I stop forgetting to take my camera to work.

Other projects this week included the USA maps that we did last year. These turned out great as well. We had sensory fun on Wednesday, which entailed a large container of stuff (oatmeal in one, cornmeal in the other) on each table, as well as measuring cups and spoons for them to play with. They loved this!

During our gym time, we're supposed to have a structured activity. This isn't too difficult to come up with, most of the time. On Wednesday, we played Red Light, Green Light. I threw in a couple of other lights, just to throw them off. One of them was Yellow Light, which meant for them to walk. Their favorite signal was Strobe Light, where everyone had to freeze where they were and disco!

Today we ran races, where I picked an animal that they had to imitate. For example, they'd have to hop like a kangaroo, crawl like a snake, or walk on all fours like an elephant. Today I added the dinosaur component. We walked like a brontosaurus, ran like a T-Rex and flew like a Pterodactyl. For our other game, we played a variation of Duck, Duck, Goose, which I called Triceratops, Triceratops, T-Rex!

Bulletin Board

Here is my Beatle Bugs bulletin board! (Say that really fast three times.) I think it turned out really cute. I do have a couple more pictures to add to the board, then it'll be complete!

It's been a good couple of weeks. We're getting into the groove of our new routine, and so far it's been running rather smoothly. I love my room and am glad for it every day! I love the quiet! At least, as quiet as it can be with at least six preschoolers in there!

Today's theme day was to wear yellow, which is our color of the month. We worked on a song about the color yellow, and this week we did some coloring activities related to yellow. Today was also the last day for one of my kids, we had a mini-party with cupcakes! The kids looked so cute with frosting all over their faces, I made sure to take lots of pictures!

Next week I'm gaining another kid, possibly two, so we'll see what the week brings. I've got some exciting stuff planned!

First Week!

The kids and I survived the first week of the new school year. A couple of new boys were introduced into my classroom, and so far it has gone very well. I have a new girl starting this week in my class, I'm glad to be getting another girl!

The first couple of days throughout the school were very chaotic. Parents trying to figure out where their kids were supposed to go, kids confused about their new teacher or classroom, etc. It was better by the end of the week, and I know it will be even better soon.

I love my new classroom! It's so much cozier and quieter than my last one. Our new schedule is working out well. I worked really hard on the bulletin board for this month, which consists of a record (yes, an LP)for each child with their name on it, printed from Print Shop. I then took a picture of each child, made it black and white, laminated it, and put it above their record. I've gotten several compliments on how cute it is!

I also printed out schoolhouses with their name on it, to mark each child's cubby and chair. I'll change these up every month or so to coordinate with the monthly theme or holiday. I put up a monthly calendar, featuring Roxie as the picture on top for August! Have I mentioned how much I love my new Print Shop software?

I'm excited about the new school year, and how the size of my class is a little bigger. It does present its own challenges at times, but I'm very happy! It's going to be a great year!