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December 14, 2016

Christmas Craziness!

Hello everyone!  It's been a while since I have written a blog post, as Facebook keeps reminding me.  I'm sure that everyone else out there is just as busy as I have been the past few weeks.   How many school days do y'all have left?  I have 5 more...but I've heard that some of you are teaching all the way up to the 23rd!  

As I've told y'all before, I LOVE Christmas.  No, that's not accurate.  I LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVE Christmas!  I had my tree, door, and decorations up before the Thanksgiving break.  We've just been adding to them since Thanksgiving.  Here's what we have been up to, when we find the time to squeeze some fun in:


First up, my initial ornaments (on the left in the picture).  Each child has the first letter of their name hanging on our tree, with their name painted on it.  I do these 100% myself, although you could let your students paint the letters and write their names themselves.  This is one of my gifts to my students. 

On the right are our snowman ornaments.  I got this idea from A Cupcake for the Teacher a few years ago.  Click here to see how she makes her snowmen ornaments.  I promise- it's super easy.  I pre-stuff the plastic ornaments myself and let the kids draw the faces with Sharpie paint pens, but  Teri turns it into a class project.  



This is the first year that I have made this candy cane ornament.  These precious candy canes feature each child's name.  This was so easy for my little ones to do, plus it was a great fine motor activity!  I found the letter beads at Michael's.  One pack was enough for my small class, but I suggest getting 2 packs of letter beads because there weren't too many vowels!



We just painted these yesterday- Reindeer Thumbprint ornaments.  Each child made several thumbprints on their ornament.  When the paint was dry, I took some Sharpie paint pens and drew on the reindeer faces.  So cute and so easy!




Last, but not least, we have Scrapbook Paper Christmas trees.  I pre-cut the pieces and allowed the kids to arrange them from longest to shortest.  Perfect for finishing up our measurement unit.

Christmas time is fun, but usually it falls at a time when you are trying to assess students for report cards, end-of-semester testing, or even benchmark testing.  So sometimes you need something fun yet educational for the kids to do.  I just added this product to my store (click on the picture to be taken to my store):


It's a great way for students to review counting and number sense skills.  Last week, I attended a conference for two and a half days, and I left these as sub work.  So I know my kids were engaged while reviewing and practicing number sense skills.  It's a quick way to see who's got it, and who needs some extra help.


As for the conference, it was AMAZING!  I attended the Louisiana Computer Using Educators (LACUE) Conference to learn about the latest and greatest technology applications for the classroom.  If someone ever says to you, "Would you like to go to LACUE?"  Don't even think about it...just say YES!!!  While at the conference, I was recognized as LACUE's Region 4 Early Childhood Teacher of the Year.  What a wonderful honor and a great way to start a fantastic conference!


Hang in there y'all!  Christmas/ Winter Break is coming soon!