Elevate! St. Paul

I got to attend the Elevate conference in St. Paul last week! I've done the online version for a couple of summers, but I've always REALLY wanted to go experience it "live". I was lucky enough to have my district send me and two of my teammates, as well as my amazing principal, leadership coach, and curriculum director.

Started out with some AMAZING swag and got to sing and dance with Jack Hartman and PreK to 2nd grade teachers from all over the country.

Loved hearing Jack Hartman. He had so many really inspirational quotes.

My favorite sessions were with Mary Amason. I went to one about games, and another about integrating Science and Social Studies into my day. I've already purchased, printed, and cut out her "School Rules" unit. I can't wait to use that unit, and so many of of her ideas in my classroom this year.

Amazing time with some amazing people! I hope to go back again next year!

100th day of Kindergarten

100 Days of Awesome!

We celebrated our 100th day of kindergarten on Thursday of this past week. We had so many fun activities all week long, but I think their favorite took no planning and was super cheap. They worked in teams to build with 100 Solo Cups. I loved seeing all the discussions and collaborative work I saw happening. It was amazing!

Some other activities we enjoyed were writing in our 100 book (they love the 100 dollar bill), making our $100 hats with 10, $10 bills (play money!), completing a 100 graph puzzle, made a 100 snack, and playing a race to 100 dice game.

We also traditionally start “Infinity Journals” on the 100th day. The kids are challenged to write their numbers from 1-100 on the 100th day, and then receive a new infinity journal that they can work on when they finish their work. They continue writing numbers…to infinity! Our principal does special awards for kids who reach 1000, 5000, and 10,000.

I’ve had kids in the past that have made it past 15,000!

I have those activities on my TPT. Here’s to the next 70 days of kindergarten!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/100th-Day-of-School-Math-and-Literacy-Activities-1659494

Kindergarten Rainbow Classroom Reveal

It's starting to come together! I love rearranging my classroom for the beginning of the year. It's all about solving problems I ran into last year, and incorporating all the new ideas I've learned over the summer!

Problem last year: I had this rainbow storage shelf over my lego table. It also happened to be in the path where my kids lined up. Without thinking they would "hang" on it, and a couple of the bars were cracked. Trying this new spot! The two shelves on the side hold crayons and markers.

Love, love, love my stage! It is also storage! The two tall parts of the stage are on hinges and have a ton of storage space in them. I finally have a place to shove all those wipes, kleenex boxes, baggies, and extra supplies parents bring me!

My small group corner. Getting it all organized for my Science of Reading small groups I've been working on all summer.

Trying something new with my calendar time this year. Making it more like a timeline. It has all the birthdays, early out days, and holidays already in.