Pumpkin Investigation Station

Happy Fall Y'all!

Can you believe that Fall is here?  Time is flying by and I have to admit that I am so ready for some cooler weather.  Don't get me wrong...after a good 3 weeks of cooler weather I will be ready for summer again!  I am a flip flop kinda girl after all. 

Sorry for the lack of blog posts.  Life has been busy.  Shuttling the kids to and from soccer, volleyball, cheerleading and clarinet lessons makes this mom tired and my blog posts have fallen by the wayside.  I promise to catch up soon and I will post a ton of classroom pics (better late than never). 

This week has been all about PUMPKINS!  We have become scientists and learned all there is to know.  I love that each year, I learn something new as well (by the way pumpkins float...WHO KNEW!?).  Enjoy the following pictures of these adorable kids and all of the pumpkin glory!

Fun Run

Cooling off with a popsicle after the run!

Getting Into the Kindergarten Groove!

I can't believe we are beginning our 4th week of school.  My little kindergarteners are really learning the class routines and we are finding "our groove"!  Speaking of groove.... Have you heard of GoNoodle?  If not check it out!  It is a website full of brain breaks for kids.  Our class loves these breaks.  Today we danced to Happy in the morning and perfected our shining star yoga pose in the afternoon. In kindergarten, we need to give our brains a break every so often and it benefits everyone if we have a few chances to get our "wiggles out".  Gonoodle is the best and I encourage you to check it out!

We've had a great time learning our names and playing games with our names.  We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, From Anne to Zach, and  Chrysanthemum.  To cap off the week we enjoyed Chicka Chicka Boom Boom snacks (thanks Smedley's Smorgasbord of Kindergarten).

What a fun week!  

Should I become a blogger?

I have been a "blog stalker" for about 2 years now!  Yes, I admit it!  But before you label me as CRAY,CRAY, let me explain....

I took a 12 year hiatus from teaching. Yes!  When I was pregnant with my daughter I decided I wanted a change of scenery.  I ( along with 2 friends ) decided to open up a gift shop.  You know the kind...... polka dot wrapping paper, lots of cute stuff, and even a monogram machine!  It was a lot of fun (and a ton of hard work).  I was so busy with a new baby girl and starting a new business that I didn't even think about teaching again. Until.....

My daughter, Jane entered kindergarten!  I will never forget the feeling I got when I walked her to class that first day of school. It wasn't just the normal "my baby is starting school" feeling, I also had the "this is where I am supposed to be" feeling.  I know, I know!  Some of you think I am crazy but I am sure some of you teachers out there get it!  Jane did go to a AWESOME school and she had AMAZING teachers, but it was more than that.  I knew that I would one day return to the classroom in some sort of fashion.

Eight years later, our gift shop closed and the following year I had my second child (a boy).  My teaching certificate had expired so I had to take teaching classes and retake the Praxis exam! Thank God ~ I passed!  So much had changed in teaching that in order to keep current on the new trends in education, I would read teaching magazines and  blogs (and lots of them).  In fact, If it wasn't for Deanna Jump, Cara Carroll, and Claudia Cornett, Patty Palmer at Deep Space Sparkle, and Gail and Joan of The Daily 5, I would have never survived a job interview.  Lucky for me, I did survive, landed a job at a wonderful school, and began teaching kindergarten again at the age of 40!

Anyway, since blogs helped me survive my first year back in the classroom, I decided to create one too!

My goal is to share my ideas, successes, and mess ups, in order to become the best teacher I can be!

Happy Blogging!
Beth