Keeping Up With Kirbys

Well, we have spent the past couple of days getting things checked off our TO DO list.  My classroom is ready for future leaders, scientist, doctors and world changers.  Jenna thought I needed to do a room tour so if your curious and have the time then check out my classroom.     On Saturday, I volunteered my family to help with the school garden.  I LOVE the idea of our garden and haven't really utilized it like I should.  My plan is to change that this year.  We showed up Saturday ready to help but Josh is still recovering from a herniated disc and has only been walking good for about a week.  When we showed up someone asked him to use the auger....I knew there was no way he could do that so I was like...I'LL DO IT.   Out of the 4 men that were there only 1 didn't have a bad back.  I had already taken charge of this gigantic machine but I was thankful for Jojo's help.  I didn't think I was that much of a help ...

I think some of our sweetest times together are at the dinner table.  It's not all magic and rainbows every night at dinner and sometimes we sit there in silence.  There is just something important about sitting at the dinner table together thatI LOVE and feel in my soul that it's important for families to do no matter what the topic of conversation is. I'm always looking on Pinterest for ways to turn 2 ingredients in my cabinet into a magical feast for the family.  I don't always save my recipes on boards and I usually change things in the recipe based on what's in my pantry. Dinner usually goes something like this....Look in the pantry and fridge...okay, I have sausage and broccoli...so I go to Pinterest and type in:  sausage and broccoli recipes I go through and find the recipe that sounds good and make it.  Some nights it's success {{BOOM}} -everyone's impressed and some nights it's {{WOW}}-that was interesting, let's not do that again. T...

Do your students have jobs? I'm talking about classroom jobs... I think classroom jobs are IMPORTANT and CRITICAL in the community building within a classroom.  The classroom is NOT just yours (teachers) it's ours (teachers and students).  If the kids have a job or responsibility they will learn to appreciate and take care of their areas, which only lessens some of the jobs that the teachers have. Seriously, kids need responsibility and by given them a job in the classroom you are helping them to understand the importance of everyone working together to make a classroom run smoothly. I've made a list of jobs that my students will have the opportunity to work throughout the year. These are jobs that my classroom needs. I know every classroom is different so some of these may not work for you but they are EDITABLE .  Just type in the name of the job you want for your kids. On each job sheet I list the responsibilities of that particular job.  For example, Th...

For the past 2 years I have looked at seat pockets and thought I'd really  need  like to have some of those beauties for the classroom.  I've also thought there is no way I can pay that much for those.   I've sewn something once before so I thought "I really think I could do this."  Well, just as summer is wrapping up and I am running out of time to get things done I've decided to start this project. You're not allowed to examine them closely AND honestly, they are a hot mess.  I'm praying they last at least half way through the school year.  If you think they look like a mess I will tell you it's "Shabby Chic". 😉 I used Archer All Stars video to help me as I went through this little project.  She has a video that walks you through how to do this but on a smaller scale. If you're dying to take on this project yourself I say "Go For It"! Hopefully you can use what I did and didn't do to help you. I didn...

Do you leave notes out for your kids?  Do you need something for a Back to School goody? Are you students anxious about a test coming up? I've made an editable DONUT WORRY note to leave for you kids. You can get it {{ here }} You could add little donut erasers with the note.  I found my donut erasers at the Dollar Tree but I'm sure you could find them on Amazon  - and of course, real donuts would be a sweet treat to have as you reviewed for an upcoming test, a treat at Meet the Teacher Night or just a reminder to Not Worry-They've Got This! Have a SWEET day!

How do you celebrate birthdays in your classroom?   Silly straws for the win from Dollar Tree!!  Plus, I have always made a class book with my kids and I decided to give a fresh, sweet new look. Every student gets a page the morning of the birthday student's special day.  This is the morning work for the day ;-) . My birthday student gets to decorate the cover. The kids love reading the sweet birthday messages from their classmates AND it's a sweet keepsake to go back and revisit.  PLUS, it's free!  I like to give my birthday student a little treat like a pencil or silly straw.  This year I found silly straws at the Dollar Tree, six for a $1.  Woot! Woot! But I think the birthday book would be just fine.   A lot of my kids would keep these in their desk or backpack and pull them out to reread throughout the year. You can pick up the tags and book { here }. Have a SWEET day!

Well friends, what do you do when you have just a few days left of summer and whole list of things that you need to get done??? You create new things to do that have nothing to do with your list of things to do. That's what I do.  I've been busy making pencil holders and stumbled across another teacher making troll wands.  They were super cute.....AND they gave me an idea... I created 20 different strategies to stick on pencils.  You can get them at my TPT store .  These can be used in whole group, small group, stations or buddy reading.   Your kiddos can choose a reading wand and focus on that particular skill while reading their book. Of course, I have the perfect place to hold these wands...A Reading Wand Holder.  Isn't this what every class needs??!!  That's what I thought too. ...and in case you haven't heard.. I'm having a **GIVEAWAY**!! Do you LOVE farmhouse decor?? Do you LOVE it in the classroom??  This farmhouse...

Do your kids ask you "how do I spell (insert word)?  I absolutely think it's important for us to teach our kids to use available resources.  They need to learn to use the word wall, books, environmental print and the words that are available to them throughout the classroom.  Of course, I teach them to write the sounds that they hear but another resource in my classroom is their traveling word wall words.  One of the things that I've used with my kids starting in Kinder is a personal word wall.  These are the words that are IMPORTANT to that specific child.  It may be their video game name, the place they visited during a vacation, or a favorite t.v. show.  These are the things that they want to write about.   After they have recorded the correct way to spell their important word in their traveling word wall they ALWAYS have it to refer back to AND they can be helpful to others that are interested in that word.  Click here ...

How about a new and fun reward in the classroom?!  I LOVE watching the kids chart their progress and get motivated to do better...or learn from their mistakes.  Honestly, this is LIFE we all make mistakes, right?! What if we had eraser awards in the classroom??  CLICK   HERE  TO ORDER OR EMAIL ME I have the perfect place to display them.  Yes, it's a pencil holder BUT the pencils can hold your super cool erasers or pencil toppers that the kids can choose from.   Oriental Trading has so many to choose from. You could even put out thematic pencil toppers for the kids to earn.  How fun!!! Another classroom management tool that I like to use in my classroom is using currency to help the kids understand financial literacy while working on personal responsibilities.   I've created a behavior that makes "cents" that I like to use with my kids.  You can read all about it here .  Every year is diffe...