Fruits and Vegetables

I spent last weekend creating felt fruits and vegetables for school. I created farm stand visuals this summer but when I was gathering my materials to bring to school realized I needed more fruits and vegetables for my farm stand.  Play fruits and veggies can be expensive so I found some felt food tutorials and went to work creating. I created pears, apples, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, corn and pumpkins. It took me a long time but I was so happy with the results. I brought my finished felt foods and farm stand visuals to school on Wednesday. My paraprofessionals helped me build our farm stand. I was so pleased, it turned out just like I envisioned. The best part was the reaction from the students, they loved it! One of my three year olds exclaimed, "This is amazing!" That totally made the hours of sewing, turning and stuffing worth it. The farm stand visuals are in my TPT shop here.

Long Time No Craft

I recently entered a graduate program to get ELL certified. I'm still teaching full time and started taking taking my first graduate course in January. It's been a long time since I've taken a graduate course and to be honest I've never taken one during the school year while I'm still teaching. I've mostly completed courses during the summer. It's a lot of reading and a lot of work but it's very interesting.

The toughest part is that my graduate course now takes up the time I used for crafting and reading for pleasure.  I'm a teacher so I read all the time however, I've always enjoyed reading just for pure entertainment and enjoyment. I love a good science fiction teen read, but it feels like I've haven't read a good book in forever. Instead I'm reading professional books and articles on language acquisition. Interesting stuff but it requires brain power and isn't reading for pleasure. This week I'm on winter break so I've decided to complete a craft or two and I'll be reading a book just for the pure enjoyment of reading. I've participated in the Goodreads book challenge for the last three years and have read 25 books each year. I'm participating again this year but I lowered my goal for this year. I hope to read 15 books in 2015. So far I've read three, but the good new is I have a couple picked out to start reading this week.

I participated in the February craft along over at Yarnigras Swapper Spot.  I created a zombie flower drink cozy using recycled wool coats and the cuff from a wool sweater. I know the point of this month's challenge was to create a coffee cozy to keep your hands warm. I love a good hot chocolate like anyone else, but I'm tired of winter and snow!! We've had over six feet of snow since January first. I just want to think spring, warm days and unsweetened ice tea. My zombie flower was created with these warm spring thoughts in mind. Maybe now that the first undead flower has bloomed, spring will finally come! Alas, wishful thinking!

I also bought some small clothespins and created these little spacemen.  I just used wooden clothespins, a thin Sharpie and twistable colored pencils to create these little guys but it feels great to be crafting again. I teach the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum to my four and five year olds at school. We're working on writing within the lines and spacing our letters. I thought these spacemen might help a few of the kids but I didn't want to leave anyone out so I made enough for the whole class. Maybe I'll get to sneak in another project before my break is over.

Zentagle Tape Dispenser Fun

 I wanted a fun tape dispenser for my desk at school. I searched in stores and online during my back to school shopping but couldn't find anything. I wanted something that was easy to use with one hand and decorative at the same time. I already have several boring black Scotch tape dispensers like this one so an idea struck me; why not decorate the dispensers I have.

I sat down to watch a movie armed with a silver Sharpie and zentangled my boring tape dispenser. This is what I ended up with.

Then I used a bronze sharpie on another one of my black tape dispensers. I plan to use this dispenser on my desk at home. I did discover one thing while working on the second one. The second dispenser had a smooth black line around the middle, so it was hard to get the Sharpie to stay on that part.  I think over time the design will fade on that smooth area.  The Sharpie adheres well to the rest of the dispenser's matte finish so if I decorate another dispenser I would leave that smooth edge plain or better yet draw on a dispenser that doesn't have a smooth finish on it.

Crafty Freak Project Catch Up

I joined the Crafty Freaks group on Pinterest this summer. I've been busy creating but I've been bad about posting my creations so now it's catch up time.  This summer I wanted to learn how to do something new so I decided to try drawing using my computer.  For my Crafty Freaks Project #3 I created this set of cupcakes to use in my classroom as a birthday display.

 I was happy with how they turned out, so I printed and laminated them. Then I realized that the pink cupcakes didn't match the colors my classroom. I didn't want to change the whole color scheme in my classroom, so I remade them in black with white polka dots to match my red & black polka dot theme.  I love, love, love them!  They look perfect in my classroom; plus polka dots just make me happy.

I created several different colored cupcake birthday displays and put them in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I do still have a laminated set of the pink cupcakes so if you could use them for your classroom leave a comment. 

Crafty Freaks Project #4 was a bookshelf re-do. I had this bookshelf in my classroom. We don't have a lot in the way of storage in my classroom so the fabric on this shelf hides the materials that we don't want the preschoolers to have. 

We decided the shelf needed a little make over so I made two red curtains that can tie up to give the children access to the materials or we can untie the curtains and cover the shelves to limit access to materials.  I added some red metal storage buckets I bought at Target a few years back to add some extra storage.

Crafty freaks Project #5 is a set of colored ribbons for my classroom. I'm a special ed preschool teacher so I love creating things I can use in my classroom to teach and reinforce skills. I found two sets of wooden drapery rings at a consignment shop this summer.  I cut then tied four foot strands of ribbon onto the rings.  I made 2 rings of each color and a set of six rainbow ribbons. We're going to have lots of fun with these.

There you have it my Crafty Freaks catch up session. Now I have to decide what my next Crafty Freaks project will be. 

Crafty Freaks Project # 2

It's summertime but I'm always thinking about new things to make or use with my preschoolers. I went thrifting the other day to find some new toys for my classroom.  I didn't have a lot of luck but I did find a play set of bowling pins and bowling balls.  For my second Crafty Freaks project I created a drawstring bag for a play bowling set I found at a local thrift store.  I used some striped duck cloth and recycled wool bits to create a bag to store the bowling pins in.  It was a quick project but I'm happy with how it turned out. Now I just need to make a paper template to include in the bag so the kids can set up the bowling pins independently.

End of the School Year

It's the end of the school year which means it's almost time for summer fun. Of course, before summer can begin I have a long list of things to finish at school. Preschool graduation prep was one thing on that list. We've been busy preparing for our preschool graduation celebration over the last few weeks. We've been practicing our songs, making props, signing diplomas, setting up the classroom and preparing for the big day.

After all of our preparations the day finally arrived; today was our big celebration. Isn't this bulletin board awesome?! It was the background behind the kids for our graduation performance. I just love it!!! If I haven't mentioned it before I am very fortunate to have three of the best paraprofessionals ever in my classroom. They are amazing! They each pitched in to help with all of the graduation prep. Chrisann really outdid herself on this bulletin board! We might have to do this every year from now on.

Something From School

I'm a special education preschool teacher.  I teach three, four and five year olds.  Due to the nature of my job it's not often I can share pictures from my classroom, but today I have something I can share.  I went to a fabulous workshop this summer where I learned about caring for about Monarch Butterflies. The workshop is offered by The Monarch Teacher Network. Our first preschool unit is "Changes All Around Me" so this fall we have been raising monarch caterpillars in my classroom.

Here we have one caterpillar in it's chrysalis and a second in a J getting ready to go into a chrysalis.  This rearing cage in made from a tomato cage and tulle, it's been great for raising our caterpillars. I learned how to make it in the workshop.

Today, two weeks after the first caterpillar went into it's chrysalis I arrived at school to find two beautiful monarch butterflies.  The children haven't seen them yet as my students don't attend on Fridays. I've emailed butterfly pictures to all the families and have my fingers crossed that the flowers and the apple juice I left in the rearing cage will tide them over until the children & I arrive on Monday morning.

We've been working on patterning in preschool so we looked at the patterns on our caterpillars to create these paper caterpillars.

We also created these little butterflies by rolling marbles in orange and black paint then cutting them out to be the size of an actual monarch. We're participating in the Monarch Butterfly Symbolic Migration. Our paper butterflies were tucked into the larger butterfly before being mailed off.  They will eventually be sent off to children in Mexico to symbolize the journey Monarch Butterflies make each fall.  Then in the spring we'll receive a set of paper butterflies made by children somewhere in North America to symbolize the Monarch's journey North in the spring. I'm excited to participate. It's been a lot of work to care for these little creatures but it's been well worth it.   My kids have been so excited to see how they have changed.

Back to School

It's back to school time and nothing says back to school like school supplies. I have to admit that I love shopping for school supplies! One of my favorite school supplies is Fiskars scissors. This year I will have two teaching roommates. One of them is new to our school and I wanted to make her feel welcome. What says welcome to school better than school supplies, right? I tied a bit of scissor printed ribbon to a set of student scissors and a pair of big teacher scissors in the same color. Red is my favorite color so this red set so it's for me. My roommates are getting purple and pink scissors. I hope they like them.

Back to school time means spending lots of time setting up and organizing at school. Nature Girl has been a trooper. I've been dragging her into school everyday for the past week so I can work. She's been great about entertaining herself. Here's the cup tower she made one day. Today she used a Styrofoam cup, four forks, some pipe cleaners, duct tape, and markers to make a bobblehead. She certainly is creative!

Happy back to school time to you!

Show and Tell

Recently Nature Girl started in a program at the library where kids can practice their reading skills by reading to a dog. A few weeks ago she saw this dog coming into the library and begged the librarian to allow her to read to him. Isn't he cute?!! His name is Fritz. He's a five year old great dane that has been trained to be a therapy dog. Look how he lays on her. He even does this while she's reading to him.

Fritz is a sweetheart and I think it was love at first sight. He's as big as she is but Nature Girl thinks he's the best. She asked his trainer if she could take him to school for show and tell. We had to get permission from the principal for Fritz to visit school, but Nature Girl went to the principal and asked him herself. The principal agreed to allow the visit. So Fritz went to school this week as Nature Girl's show and tell. The kids were amazed and had lots of questions about Fritz and his job. Fritz visits nursing homes, libraries and now schools too. He's a companion and a good listener even though he is deaf. Because he is deaf his trainer uses hand signals with him. He responds to the signals and is well behaved.

Fritz is a wonderful therapy dog. He loves to be around kids and people. As you can see, this little girl likes to be around him too!

First Day of School

It was back to school for Miss Nature Girl last week. She started first grade on Wednesday. She made this cute picture frame on her first day. I'm happy to report that Nature Girl likes her teacher and says that she has a sweet voice.

I was lucky that Nature Girl's school started the day before my teacher workshop days so I got to be the one to take her to school the first day. Here's our self portrait. Daddy was out of the house and on his way to the office so we snapped our own picture. It's a little crooked but I like it.

Nature Girl wanted to wear all black like a ninja for the first day of school. I think her back pack is almost as big as she is!
She had a great first day though the pick up line was beyond crazy. I had to wait in traffic for 30 minutes to pick her up. The poor thing was standing in the rain in a little black sweater the whole time. I felt bad!
Today my students start school. Like every year I'm nervous! I know most of the kids I'll be working with. Last year they worked with the special educator I share a room with so they were in the room with me. I do have two brand new students and two others that will be new to me. I hope we have a great year!

More Gingerbread Travelers

I leave for work early each morning before Nature Girl is even awake. Since I'm not there to greet her, I write her a note every morning before I leave for work. She looks forward to her notes and on the few occasions that I've forgotten to write she lets me know she's disappointed. Of course she quickly forgives me. All of these notes have started to result in return notes from Nature Girl. Nature Girl wrote this little note on my white board when she went into school with me. What a sweet little message! I didn't erase it for a week!

Speaking of school I finally got our Traveling Gingerbread Men bulletin board up and took a few pictures this week. These aren't the greatest pictures but they give you an idea of what the bulletin board looks like. You can see that we put all of the postcards in a little pocket with a gingerbread man, the name of the state and some facts we learned about each state. This has been such a fun project for the preschoolers and now the rest of the school is enjoying reading the postcards and looking at the information we learned. We've gotten lots of compliments and questions about our project.

The greatest part is that even since I put this up earlier this week it's changed and more additions have been made. Margy sent us information about Belgium and Lady of Perpetual Chaos sent us information about Utah. Robin sent us the sweetest felt gingerbread ornaments. Each child got to take one home. I put a picture on the bulletin board with all the the preschoolers holding their gingerbread ornaments and another of all of us wearing the Mardi Gras beads Val sent us from Louisiana. So thank you to everyone who has sent us postcards and packages. We greatly appreciate your help. So many children are enjoying the cards and learning about the US and the world with us. Thanks!

Traveling Gingerbread Men

As most of you know I returned to teaching this fall. I work as a special teacher, teaching 4th grade resource in the morning and and integrated preschool in the afternoon. In December I did activities that focused on the Gingerbread Man instead of traditional holiday activities in my preschool classroom. As part of our activities we mailed off traveling gingerbread men to our friends and family around the country. We asked that our friends and family send our class a postcard or pictures of the area of the US where they live in so we could learn more about the different places in our country.
Our gingerbread travelers have been slow in arriving so I thought I'd ask for a little help from the blogging world. If you are willing to mail a postcard to my preschool class telling us about the area you live in, we would greatly appreciate it. You can e-mail me or leave a comment and I'll give you the address information you need. Thanks!