Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

 This year I wanted to focus on kindness and teach students how important it is.  I bought the book Bucket Filling from A to Z which is based off of the book How Full is Your Bucket? for Kids.  I have used this book as a read aloud to go along with our Alphabet Bootcamp.  We have been teaching a letter a day, and teaching a way to fill buckets that begins with that letter.  I have seen my students excel at sharing, using manners, and being kind to everyone. 

Over the summer, I read on a blog how a teacher used a "Giant Kerplunk" game to encourage her students in a positive way (can't remember the name to give that teacher credit...sorry!).  I decided use the same idea as a way to encourage students to be kind.  When a student is caught being kind, the student gets to pull a "kindness stick" from the Giant Kerplunk.  Eventually, all of the balls will fall.  When that happens, the class has earned a reward.  The reward maybe free centers one afternoon, an extra recess, lunch in the classroom, no shoes in class, or something that doesn't cost a dime, but the students will LOVE it.  

P.S.  My Giant Kerplunk came from a discount store and some of the pieces were missing....hence the duct tape!  It serves it's purpose though, and it is colorful too!  

These girls were caught by Jamie helping each other get to class one morning.
It was TOO sweet seeing my students smiling and helping one another first thing in the morning!
 

Hoot #2

Don't you just love that feeling when you see your students implementing something that you have taught them? I sure do! We have been working on the beginning stages of addition this week. The last two days, I decided that we would start our "student teachers". These are usually our helpers for the day. They get to come up and literally be the teacher. I do not do this on days that I am introducing a skill, of course, only when reviewing a skill. Everyone gets to be a student teacher several times throughout the year. The student teacher must do exactly like I do, including asking the other students questions. By doing this, we are meeting so many standards and the students have a blast learning!

This Week's Holler... 
This week's in holler goes out to Fiskar! Yes, that's right, the company that makes all of those student scissors. They get a big THANK YOU!! They donated enough scissors for every teacher to get what they needed for their classroom! We love our community!

Two Hoots and A Holler

 Hoot #1

We survived the end of the year festivities!  Everyone had a blast this year at field day.  We participated in 6 races, and at the end of the day the Jitterbugs took 1st place!  GO JITTERBUGS!

 The Rockstars are ready for field day!

Jitterbugs and Rockstars are anxiously waiting to see who is going to win the Popcorn Relay!  

Hoot # 2

At the end of the year, we also have our Kindergarten Portfolio Breakfast and Program.  This is a bittersweet time of year.  We are excited to see our students grow, but don't like letting these precious kids go.  These students worked very hard this year, and we are so VERY proud of all of the growth each Jitterbug and Rockstar has shown this year.  Parents...Thank you for trusting us with your child for 180 days.  Thank you for supporting our class and helping to make this year a success.  We hope that we have instilled the knowledge each child needs to grow up to be successful.  We hope that we have made memories with each child that will forever be imprinted on their hearts.  We hope that in at least one way, we have made a difference in each and every child's life that we have taught.  Most of all we want our students to know that we will ALWAYS believe in them, and they will FOREVER be a part of our hearts.  They will FOREVER be a Jitterbug or a Rockstar!  We can't wait to see what an impact these kiddos will make in the future! 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler is going out to all of our fellow kinder glitter girls (who are pictured below and the one that isn't in the picture)!!!  Without them by our side, this year would not have been as successful.  Our kinder family is the best!  We always are there for each other, and we are so much more than co-workers, we are sisters.  So to our kinder girls...this holler is for you!  We LOVE ya! 

 

Two Hoots and A Holler: Kindergarten Memories

Hoot #1

We recently participated in a Box Tops competition at our school.  The grade with the most Box Tops won a pizza party for the students, and the teachers got to have lunch off campus at a restaurant of our choice!  Guess who won?!?!  Kindergarten!! We were so excited because we worked hard to cut box tops out at home, tape them to the paper, and check expiration dates.  Our kiddos rocked it too, some brought them in by the hundreds!  Our students got to enjoy their pizza party at our last field trip to the park.  We got to eat our lunch at Texas Roadhouse!  We don't ever get a duty free lunch that involves a spill or two or eating an entire lunch in 10 minutes...it was VERY nice to enjoy this lunch with the amazing people we work with!  Just look at these happy faces...

Hoot #2

We just went on our final field trip for the year!  We went to see "Seussical." We cannot believe how fast this year has flown by!  This is the time of year when you are collecting memories and pictures to share with your class, and you can't help but to get all sentimental!  It's so sad to see them go so soon, but it's also amazing to see the person they have grown to be!  

Desoto Family Theater Kids did an OUTSTANDING JOB!! The kids in the play were absolutely AMAZING!

EVERYBODY LOVES THING 1 AND THING 2!

This Week's Holler...
This week's holler goes out to Kristen at Happy Days in Fourth Grade. As you know the testing season is among us! Kristen has posted some cute ideas to get rid of those testing blues!  These treats are sure make your students smile!! Her TPT store is also amazing! Thank you Kristen for all that you do!!   

Two Hoots and A Holler:

Hoot #1

We were so excited when we heard that A+ Images will make blogger shirts!  We couldn't wait to order them!  We have heard of A+ Images before, and we even have purchased shirts from them in the past at conferences.  We uploaded our logo on the online design tool, and within minutes our shirts were ordered.  It was so easy!  In no time, our shirts were delivered right to our door, and we couldn't wait to wear them! School had not started yet, so we had to wait patiently to show off our new shirts (that was the hard part)!  We showed up on the first day of school sporting our new shirts, and had so many compliments on them.  A+ Images, Kinder Glitter Girls want to give you our first hoot this week and say THANK YOU!  YOU ROCK! 

We had to get a Kinder Glitter Girls shirt for our good friend and coworker that helped us out TREMENDOUSLY when we presented at our first conference this summer. 

Hoot #2 

This year started off with a lot of sweat, hard work and tears!  Our kindergarten team definitely deserves a HOOT!  Our kindergarten team hit the ground running as soon as the school door opened!  We are a great, hard working team!  These girls are like our family.  We have taught together for years!  We love one another, vent to one another, are there for each other, take up for each other, and laugh together just like sisters.  When kindergarten teachers are walking down the hall together, everyone thinks "Uh-oh, here comes trouble!"  We are known for our goofy side because no matter how stressful things get, we never forget to have fun and laugh. We were so excited to start the year off with 7 kindergarten units (one more than we had last year).  Unfortunately, we didn't have enough students to keep all 7.  We ended up losing one of our team mates.  She didn't go quietly though, there were lots of crying and begging her not to go to third grade.  She has begun to make the transition to third grade, and we know she will do great!  Even though we have the utmost faith in her, it still doesn't make our loss any easier! We have faith that she will be back with her school family next year in kindergarten. So, to our kindergarten sisters, we think you ROCK and we thank you for your dedication and hard work!  We couldn't do it without you!   

Peggy, Jamie, Brittany, Jodi, and Nikki  We can't thank these girls enough for all that they do! 

Kindergarten having a blast on field day!

Brittany, Jodi, Nikki, and Jamie enjoying Freemont Street while in Las Vegas for the SDE I Teach K! conference

One of our newest members, Danielle, who helped us out at our conference this summer. She is the ultimate and only Glitter Girl Groupie!  hahaha  Thanks for being so supportive Danielle!

We can't forget Hannah, who is new to kindergarten this year.  We don't have any pictures with her yet, but you are part of this family too!  

This Week's Holler...

This weeks holler goes out to Lindsey Law at Miss Law's Kinders!  This teacher has tons on her blog! We love her motivational posters!  She has great tips on organization.  She also recently got married! Congratulations from Kinder Glitter Girls!!

Two Hoots and A Holler: Goodbyes and Hellos

Hoot #1

We were given the honor to attend the retirement of one of our greatest mentors, Dr. Dennis Haslip.  He worked as a SPED teacher for one year with us, then he became the assistant principal at our school.  He was such a gift to our school.  He taught us so much on how to reach children with special needs.  He taught us to not only read data but how to allow that data to drive our instruction.  He allowed us to grow as educators and reach for our dreams. While doing this, he shared his mistakes and trials, as an educator, so that we could learn from his mistakes.  We love this man more than he will ever know! Thank you Judi Shellabarger for hosting such a wonderful event!

Hoot #2

We are getting a new kindergarten unit!! That makes a total of 7 kindergarten units! We are excited about this because this will mean smaller class sizes for us.  We average about 25-27 students in our class each year.  We do have full time assistants, but let's be honest, the task is still overwhelming at times!  We would like to welcome Hannah Hurtado to our group! Hannah is familiar with our school.  She has taught 2nd grade for several years, so she already knows the ins and outs of the school.  We all know that kindergarten is a different world, but we know that Hannah will fit right in!!

This Week's Holler. . .

This weeks holler goes out to Dana Lester from Common to the Core! This fiery red head has got it going on!! She is so full of life and constantly on the go! We love all of her ELA CCSS ideas that she has blogged about!  Not only is she an educator, a blogger, and presenter.  She also is a consultant for Younique! This company has tons of wonderful make-up, but personally their 3D mascara is AWESOME!!  She can also design super cute shirts for teachers to say ANYTHING you would like!  She made some of the cutest personalized shirts for several others at the Spring Blogger Meetup in French Lick. She has so many talents, be sure to check her out by stopping by her blog!