Two Hoots And A Holler

Hoot #1
Now that the school year has started, we are all about routines and procedures. Our students have started centers and love them. In the beginning, I know this can be a headache. We have 27 bodies that are excited. They go in 27 different directions to do their favorite center and have a million questions as they do them. Rest assure, that this too shall pass. We find that it helps to put them with partners, and encourage them to work together in the beginning. Usually, they will slowly start doing centers independently has the year progresses.

Jitterbugs are busy counting sets.

Letter recognition

Writing our letters and numbers

Hoot#2
 Learning has never been so much fun!  We truly believe in age appropriate, hands-on, fun learning activities.  We teach 5 and 6 year olds, so it is only natural that they learn through play.  We are hard at work learning so many things. If you know "littles," you know that you have to spice it up a bit to keep them engaged in their learning. As many of you know, we went to RCA about a year ago, and we were truly inspired by the things we experienced there. We have always moved and grooved, but since attending, we do a lot more and with more excitement. Helpers get to do their large group time on tables, including dancing and singing! Have I mentioned how much fun teaching kindergarten can be?!?!

This Week's Holler...
We started this school year with a brand new principal and assistant principal.  We have been truly blessed to get these two women as leaders at our school!  They truly care about their teachers and the students.  We are so proud to have this "Dynamic Duo" to lead our school to greatness!  This holler is for you Mrs. Armstrong and Mrs. Cobb!  Thank you for all of your support and faith in our school! 

 

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1
Well the end has come! We have been so busy over the past few weeks with graduations, celebrations, field trips, field day, etc. We have not even had time to sleep!  It all started with our former Jitterbugs and Rockstars making their walk through the halls at our school before they graduated. This was the first time they have ever done this. This is definitely going to be a tradition!

Hoot #2
We had our annual Kindergarten Portfolio Breakfast and Kindergarten Celebration. It was a hit! We always love this time of year. We are exhausted but we can sit back and enjoy what we have done. Just seeing how excited our kids are to share their work and the looks in our parents eyes, makes it all worth it. 

This Week's Holler...
The final holler for this school year goes our to our assistant principal, Patty Beyerlein. After 28 years in the world of education, she is retiring. She has been such a great support for, not only us, but for the thousands of students' lives that she has made a difference. We were given the honor to throw her retirement party. We think that it turned out pretty good. We were able to share good food, good conversation, and great memories. Finally, she left in style...in a limo! We love you, Mrs. B.!!! Welcome to the next chapter of your life. We hope you carry us along with you on your journey in your heart, and we hope to have lunch dates where you can tell us all about your new adventures.

 

Here's to another great school year 

that is in the books!

Have a great Summer ya'll! 

 

Two Hoots and A Holler: It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

Hoot #1

This past week we had our end of the year kindergarten breakfast and program.  During the breakfast, the students got the opportunity to show their parents all of their hard work throughout the year and share their memories of kindergarten.  At the program the students sang a few songs, and the graduating classes were introduced.  We ended our program with a slideshow of "Our Year in Pictures".  The big finale came when all of the kindergarten students jumped up, sang, and danced to "Roar" by Katy Perry.  That is always our favorite part of the celebration!  The kids love singing along and dancing.   It is a very sentimental and emotional day for everyone.  Parents and teachers cried tears of joy and sadness.  We are happy to see our kiddos soar and grow throughout the year, but we are sad to see it end.  We get attached to these kids, and they become a part of our family.  So Ms. Jamie's Jitterbugs and Ms. Jodi's Rockstars deserve this hoot!  They made us so proud this year, and they are forever a part of our lives and hearts.  Thank you Jitterbugs and Rockstars for making this such a wonderful year!  

Hoot #2

 So speaking of how hard it is to say goodbye, we have to say goodbye to our principal this year.  She is retiring after this year, and I am sure it will be filled with days of relaxation and no stress (we are kinda jealous! haha).  We have been under Ms. Kelley for as our assistant principal/principal for 14 years!  To say she is just our principal is a HUGE understatement!  She is our rock, our leader, our friend, our work mom, our inspiration, our supporter, our strength, our role model, our mentor, our everything!  It will be very hard to say goodbye to her this week, and the thought of it brings tears to our faces as we type this.  Our school coordinated a surprise for her earlier this week.  All of the students and staff were instructed to sneak out of the building and meet in the storm shelter.  While we were getting situated, Ms. Kelley was "making a video" about the renovations that are taking place this summer.  They told her they wanted to video her talking about our storm shelter, and led her to us.  When she opened the door, she was SHOCKED!  The entire school was there, and she had no clue!  Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" started to play, flash mob dancing began, and signs were held up by students that said "Thank You for Believing in Us!"  It was epic!  Of course, we teared up at the celebration when she began to give her speech.  Check out these pictures of us waiting for her to enter....

Ms. Kelley, we would like to say, thank you for never giving up on us, even on those days we drove you up a wall!  Thank you for trusting us to better our school and students.  And most of all....

THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN US! 

WE WILL MISS YOU!! 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to two amazing teachers who we couldn't have survived this year with out!  Amy Willoughby and Amanda Sanders are our sidekicks at work, they are like our work wives haha.  We spend day in and day out with these two ladies, and they help keep us in line.  Without these two, we wouldn't be able to make it through the year!  Thank you both for all of your hard work and dedication to the students and us!  You two are simply the best!  Have a restful summer!