Super SALE for the Super Bowl!

Thanks to Jodi at Fun in First Grade for the graphic!

Visit my store for 28% off tomorrow and 20% off today!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Rebecca-Stone

Indoor Recess Fun

Today is a snow day in North Carolina.  I grew up in Pittsburgh, so it's still funny to me that we don't have school, but we have clear roads and I can still see the grass.  I'm certainly not complaining.  Yes, we'll have to make it up, but for right now, I'm enjoying the gift of a day and the ability to get my to do list checked off.

It's been rainy and miserable ALL week and I was experiencing cabin fever.  The kids cheer every time we have indoor recess, so maybe I was the only one?!?

We played with blocks, puzzles, board games, dolls, and created a restaurant this week.  When I see my class enjoying these games, developing socially, being creative and just plain old playing, it makes me wonder what it would have been like to teach Kindergarten when it wasn't so focused on academics.

The kids started writing orders down and I was so very proud ;)

Good old fashioned dolls and dollhouse courtesy of my amazing assistant!

 Playing "The Very Hungry Caterpillar Game"

My future engineer's skyscraper.  I cannot wait to start the Force & Motion unit with my boys especially!  My assistant and the kids in the background were waiting for the snow ;)

 

Connect Four!

Do you still have centers like these that your kids participate in daily?  Do you teach half day or full day Kindergarten? 

I haven't given up yet...

Maintaining a teaching blog is hard work.  I never expected it to be this difficult and I tip my hat to the many blogs I stalk that always have new and creative posts.  I've been in a slump- most likely caused by the holidays, the cold weather, and the day-to-day-trying-to-keep-my-head-above-water mode that teachers so often exist in.

I haven't posted any new TPT products because I just haven't had the inspiration or the motivation.  I was finally inspired today.  I have a project brewing.  I am thankful for this creative process and the passion it rekindles for my kiddos and what I am doing in my classroom.  Maybe it's the fresh new year that's a blank slate in front of me, but I have new goals for my instruction and ideas to implement them.

Please don't drop me from your subscription list yet.  Instead, let me know what you'd like to read about or see.

Finally, just in case you are hiding under a rock and don't know about Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade (she's a celebrity in my book!), her recent post about math activities is awesome.  They are simple ideas and I made one of them before school and did it today (it was definitely better than my lesson plan!).  My kiddos loved it.

Stay tuned!

Learning At Home

My parent conferences are coming up.  I wanted to create a list of ways that parents can help their child learn at home.  I started typing my list and eventually turned to Pinterest- and then had a lightbulb moment.  Why not just create it on Pinterest?  This way, it can be referenced anytime, there's not a paper to lose, and I can continually add to it as the year progresses and our skills get more difficult.

See my LEARNING AT HOME board here

Do you have a similar Pinterest board?  Please link to it in the comments, I'm always looking for more ideas and more boards to follow!

SALE!!

I just dropped the price of my Monster Madness unit 50% to only $5.00!!!  I'll leave it at this price for the next 48 hours.  Purchase it before Wednesday, October 24th at midnight.

Check it out here!

BOO!

I was boo'ed.  I've seen this cuteness around blogland recently and was hoping I could get in on the action.  Fortunately, Natalie at Teachery Tidbits chose me to BOO!

It's my turn!  So here are the rules:

1) Choose a fellow blogger that has more followers, another that has about the same number of followers, and someone that has less followers.

2) Blog about each of them and include this cute linky party icon in your blog.

3) Lastly, leave them love by offering them a goody from your store as their "treat." (If you have a store)

More Followers:

Kinder Kids Fun
Joni found my blog through a Carolina Blogger Meetup post.  She was sweet enough to pop over and follow my blog and has left me a few comments.  It's nice to know that someone is reading this thing (for the record, my parents are now reading it after I walked my mom through step-by-step over the phone- Hi Mom!).  Joni has some great resources on her blog.  One day, my coffee and I are going to have a date and read through her archives.  It's amazing how much I continue to learn and grow as a teacher through others. 

About Not really at all the same:

http://teachingwithz.blogspot.com/
Rachel has twice as many followers as I do and we started blogging at about the same time so clearly she is a better blogger than I am ;)  BUT, we teach the same grade in the same county and just "met" through blogging.  It's so fun for me to read what she's doing in her classroom because we are doing the same things.  She's great, check her out!

Less followers:

My buddies at Fanatical in First Grade.  I met Tammy, Ashley, and Autumn at the Carolina Blogger Meetup.  They had also just launched their blog and they share my excitement about the blogging world and the hope of a quickly growing blog.

If I BOOed you, please email me at landingink@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post with your email address so I can get you your treat (a goodie from my TPT store!).  I couldn't find your emails!!

Go check out their blogs.  Happy Halloween!

MoNsTeRs!

This year, instead of doing the typical Halloween activities during Halloween week, I created a Monster unit. It has 7 Literacy Activities and 8 Math Activities.  There are differentiation options for many of the activities. I can't WAIT to do this with my kiddos.  

These cute monsters are not at all scary, but still give a slight little nod to Halloween.  I have several students that don't celebrate Halloween in my class this year, so this unit suits us well.  I don't like Halloween myself, it's second only to my distaste for New Year's Eve (it never lives up to the hype!).

I digress.

This unit does not mention anything Halloween related, so it's easy to do at any ol' time.  It's on sale for $8.50 right now so snatch it up before I raise the price.

Find my Monster unit HERE!

What's your least favorite holiday?  Any other New Year's haters out there?  Everyone seems shocked when I say that I hate it!