tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25262007702476799322024-03-19T00:16:27.234-07:00Heather's HeartBefore you reach their heads, you have to touch their heartsHeather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-91590332581931485612018-07-27T15:53:00.001-07:002018-07-27T15:53:34.660-07:00It's A-MAZE-ing.....I'm BackI am surprised to find out my blog is still here! It has been waaaaaayyyy tooooooo long but sometimes life just gets in the way! Hopefully, I will be back to share my heart, my passion for engaging lessons, and some *freebies*!<br />
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School starts for us in the middle of August and my brain is already starting to think of ways to welcome my little ones into <span style="color: magenta;">Our School Family</span>.<br />
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I LOVE to notice my little ones when they are showing kindness and making smart choices. I love my kiddos even when they might be acting like little turkeys but we do talk a lot as a class about making someone's <span style="color: magenta;">heart smile</span>.<br />
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I found some smiley face mazes on Amazon and knew I needed to find a way to use them. Attach the maze to the gift tag and you have a quick and easy way to celebrate your kiddos. :)<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="618" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2d0H3_EPhggx9Rkkx15mcqPTbwf-usJ4hCWCpHjq9xH8nYZfgIwszkTK0qDq679xUwHhQ4s4Tylx-UctogPhx5BWg46h2GcBJar9_gxGJuFMEgvDEbsdqWuCfUnE92JlojHaK0P2H4oNv/s640/amazing+gift+tag+pic.png" width="468" /></div>
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Click <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qFplaEjF3uG5NaYxGmMWwmLArNI_a2bp/view?usp=sharing">here</a> to grab this *freebie*!</div>
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Grab the smiley face mazes <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XD1RGVJ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1">here</a>!</div>
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Buuuuuutttttttttttt..........</div>
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We all know that there are going to be times that are difficult...difficult students and students that have a hard time getting along with others. I try from the beginning to let them know that we are ALL there for each other no matter what happens. <span style="color: blue;">WE ARE A SCHOOL FAMILY</span>!!!</div>
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So, this little *freebie* will remind us of that!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ifa8rj3mC8VUwJGbwYKLV-UXUI9aSjIKEW3DrLdxSlsUAQI0Y_vuf0WXW6ExYFNhTLqmxJi2aP5prFOuUmJ6kMHsHTmS-npagA4-htqH9Ngt8qN8DntltqbJHGDQRg8yr627EFw8MSzs/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ifa8rj3mC8VUwJGbwYKLV-UXUI9aSjIKEW3DrLdxSlsUAQI0Y_vuf0WXW6ExYFNhTLqmxJi2aP5prFOuUmJ6kMHsHTmS-npagA4-htqH9Ngt8qN8DntltqbJHGDQRg8yr627EFw8MSzs/s400/Slide1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Click <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tjs1RskBoJtzNH0A60phjaCHsco4bXR8/view?usp=sharing">here</a> to grab this *freebie*.</div>
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I'll be back soon to share some new ways I will be implementing Conscious Discipline into my classroom and one of our first classroom visitors. You can check him out <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Eagle-Eye-Reading-and-Decoding-Strategy-Activities-for-Guided-Reading-1968363">here</a>!</div>
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I hope you are enjoying your summer and getting ready for the 2018-2019 school year!</div>
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<span style="color: magenta;">From My Heart to Yours</span>,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com302tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-91727539675345718142016-11-16T17:20:00.000-08:002016-11-16T17:20:00.111-08:00Gobble Up Some Freebies- Making 10 FunHey friends! I am so excited that Thanksgiving Break is almost here! This will be the 1st time EVER to have the whole week off. Hello pajamas and NetFlix! :)<br />
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For those of you that have to go next week, I hope these *freebies* are something you can use.<br />
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We have been working on math facts and 10 makers. We have played games galore. A fun, quick game my kiddos love that can be modified by using ANY manipulative is What's Hiding? This is a great way to also work on Part Part Whole.<br />
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Using <strike>leftover Halloween candy corns</strike> turkey beaks, I hide some under the cup. The kiddos have to solve the missing part and tell me the addition and subtraction fact. For example, I tell the kiddos to close their eyes. I put 6 turkey beaks in the cup and flip the cup over. I put 4 next to the cup. The kiddos then open their eyes and I say my whole is 10. The kiddos will count on to 10 and tell me that missing part in the cup is 6. They will then tell me the missing part can also be solved by starting at 10 and taking away the part they know which is 4. So, the addition sentence would be 4+6=10 and the subtraction sentence would be 10-4=6. Finally, we flip the cup over, check our answer, and eat some turkey beaks. :)<br />
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Ready to turn your little turkeys into turkeys??? And all learning is better when you can make a hat, right?<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-V0pvSzM3R2Fucm8/view?usp=sharing"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijAJ6dVih0BH3W9lEglFxtQMWHzVy3mepIT23MvpFGQBcasuAdUgJbSMjV4QkCk8xF5w-Tkku3S-DxJmxFr4UwZ3ovaGB-zBkPHebdYUrH1Bx6RO_oD2BE4665wGwoVG59C9GW5VMWKSB1/s400/Slide1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Kiddos take turkey feathers and the 10 frame cards. They find the 10 makers and glue the pair on a feather. The students then write the 2 addition sentences for that problem. For example, 6 and 4 make 10 so my addition sentences are 6+4=10 and 4+6=10.</div>
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Here are some other ways for kiddos to <span style="color: red;">Show What They Know </span>about Making 10.</div>
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Click <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-V0pvSzM3R2Fucm8/view?usp=sharing">here</a> to grab these *freebies* for yourself.</div>
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And here is one more *freebie*!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAApnxwft0AEqvzMmJEpca2SQH1HJUwnmxjj97-eepDwkILuZ1c8_47sJAMrStv2X9lmyW1I3kbF1rfAe6F1b6iio6ZGwj3bAJ1Bm7Kdg2cv_x9Icb5ABXcOg6ivXqAkxvyu0hQ9zmaug-/s1600/Gobble+Up+Some+Doubles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAApnxwft0AEqvzMmJEpca2SQH1HJUwnmxjj97-eepDwkILuZ1c8_47sJAMrStv2X9lmyW1I3kbF1rfAe6F1b6iio6ZGwj3bAJ1Bm7Kdg2cv_x9Icb5ABXcOg6ivXqAkxvyu0hQ9zmaug-/s400/Gobble+Up+Some+Doubles.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Grab it <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-a192ZWkwVUJnSFk/view?usp=sharing">here</a>.</div>
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I am thankful you hopped over to my little blog! Thank YOU for being a blessing to each and every child you teach.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com257tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-14150328832108375902016-10-12T19:33:00.000-07:002016-10-12T20:21:10.210-07:00What Does the Fox Say? Phoneme Blending FunAt the beginning of the year, primary teachers <strike>feel very frustrated</strike> get lots of laughs when we work with students on blending sounds together to say a word. When we say the sounds <span style="color: red;">/f/ /r/ /o/ /g/</span> students are supposed to hear and blend those sounds together and say frog...not MONKEY! Ha! I wrote about that <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2013/07/f-r-o-g-monkeyright.html">here</a>. :)<br />
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Students LOVE the song <span style="color: blue;">What Does the Fox Say? </span>and I love having fun visitors come visit our room to help add a little engagement to our lessons. So, we had a visit from Mr. Fox. He brought us a package with several games to help us be successful at blending sounds together to read. Mr. Fox wrote us a letter explaining what he wanted us to learn.<br />
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Our first job was to practice just hearing sounds and blending them together. We practiced this skill playing <span style="color: blue;">Fox Talk Bingo</span>. Students were given a game board and had to listen as I said the sounds in my mystery word. Students blended the sounds they heard together and covered the matching picture.<br />
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Our next activity was to practice blending the sounds in the sound boxes together. With these cards students pointed and said the sounds in each box and then used the arrow to help them quickly blend the sounds together to read the word. For kiddos that needed a little bit more support, I added the dots to some of the cards. After they read the word, they find the matching picture. :)</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">You can see Mr. Fox helping us. :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGs8oi3MMAfzqQLs-3pf_u6G0Q2f-kUzJ_6lpHoRpkE6HXUsGKvz664P2YAR6Tu87NJxFO88aR7oPoxzUQCal3arTpenjZfBX5qfpRrzpxNBj9EIU7VS4F31SajG95CR9yN063z7oOovc/s1600/Slide5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGs8oi3MMAfzqQLs-3pf_u6G0Q2f-kUzJ_6lpHoRpkE6HXUsGKvz664P2YAR6Tu87NJxFO88aR7oPoxzUQCal3arTpenjZfBX5qfpRrzpxNBj9EIU7VS4F31SajG95CR9yN063z7oOovc/s400/Slide5.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Mr. Fox is also fast and wanted us to practice blending sounds together quickly. Students use a toy car to drive under the sounds. The students then drive the car faster as they blend the sounds together to say the word.</div>
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Another way we practiced blending sounds together was using these cards as transitions or time fillers. There are a variety of cards ranging from words with 3 phonemes up to words with 6 phonemes. Just say the sounds on the cards and the kiddos will tell you what the word is. :)</div>
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To see how well the kiddos have developed this skill, Mr. Fox made 2 different ways this skill can be assessed.</div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-MHA2OWNXUjI3NlU/view?usp=sharing">Click above for a *freebie*.</a></div>
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And of course we have to dance to the song at the end of these activities..several times! </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y2ETWu21Kx4/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y2ETWu21Kx4?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Tons of fun learning What Does the Fox Say? You can grab it from my store <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-Does-the-Fox-Say-Phoneme-Building-1903716">here</a>.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
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Heather</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-54639130451368910932016-09-18T12:53:00.001-07:002016-09-18T13:22:24.615-07:00Sunday's Heart Start: Being a Champion for a ChildI forget how exhausting the beginning of the year is. I also forget how quickly the 20 cutie pies God placed in my room can capture my heart. The beginning of the year is also a time I find myself thinking of "my babies" that are no longer at my school. At Meet the Teacher, I heard news about one of my babies that just broke my heart...and left me wondering what this school year would be like for him.<br />
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I recently talked to a friend that was getting a new student. She told me about how the mom walked into the room and the first thing she said to her was that her daughter was bad. This was <i>in front</i> of the child! This child has no positive expectations to live up to. Why try and be good if her mom thinks she is bad? :(<br />
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I often do not want to know about behavior problems from the previous year because we all want a fresh start. Plus, there are so many factors that can add up to a child have a difficult year....especially in terms of his/her behavior.<br />
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As teachers, we know without a doubt that we will have difficult and challenging students. Students that leave us doubting and questioning if we are doing a good job. We find ourselves crying over these students and feeling frustrated and helpless in dealing with them and still trying to teach our other 19 students. Their parents often do not know what to do to help their child or the parent might want to put blame on the teacher and the school.<br />
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I find myself realizing I need to try and be the one to build the bridge to their heart. Rita Pierson said in best in her TED Talk.<br />
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I tell my kiddos often that if I didn't care about them I would not care how they acted. I also tell them that until they get on the bus or in their car on the last day of school that I will be expecting and helping them to be their best. As we work on building relationships, I want my students to feel safe enough to be able to tell me if they don't feel that I care about them or if I have hurt their feelings.<br />
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Rita Pierson said in her TED Talk that "students don't learn from teachers they don't like." This is true and can be difficult when we have students that we find difficult to like. So, this when when we need to be trying to plan those engaging lessons and providing opportunities for the class to laugh together....and as Rita said, "become a good actor and act like we do like them!" Lol!<br />
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So many of our kiddos that have behavior issues often have more baggage than we do as grown-ups. I cannot even fathom what they have been through and seen. They often put up this "tough" facade to keep from being hurt again or as a way to cry out for love.<br />
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Our kiddos just need to know that we are going to be there for them. This song always makes me think of the kind of teacher I want to try and be.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Now, I also think I need to go out and adopt a new pet. :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Here is Rita Pierson's TED Talk.</span></div>
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As you walk into your classroom each day, you work to cover your objectives and each item on your lesson plans. But I think it is important to remember, that before we reach their heads we must touch their hearts. We need to be the champion that says "I'm never going to let you down or give up on you."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZExu4bjfzefkJRN3tpDs1Pdi9TvFP_0jHARsykX0U4wXMnTpPhi6P38uT2dXvrOv15v8LDUxoMYKuS65a-WkjN2HsHhEdC4EiTtqSZx5tNfy8sQHDi1_PgjbkQ2-Q-rVdciOqvU6M2B-/s1600/Sundays+Heart+Start.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZExu4bjfzefkJRN3tpDs1Pdi9TvFP_0jHARsykX0U4wXMnTpPhi6P38uT2dXvrOv15v8LDUxoMYKuS65a-WkjN2HsHhEdC4EiTtqSZx5tNfy8sQHDi1_PgjbkQ2-Q-rVdciOqvU6M2B-/s320/Sundays+Heart+Start.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-14287120833253957342016-08-14T00:00:00.000-07:002016-08-14T00:00:34.611-07:00Your Class List: Whine and WineDo you get a class list before school starts? I don't know about you but I am always anxious to look at my class list to see if I will be getting the <strike>annoying</strike> sweet younger sibling I have heard stories about. My heart also skips a beat with <strike>fear</strike> joy for "that student" that I have been hearing about that is just a "perfect fit" for my room. That is when you run to your teacher buddies and start the <span style="color: red;"><b>WHINE</b></span> of "<i>You'll never believe who I have in my room!</i>" or "<i>Oh My Gosh!!! Let me tell you about this kid that's going to be in my room this year!</i>" And when you go home that's when you pull out the BIG <span style="color: red;"><b>WINE</b></span> glass!<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/189083333/personalised-good-day-rough-day-dont-ask?ref=shop_home_active_8"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwre3aCnbJxRq3e9lLqRlHS8VXH6MXEeDnBANxuhhzPbsDCXfpqsBfB-q_KN4HCGEaTgnVf0jQ7JjfL_1U2ZoPnctCePJVo5kRHgV_FkdRG2fzerFb0FiqDRg05oj2LSpHPd4DFddCHhM/s320/rough+day+wine+glass.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">Click on the picture if you want to check it out!</span></div>
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Now, I am giggling as I type this and trying to bring a little humor to thoughts you and I <i>just might</i> have felt before. My Firsties go to Kinder at another campus so I <i>really </i>don't recognize some of the names. But when you have taught for a long time you eventually DO HAVE siblings and cousins AND see names that bring <span style="color: red;">flashbacks</span> that cause you to twitch! There are times when I try and use my phonics knowledge to decipher a name that I am anxious I will not be able to pronounce correctly. And I already feel bad for the kiddo that I am sure will have to help me numerous times say his/her name correctly.<br />
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At <span style="color: blue;">Meet the Teacher</span>, I have a special system of codes I mark next to the names on my list of students that I am meeting. There have been numerous times when I have watched in fear as child has hit his <i>mother</i> on the head <u>numerous</u> times with a HUGE pointer and did not stop when he was told to....or when a child seems so active that I am ready to tell the mom that I am happy to drive her to the doctor to see if the child might need a prescription for some calming "vitamins". And those 2 times were like the children had been invaded by the Body Snatchers because the kiddos that showed up on the first day of school were sweet, obedient, calm, and respectful.<br />
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There have been countless times when I have sadly been judgmental and let a bad attitude get in the way of seeing a child the way that God does...and the way He sees me. What gives me the right to judge a student on what they <i>are not </i>when I am so thankful and blessed that God does not judge <i><span style="color: blue;">me</span></i> by my short comings??!!??!!??<br />
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We are always going to have students that challenge us. There have been years when that challenge has left me in tears, frustration, and a state of feeling completely helpless. There have been times when I breathed a sigh of relief when that child was absent because the entire dynamics of my classroom changed but at the same time felt horrible for feeling that way.<br />
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Many of these challenging kiddos come with more baggage than we have even carried as an adult. For some, school is their safe haven. And whether we realize it or not, these kiddos are often VERY perceptive and can pick up the vibes we give off.<br />
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I remember the child that completely changed my <span style="color: red;">whine and wine</span>. He was retained and put back in my class for his second year. I vented to a friend that I was very upset he was in my room again. I was going into my 4th year of teaching and was able to attend a Ruby Payne workshop that fall. It changed my teaching and my heart forever. God knew I needed that workshop so He could show HIS love through me to some of the people who needed it the most. She said something that I also learned again when I read about Conscious Discipline. Are you ready for this???<br />
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And this is another wonderful reminder...</div>
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The student I mentioned above completely lost it on the last day of school of his second year in my room. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me he was going to miss being around someone who loved him as much as I did. He gave me many, many, MANY opportunities for me to practice patience yet he still knew I loved him. At the time I saw his name on my list for the second time, I did not want him in my class but I am blessed that God gave him to me again.</div>
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I am not perfect and still feel frustrated and helpless when I don't know how to help a child that is crying out for love. I then have to remember God put each child in my room for a reason...to love that child with all of my heart and help that child be successful in every way possible. And in the end, it is often me that has learned a valuable lesson from God.</div>
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I pray that as we start a new school year that we remember this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvf1ZH8e3bOiHZUv3yQrGexIyAENJjZFdL110lH4dtiTvE3GaVIY_IA6nT3-PNYAxR3De8LOFXypquD3tejGFT-s6YXNMEDoX7U-DewZyEg2LSDwj-gVDbP1U0nN8UfqGcH8Oq4aScEsV8/s1600/eyes+that+see+the+best+quote.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvf1ZH8e3bOiHZUv3yQrGexIyAENJjZFdL110lH4dtiTvE3GaVIY_IA6nT3-PNYAxR3De8LOFXypquD3tejGFT-s6YXNMEDoX7U-DewZyEg2LSDwj-gVDbP1U0nN8UfqGcH8Oq4aScEsV8/s640/eyes+that+see+the+best+quote.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Thank you for stopping by for this week's <span style="color: red;">Heart Start</span>!</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-784844677468815632016-08-07T14:56:00.000-07:002016-08-07T14:56:57.731-07:00Sunday's Heart Start: Pause and PrayAs I get ready to start a new school year, I am overcome by so many emotions. The beginning of the school year is so exciting but also stressful. I know we sit in teacher meetings wanting to flee to our classrooms and mentally adding things to a To-Do List that seems to grow and grow and GROW! We are juggling our lives at home with our lives at school and we often neglect taking care of ourselves.<br />
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As much excitement as there tends to be, there is also a bit of negativity and complaining...and I raise my hand that I have been there and whined that! I often forget that my principal is being told a BIG list of things she must do with us and my complaining about it does not make it any better. I know when I have heard some of my kiddos in class grumble about something they have to do we stop and talk about our attitudes and about showing respect. Yet, as grown-ups we are horrible about it.<br />
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I know at the beginning of the year, doubt creeps into my heart. I stare at my new little group only remembering how I left my previous group in May. I wonder if they will ever behave, listen, learn to read, follow directions, and show helpfulness and kindness like my group last year.<br />
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I look at the kiddo that I know will try my patience and wonder if I am going to develop a drinking problem! Lol!<br />
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I get irritated with others I work with yet I forget to look at myself and realize I am irritating others by my own behaviors.<br />
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I get caught up in the emotions of situations and react instead of being proactive. I forget that God is using each child, parent, staff member and situation as a tool and moment to shape me into who He wants me to be.<br />
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We cannot go into our classrooms and be ready to face all of the overwhelming challenges without praying and without each other.<br />
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I have to remember that before I reach their heads, I have to touch their hearts I want each of you to know that Because of YOU, a difference is being made.<br />
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As you prepare to start a new day or a new week, remember to Pause and Pray.<br />
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From My Heart to Yours,Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-75165533519640812512016-08-04T11:09:00.001-07:002016-08-13T19:28:19.687-07:00Books for Building Your School FamilyI kind of forgot I still had a blog over here! Blog posts constantly run through my mind but I seem to lose my way when I see the blank screen before me. After reading <u>Teach Like a Pirate</u> this summer for a book study, I remembered that I really do love blogging and sharing my heart for teaching and my kiddos. :)<br />
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As I see the days of August <strike>slowly fading away</strike> rapidly flashing by, my mind is thinking of those first few weeks of school. Those first few weeks are what I call BOOT CAMP (with love). The importance of those few weeks in establishing rules and routines is critical. You lay the foundation for your entire school year. These weeks are also when I start building Our School Family. Even though we jump into our curriculum week 1 day 1, I am more focused on bringing out the kindness and respect I want (and expect) EVERY member of Our School Family to show.<br />
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One of the best ways I start to build Our School Family is through literature. This really helps the kiddos because I can refer back to one of the books we read. I want to share some of these books with you. :)<br />
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<u><span style="color: red;">My Mouth is a Volcano</span>,</u> <u><span style="color: red;">Interrupting Chickens</span></u> and <u><span style="color: red;">Lacey Walker, Non-Stop Talker</span></u> are all great books for talking about interrupting others. We talk a lot about how everyone's words are important and when you talk over someone you are not showing that person that you value what they are saying. We also talk about how students cannot listen and learn if others are talking or talking over the teacher. I tell my kiddos that my ears cannot catch everyone's words if everyone is talking at once.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><u>Decibella and Her 6 Inch Voice</u></span> is a great book for talking about the volume of your voice. Students learn about using no voice, a whisper, a 6 inch voice, table talk, a strong speaker voice, and an outside voice. This book is so cute and necessary because I ALWAYS have a <strike>screamer</strike> future public speaker. :)</div>
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There are so many voice meters that you can find on Pinterest that give the students a visual of where their voice volume needs to be during different parts of the day. It is good to remember though that talking can be GOOD if that talk is about learning. :)</div>
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After reading this book and talking about the volume of our voices, we also have a HUGE talk about the tone of our voices. Little kiddos often cannot pick up on voice tone cues. I like to turn with my back facing them and say something like "I am so happy at the choices you are making!" BUUUUUUTTTTTT I say it in a mean, angry voice. The kiddos have to tell me how they think I am feeling based on the tone of my voice. They LOOOOOVVVVEEEE this and like taking turns doing this too! We talk a lot about how the tone of our voice can communicate our attitudes and ALL of us have to be careful about this.</div>
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I LOVE <u><span style="color: red;">Me First</span></u>! Pinkerton Pig always wants to be first until he meets a Sand Witch. Pinkerton has to do many unpleasant chores for the Sand Witch and quickly learns that being first is not always best. I know you <i>might</i> (ha! ha!) have had a student before that always wants to be the first to line up or the first to finish their work. I think <i>they </i>think they will get a prize for finishing first and often don't do their best because of this. After reading this book, we practice slowly and safely lining up. We also practice different times when they can offer to let a friend go before them. This might be when I am passing things out or when I have a couple of students waiting to tell me something. We practice using sentences stems like <i><span style="color: blue;">You may go before me</span> </i>or <i><span style="color: blue;">Go ahead. I'll wait until you are finished.</span></i></div>
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<u><span style="color: red;">Tattle Tongue</span></u> is great for addressing the ever present issue of tattling. The book gives students a funny visual image of what happens when your tattle. I also love how the book gives students examples when it is okay to tell a teacher/grown-up what happened. When my kiddos come to <strike>tattle</strike> <strike>whine</strike> tell me something that happened, I usually ask them these 2 questions:</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">*Have you tried to solve them problem yourself?</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">*Are you being helpful or hurtful by telling me this?</span></div>
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Now, I only ask these questions after we have practiced, and practiced, and PRACTICED using sentence stems to talk to someone. Some of these sentence stems are:</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">* I don't like it when you ______. Next time please ______.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">*</span><span style="color: blue;">I don't like it when you ______. Please stop.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">*You accidentally ______. Please be more careful next time.</span></div>
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I never really even have to ask <span style="color: blue;">Are you being helpful or hurtful by telling me this? </span>because usually they turn around and go talk to the person after I've asked <span style="color: blue;">Have you tried to solve them problem yourself?</span></div>
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If they have already talked to the person and there is still an issue, they ask me to help them solve a problem....and my ears don't have to hear tattling. Sometimes I joke around when someone forgets and starts to tattle by telling them I see their tattle tongue growing and changing colors. Sometimes being silly and getting that student to laugh helps me when I help them solve the problem.</div>
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<u><span style="color: red;">Have You Filled a Bucket Today?</span></u> is one of my favorite books. I love the mental image it gives kiddos about filling a bucket with kindness or dipping into a sad bucket when someone is being hurtful. We have a class bucket that we fill with helpful hearts. You can read more about that is <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2011/09/from-heartbuilding-your-school-family.html">this ancient blog post</a>...This is when I first started blogging and was taking pictures with an ancient cell phone! Happy to see how far I've come. :)</div>
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<u><span style="color: red;">You Get What You Get</span></u>...and you________??? I know we finish that sentence with <span style="color: red;">AND YOU DON'T THROW A FIT!</span><i style="color: red;"> </i>After reading <a href="http://crisscrossapplesauceinfirstgrade.blogspot.com/2012/08/you-get-what-you-get.html">this blog post</a> by my sweet friend Holly, I too changed what I said. We read this book and then discuss how we are no longer 2 and we are big, smart, kind, and respectful boys and girls. We can feel disappointed when something doesn't go our way but we can take a deep breath, calm down and know it will be okay. Our new saying becomes <span style="color: blue;">YOU GET WHAT YOU GET AND YOU APPRECIATE IT! :)</span></div>
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<u><span style="color: red;">The Recess Queen</span></u> is a fun book to talk about being kind and safe on the playground. It is also helpful when talking about bullying. I love this craftivity from <a href="http://smittenwithfirst.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-recess-queen.html">Smitten in First</a>!</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><u>Chrysanthemum</u></span> is hands-down my favorite Back to School book because it is our anchor lesson for talking about hurtful words and behavior. From this book we talk about our Heart Word and Heart Promises. You can read all about those in this <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2012/09/our-heart-words.html">blog post</a>.</div>
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These are just a few of my favorites. There are so many more! I have found some AWESOME books this summer that I am soooooo excited about! I cannot wait to share with you how I'll be using them. :)</div>
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It has been FOREVEEEERRRRRRR since I shared a *freebie*! So, here is a little activity I will be using at the beginning of the year for letter recognition.</div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Whooo-Knows-Letters-2709801"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwF2eYHNf4dWXDIstoKnWi-IUdiEIj653gN0fnvo_iJSSfTIyq-5xQeP3mFxdUbkqGNq2mCQtL4_1nN_H-0kmZxNYss7tZVikw6CmEBPkLr-9fLd4eJciAqKZ3bHa9ZjxHsNnAtteKWOZF/s400/Slide1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Thank you for hopping over here today! Wishing you an awesome year full of blessings!</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-80166762315176424092016-01-23T11:08:00.002-08:002016-01-23T11:09:52.590-08:00Magic Snowball Fun with Tens and OnesHello again Sweet Peeps. I am working really hard to blog more consistently this new year. I really do love it and have missed it. This is a fun little activity we did a couple of years ago but I never blogged about it.<br />
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Several years ago we started following the Envisions textbook scope and sequence pretty consistently. This meant not really digging deep into place value until much later in the year than I like. For some of my struggling sweet and lows, this makes understanding place value and tens and ones more difficult.<br />
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I am sure you have had a student or two who will count a stack of Unifix cubes even though you've told them there will ALWAYS be 10 in the stack. These are the same students that often count to be sure there are still 5 fingers on each hand. Because of this, I knew I wanted to create a hands-on way for them to understand to value of a ten rod....so, we needed to use some <span style="color: blue;">Magic Snowballs</span> to help us. :)<br />
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The first step is to make the <span style="color: blue;">Magic Snowballs </span>using small white pom pom balls, spray glue, and white glitter. All you need to do is spray the pom pom balls with the glue and sprinkle them with the white glitter.<br />
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After that, we receive a package from a friendly snowman containing the <span style="color: blue;">Magic Snowballs</span>, craft sticks, number cards, and a poem. We also received a cute snowman bag to hold everything in.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIf1ZA4JvFZ9ttVCb4eEIj7LZrlhZmFTV8MbbuzqjVi8RO7-WtlJxuNsxiFw6tx52pkrxG-ZGaYwnKFR8rBU-vFE5E9KH1x-_iDCVHeamwSrbYTIFrq-gc9Arg6gyITkF1-XdUNAHapGS/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGIf1ZA4JvFZ9ttVCb4eEIj7LZrlhZmFTV8MbbuzqjVi8RO7-WtlJxuNsxiFw6tx52pkrxG-ZGaYwnKFR8rBU-vFE5E9KH1x-_iDCVHeamwSrbYTIFrq-gc9Arg6gyITkF1-XdUNAHapGS/s640/Slide3.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is a closer look at the poem.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gz-2JMgsJ7oecAAGmLCiy8hd0OlH8azYgK4ey0sQ8DDV3CabX0nujo1yfuhpnKXy4GTPcsX2_d6T2Cnol6zH_erLZf37UILkyGjO1-jwoL5yRYOhR_BPd3xjBqRjdmJx_kQUZ5f4-JGi/s1600/Slide4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gz-2JMgsJ7oecAAGmLCiy8hd0OlH8azYgK4ey0sQ8DDV3CabX0nujo1yfuhpnKXy4GTPcsX2_d6T2Cnol6zH_erLZf37UILkyGjO1-jwoL5yRYOhR_BPd3xjBqRjdmJx_kQUZ5f4-JGi/s640/Slide4.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Students then help make the 10 rods we will be using to build numbers. Students glued 10 <span style="color: blue;">Magic</span> <span style="color: blue;">Snowballs</span> onto each craft stick.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihL-8iBBvnw2jul5Fo5BkV4mxHHyD1DOVWs241m-i1eP-3-qBT8dVQba7FvFkA5-MEYCu95rL5FWpzvoJQjxtskPYiTIx8EE60gbd2RKFZZDH63OSJ4OpB2qWXMCCkzzKEYzP4C17rheJS/s1600/Slide5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihL-8iBBvnw2jul5Fo5BkV4mxHHyD1DOVWs241m-i1eP-3-qBT8dVQba7FvFkA5-MEYCu95rL5FWpzvoJQjxtskPYiTIx8EE60gbd2RKFZZDH63OSJ4OpB2qWXMCCkzzKEYzP4C17rheJS/s640/Slide5.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I had my struggling students help create and build several 10 rods so we could talk about how many they had as they were building them. This really helped them to be able to know and understand that 3 rods=30 <span style="color: blue;">Magic Snowballs</span>.</div>
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Here is a peek at the cards. I included all of the teen numbers because those are often tricky for some of my kiddos.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSCB4j2HLzv24ikG-vQSv39Au6_ZVe84lRK2ZMWo5Hz3lZfCrnpPsiwNenyj2S7etTHuCsbHnFXuyczp-ry4exOoL6p1Fb9XLhaOXmh-nesRyqhXWCK1_K0dHW7soKq5eWH_hLGFVyafY7/s1600/Slide6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSCB4j2HLzv24ikG-vQSv39Au6_ZVe84lRK2ZMWo5Hz3lZfCrnpPsiwNenyj2S7etTHuCsbHnFXuyczp-ry4exOoL6p1Fb9XLhaOXmh-nesRyqhXWCK1_K0dHW7soKq5eWH_hLGFVyafY7/s640/Slide6.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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After making a huge set of 10 rods, students were able to start building numbers.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2xhVRMd31lKGIloy8f3cQrONWqRw3VzG_Oo4lT2_me_06ORF8q083EVNC0oY4ECYZA7hpjkjsM5qjYPaAPmY6sa-k1cHufVAeiWhMza5O5n9JIUsVsTW_beXgU4Zdcj0yCFODcCC3A4i/s1600/Slide7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2xhVRMd31lKGIloy8f3cQrONWqRw3VzG_Oo4lT2_me_06ORF8q083EVNC0oY4ECYZA7hpjkjsM5qjYPaAPmY6sa-k1cHufVAeiWhMza5O5n9JIUsVsTW_beXgU4Zdcj0yCFODcCC3A4i/s640/Slide7.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Since we made a lot, I sent home some snowball tens and ones so my struggling students could practice at home.</div>
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You can grab the cards and poem by clicking on the picture below. :)</div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-VFNzSGMweVQya2s/view?usp=sharing"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxnLBHH5UQB3znVoOF8NZNjUojrNQdYfqZ3hTNlV9LOQ5ozroGviRa3pAHXO_yYaa7-wooZGtRlC_DSryZV9CnFBGjsoJ3iFRNSU3n10-HduYrOVpaN7BALqwtyqjocKzp25AJdy5ClLI/s640/Slide1.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I hope your kiddos enjoy this activity as much as my kiddos do. :)</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-5612344717876841132016-01-16T19:52:00.001-08:002016-01-16T19:52:46.631-08:00Where are the Snowflakes? A Little Preposition FunHi Sweet Peeps. I wanted to share a quick and easy activity we did to work on prepositions. I know for my ELL kiddos this can be very tricky. Since we do not get snow in East Texas often, I have to bring in the snow in fun ways...not as fun as real snow though. :)<br />
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We started with a fun little poem I wrote that was full of prepositions. After listening to the poem, we acted it out because movement and gestures help our brains learn better.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbed4GSTYpS4JL4jCzuOF3uyX_OUeX4flKxjMVyORt_m5PvVg0m-j_1qepwQm0BBEfh0SmjECD79Tf9QQKh8qBugzdY2A-yN0GWpnuPA77WJ3sBlP7H8WNm_2Tg1ZkVDmUhWiAWUrU3QgK/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbed4GSTYpS4JL4jCzuOF3uyX_OUeX4flKxjMVyORt_m5PvVg0m-j_1qepwQm0BBEfh0SmjECD79Tf9QQKh8qBugzdY2A-yN0GWpnuPA77WJ3sBlP7H8WNm_2Tg1ZkVDmUhWiAWUrU3QgK/s400/Slide1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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We then read the poem together again as we colored the prepositions.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEw5z0IwsMcsyl8pWUD3ITsAQQgCgWyCEQK7OYpxJuOGjRkhPzpQiwVOg7fEMSKtZ9eS4CI8eqJkDSoUXbWg01G_c4Lpi-5vc6JCGmab5aZn4h-p7QX3Qy086Qu-ujCGqJJONR5dhKrnn/s1600/Slide8.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEw5z0IwsMcsyl8pWUD3ITsAQQgCgWyCEQK7OYpxJuOGjRkhPzpQiwVOg7fEMSKtZ9eS4CI8eqJkDSoUXbWg01G_c4Lpi-5vc6JCGmab5aZn4h-p7QX3Qy086Qu-ujCGqJJONR5dhKrnn/s400/Slide8.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Students were then given their own snowflake to decorate. We used some of these directions to discuss where we put our snowflakes.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVpGdJDDt88fzH1jMwWWiBgq84iGoM30ofMYLf6w-Npi1jdAK2uVi0cGK2D_K7w3ILeH19Qm4Pnhepr8YRYTsSW0RDpI3cA9urFishaDm6TutHbmPHOp_FInBgewPQDWNyWifnr7HI1uc/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVpGdJDDt88fzH1jMwWWiBgq84iGoM30ofMYLf6w-Npi1jdAK2uVi0cGK2D_K7w3ILeH19Qm4Pnhepr8YRYTsSW0RDpI3cA9urFishaDm6TutHbmPHOp_FInBgewPQDWNyWifnr7HI1uc/s400/Slide3.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The kiddos LOVED this and it really showed me who might still be struggling with prepositions. Here are a few pictures.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7K_VnqP-rfk43B2d2QDoEtrc3iA_Un_HJBz9SkyLVP79dqJPd0R_VyQ4Oj8KkG31s362Am5FwyUQynXTWHqmGva-oHBoKjVky2dSeGgw6cz6bPULYPl_Hpcs6Qn-VpNKxPmdMqBTQ1qfD/s1600/Slide6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7K_VnqP-rfk43B2d2QDoEtrc3iA_Un_HJBz9SkyLVP79dqJPd0R_VyQ4Oj8KkG31s362Am5FwyUQynXTWHqmGva-oHBoKjVky2dSeGgw6cz6bPULYPl_Hpcs6Qn-VpNKxPmdMqBTQ1qfD/s400/Slide6.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbaNGqSwT-vA4F9aFPQOpxx-or4iH4jraCPEx8AgwD9lJ31BRMC7dqTDoRbrDebhFQTaFgt-vTYt9sWjXgkEjoueN3Q2uj21w78REp84dkndHjUP0fSCBLqdw8l3u5iUPh3DsCId5d_XB/s1600/Slide7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbaNGqSwT-vA4F9aFPQOpxx-or4iH4jraCPEx8AgwD9lJ31BRMC7dqTDoRbrDebhFQTaFgt-vTYt9sWjXgkEjoueN3Q2uj21w78REp84dkndHjUP0fSCBLqdw8l3u5iUPh3DsCId5d_XB/s400/Slide7.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here is a little assessment you can use as well. :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFhw6t7k7c25YYNszyIGXW7VfZVcIE6TWFsoOazPOidR48BklT3lxPxIEd5F_FwNi3wmrDuBR10yIbb2wrNhLzHdsg7dOTGIUo6hrqxT3w1Tb7wHbC7Xpw4e6E8gDEvfLJX_9dUCVJrQQ/s1600/Slide5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFhw6t7k7c25YYNszyIGXW7VfZVcIE6TWFsoOazPOidR48BklT3lxPxIEd5F_FwNi3wmrDuBR10yIbb2wrNhLzHdsg7dOTGIUo6hrqxT3w1Tb7wHbC7Xpw4e6E8gDEvfLJX_9dUCVJrQQ/s400/Slide5.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8GygY8ilzE2gzQYPUpYCYjl3yBXBh92jSTvE3VhH6tMJUxI2a8-Ojvy1bJXjhRM_qoxEjoaqd2seQHZsTsvX362LXxrXZTiQob7E3kUpD182mt_wvoylxHpzWNKS7wt_eVWJ88ztfXYj/s1600/Slide1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8GygY8ilzE2gzQYPUpYCYjl3yBXBh92jSTvE3VhH6tMJUxI2a8-Ojvy1bJXjhRM_qoxEjoaqd2seQHZsTsvX362LXxrXZTiQob7E3kUpD182mt_wvoylxHpzWNKS7wt_eVWJ88ztfXYj/s400/Slide1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Click <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-UW1meGZOckV3bUE/view?usp=sharing">here</a> to grab this *freebie*.</div>
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I hope to be back sooner than the last time to share some more ideas from my head and my heart.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-6524318633716517152015-09-10T17:32:00.000-07:002015-09-10T17:32:51.039-07:00The Rotten Apple Hunt: A CVC Reading AdventureI LOVE creating engaging learning experiences for my kiddos. One of my favorite ways to do that is to have "special visitors" come by our classroom. Little kiddos have hearts that are so open to believing in magical people and animals. Whether it be Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, or Clifford the Big Red Dog, little kids believe in them.<br />
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In September, we get a visit from the<span style="color: red;"> <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Rotten-Apple-Hunt-An-Adventure-Reading-CVC-and-Non-Sense-Words-2086059">Crazy Apple Bunch Friends</a></span>. This is a group of apples that want to get children reading and thinking. They try and trick kiddos by seeing if they can find the Rotten Apple words...words that are non-sense and silly! After stopping by our classroom to leave us a letter explaining our mission, we head off to find this crazy bunch!<br />
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Their apple words have placed words all around our school AND the <span style="color: red;">Crazy Apple Bunch Friends</span> have words written on <span style="color: red;"><i>THEM</i></span>!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWWLG8QcjeUnQ3zxMp2K_RGMWqV2o5larAY3CJQ0eIuNpeZ1CyFoJU00Y5NDSluf1B3hvnikpjgkYDU1JJUjpnqZTRCAaBpO8mIC0X27dzmfKfPs1BxBGvdwyCjC408SC9LeAhGFIMnBJ/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWWLG8QcjeUnQ3zxMp2K_RGMWqV2o5larAY3CJQ0eIuNpeZ1CyFoJU00Y5NDSluf1B3hvnikpjgkYDU1JJUjpnqZTRCAaBpO8mIC0X27dzmfKfPs1BxBGvdwyCjC408SC9LeAhGFIMnBJ/s640/Slide2.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Do you see those round, red balls by these Crazy guys??? That is <span style="color: red;">APPLE POOP</span>!!! </div>
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And the kiddos get to eat the apple poop!</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: red;"><i>Shhhhh</i></span>...It is really cherry sour candy.</span></div>
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After collecting all of the apples in a basket, we must sort those crazy guys by whether they are <span style="color: red;">yummy apples</span> (real words) or <span style="color: red;">rotten apples</span> (non-sense words).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6U_kutlCasZw6oWp5W2qRNu8PuAWPuuDAwHSJDA9uMaAUka0A8m7srnzaeIisp_eYw3KE3kCoMqv7aPzjClUpt8C6QMrA9YFZrXWeQQO6_L_MMtGXXupP4stJfY9RXfhg90AgcCgyEJe/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6U_kutlCasZw6oWp5W2qRNu8PuAWPuuDAwHSJDA9uMaAUka0A8m7srnzaeIisp_eYw3KE3kCoMqv7aPzjClUpt8C6QMrA9YFZrXWeQQO6_L_MMtGXXupP4stJfY9RXfhg90AgcCgyEJe/s640/Slide3.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Crazy Apple Bunch also leave us several activities that we can use in our Daily 5 Word Work. These activities help us work on rhyming, sorting words by their short vowel sound, and more practice reading CVC words. Take a peek. :)</div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Rotten-Apple-Hunt-An-Adventure-Reading-CVC-and-Non-Sense-Words-2086059"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xbfEBS2uwO7zmRF7EdQL_s_ZoN6TEui9NIlCPPKveLP3M6P5LR2yFfHyeOu8y_9pM8qU449NOHCSkg2LvE0RCLPwHCAoQd1oPPrHyn7M0mKKIZ9ezNGG-cJGCw46x9QivL886_04sxNw/s640/Slide1.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I think this activity might be one of my favorite adventures because it was so easy to set-up. All I had to do was hot glue some googly eyes on the apples and write CVC words on them with a Sharpie. The apple poop just added to the excitement and engagement. My kiddos just went crazy nuts over this adventure and I know your kiddos will too!</div>
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Happy September sweet friends.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-37933630284929240162015-07-19T05:00:00.000-07:002015-07-19T05:08:06.923-07:00Sunday's Heart Start: Snapshots of the HeartThis Sunday's Heart Start is one that I think all teachers need to hear. This past year was a struggle for me. Not because I had a difficult class but because there were so many moments that just showed the sad direction I see teaching heading sometimes. But then my heart remembered...<br />
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...My heart remembered Little Warrior from years and years ago. Little Warrior was not in my classroom for very long but I will never forget her smile, her laugh, and her perseverance. Little Warrior's story was very sad and to protect her privacy wherever she might be I won't share it. God placed Little Warrior in my room for a reason...just like each child He places in my room and in your room every year. Little Warrior taught <i>ME</i> more than I know I taught her. The snapshot of her in my head has nothing to do with her scores or grades but her heart.</div>
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At the end of this year, I looked at my classroom snapshot and compared the scores and achievements of my kiddos from the beginning of the year to their scores in May. My teacher heart was so proud. When I turned it in to my Principal and Instructional Coach, I joked that it was stained with all of the blood, sweat, and tears everyone in our room shed. And that was true because many of the assessments caused my little Firsties to cry. There were also tears from me because I felt so pressured by testing this year.</div>
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We give the STAAR test 3rd and up in Texas. My district gives CBA's (curriculum based assessments) for 1st and 2nd. We have given CBAs before so that was not new but it just seems like more and more eyes look and question your scores, your lessons, and your schedule when your scores don't show enough growth. </div>
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I don't think it is a questioning of what we are doing wrong...everyone just wants to help our kiddos do their best. I think the frustrating part is often the steps we have to take to get to a place where our kiddos may not be developmentally ready to be.</div>
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Teachers already pour their hearts and souls into helping our kiddos. We see huge growth all of the time that often does not show up in those scores. I think because we are so passionate about what we do that we tend to feel a little hurt when someone thinks we may not be doing a good job because of what some score shows. <i>They</i> are not in the trenches seeing the moment by moment growth we see and celebrate daily.</div>
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This post is not about testing because our scores already show the difference a teacher makes. Yes, most of the time that snapshot is not a true picture of that child and his/her capabilities. Heck, I cannot think of anything in my life that I would like for someone to take 1 snapshot of and be judged by that snapshot.</div>
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But I started to think of snapshots that SHOULD be in our classroom each day. Snapshots reflecting laughter, music, games, play, art, hugs, friendships, ah-ha's, collaboration, science experiments, engagement, and many other things that SHOULD still be a part of a young child's day and life. Those are the snapshots that will make a difference in the hearts of our kiddos. <i>Those</i> snapshots won't fade from our kiddos hearts.</div>
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I can take no credit for any difference I might be making in the classroom because I just pray for God to use me how He can. Even after 15 years in 1st grade, I still worry about not being good enough. I get so inspired by my friends out in the teaching world. I LOVE how much passion I see out there in social media but it sometimes seems that passion gets lost when I step on campus. I think that doubt is when I lose my focus because I am worrying about scores or other stressful burdens that teachers try to carry alone. I have to remember to create those snapshots that will make a difference in more than a score. Because I need to remember that <i style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;">before you reach their heads, you have to touch their hearts</span></i>.</div>
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One hug can make a heart smile.</div>
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One giggle can heal a heart that has been hurting for awhile.</div>
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One song can comfort the silence at night.</div>
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One teacher can be God's beacon of light.</div>
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YOU can be God's difference of One...Because when YOUR passion shines through, you will ignite that passion in the hearts of others.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-6656731280006834562015-07-15T04:00:00.000-07:002015-07-15T04:00:04.022-07:00The Great Paw Print Hunt with Pete the CatHi Sweet Friends. Since I never blogged about this last year, I knew I wanted to share it with y'all now. If you have ever read my blog, you know that we LOVE to have special visitors come to our classroom.<br />
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These special visitors are usually an animal like <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2012/10/when-we-came-back-from-lunch-one-day-we.html">Stretchy Snake</a> or something seasonal like <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-visit-from-pumpkin-snatchers.html">The Pumpkin Snatchers</a> and <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-leprechauns-birthday-compound-word.html">Lucky the Leprechaun</a>...and those are just a few of the visitors that have stopped by our room. There are tons more.<br />
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These special visitors are a great way to engage the kiddos and get them excited about the lesson. The visitors usually have us "hunting" and looking for things around the school. I usually just put the things we are hunting for down the hall/path we will take to go to Music/PE. This way we can quickly gather them without spending class and learning time hunting for them. Plus, this helps the kiddos be quiet in the line because I'll call on quiet friends to hold the things we find. :)<br />
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These lessons usually start with a letter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yuesbPjap07OFOkRFJiZti2uv9dpD-lAqUA1Oi-XbB-NSn_lNDaeC7qvoAIft-LBhL_INbuuJAI_szDgJNhWS1UB2ynmlM0zHyeSaHFvZeyLq_rISwaehxlWGsj7bao4bUX3YH0mX6is/s1600/Slide4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yuesbPjap07OFOkRFJiZti2uv9dpD-lAqUA1Oi-XbB-NSn_lNDaeC7qvoAIft-LBhL_INbuuJAI_szDgJNhWS1UB2ynmlM0zHyeSaHFvZeyLq_rISwaehxlWGsj7bao4bUX3YH0mX6is/s640/Slide4.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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After receiving this letter, we start hunting for paw prints. Before starting the hunt, we talk about and make predictions about who the paw prints might belong to. You always hear some interesting predictions. :)</div>
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When we are hunting for things in the hall, the kiddos know to stop the line and quietly point to what we are hunting for. There is LOTS of very enthusiastic pointing!</div>
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I always set the hunt up before school and then pretend when the kiddos see the things in the morning that I have no idea how they got there. :)</div>
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When the kiddos see the paw prints, most still don't make the connection that these are Pete the Cats paw prints...and I don't tell them. :)</div>
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Beside each paw print is a clue. The clues tell the students about a favorite treat of the author of the letter. Remember, the letter is signed as a Groovy Friend. </div>
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When we finish finding all 6 clues, we head back to the room. When we get back to the room (This will usually be AFTER PE/Music), there is a package and a cat food bowl full of letters on my table.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0E7W53FKYy-jxXOslwwgLqkGvBAWcZPjFNLzmDxK8nVdHNARFgMu9WEa4J1wb5S-3WGwAnnimxCUl9yGi0cXHtS8vN3MS8Bulbs5JzYefHM8Z4MJnusuI3wEEoqxcUTi42VSIWSMEPiE/s1600/Slide2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0E7W53FKYy-jxXOslwwgLqkGvBAWcZPjFNLzmDxK8nVdHNARFgMu9WEa4J1wb5S-3WGwAnnimxCUl9yGi0cXHtS8vN3MS8Bulbs5JzYefHM8Z4MJnusuI3wEEoqxcUTi42VSIWSMEPiE/s640/Slide2.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We talk about all 6 clues and read the letter on the bag that tells us we need to use our schema and infer what could be inside the bag. We practice using sentence stems to help us talk about our inference.</div>
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We open the package to check our inference. We find strawberries and our paw print letter hunt cards.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSGIT2HBP3Zge6FKN3fJBNiGeoLcOQcQtOFZBY0y6KRkJg700S2z_KzmKeeHt1OpwNJM1vO0e984YkwXScuIx1WLw7Q-2WPTqd2HdZJAT2yon-2Ne4ux7_gK4W0YnbwnWZ-WzuyNWvpEd/s1600/Slide3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSGIT2HBP3Zge6FKN3fJBNiGeoLcOQcQtOFZBY0y6KRkJg700S2z_KzmKeeHt1OpwNJM1vO0e984YkwXScuIx1WLw7Q-2WPTqd2HdZJAT2yon-2Ne4ux7_gK4W0YnbwnWZ-WzuyNWvpEd/s640/Slide3.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Along with the strawberries and word study activity, the Groovy Friend also left us one of his books.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5N22Q9zHkaasZser8TFi8JZ_IvNcV403X0x5g_MiYxme4xH60-OuDwFFe-0OgDtbC1BAz0RhydiIWIgm7Y_yK_zLDdv72mz3ZWD0H9a6mQXJuTzeBczsqu2463fmi3qlgFlPj8PrcGta/s1600/I+love+my+white+shoes+book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5N22Q9zHkaasZser8TFi8JZ_IvNcV403X0x5g_MiYxme4xH60-OuDwFFe-0OgDtbC1BAz0RhydiIWIgm7Y_yK_zLDdv72mz3ZWD0H9a6mQXJuTzeBczsqu2463fmi3qlgFlPj8PrcGta/s1600/I+love+my+white+shoes+book+cover.jpg" /></a></div>
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The reason there were paw prints around the school was he lost his shoes because they were covered in strawberries! :)</div>
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My kiddos seriously loved this activity. I was able to use the cards in Word Work and in my reading/RtI groups. If you are interested in grabbing it, click on the link below.</div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Great-Paw-Print-Hunt-1483298"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSj26nOobqdFp52tMqGGp1anxatbzPWQtvEVmm1ankUYoZ_yB8slwZkCfsd2byjFrKVlZwzpxtEASG2N7kTMhFgbBSzuTmzCXLuy5Fwfwh1l4_vr9Q5enRMblWdxj1RZNpf0up2vhTXL1n/s640/Slide1.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-WnQ5azVFN2FrdEk/view?usp=sharing" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0twd84bXMlD-oI1iKybuIF6icXoXKaNRbshNt7aK4hRKEPd1UTPn7xhz0BAKmLAbEqBaiF83xvOPWyNnlKecWPL4Yt1Xf4XeDKjJ27u6AuQIGNd0bxAbOcmbofmsGeleLK9UumlhfC5dt/s640/paw+print+freebie+pic.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Click on the picture to grab a *freebie*!</div>
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Have a groovy day!</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-73090971464416585372015-07-12T06:00:00.000-07:002018-07-27T09:07:23.242-07:00Sunday's Heart Start: Getting Your Room ReadyHi sweet friends. This week was so hard to be here in Texas while all of my teacher friends and teacher inspirations were in Vegas. Let's just say I have done a lot of <strike>stalking</strike> scrolling through pictures.<br />
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I have LOVED seeing everyone's pictures. So to make everyone jealous about where <i>I was</i>, I went up to my classroom to start setting it up. While there, I thought of what this <span style="color: red;">Sunday's Heart Start</span> would be about.<br />
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I'm not sure about y'all but seeing my furniture all piled into one LARGE jumble is not my favorite sight to see...especially working when there is NO a/c.<br />
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This is the first year EVER that my stuff was not piled to the ceiling! I usually have to climb the Mt. Rushmore of furniture to begin setting my room up! And this is not an illusion....this is the ACTUAL size of my <strike>closet</strike> classroom.</div>
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In a few weeks, everyone will start sharing the beautiful pictures of their classrooms. I LOVE seeing them all and get so many ideas. I also have to say a few prayers to not be jealous! Lol! :)</div>
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I LOVE creating a warm, friendly, inviting home for my kiddos and myself...and let's face it, our classroom IS our 2nd home. But I also know I have to caution myself to not get caught up in lots of little details. I have to remind myself that there is more to a classroom than all of the Pinterest projects....especially when you are craft challenged like myself and take <i><b>FOREVER</b></i> to make anything!</div>
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I have to remind myself as I am crossing off things on my to-do lists that I need to be spending equal time planning lessons and activities that will build Our School Family <i>and</i> reach the hearts of my kiddos. I want my kiddos to know that when they walk into our classroom, they walk into my heart.</div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-bEM1TDhLV0JoRHc/view?usp=sharing"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_pDDnldrDyR_-qJK_Q4Fk1lhlp56YjRgpLwYu9tv57jCcBSvliWab07w9eetbsx7nA54a8CASeXlBQl9gKYyda4WTqEvP76PuVgu-uvItMqMi8HzUM-qu3Axdcfd_sQCZsUGtDKGSLqE/s640/In+This+Room.jpg.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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For many of our kiddos, our classrooms are safe havens. Our rooms might be the one place during the day where they feel loved and safe. Because of that, I want to encourage and build a caring and supportive home. Here is one way I build that environment where kiddos feel safe.</div>
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I'll be back to share about this special box. Yes, I am teasing y'all! :)</div>
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As you start getting your room ready, be sure to take time to get your heart ready.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-72093252014260927642015-07-05T06:00:00.000-07:002015-07-06T15:32:46.641-07:00Sunday's Heart Start: Are You Ready?Hi Sweet Friends. Y'all have been on my heart constantly and there have been so many times when I <i>wanted</i> to sit down and blog but just couldn't. I'll go more into all of that in another post. I have truly missed blogging and sharing with each of you. Blogging has always helped me get my heart in the right place. So....I am going to start a series on this blog...or at least try my best to.<br />
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I love Sundays because they are the start of a new week. Yes, they are the end of the weekend. Yes, I spend them procrastinating about writing my lesson plans. Yes, I LOVE my nap after church. But the reason I love Sundays is they are my <span style="color: red;">HEART START</span> to the week. They are God's reminder that each day and week is a fresh start.<br />
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It is so easy to dread Mondays. Each Monday when I pull into the parking lot it is easy for me to not want to put my first foot onto my campus. I know the days and week will be full of obstacles and more on my plate than I can usually deal with since I don't have super powers. :)<br />
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I love teaching but it is all of the other STUFF that gets me down. I know how much the power of encouragement can uplift a heart and make a difference. I want to give those words of encouragement to others if I can....especially to my kiddos. :)<br />
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I know I have to have my attitude in check because if I don't, a bad attitude will bring me down.<br />
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My attitude <i><span style="color: red;">will</span> </i>effect my kiddos.<br />
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Your attitude <i><span style="color: red;">will</span></i> effect your kiddos.<br />
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There are times I need to listen to certain songs, pray, and find inspiration in the things that remind me <i><span style="color: red;">WHY</span></i> I teach.<br />
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This video always reminds me of the importance <i>and</i> the difference that teachers make.<br />
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As you get ready for a new week, make a plan to encourage, uplift, and serve others. Remember, God gives you a gift each day. A day we can use to make a difference by sharing His love with others.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-44022001833367978872014-12-24T06:30:00.000-08:002014-12-24T06:30:51.790-08:00The Gift of a TeacherMerry Christmas sweet friends. I hope you are enjoying your holiday and are finding time to see the blessings that are all around us. I am blessed by the gift God gave us in His son because without the manger there would be no cross.<br />
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Last week as I was gathering the goodies for my gift to my kiddos I realized that what I really wanted to give them was not something I could wrap or buy. One of the gifts that would make a difference would be to give them the best teacher that I could be. Yes, I hope they remember the fun activities we do but I would rather them remember how I made them feel.<br />
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I want to give them a teacher who has<a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2012/03/heart-of-patience.html"> A Heart of Patience</a> because we all have so many things going on that make life stressful. I want my words to help them when things are going wrong and I want to lift them up with encouraging words that make them strong.<br />
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I want them to find magic in the books of a book and show them small miracles that others overlook. I want to remember that when I look at them I behold the future...even when that scares me!<br />
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Seeing our kiddos as the future seems to get more difficult and difficult each year because teaching becomes more and more stressful and the dynamics of our classrooms keeps changing...and not always as we see for the best. I want to give my kiddos the gift of taking these difficult and stressful situations as opportunities to help them become kind and caring individuals.<br />
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I want to give them a teacher that sees them with <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2011/09/eyes-of-heart.html">Eyes of the Heart</a>. Eyes that see the good and eyes that see past the facade and the behaviors. Eyes that see everyone with love because God loved me first and I am a sinner that is not perfect too.<br />
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I want to give them the <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-teacher-in-mirror.html">teacher in the mirror</a> that <i>is enough</i> because we often forget that teacher when we become discouraged by all of the obstacles in our way. I want to remember I am teaching a child and not just a curriculum. I want to see my kiddos with growth glasses that see achievements both big and small that data on a paper does not show.<br />
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I want to give them the gift of giggles because our days need to be full of joy. The smiles and laughter of our kiddos will be remembered in our hearts long after memories of benchmark tests fade from our brains.<br />
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I want to give them the <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2012/07/is-your-heart-in-your-room.html">gift of a classroom</a> that is a special place because when they walked into my classroom they walked into my heart.<br />
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I want to give them the gift of a childhood as much as I can in the 7 precious hours I have them at school.<br />
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To you, I want to give you the gift of knowing that <a href="http://heathersfirstgradeheart.blogspot.com/2011/09/because-of-you.html">Because of You</a> a difference is being made.<br />
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As you celebrate Christmas and the holidays, know that you are giving your children something precious and priceless...you are giving them the gift of a teacher.<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-RDdodl9SOUdhU0k/view?usp=sharing"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsLlaybEvlMQbjIivEwL66tskolPyqXsg6rjRqPsalvSAR10nhoAsPc_0tWLzeBs9T8qkwp8sDfZRV4FaWSmuGaIYGrR2BGKgtYfecAH5uh8rYWjqLA9-KnB7rOnMN_o3ztzpnMjjFfVS/s1600/The+Gift+of+a+Teacher.png" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-29122582136840501082014-12-19T15:38:00.000-08:002014-12-19T15:58:54.996-08:00The Teacher in the MirrorWOW! It has been forever since I wrote a blog post. I have thought of so many things I wanted to share with you but just can't get it together to share them. I find myself wondering how is December almost over??!!?? Where is this year going????<br />
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This is my 15th year of teaching...and I have been in 1st the whole time. Considering that piece of info, I wonder how in the world can I feel as if I am drowning at least 80% of the time??? Why am I creating and making new activities???? Why do I find myself feeling like a crummy teacher more days than not???<br />
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I realize I am teaching in a world that forgets that I am teaching a young child. I follow a curriculum that seems to expect kiddos to learn a new concept right away. My kiddos don't leave their burdens at the door and my kiddos still need time to explore, play, and laugh...We won't even talk about all they keep heaping on our plates...I do like to sleep and have yet to figure out how to get it all in!!!<br />
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I think many teachers of the little ones find us in a world where developmentally appropriate doesn't matter anymore. I realize the reason I <i>might </i>have a HUGE headache when I come home could<i> </i>be because we taught addition for 1 week and the next week we are introducing subtraction. Hmmmm, hello???? Where is time for us to be building neural pathways and the time for practice and reteaching???<br />
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When someone looks at your score and sees kiddos below benchmark, they may not see and understand that one of those kiddos knew 0 letters when the year started or one of those kiddos has a parent in jail or one of them is living in a shelter.<br />
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When I have kiddos struggling, I forget to look at these other factors...I just start feeling as if I am not a good enough teacher.<br />
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There have been times this year that I looked into the mirror and did not like the teacher and person I saw. It is so easy to look at others, our kiddos, and ourselves with critical eyes. Most of the time I do not see others or myself as God does. When I saw this video, I cried and knew that others needed to see it too. Click on the link to watch. :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=0M22CFNU">The Teacher in the Mirror</a></div>
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I pray that I remember when I see <i>this</i> teacher in the mirror that I see a teacher that will keep creating new activities because I want my kiddos to be engaged. I pray that I remember that scores are just numbers on a page that do not accurately show the learning that has taken place. I pray that I see the teacher that loves her kiddos and that tries to teach them to be kind to others because that <i>will </i>make a difference in the world. I pray that I see others as an inspiration because teachers are making a difference in countless ways every day.</div>
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Remember this when you see the teacher in the mirror....</div>
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You are an inspiration to your kiddos. You are making a difference. The teacher in the mirror is a blessing because that teacher in the mirror is YOU!!!</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-69076488785297652262014-08-16T07:35:00.000-07:002014-08-16T07:35:37.687-07:00We Care Bag- Reaching the Heart of Your ClassI am so excited to share about this with everyone. If you have hopped over to my blog before you probably know how much I love Conscious Discipline. It is AMAZING! Keep reading to learn more about this <span style="color: red;">Bright Idea</span>.....a We Care Bag.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQR4mYzPw58slqYEgxgTyHSFyvtb4Ib_PoCoc64lBnpBvmwb1aSLvy7slQYreIKoCqvfv7EdfMByQwqss2DGRr74Rm2RBPwvrvOFGzvZqbzGk7UejwQM7skYdPTsB1GLdBNvDWDi4yTFGZ/s1600/bright+ideas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQR4mYzPw58slqYEgxgTyHSFyvtb4Ib_PoCoc64lBnpBvmwb1aSLvy7slQYreIKoCqvfv7EdfMByQwqss2DGRr74Rm2RBPwvrvOFGzvZqbzGk7UejwQM7skYdPTsB1GLdBNvDWDi4yTFGZ/s1600/bright+ideas.jpg" /></a></div>
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Young children often have difficulty being able to verbalize what they are feeling or going through. The way we often know that something is wrong is through their behavior. The tools in the We Care bag can help kiddos learn ways to de-stress, calm down, problem solve, and learn about ways to handle different emotions.</div>
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The We Care bag can also be used to teach your kiddos empathy....and just brings out the sweet hearts ALL of our kiddos have. :)</div>
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Here are some of the helpful goodies inside. :)</div>
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You can put anything in there that you want and you can easily modify this for bigger kiddos.</div>
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One of the tools in the bag are the De-Stressing icons. These are 4 different breathing techniques that can help when a kiddo,,,and even the teacher...is feeling mad or upset. Often when we are upset we have shallow breathing and our brains need more oxygen to move from the limbic system to the frontal lobe where problem solving takes place. Here is just a little about each one:</div>
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*<span style="color: red;">S.T.A.R</span>-<span style="color: red;"> Stop T</span>ake a deep breath <span style="color: red;">A</span>nd <span style="color: red;">R</span>elax- This is just deep belly breathing 3 times in and out</div>
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*<span style="color: red;">Drain</span>- Make 2 fists and hold your arms out straight in front of you. Tighten all muscles. Then, make a "Shhhhhhh" sound as you let out and release all of the stress and tension.</div>
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*<span style="color: red;">Balloon</span>- Interlace your fingers and put both hands on top of your head. Pretend that you are blowing up a balloon as you inhale through your nose and stretch your arms above your head like you are blowing up an imaginary balloon. Slowly exhale and deflate your balloon making a "pppbbbbbb" sound with your lips.</div>
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*<span style="color: red;">Pretzel</span>- This one still gets me all twisted up and the kiddos too! :)</div>
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You cross arms and legs. Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and breathe.</div>
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You can grab this *freebie* from the Conscious Discipline website. They will give you a better explanation of each icon than what I did. :)</div>
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<a href="https://consciousdiscipline.com/downloads/resources/Safe_Place_Breathing_Icons.pdf">breathing icons</a></div>
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The other things in the picture above are some tools we use to help us relax.</div>
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The <span style="color: blue;">Star</span> is a light the kiddos can tap it to turn it on 3 times as they practice their S.T.A.R. breathing using the breathing icon above.</div>
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The <span style="color: blue;">caterpillar</span> is a squishy toy that the kiddos gently rock back and forth breathing while practicing being caterpillar calm. </div>
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Conscious Discipline has a set of books about a character named Shubert. In the books, Shubert has to practice being caterpillar calm when he gets upset. The kiddos learn lots about breathing and de-stressing from those books. :)</div>
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The<span style="color: blue;"> bottle</span> is full of pom poms balls. The kiddos pull out the pom poms one by one. A lot of times this helps when they are really focused on a problem about something not going their way. With the bottle, they get busy on the task and they often forget how sad or angry they are. They calm down and then I can talk to them about what was wrong. :)</div>
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Be careful though....this will frustrate some kiddos and make them mad. Ruh-Roh....we don't want that. :)</div>
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The <span style="color: blue;">light bulb</span> helps them think of other ways the problem they are having can be solved. </div>
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They can get a bright idea too!</div>
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The <span style="color: blue;">stuffed frog</span> helps comfort them when they are feeling sad or lonely.</div>
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The <span style="color: blue;">mirror</span> helps them "see" how they are feeling. I usually have an emotions poster in the bag too.</div>
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The <span style="color: blue;">S.T.A.R. glasses</span> can be worn so they "focus" on calming down and using their S.T.A.R. breathing.</div>
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The <span style="color: blue;">phone</span> can be used so they can "call" somebody when they are sad or missing someone.</div>
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We use the phone A LOT because my sweet little ones at the beginning of the year miss their mom or I have kiddos who have a parent in jail that they sometimes call. :(</div>
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My kiddos love to help each other out with the goodies inside.</div>
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I usually have <span style="color: blue;">Cranky Cream</span>, <span style="color: blue;">Boo Boo Lotion</span>, and<span style="color: blue;"> Dream Cream </span>inside too. :)</div>
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The kiddos can ask me if they can get a tool out to help a friend or a kiddo can ask me to get something out to help themselves if something is wrong. I might tell a kiddo "I think we need to get something out of the We Care Bag to help you out right now. Let's go see what we can find."</div>
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This bag goes so well with Our School Family job of the Cheerleader because the kiddos want to celebrate each other when they have calmed down and are ready to get their brains working again. :)</div>
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Too stinkin' sweet! :)</div>
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Be sure and check out tons and tons of other Bright Ideas in the links below.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-90151274324158195892014-08-06T12:17:00.000-07:002014-08-06T17:17:45.288-07:00The Kindness Recorder-A School Family JobI cannot believe summer is almost over. A new school year always makes me nervous and excited. One of my favorite parts of going back to school is building our new School Family. One of the best ways to do that is through Our School Family jobs. So many of the jobs encourage and foster kindness.<br>
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The Kindness Recorder is one I adore!<br>
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We start by reading the story <u>Mrs. Spritzers Garden</u>.<br>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Spitzers-Garden-Edith-Pattou/dp/0152019782/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407346081&sr=8-2&keywords=mrs+spitzers+garden"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivAXHR4LeWoOVit9qQKSV3ZjOAPX1s_EeLiOPPOQZs6gYXsEBTJ7278bKchlIr93Ely0BH_qFhBX32ybG_-NUl8MYmHgR3cxXF-67MpnjW_b69-jnJwnBFLgnS9YkjXcTcOnVg5sjxXrA/s1600/Mrs+Spritzers+Garden.jpg"></a></div>
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We talk about how to take care of a garden and flowers and what Mrs. Spritzer did to take care of her garden of children. I tell the kiddos that to help others grow into something beautiful we need to treat them with kindness. We then brainstorm a list of ways we can show kindness to others.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpdWg-0ZRxbX3WXLxF7_s3e9uFQxACJ7hCS7kDJ74uxFrux1qCrnLR-VvJAmc8edyRy7EhLrXWex1iCxW8ZbIgpybq5Ce89C92uj3kVjsdWYmek6DOQsFjjxu07EDmADw5oX0YfTvS1qH/s1600/kind+acts+poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpdWg-0ZRxbX3WXLxF7_s3e9uFQxACJ7hCS7kDJ74uxFrux1qCrnLR-VvJAmc8edyRy7EhLrXWex1iCxW8ZbIgpybq5Ce89C92uj3kVjsdWYmek6DOQsFjjxu07EDmADw5oX0YfTvS1qH/s1600/kind+acts+poster.png" height="400" width="222"></a></div>
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We also listen to the song "Looking for Kindness" from this Conscious Discipline cd.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindness-Counts-Mr-Al/dp/B0007CKALU"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWD_oM2pPt1osBpazcl9CeQZvDxyuQydKw72b9G0rp-bgNUwHx7j6bCraE7qvNubhHoeaUF7CeQn8niPMtUiaMrRggWbvq0Bg-nb_reF8U_8dYMThWHNwMH4SLNFj_K3QhmJqHOJ3gKQ_/s1600/Kindness+Counts+cd.jpg"></a></div>
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The job of the Kindness Recorder will be to add kind flowers for the helpful and kind acts that they notice others doing. I bought the flowers at the Target Dollar Spot.</div>
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When the Kindness Recorder adds a kind flower they tell that person:</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">I am going to add you a kind flower for __________.</span></div>
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The person it is being added for replies:</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Thank you for noticing that.</span></div>
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I also bring in 2 different flowering plants. One we take really good care of and the other I will pull petals and leaves off of when I see or hear something mean. I won't say who it was and I never do it right at that moment. I might say "When we were down at the restrooms, I saw someone snatch the paper towel someone had just rolled and they didn't roll that person more. Was that kind and helpful?" As the week goes on, we look at the two different plants and we talk about the difference between caring for one with kindness and being hurtful to the other. This makes a HUGE impact on the kiddos.</div>
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The Kindness Recorder brings a smile to my heart daily. It amazes me how quickly the kiddos start to notice kind acts from others...even me. At the beginning of the year, I do a lot of modeling of this job before I turn it over to the kiddos. I also will help the Kindness Recorder "notice" these kind acts if they might be having a little trouble noticing those acts themselves....but the other kiddos are good at pointing them out too!</div>
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There might be times when one of my "toughies" is showing kindness that I really want to celebrate and notice....or I might want to celebrate the kiddos who are always putting others before themselves. So, I made some little notes that you can send home with any of your kiddos to celebrate those sweet kind hearts.</div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-U0FUcGhWeWlNbUE/edit?usp=sharing"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQuqwFRgwgxKyH1GY-86JPoOCFtJMCKZvvKk1WTKEy4F_v91Ff1M_o10NVlwtIyRABle-SvNEQ8-RN1tk76L_tkrPpku_9YG-VC_oQr0iblv5sfSeggRvDbKwPSaNAuquZBE2JZ4yb2nU/s1600/My+Kind+Heart.png" height="480" width="640"></a></div>
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Conscious Discipline says that what you focus on you get more of and what you strengthen in others you strengthen in yourself. So, think about adding some kindness to your classroom this year with the job of the Kindness Recorder. :)</div>
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It is easy to forget how just a little kindness can bring a huge smile to someone's heart. :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAaI73M81dfvCZpPMtfQTVTQlsZhzNo3T0LV1lcFjOEHWdtLClP67W5nYvpopOvPYFRgEyJxPIO3SjU2kfSxAPbb2KdWzL9SxbS2qXOMJwmvDt-4nlfAXJCznL53Mv0jxqoBd1HHykMJr/s1600/kindness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAaI73M81dfvCZpPMtfQTVTQlsZhzNo3T0LV1lcFjOEHWdtLClP67W5nYvpopOvPYFRgEyJxPIO3SjU2kfSxAPbb2KdWzL9SxbS2qXOMJwmvDt-4nlfAXJCznL53Mv0jxqoBd1HHykMJr/s1600/kindness.jpg" height="400" width="284"></a></div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com120tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-62430838090579444052014-07-25T14:55:00.000-07:002014-07-25T15:00:27.834-07:00Yo' Momma<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Framework-Understanding-Poverty-Ruby-Payne/dp/1929229143"><br /></a></div>
Until I became a teacher, I never really understood how the words <i style="color: red;">Yo' Momma </i>or<i style="color: red;"> My Momma said</i> starting a sentence would give me a headache. In High School, I had guy friends that would tell <i><span style="color: red;">Yo' Momma</span></i> jokes to each other. I heard jokes like <span style="color: blue;">Yo' Momma's so fat that when she walks in front of the TV I miss 3</span> <span style="color: blue;">episodes</span> or <span style="color: blue;">Yo' Momma's so fat that she left the house in high heels and came back wearing flip flops</span>. We might giggle when we hear and see some momma jokes but in truth, they are really hurtful.<br />
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I don't remember anybody saying any jokes insulting <i>my</i> momma but I know I probably would be upset over a momma joke too!<br />
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My first year of teaching I tried....and failed....to explain the logic to a six year old that this person does not even <i>KNOW </i>your momma so try and not worry too much about what they are saying. We talked about kind words and treating others with respect but I never realized how their momma's presence would ALWAYS be in the classroom with them....and <i>ALL</i> of their mommas are there regardless of race.<br />
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I also quickly learned that my little ones were often skeptical of what I told them to do because of what <span style="color: blue;"><u><i>their momma said.</i></u></span> The momma card trumped ANYTHING I had to say!<br />
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I then read Ruby Payne's book <u>A Framework for Understanding Poverty</u>. I was also blessed to see her present. WOW!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Framework-Understanding-Poverty-Ruby-Payne/dp/1929229143"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkuWKe_vIDoeVQB7Y2OC3Qmy4DoTP7sRMbQkOcayEzD6JICvVvGjvNZmlQ1SF6GaZqhXdkwdboDwqC0qcCpCSBroyZ3tqNRN6CJZmceRHi_7bvC7fusMc8VxkWyDdXL0WqPOu3GDJRSvA/s1600/poverty.jpg" /></a></div>
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Working at a Title 1 school where usually ALL of my students are already identified as at-risk coming into my 1st grade classroom this book is an amazing tool and guide for understanding.<br />
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This video is also awesome for helping understand the difference between home and school rules that our kiddos and parents often struggle with....and also the <span style="color: blue;"><i><b>hidden rules</b>.</i></span><br />
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Even before seeing this video, this is something I tried after attending my workshop with Ruby Payne. Many of our kiddos come into our classroom carrying with them a completely different set of rules. We expect them to start following "our" set of rules right away.</div>
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We often aren't as patient helping these students adjust to this new set of rules as we might be when they are struggling with a new concept academically. We also don't want to make a mistake by telling our kiddos that their set of home rules are wrong either....even if we disagree.</div>
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Part of our job will be helping them to see that those rules are not ones you can usually follow at school or at work. I always talk to my kiddos about how my principal makes me do things I don't want to or that there might be a time I get mad over something that happened with another teacher. I ask the kiddos if it would be okay for me to drop to the ground and throw a fit or run next door and hit Mrs. Carla??!!!??? I have even acted really mad and started walking around the room kicking things and saying "<i>My momma said if anyone makes me mad I should just hit them!!! I'm going to go next door and HIT Mrs. Carla!!!</i>"</div>
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The kiddos always laugh and think this is funny...<i>and I have to bit my lip to keep from laughing at the look on their faces sometimes. :)</i></div>
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I talk to my kiddos about the difference between <span style="color: red;">home rules</span> and <span style="color: red;">school rules</span>. We talk about my job as The Safe Keeper and how it is their job to help me keep everyone safe. We talk about other ways to handle problems here at school such as walking away, going to a spot to calm down, standing up for yourself while staying calm and in control, or going to get an adult to help you solve the problem. We brainstorm other strategies too. We try and learn ways to be problem solvers while still helping them know that they can save face because at school they are just following a different set of rules. </div>
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By showing them that we are going to help them learn how to be successful following <span style="color: red;">school rules</span>, we are going to be showing them respect and how much we care. As we handle different situations and share the self talk in our heads, we will be modeling to them other ways to handle problems and the problem solving we go through, By doing this, we will be the champions by their side and the mirrors that reflect kindness and patience to them and others.</div>
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One day someone might say <span style="color: blue;"><i>Yo' Momma must be pretty amazing to have raised a child like you!</i></span></div>
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Our kiddos are coming to use holding on to rocks that we might see as burdens or stumbling blocks. If we stand by them as they learn and pave the way with respect and love, those rocks can be stepping stones bridging the way from heart to heart.</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-43630837408437990162014-06-10T11:23:00.000-07:002014-06-10T11:23:49.760-07:00A Change for Next Year...and NowIt is time to brush off the cobwebs and dead crickets that have no longer been chirping on this blog because they died a looooonnnnngggg time ago!<br />
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I cannot even begin to tell you about all of the blog posts I have written in my head, But when it came time to sit down and actually <u><i><span style="color: red;">write</span></i></u> them, I felt lost. I have kind of felt lost ALL year long with things going on at school and at home. But I have realized how much blogging helps me reflect on my attitude and where my heart is....it is sometimes the compass that helps me point my heart back towards God and the reasons <i><span style="color: red;">why</span></i> I love teaching despite how challenging and draining it can be.<br />
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Every May, I find myself making a list of all of the things I will do better <i><span style="color: blue;">next year</span></i>. I tell myself I will be more purposeful in my guided reading lesson plans and Writing Workshop mini-lessons. I tell myself I will stay on top of grading papers so I am not entering grades on the day they are due at 11:58 pm! I also realize how there are so many things I could have done better if I had looked at changing <span style="color: blue;"><i><u>myself</u></i></span> first.<br />
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Do you ever find yourself wanting to change others....both little people and big people?<br />
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And it is often the BIG people we want to change the most because we think they should know better! :)<br />
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I have to remind myself daily....and sometimes minute by minute...that the only person I can change is myself and how I respond to that person and that situation.<br />
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I know I have found times when I make excuses for myself and have found it easy to place the blame on others or something else. Have you heard these excuses before?<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">I have a tough class this year.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">I don't like this curriculum.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Admin has no clue what it is like in the classroom.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Their parents don't care about their grades.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">They never listen.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">They NEVER hush!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">You don't understand what my team is like!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">I have NO help or support from home!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">It does no good to send the children to the office.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">This child (or grown-up) drives me CRAZY!!!</span><br />
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These excuses do nothing to SOLVE the problem. In fact, we often use them to justify the things we do. I know I have been guilty of that before. :(<br />
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So when that starts to happen, I realize I need to pray and find the things that help me point my mind and heart back on a better path.<br />
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Some of my favorite thoughts from <span style="color: red;">Conscious Discipline</span> always help ground me and remind me how I don't need to change others only myself.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">How you respond to a child's upset teaches them how to respond to others when they are upset</span>.<span style="font-size: xx-small;">p. 192</span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What you focus on, you get more of. What we offer others we strengthen in ourselves</span>. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">p. 160</span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Love see the best in people, even children</span>. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">p.162</span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whomever you have placed in charge of your feelings, you have placed in control of you</span>.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> p.28</span></span><br />
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This song always helps to remind me of how God will change us so it is not up to me to try and change others.<br />
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So instead of thinking of all of the things I need and will do better next year, I remind myself about reaching and touching their hearts first. I remind myself that through the tough times I will face with my kiddos to encourage them and love them.</div>
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I will remind myself to be kind, patient, and encouraging even when those around me are not.<br />
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I will remind myself to show love through the toughest times because we are ALL still learning and changing.<br />
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But most of all, I will remind myself that we are ALL broken but God is sculpting each of us into something beautiful!</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-27293021520876857432014-04-12T07:06:00.000-07:002014-04-12T07:06:07.383-07:00Label Love: Interactive Learning Fun<div style="text-align: center;">
Are you ready to discover some awesome Bright Ideas? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIcivBLHfENgShCcc4HG_kTLG1IuUJ9a_KeVetC9GTXdxwuqJ0d93-VcBLSKRVZLJ6A7CGXRcKQ9Ya6ufGCgnYDVqULaleYP1YdKplMmmxmXjRJEJS3Hgh_y6VjSh0QS2uPrilV_fAxas/s1600/bright+ideas.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIcivBLHfENgShCcc4HG_kTLG1IuUJ9a_KeVetC9GTXdxwuqJ0d93-VcBLSKRVZLJ6A7CGXRcKQ9Ya6ufGCgnYDVqULaleYP1YdKplMmmxmXjRJEJS3Hgh_y6VjSh0QS2uPrilV_fAxas/s1600/bright+ideas.PNG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is just one of them. :)</div>
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I am so excited to share with y'all some fun ways to use labels for <span style="color: blue;">Word Study</span>, <span style="color: blue;">Math</span>, <span style="color: blue;">Science</span>, and <span style="color: blue;">more</span>. I love labels and we have been using them to get us up and moving around. PLUS they can often give us the opportunity for some great discussions...OR they give us a chance to practice skills without talking. :)<br />
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Here are a few examples of the different ways we have recently used labels. I buy the address ones that are 30 to a page.<br />
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For <span style="color: blue;">Word Study</span>, I typed (You can also just write them) one part of a compound word on each label. They kiddos had to get up and get moving to find the other half to their compound word.<br />
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For <span style="color: blue;">Math</span>, I typed random numbers from 1-120. I called on about 8-10 kiddos to come to the front of the room. My other kiddos had their marker boards. They had to write the numbers in order from least to greatest. I then had the kiddos with the labels put their number and themselves in order from least to greatest by making a human number line. We were then able to check our answers.<br />
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We then sorted ours numbers and ourselves by<span style="color: blue;"><u> n</u></span><u><span style="color: blue;">umbers greater than 25 but less than 75</span></u>.<br />
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I also called out number clues to help each child identify the <span style="color: red;">Mystery Number</span> I was talking about. For example, <span style="color: blue;"><u>I am 10 more than 42 and I am the same as 5 dimes and 2 pennies</u></span>. I also let the kiddos make up the clues about another person's number.<br />
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For <span style="color: blue;">Science</span>, we sorted ourselves by living and non-living. To extend that activity, we then used some of our inferring skills to determine what object I was talking about using riddle clues. I forgot to take the picture of this.<br />
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Here are some others ways you can use labels:<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">*short and long vowels</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*even and odd numbers</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*needs and wants</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*solids, liquids, or gases</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*shapes- by 2d or 3d, vertices, edges, etc.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*digraphs or blends</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*true or false math equations</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*balanced or not balanced number sentences</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*animal coverings</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*syllables</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*beginning or ending sounds</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*rhyming pairs</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*characteristics of different genres</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*contractions</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*characteristics of fiction and non-fiction</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">*nouns, verbs, and adjectives</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">You can even have students create the labels for another group to sort and solve. :)</span><br />
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For more bright ideas from 150 different bloggers, please browse through the link up below and choose a topic that interests you. Thank you so much for stopping by <span style="color: magenta;">Heather's Heart</span>.<br />
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<!-- end InLinkz script -->Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-77356185967301542722013-11-23T03:42:00.000-08:002013-11-23T10:42:28.753-08:00Tough TurkeysWhere in the world is this year going??!!??? I cannot believe it is almost December!<br>
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I started thinking this year about some of the tough kiddos I have taught before. These are the kiddos that seem to never be absent but make <i>YOU</i> want to be absent. I think with all of the stress and higher expectations "they" keep piling on us those tough turkeys seem to stand out even more.<br>
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We tend to keep having more and more we have to teach but we also have more and more behavior issues each year. There is not enough time in the day to take care of everything but it is so important to help our tough turkeys. We will always have patience when our kiddos struggle academically but we tend to have less and less patience with our tough turkeys' behavior issues.<br>
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I have to stop and remind myself that I cannot control a kiddo's behavior but only how <i>I </i>react to that behavior. The only person I can change is myself. One of the most powerful lessons Conscious Discipline has taught me is about how the way we react to the upset of others teaches a child how they will react to the upset of others. Whatever we offer to others we strengthen in ourselves.<br>
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Our attitude makes a HUGE difference. There are days that before I even get to school I feel discouraged. I think with all of the higher expectations we are teaching concepts that are not developmentally appropriate. This often frustrates our kiddos and can factor into their behavior problems. We also have kiddos who live in a completely different world with different expectations when they go home. School and School Rules are completely foreign to them. We often forget that we need to be the ones to teach them this different set of rules and expectations. I forget almost daily that each one of the kiddos in my classroom are either extending love or crying out for love. I might be the only one to love that little tough turkey each day.</div>
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Each day we need to make a choice to greet all of our kiddos, especially our tough turkeys, with love and patience. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">From My Heart to Yours</div>Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-30084297741645340652013-10-23T23:20:00.003-07:002015-07-06T07:19:25.901-07:00A Visit from The Pumpkin SnatchersOn Tuesday, my kiddos were beyond excited before they even got to our classroom. All around the school, children were seeing candy corns EVERYWHERE! As soon as my kiddos got to our classroom, they found a letter from the Pumpkin Snatchers.<br />
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The Pumpkin Snatchers told us that they love to eat certain letters. We needed to go and hunt for them around the school by following the candy corn trail they always leave behind. Before the hunt, we sang the song the Pumpkin Snatchers left us...my kiddos love to sing even though their teacher cannot carry a tune AT ALL!!! :)</div>
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When we got back to the classroom, we saw that the Pumpkin Snatchers had come by and left us some goodies. We had the Pumpkin Snatchers game, several little pumpkins, and the recipe to make Pumpkin Slime.</div>
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We read the letter from the Pumpkin Snatchers again to help us remember that they only love to eat the letters in the word PUMPKINS. We sorted the letters they like and the ones that they dislike. After sorting the letter cards, we used the letters in the word PUMPKINS to spell different words. I am always amazed and the things my kiddos notice when we do different word study activities.</div>
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We practiced playing the game and investigating the letters the Pumpkin Snatchers ate. In the pumpkin container are the cards and the magnetic letters needed to spell the words. This game is great practice for isolating beginning, medial, and final ending sounds. My kiddos are dying to play this during Daily 5! :)</div>
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Finally, we made Pumpkin Slime using the recipe the Pumpkin Snatchers left us. Add some food coloring and some pumpkin pie spice and your kiddos will go crazy for this! :) </div>
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We made several batches and they all turned out a little different but still oodles of fun! I didn't get a picture of the slime actually dripping from their hands but here is just a peek at what we did.</div>
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I think the Pumpkin Snatchers may be one of our favorite visitors this year! Hop over to my store to check it out!</div>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Pumpkin-Snatchers-A-CVC-Spelling-Adventure-with-Elkonin-Boxes-941959"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUMU1-uEkaIHEykbiSBv0qvB8pSsAqr5emXLuFiNySHgcq2RwUUFvTKFVjtyyG2Lby00XDMnLy5Zbfi0sHh0at2Jwcf5UXzT_4Ra7Ecrzjb_-wSX4RmUdcvPFgm-qALClq8b5dnmxbeCi/s640/Slide1.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy. I'll choose a winner tomorrow morning. :)</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-11506792303948479672013-10-12T07:02:00.000-07:002013-10-12T07:02:30.901-07:00Stamina CrittersWOW-zers...How in the world is it already October???!!!??? I am not sure where the end of August and the whole month of September went! We have been very busy in 1st grade...all 22 of us. Our class sizes are usually around 17 so 5 extra kiddos make a HUGE difference in EVERYTHING we do! I know many, many of you have larger class sizes than this...all I can say to that is <span style="color: red;">Bless Your Hearts</span>- You amaze me! :)<br />
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We are doing Daily 5 for the first time this year so we are really working on our STAMINA in all we do! Because there are so many of us, we started by working on our stamina on the Learning Rug. I have a very verbal groups this year who are experts in sharing...we are just needing to work on sharing about <i><u><span style="color: red;">learning</span></u></i> at the <u><span style="color: red;"><i>appropriate time</i></span></u>! :)<br />
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After talking and writing about Our Learning Rug promises, we learned a song about stamina!<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-VWpaTkdDUGdlVE0/edit?usp=sharing"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIaxCjwxmAXijxibfDWvRYgVhChng3cbkiRhMLZKTQiMhyyt080ARfAwve10dMwyVKp9miylD9dBxL6GRyRuY6tuLmHFji32yMRvyADryzeiXY9FWOF_DFWgDUqXLBAGPPLOZRLNVHIh-/s640/stamina+song.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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Later that day, we had a visit from the Stamina Critters.<br />
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Here is the poem they sent us. :)</div>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2X5kKkqbEP-ckdNVWdqcHhHZEU/edit?usp=sharing"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoghVXQWcVHiWDRCEwisGpObYcBX9WwBfvNZUGiuUsGHsqNmYCtzhTwOp_Zx87ce9zkVj7bbliK76p00UTiGL4pQjdcidGFocIWg2iadiu2aB9O0veAxwVHAFCwbtpHEPPeihLjVdKji7/s640/stamina+critters+poem.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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When the Stamina Critters arrived, they quietly started talking to me. I would hold one up to my ear and they would tell me about how they would be watching for children keeping their stamina. They would <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">really </span>be watching for kiddos working quietly. As I noticed kiddos staying on task and working quietly, they would get to go and add a Stamina Critter to the jar. Sometimes I hear Stamina Critters calling out student names that they spy keeping their stamina. The kiddos swear they hear the Stamina Critters talking too....This is when I pray that I am not warping my kiddos too severely! :)</div>
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They are so stinkin' cute when they carefully take a Stamina Critter out of the basket and place them in the jar. They are always sure to place them in there so their eyes are watching us.</div>
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This has really helped my kiddos. They love to see how many of them can keep their stamina at different times during the day. I have even carried a Stamina Critter when we go down the hallway. Of course, it talks to me while we walk. We have been able to add 22 Critters before when everyone did Read to Self for 20 minutes with no call backs! :)</div>
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I hope to build my stamina back so I can blog more, I have really missed my sweet bloggy friends. :)</div>
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2526200770247679932.post-50784700516824666622013-08-23T21:04:00.001-07:002013-08-23T21:04:33.631-07:00Who am I? Looking from the HeartOur first day of school is on Monday. Early in the summer I already knew who many of my new kiddos would be. I also knew in which classes each of my kiddos from this past year would be (and the classes many other kiddos would be as well). Knowing those 2 things I must admit something to you....I realized how easy it is to make some judgments.<br />
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Have you ever looked at your class role and felt a little bit depressed or nervous by a name you saw on there? Have you ever wanted to go tell the next year's teacher about a particular child before they even have the chance to meet them? I typically don't put a lot of value into what another teacher has to say about one of my in coming kiddos because I know so much can change when the dynamics of a classroom change...but I am also guilty of telling a 2nd grade teacher about a child that *might* be a stinker even though I might also be telling that teacher of ways to reach that child that worked for me (and others) and made a huge difference.<br />
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I also realized earlier this week that I have been guilty at different times in my career of talking about a class that is really __________ or __________. I know that myself and others have shared about a student that is __________, __________. and __________.....and many of the adjectives that fill those blanks might not always be very positive. Those descriptions are also usually strings of letters that make us twitch- ADD, ADHD, ODD, ED...and our brains are thinking OMGoodness! :)<br />
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I thought about what it would be like if my principal were to call each of the parents of my new kiddos into to her office to share about all of my faults and weaknesses <i>before</i> they even had the chance to meet me. Would they be able to see my strengths when they finally <i>had</i> the opportunity to meet me? Of course not....they would always be seeing those faults first.<br />
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I then remembered one of the most profound sentences out of the Conscious Discipline book...."What we say to a child becomes their inner voice for the rest of their lives." Think how easy it is to remember the negative words of just one teacher...but stop and realize for a minute that even though you might not have <i>said</i> mean or hurtful words to a child that our attitude and thinking effect our body language and interactions with that child.<br />
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How can we really help each other when we focus on the weaknesses or use those weaknesses as an excuse instead of pushing <i>ourselves</i> more to make a connection with those students we often see as "difficult"?<br />
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Each day each one of us has the potential to be the <i style="font-weight: bold;">ONE</i> person in a child's life to make a difference. If we are not working to make those connections and touch the hearts of each child in our room than it is easy to head down the road to becoming an ineffective teacher. After a child has just 1 year in a class with an ineffective teacher, it takes 3 years for that child to make the gains that were lost.<br />
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Our Superintendent today had us pull out our phones and find a picture of the most important child or children in our lives. We then had to imagine how we would feel if that child was placed in a classroom with an ineffective teacher. I don't even have to tell you where our thoughts and hearts went with that.<br />
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Imagine what a difference could be made if each child in our classroom thought they were a priceless treasure to their teacher....a teacher who loved them even when they really <i>were </i>being a stinker.<br />
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The children in our classrooms are only going to be as great as we believe they <i style="font-weight: bold;">can </i>be....how we see them and treat them will be the legacy they take with them when they leave our classrooms.<br />
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From My Heart to Yours,</div>
Heather's Hearthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03275285984118559108noreply@blogger.com17