It's A-MAZE-ing.....I'm Back

I 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*!

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 Our School Family.

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 heart smile.

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. :)

Click here to grab this *freebie*!

Grab the smiley face mazes here!

Buuuuuutttttttttttt..........

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. WE ARE A SCHOOL FAMILY!!!

So, this little *freebie* will remind us of that!

Click here to grab this *freebie*.

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 here!

I hope you are enjoying your summer and getting ready for the 2018-2019 school year!

From My Heart to Yours,

Gobble Up Some Freebies- Making 10 Fun

Hey 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! :)

For those of you that have to go next week, I hope these *freebies* are something you can use.

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.

Using leftover Halloween candy corns 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. :)

Ready to turn your little turkeys into turkeys??? And all learning is better when you can make a hat, right?

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.

Here are some other ways for kiddos to Show What They Know about Making 10.

Click here to grab these *freebies* for yourself.

And here is one more *freebie*!

Grab it here.

I am thankful you hopped over to my little blog! Thank YOU for being a blessing to each and every child you teach.

From My Heart to Yours,

What Does the Fox Say? Phoneme Blending Fun

At the beginning of the year, primary teachers feel very frustrated get lots of laughs when we work with students on blending sounds together to say a word. When we say the sounds /f/ /r/ /o/ /g/ students are supposed to hear and blend those sounds together and say frog...not MONKEY! Ha! I wrote about that here. :)

Students LOVE the song What Does the Fox Say? 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.

Our first job was to practice just hearing sounds and blending them together. We practiced this skill playing Fox Talk Bingo. 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.

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. :)

You can see Mr. Fox helping us. :)

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.

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. :)

To see how well the kiddos have developed this skill, Mr. Fox made 2 different ways this skill can be assessed.

Click above for a *freebie*.

And of course we have to dance to the song at the end of these activities..several times! 

Tons of fun learning What Does the Fox Say? You can grab it from my store here.

From My Heart to Yours,

Heather

Sunday's Heart Start: Being a Champion for a Child

I 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.

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 in front 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? :(

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Now, I also think I need to go out and adopt a new pet. :)

.

Here is Rita Pierson's TED Talk.

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."

From My Heart to Yours,

Your Class List: Whine and Wine

Do 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 annoying sweet younger sibling I have heard stories about. My heart also skips a beat with fear 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 WHINE of "You'll never believe who I have in my room!" or "Oh My Gosh!!! Let me tell you about this kid that's going to be in my room this year!" And when you go home that's when you pull out the BIG WINE glass!

Click on the picture if you want to check it out!

Now, I am giggling as I type this and trying to bring a little humor to thoughts you and I just might have felt before. My Firsties go to Kinder at another campus so I really 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 flashbacks 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.

At Meet the Teacher, 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 mother on the head numerous 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.

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 are not when I am so thankful and blessed that God does not judge me by my short comings??!!??!!??

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.

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.

I remember the child that completely changed my whine and wine. 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???

And this is another wonderful reminder...

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.

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.

I pray that as we start a new school year that we remember this:

Thank you for stopping by for this week's Heart Start!

From My Heart to Yours,

Sunday's Heart Start: Pause and Pray

As 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.

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.

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.

I look at the kiddo that I know will try my patience and wonder if I am going to develop a drinking problem! Lol!

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.

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.

We cannot go into our classrooms and be ready to face all of the overwhelming challenges without praying and without each other.

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.

As you prepare to start a new day or a new week, remember to Pause and Pray.

From My Heart to Yours,

Books for Building Your School Family

I 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 Teach Like a Pirate this summer for a book study, I remembered that I really do love blogging and sharing my heart for teaching and my kiddos. :)

As I see the days of August slowly fading away 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.

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. :)

My Mouth is a Volcano, Interrupting Chickens and Lacey Walker, Non-Stop Talker 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.

Decibella and Her 6 Inch Voice 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 screamer future public speaker. :)

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. :)

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.

I LOVE Me First! 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 might (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 they 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 You may go before me or Go ahead. I'll wait until you are finished.

Tattle Tongue 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 tattle whine tell me something that happened, I usually ask them these 2 questions:

*Have you tried to solve them problem yourself?

*Are you being helpful or hurtful by telling me this?

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:

* I don't like it when you ______. Next time please ______.

*I don't like it when you ______. Please stop.

*You accidentally ______. Please be more careful next time.

I never really even have to ask Are you being helpful or hurtful by telling me this? because usually they turn around and go talk to the person after I've asked Have you tried to solve them problem yourself?

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.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? 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 this ancient blog post...This is when I first started blogging and was taking pictures with an ancient cell phone! Happy to see how far I've come. :)

You Get What You Get...and you________??? I know we finish that sentence with AND YOU DON'T THROW A FIT! After reading this blog post 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 YOU GET WHAT YOU GET AND YOU APPRECIATE IT! :)

The Recess Queen 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 Smitten in First!

Chrysanthemum 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 blog post.

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. :)

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.

Thank you for hopping over here today! Wishing you an awesome year full of blessings!

From My Heart to Yours,