Sip and See with Paperless Post

Can you believe it is almost 2019?! I am especially excited for the new year because in February we are expecting our first baby!!!!  I have been using my Winter break time to prepare for the arrival of baby--gathering the essentials, attending parenting classes, meeting with potential pediatricians, etc. 

Typically in Jewish culture, baby showers are considered superstitious . In lieu of a traditional baby shower, many women will have a Sip and See after their baby is born.  I love this idea because it gives family and friends the opportunity to meet the new baby, plus the added bonus of mommy being able to enjoy a real drink! 

Obviously, online invitations are the best way to go because, hello, it is 2019. Paperless Post has so many adorable, funny and elegant invitations to choose from. I personally love this Kate Spade invite-- it's colorful and fun!

I enjoyed customizing the background with these fun polka dots. I think they coordinate well with the rainbow lettering. If you want something simpler, you can opt for a blank or single color background.

We can't wait to meet our new little one and introduce him or her (we do not want to know the gender ahead of time) to their family and friends! 

Professional Development Reading List

Happy summer folks! It's only the beginning of July, but here in SoCal we've already experienced a massive heatwave (temps over 100!). Of course our AC broke so I cannot be happier that the temperatures are finally creeping back to normal. For three days this was us in front of the fan:

As a teacher, summer is when I certainly enjoy my free time. I am definitely hanging out by the pool, binge watching tons of TV, and hitting up mid-day exercise classes (which I love because most of the time its only a handful of people and you get great personal attention from the instructors). Still, I like to be organized so I am making sure I am doing something each day in preparation for the upcoming school year.

Before school ended in June, our admin gave us a chart to list any professional texts or articles we have read over the summer. We are supposed to record our biggest takeaway from our reading and indicate whether we would recommend it to our colleagues.

So without further ado, here is my list of titles I am digging into this summer:

1. Out of the Classroom and into the World by Salvatore Vascellaro 

I received my masters in elementary education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City. It was the best decision I ever made for countless reasons. All of my courses were interesting and relevant. One of my favorite classes was a children's literature course, taught by one of my favorite professors, Sal Vascellaro. Two of my favorite memories of that class was practicing oral storytelling, and the final project. By the end of the course, each of us had to write and illustrate a children's book for a specific age range. Sal is passionate about experiential education, and writes about how to integrate a curriculum around field trip and out of the classroom experiences!

2. I Learn from Children by Caroline Pratt 

While taking classes for my masters,  I taught as an associate teacher at one of the handful of  progressive independent schools New York City. Many of these progressive schools were inspired by the work of Caroline Pratt, who founded the City and Country School. I was fortunate enough to attend some workshops at City and Country so I was excited to receive this book at one of those events!

3. Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies, or "Fat Envelopes" by Madeline Levine, PhD

Although this book is geared more towards parents, I am interested to read it from the perspective of a teacher.

4. A Mind in the Making by Ellen Galinsky 

Everyone knows the marshmallow test, right? A kid is in the room with ONE marshmallow. They can eat the marshmallow in front of them, or they can wait for a longer period of time and then get TWO marshmallows. Galinsky continues to research other important social-emotional skills that are an important part of early learning experiences.

Are there any titles you think are worth reading? Let me know!

Planning a Party with Paperless Post

I can't believe that another year of teaching Kindergarten is almost done!

With that in mind, I am beginning to plan my class end-of-year party! Planning a party can be stressful. Add 16 Kindergarteners who are ready for summer vacation and their families (including younger and older sibs) to the mix and it becomes stress level 6 billion!

I want to share a few tips and tricks that I use to make sure the planning (and the party itself) goes smoothly!

First things first: THEME

In the past, I have invited families to join our class for an ice-cream party. However, storing the ice cream in our tiny staff freezer and all of the melting made me a little bit nuts.  I decided to change things up this year with cookie-decorating party! No school freezer required!

Now, for the INVITATIONS

I've noticed that many parents rarely check their child's cubby, so putting a paper invitation inside seems unproductive. With everything, from school events to field trips, email is best. I'm all about the presentation, so I used Paperless Post to send cute invitations to my class parents via email! There are so many adorable designs to choose from. I ended up going with a sprinkle blasted card to go along with the cookie decorating theme!

So stinkin' sweet, right? That was the easy part. The harder part is organizing the supplies, decorations, and of course, the cookies!

Making the COOKIES

I love to bake from scratch, but when it comes down to it, shortcuts are always the better option when there's a large crowd! For sugar cookies, I always buy the easy pre-made dough (check out how I used it to bake cookies for Chanukah!) Sugar cookie dough freezes really well, so I am going to make the dough over the weekend and freeze it until it's time to defrost, roll out, cut and bake a day or two before the party. I have 16 kids in my class, so I will most likely need to make four batches of dough to accommodate everyone.

Since it is a party to celebrate summer, I ordered these cute cookie cutters from Amazon. I am particularly excited about the pineapple shape :) I'm pretty sure the kiddos will like the fish, sun and octopus shapes as well!

Gotta have the FROSTING

Again, I'm taking the easy route here. You can buy a case of eight 10 oz. containers of Pillsbury Vanilla icing at Dollar Tree! The day of the party, I will mix in a different food coloring to each tub so students can choose what colors they want their cookies to be. And we can't forget the sprinkles!!!!

Ask the PARENTS-

 I've done a lot of work! Time to hand over the baton. I plan on asking the parents to sign up to bring items like napkins, tablecloths, plates, plastic knives for frosting application, drinks and cups. And guess what? You can include the sign up on your Paperless Post invitation when you get to the "add details" section of your design!

Check back in a couple of weeks to see photos from the party! I can't wait to celebrate the end of the school year!

My Five Favorite Alphabet Books

Teaching Kindergarten, I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year re- familiarizing (or sometimes familiarizing) ABC order with my kiddos. One way I do this is by reading fun ABC read alouds. I've compiled a list of my favorite titles for you below!

1. Feelings to Share from A to Z

I love this one, especially for the beginning of the school year. At this age, children are just beginning to practice expressing  and identifying their feelings. What a great way to teach about emotions while reinforcing ABC order!

2. The Sleepy Little Alphabet 

Kids think this one is hilarious! I like it because it helps kids differentiate between uppercase and lowercase letters. In this story, the lowercase letters are the "kids" and the uppercase letters are the "grown-ups". The lowercase letters do not want to go to bed at bed time so the uppercase "grown ups" get very frustrated!

3. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

You can't have an ABC book list without this one. A classic!

4.  Z is for Moose

Get ready to have your kiddos laughing out loud! This ABC book is a silly one. Moose is so excited to be featured in the ABC book, he rushes onto pages waaaaay before it's his turn. When it finally is Moose's turn, he finds out that he isn't featured for letter M after all! With the help of a friend, Moose finally finds his place in the ABC book.

5. LMNO Peas 

So many kids have difficulties with this section of the ABC's. I can't tell you how many times I do assessments during the first half of the year where students recite "LMNO" like it is ONE letter! This is a great story that describes different occupations in ABC order. It doesn't hurt that adorable little peas are doing each job! This series has many wonderful installments. Another favorite of mine that helps teach the months of the year is Hap-pea All Year!

Do you have any favorite ABC read alouds? I'd love to find some new titles!

I Still Exist, I Swear!

Remember me? I won't be angry if you don't. It's actually kind of embarrassing how long it's been since I last shared with you....#bloggerfail

A lot has happened since I last posted in....January 2017. I finished my first year as a Kindergarten teacher at my new school! Hubs and I bought our first home and moved from Irvine to Laguna Beach! We went to Italy! Teaching Kindergarten started up again!

I can't promise that from now on there will more consistent posts, but it feels good to "get back out there". Here's what I'm hoping to blog about over the next month or two:

School related:
* CVC/Sight Word lessons and activities
* A "how-to" on writing report card narratives
* Planning for an admin observation

Lifestyle related:
* Must listen to podcasts
* Stitch Fix clothing reviews
* Book club reads

I'm curious to hear from readers what you're interested in. Pipe up people!

Ok, see ya again realllllll soon!