Wrapping up December

Happy 2015!

Our plane got in around 9:30 last night, so I got to ring in the new year by waiting for an airport shuttle and then walking to our car in 20 degree weather.  In TOMS and a lightweight cardigan.  Not cool, Michigan!!  So thankful for some time away, but also thankful to be back home.  Today will be laundry, grocery shopping, taking down the Christmas tree, putting UP the Christmas cards that came while we were away, and more laundry.  And then more laundry after that.  Ahhhh...post-vacay joys. :)

Anyhow, I can't shift my thinking to this new year quite yet.  I first have to wrap up December!  I know this post is overdue, but better late than never!

1. Once again this year, we made handprint reindeer ornaments for parent gifts.  I love the way these turn out every year.  They are easy and cute as can be.  Those wiggle eyes and red pom poms just transform these plain brown handprints into Christmas adorable-ness!  And the jingle bell is just icing on the cake.  I love these.  Little handprints are precious!

I just have each student decorate a small paper bag (this year I provided some Christmas shape cut-outs which was fun) and we staple them inside.  Easy peasy!  A keeper gift, for sure!

 2. We looooved spending the month of December completing our RAKs at school.  Every single student and staff member got loved on!  Jingle Joy was a hit - the love for him was really one of cutest things I've seen in my 12 years of teaching!  I hope that it is something my students will remember for a very long time!

Each morning, the students came in looking for Jingle Joy.  They knew that they couldn't touch him when they found him because that would ruin the fun for everyone else.  This day was a favorite.  The whole class laughed and laughed when they found him!!  

He always had a note to the class tucked into his scarf and we had so much fun reading them every morning.  He would always reveal our top-secret mission for the day, and give the class a bit of a "pep talk" -- kindness, giving, and joy were themes of the month!

I asked parents to provide items for our RAKs, and I have a talented mom this year who sent in the cutest bags ever that she fancied up with glitter.  Each one was different.  They were beautiful!

The filled bags looked like this.  A pencil for every student.  A Sharpie for the teacher, a note, and lots of Hershey's kisses on the bottom.

All those sharpened pencils meant that I spent a LOT of time with THIS during December.

And every time I was dreaming of THIS...

Ha!  This may have to become part of my classroom before next December! :)

Those little notes we tucked inside looked like this... 

Each day, I randomly selected two students to complete our special delivery.  Everyone got a chance to help once.  One friend was in charge of the bag, and the other friend was in charge of Jingle Joy.  They knew the routine.  They did their best to be discrete in the hallway, then they set the bag down by the classroom door, did a little knockknockknock and RAN AWAY!!!  The ONLY time it's okay to run in school! Ha!

When they returned to the classroom they gave a little delivery report before we put Jingle Joy down for his afternoon nap.  Such a highlight of each day!!

Not every day was a delivery day.  Some days we completed other acts of kindness.  Like making thank-you cards for moms and dads.

I just know that my students will come back to school next week wishing Jingle Joy was still there.  He was a wonderful addition to our month of December!

3. We had our classroom Christmas celebration (which really just involves a special snack and book exchange) on the Thursday before break.  I love getting the craziness out of the way so that Friday can be calm, quiet, and relaxed.

Our special Christmas snack this year was a big hit!  The kids loved decorating their Christmas trees with sweets!  A rare treat at school!

4. We did a school-wide Holiday Cheer Week the week before break.  Friday was PJ Day and Hat Day.  Two of my kidlets wore antlers like me!  We had to get a pic of the "Antler Club". Ha!

 5. We also took some time that day to open my gift to the class.  I hadn't done this before, but this year I bought a class gift.  24 new things to use during Choice Time.  We sat in a circle and everyone got a rip of wrapping paper.  Then, we passed the open box around and everyone pulled one thing out.  This was really fun!

December is always a busy month, but I just love the feelings of excitement, love, and joy that fill the classroom!  

Whew!  Now that December is wrapped up, I'm ready to press on into this new year!

I was tagged on Instagram to share some resolutions for 2015.  The longer I teach, the more I realize that getting a front-row seat to watch children learn and grow is just MAGIC.  Don't you agree??  

New Year's Day always makes me sappy!  Ha!

Thanks for hanging out with me here, and inspiring me to keep learning and growing myself!  Welcome, 2015!

Random Randomness

I have a long list of things that I have been meaning to post about, but December is just flying by and when in the world am I supposed to find time to write blog posts??!?  But, I miss sharing with my bloggy friends, so here is a super random post full of all sorts of things from the past couple weeks!

Have you seen these little guys?  

Are they not just downright adorable???  I found these little monsters in the Target Dollar Spot (where else?!?) and knew that they would be perfect for guided reading.  I'll be pulling these out after we return to school in January to provide a little fresh motivation for my budding readers!  Not sure if they're still there, but if you're in Target anytime soon, you may want to check for them!

I love love love this Christmas book.  Every year, it's the first one I read in December.  This year, I pulled it out on December 1st.  Right away in the morning.  We have read it several times because my students love love love it too!  The story is silly and sweet and the illustrations are so fun!

Sadly, it's REALLY expensive on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.  But, maybe you can find it at a library?  Or maybe you already have it?  Such a great one.

 To say that Jingle Joy has been a hit with my students would be the understatement of the year.  They. love. him. so. much.  They can't wait to find him every morning and read the notes that he writes us.  And they love writing him notes during Choice Time too.  It's been so much fun and a wonderful way for us to talk about kindness and love every single day.  

I even made this special stationary because my kids were so nuts over writing letters to Jingle Joy every day!  The other day, Jingle Joy asked the class to write him notes about how they could be kind at home.  

Love.

These directed drawings are sooooo cute.  You might know that I love doing directed drawings with my students.  These elves have gotten so many comments from teachers and parents that come into my classroom.  They are simply adorable!!

 Head over here to find the directed drawing instructions from Mrs. Parker!

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!!  

On Thursday morning, I happened to click into an e-mail I had received from Amazon....which I normally would have just deleted, but it must have been meant to be because this laminator was on sale for $16.99!!  I have secretly had this on my mental wish list for a long time but kept talking myself out of getting it.  After I saw it, I quickly posted something on Instagram asking for input because I knew my IG friends wouldn't steer me wrong!  The reviews were awesome (I knew they would be), so I had this all ordered before school began!  And, yesterday, I heard that magical knock at the door and knew it was here!  

Only my teacher friends could understand such excitement over having a laminator of my very own!  I'm way too excited about it, and I kind-of want to laminate everything in sight. ;)

 We're close to being done with the reindeer ornaments we make for dads and moms each year.  I love these simple and sweet parent gifts.  The last step this week is to add eyes and a red nose.  Then, we'll be able to get them wrapped up and sent home to put under the tree.

I'll be sure to share when we finish them!

Five more days of festive holiday classroom fun.  I love this time of year in the classroom!

Christmas gift tags freebie!

Oh my goodness gracious!  Where have I been all December??!?  December is just busy.  It's all wonderful, fun, and so good....but it is very busy!

Two nights ago, my son came down with a fever, so I made the trip to school for some unexpected sub plans and spent the day with him yesterday at home.  I used the morning to finish up all the wrapping I hadn't gotten done yet.  Including all our gifts for the "extras" that work with my kids at school.  Specials teachers, classroom para-pros, bus driver, before-school care teachers.....so many people that we appreciate.  I love gifting all these people that are sometimes overlooked.

I happened to find an awesome deal on Bath and Body Works lotions near Thanksgiving.  I got these full-size lotions for $2.00 each!  I love how festive and cute the bottles are.  Not to mention that they all smell so yummy!

I created this gift tag to attach to each one...and thought you might have some last-minute gifts that could use this tag too.  

 I wrote the names of who they are for on the back of the card.  

 I always like to get these to school on the last Monday before Christmas Break.  That way, my kids can just deliver them as they see the teachers throughout the week and their teachers don't have to deal wth rushed deliveries on Friday....which is already such a busy day.

CLICK HERE to grab the tags from Google Drive!  Print onto card stock and you'll be all set!

Happy gifting!!

Gingerbread Man Write the Room {Giveaway!}

Hi hi!!  I posted a new Write the Room activity to my TPT store last night....just in time to use it in December!  

I LOVE reading all the different variations of The Gingerbread Man with my class in December.  It's one of my favorite stories of the entire school year -- probably because my students always love it so much too!

This activity would be a perfect addition to your December literacy stations...or maybe for a word work or vocabulary center.

Head on over to my Facebook page for a chance to win!  I'll choose a winner this afternoon, so act quickly! :)

CLICK HERE TO HEAD OVER TO MY FACEBOOK PAGE

RAKs -- Random Acts of Kindness...for Christmas

What better thing to do on the day after Thanksgiving than begin to put some finishing touches on our RAKs project for December?!?  I dove head first into a RAKs project last December after being inspired by a fellow Kindie teacher.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I asked for some advice, scoured Pinterest and blogs, and developed a plan.  I kept it all very hush-hush because it was a top-secret mission and I didn't want anyone in my school finding out about it.

As soon as we completed our first RAK, I knew that this was something I would want to do again and again.  The excitement my kids felt about our TOP-SECRET missions each day was so contagious!  Sure, it added to an already busy month, but what better time of year to talk about KINDNESS, JOY, and the true spirit of GIVING than at Christmas??  

I kept things mostly the same for this year, but tweaked a few things based on what I learned last year.  There is definitely still time if you want to do something like this with your class this year.  Hopefully these ideas can help get you started if it's something you want to try.

I send this note home mid-way through November explaining to parents what we'll be doing and asking for them to help if they are willing and/or able.  Over half of my class sent back forms this year.  I just divide what we'll need between the students who offer to help, and I take care of whatever doesn't get covered.   

After the due date has passed, I review the forms and send these home...with specific items for each student to send in.

I went into school for a bit today to get things organized and got so excited by this pile of LOVE!  Pencils for every student in the school, hot chocolate packets for our awesome para-professionals and recess aides, and fun Sharpie markers for teachers.  And Hershey's kisses for all!!

A friend of mine who teaches in my district is doing RAKs with her class this year too and she wrote this letter to share with her students on the first day of December.  She has an elf that she'll be using to reveal the missions to her class each day.  I didn't do this last year, but I LOVE the idea.  I don't have an elf, so I'll be using a polar bear.  This is the letter that she wrote -- I just tweaked it a bit for my class.  And my son fancied it up for me... :)

 I use this calendar that I made in PowerPoint.  I'll change it each year to match the correct dates.  I keep track of which classrooms/teachers/staff members we will surprise each day so that I don't miss anyone.

I'll keep posting throughout the month as we complete our RAKs.  I'm so excited to get started!!

Wrapping up December...

Since I pretty much haven't posted anything in December, this post is a complete hodge-podge of things.  December was a blur.  Having one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas threw me off a bit at school!  I was still able to fit lots of fun holiday activities in, but it all felt a little rushed to me.  And, apparently, I took very few photos of things we did in December, so I'll only be sharing a few things! :)

The best part of December for my class were the Random Acts of Kindness we did all month long.  I presented the idea just before Thanksgiving, and my families responded overwhelmingly by helping us gather goodies and gifts to share with the students and teachers at our school.

Each day, we "RAK'd" a classroom, teacher, custodian, para-professional, secretary, etc.  The students helped by coloring our "You've been RAK'd!" cards, and counting out bookmarks and pencils.  They couldn't wait each day to find out who we would be surprising.  It was a blast!!  

We worked SO HARD to keep it all secret, but the teachers figured out it was us pretty quickly.  They were wonderful, though, about not letting my class know that they knew.  My sweet kindies still think that no one knows.  Love them.

Each day I chose two students to be our "deliverers", then the whole class would go together to watch the fun!  The deliverers would sneak down to the classroom, set the goodies down by the door, knockknockknock, and RUN!  The ONLY time they are allowed to run in the hallway!  They LOVED it!  Then, when we got back to our classroom, the delivery friends would report to the class exactly what they did and if anyone saw them.  They had the best time with it.

I loved it because it gave us such a great chance to discuss the JOY that comes from giving to others and not expecting anything in return!  Christmas is about LOVE!  And we were able to love on every single student in our building.  I will definitely be doing this again.

 After several years of making the same Christmas gifts for my students to give their parents, I am still so in love with these handprint reindeer ornaments.  They are easy-peasy, and so gosh darn adorable.  Thankfully, we had them wrapped up and sent home a few days early because our last day before Christmas Break was cancelled due to ice!

 I love them so much that I made them with my own kids a couple years ago.  Here was my daughter's on our tree this year.

The last picture I have is from our class book exchange.  I have learned that scheduling our classroom party the Thursday before break allows Friday to be so much more calm and relaxed.  Party day can be downright nuts, and I don't love spending my final few hours before break in the craziness.  I would much rather do it the day before, and then spend Friday reading Christmas stories, listening to Christmas music, playing games, and having {non-choatic} fun.  This all worked out perfectly this year since we didn't have school on that last day before break.  I was so glad that we had been able to have our classroom party.

Anyway, the book exchange always makes me laugh because the kids sit in a big circle and pass their books clockwise (which only a handful of Kindergarteners can ever figure out) while I play Christmas music.  When the music stops, the book that is in their hands is the book they get to open and keep.  It never fails that there are always one or two laps that look like this while the books are being passed.

 And then, when the music stops, I have to remove the pile from the lap and make sure that everyone has a book before we open.

And also before we open I have to have the talk that explains how we SHOULD and SHOULD NOT act once we open the book that one of our friends has so generously purchased and wrapped and brought to school just for you.  And even if you have that same book at home, or even if you are a boy and you open a Hello Kitty book (even though I clearly state to parents that they should be gender-neutral), or even if the book you open looks completely uninteresting to you, you smile and thank your friend.  And they always do.  They OOH and AAH and everyone leaves with a smile!  And then we spend the next 10-15 minutes sharing our brand new book with a partner, which is always so much fun.

It was a fabulous three weeks of holiday fun in December.  And this Christmas Break has been a much-needed reprieve from our busy schedule.  We are enjoying lots of family time and are soaking the days in!  I know that, by Monday, I'll be ready to back at school with my kindies, but tonight, I am thankful for a few more days at home!