It's a Switch!

Sorry I haven't been around for a while! the last two weeks were CRAZY for me. We had late things on at school a few nights out of the week (including parent teacher interviews). I've been on holidays for a week (with a week to go) and my time has been programming for an integrated unit……..needless to say that even though I've been on holidays I haven't seen much on my kids! 

I also ran into a few little snags with some "intellectual property" issues…………very interesting! I never read (or had) any issues with this while I was in the USA with using things you create with your own class…………are you guys having any issues with this or does it just seem to be in Australia?

I've found out a few things……….so basically from now on, what you see me create will NOT be used in my own classroom (sad I know)……. I will sometimes post pictures of some cool things we do and our art etc but I will not be able to use the things for sale in my store in my classroom.

I AM planning to be organised with my blogging and DO hope to have regular posts each week  with freebies and 50 cent files. there will also be Linkys and fun :-). I just need a few extra weeks to organise myself for next term and spent some time with my kiddos :-)

Meanwhile, Google Reader will be GONE tomorrow. I made the with to Bloglovin' a couple of months ago to check it out. So far I'm really enjoying it. It literally took me a few seconds to join and Bloglovin' automatically imported all the blogs I already follow. If you haven't done the switch, make sure you do it today :-)

Make sure you press this little button below :-)

 

U is for Uluru

Last week was "U" week. My class has been learning about "All Things Aussie" this term, so when it was pouring down with rain and I knew we'd miss sport, I set them onto this project.

This was another directed drawing task that we completed on black cardboard. Unfortunately, I FORGOT my camera :-( So I couldn't take step by step instruction pics. For this task, I showed the class what lines to draw in white pastels so they could see it. They drew on their page in lead and then we coloured in with pastel as we finished each section.

When we had done all the drawing and colouring, we added the white paint dots with the end of our pencil. The whole project took a little over and hour to complete. I think the results are fantastic and am always amazed at what 5 and 6 year olds can accomplish!

 

 

ROOOOOOAR!

I

 

I couldn't help myself! I saw these ADORABLE clowns that my lovely friend Julie from Mrs Stowe's Kinder Cottage made with her kiddos and I knew I had to do something cute with a photo of my kids………here's what I came up with………a little class of lions :-) 

All I did was take a photo of my kids, print it in black and white, enlarged it, stuck it on brown cardboard (for strength) and then the kids stuck on the mane and drew the nose and whiskers with a black oil pastel. 

They look like they're stuck on the blinds but they're not…..there is a little ledge above the blinds that I have them on…………until that back wall gets painted, I don't really have much wall space.

 

A Little Motivation!

I was cleaning up my little guys room last week………..dress ups were EVERYWHERE!!!! As I was putting them away, my eye suddenly caught sight one one of the many superhero capes we had made for Channing's birthday party a fews ago. PERFECT!!!!! Just what I needed…..

 

…….Welcome a new little "motivation" for my class……..Super-Star of the day! They get to wear the cape all day, sit on my chair with me while I read stories, help with jobs and best of all, get a cute little award at the end off the day.

So far it's been a hit with the kids as well as the parents :-)

Lions Are Loud!

This marks the very first week of "What's Hanging Up Wednesday". I'm hoping that this will be a weekly post where we can share some great  ideas with each other. Show us something you have hanging up in your classroom by linking up at the end of this blog post. I can't wait to see what you have hanging up in your rooms! It doesn't have to be art…..it could be a writing activity, a math paper…..anything hanging anywhere :-)

Last week, our letter of the week was Ll (we use "Ants in the Apple" at the school I'm teaching at). I saw a picture of these cute guys on Pinterest but the link didn't lead anywhere. I decided that I could do this with my class and I'm so happy with how they turned out! If you'd like to make these "Loud Lions" with your class, here's how we made them:

1. Give each child a half sheet of large cardboard (Or a large sheet of construction paper if you're American). I had the kids draw each shape step by step on their paper with lead pencil. When we were finished with the lead, they went over it and coloured in with oil pastels.

2. Colour in the face with an orange oil pastel.

3. Colour in the inside of the mouth with a brown oil pastel. I kept reminding the kids that they should be covering up all the black spaces they see.

4. Colour the nose yellow. Make a second circle in the eye and colour the outer eye and the teeth white. Use a green pastel to colour the inner eye and a black pastel to colour the in the iris, the nostrils, make freckles and a cross looking "V" above the eyes.

5. We then used orange and yellow paint to paint out mane. I LOVE how they all turned out so unique :-)

 Now it's your turn! What do you have hanging up this week?

What a Whirlwind!

Wow! All I can say is that the last few weeks have been an absolute ride! We moved back from America about 3 months ago and have been trying to settle in……….I had started doing some casual teaching, I was working towards starting my new Aussie blog (this one) and things were plodding along nicely.

A week ago, I received a call from a friend saying that there was a position at her school starting next term for the rest of the year………it was for KINDERGARTEN!!! My favourite! :-) I jumped at the chance! I handed in my resume last monday…………before I even got home, I received a call asking if I could come for an interview 3 hours later. I did. I went to the interview, was home for about 15 minutes and got a call "can you teach on Wednesday as out favoured candidate"………sure. I taught on Wednesday with the infants coordinator sitting in on a lesson. 10 minutes after that lesson I was lining the kids up for sport when the principal came over and offered me the position. TO START THE NEXT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately  the Kinder teacher had fallen ill and the kids were quite unsettled after having numerous casuals in….they needed someone to start right away to get some routine happening. I accepted. The position is for the rest of the year…..which means I'm still on the lookout for next year but it's certainly right up my alley, close to home and give us a steady income for a while :-)

 

There are 3 kindergarten classes…….my room is in a temporary demountable building. Next year it'll be knocked down. My room is TINY and here is the "mural" painted on the back wall……..

 

 

 …..in case you were wondering, someone told me that its "Middle Earth" :-) I asked around and apparently it's being painted a solid colour in the school holidays (2 weeks time)………I'm not sure what solid colour but I'm sure it'll be something I can work with :-) This mural is the entire length of the back wall and half of one of the side walls………..

Anyway, I've been there a week and this is what I've done so far (please excuse the photos - the lighting is pretty bad):

"News" days :-)

Number posters….I have the numbers 1-20 on one of the top walls.

This school is BIG on house teams…….we have Eagles, Sharks, Lions and Rams………I'm a shark :-)

Our class rules. These rules come from Cara Carroll - I just changed the look of them to match the rest of my room.

Our days of the week chart.

Months of the year.

The lighting in this one is particularly dark but if I had turned the lights on, it would have been too shiny…..here is the alphabet posters I made using Graphics From the Pond………I love the way they turned out :-)This is our little reading area with our strategies posters…..we'll be working on these over the next few weeks.

I'd really love to get some cute curtains for the windows etc but for a few reasons I probably won't………

1. I'm not sure that I'd be allowed to.

2. I'll only be here until the end of the year and so there's really no point in buying a whole heap of stuff when it's probably not going to be long term.

I have a LOT more things to get done but it's a start. I'll add more photos as I get things done.

So that's it for my very first post from my new blog :-) Welcome and stay tuned for some freebies and fun!