Dollar Tree Treasure Hunt

         I promise I was just stopping in Dollar Tree to get a fly swatter and a paint scrapper!  But of course I had to look down a few aisles, and looky here! Pete the Cat's shoes! And although I already have about 10 boxes of eraser manipulatives, I couldn't pass these up.  And then I saw this squishy caterpillar, and I knew I had to have that -- it will be great to pass around when we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." It's also good for wiggly kids to hold while they are trying to sit still.

      And craft sticks! I'm going to make new sight word sticks for my "Bang" game -- the ones I have are so grimy from many, many hands playing that very popular game.

       Oh, and a little tiny bag of Lindt truffles was calling my name...

       While I was in the neighborhood, I stopped in Walmart and found some plastic name tag holders -- my others have been chewed and curled, besides having food dripped all over them. 

         So, I came home and quickly made a game frame for Pete's shoes. Just roll the dice and put that many shoes on the footprints -- good counting practice at the beginning of the year. They will also be used to make patterns, sort, add and subtract.  

          I stood and admired all the colorful baskets and tubs that could hold crayons, pencils, etc. -- and met another teacher who was doing to same thing -- but we decided to hold off on buying new containers.  After all, we ARE  on vacation and not hardly thinking about school at all... Really!

End of Another School Year

   I locked my classroom door and turned in my keys this afternoon after carrying out 2 crates of books, coffee cups, a terrarium, some leftover Oreos, and the lone surviving goldfish in my fish tank. After eagerly counting down the days, I felt a little sad to be walking away. I am looking forward to having time to do all the things on my summer list, but I am already missing the hugs and smiles from my little ones. And my assistant/ best friend is flying to France tomorrow to visit her daughter and granddaughter, so I am really going to miss seeing her every day.
   There will be a lot of changes next year. Because of our shrinking enrollment, we will have fewer teachers next fall, and abou a third of our teachers will be moving to a different grade. I am feeling lucky to be able to continue teaching kindergarten, but unless we get more students, I will be the only kindergarten teacher next year. That will be very strange, and I will miss collaborating with my teammate after 9 years together.

   

        "Grajwashine" (graduation) was sweet, and I hate to lose some of the great parent volunteers I had this year.  Just when you get to know them, it's time to start all over again!

       On the other hand, I can finally see the top of my desk! And I found lots of treasures under the piles of papers, including a bag of candy leftover from teacher appreciation week!

  

   

    So, I'm about to have some of those Oreos and milk, prop my feet up and contemplate my schedule for the next few days.  Do I start with the weeds in the flower garden, the piles of bills and mail, or the mopping and dusting? Or just finish the book beside my bed? Plenty to keep me busy all summer, and August will be here before I know it! I love this job!