After Christmas Sales

        

          Tomorrow is the beginning of the new year -- 2015 -- and I have one more day at home before I go back to work. Friday is actually an optional work day, but I want to get all the Christmas stuff put away and get my classroom ready for January, so I plan to be at school.  It has actually been a little weird to go to the after Christmas sales.  I walked through Walmart today and saw that all the Christmas stuff was 75% off. I paused in front of the stockings -- I usually buy about 25 of them when they go on sale so I will have them for next year's kindergarten class. But next year I will be retired, so I don't need to buy anything.  Not ANYTHING for my class.  I found that I don't hardly know how to shop when I  am not filling my cart with things for my class. I don't need a new Christmas shirt because there will be no little kids to enjoy it. No New Christmas story books for next year. I still have half a year to teach, but I am already starting to feel a little lost.  I mean, I WANT to retire -- I have other things to do and maybe I will finally be able to get my house cleaned up when I get rid of all the teacher books and supplies that fill baskets and shelves and boxes and closets. But I haven't exactly figured out who I will be when I am not "Teacher."  I have a few months to figure that out though -- and lots of teaching left to get my kids ready for first grade.

          HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A visit from Santa!

 

       My students thought it was funny when I sat on Santa's lap.....

         But they roared with laughter when he kissed me under the mistletoe!

     Every child got to get their picture taken withSanta Claus.  One little boy said, "This is the best day of my life -- I can't believe I got to sit on Santa's lap!

      Here are a couple pictures for moms who I know will look at my blog.  If your child is in my room, please let me know that you look at my blog and I will be sure to put pictures on for you, too!

     

   

   Merry Christmas!!!

Lots to Do in December!

     

We only have 14 1/2 days of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so the days are jam-packed with activities as we try to squeeze in all the learning and fun we can! 

     Last week was all about gingerbread stories. I have plenty of versions of the "Gingerbread Man" to share and compare, and we are also working on a musical play to perform next week.  I plan to invite the families to come to the performance of "The Tale of the Gingerbread Man" one afternoon next week.  The 

Children made cinnamon gingerbread ornaments That made our room smell really good, and did a lot of writing and math activities that involved gingerbread.

One of my favorite assignments was the family project to make a disguise for a gingerbread man so the fox would not recognize him.  The had a LOT of ninja turtle disguises, but I loved the creativity.  They made a great bulletin board, too.

Here are a few close-ups.

    Our school Christmas performance was Monday evening.  The kids did a good job -- first time on stage for some of them.

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We have been learning about Christmas and other holidays around the world -- Germany, the Netherlands , Mexico, China, etc. we will bind these in a book for the kids to take home.

   Today I read a Jan Brett book, "The Hat" and gave out warm woolen hats to each child. They were made by Mrs. Carney, a former teacher who generously gives these handmade hats to my class every year.

   After each child chose a hat, they made thank you cards and colored a picture of their own hat.

  The most exciting part of today was a visit from Mrs. Santa Claus.  The kids had lots to tell her about what they want for Christmas!

    We even squeezed in time to make another Christmas ornament -- thank you, Mrs. Austin for getting it ready! And thanks to everyone who donated tp rolls.

And merry Christmas to all!!