Sunday, August 24, 2014

Chapter 1: Little Peeps

We have survived another week in Kindergarten!  
More learning and fun has happened, and I'm ready to share!

This week we spent a great deal of time working with our color words, shapes, our five senses, and the letter "E".  We have been singing our color songs, a lot, and the kids are so cute singing them!   The students also practiced playing "I Spy" and using their words to create sentences about what they see according to colors.  (Example: "I see a red car.  I see a blue ball.  I see a green shirt.  I see a yellow book.  I see an orange pumpkin.")  They had to complete a sentence with the color word of the day and something they can see.  
We learned all about circles and squares this week, too.  It was so fun to watch the kids go through magazines and cut out pictures of circles and squares!  They would get so excited when they found some!  (I'll have some pictures to post next week of our Shape Charts!)  
Of course, our letter of the week was "E", and we talked about what it looks like, how it sounds, and how to write it until we became little robots about "E".... Here's our "E" poem:
"E says /e/
Eel on wheels
/e/, /e/, /e/"

I took lots of pictures of my sweeties this week, but unfortunately I will not be able to post them.  :(  I do not want to risk sharing any pictures of the children now or ever.  So, this week I promise to take more pictures (that I will keep for our class yearbook) and some of their work that I can share with you on here!  I'm really sad I can't show you their sweet faces, but it is best for us to keep their privacy.

Here are a few pictures of last week's "Apple Jack A's":


I love having them help me clean up the room every afternoon while we wait on their busses.  I happened to capture this precious moment of cleaning....
(note: I blurred out the face for privacy)


Time for Kindergarten Funnies:

Again this week I have been using our picture flashcards to develop oral vocabulary!
Me: I showed and explained a picture of a volcano.
EF: "I had a volcano until my daddy chopped it down."

Me: I showed and explained a picture of a walrus.
EF: "My daddy found a little walrus until he threw it back into the ocean..."

"That's a elegator!"  (aka- elevator)

Me: I showed a picture of a flute.
JJ: "That is a fishing rob."  
(notice he said "rob", not "rod"!)

We have been working very hard on how to ask nicely to go use the restroom.
This little guy was thinking hard about what exactly he should say when he asked...
"Mih Murphy, May I go use the mushroom?"

Me: "T, why are you not smiling?"
T: "Cuz I ain't got no teefes!"

Me: "T, what's on your arm?"
T smells it and says "That's from my head."
Me: "From your head?  What is it?"
T: "uh, it's gwease!"

On Friday, Mrs. Murphy showed her skills on the swing during recess.  The kids loved seeing me play in their element!  I called for my assistant to come swing beside me, and she declined.
One of the sweet angels, "T", ran over to me while I was swinging and said:
"Mih Henson said she can't get on the swing cuz she gonna throw up."
(side note: Mrs. Henson has bad motion sickness...)

I love birthdays!  And especially when they are little kiddo birthdays!  We have already celebrated 2 birthdays in our class.  My sweet girl, "T", turned 5 on Friday, and it was a very special day (especially for Mrs. Murphy).  

Let me just go ahead and say, I love these precious children so incredibly much.  I don't think I can explain just how much I love this job... :)

That's all for this week, folks!
Please continue to pray for me, my assistant, and all of my sweet kiddos daily.
Believe me, they are much needed and appreciated.  

Until next week,
XOXO




Sunday, August 17, 2014

Introduction to Kindergarten

Welcome Back!
Just a quick update - I have moved from teaching 1st grade, where I was for three years, to now teaching Kindergarten.  I actually requested this move, and I am ecstatic to say that I am already loving it!  I have decided to rejoin the blog world so that I can keep my family and friends updated on our growing and learning experiences throughout the year.  And maybe to make you laugh and cry with me along the way...
I have missed the blog world!  So, I'm back!

I had so much fun designing and decorating my new HUGE classroom!  My assistant is the sweetest and helped me move all of my "stuff" around a few times before I figured out the best flow for us.  Here are some pictures of our classroom:



 (We have now all painted our hand prints on the "Classroom Rules" because we promise to follow them every day!)



Here's the classroom door:


In our first week of Kindergarten we started learning the alphabet and colors.  We have really cute color songs that help the kids learn how to spell each one, and believe me, they like to sing!  We also worked hard on the letter "A".  What it looks like, how it sounds, and how to write it.  Our cute "A" poem goes like this:
"A says /a/
Ant on an apple,
/a/, /a/, /a/"  
We also had a fun Friday by gluing Apple Jacks onto the letter "A"!  (I think they had more fun eating the Apple Jacks, though...)

I am currently working on getting permission forms from parents to allow me to use some pictures of the children at work.  I have some from the first week, but I want to make sure I follow the proper protocol before making any mistakes!  

Here's a selfie of the teacher on her first day of Kindergarten!  I'm just a little excited, can't you tell?!

I'll end this post with a few Kindergarten Funnies for you this week:

Me: "T, what's your favorite color?"
T: "oranch"

Using picture flashcards to develop oral vocabulary:
Me: I showed a picture of a camel.
JL: "I had a camel at my daddy's house."
Me: "You did?  As a pet?"
JL: "Uh huh, he was nice!"

Me: I showed a picture of an astronaut.
T: "That's a cowboy!!"

Me: I showed a picture of lightning.
JJ: "If you take off your shirt when it's storming you might get sharked..." (he was very serious)

KW: "Mrs. Murphy, I digged in my nose."
Me: "What?  Did I hear you correctly?  What did you say??"
KW: "I digged in my nose."
Me: "Ok, that's kinda nasty.  I need you to go wash your hands with soap, please."

KJ: "My daddy plays football!"
Me: "He does? Wow! For what team?"
KJ: "The grizby's."

I have my work cut out for me this year!  And I am so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.  I have a wonderful assistant teacher and am ready to tackle this school year with her.  I am truly happy, and can't wait to share more exciting news with you next week!  

Please continue to pray for me, my assistant, and all of my sweet kiddos daily.  Believe me, they are much needed and appreciated.  

Welcome to Mrs. Murphy's Kindergarten class!! :)