I Appreciate Teachers!

Happy Friday everyone! Today marks the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week! Have you felt appreciated this week? I know I have! Even though I'm not able to be in my classroom because of my injury, I have been able to snatch up tons of freebies offered this week! Getting such great freebies that I can use in my classroom for years to come definitely makes me feel appreciated! Here are a few you should check out before they're gone!

This adorable freebie is a bee-themed addition activity that was created by A Special Kind of Class. She did such an amazing job creating this activity, and it is PERFECT to put out during our Daily 4 Math with Someone rotations! It is such a fun way to practice addition, I know my kinders will LOVE it! Go grab one for yourself, and don't forget to leave some feedback love!!

These amazing freebies are the creation of Jill Green over at Chevron and Centers. She has been making a new freebie for EVERY DAY of Teacher Appreciation Week!!!  How awesome is that!?!? I haven't downloaded Day 5 yet, but I am IN LOVE with the first four freebies! The picture above will take you to Jill's TPT store to grab her 'I'm a Sight Word Ninja' packet, which is an incredibly adorable sight word game! You'll need to search her store for the rest of the week's freebies. 'Gone Fishin'" is an adorable place value center activity, 'Summer Fun' is an CVC/CVCe activity that will fit perfectly with Daily 5 Word Work rotations, and 'Too COOL For School' is an adorable addition activity that will be great at a center during Daily 4 Math with Self or even used as a Write the Room activity! My kinders LOVE Write the Room, and I know they would really enjoy this activity! I can't wait to see what Day 5 brings! You really should go snag these super awesome freebies, and don't forget to leave some feedback love!

The incredible clip art creator over at Educlips has also been making freebies for each day of Teacher Appreciation Week! She has created an incredibly cute set of clip art for each day of Teacher Appreciation Week, and I am in love with ALL of them! I don't want to tell you what they are and ruin the surprise, so you'll just have to click on the image above to snag the first one! Then you can search her store for the rest of this week's freebies. You won't be disappointed, and don't forget to leave some feedback love to show her you appreciate her hard work!

I wanted to let all of you wonderful and incredible educators that I appreciate all your hard work and dedication to your kiddos! I know how challenging, stressful, wonderful, and rewarding this profession can be, and I know that it takes a very special person to commit to this lifetime career! I would like to share with you my newest creation, 'Knights versus Dragons'. This activity is one I use for dismissal and down times to help my kinders stay calm and quiet while they wait for their bus or for special to start.

This activity includes several sets of cards that address various Reading, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Health concepts in kindergarten. Each page can be copied on a color of construction paper, cut out, and then added to a binder ring. This binder ring can be easily hooked onto an apron, belt buckle, or clip board. That way you will always have the cards with you, so you can keep your littles busy while they're waiting!

Here is a set of Math cards. I tried to include a Common Core Standard where applicable, so you can make sure you're hitting those standards!

Here is another set of the math cards. I tried to include a wide variety of skills and concepts, so that you could add to your ring as the year goes on. Also, they could be used to give extra reinforcement to kiddos who are having a harder time mastering certain standards. I copied the math cards onto red construction paper and them laminated them.

This is a set of Reading cards that practice a lot of different phonics skills. You can pick and choose which cards you want to include on your ring, or put them all on!

Here is another set of the Reading cards. They involve reading some high frequency words and identifying different literary terms. Remember, you can pick and choose which cards to add to your ring throughout the year. As you teach a new concept, check to see if there's a card that can reinforce that concept. I copied the Reading cards onto green construction paper and then laminated them before adding them to my ring.

Finally I included some cards that touched on different Science, Social Studies, and Health topics we cover in kindergarten. We do a lot of work with seasons, weather, trees, and community helpers.

We also work with animals, rules, and where we are in the world. These cards I copied onto purple construction paper and then laminated. As we learned a new concept, I added the cards that dealt with that concept to my ring.

I divide the kiddos into two groups, one group are Knights and the other group is Dragons. They take turns answering questions from the ring while standing up. If they are unable to answer a question, they sit down. Last team to have kiddos standing wins!

For TODAY ONLY I am offering this packet up as a FREEBIE! It will be available until MIDNIGHT EST on Friday, May 8th. After midnight on Friday, this packet will go on sale in my TPT store. For the first 48 hours it will be marked 50% off, so if you didn't get it as a freebie you can still get it at a discount!  I really appreciate all the hard work teachers do, and I hope you have been able to feel appreciated this week! Did you get any sweet gifts from your kiddos? Were you able to snatch up any awesome freebies this week? I would LOVE to hear from you!!

TPT Crazy!

It's Thursday, which means tomorrow is Friday! In my district tomorrow is a professional day so there is no school for students. Since I'm still injured, there's no school for me either, but my team will be learning all sorts of new things! How does your school handle professional days? Do you have them during the school year or only before and after the school year starts? I'm always curious about how other districts handle professional development. It's neat to learn about the differences!

So yesterday was the last day of the TPT Teacher Appreciation Sale! Did you buy any goodies? Were you able to show restraint or did you go all out? I pretty much went all out! I bought SO MUCH clip art! I shopped on three separate occasions throughout the two day sale, and my cart was full each time! I bought over twenty new sets of clip art! I can't wait to get started creating. All I have right now is time, so now is the perfect time to put my creative mind to work! Did you buy any clip art during this sale?

Did you know Krista Wallden offered this awesome Teacher Goodie Bag surprise? If you have come and 'Liked' my Facebook page then you have already read about how awesome I think this is! If you're not following my Facebook page you can click the Facebook tab at the top of the page or visit www.facebook.com/kinderdragons. It was available until last night. Each day of the entire Teacher Appreciation Week, Krista adds a new set of clip art. I have gotten three of the sets so far, and I am IN LOVE! I hope you were able to take advantage of this awesome opportunity! If not, make sure to sign up for her Summer VIP Membership Club or one of her upcoming Monthly VIP Graphics Clubs. Trust me, you won't regret it!!!

I would love to hear about what you bought during the TPT sale! Please leave me a comment, and I might have to go add what you bought to my Wish List! Can't wait to hear from you!

It's a Laser!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today marks the second day of Teacher Appreciation Week! Has your school done anything special for this week? I am missing it, but my school does such an awesome job during Teacher Appreciation week. The administration works alongside with the PTO to make sure we all feel super appreciated! Yesterday the staff enjoyed a lunch catered by the Olive Tree, which is a local Italian restaurant.  Today they will enjoy a Dessert Bar, which will be a long table full of yummy desserts that they can mix and match during their lunch time. They definitely make us feel loved at my school!

Ahhhh Ryan. I definitely appreciate that you appreciate me!

So yesterday was my very first laser surgery treatment to help my ankle heal. I was incredibly nervous and didn't know what to expect. Luckily I have an awesome doctor who is so kind and comforting! I had to wear these crazy glasses with greenish-yellow lenses to protect my eyes from the laser. The actual procedure didn't hurt, which I was super grateful for! The doctor passed the laser over and over the injured areas. It sure did get hot, though, which makes perfect sense but was something I wasn't expecting. When one side of my ankle got too hot to handle, the doctor switched to the other side.  This process lasted about 30 minutes, and then I was done! I'll have to try to remember to snap some pics of the snazzy glasses and laser wand next week. I go for my second treatment on Monday, and the rest of the Mondays in May. The treatments are supposed to help with the blood circulation, which will aide the bone in it's healing process. I'm hoping to walk come June, but the doctor says it could take longer. Fingers crossed that they work and I can be up and moving around come June! I would like to thank you all for your incredible support and kindness through this process, I can't begin to tell you all how much your kind words, encouragement, and positive vibes have meant to me! Thank you all so much for being so awesome!!

How is your school celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week? I would love to hear from you! Don't forget that EVERYTHING in my TPT store goes on sale tomorrow! I have marked everything down 20% off, and if you use the TPT coupon code 'ThankYou' you can get an extra 8% off! That's a grand total of 28% savings! Awesomesauce!! Click on the graphic below to go right to my TPT store and start adding things to your cart so you're ready for check-out tomorrow!!  Don't forget to follow my store while you're there, just click on that little green star near my name! If I can reach 250 followers, I'm going to CELEBRATE!!