It Didn't Rain on our Parade

Wow! What a day yesterday was! It was our town's summer celebration, and the culmination of most of our hard work this summer. We started the day off with the parade. Remember that model of the church I talked about having to pull....Well, the people who are storing it for the church told us not to pull it if there was a chance of rain. (The rain could ruin the paint and the wood it is made from.) That morning, as my husband and I were driving into town, it was raining. I checked the radar after we got all the banners hung on the truck, and it didn't show too much rain out there, but there was still a 50% chance. It certainly looked like it could rain at any minute too. So, to make a painfully long story shorter, the president of my board and I decided not to pull the model.

Then, we didn't know where we were supposed to meet to join the parade. The coordinators had given us a special spot in the shade because of the kids - we were just supposed to join the parade in our place as it went by us. That's great, but they didn't have anyone at our place telling us where exactly to line up and when to join the parade. So....we just lined up where we were and joined when we felt like it.

The kids had a blast though. They managed to throw all of their candy out by about halfway through the parade, so my husband ducked into the dollar store (which was conveniently located on the parade rout) to grab some more. They, of course managed to throw all of that out within the next five minutes too... That was fine though - they enjoyed waving and smiling at all the people who were watching. We even got applause from a big section of people by the park!

Since we were at the beginning of the parade, we ducked out before the end and let the kids watch for a while. They were the only kids in that area, so they managed to get about a bucketful of candy each.

After the parade, we were hosting a photography booth in the park. This was all happening during the community picnic, so there were a ton of people there. We made a cutout photo booth - you know, the ones where you stick your face in the hole to appear you have a body of something else - of a cheerleader and a football player. We sold about 10 pictures (which was kind of a disappointment, but I'm blaming it on our location), but I'm not too upset about that. We made back the costs of the equipment, and that's about all I could hope for.

All in all, I'm going to call the day a success. We had a ton of people in our float, and I'm so grateful for that. I think we appeared as a strong, happy, friendly group of people. The kids were having a blast, which helps send the message that our preschool is a great place for kids. I think only good things can come from the experience - even though it was a ton of work!

Papers and a Birthday

I'm working on the papers that go along with my field experience for my new endorsement today.....YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! Five years of college is enough for me for a while. I have always wanted to get my master's degree, but I think I need to wait a little while to get some of my school-oriented motivation back. These papers are driving me insane.

In other news, tomorrow is my birthday. I'll be 23. Crazy. There are many days, after I come home from school absolutely exhausted, that I feel like I'm not old enough for the responsibilities I have. Maybe tomorrow, when I'm officially 23, I'll feel old enough for them. :P I'm not placing any bets on that. It's not that I want to be too young - it's just that I feel overwhelmed with everything, and I wonder if it's because I don't have many experiences yet.

My parents are coming up for a short visit tomorrow morning, and I think I'm going to take them to my classroom. I just want them to see where I spend so much of my time. I think they'll enjoy it too. While they never say it, I'm pretty sure they are proud of me. Hopefully sharing that part of my life with them increases that sense of pride for them.

I guess I should get back to my papers now though...(Again, can I just say - YUCK?) Only five more to go...

Blocks, Blocks, and More Blocks

Alright, so I'm feeling better now - compared to how I felt this morning. I spent the day in my classroom doing finishing touches on some parade stuff and organizing the block center. Just in general, it was a good day.

I contact-papered (Don't worry - it's totally okay to use that as a verb. I'm a teacher. I know these things.) the banners we're going to hang on our truck this weekend first. Considering the banners are 6 feet and 4 feet long, this took me quite a while. I'm glad I did it though; they'll be much stronger this way.

Then, I moved on to the fun part - organizing my block center. I use The Creative Curriculum in my classroom, and I had just re-read the chapter on blocks. I knew there were lots of things I needed to do with it, so I took care of them today.

First, I needed to move my block center. It was in the middle of one side of my classroom, but I wanted to put it in a corner. I just thought it would make it more private and inviting for kids. So I took care of that.

Then, I needed to organize my unit blocks.

Here is what they looked like before:

It was really hard for the kids to get all of the blocks on the little cart they are on in this picture. Most of the time they were overflowing and falling all over the place.

I started by tracing the different shapes of blocks on contact paper, so I could label the shelves. Like this:


Here's the finished product:

I'm so excited for this! It'll be so much easier for the kids to pick up the block center. Each block has it's own space!

Next, I worked on organizing the props. I put everything in totes and labeled the totes and the shelves.

Shelves are labeled with pictures and words. (Sorry about the bad picture - I couldn't get the blinds to shut out all of the sun)

Each tote has a label to match the shelf. This way kids know what goes into each tote and where it goes on the shelf.

Here's the whole shelf area! I love how organized and easy to clean up it is.

Here's the whole area! I'm trying to decide if I want to keep that Lego table or get rid of it. The Legos themselves are hard for the little ones to take apart and put together - their fine motor skills aren't there yet. It also takes up a lot of space. I don't know though...Decisions, decisions, decisions.

In general, though, I'm very pleased with how it looks. I think the kids will appreciate it as well. Hopefully it encourages some outstanding play experiences.

Oh, Maui! Why can't you be closer?

Man, I have been really bad about posting recently. I've got a lot on my plate. The funny thing is I'm stressed out about it and the one thing that really helps me get rid of that stress - blogging - has been difficult for me. For whatever reason, it's hard for me to give myself what I really need. It's almost as if I feel the need to punish myself. I need to change that.

What all is on my plate?

• My preschool is going to be in a parade this weekend at our town's summer celebration. I figured it would be a good way for us to get out into the community - to show people we're still around. I didn't realize how much work it was going to be. There have been so many decisions that, unfortunately, had to be made by the entire board, which means we've had about a bazillion board meetings since the end of the school year. Decisions like: Should we include the model of the church on our float? It's on a trailer that's not big enough to include the kids, what do we do? What are we going to use to decorate? Who's going to paint? Who's going to get the markers? twizzlers? labels? Oh. My. Word. I'm so ready for this parade to be over...
• Instead of hiring an assistant teacher and putting all of our students in one class, we're going to break them into two classes so I can teach them alone. I'm at peace with this decision, but now I have to decide who's going to get their second choice instead of their first choice. I don't want to lose any students. Also...I really wanted an assistant teacher. I really don't want to be on an island any more. :(
• I have six 3-5 page papers to write by July 20.
• My husband and I are moving to a house on July 23. We're excited about the move. The house is in a neutral location, and it'll be cheaper; however, if our landlady doesn't find someone to rent our apartment, we'll have to pay for the next year. That could be $4500 spent on nothing. We can afford it - we're not going to have to declare bankruptcy because of it - but I'd rather have that money to spend on something worthwhile.
• My husband and I are wanting to start a family. Because I'm the girl in this relationship, I'm starting to worry about all the things future moms worry about. What if we can't get pregnant? What if I get really sick? What if there's something wrong with the baby? What if we're not ready to take care of another human? I need to just relax. I'll work on that.

So many things....I'll survive. I just need to keep breathing. Also, a vacation would be nice. We're talking about a day trip somewhere. We'll see what happens. Getting away would be perfect. I miss Maui at times like these. Waking up to this:


every morning would be absolute heaven.

Brainstorming for Next Year

As part of our state's standards, we are required to have a family literacy night every year. While I was getting ready for my field experience this morning, I came up with an idea for our night next year.

I'd like to do a family read-a-thon. The kids could collect pledges on a per book basis, and we could use the money we raise to support a charity (not sure which one yet). The actual night would be two hours of reading as a family and participating in various activities. It would serve two purposes; one being to teach kids to give by supporting a charity and another being to teach families strategies to use as they read together at home.

I'm sure my board would be behind this idea. They have always supported my attempts to bring in families. I'm excited! It makes me sad, though, that I have to wait so long to put this plan in action...I don't want to wish summer away, but I am looking forward to next year. There are so many things I'd like to do differently.

In other news, my field experience has gotten better. One of the things I've learned is that the center has an excellent idea of what their care should of infants should be. They have a great daily schedule that includes early literacy skills as well as a great deal of fine and gross motor skills. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a clear idea of who is in charge in each room. No one plans anything on a daily basis, because no one knows who's job it is.

I have been noticing a lot more adult to baby interaction, so I'm feeling much better about that. I was reading at article last night in Young Children about communicating with babies. One thing that stuck out to me was the idea of starting a conversation with the infant before handling him/her. I think we, adults, often forget that babies are humans who deserve respect; we pick them up and move them around as if they are toys. I don't think we mean to disrespect them by doing this. We just want to love them and keep them safe. The article talked about how when we do things like this, we are telling the infant that what s/he wants doesn't actually matter. We really need to talk with the infants - tell them what we're going to do with them and ask them for permission (if they are old enough to understand and respond). I just thought that was a powerful point. We wouldn't want someone to come over, pick us up, and move us somewhere us without a good reason, so why shouldn't we give babies the same respect?

I have two more days in the infant room, and then I'm moving on to preschoolers. While I love how cute and cuddly the babies are, I'm looking forward to seeing someone else handle preschoolers. I teach by myself and it can be easy to get stuck in a rut because I don't have new ideas being presented to me on a regular basis. Watching someone else will, hopefully, open new doors for me.

Babies Galore!

I'm working on my field experience for my early childhood endorsement for the next two weeks at a local daycare. Today I was in the mobile infant room. The babies in the room are anywhere from 12 months to 18 months old. They are a hoot too! I'd forgotten how much I love holding a baby. They're so sweet and soft. It, of course, makes me want to start a family immediately. There's plenty of time for that though - no need to rush.

One thing sort of disappointed me today though. I was there for three hours, and for at least an hour and a half of that time I was the only adult in the room who was actually interacting with the children. The woman in charge of that room was only on the floor talking with the children for about 15 minutes. Talking to the children and introducing them to vocabulary and experiences is incredibly important at that age; it just makes me sad to see all the opportunities that were missed today.

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt though, and go into tomorrow with a positive attitude. Maybe today was just an off day - it is Monday, and I know how crazy and hectic Mondays can be in the daycare setting.

I wasn't completely thrilled about having to do this field experience, but I am looking forward to hanging out with those adorable babies again tomorrow! :)

Spontaneous Camping Trip!

I didn't even think about school for most of this weekend! It was a very welcome break.

My husband and I took our first camping trip together. It was pretty spontaneous. He came up with the idea around 10:00 on Friday morning. Next thing I knew, we were out checking on the camping areas around the lake on his lunch break. We had to reserve our spot as soon as we found it - just to make sure no one else would take it, of course - but he also had to go back to work. I ended up setting up the tent by myself! It's not a difficult task, but I was proud of myself.

We spent the weekend sitting around the fire, hanging out at the lake, reading in the sun, and eating wonderful camp food. It was a little chilly. I think the high yesterday was somewhere around 69 degrees, and it dropped down to the low 50s during the night. Plenty of sweatshirts, blankets, and, of course, plenty of snuggling kept us warm. What a great weekend!

This is what our campsite looked like. Our tent looks tiny, but it fits our queen sized air mattress with some extra room. Also, we learned a thing or too about raccoons... Around 11:00 last night, we heard our bags of food rustling and knew it couldn't be the wind. There was a fairly decent-sized raccoon digging for some supper. He took off with our bread but dropped it by the truck. Goofy raccoon!

We made some tasty pizza pockets on the fire. Pretty simple - pita bread, pizza sauce, pepperoni and Canadian bacon, and cheese all wrapped in foil. They were fabulous. We also made the obligatory hot dogs and s'mores on the fire as well.

Hopefully, we have plenty of camping weekends in the future. It was a fabulous time.