Still celebrating...Class of 2013!

Hi everyone!

So I know I already blogged about our Preschool Graduation and all the fun it was....but....

yep, you guessed it.  MORE PICTURES! :)

As most of you know, or at least my students know, I LOVE taking pictures.  Check out a few more quick pictures that show our decorations, bulletin boards, and activities throughout graduation week! Enjoy :)

Class of 2013 Bulletin Board :)

Class of 2013 Memory Board :)

Oh The Places You'll Go Balloons (Hallway decorations!)

Up close of the balloons! :)

Thank you all for reading and checking out the pictures!  Until next time, stay safe. <3

Class of 2013: Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Celebrating the...

Class of 2013:

Oh! the Places You'll Go! (banner hung in my classroom)

Last week, we celebrated the Class of 2013, meaning that all my 5 year olds that are currently in preschool graduated and are moving on into Kindergarten in August!!! Woooohoooo! Congrats boys and girls!!!

However, no...that is not the end of this blog post.  Oh no, fooled you!  We have lots to talk about, lots of pictures to show, but most importantly, a party to remember for the rest of your life!

Now, let me tell you....Preschool graduation is an exciting time for not only the students, but the parents, and myself as well!  Yep, you said it.  I went a little overboard with preschool graduation but I am PERFECTLY okay with it :) It was totally worth it and the students LOVED it :)!

Let's get started!

As I was thinking about graduation, I really wanted to center it around a certain theme.  I thought to myself...."Hmm, what will be an interesting theme to all of my students???" And then, it came to me!  DR. SUESS!  Now you may say, what does Dr. Seuss have to do with preschool graduation?!! Well, if you never graduated before, then I'm not expecting you to know :) But...Dr. Seuss has written an amazing book called, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"  This book is about a young boy who doesn't know which path he'll choose, but it's up to him to choose his next step!  It inspired creative thinking and offers so many different dreams!  I decided at that point...this is what I will do!  :) So, the planning began.

Now, I had to plan for our preschool graduation ceremony as well as a meal afterwards.  Not to mention, the bulletin boards I wanted to display and the preschool graduation gifts I wanted to give each of the students.  Well, now I will begin showing pictures!  Enjoy! :)

In the morning, the students were SO EXCITED!  Miss Brittane had out done herself with graduation decorations and oh boy, the students just couldn't concentrate.  However, we started off our preschool graduation day with a book called, "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten!"  Although the students got distracted very easily, we were able to make it through. 

Reading "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten!"

After reading the book, it was time to get lined up for graduation!!! All of the parents were waiting in the gym (where graduation took place) and we were running late...imagine that ;)!  However, we  got to the gym and had a wonderful graduation program.  My boss, Sara said a few words, and then it was my turn.  I had trouble not tearing up...as I only had these students for 5 months and now they were leaving me. :(  But I made it through.  I handed out awards to the students, recognizing the students for many different things such as Happy Attitude, Award Winning Smile, Hard Worker, Most Responsible, Excellent Artists, and many more!  The students and parents LOVED the awards!!! After presenting awards, the students sang one song about going to Kindergarten and then also danced to their favorite song, "Gangham Style!"  They love it!  After singing and dancing, it was time to award the diplomas!  Along with the diplomas, the students received a pencil from the school and a carnation flower to give their mom.  Attached to the carnation was a cute "Proud of Me Degree" poem.  The students loved the graduation program, but were very excited to get back to the room for the meal and cake of course!!!

Preschool Awards! :)

Preschool diplomas! :) (HOMEMADE!!!)

Students singing their song!! :)

Flower with poem attached! :)

Receiving their diplomas! :)

After finishing the graduation program, everyone...including students, parents, relatives, etc. were invited back to the Bear Room for a short lunch, to enjoy one another's company.  There was A TON of people, but overall it went very well!  We enjoyed a short lunch, having ham and turkey sandwiches, chips, fruit, cake, and lemonade!  All of this food was brought by parent volunteers and the cake was made by my amazing, talented sister Brooke!  It looked fabulous...pictured below!

Themed cake made by my wonderful sister!!! 

Food table! :)

After lunch, preschool graduation was officially over, but not for me!  I had gifts to give and smiles to see!  I made each preschooler a little goodie bag filled with markers, crayons, pixie sticks, smarties, and a sucker.  Yep, they were full of sugar!  Along with this goodie bag, I tied their graduation picture to it with a short personal note from me on the back...so they always remember me of course! :)  Along with the preschool student gifts, I also made a little gift for each one of my parent volunteers who brought in food for the graduation lunch.  See the pictures below! :)

Hand sanitizer: "Thank you for your helping hands! :)"

Preschool Graduation Goodie Bags!!!

Overall, preschool graduation was a blast!!! Everything turned out wonderful and I could not have done it with everyone who helped me.  I want to say a quick thank you to: the parents who brought in food for graduation lunch, Flowerama for the generous donation so their child could give each Mom a flower, and my amazing sister, Brooke who helped design the diplomas and baked/designed the amazing themed cake as well as the staff at CUCCC for their support and encouragement.  Without these volunteers, I could not have put on such an amazing preschool graduation for my students!

This day was truly remarkable and one I will always remember.  The way my student's eyes lit up when they saw everything was just tear-jerking.  It was such a special day for them and I'm so happy I worked so hard to make this day so special for them.  From homemade banners to frustrated picture edits, I made it through the week and received so many appreciative comments from the parents in my classroom.  As a first year teacher, you often second guess and doubt everything you are doing, so knowing I put on a wonderful preschool graduation celebration met a lot to me as well as the thirty students in my classroom!

Well, I guess there is only one thing left to say....

Up, Up, & Away...Today is YOUR day!  

CONGRATS CLASS OF 2013!!! :)

Thank you all for listening, and until next time, stay safe <3.

Saying Good-Bye...

Just now recovering from saying this good-bye...(I may get a little teary-eyed from writing this post.)  Better late then never, I now update you on why these last few weeks have been hard for me as well as for my preschool students.

As many of you know...about three weeks ago, I lost my wonderful assistant teacher, Ana.  I don't even know where to begin to be sure I cover everything I have experienced with this wonderful, young, talented woman in the last five months.  Where do I start? Well, let's begin.

Cascerones!!! :)

In January, I entered my preschool room not knowing anyone in my classroom or my assistant teacher (Ana).  I was scared but excited and knew once I met Ana, I was going to love my job.  Ana had a wonderful attitude and accepted my personality and did not judge me for being a first time teacher and understood when I made mistakes.  Through these five months, we have learned from each other...her teaching me compassion and me teaching her that sometimes you just have to say it like it is :)!  We pride each other on these personality traits and every time we discussed these traits with another person, they completely understood us and just laughed at how well we complimented each other.  Most people think that when you spend an entire day with a co-worker in the same room filled by 30 kids....you are usually ready to go home and be by yourself.  However, with Ana, that was not the case.  We laughed, we cried, and we enjoyed SO MANY memories with each other as well as with our students.  From saying, "She's a hot mess" or "He just doesn't got it today," we laughed at each day and thanked God together every day that we were brought into this teaching profession and brought into each other's lives to make one another better as well as the 30 kids inside our classroom.

One of our favorite memories...playing Sailors and Sharks! :)

A lot of people in their careers today, do not get close to their co-workers and most people think it's nearly impossible.  However, that was not the case with Ana and I.  After working with each other for about only a month, we developed a very close friendship.  She was the one I went to if things weren't going my way, or if I didn't know what step to take next.  She was the one I confided in when it came to school problems, boy problems, family problems, etc.  She was just there...a caring, young woman that every girl should have the chance to have as a friend.  We started going for drinks, attending jewelry parties together, taking a trip to Chicago together, but most importantly, developing memories that will last a life time.  I can say to you now that we had a lot of memories outside of school, but our most cherished memories are those spent with our 30 kids inside our classroom.  I did not consider her my assistant teacher.  I considered us co-workers, co-teaching to 30 kids and making their education the best possible education they could receive.  We shared a classroom and the memories we share are even better.

Enjoying our trip in downtown Chicago!

On Miss Ana's last few days, we celebrated with the students, helping them understand that not only was she leaving for awhile, she was leaving for good.  This concept is very tough for young preschoolers to understand.  We wanted to be sure that they really understood what was happening and why they should truly cherish the last few days with Miss Ana.  I let Ana plan a going away celebration activity that is a celebration activity that they do back in Texas.  Ana let the students make homemade 'cascerones' (aka: confetti eggs) and then we let the students crack these eggs over each other's heads as well as on Miss Ana. They absolutely loved it!!!  Miss Ana also received presents from parents (showing how greatly she was appreciated) and from the Bear Room as well.  She opened presents and we also had cake to enjoy her last day of teaching in the Bear Room.

The students getting her with the confetti eggs!

Going away gift...Coffee mug with student's signatures on it and some goodies, and a picture of our class :)

To this day, our classroom has not been the same.  Ana is greatly missed by not only me, but the students as well.  They recognized her not only as a teacher, but as a caregiver as well.  She truly loved each and every one of our students and they loved her back.

Ana is now in Texas, living with her husband and looking for a teaching job beginning in the fall.  Moving back to Texas was something her husband and her had always wanted to do, coming to Iowa only to attend college for their superior teaching program.   Now that they are back in Texas, it's no longer a 15 minute drive to hang out with each other, but instead....dialing each other's phone number in seconds and talking on the phone for hours.  Each week, we try and talk on the phone...catching up on each other's life and the craziness that is going on not only in Iowa but in Texas as well.  I can truly thank God for Ana and the friendship we have developed.  She has the best advice and the most caring personality you could ask for from a friend.

Now, with tears in my eyes, it's time to say good-bye.

Thank you all for listening...and until next time, stay safe. <3

May News!

Little late but better than never...

Happy May everyone!!!

Check out the newsletter below to find out what's happening in the Bear Room this month.

One BIG event we have going on...PRESCHOOL GRADUATION!!! WOOHOO!! :) I am overly excited for this day and plan on getting my preschoolers overly excited for it as well!!!

Until next time, stay safe! <3

Bloomin' in the Bear Room!

Oh.my.gosh.  I cannot believe it is already May.  This spring is just flying by!  However, with 80 degree weather one day and snowy weather another...it's hard to believe it's Spring.  Imagine teaching that concept to preschoolers!!! Yep, it's been one difficult theme to teach to the students because they believe snow comes in the winter...so some of my kids still think it's winter!  So silly but so funny :)!

We have been spending ALOT of time talking about flowers in our classroom.  We covered different things such as different types of flowers, the different parts to a flower, and what a flower needs in order to survive.   We made beautiful sunflowers to hang in our classroom on our bulletin board.  These sunflowers are simply made out of paper plates and popsicle sticks!  We had the students first paint the paper plate yellow and the popsicle stick green.  After both pieces were dry, we then pulled them over to create the 'petals' of their flower by using a scissor and cutting into the paper plate.  Then they folded the corners of each petal over in order to give it the "flower look."  We then had the students tape the popsicle sticks on the back, glue their picture on and TA-DA! We had a sunflower!  :) So simple but so cute.  Check out the picture below!

We've been having a blast in the Bear Room and continue to cover a different theme each week.  Because last week was conferences, I have not had time to blog; therefore, I am beginning to catch up.  We also are having a 'Spring Cleaning' week in Preschool...aka: 'Catch up Miss Brittane' week :)!   We are doing lots of fun things this week such as finishing up Mother's Day presents (blog post soon to come) and Miss Ana's (my assistant) last day :(!!! So sad but no worries, I will blog about that as well!

Until then, enjoy this short post and have a great rest of the week!

Thank you all for listening and until next time, stay safe <3.