New Challenge: third grade

So... I am no longer a Kindergarten teacher. I now teach third grade. We only had enough Kinder kids for one class this year, so I got bumped. I was very very nervous at first. Kindergarten is my grade of choice and my comfort zone. So... here we go!

We are actually about to start our 4th week of school. I can't believe how fast the past month has gone! So far I have started to get into routine and I know what I am doing a little bit more. I still feel like I am faking it though... especially when it comes to parents asking me questions. I am trying to iron out my policies, figure out what a smoothly run classroom should look like, and just see what works for me.

I am starting to like it more and more and have come to this conclusion. Third grade will be easier to teach, but not nearly as fun. With third grade there is a lot less prep, kids can do more on their own and love to help, you are using less creativity and thus less energy to get everything prepared, and there is a lot of routine. But... Kindergarten is so much fun! I miss the creative activities, their joyous spirits (I mean come on.. they would ask me to assign homework because they loved it) and launch into long stories whenever I asked them how their day went. I still love seeing my old Kinder Kids around school. I probably get more hugs from them than I do my current students. That first class of mine will always have a special place in my heart.

That being said, I do think that I will enjoy the year. I am thinking of fun activities and learning experiences for them to break up the day. Here goes nothing :)

Dramatic Play Flower Shop

Dramatic Play Flower Shop

A while ago my partner (the teacher next door) teacher and I decided to turn our dramatic play center into a flower shop. She had tons of fake flowers so this was an easy task for her. She has taught for over 30 years and thus... has a plethora of fun things for her friends. (friends what we call all Kinder kids) I, being the cheap person that I am, didn't want to go out and spend a bunch of money on fake flowers. Even at the dollar store those puppies add up quick. So, being the crafter that I am, decided to make them. You can find the tutorial here on my other blog. I also made some for my mom out of her favorite fabric. I had tons of other ideas for them as well.

Mother's Day Card

A Rainbow of Tulip Handprint Mother's Day Cards :)

The Sub

Today one of my parents told me that she had asked her child what the name of her sub was.

student: Meatball Marinara

mother: No what was the name of your sub?

student: meatball Marinara

Mom thinks to herself... I didn't raise my daughter to make fun of a stubstitute teacher, what is going on here? Then realizes... oh we went to subway the other day and had her first sub sandwich.

sub sandwich/ substitute teacher. Word confusion... it makes for hilarious moments :)

Fuzzy Pants

Today there was a very fuzzy catipillar that was making its way onto the path we walk inside from recess. So... I rescued him. The students promptly informed me that his name is Mr. Fuzzy Pants. A very appropriate name :)

Steven James- Holding on to You (FishFest 2010)

Our school is pulling together to help out one of our teachers. Her husband recently got signed and is trying to get on stage at Fish Fest. He is currently in first place. Watch him on Youtube and you can help him get there!

Teacher Appreciation

Wow- Going from public school to private I knew would be quite different, but I don't think I have seen glaring differences (besides teaching the Bible) until this week. Instead of one day of teacher appreciation we have an entire week. I don't think I have ever felt more appreciated. It is ridiculous. My classroom looks like a florists shop. I have had Starbucks almost every day, I was given gooks for my classroom and even had a parent make dinner for me! Wow. Talk about being overwhelmed with blessings.

As many of you know... I am a fan of going green. So did I celebrate Earth Day? Why yes I did. At school we made recycled paper projects... and at home I chastized those who were joking "I threw my trash on the ground". Duty done. Now for the post. Late is better than never :)

So here is what we did:


You need newspaper and colored tissue paper. Give each child 1 page of the news paper and about a 6x6 piece of tissue. Have them rip up the pieces.




Put it in the blender, cover the paper with water and blend. Yum :)

Pour the pulp onto a screen and have the kids push the water out. This is actually a splatter screen for cooking.

The kids then push the pulp into cookie cutters. Yes I am using scholastic book orders to absorb the water. Hey there is no way I would be able to use all fo the book orders they send. They even send new book orders when you order books. Hello... I just ordered out of this catalog! Yet another way to be green.

This is how they turn out. Cute huh! then just let dry.

You could also do it flat like my partner did.


I think there are totally ways to do this as an adult to make recycled paper.

I will soon post what I do with my recycled craft... so stay tuned :)

Open House 2010

Theme: I CAN!!!

This is my first year teaching... and open house at a Christian School is a BIG deal! Well.... I think it went well. Granted... my room was no where near as cool and fun as my partner teacher's room. Oh well, I guess that is what happens when your partner has 33 years of teaching on you.

Here is our museum of modern art!

We cut the frames out of cardboard, let the kids glue pasta on, and then spray painted them in Gold. They really do look cool. This is something I will leave up for the rest of the year.

Bible Board

Kids stories are always so interesting!

We took a trip to Tanaka Farms (a fruit and veggie farm).

After our trip to Tanaka Farms we made smashberry jam. I had it out to sample at Open house and it was such a hit. I also had cut out paper strawberries for the families to add to a bar graph to say whither they liked it or not.

I would suggest that whenever you have students make something, ask them what they would like to title it! I had no idea what things were until I heard the titles... It also makes it more like an art show.

The names that they picked for their wood was amazing! Do you see the crane in the background? I would have never guessed. We put these together with wood glue and then the kids painted them.

I made the dress up center like Tanaka Farms. They could even dig for strawberries in the science table.

I love the hand hearts :)

home sick

I am home sick today. I went to work and then half way through the day I called a sub. It amazes me when I stop and take a look at my class. I am so blessed. I work at a christian school and when I told them this morning that I wasn't feeling well, they asked if they could pray for me. These are Kindergartners I am talking about here! It isn't the first time they have asked if they could pray for me, but it gets me every time.

getting started

I am a first year teacher in Kindergarten. This year I also started my first blog: The Crafty Tulip. While creating this blog, I have really felt the need to have an outlet for teaching ideas, frustrations, and laughs. I didn't want it to be on my craft blog... so here it is... my second blog. The more I thought about making this blog the more excited I got. Then I got a little sad, wishing I had started this at the beginning of the year to chronicle my first year as a teacher. But... I guess late is better than never. So here we go!