{iPads and Preschoolers}

My school, Pre-K through High School, recently purchased a set of iPads for the teachers and students to use over the course of the year--in the words of Babbling Abby, I am 12 kinds of excited!  The school has given us an iPad to play, I mean familiarize ourshelves with before the school year starts and see how we might use it in our classroom...

So I have been surfing the net and found some useful apps and things but I wanted to ask you--how do you utilize technology in your classrooms? The pre-school does not have SMART boards or anything like that, but we do get to visit the computer lab once a week to play on www.starfall.com. 

I'm really excited to begin incorporated this into some of my lessons!  Please share how you accomplish this :D

{Back to School Giveaway}

In case you haven't heard 12 amazing woman have teamed up together to create one of the best giveaways I have ever seen! 

Head on over to Erica Bohrer's blog for more details...

{Never Enough Room}

Do you ever feel like there is never enough room is your classroom to hold everything that you have?

I know I A.L.W.A.Y.S. feel like this... I have come across and have collected so many activities and teaching resources I want my students to have access to but can never seem to find the room, and my existing bookshelves seem to be cramped with so many learning tools my students never find them all or never get to really interact with them...

I would love to do centers...honest to goodness centers...where students spend a time learning a skill and cooperative learning takes place...but I haven't figured out a way to make it really work [but I'll keep trying!] But I did find a shelf at IKEA..I L.O.V.E--love-- IKEA...They always have great stuff!.. Anywho I saw this shelf and I was thinking that I could use it do types of centers...

This shelf holds six of the small green buckets... So I was thinking I could place activities in the buckets that I really want the students to focus on that day or week and they would have to select one of these activities during center time... This would ensure that the learning tools are being use effectively and that the students are focusing on learning specific skills as a reinforce of circle time or whole group learning...The only downside is finding a place for my shelf to live... Still working on that one...

What do you think? How does center time work in your classroom--Do you use shelves or tubs? I'm open to any and all ideas... Have a happy Monday!

{Target Dollar Bins}

I would like to preface this post by saying how much I love Target!  A girl could get lost in there-this I know from experience.  They have so many great things for teachers (and just about everybody), I can never just get what I came for...Yes, I am guilty of NOT sticking to the list...

Anyway, I was visiting some of my fellow bloggers when I got inspired to visit my Target Dollar Bins.  Boy, was I like kid in a candy store!  I was worried I had missed out on all the good stuff, but I was not disappointed... 

I got some alphabet stickers that I am going to place inside water bottle lids and let my students practice letter recognition and later in the year begin spelling words (I found this on another blog today, but can't remember which one-I saw so many-I apologize)...I also found some great baskets I used last year for my library area, pony beads, number puzzles and some really adorable measuring spoons (don't know what I'm going to do with those yet, I just loved the colors!)...

Since this is a work in progress, I hope I will be able to add some pictures of my cool finds and my classroom once I am able to get back in there and get things ready for my new students!!

{Welcome to the Fantastic Frogs}

So, here it is, the first post on my new blog.  I have never done anything like this before, but I have gotten so many ideas from you fellow bloggers I decided that I should try and return the favor, though I might miss the mark since all of you are so fabulous!

I am a third year teacher at a private school in California where I teach Transitional Kindergarten.  My kids are such a blessing to me.  When I graduated from college I had no idea that this is where I would end up, but I am so glad I am where I am...God is good and His plan for me is better than anything I could plan for myself.

I hope this is a place where we can share our thoughts, ideas, occasional struggles and of course our successes.  Please know that this is a work in progress and I am still learning how to make my blogging effective, but please visit and we will learn together!