Happy Wednesday my lovelies! Only two more days until the weekend - woot woot!
I must tell you how much I love YOU. I am so thankful and appreciative for each of my followers on my blog, TeachersPayTeachers store, instagram, and everywhere else. I am feeling particularly warm and fuzzy after reaching over 2,000 followers on TPT and over 500 followers on my blog! I want to throw that warm and fuzzy feeling right back at you to say thanks for all of your love and support by having a giveaway! Hooray!
Super exciting news - I have just added 13 new fonts to my font pack! This brings the total number to 139 fonts total! Geez, that's more than I ever thought possible when I started making them. I just love making them so much! I am officially a font addict. Of all the things I could be addicted to, I'd have to say that's a pretty good one. Anywho, here's a peek at all the fonts included. The top set, 15, is the newest set! Click HERE or on the cover below to see it in my TPT Store.
In other super awesome, fun font news, I have just created a brand new product called "MAKE MY FONT".
Now you can have YOUR handwriting made into your very own unique, personalized, high-quality font that you can use both personally AND commercially!
And guess who my first personalized font creation is for? Yup, Deanna Jump! If you haven't heard of her (hahahahaha I'm joking, and do not intend to finish that sentence). You know that woman's handwriting is probably adorable :) I am currently working with her to create her own unique font. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
Now for the fun part! Because I love you all and am just so excited to be back blogging this summer, and feeling a bit font crazy lately, I am having a giveaway :) I will choose one lucky winner who will win my complete KB Fonts Pack, PLUS $15 to spend in my TPT Store! I will also choose one winner who will receive their very own personalized font!
Oh. my. goodness. It's me :) Little old me! You probably thought I had disappeared. Maybe stolen by a group of pirates and out sailing the seas? Perhaps kidnapped by the Elf on the Shelf, seeing as I haven't blogged since December? Possibly took a trip to the Grand Canyon and stepped a wee bit too close to the edge? Well I am here to put all your never ending concerns to rest. Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive, still a happy kindergarten teacher, and still hanging around in the Fort (Fort Myers, that is).
How are you my kind, lovely followers? I have missed you so!
I do apologize for the massive gap in postings. To say that 2014 has been a freakin' whirlwind would be the understatement of the century. I literally do not even know where to start. Let's take a little mind-trip back to January so I can update you on what in the high heavens I have been doing for the past 7 months. (Holy crow - 7 months??? Is it seriously July?? Jeepers. Ok, I will not sidetrack myself, but wow.)
****Close your eyes and take my hand, picture a swirling tunnel in your mind, listen to the swooshing sound as we travel back in time together to a chilly winter day in January 2014****
Now that I've set the mood, let's begin! I am going to tell you the unexpected story of my journey as a teacher this year.
I returned back to work from a long, relaxing, beautiful holiday with my family. As always, I was a bit sad that the break was over, but thrilled to be back with the tiny ones. We jumped right back in and got into the groove. It was not even a week that we had been back when one morning, bright and early, our classroom door opened. First to walk in was my principal, followed up our amazing and beautiful secretary, and finally a mystery woman who I'd never met before. She smiles to the kids and my principal announces to my bubbling bitties that they have some news for their teacher. I am all nerves and smiling like, "You do?? What's going on??? Please tell me this is something positive, what could possibly be going on??" and finally they told us that I was one of the 30 finalists selected out of the thousands of entries to be a Golden Apple Teacher for my school district. UM SERIOUSLY?!? Guess what I did, I cried. I was so honored and excited and proud. I could not believe that I was 1 of 30 out of thousands of incredible teachers! They handed me an envelope and inside was a 2 page list of directions as to what would come next. And thus began my Golden Apple journey :)
In the end, 6 of the 30 finalists would be chosen as the Golden Apple Teachers.
Over the next few months, I was to be RANDOMLY observed by 13 RANDOM judges from the community. Did I mention that these observations were completely random?? Yes, I thought so. The first few observations were terrifying. I was a jumbled mess of nerves. When they came in, all I could do was teach. I literally just kept going and chugging through, trying my very hardest to pretend that no one was staring at me, analyzing my every move and word, writing down notes about me and my teaching and my classroom, scoring and rating me as an effective teacher, as well as comparing me to 29 other finalists who I can only imagine were incredible, outstanding educators. EEK! Stressed out is not even close to how I felt. As the observations went on, it did become easier. I felt more at ease and it got to the point where just about anyone could walk into the room and the kids and I would just be like "Hey, what's up, take a seat." Did I mention that my kid's were so AMAZING and incredibly adorable through the entire process??? They were totally pumped that I was a finalist and told me they were so proud like every single day. I love them. Love love love them with my whole heart and soul. Truly.
SO after all of the observations were completed for ALL 30 finalists, they had a swanky little meet and greet where all the finalists got to meet each other. This was the final step before they would announce the winners. My principal went with me. Did I mention that I adore my principal? There are not enough words to tell how amazing she is. Here we are together at the shindig (I'm the one in all black):
The next week was when the real stress began. We were told that they would announce the winning 6 teachers at some point that week and that they would just show up. So of course I picked out 5 of my best outfits and prepared to look cute every day just in case :) Monday rolled around, I was all nerves, and nothing happened. I looked online and they hadn't announced any winners anywhere, so I figured it wasn't the day. Then Tuesday passed by, Wednesday next, Thursday crawled by and I begin thinking "ooooooooook PLEASE just tell us already!!!!" and finally it was FRIDAY. The last day. I thought I was going to puke every second of the day. I was nauseous and sweaty and a straight up mess.
Around 11am or so, one of my sweet friends poked her head around the corner and said "They've started handing out the apples! They gave out two already!!" They had a live twitter feed that announced each winner as they were chosen. Of course I'm like, "I won't look at that at all, I'll just ignore it and teach and pay no attention to that." How long did that last? Like a nanosecond. I checked that thing like every second. Clicked "refresh, refresh, refresh" like 400 times. Lunch time rolls around and 4 apples have been passed out, only two more to go. Oh no, it's getting to the end now.
Of course I was BEYOND proud and honored to have even been nominated. But we all know that everyone wants to win. It is engrained in us as humans, no matter how much you tell yourself that you are already a winner, you still want to win. I would be lying if I said that I didn't want it.
And I WAS proud to even be a finalist and it felt like wishful thinking to imagine receiving the award. As the minutes and hours ticked by, and I had less than an hour until the end of my school day, and they had announced 5 of the 6 winners, I broke the news to myself that I would not be winning this year and that I would try again next year. I was sad, but ok with it. And then - it happened. I had no idea it was coming and it happened. I was chosen as one of the 6 Golden Apples. Shock, honor, joy, and millions of other feelings surged through me and I just began to cry. Click for the VIDEO!
After that moment, the tornado that is my life began to spin again. There were photos, interviews, news crews, and more over the next few weeks. I felt like a superstar!!
At the end of it all, there was a glamorous banquet where I was to give a 6 minute speech. I was beyond nervous, but in the end, I managed to make it through :) Click to see the speech!
And here I am!! A long, amazing, unexpected, and incredible journey this school year has been. My dear sweet friends, I have not had a moment to stop and breathe. I truly am not a braggadocios person and I hope that this post did not come across that way. This is just such an important and special accomplishment in my life and it has been the biggest part of my entire year and I am so happy to be sharing my experience with you :)
I will write more over the next few days and tell you about other fun things that I've been up to!! I felt that I had to start with this and work my way back to the now.
I hope your summer is RELAXING and fun. I hope you are gettin' your tan on, eating tons of goodies, catching up on the massive DVR list, and rollin' with your homies. Aaaaaah, gotta love summer :)
Thanks for reading my ramblings! Because I am still alive and finally back in the blogging world, WOOP WOOP, I have decided to giveaway ANY product in my TPT store to TWO lucky followers! All you have to do is:
*Check out my store HERE
*Choose ANY product that you would want to win
*Leave a comment with one fun thing you have done this summer, your name and email, and the product that you would like to win!
Easy Peasy! I will randomly choose 2 winners on Thursday at 5:00 PM and send them their prize.
Love and big bear hugs to you all! I'll be posting up a storm over the next week so be ready for some fun! XO LOVE YA!
Happy Saturday friends!! This week flew by for me. I feel like I blinked and it was over! I'm pretty thankful for that though because my kids were going bananas this week. I thought I was going to rip my hair out. They have a bad case of the "Christmas Crazies", as I like to call them. At one point, I literally had a child jumping off of the wall. He just ran at it and bounced off like it was nothing and kept running. In my classroom. Knocking people over. And running into things. I just stood there watching and thinking, "Yes. This is my life."
Now don't get me wrong, I love those little animals like crazy, but man, sometimes I just wonder what it must look like inside their heads. I imagine that it is a slideshow of about 400 different things flashing in front of their eyes in a span of seconds. That's why they get that wild look in their eyes and randomly shout things out. FOR example, we're doing a super engaging math lesson, everyone is looking at me, totally into it, I'm thinking to myself "yeeeees, they are getting this!", and I ask a question. One child shoots his hand up in the air and waves it around like he was just bursting to tell me the answer. Woo hoo, I think, and I call his name! I'm all ready for him to tell me "The sum is 8" when he yells "SOMETIMES I LIKE TO EAT THINGS OFF THE GROUND OUTSIDE, AND MY MOM TELLS ME TO STOP, BUT I DO IT ANYWAY AND I LIKE HOW IT TASTES." Mission accomplished my friends. Mission. Accomplished.
So joy to the world it is Saturday because I need to relax :) I'm so excited that my flashbacks, fotos, and freebies week is over and I get to announce the winners! Hooray! Let's see if it was YOU (I hope it was!)
Congratulations to all the winners! Be sure to check your email today for your prizes :)
Here is a HUGE thank you to all of my amazing followers who entered the giveaways! I am beyond thankful for each and every one of you!
And because I am SO thankful and hate that I couldn't pick ALL of you to win, I am giving away my Holiday Behavior Book to anyone who leaves a comment on this post by SUNDAY NIGHT with their email address!
I love you all and thank you so much for joining me in my teaching adventures!
THIS IS IT! The final day of my Flashback, Fotos, and Freebies week!
After this post, you will be all caught up on what we have been up to this year! Be sure to read all the way through to find out what your fabulous freebie will be today!
Today I am sharing all about our fun Thanksgiving activities!
We made a super fun snack mix that I came up with called Gobble Gobble Goodies! Each of the ingredients has a special meaning and represents a part of the first Thanksgiving. For example, the bugles are the cornucopia!
You can check it out here and make it with your littles next year:
We also made adorable Thanksgiving Story Bracelets. This idea was inspired by the amazing Dr. Jean. Check her out here. I created my own version of the poem and added a minibook to go with it! The kids really enjoyed making them and didn't take them off all day :)
You can check that out below:
We also created a retell flow map to helps us sequence the events of the first thanksgiving!
You can check this out here:
After so many fun and festive activities, it was time for the feast! We decorated the room to prepare for our families to visit and it looked so adorable! The kids wore their special pilgrim hats and collars and sat together to eat their feast as a family.
{The place settings: nameplates, napkin rings, placemats, turkeys, special note}
{Here's our little family of pilgrims! They are too cute!}
To get the decor shown above for your thanksgiving celebration, click the picture below!
And that is my very last flashback! I hope you enjoyed catching up with me on all of the things we've been up to! From now on I will do my very best to keep up with my posts much more often!
And for the FINAL fabulous giveaway... (drumroll please)
*Leave a comment below with your name, email, and choice of gift card
I will choose a winner on Wednesday, December 4th at 5:00 pm!
Be sure to check back on Thursday to hear the winner of all of my giveaways from this week!
And don't forget to stop by my TPT store to check out the HUGE cyber Monday sale
I love you all SO much and truly thank you for taking the time to read my little blog! I promise I will be blogging much more often with all of the mindless ramblings of this crazy kindergarten teacher.
