Christmas Crazies!!

Ho ho holy crow - I can't believe there are only 10 more school days until Christmas break! Jeepers! We have had a total blast with holiday activities this week and the kids have been super excited, which has led to a bit of chaos. I'm not sure my little friends can handle all the excitement without totally losing it. But honestly, who doesn't freak out a little at this time of year? It's just so fun!!

Last week we got ourselves ready by creating our countdown chains. The kids hang them next to their desk and we cut off a link each day until we reach the top! When we cut the final link off, it will be Christmas! You can create countdown chains with your little ones too by clicking here!

 

 

On Monday, we decorated the room to spread some Christmas cheer :) We decorated the tree together and put up our lights. It was so sweet to see them working together. This was the first time decorating the tree for some of them and it just warmed my heart.

 

  

They are so cute!! I also added a bit of charm this year by creating a fireplace in the room to hang our stockings. I am in LOVE with it. It makes me feel like I am still up north :)

At first I put the the bow above it, but it just didn't do it for me. SO I went out and bought a cute little wreath to hang above it. The kids love sitting and reading their books in the library next to the big fireplace.

I use the stockings as part of our special December behavior management system. Because our classroom has a Rockstar theme, we call them their "Rocking Stockings". Each day in December that they end the day on a good color (green, orange, purple, or blue), they earn a special treat to put inside their rocking stocking. I just use little goodies that I pick up from Walmart, the Dollar Tree, and Oriental Trading. Things like stickers, pencils, erasers, candy, etc. They really do work harder to earn good behavior colors! They get to take their stocking home the day they leave for Christmas break.

 

Outside of our room, I always create a huge gingerbread house. The kids always get excited when they see it. I added a little something different this year by putting some fun sparkling snow toward the bottom. I put some lights on the floor and covered them with polyfill. Then I sprinkled some glittery buffalo snow on top. It looks much better in person, it was hard to capture the "magic" in a picture.

This week we also began our Holiday Behavior Books! These things are a blessing in my room. It is just the right amount of bribery to use this month. Read below to see how it works!

 

 Santa delivers the books to our classroom in December. It has a special rhyming note on the cover from Santa explaining how it works. There are three pages for the three weeks in December before we leave for Christmas break. Each page has 5 missing pictures. At the end of each day, all of my little ones who are on a good color get to add a sticker to their book. On day 1, they put their sticker in box 1 (it is a little cat sitting in front of the fireplace). On day 2, they put their sticker in box 2 (a gift under the tree) etc. They are sooooo sad when they don't get to add their sticker. But it's good, because they work harder the next day! At the end of the week they get to color their picture in. The next week, we move to page 2, and so on!

HOLIDAY BEHAVIOR BOOK PAGES

DAILY BEHAVIOR BOOK STICKERS

That is just the beginning of our Christmas fun!!

This week I will tell you all about our crazy, mischievous little elf visitor.

Here's a preview of what he's been up to...

Sometimes You Just Have to Say... ELF IT!

Ok, so I may have to officially change my blog name to "Keepin' it (uncontrollably) Krazy in KinderLand". Sheesh, this has been quite the week. Anyone else feeling the Christmas Crazies yet?! Gosh that break is close, but oooooh so far! We've been doing lots of fun snow activities this week, but I'll post about that this weekend. I don't have a long post in me tonight :( Monday through Wednesday were louder than usual, but definitely manageable. But then today came. I was practically horse by the end of the day, I had to talk so loudly just to be heard! After a semi-decent morning, I glanced up at the clock during centers and was horrified that we were already a few minutes late for lunch. I knew that by the time we got lunch tags on and made it to the cafeteria, we would be suuuuuuper late, so we rushed!! We just about ran down the hall (so not how we usually are! I can't stand the craziness in the hallway - but we were late, people) and guess who we careened into? Yup, our Assistant Principal. I. wanted. to. rip. my. hair. out. "Is everything ok? Your kids seem a bit wild today" he says. "Oooh it's my fault, we are running (literally - ha) a bit late to lunch, just trying to get there on time!" He looks at me strangely, but walks away. That was just the beginning of the afternoon from (not going to say what I want to say here). I won't make you read my long ranting. I will sum it up in 10 words/phrase or less and you can figure it out on your own: spills, slipping, milk everywhere, climbing, getting stuck, screaming, someone's lost, someone's biting, crying, chewing glue, snot, poop on the wall, meltdown. I have a 10 minute story for each of those words. SIGH!! Tomorrow will be a better day friends! Sometimes you just gotta say ELF IT all!!!

So let's get to the elfing festivities, shall we?! Sprinkles has been quite a little sweetie this week! On Monday he delivered stockings for each of my lovelies! I painted their names at the top and they got to decorate them with the fun decorations Sprinkles left for them.

 After they finished decorating their stockings, I hung them up on the back wall for everyone to see! (sorry the picture is so crooked - apparently I am not the best photographer!) The kids were soooo excited to have a stocking up just for them! I use them as a behavior management tool during the holidays. At the end of each day in December, any students that are on GREEN, ORANGE, or PURPLE (these are our good colors on our class behavior clip chart) get to choose a prize from the Treasure Box and put it in their stocking! They get to take their stockings home on the last day of school before Christmas break.

 Doesn't it just look so cute all lit up?! I wish we could leave the lights off all day and enjoy the holiday lights! It may be hard to teach that way though.

After hanging up our stockings, we decorated our Christmas tree together while jamming out to our favorite holiday music!! I'm a sucker from the Carpenters version of "Home for the Holidays". LOVE!

On Tuesday, Sprinkles had a super special treat waiting for us when we arrived:

 Hmmm... what could it be? Goodness me, it's MAGIC ELF SEEDS!  Haha :) So cute! The kids were so excited that they were practically convulsing. Sprinkles left us a bowl, sugar, magic red sprinkles, and magic elf seeds.

 There was also a super sweet poem from Santa explaining exactly what we should do with the things he sent us. It was silent in the room (quite the rarity) as I read the letter to them. 

 The letter explained that we should pour the enchanted sugar in the bowl. Then, each little kiddie planted their magic seed in the sugar and blew it a kiss to make sure it felt loved! After all the seeds were in, each child sprinkled a bit of Christmas magic (red sprinkles) on top to help the seeds grow!

 

 We left the bowl out overnight and waited patiently to see what would grow!

  The next morning the kids came racing in to see if their seeds had grown! And wowie wow wow, did they ever!! They grew into big tall candy canes and each one had a little message on it straight from the North Pole!

And there you have it! Another successful elf adventure! The kids just love that elf! 

If want your elf to deliver magic elf seeds from the North Pole to your class, check it out at my TPT store by clicking on the picture below!

Well, my lovely friends, I think I am off to bed! I need to be well rested if tomorrow is anything like today!! YAAAAY FRIDAY!!! Have a Fabulous Friday :)

Teachers Pay Teachers

Hello all! Does everyone feel as out of control busy this year as I do?? I feel like I just can't catch up! This was another wonderfully crazy week. After getting all the last minute report card testing done and finishing up our first quarter, we had our student led conferences. I always love seeing how the kids interact with their parents. They were so proud to share their work and data folders with their families. That was one late night though! I didn't get home until after 8:00. On a completely separate night this week I walked out to my car at my usual time (6:30 pm) and took a look around the parking lot. This is what I saw:

That beautiful little RAV4 is mine! What I found myself wondering was: Hmmm..... why are there no cars around me?! And that's when I realized it's because I am literally the last person to leave every single night!! Please tell me I am not the only one out there who stays late every night! I try soooo hard to leave, but there is always just one more thing I could finish up "real quick".

the view from the other direction - absolutely 0 cars this way as well. Sigh.

After finally getting home, I got right back to work! Goodness me. The positive side of all this stress and work is this:  I am so super excited to share with you that I have started selling products on teacherspayteachers.com! I always spend soooo much time making things for my room and class and finally decided 'Why not share?!' I worked my little hiney off getting my products together and making them just right. (I'm a bit of a perfectionist - just a bit HA) I got some help from my little baby Liam when my hands just couldn't do the work anymore!

And then... YAY! I did it! I posted just a few things in my store to get started but I have much more to come! Please check out my products and let me know what you think!

Click HERE to go to my store

Here are some of the things that I posted:

(Click the picture to take you to the store)

This set contains TONS of fabulous resources to create a positive behavior plan in your classroom with a rockstar theme!

I love this job chart and so do my little kiddos! They think the fun names and clipart are the best :)

This binder set is pretty all-inclusive. It contains everything that you need to have organized and informational student binders that establish a strong connection between home and school.

 

Here is a little freebie from my new store. I use these R.E.D. Folders with my kids every day! I assign them as homework each night. My kids will take home their folder with a leveled reader inside. They then read the book and fill out their nightly reading log. The next day, they read the book to me or my classroom volunteer. If they can read the book fluently, they will receive a higher level book. They get so excited to get a new book. They also get to add a sticker to the RED Folder chart.

RED Folder Chart

 CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW TO GET YOUR FREEBIE :) or click here.

I really hope you check of my store - every product is a labor of love! Let me know what you think :) Have a fabulous Sunday and thanks for poppin' in!