Positive Fridays - September 16th, 2016

I wish each of you a fantastic Friday and a great weekend! Enjoy the freebies and don't forget to follow our stores!

Today's freebie is a blast from the past! Do your students know the difference between letters and numbers? This fun bat themed sort will make learning letters and numbers fun! Don't forget to leave positive feedback!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings! Keep on smiling!

 

Positive Fridays - Week of June 9th, 2014

TGIF Everyone!  This post will mostly be about the past 2 weeks as it has been awhile since I posted a Positive Friday post.  The school year has come to a close so I will post again next school year if I find myself a new teaching job.

The last couple of weeks of school sure went fast!  My last day with the students was last Friday and I worked 2 days this week boxing everything up that belonged to the school and myself.  I am hopeful I'll find a new teaching job.  I will miss my amazing teammates, office staff, administration, students, and parents.  They really made for a great fun school year!

• Between two schools I had a student who had missed almost 50 days.  When she was here, she learned like a sponge!  She finally mastered all of her letter sounds and all, but 1 of her sight words!  I have no doubt she'll learn that last word over the summer.
• Two other students were struggling to count orally to 100, but by the last week both of them mastered that skill!  Hard work pays off!
• Our last week we did so many fun things.  We started off with a fun Field Day in the morning.  This district did Field Day a lot different than I am used to.  Each class all the students competed against themselves and there were 17 different stations.  The children had so much fun!
• We also had Water Day where the children ate Popsicles,did a sponge relay, cup relay, played with bubbles, shaving cream, and picked up tiny toys with their toes.  I was blessed to have two volunteers help out!
• The last day of school we made a Father's Day card, cleaned the tables with shaving cream (they wanted to do this all day long!), watched Reading Rainbow and Magic School Bus videos.  We also played several board games.  The children had an absolute blast!
• I also just had a very kind parent say she would write me a letter of recommendation.  My principal said the same thing.  I can't wait to get these letters as they may help me get a job.  I'll also be using the letter sent me by the father of a wonderful parent that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.  It's great to get positive feedback from parents and administration.
• I also was just forwarded a kind letter that the grandparent of a child who was so kind to volunteer every week for me (my only weekly volunteer) sent to the principal and assistant principal on my behalf.

How many days of school do you have left or are you done?  Do you have any end of the year positives that you would like to share?

I plan to start working on my next series of teaching products, the real way to do ISNs (interactive student notebooks).  Do you use them?  What subjects?  What grade level?  What do you like about them?  Elmer's glue or gluesticks?  Composition Notebooks or Spiral Notebooks?  I'd love to hear your opinions!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of May 19th, 2014

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Well this week's post (I know I missed last week as well so busy!) will be short as I am exhausted and need some sleep before tomorrow's data trend meeting where we decide where to place students for next school year.

What I really want to share is what I received this e-mail from a parent.  A wonderful parent wrote me such an amazing letter and copied it to administration.  He thanked me for turning his child's behavior around.  His child's teacher before I came is amazing in her own right.  I believe this child just simply needed me and maybe works better for a male teacher, who knows.  He has made so much progress academically, which he thanked me for as well.  I hope to stay in touch with this family as I have with others through the years.

When parents are supportive and work with teachers as a team like this child's parents and grandparents have done, the child succeeds.  That is what teaching is all about!  If this child's parents and grandparents see this.  Thank you again from the bottom of my heart!  Please stay in touch!

Don't forget to also check out the previous blog post for a freebie and also to enter two giveaways.  One giveaway ends Friday at 8pm.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of May 5th, 2014

Happy Friday!  So sorry I haven't posted a Positive Friday post in a couple of weeks, I've had plenty of great things going on, but been so busy!  Mr. Positive is back though!

First up on the positive train, I am so thankful to have finally reached 700 TPT followers.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart to each and everyone of you 700 followers.  You rock!

The past couple of weeks have been so busy filled with DRA's, FAIR, and interim assessments.  My kids though did AMAZING!  One student jumped in Feb. from an 8 to 16 (remember I teach Kindergarten!), others since the first two week of April jumped from a 1 to a 3 and a 1 to a 4.  I am so excited seeing those lower level children make huge jumps at the end of the year.  Another one who has having difficulty with comprehension read a 1.5 passage on FAIR (2nd to last 1st grade passage) with 96% accuracy and 100% comprehension!  She also read a level 10 independently to me with comprehension.  We would like kids reading a level 6, which is a tough level for Kindergarten, but I'm pleased that over a 3rd of my class is reading at least a level 8!  Hats off to my Kinder kids and their hard work.

I also had a child tell me that he was going to miss me when I had a sub to get my evaluation results and he knew he'd have another sub while I went to the dentist in the afternoon.  He filled my bucket right up!  Then another sweet girl gave me a flower (weed of course) at recess today, it just warms my heart.  One parent and her child got me several things for Teacher Appreciation week, of course the handwritten card by her daughter meant the most to me.

I would love to hear about the growth of your students or anything else you'd like to share.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on hoppin'

Positive Fridays - Week of April 14th, 2014

Wow, another week has flown by so quickly!  I was so busy starting on lesson plans today on my day off that I almost forgot to post my Positive Friday blog post.  So here goes!

• It was super nice to have a full week with my students after missing a day last week due to a doctor appointment.  At that appointment I did find out my kidney is fine!  Yahoo!  One big thing to cross of the stress list!  :-)
• My students brought in an egg with something hidden inside.  They wrote clues for their classmates to try to guess what is inside the egg.  It was a fun way to tie in descriptive words.  My students did a great job!
• We had a successful fun spring party to close out our week.  I put together some cute bunny baskets that a nice lady who volunteers in our cafeteria cut out for our kids.  Then they had fun eating their yummy treats that I placed in those baskets.
• The intern I had from a University who is a freshman in college came back to surprise my class on Tuesday.  They had no idea she was coming.  I let her read a story and do an activity with them.  She is a go-getter and wants the experience!  I love how excited she gets and she is going to be one amazing teacher!
• I found out about my observation results from before spring break and I did quite well!  It's good to be recognized for my effort.  My lesson was quite easy as it was a scripted lesson, but she knew that and was fine with it!
• Another student of mine told me I am the best teacher ever.  It sure feels good to hear those kind words out of children's mouths.  
• My student's also started FAIR testing and I am excited to have some reading passages that are geared toward 1st grade!  A couple of my students landed on green who were not on green previously!  Yahoo!!!  That is always exciting to see.

Feel free to share your positives in the comments below.  Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of April 7th, 2014

It's Friday!!!  Happy Friday to each of you!

I hope everyone has a terrific week and saw some terrific gains made by my their students!  It is always exciting to see those gains!

• Starting off on a personal note, as I mentioned before I found out why I kept getting sick, I had a kidney stone.  Thankfully, I am fairly certain I passed it on Monday morning and without any pain!  I went through a lot of pain before that having to miss a couple of days of work.  I am so thankful that it didn't hurt when I passed it.  I am off work today due to a doctor appointment, hoping for that clean bill of health!
• A student of mine who has difficulty with behavior was a shinning super start this week.  She was able to read a Reading Counts book with perfect, 10/10 comprehension!!!  Remember I teach Kindergarten.  When I checked her DRA in January she was an instructional level 8 with some comprehension.  The principal, assistant principal, another lady who has been helping out in my class from time to time who had the child read the book, and myself all made such a big deal out of it.  She will not be reading books and taking quizzes every day, which I believe is going to help with the behavior problems.  I have another child who can read much higher, but he can't comprehend so she's the only one on Reading Counts right now, which she is going to love!
• Another student of mine who held the door on the way to Music this week, raised his hand at the door and said Mr. Hopkins you are my favoritest teacher ever.  He filled my bucket right up!  He has a wonderful family as well.
• I've been busy DRAing children this week and many children have shot up making huge reading gains.  Our goal is a level 6 by the end of the year and I have 4, possibly 5 children reading level 8 books already.  I have several others on a 4 that I am hopeful will make the splash to a level 6 in mid May.

I hope each of you has had a terrific week.  Don't forget to leave me your positives.  I look forward to reading them all.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of March 17th, 2014

Happy Friday and Happy Birthday to me!  I am 35 years old now if you must know.  The week started off very tough for me, which ended up being a very short week.  I unfortunately caught a horrible stomach bug late Sunday night and had to miss St. Patrick's Day with my kids and Tuesday.  I had so much planned so they would think a Leprechaun actually came and wasn't able to do anything. :(  I'm feeling much better now. So let's get to the positives!

I am so blessed to have such absolutely amazing kind Kindergarten teammates.  These ladies pulled through for me yet again when I really needed them.  I called in at 3am so I went to work on sub plans at 3am in the morning and being an hour away and so sick there was no way I was bringing sub plans in.  So I e-mailed plans to my teammates and they got everything printed for me and printed a couple of extras for me too.  Then when I couldn't come in on Tuesday, again one of my teammates stepped to the plate and printed my plans, worksheets I asked for, and another one went to get the paper that I had on my shelf so the sub wouldn't have to hunt it down.

Then on Wednesday after school they surprised me with a birthday party with brownies without nuts (my favorite), a Caprisun, and a very nice card that they all signed.  The very first card I have gotten for my birthday this year.  They said they kept it simple because I wasn't feeling well the past 2 days and simple is best if you ask me!  They rock!

The kids went on spring break after Wednesday so I only had 1 day with them this week and I made the most of it.  I read them a St. Patrick's Day Book called "Jack and the Leprechaun."  We also made a fun clover man and put rhyming words that rhymed with luck.

One little boy looked at me as I was reading the story and raised his hand, he said Mr. Hopkins I missed you.  Later on he raised his hand and said I really like your hat.  I wrote a St. Patrick's Day hat that I didn't get to wear on St. Patrick's Day since I was sick.  These are the kinds of moments that melt my heart and why I love to teach.

I also did a lot of assessment and I'm thrilled that we went from 5 recognizing all their numbers to 20 to 11 knowing them all.  I have 14 children so that is all, but 3 and 1 is within 1 number, and one was not there to see if she improved.  My kids rock!!!

We had a teacher work day, working in our rooms all day on Thursday and now I get to spend my birthday at Runaway Country Music Festival Friday (my birthday) through Sunday!   Yay!!!!  I get to see Keith Urban, The Band Perry, Joe Nichols, Toby Keith, Charlie Daniels Band, Gloriana, Sarah Darling, Rodney Atkins, LoCash Cowboys and more!!!

Don't forget to leave me your positives!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of March 10th, 2014

TGIF friends!  I actually have some time to blog!  YAY!!!  When is everyone's Spring Break?  The kids start spring break here on March 20th, which is a teacher workday!  I get to spend most of it in my classroom, except for a new teacher meeting, which I think is very kind of the principal and assistant principal to do!  Then I'm off starting on the 21st, which is my birthday!  I'm heading to a 3 day country music concert to see Keith Urban, The Band Perry, Toby Keith, Joe Nichols, and more!  What fun!!!

This week I got some great wonderful comments about my Lincoln's cabins that I've had up there since the week of President's Day.  I'll have to try to remember to get some pictures before I take them off.  I plan to do a St. Patrick's Day craft of some sort on Monday to pop up there.  I was only able to put a few up due to a lot of glue that many used.  I also have some cute Snowmen Glyphs on the wall that some teachers loved!

We went on a super fun field trip to see Frog and Toad the play!  The two men who played Frog and Toad were simply fabulous at what they did.  My Kindergarteners did a great job of sitting still and watching it for an hour and 10 minutes, plus having to wait 30 minutes before it started.  That is not easy for 5 and 6 year olds, but they made me proud!  I also had 5 wonderful chaperones, the most I have had for a field trip yet this year by far!  They did a great job of helping!

My kids earned their 25 dog bones last week and they wanted to play board games so they brought in a board game from home and we played those games after the field trip.  They had a blast!  We are already working hard on our next 25!

We have also started growing bean plants in class.  My kids are super excited each day when they come in and see how much their bean seeds have grown!!!  Most of them have shot up big time, better than the one I did as an example go figure!  Mine they can see the roots, which is really cool!

I hope everyone had a great week!  Leave me your positives in the comments.

Positive Fridays - February 2014

Happy Friday to everyone!!!  It has been awhile since I've done by Positive Fridays because I have been just so busy and also ended up with the cold, which we all know is no fun.  I do want to share some highlights from the past month or so.

I have been going to some wonderful workshops learning about different ways to do Formative Assessments that are fun!  Many work well with cooperative groups or partners.  I hope you caught my last blog post to learn about 3 of the fun ideas!  I would love to hear how you use formative assessments or collaborative work in your classroom.

My children are growing in leaps and bounds!  It is so exciting to see so many of them starting to blend words together who couldn't do it before, and start to take off reading.  Even one of the parents mentioned it today that wow, her child read all of this to her!  Hard work pays off that is for sure.  

We had fun celebrating President's Day by making Abe Lincoln's cabin.  I have a couple up on my window and will try to snap a picture to share with everyone.  The children loved using craft sticks to build his log cabin!  

We had fun parent night where I was partly in charge of child care.  I also stayed to help set everything up.  They were so kind to feed everyone KFC chicken, that is a favorite of mine!

I keep getting so many compliments about things I put up on the windows for everyone to see.  Many of the ideas come from Pinterest or TPT and turn out so cute!

We practiced a tornado drill yesterday and most of my students did a super great job of staying quiet and under their desk for it.  They also did a super job being quiet for a fire drill this month.

I also got a nice picture and note from a student saying I am the best teacher ever! I love getting those. :-)

In case you haven't heard TPT is throwing a sale today.  Use code TPT3 at checkout.  My things are all on sale for 20% off, but you can get another 10% off that making it 28% if you use the code.  Click HERE to see my shop!  I have so many new ideas now that I'm back in the classroom, I just need the time to make them!

Let me know what positives are going on with you and your class.  Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of Feb. 12th, 2014

Happy Friday everyone!  We had a weather change here in FL again going from nice weather to chilly cold weather, but I survived.  I know many of you have to deal with the snow and ice.  I do not envy you at all!  I am blessed not to have to deal with that here in central FL!

This was our first full week after Winter Break, the week before was a 4 day week!

• My school has started an awesome dog bone behavior system.  The children earn dog bones from other teachers (we can't give them out to our own) for making amazing choices in school.  I have had a blast handing them out to children whom I have caught walking responsibly in line or in pairs coming back or to somewhere.
• My class earned 5 dog bones today alone!!!  Our goal is to get 25 total so they can earn a reward.  I also love this reward system because it ties into math with me as my children keep counting or adding 1 more each time we get one!  whohohoo!
• We have had a fun week learning about Penguins and writing about what we would do if we were a Penguin.  They came up with some super cute ideas!  I need to get some pictures of these adorable Penguins that I have received a bunch of compliments on from other teachers!  We have also been having fun learning to add, worked on the letter Ff, and learned about different kinds of weather.
• It is also fun seeing all of the smiling faces and children who greet me who I don't even teach, not just the little ones, but the older ones say hi to me and call me by name with a great big smile on their face. These children in this amazing school are incredible bucket fillers.
• Finally, I had 2 terrific parent conferences and I look forward to another one next week.  Together we will help my smart students continue to soar!

I hope everyone else had a fantastic week!  We have Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday off.  So it is a 3 day weekend here.  How about where you live?

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling.

Positive Fridays - Week of January 6th, 2014

Happy New Year to those that missed my New Year's post!  Happy Friday as well.  I am so excited to be back with my amazing Kindergarten students.

This was a busy week of working hard on reviewing our rules and procedures, but I also made sure they had time to go to their reading centers, learn new skills like addition, and play a fun game!

• I am thrilled to have had my full class 2 of the 4 days and only missing 1 the other 2 days this week!  
• We played a fun game of Quiz, Quiz Trade using letters.  Each child had a letter card and they had to find a new partner each time the music stopped and quiz them on the letter and the sound.  I had another amazing teacher stop in to help me make it run absolutely smoothly.  She had some great ideas and I was able to get them all engaged!
• I gave each student a white board.  They thought it was crazy when I passed out a sock with it.  Well the sock had their dry erase marker in it and that way there were no fights over colors, they got what they got.  I was also able to have them use the sock as an eraser!  I called out words and they wrote the beginning sound.  It was a great formative assessment.  My students did an amazing job!
• My morning 3rd grade helpers continue to do a super job.  They are always so polite and eager to jump in and help.
• I had 3rd/4th graders from next door one morning due to the cold weather, they sat in my room so quietly waiting for the bell.  I didn't even tell them to be quiet, they just did!
• At the end of the day on Thursday, the wonderful teacher who helped me earlier came in with my amazing assistant principal and set up a cart with my ladybug (document camera), Mobi (they got this to work for me!), and laptop.  That way I can move the cart around and be closer to the whole class and not have to sit way down or bend way down to reach the laptop or the ladybug!  These ladies have helped make teaching even easier!  I will also be able to get to students quickly to stop problems that may come up in nonverbal ways like walking by them, hand on shoulder, hand on table, etc.  I am looking forward to starting it on Monday, Friday I had off due to the dentist.  That was no fun!

Ok now it is your turn!  Tell me how was your winter break?  How was it coming back to school with your kids?  Any positives you care to share?  I LOVE reading them!  If you teach Pre-K to 2 do you do any collaborative learning or fun things on white boards?  Share them with me!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of December 16th, 2013

Wow, this first semester has flown by!  The kids are home and it is teacher work day for me, my amazing principal did not schedule any meetings so I can work in my room.  Yahoooooo!  I wish everyone a great last Friday before Christmas!  I hope your shopping is done.

This week was filled with tons of fun and learning!

• The part I like least about Kindergarten is the 1 on 1 assessment as I'd rather be teaching them during small groups during that time, but it is part of the job and I am so thankful that we do not loads of required tests and can assess how we want.  My assessment showed that 9 of my 16 students know every letter of their alphabet.  4 know all, but 1 letter with 3 of them just missing typewritten g!  2 more know all, but 3 letters, and 1 missed 8.  I have 1 struggler, but she is up from 35 to 39 is a new student and has missed several days so I am proud of the progress she has made!
• 5 of my students know all their letter sounds.  The rest are very close, except for the one new student.  I can't wait to see the amazing progress I know she will make!  15 of 16 know all of their numbers to 10.  The other one knows all, but 1 number!  3 now know all of their sight words that we teach for the year and many I have not even covered yet!  Another knows all, but 2!
• I am so thankful that the parents of my students are helping them at home.  When we all work together great things are achieved as I am witnessing!
• We had a blast on Tuesday learning about Holidays Around The World.  The students went to a different class every 45 minutes.  I taught them about Kwanzaa and Africa.  I had 5 groups of Kindergartners, many were excited to have me teach them a lesson as they knew me before I got the job!
• I made a big hit with my reindeer antlers and red glowing nose!  I even wore it on picture day, but took it off for the picture, then was begged to put it on for another picture.  I can't wait to see it!  I think it is going in the yearbook.  Teachers and children in all grades hooted with laughter and told me they loved it!  The same with the amazing office staff!
• Parents really came through for our party as I got way more than I knew was coming in.  The children loved eating all of the cupcakes, candy, chips, cookies, etc.  It was a ton of fun!  I overheard several of my kids saying how nice I am, I threw the best party ever, I'm the greatest teacher ever, etc.  I don't think they even knew I heard them!  It melts my heart to hear things like that from children.
• I also got some wonderful gifts from the children and their parents.  I am so appreciative of them thinking of me.  

I'll be back in 3 weeks for the next Positive Friday as we are off on vacation until January 7th.  Have a great break everyone!

Share your positives in the comments.  Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings!  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of December 9th, 2013

Wow, I barely got this up on Friday.  So sorry I am so late.  It has been a whirlwind of a week, but I am loving every minute and that is all that counts.

This week I had 2 inservices after work that lasted until 7:30 and then today went to see The Learning Station at a free holiday concert in Indian Harbour Beach.  Speaking of The Learning Station head over to their FB page if you see this before 6pm Eastern Saturday, Dec. 14th to get a FREE CD!  Click HERE!  It will direct you to where to find it on YouTube!

• Last Friday, I had my first observation for the school and I am so thrilled by the great results I achieved.  I even had 3 distinguished marks, which are not easy to get.  My kids were completely engaged performing The Learning Station songs "Baby Shark" and "If You're Wearing . . ." (a color song).  I showed them how to sort worms by size and then how to count them.  Then we sorted bears by color whole class and counted them.  Next, I put them in pairs and they sorted dinosaurs or insects and counted them.  Then we ended with Munchy Math Fridays where they sorted and counted goldfish crackers.  They were so engaged and excited about learning.  A couple yelled across the room toward the end, but it was academic talk!!!  I was told my kids responded to my Class/Yes from Whole Brain Teaching instantly and I had 100% attention from it each time!  If that is an issue in your class please try Class/Yes you won't regret it!
• I continue to receive wonderful compliments on my word family snowmen that I found on Pinterest.  I'll try to get pictures and post them soon!  Teachers and kids love them!!!
• At my inservice classes I learned more about classroom management and student engagement.  I have a few new tricks up my sleeve, as well as some great data, and can't wait to attend day 2 of classroom management on Monday.
• I am currently testing my students 1 on 1 and I'm thrilled by the growth I am seeing.  I know that I will continue to see this growth throughout the year and can't wait to see what they know by the end of the year!  

4 more days with the kiddos and 1 teacher day until 3 weeks of winter break.  I'm ready for break, but I sure will miss those smiling faces.  

Leave some positives for me!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling.

Positive Fridays - Week of Dec. 2nd, 2013

Wow, it's Friday again, this year is flying by!  It will be Christmas before we all know it.  We had another busy, but fun week in Kindergarten!  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break!  I sure did, I bought an mini Ipad for my classroom, waiting on it to come in so if you have any great apps for Kindergarten post them in the comments!

This week was a busy one for me as I had my preobservation conference, a meeting for a child going into speech, a training on Common Core for Language Arts, and a quick how to for doing the FAIR test with my Kindergarten students.  I end the week today with my observation, which will be the last hour of the school day as I teach sorting and counting in Math with the independent part having my students sort and count goldfish crackers.  More information on this lesson will be coming soon!

• At my preobservation conference I was praised for how well I answered the questions about my lesson.  I was told I did better than some teachers who have done it before!  Then my amazing administrators gave me tips on how to make it even better.  I love how supportive they are of me and the other teachers at my amazing school.  
• I continue to receive amazing help from 3rd/4th graders in the morning.  They are hard working sweet children.
• At the speech meeting, I was praised by a mother, father, and grandma who all 3 stated their child absolutely loves my class and has made a terrific turn around since joining my class.  This child acted out before constantly and rarely does anything other than typical 5 year old behavior in my class.  He may have just needed a male teacher.  I am thrilled that they are happy and that I am able to help him.
• My students made super cute snowmen with word families on them.  I found the idea somewhere on Pinterest.  I will have to take some pictures and share them soon!
• My students are also starting to take control of their own learning.  We are working super hard on blending words as the majority of my students know most of their sounds and almost half know all their letters.  When we are done blending my students raise their hands before I move to the next lesson.  They start telling me words that rhyme, if they notice that all the letters have the same short vowel sound, or how many have short a, how many have short i, etc.  It's amazing to see them take control of their learning like that!  That has been a huge highlight of my week as they have done it without me encouraging it or mentioning it to them.
• I also completed the FAIR part that I was told to do in just 2 days with my students.  My assistant principal was so pleased that I completed it so quickly!  When children are quiet enough for me to concentrate and their classmates to concentrate, I can get through a lot quickly!  They did well with the sounds and letters!

Don't forget to leave me some kind comments in the comment section about positives that you are having in your classroom or even in life!  Maybe you have something amazing to share about your child or grandchild!  Also, send me those Ipad App ideas!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of November 25th, 2013

I'm a little late getting this out today, but I hope everyone in the United States had a super Thanksgiving.  As one of my student's parents told me we should be thankful all the time and not just on Thanksgiving and that is why I constantly thank each and everyone of you who have supported me through my blogging journey and creating things.

This was only a two day week so I will share some positives from those 2 days and last Friday!

• Last Friday, I was blessed to have a couple of parents supply food for Munchy Math Fridays.  We used the food to count objects to 10!  It's nice overhearing my students saying how nice I am and how they love using food to learn.  They also each brought in a small bag of food and mixed it together with each others while saying 3 things they were thankful for.
• This week we worked on learning about The First Thanksgiving and doing some of my Thanksgiving related activities like my letter match up from my Thanksgiving Kindergarten and Number Fun and my turkey color word craft.
• On Monday, I had my example of "The Long Legged Turkey" from Deanna Jump's Thanksgiving packet on the board and the children were super excited.  They made some great turkeys and came up with some great alternatives to eat instead of turkey.  Click the hyperlink if you missed my post from Wednesday with their examples!  I had so many compliments from teachers and other students. I new I picked a great idea when they dished out those compliments.
• We also made butter by putting whipping cream into baby food jars and shaking them over and over again.  This took a ton of shaking, but my students stayed with it and were able to make butter!  Boy were they excited, which was great to see!
• We ended our short week together by having a party to celebrate Thanksgiving.  
• I am also blessed to have 2 to 4 students from a teacher come in first thing in the morning to help me sharpen pencils, pass out papers, unstack chairs, trace things, paper clip things, etc.  These boys and girls are a huge help!

How was your Thanksgiving?  What are you thankful for?  Any positives that you care to share with us?

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of November 18th, 2013

Happy Friday to everyone!  I hope each and everyone of you had a great week. :-)

I am so happy to be back teaching and with the little ones.  Holidays are just so much fun.  It takes a ton of prep work, but the end result is so well worth it!  I wouldn't trade it for the world.

• This week we worked hard on completing our things for the Thanksgiving play.  We placed necklaces, vests, and headbands for Native Americans (Indians) and cuffs, vest, and hats for the Pilgrims.  We also made turkey headbands and I planned to use the vests without coloring them that were used for the Native Americans for my two turkeys, but neither one showed up.  Hopefully, they will wear them around the house!
• I am thrilled that I had 9 parents show up for the program out of my 16 students.  3 children were absent so only 4 who were there didn't have a parent, grandparent, or someone there for them.  I felt bad for those 4, but grateful that most had someone there for them.  Sometimes work gets in the way.
• The performance went so well, they sang a few songs and did a Thanksgiving Day skit where all the Indians had a line, Pilgrim Ministers, Pilgrim Men, Pilgrim Women, etc.  They looked so cute and did a super job on stage!  Hats off to the music teacher!
• I finished testing my students for the interim and it was terrific to see that my students made major gains with their letter and number recognition and letter sounds.  So many are so close to knowing all of their letters.  I am hopeful that they will know them all by winter break!  It's a big goal, but I truly think most will do it!
• I am also thankful that I now have 3rd graders who come visit my classroom before school starts each day.  They help me sharpen pencils, put chairs out for the children, hand back papers, worked on a couple of my vests for kids who were absent, etc.  They were superstars!  I look forward to their help every day.  Their teacher told me they were so excited and wanted to keep coming back throughout the day.  If only, but they have to learn too!
• I am looking forward to the party next Tuesday and a few other fun activities.
• I also reached a big milestone on TPT, well two, I'm over $5,000 sold in just less than 2 years and sold over $500 in products this month and the month isn't over.  This is the best I've done yet so I'm so excited!  Thank you to everyone who has purchased or even downloaded a freebie from me.  I love that my materials are being used in classrooms all over the world!  I hope to find time to make some new stuff soon.

I hope everyone else is seeing some big gains from your students.  Feel free to share in the comments.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of Nov. 11th

Wow, it's Friday again, these weeks are just flying by.  I can't believe I've had my own class for about 6 weeks now.  I come home exhausted every day, but I truly would not trade it for the world.  I feel like I am in the absolute best school.  I prayed and prayed after I left the job I was at in the summer for personal reasons that the right job open up for me.  I really believe God placed me in the school He wanted me at since my amazing principal found me, interviewed me, and wanted me!

This week was filled with fun and a bunch of assessments for my Kindergarten students.  I wish we didn't have so many assessments, but I am thankful the school district has NO required Kindergarten district assessments other than taking a writing sample 4 times a year.  We do the state FAIR test and the rest is teacher generated test.  My opinion that is how it should be for all grades!  For Kindergarten most of what I assess is 1 on 1 so it takes a lot of time, but I'm getting there.  Now on to some more positives!

• One of my amazing teammates set up the best field trip that my students went on this week and it was at the school.  The Timuca Indians had 6 different stations.  The children got to go from station to station, make things and take home what they made.  They were so excited!  This was one of my favorite field trips of all time.  They were actively engaged the whole 45 minutes!
• So many Kindergarten children who I had observed previously continue to ask me for a hi five or a hug when I see them in the lunch room or dismissal and they wave or yell my name out all the time.  It's so nice to touch their lives in the small amount of time I had with them.
• Several other children who I don't even know say hi to me or wave every single day.  It's nice that they care!
• My students continue to make great progress on working more and more independently so I can do all these assessments.
• I am so pleased that my students are making huge leaps in learning their letters with a few knowing all of their letters and most knowing almost all of their sounds!  For the interim they needed to know 8 sounds and 16 letters (8 capital and 8 lowercase) of the ones who had taught.  The kids that I've had from the beginning have far exceeded that.  I have made the goal of by Winter Break for them to know them all, tough goal, but I truly think the majority can do it with the others not far behind.
• We are having so much fun making Pilgrim hats and Native American headbands.  We are also working on cuffs and outfits for both, 2 are going to make turkey headbands, and early next week Native American necklaces.
• I had a great meeting this week too for New Teachers at the school.  I just thought this was an incredible idea and we are going to meet again after Winter Break with administration.  These two ladies are so supportive, they want us teachers to be the very best and are here to help us truly be the best we can be.  They have eased my mind about the evaluation process and both get to observe me at the same time, which is great!  They want to get as much evidence as possible that each of us are doing the things on the evaluation and with both being there if one misses something the other will catch it so I'll get the points deserved.  I'm so thankful for that!
• We also talked about social media and my blog was mentioned and how happy they are that I don't mention anybody by name nor the school for the student's safety.  It was great to see that my amazing administrations noticed this!  Those kids mean the world to me!

It's late and I should get myself in bed so I'm ready for another day of learning and making things for the Thanksgiving program today (Friday).  

I'd love to hear your positives in the comments.  What are you dong for Thanksgiving with your students?

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays: Week of November 4th, 2013

Whohohooooooo it's Friday!  We made it through another week, I can't believe how fast each week goes, but when you are having fun I guess that happens.  I truly do miss my students on the weekends.  This will be a quicker Positive Friday post, not that I don't have a lot of positives because I do, but because I got home so late Thursday (as I'm typing it due to Open House and I'm tired and ready for bed.

• I had 4 wonderful parents and guardians show up for my open house on Thursday night.  I truly appreciate each one of them who took the time out of their night to come to hear about how I run my classroom and one parent, I had not met before.
• A parent praised me for my monthly newsletter, which filled my bucket right up!  She said she especially liked what I called it "Hopkins' Hoppin' Newsletter."
• Administration is amazing, they helped me create a great plan to shorten my time filling out children's behavior each day so I can spend more time helping children.  The parents seemed fine with the plan too and when we all work together, children benefit!
• As the week went on my students started getting better and better at raising their hands to speak or to leave their seat and my line is getting quieter and quieter.  I am so proud of them for working so hard.
• Finally, I got through each child's letters, sounds, and sight words, and all, but 1 made improvement and some huge improvements.  Learning Letter Sounds, song by Jack Hartmann is helping greatly, one child is using that song to help him learn the words as he'll name the picture associated with the song or attempt too!

I thank you all for your support!  I hope you will post your positives in the comments!  Fill my bucket by letting me know how your students, children, etc. are doing!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of October 28th, 2013

Wow this week sure flew by for me, did it fly by for you too?  It's Friday!!!  I hope everyone had several trick or treaters.  Me, I only had 1 cute little witch, but she was adorable.

I had another super amazing week in Kindergarten.

• A school board member and a human resource lady stopped by to speak to me for a minute, welcome me to Volusia county, and give me a pin for being a teacher in their district.  What a way to fill my bucket!
• My students are getting better and better at following routines, directions quickly, and raising their hand before they leave their seat.  
• We started centers this week!  The children seem to enjoy them.  They are computers, word work, reading games, library, and listening center.
• The tech guy finally showed up and fixed my student computers and also hooked it up so my projector works and I can use my document camera and also show things on the computer.  Whohohoooooooo!  I am super duper excited to try it out on Friday!
• We had so much fun making -at family bats this week.  I got this cute idea here for free.  I will try to do a blog post with pictures of them as they turned out so cute!
• We also finally started practicing Teach/Okay and they are doing amazing!  I can't wait to do a full lesson with it.  This is from Whole Brain Teaching and is perfect for engaging children as you talk for 30 seconds to a minute tops and say Teach and clap twice and they say Ok and clap twice.  Then they tell their partner what you said while using the gestures you taught them.  All, but a couple seemed to think it was really a lot of fun!  In my class that's the goal the more fun the better!
• We also got to do tons of The Learning Station videos on the computer since our DVD player has worked all week.  The children loved singing and moving while being able to see the actions.
• A parent told me she wasn't so she sure how her daughter would be moving to a new classroom because she is quiet and shy.  She said well after the first day she came home so excited!  That was my goal to make things so fun that children are so excited to come back and it looks like I succeeded with at least one child!  She filled my bucket today and then stayed after the conference to help me with the orange day activities.
• Orange day went really well, the children did my fun pumpkin bowling, rolled a pumpkin to a cone and back, had a marshmallow pumpkin on a spoon and had to go backwards, then arms to the side and so forth for a relay, played hot pumpkin, limbo, and threw bean bags through a jack o' lantern. So much fun!  Many also dressed in orange.  Our party is today (Friday) due to me having a sub in the afternoon for school improvement plan training.
• Finally I started checking children's letters, sounds, and sight words (whole school year even ones not taught yet).  I have one who knows all of them and another one who knows all, but 1 sound and all, but 4 sight words for the entire school year.  I have only checked 1/4th of the class so I can't wait to check the rest!

I would LOVE to hear how your year is going.  Feel free to post your positives in the comments below.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

Positive Fridays - Week of October 24th, 2013

We made it to another Friday.  Whohohooooooooooo!  The weather here in FL turned a bit cool on Thursday.  We'll see how long that last.

This week we went on our first field trip.  I had 3 wonderful chaperons who helped make the field trip a success.  I'm used to only having one chaperon and that is usually my mother so having 3 is incredible!  I had 2 others that wanted to go, but hadn't passed the background check yet, they waited too long to turn in the paperwork unfortunately.  Hopefully, next time the other 2 can help, but 3 was enough this trip.  We went to the Pumpkin Patch.  The children listened to a story on pumpkins and saw the inside of a pumpkin and each got to feel some of the seeds.  I bought them each a small pumpkin to take home!

They are getting so good at Class Yes.  This is the most amazing way to get student's attention that I have found yet.  They do an awesome job of stopping immediately and most fold their hands right away and keep their mouths closed after saying Yes!  Check out Whole Brain Teaching if you don't know what Class Yes is.

Another positive I finally had my entire class on Thursday.  One poor girl was sick for 6 days with the flu and high temperature and then on Wednesday she came back and another child was out.

This week we learned about Matter and the properties of Matter.  We also learned counting to 5 and different ways to make the number 4 and 5.  In Reading, we learned about maps and how to help out in the community.  We also reviewed the letters I had taught them so far and their sight words.  They love highlighting their sight words in their readers.

The amazing music and media teachers helped get my projector to show DVDs and VHS tapes on Thursday afternoon so I can now show my The Learning Station videos!  Hopefully soon we'll get it to work on the computer and document camera.

The bookkeeper was also sensational helping me place orders for some classroom materials that I need like construction paper.  :-)

I'm looking forward to a great Friday and a super week next week.  Be sure to leave me your positives.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling.