Thursday, December 8, 2011

12 Days of Wellness....Inspiring You To Be Well

I don't know if it's just me or the fact that I'm a newer teacher, or that I just can't say "no" and EVERYBODY knows it, or that I love to burn the candle at both ends (probably all of the above!) but somehow, I found myself taking on another new responsibility....and I LOVE it!

In addition to being a K teacher, a member of the RTI-B team (behavior team - I help plan rallies and evaluate behavior data), a Social Studies piloter/curriculum development person, a summer school teacher and summer school curriculum writer, United Way Campaign Director at my school, and occasional part-time server at an amazing local restaurant, I'm now the new Wellness Coach at my school of about 80 staff.

In the last few years I've increased my interest in wellness - special thanks to my best friend, Ashley. We jogged ran our first "race" (ok....so it was just a 10k....but come on, it's 6.2 miles!) together. Well, there was a 10 minute gap between us -- she couldn't keep up with my slow pace me. ;) I saw a girl in the race with a shirt that read "I run with my best friend...She's just a few miles ahead of me." I am SOOO making that shirt for our next race. We've been avid ZUMBA goers (love me some latin beats!) for the last year+ and lift weights together when we can. Without Ash, I don't think I'd be qualified to do this whole wellness coaching thing.

Why am I posting about wellness on my Kindergarten blog, you ask? Well, I just had to share my cute little wellness bulletin board. :) And perhaps it will inspire you to motivate the staff at your school to be well. A healthy staff is a happy staff! :) (And a healthy Kindergarten teacher is hard to find in between those sniffles, sneezes, whoops, and wheezes!)

With some inspiration from my district's wellness coaches, I'm implementing the "12 Days of Wellness" at my school. I posted 12 healthy mind and body activities on paper Christmas bulbs (Thank you DJ Inkers for the cute clipart!) and encouraged my co-workers to complete one activity a day to promote wellness in their lives in the 12 days preceding our holiday break. The best part is the incentive....each time someone completes an activity, they put their name in the bucket for a chance to win a 30 minute massage! Um...yes, please! Can I win even though I'm organizing the activity?!?!

So, just like the amazing teachers I work with, I'm encouraging YOU to do the following in the 12 days leading up to the holiday season:
1. Eat one healthy meal today.
2. Go to sleep 10 minutes earlier tonight.
3. Trade out water for one beverage today.
4. Take 4 minutes for personal reflection.
5. Drop some change in the Salvation Army's red kettle.
6. Take some time to read a book, magazine, or newspaper.
7. Call an old friend.
8. Laugh out loud at least once today!
9. Watch TV or go to a movie.
10. Show a random act of kindness.
11. Write down 5 things you are thankful for.
12. See the 'positive' in everything today!

Happy Holidays!
Be Well!
Love, Sheyna

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Oh Gingerbread, Oh Gingerbread....Oh how I love to teach you!

I loooove Christmas music and can't get enough of it as soon as November 25th rolls around. Our Kindergartners have been prepping for our "Gingerbread Rock" program next week and my post title is in reference to one of the songs we're singing. It's to the tune of  "Oh, Christmas Tree." Did you go back and re-read/sing the title of my post?!? I know I did. :)

On a side note, I was playing some Christmas tunes in the classroom yesterday and Jingle Bell Rock came on. My kiddos were flabbergasted that whoever sang that song used the wrong words because the name of the song is supposed to be "Gingerbread Rock" and it's not "...in the frosty air," it's "in the spicy air!" Too cute. :)

Ok, so back to what I really wanted to post about. Gingerbread week is my absolute most favorite week of teaching in my classroom. As I'm prepping my goodies for Monday, I wanted to share another easy to make activity to help with number ID. Thanks again to my amazing next-door teaching neighbor Heather, we put our heads together and came up with a gingerbread number swap. I'm giving Heather most of the credit on this one. She got the ball rolling and made the response sheet and all I did was adjust the numbers on their bellies. :) Thanks, Heather!

Here's what ya do!
Print, cut, laminate. :)
The student picks two gingerbread men, puts them together, reads the number they created and color it in on the 100's chart. Flip-flop the two cards, read the new number and color it in. To ensure that they color in the single digit numbers, you might want to have them pick one card at a time until they've colored in the first row on the 100's chart. I added an extra zero so they can make 100!

Gingerbread Number Swap

Gingerbread Number Swap Response Sheet

Happy Teaching!
- Sheyna

Friday, December 2, 2011

Quick and Easy Tricky Teens Gingerbread Game



I just had to make a quick post before I start the school day. I don't know about you, but my students are still tricked up by those tricky teens! I made this cute little game a couple years ago and I just took it out for my kiddos yesterday and they got a huge kick out of it!

Just print, laminate, and cut out.

Using a pocket chart, hide the gingerbread man behind one of the gingerbread houses. Students take turns guessing which teen number he is hiding behind.

When a student guesses, flip over the card to reveal if the gingerbread man is there. They LOVE this game. When we find him, we pretend we are the sneaky, sly fox and we stretch out our arms, and clap our hands together as we say, "Snip, Snap, That is That!". So much fun!

** I added a few extra gingerbread men just in case one finds it's way into a little ones pocket goes missing! :)
Where is GIngerbread Hiding?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. :)

Our K team has decided to have a "Grinch Day" this year! I'm not sure which of my December favorites I'll have to put aside for next year to make room for the grinch (soooo many fun things, not enough time!), but I couldn't resist joining my team in a theme day....complete with matching t-shirts!

While searching for Grinch ideas, I was inspired by some other bloggers and some of my peers, so I revamped a couple of ideas to make them kindergarten friendly. ;)

I googled grinch ideas and came across some fun stuff from Babbling Abby. She had a great idea about mixed up words. I made a K version and after talking to my amazing teacher friend, Leslie Bjelde, I added some word cards for students to match (match the "Grinch Word" with the "True Word"). You could have your students use letter tiles instead of the word cards if you're not feeling like printing and laminating or you could do the activity whole group as well.

The Grinch Who Stole Words

The next activity was inspired by my teaching neighbor, Heather Stromme. We make a great team when it comes to creating new math and literacy ideas! Heather was inspired by a Grinch game she saw where students had to fill in the missing number. After talking it through, we came up with the following idea.

Grinch Stole My Numbers

I hope the result of my inspirations can inspire you! :)
- Sheyna

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Cookie Race

Okay, I'm having way too much fun with this whole blogging thing! It all started because I was trying to procrastinate and not work on report cards. Well, here I am again, not working on report cards. :)


This little math game isn't my original idea. I actually found a version of it at Growing in Pre-K. I'm a sucker for cute clipart and DJ Inkers never lets me down. I recently purchased these adorable gingerbread men from their site and couldn't resist making my own version of this game. I like to try to follow the whole "work smarter, not harder" motto, but it never works out for me! :)


Cookie Race

Gingerbread Man Pocket Chart

Here goes nothing and everything all at once...I've decided to venture into the wonderful world of blogging! I occasionally like to create things and share them with my K Team, so I figured I'd share them with anyone who chooses to read my little bloggie. :)


My team and I have been on a huge pocket chart/color word kick and here's the latest one I put together. I made two response sheets to differentiate for some of my little learners. The words to paste onto the sentence strips follow the response sheets.


Let me know if you have any questions! 
Enjoy!

Can You Catch the Gman Pocket Chart