End of the Year

Today was the first Monday of my summer vacation. While I am grateful for a break filled with sleeping in, vacations, bonfires and other adventures, I can't help but reflect on the school year past. I sit here staring at this amazing, hand painted Dr. Seuss chair my head is flooded with memories. This chair at the beginning year was filled with potential moments. Moments of sharing personal stories during morning meeting, reading authentic read alouds to spark memorable conversations and children developing their love for reading. Now the chair is scratched, has discolored paint and one wobbly, unstable leg . To me, this shows that this chair holds unforgettable moments. Moments where three tiny first graders fell in love with the book, The Day the Crayons Quit, moments of first graders sharing small moment stories with their peers, moments where stories came to life and moments where struggles were overcome.

As years come and go, memories quickly seem to fade. We remember those students that made us learn to appreciate the world a little more, those students that allowed us to be a little more innovative, or those students that simply put a smile on your face when they walk in the classroom door. However, we don't always remember those defining moments in a child's education. To help myself cherish these moments as a teacher, we created these original collages to allow these memories be preserved.

 We created one for each student in my classroom and printed on card stock. We have uploaded an editable version to my TpT store that can be used as a first day gift, a holiday gift or an end of the year gift. Click HERE to access it! We would love to hear how you celebrated the end to a successful school year.

A Very Merry UnBirthday

The first graders have been completing an ABC countdown for the last 26 days of school. Today was letter, U, Unbirthday Day. It was originally intended for those students that have summer birthdays and do not get the opportunity to celebrate their birthday in school with their friends and teachers. However, as I was preparing for the day this morning all I could think about was the scene from Alice in Wonderland, with the MadHatter singing A Very Merry Unbirthday To You! 

That's when I realized this was an opportunity to celebrate all students in my classroom. Birthdays are about celebrating what makes each individual unique. Celebrating all the good they bring to the classroom. To help make our day about celebrating my students, we started the day by reading one of my favorite birthday books, Happy Birthday To You, by Dr. Seuss. 

We then shared our favorite memories from the year, sung happy birthday to each and every student and spotted our birthday Elf on the Shelf! 

Today made me realized how important it is to not only celebrate our students on their special day, but each and every day. My first graders light up my day and teach me something new! Without them my days would have a lot less laughs and smiles, have a lot less sticky encounters and be a lot more boring. 

To help make celebrating birthdays in your classroom a little brighter, we have provided self-created birthday tags to give students on their birthdays. Tape these to the top of a silly straw or pencil or print on stickers! This will surely bright up their special day.

Find the birthday toppers HERE and birthday certificates are soon to come!

June Calendar Download

Just like every month, I can't believe that May is already coming to an end. It's already almost June? Unbelievable. Each and every year goes by faster and faster. But this year is absolutely flying by. I can not believe that summer is upon us. 

In excitement of the warm weather and summer festivities I've created a printable calendar. Enjoy June with a stylish calendar to spruce up your office space or home decor. New designs for each month will be uploaded at the end of each previous month. Collect them all! 

I'm extremely excited to debut my new Etsy shop. Although it's a bit bare at this stage, I look forward to creating some awesome designs over the next few months. Make sure to take a look in a few weeks to check out all the new additions to the shop.

If there is anything in particular you would like to see on my Etsy Shop I would love to get input and feedback. Contact me!