Today we learned that when you apply different pressure to a crayon, using your hand, it changes the shade. Everyone got one crayon. The way that students colored their hearts made them look like jewels! Template is is attached here.   ..read more

 Check them out! Free April calendar pieces are ready to print ..read more

 Feeling lucky this March? Here are my FREE March Calendar Pieces designed around, what else, Lucky Charms! Download Here ..read more

My calendar pieces are starting to fall apart. Anyone relate? I have been using them over 15 years now! Time for a refresher. I will be posting new calendar pieces for FREE over the next few weeks! Enjoy!  Grab them here ..read more

 The countdown has begun. In 9 days I will start teaching with a Hybrid model. I will have 7 kiddos at school every day except Wednesday from 9:00am to 11:15am. In this time frame I am expected to cram in everything they need to know, which doesn't sound very feasible. I also want to make class time engaging, incorporating play as much as I can.  This post is about how I am going to keep play going under a hybrid model, both in the classroom and at home. Keeping the play going at home shouldn't be too difficult, seeing as how we have been playing this whole time! But, I do want to re ..read more

 I am looking for donors for my Books That Look Like Us project on Donors Choose! Today is a Double Donations day! If you are able to donate, please click here: Books That Look Like Us!. Did you know that that 50% of all children's books reflect white children? The next most represented group is ANIMALS. This comes before any other group of children, be they Black, Latinx, Native, or Asian. Help me build a classroom library that reflects the faces of the students in my class. I have students from all over the world, speaking many languages. I want to show then that they have stories too ..read more

 Alright. It is getting really real, really quick. I know we are some of the very last to start school,  but we have been preparing for a month! Tech is up, apps are on, families are connected, and the real work begins this week. I am excited to try something new, nervous about how it will go, and anxious about how to maintain it.  We are missing a crucial part of school: socialization. And everything I have been working toward has been to highlight relationships amongst my Kinders. How? Through play, through Zoom, through family connection. My schedule will allow time for Play ..read more

Let's talk about Human Agency. Human agency is the ability for a human to make choices and then act on them in the world around them. They can choose their plan and make it come to life. Sounds good right? All human's thrive on choice. Kids especially. So, how can we use human agency in Kindergarten? Have you done choice time? Or choice boards? Have you given your child a choice between foods, clothes, or toys? This is human agency. While kids thrive on routine, they also need choice. When we think of human agency in the Kindergarten classroom, we are using their interests, respecting their ..read more

Today was my second day at the Ready, Set, Play Conference here in the Portland area. Yesterday we talked so much about equity, diversity, processes, anti-bias education (ABE) and it was a serious eye opener as well as very overwhelming. BUT, today was more about HOW we can do this. Yes, I said CAN. Ok, so my district is going through an entire immersive play program. Students will do EVERYTHING in play. (Which is why I am writing this blog!) Reading, writing, math, phonics, science, social studies, everything will be done through play. So exciting right?! Well, the hardest part of all of us ..read more

Today I went to a conference called Ready, Set, Play. It was put on by the Beaverton School District and had a wonderful keynote speaker by the name of Soobin Oh of the Children's Institute. I also had two classes with Kristi Mraz, the author of Kids 1st From Day One and Purposeful Play. I am a bit of a fangirl about Kristi, I have to say. What did we work on? We worked on play, of course! But, mostly we worked on creating a way of teaching through play that is culturally responsive. While I have so many thoughts swirling inside my head right now, I am trying to hone in on the major take-away ..read more