Saturday, September 5, 2015

Spotlight Saturday: Sensory Tub

It's the first Saturday in September down south which means FOOTBALL season  has officially started!! I love college football and am looking forward to sitting in my pj's watching it all day:) 
Saturday also means it's time for Spotlight Saturday with my blogging bestie over at Kindergarten Dragons!
This weekend I am going to spotlight the Sensory tub!
 
This is the first year that I have used a sensory tub with my kinders! I know I am behind the times ha! I have struggled the last few years with trying to balance developmentally appropriate kindergarten and the rigorous standards that we have to teach our kinders in order for them to be successful as firsties. I have always taught through thematic units and worked very hard to make learning fun and engaging. I still felt that I was missing something! I was missing play! This past summer I did a lot of research, blog stalking and Pinterest stalking to find new ways to incorporate play into my classroom and keep the learning going! We all know that kinders learn best through play so why not bring it back. I am very fortunate that my school system as a whole and my administrators are realizing that our children need this! Ok off my soap box and back to the spotlight ha!!
 My kinders absolutely LOVE the sensory tub center! I am so thrilled I decided to jump on this band wagon and wish now I had incorporated this into my classroom much earlier! This center has quickly become a class favorite. They will even ask if they can go to this center during our social/play centers in the afternoon!
I have been leary of putting food in my tub because of critters ha! I plan on using rice soon though!The first few weeks I put colored pom poms in the tub. They had to find the letters and match them to the letter on the cards. 
The next week we were learning about Pete the cat so they had to find the letter cards and then trace the matching letter. 
I found the leap frog letter magnets at the thrift store for $2.00! It had the upper and lower case letters!! So I added the magnets to the sensory tub and used a sharpie to write the letters on a cookie sheet I got at the dollar tree and the kiddos matched the letters. 
My little friends said this was the best center ever ha!

I wanted to change out the filler for this upcoming week so I found these colorful paper shreds at my local Dollar Tree. I spent $10. I also found these foam letter puzzles and thought they would be perfect! So I put the letters in the tub and the kiddos will match them to the puzzles. 
I would strongly encourage you to incorporate a sensory tub in your classroom. It is a super fun and engaging center for your kiddos and Pinterest in loaded with ideas!! It is not super expensive to get started either. go for it your kiddos will thank you! I would eventually like to have a sensory table and am looking into ordering one or having one built for my classroom. 

Now I am off to watch some football and will leave you with a little Bama humor:) Roll Tide!
Head over to Kindergarten Dragons to link up and join in on the fun!
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Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Teacher Week 15- Classroom Tour


I am so excited to link up with Bloghoppin for #teacherweek15 classroom tour! I love that this also goes with Lucky Little Learners and Schroder's Shenanagan #2getherwearebetter classroom reveal!! I have loved looking at so many AMAZING classrooms!! Here is a tour of my kindergarten room!!!


These are our hallway bulletin boards. My kiddos love the #firstday board!


This is the view from my front door:) I painted my classroom the Saturday after school got out last year. I wanted and needed a change! I love how my classroom looks with a new coat of paint! This color is so calming and I love spending my days in this room! I am  alos in love with my inspirational quotes by the Bubbly Blonde on the back wall.
This is the view from the back door. Aren't those Pete the cats precious hanging above our whole group area? I love my octagon tables!!!!
Our daily schedule
These scoop chairs from Walmart are perfect for my kinders! They love to sit in these will they work on the tablets. I have a few little friends who like to lay down and use Clifford as a pillow:)
The sensory tub has been such a wonderful center this year for my kiddos! They love it and ask everyday if they are going to that centers. I found these pillows at Walmart to cozy up this area!
Small group area as well as my teacher desk! 
These quotes hang on the cabinet behind my teacher table. I was born to be a teacher and my goal is to be a champion for each one of my kiddos past, present and future!
This small table is the mirror table. We have several centers that use mirrors. Right now we are working with mirrored letters and we will do sight words and CVC words as the year progresses.  I find the mirrors work better if they are taped to the table ha!!
Computer center
Whole Group area!! I got my carpet at Southeastern Salvage and love it! It is perfect for my classroom, not to big and not to little!
My Whole Brain teaching call back posters and my super cute lantern lights thanks to Big Lots for that find!
Our family rules and pocket chart for practice cards:) WBT style
Our alphabet and numbers! Don't you love Creative Clips clipart!!
Our reading buddies!!
LAst year I din't have a lot of space for anchor charts to hang so I purposed to make spaces for them this year!! 
Number anchor charts
Special schedule and alphabet animal stickers I found at Micheals!
Literacy center rotation chart
Math center rotation chart
Lunch choices chart can you tell I love packet charts!
Our SIW!! My kiddos are rocking kindergarten! Look at those stars!
My mini fridge stocked with Diet Pepsi! It helps me make it through the day! HEHEHE
We do community supplies and these caddies and table baskets work great!

Thank you so much for stopping by to take my classroom tour!! Head over to Lucky Little Learners. Schroeder's Shenanigans and Bloghoppin to link up and join in on the fun!!


Blog Hoppin