Remembering my Last Day

I retired from teaching in 2019 just before the Pandemic hijacked how school is done. It was bittersweet on the last day, but even moreso when I realized I would not be returning in the fall to sub, to volunteer and to stay in touch. Due to restrictions, the next 1 1/2 years were anything but normal!

Let me tell you just how much I miss school. The decision to retire was not fully my own, as I had elderly parents needing my undivided attention. I do not regret my decision. However, I would still be teaching if circumstances were different. WHY do I tell you this? Because I want you to love your job as much as I did. I hope circumstances enable you to continue loving students, and to be valued and respected. It is a big wish, but I will continue to hope! What you do impacts students forever! I feel very blessed to have students from across the years find me to say the year in my class meant a lot. That is EVERYTHING!

“Liven” up May with Fun Activities

Spring is a time of new life, growth in both students and nature, and fun activities for the end of the year. May is the perfect month to teach a unit on butterflies! I taught about butterflies every one of my 25 years teaching kindergarten. It is a topic that never gets old!

Ideas for a study of butterflies:

• Ask students to observe and graph butterflies as an outdoor activity (download graphic organizer set here–simple–just cut out)
• Make butterfly art
• Learn about the Butterfly Life Cycle
• Raise caterpillars and hold a release party on the playground
• Learn Butterfly Poetry
• Act out metamorphosis (students start in a tiny ball on the floor, then wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, then stretch, stand, and fly around the room) my students would act this out over and over and over…

A Butterfly FREEBIE for You!

This is a fun set of activities including a poem and pocket chart set. Keep it up all month for a center.

Click the image!

For other Butterfly activites and more, TpT is throwing a Teacher Appreciation Sale Tuesday and Wednesday! Use the code to get up to 25% OFF!!!

Just in time for the last few days of school, this Dear Summer Bi-Weekly Journal! Students pick which two days to make entries, reference the date on a device or calendar, list 3 things, draw 3 things, do a math response, DONE! This is meant to be fun, not cumbersome and “school-like”. Kids can reflect on the summer when they are done, then be ready for share time in Kindergarten or 1st Grade.

Covers two entries per week in the months June, July, and August.