R Week- R Rabbit

My last day went by way too fast. But i did receive some lovely parting gifts which you can see on my instagram @TheTeacherWithTheFro. Anyway let's make a rabbit.

What you'll need:

• Pipe cleaners
• Construction paper
• Letter R cutout
• Eyes
• Glue
• Scissors
• Pom poms
• Cotton balls
• Pink Crayon

What to do:

1. Cut out a white R and glue it to green construction paper. I chose green to imitate grass.
2. Use the scraps to make some rabbit ears.
3. Have the kids glue an eye on the front curve of the R.
4. Have the kids glue a pink pom pom on the front curve of the R to make a rabbit nose.
5. Cut the pipe cleaner into small pieces, less than an inch. Glue them around the nose for whiskers.
6. Put some glue on the leg of the R and let the kids make a rabbit tail with a cotton ball.
7. Place some glue on the top of the R and let the children attach the ears. After they are dried, color the inside of the ears pink like rabbit ears.

The finished product:

As Time Ticks On... I Get Ticked Off

I'm a little P.O.'d today. I didn't go to work yesterday I had to go to my grad school to deal with some things before school starts. Anyway I came back today and things were changed in my classroom. Decorations were changed things were moved. I had left notes around the room for the new hire teacher to know certain things, they were taken down. After tomorrow of course I don't have any say or care what they do with the room, life goes on after I leave, but I'm still here and I don't like things being moved and changed while I'm still here so now I have to wonder where things are in my own classroom. I just needed to vent it out.

Anyway I left a few pages of notes for the new teacher about each kid and a few things that really I'm probably the only one who knows because I'm in there with them everyday. As far as the big stuff the other employees can train the new teacher, the same way they trained me when I started. The difference is I was hired as a sub and when I became lead I had spent a lot of time with these children and talked to the parents and I knew certain things, a new hire who didn't train under the lead of the room would have a different experience. In these notes I left things like who gets a binky at nap time, what behaviors they should watch for with each child, and what they mean when they're talking about certain things. I just thought it'd be helpful but I hope they get to even read it and it's not deemed unnecessary and thrown away before they even hire someone.

R Week- Handprint Rose

Just a simple one to finish out my last few days.

What you'll need:

• Red and green paint
• Paintbrush
• Sponge brush
• Construction paper
• Something to clean tiny hands with

What to do:

1. Using the sponge brush paint the child's hand red.
2. Place it on the paper, I usually hold it down and count to 5 because sitting still is not a mastered skill of 2 year olds.
3. Use the paint brush and the green paint to paint a stem for your rose and maybe some grass if you feel like it.

The finished product:

And the Plot Thickens...

So this doesn't directly affect me but I feel the need to share anyway. I have been telling the parents of the children in my class that the previous teacher that I took over for would be coming back after I leave because that was my understanding. I'd asked my boss a week or a few weeks ago when she would be coming back and she'd just told me she hadn't spoken to her yet and she didn't know. From what I know, it is a regular thing every year for this teacher to leave during the summer and take care of her own children, then return to her job. This year, her kids are older now, I'm not sure exactly how old but they're older. She has some sort of art degree and has decided now to pursue a career doing something with art instead of coming back. I kind of feel like I've been lying to the parents even though I didn't know. I can't help but wonder if I would be keeping the position of lead teacher if I was staying in this city instead of going to graduate school. Hmm..

R Week- Rainbow Fruit Loop R

I know we already did rainbows but this time lets learn the letter R and add some fruity rainbow cereal while we're at it.

What you'll need:

• A large letter R
• Fruit loops
• Crayons
• Glue

What to do:

1. Let the children color their R however they want.
2. Drizzle glue on the R in the shape of an R.
3. Let the children place fruit loops on the glue.
4. Usually when you do a project with food it's best to bring enough for the children to eat some otherwise they'll want to eat the ones that now have glue on them.

The finished product:

What's Coming Next

So I start my new position next week and as much as I was looking forward to not changing anymore diapers, it looks like I'm going to be lead teacher of an older 2 year old room. I'm happy for the work and to have gotten hired as a lead teacher this time from the jump not taking over temporarily for someone else. Every age level has its ups and downs and advantages and disadvantages. So while I'm not switching age levels, this maybe will make it a smooth transition and maybe having older 2's will mean more kids closer to being potty trained and better verbal skills and listening skills. Who knows what the future is going to hold. Gotta take the next step to see what's up the stairs.

R Week- Rainbow

When I think R I think rainbows. And kids love rainbows to why not?

What you'll need:

• Paper plates
• Cotton balls
• Glue
• Scissors
• Construction paper

I didn't realize the picture was so blurry but you can still see the materials I hope.

What to do:

1. Cut up rainbow colored construction paper. (For those of you who haven't met ROY G. BIV, the colors of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). Now I think I cut my strips a smidge too wide but that's because I was only expecting a few children today so in my head I needed to cut the same amount of strips as kids, make them a little narrower than an inch to accommodate the space.
2. Cut the paper plates in half.
3. Drizzle glue on the paper plate, leaving some space on the bottom.
4. Have the children place cotton balls on the glue to create a cloud.
5. Put enough glue for one strip on the bottom of the plate. Doing the glue one strip at a time will help the children keep the colors in order. If you put a whole line of glue across the bottom the kids will likely just put their strip wherever they see glue.

The finished product:

Insta-Teaching!

I've made an instagram account to help me document my rise to teacher-dom. I wanted to keep it separate from my personal account since I post some pretty interesting things on there and I want to only follow other teacher type accounts so get some classroom ideas. So follow me on @TheTeacherWithTheFro there's even a little button on the side here! >>

Movin' On Up!

So I've been accepted into graduate school and I'm still stressing about finding a place to live. It is so far looking like I'm going to have to commute from my current address to school until I find a place, that's an hour and a half commute. I'll be leaving my current job in the 2 year old room in a week. Today I received an email from a woman I interviewed with at a daycare in the city my grad school is in. She offered me a job, full time preschool teacher with more money than I'm making in my current position! I don't have all the details yet but I assume I'll be lead teacher in my own 4 year old class but who knows. I just know I've got a job which will hopefully open some doors to finding an apartment. A lot of the landlords have told me they don't feel comfortable renting to me without a job so maybe this will help. But I am excited to start this next chapter in my life. I worked in a grocery store for 6 years, I've worked in retail and even McDonald's. It's uplifting for myself to feel like I'm at a place where I won't have to work in a job outside of the childcare or education field again in my life (hopefully). It's good to feel like my certification and degree and experience and the things that I've worked at and for are finally presenting opportunities for me.

L Week- Laundry

Who doesn't love doing laundry when you're 2? It's never too early to learn about the good old days when we hung up laundry outside.

What you'll need:

• Construction paper
• Popsicle sticks
• Glue
• Crayons
• Scissors

What to do:

1. I didn't think this project needed to be so big and I didn't want to waste paper so I cut the paper in half on the long side.
2. Give the child half of the paper and let them color all willy nilly however they feel like.
3. On the other half, color grass and a sky with a sun in it.
4. Paste 2 popsicle sticks to the paper and draw a curved line connecting them.
5. Using the paper the children colored, cut out tiny little clothing items (shirts, pants, shorts, dresses, etc.)*
6. Glue you tiny laundered items to your clothesline on the other paper. I added little clothespins to help make the idea more real.

The finished product:

*Note when doing things like this I like to turn the paper over when drawing the items I intend to cut out so I don't pick what ends up on the front. It's just random and if the kids drew on that spot or didn't that's what ends up on the item.

L Week- L Lights

I realized I didn't like how the wire for the lights came out. I wanted to use a smaller brush but I couldn't find one. I hoped using a small amount of paint would help make up for it but it didn't. In hindsight I could have used a black crayon. Smaller line, more control. 20/20 hindsight I guess.

What you'll need:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Black paint (or crayon)
• Paint brush
• Marker

What to do:

1. Cut out an L and glue it onto a piece of construction paper.
2. Using the scrap paper from cutting out the L's, draw and cut out assorted colors of tiny light bulbs, the kind that look like christmas lights.
3. Use a marker to draw some accents on the light bulbs to make it look like a light bulb such as outlines and horizontal lines to create what looks like the part you screw the light bulb in with.
4. Drizzle glue over the L in a zigzag pattern over the L (think the way they do the frosting in the toaster strudel commercials).
5. Let the kids place the lights on the glue wherever they feel.
6. After the glue dries, use the black paint to make a wire that strings the light bulbs together on the screw sides.

The finished product:

Handprint Ninja Turtles (Brotherly Love)

There's a child in my class who I absolutely adore and he has a baby brother that does not come to out daycare on a regular basis. He was with us today in the baby room and I thought it would be cute to make a project with the two of them. I don't really know why I had the urge to do this but I did. Maybe because I will be leaving my class soon and I'm feeling emotional. You can want whatever reaction you want out of people but the reality is they will react however they want to. I got lucky with this one, I was hoping the parent would be all emotional about the project their sons made and the mother was when she picked them up. She was about almost in tears talking about wanting to frame it. I just wanted to make something nice for them and it worked out. :)

What you'll need:

• Green paint
• Markers
• Construction paper
• Eyes
• Glue
• Scissors
• Sponge brush

What to do:

1. We're making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so that is why we're using green paint. Paint the child's hand green with the sponge brush and press it onto the paper. Hold the child's hand down to prevent smudging (I usually count to 5).
2. Let the handprints dry before you move on. Cut a thin strip of paper to make the eye mask, use one of the ninja turtle colors (red, blue, purple, orange). I also cut to smaller pieces to create what looks like the ends when you tie the mask onto a face.
3. Glue the mask onto the handprints, then the eyes onto the mask.
4. Cut some orange construction paper into 4 small orange squares. Glue the orange squares onto the area where the "stomach" would land, I glued them onto the middle and ring finger area.
5. I used red and black markers to make an open mouth smile with a tongue sort of sticking out to make my turtles look happy.
6. Since this is a sibling project for parents I wrote a cute phrase on it and the children's names and ages so it can be a memory.

The finished product:

I wish my handwriting was a little cuter but I'm very proud of the outcome.

L Week- Paint with Legos

I don't know why I like for my babies to use paint it's so messy but I think being 2 is the time to be messy.

What you'll need:

• Paint
• Legos
• Paper

What to do:

1. This really is as simple as it seems. Dip the legos in the paint and let the kids go to town!

The finished product:

L Week- Ladybug

I learned a little bit about myself as a teacher from this one. My kids love ladybugs, I don't know why, they just do and it happens to start with L so we did ladybugs today. My boss also did ladybugs with her class, of 4 and 5 year olds. I realized hers looked a lot nicer than mine did but here's where I learned about myself. On top of the fact that her class is 4 and 5 year olds and mine is 2 year olds (you know the developmental difference if you've ever even been around kids), I realized that I focus less on the finished product coming out nicely, and more on the kids getting to do as much of the creative work as they can handle. I couldn't care less if their lady bugs looked nice, but that they were the ones to color it and put the dots on it. Their parent's will get the idea.

What you'll need:

• Paper plates
• Black paint
• Black construction paper
• White and red crayons
• Eyes
• Glue
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Pipe cleaners
• Something to clean hands

What to do:

1. Have the children color the paper plate red. You can use small paper plates, I had leftover plate middles cut out from yesterday's craft.
2. Put some black paint on a paper plate and have the children dip one finger in the paint and make ladybug spots on the paper plate.
3. Let it dry, then cut the paper plate in half.
4. Overlap the halves leaving an upside down V-shaped opening and staple the paper plate halves at the top.
5. Cut out small circles of black construction paper to make the ladybug's head.
6. Glue eyes to the head and use the white crayon to create a smile.
7. Cut a pipe cleaner into small pieces and curl them to look like antennae, then glue them on the back of the head.
8. After all of that dries, glue the head over top of the staple.

The finished product:

Handprint Tu-tu

So one of my kids welcomed a new baby sister early yesterday morning and I wanted to show her parents that as her teacher I cared about their new edition to their family so I wanted to make something with their daughter that they could hopefully keep as a baby gift from their first born.

What you'll need:

• Pink paint
• Pink and white construction paper
• Pink tissue paper (or ribbon)
• A marker
• Glue
• Scissors

What to do:

1. One at a time, paint the child's hands pink, place them on the paper slightly overlapping (see picture).
2. With the pink construction paper cut out what would look like a pink tank top.
3. Place the tank top on top of the handprints to create a ballet leotard (or tu-tu).
4. Use the tissue paper or ribbon to cut a belt for the tutu to cover the separation between the tank top and the handprints.
5. If you used ribbon it can be easier to tie a bow but since I was using tissue paper I cut some into the shape of a bow even thought it was a bit hard to see and do so I would suggest ribbon if you can get your hands on some.

The finished product:

It's not perfect but the idea is there. I thought coming up with a cute phrase would help get the idea across.

The End is Near

My time with my kids is coming to a close in the next few weeks. I'll be going off to graduate school soon and giving the classroom back to the previous teacher as the summer comes to a close. All of the plans aren't set yet but things are in motion. I have a few job options, some in daycares and I'm also looking into substitute teaching again in the district near my grad school. If I do that I'll be blogging a lot less often probably because I won't be creating lessons anymore but if I move to another daycare I'll try and keep up. Blogging has helped me not only to get out my creations to the world but to create memories. It's like keeping a career journal for me to learn from my mistakes and be able to redo some crafts if I want to. I'll probably keep blogging just for myself. I never really thought anyone would read it anyway so I'm pleasantly surprised at how many views it does get and if you're reading this thank you for following me on the ups and downs of my career journey!

L Week- Lion Mask

Rawrrrr!!! I wanted to started the week out with a growl!

What you'll need:

• Yellow, brown and orange construction paper
• Paper plates
• Stapler
• Glue
• Scissors
• An adorable faced child

There are popsicle sticks in the picture because I originally intended to use them for the children to hold up the masks but the way I had to cut the paper plate it got difficult and I scrapped them.

What to do:

1. Cut out the middle of the paper plate.*
2. Cut the orange and yellow construction paper into strips.
3. Cut the brown paper into rounded ears.
4. Put glue on the leftover part of the outer circle where you want the ears to go and let the children place the ears on the glue.
5. Drizzle glue on the remaining part of the paper plate avoiding the ears.
6. Let the children place the paper strips on the glue.**

The finished product:

I would like to show it with a child's face inside it but I don't post my babies online without express written consent. Can't do it. It's not right.

*Note I tried cutting from the center and cutting around the circle but it got messy and I wasn't cutting it in a way that looked nice so I ended up cutting from the outside of the plate to get to the circle and then I stapled the plate back together later.

**Note when the children place the strips they probably won't be perfectly on the outside of the circle but it's important that the center of the plate it see through so the child's face can be seen. After the glue dried I cut out any part of the strips that were in the hole of the plate.

P Week- Pizza

This one was a little labor intensive as far as cutting up the paper into shapes but I just thought it was so cute it was worth it.

What you'll need:

• Paper plate
• Red crayon
• Glue
• Assorted colors of construction paper
• Scissors

What to do:

1. Cut up white and yellow paper into strips to make "cheese", green paper into curved strips for "green peppers", red paper into circles for "pepperoni", and brown paper into "mushrooms".
2. Let the kids color their paper plate with the red crayon to make their "sauce".
3. Pour glue on the plate all willy nilly and let the kids add their toppings.

The finished product:

P Week- Panda

Who doesn't love an adorable panda bear?

What you'll need:

• Small paper plates
• Black construction paper
• Eyes
• Glue
• Scissors
• Marker
  
  

What to do:

1. With the black construction paper cut out ears, and black circles to go around the eye area as well as a small nose. I cut mine like a triangle with one side rounded and used it upside down.
2. Have the kids glue the ears at the top, the eyes where eyes belong, and the nose in the middle.
3. Attach eyes to the center of the eye circles.
4. Give your panda a little panda smile with a marker.

The finished product:

P Week- P Penguin

This week's letter craft is a penguin! I happen to love penguins. I'll admit I was having a bit of a bad day today and maybe this could've come out better but I did my best.

What you'll need:

• A P cutout
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Eyes

Those black shapes in the photo were intended to be flippers but I didn't think they looked right once I went to use them. But I didn't throw them away I'm going to cut them into panda ears later in the week. The ruler was to create the P since I didn't have one to trace.

What to do:

1. Cut out a black P from construction paper.
2. Cut out a white half oval for a stomach, and orange feet and a beak.
3. Glue the beak to the bottom of the curve of the P.
4. Attach an eye to the top part of the curve.
5. Glue the feet to the bottom of the vertical line part of the P.

The finished product:

P Week- Painting w/ Pom-Poms

I thought it'd be a cute idea to paint for P week but not just paint with regular old brushes, I like to get a little more creative than that. We used pom-poms, the little round fuzzy things. That alone got the kids interested, but I thought it was also a good idea to use clothespins to hold the pom-poms. Less messy and less chance of the kids putting their hands in paint as well as an opportunity to get some fine motor practice in.

What you'll need:

• Pom-poms
• Clothespins
• Paint
• Something to put the paint on
• Paper
• A smock (optional)

What to do:

1. Pick up a pom-pom with a clothespin.
2. Pour some paint out on a paper plate.
3. Dip the pom-pom in the paint, one pom-pom per color would be ideal.
4. Hand the child the clothespin side and let them paint on the paper wherever they want with the painted pom-pom.

The finished product:

S Week- Spider

I realized a little boo-boo I made after I already started cutting these out but I think this was a cute one to finish out S week.

What you'll need:

• Construction paper
• Yarn
• Paint
• Sponge brush
• Eyes
• Scissors
• Something to put the paint on
• Tape
• Something to clean the hands with
• Black paint

What to do:

1. Paint the child's hand black. Remember a spider only has 8 legs so don't paint the whole hand. The mistake I made was using the thumb instead of the pinky. The thumb ended up landing in a weird place.
2. Place the  handprints on the paper with the palms overlapping.
3. Allow the paint to dry.
4. Add eyes.
5. Cut out the spider and tape a piece of yarn to the back. I should've used a white or grey to look more like a spider web but I didn't think of it.

The finished product:

S Week- S Snail

This week's craft using the letter is a snail. I had to figure out a way to have the kids do part of this because I realized as I was planning it it was getting too complicated but eventually I figured it out and I think it came out cute.

What you'll need:

• An S cut out
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Crayons
• Eyes
• Something to make a circular shape (I tend to use a small toy plate, it just seems to be the right size when I need a circle.)
• Markers
• Pencil

What to do:

1. Use the S cut out to make S's in construction paper.
2. Cut different color construction paper pieces in half the landscape way.
3. Let each child color their half piece of paper however they choose.
4. Use the plate (or whatever circular shape you have) to make a circle out of the now decorated paper. Save the scraps.
5. Draw a swirl pattern on the circle.
6. Glue the circle to the bottom of the S, the end of the S on top of the circle and the middle of the S under the circle (see picture).
7. Use the scraps of the decorated paper and attach eyes to it, then cut eye stalks around the eyes and glue them to the top of the S.

 The finished product:

Bumble Bee Bulletin Board

I needed to redo one of the boards in my classroom that has artwork that represents all of the kids. I decided to do bumble bees, then I happened to notice the bulletin board was bordered with bumble bees and knew it was a good idea.

What you'll need:

• Yellow and black paint
• Eyes
• Markers
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Paint brushes
• Something to put the paint on like a paper plate

What to do:

1. Paint the bottom of each child's foot yellow with the sponge brush.
2. Make a footprint on the construction paper.
3. Allow the footprint to dry, then paint black stripes on the footprint.
4. Attach eyes to the heel of the print and a smile under them.
5. Use the marker to draw wings and antennae.
6. Cut out your bumble bee.

The finished product:

S Week- Snake

This one was cute, easy and fun so let's make snakes!

What you'll need:

• Paper plates
• Bingo stampers
• Eyes
• Red construction paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue
  

What to do:

1. Using the underside of the plate, have the children stamp their plates with the bingo stampers.
2. Cut the plate from the outside to the center in a spiral pattern.
3. Using your red construction paper, cut out a small split tongue.*
4. Attach eyes and glue the tongue to the head of the snake, the inner center of your spiral cut paper plate.

The finished product:

*Note I used scrap red paper since the tongues are so small I didn't want to be wasteful.

S Week- Socks

One of my favorite things is socks. I hate feet but I love cool socks. It is a rare day that one would see me wearing plain white socks. So I took the fact that it's S week as an opportunity.

What you'll need:

• Construction paper
• Crayons
• Stickers (optional)
• Glue
• Markers
• Scissors
• Pencil

What to do:

1. Give each child a piece of construction paper and some crayons and let them color it however they want.
2. Have the kids add stickers (or whatever additional decorations you have available).
3. Fold the paper in half like a book, decorated side in.
4. Draw a sock shape on the plain, outside of the paper.
5. Cut out the sock with the paper still folded so there will be two socks when you're finished.
6. Use a marker to draw some sock features, the toe and heel spots, and a few lines at the top to recreate the elastic at the top of a sock.
7. Layer the socks on top of each other and glue them together.

The finished product:

Mastery Level

Finally! After months of waiting and mix ups with my transcripts and a few rejections from other schools I have been accepted to grad school to start my Master's in Literacy Birth-Grade 6. This is yet another step closer to me becoming a teacher and being where I want to be in my life. There are still a few complications that I can hopefully get sorted out soon. My next courses of action are to find a place to live closer to my school, get a job there, and figure out how I can pay for school. Wish me luck a feel free to donate to my GoFundMe account if you'd like to help!