Last Day

We've come a long way since August 22.  I took the following pictures on September 1.

I took this picture today. 

They've grown up a little. 
We had a great time today.  It was only a half day but we had a lot to do.

 The kids decorated the tables.

 They made paper chains to hang from the ceiling.  It was fun for me to watch them work together to put all the individual chains together to form one big one. 

 We did a little dancing.

 We played with bubbles.

We ate pizza in the dark.  The power went out at 11:15 and didn't come back on until after the kids went home.

It's been such a great year.  I really will miss this class.

Ice Cream and Horses

My class has gone crazy with note writing.  They write notes to me.  They write notes to each other. They want me to write notes back to them.  I keep trying to explain that there is 1 of me and 21 of them so it makes it hard for me to respond to every note I get.  They like to make sure I see every note so there is a better chance of getting a response. 

 Cooper wrote a note and put it in these beautiful flowers that Eric J. gave me.  I guess I didn't notice it right away so he had to go write another message and then he stood there holding it until I noticed.  He cracks me up.

 As promised, since we are the Kindergarten Tug of War Champions, we went to Dairy Queen today for ice cream.

 Everyone got an ice cream cone and we got to tell everyone who was eating there all about how hard we had to work to win the competition.

 Cooper's dad brought a horse to school to show the kids.  He told them a little about how to take care of a horse and demonstrated how to trim their hooves. Then the kids got to pet her.

Only a half day tomorrow and then our year is done.  Wow!

The Best Day Ever!

Luke always describes any event we have as the best day ever.  I have to agree with him about today.  We had so much fun at Field Day.  The kids were great and the weather was perfect.

 Our first event was the plunger run.

 Then we went to the egg race.

 We were really tired and hungry by the time we could go to the concession stand.

 The long jump was pretty competitive.

 I've been at this school for 8 years and have only won the tug of war 1 time.  So I told the kids to flex their muscles and get prepared to win. 

 The sack race was the final event before the tug of war.

 I added an incentive for winning.  I told them if we won, I would buy ice cream for everyone next week.

 That's all it took.  They were determined to win.  It didn't even matter that we had 2 matches back to back.  I got a trophy and they got blue ribbons.  I already knew I had a class of champions and now every one knows. 

Kindergarten Graduation

Graduation is always a crazy but special time.  It's really hard to believe that another school year has come and gone.  This time of year is bittersweet for me.  I'm definitely ready for a summer break, but I know my time with this group of kids is almost over.  I think back to those first few weeks when we were all getting to know each other, the kids were learning what I expect of them and I was observing all the different skill levels and personalities, and I really wondered how this was all going to work out.  It turned out to be a wonderful year.  It always does, but I still have those first few moments of panic.  In a few short months, I have to start over with a brand new group of kids. 

Tuesday night was a time to celebrate what we have accomplished.  I can confidently send this group of kids to first grade.  They can all read, they can all write and one of their favorite things to do right now is write all the numbers from 1 - 100.  They have a desire to learn and curiosity that exhausts me at times. They are funny.  I can joke with them but when it's time to get down to business, they do.

I want to thank all you parents for all the hard work you have done.  You make my job and your child's learning so much more successful when you get involved.  

I took a few pictures before graduation, but that's all I could do.  Hope you enjoy the ones I have.