It's Up! My Teachers Notebook Clipart Is Up and Running!

Ok, my friends, after many days of trying to work out the kinks, I finally have my Teachers Notebook Clipart account up and running.YAY! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!! All you have to do is go to teachersnotebook.com click on artists and go to the second page where you will find TAT Clipart. Right now I only have two items up: a Groundhog Day Combo Pack and a 100th Day Combo Pack. I will have my money combo pack up later tonight (my computer at school won't let me upload it). Please let me know what you think about each of them and also what you'd like to see in the future!

And don't forget to become a follower on my TAT Clipart blog--just click here.

Clipart

As teachers, we are always looking for clipart to use for lesson plans that we can reproduce and sell. At times it can be very frustrating because there are very few clipart artist who allow you to sell or use their clipart, and when you do find someone who will, they don't have the clipart that you are looking for. That is why I spent last weekend figuring out how to make my own clipart, and I think I finally have it. I have decided to create my own clipart blog (It's called TAT Clipart or The Art of Teaching Clipart) to provide teachers with school focused, fun, and affordable clipart. I plan to sell everything I made for less than 3 dollars, which would include all combo clipart of color and black & white images. It will be available to you to use for anything need and you will be able to sell it. I just ask that you give me credit on your blog or somewhere in the unit. And please don't sell the individual clipart images, it's a single user license. Thank you for your respect. I am in the process of setting up my Teachers Notebook account where you can buy my clipart. However, until then please check out the following items I have created. Tell me what you think, look at my new blog (tatclipart.blogspot.com), and let me know what you are looking for as well. The penny clipart is specifically for Happy Teaching First, as she mentioned that she was looking for money clipart. The ukulele clipart is for The Teacher Wife, she's teaching her students how to use the ukulele.The others are just samples of things I've been working on. These are free for you to use as you'd like. If you do want me to make you something in particular please give me at least a week's notice so I can get it done.
Thank you so much!
-Bri

Animal Five Sense Poems FREEBIE

The other day as I was searching through other teacher blogs for ideas I came across Mrs. Larremore's Chalk Talk blog. She had the cutest Penguin Five Senses Poems. I decided to take that idea and create animal poems for six different animals. Later this year, we do an animal unit and I'm planning to use these. Thanks Chalk Talk for your awesome idea!!! Click here to get it free.

Happy Birthday To Me! (Another Free Unit!)

Last year I got a wonderful idea from The Teacher Wife, where for her Birthday she gave herself a classroom Birthday party. The kids loved it and had a great time even though technically they were still doing "school" work. Ever since then I've been thinking about what I wanted to do for my birthday (which is coming up on the 26th), and the other day when I mentioned it to my kids they basically jumped out of their chairs with excitement! So, I had a little time this weekend to finally put it all together. I think it's going to be a blast! I've added it to Tpt as a FREEBIE, just click here! You can use it as a birthday celebration for yourself or as a combined birthday celebration for all of your kids Birthdays!

Have fun and Happy Birthday!:)

Valentine Monster Mash FREEBIE!!!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I thought I'd make a fun nonsense word game for my kids. I actually want to use it next week even though the monsters are holding hearts. I figure it can go for anytime of the year including Valentine's Day. My kiddos are going to be tested on nonsense words at the end of the month and I want them to have some review before Dibels happens.
Just click here to go to my Tpt store and download it for free.

Have fun!

-Bri

This Year's First Freebies!!!

Well, despite the craziness of this week I have actually managed to create two units for next week. Yay, me!:) Or, "Yay Bri!" as my 2-year-old nephew would say! Both of them are FREEBIES on TpT. Both of them are pirate units as I just purchased some adorable pirate clipart from KPM. I knew I wanted to use them for the non-living unit I was working on and then I just started thinking about all of the other things I could do with them as well and before I knew it the other unit sort of just popped out! My kids already know we're going to be talking about and using pirate stuff next week and they are super excited! I've never done a pirate unit before but I have a feeling it's really going to be fun:)

For the Pirate Non-Living Unit please click here.

For the Pirate Pattern, Ordinal Number, and Measurement Unit please click here.

I hope that you enjoy both of these units!

-Bri

Funny Things My Kids Have Said-Kindergarten Humor

I know how stressful teaching can be, and so sometimes we just need a good laugh. This year I have absolutely hilarious kids who keep me laughing everyday. I've been posting their comments on facebook and I've decided that it's time to post them here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Funny conversation I had with one of my students today:
Student: Your hair used to be long.
Me: Yep! I looked very different.
Student: Yep! Now you look like a boy.
Student: (Moving on to a new topic) My birthday is in March. March 28th.
Me: Do you know what? My sister and my husband both have birthdays in March too!
Student: Really? What days?
Me: My husband's is on March 10th and my sister's is ...on March 12.
Student: Do you remember that I saw your sister one time?
Me: Yep! She's the cute one with red hair.
Student: I don't really like people with red hair, they're...(She starts twisting her finger around her ear)...um, crazy!

Another funny conversation I had with my students:
Me to the whole class: My birthday is on January 26th so on that day we will be having a big birthday party!
Class: YAY!
Student 1: We should have cake!
Student 2: No, we should have cupcakes and decorate them!
Me: We'll see. I promise to come up with some fun ideas!
Student 3: Can we plan pin-the-tail on the donkey?
Me: That's a good idea, but I'...m going to come up with the activities and then I'll let you know what we're going to do.

This line of conversation continued for quite a while with me trying to convince them that I was the one who was going to come up with the activities--they really didn't understand.

Final student: Well, I have the best idea ever!
Me: Ok, what is it? And this is our last idea, and then we're going to move onto our writing!
Student 4: Let's crochet!!!
Me: Um, sure, I'll think about that one...

Crochet!?! Ha ha, they really do say the funnies things!


So today I am discussing props for our Gingerbread Play with my students and one little girl asks if I can make her a crown. I gently remind her that she's a gingerbread girl not a gingerbread princess and doesn't need a crown. Then she get's distracted and says, "Well, you have a headband." (somehow she'd made a connection between a headband and a crown)....then she pauses for a long minute and says, "And you don't even have hair!"



So today one of my kids was telling me about the crazy windstorm that they had in Centerville. This is what she said: "And the Porky-Pine trees in our backyard fell over..." So cute! Porky-Pine trees!!!


There's been plenty of other comments, but I'll just start adding the new ones as they come.

I hope these make your day!

New Year's Resolutions

Alright, I realize that November was the last time I actually posted anything on this blog. That is sad and pathetic. I could give you a million excuses from graduate school to Kindergarten but in the end none of it would matter. Instead, I'm just going to apologize and thank you for you patience and understanding. Now, here's the good news: I have finished making all of my New Year's Resolutions and as you may expect many of the revolve around kindergarten and this blog. YAY! So, in order to make sure I follow through with each of the resolutions that have to with you I thought I would write them out so you can hold me accountable!
My New Year's Blogging Resolutions:
1. Post at least twice a month
*Twice a month still doesn't seem often enough to be honest, but I know there will be some months where that is all I will be able to do. For the months that I am less busy I will try to do at least one a week if not more!
2. More meaningful posts
*I want to make sure that my posts are of worth to you. Information or things you really want. I will work harder on this!
3. More freebies
*I LOVE LOVE LOVE freebies! Who doesn't? And I have decided that I need to make more free lesson plans, worksheets, and fun ideas for all of us to use! I'm probably the more excited about this resolution than any of the other!
4. Better, more involved lesson plans
*I have some amazing lesson plan ideas just sitting in my head, waiting for me to put them on paper, I've just got to figure out how and when! But I'm going to try for at least one a month...wish me luck!!
5. Respond to emails and comments faster
*I have never been very good about this, and in fact I know there are comments I still haven't responded to properly. For this I truly do apologize. I will get to you! Promise!

Well, there you have it! My Blogging Resolutions for 2012, however I did forget one more:

6. Enjoy, find, and appreciate the wonderful world of teacher bloggers that have already created and are creating fantastic ideas!
*I'm going to spend more time enjoying your blogs because while I have so many ideas floating around my head, I know you have just as many incredible ones for me to use! Thank you!

Happy New Year my blogging friends!

With love,
Bri