Lots of Blogger Inspiration in Ripley

When I entered Ripley Elementary their school theme was clear! ANTS! Before I retired I set my classroom up using a picnic theme so I felt right at home!

The art teacher is painting ant tunnels on the hallway wall. The kids can earn ants for demonstrating ANT behavior.

One teacher, Denise,  had this displayed outside of her room. When I asked her where she found the idea, she saw it on a blog, but wasn’t sure which one. So I did a little digging and guess what? It’s a freebee. You can get it here from my good friend Erica!

Cheryl was doing a unit on Apples, and I knew right off where that labeling activity came from! It is all over pinterest! So where did it come from? From Rachelle, over at What the Teacher Wants! She is soooo smart!  You can get it here.  Loved Cheryl’s season trees and the bubble map. Before she started her apple unit, she put an apple in the bag and stapled it shut. The kids passed it around the circle to see if they could guess what it was! Such a fun idea.

Cheryl shared this book with me, as a matter of fact, she GAVE it to me!!!!  It is a great little story about generating ideas for writing and how to create a story.  Loved the pencil idea so I asked, “Where did you get that, Cheryl?” After she told me where, I asked “that person” if they had it on their blog. She told me it wasn’t hers but she knew who it did belong to….Lindsey, over at The Teacher’s Wife. You can get it here! It’s a freebee, too!
Don’t you just love that quilt? In the spring Cheryl’s class makes a quilt. They picked their fabric, sewed it on the machine and enter it into a quilt show. They won a blue ribbon!

Loved the environmental print alphabet in Denise’s room and the scientific process charts in Cheryl’s room. Denise made her abc chart. Cheryl found the charts online, once again from a blogger, Deanna! You can get it here, free!

Loved these cards that Cheryl uses for her daily Math Talks.

I don’t know how many of you saw Dr. Jean’s post, “Be Wary” http://drjeanandfriends.blogspot.com/2014/09/be-wary.html but it is a must read! It is a good reminder of what kindergarten is all about and that they are many ways to teach children. You have to read it! So when I saw this display in Cheryl’s room, my heart melted. Her class from last year planted sunflowers and the kids in her room this year enjoyed learning all about them! There was an entire wall with non-fiction information, photographs, and art work to show their learning. LOVE IT!

As I close this post, I just wanted to say thank you to all of those wonderful bloggers that I have met over the last few years. They are truly a group of amazing women who take time away from their family to share ideas with other teachers and give us all a little glimpse into their classrooms.  Many of them have become “life” friends. They have taught me so many things about teaching, friendship, life, and technology! Love you guys! Feel free to shout out some of your favorite bloggers in the comment section!