Adorable neice pictures. Apparently she isn't fond of spaghetti oh's.

The lack of posts the last few weeks has occurred because summer vacation has finally ended, and I've been very busy putting my kindergarten classroom together. This year I'm teaching at the elementary school I attended in the late 80's.

I've put together photos of the way the classroom looks (before the children arrive) as of today! If you're wondering about the large number of pond related materials, it's to enable the children to remember which room they are in, and with what teacher. Not to mention it looks organized if you don't have too much going on at once.

This is a picture of the front our school. You're actually looking at the media center there, but that's where the school name is located. Eustis Heights Elementary!


This is my classroom as you approach it from the front of the school.


Welcome to my room!


The frogs greet you at the door.


The teacher's desk! That alligator sings "See ya later alligator, after 'while crocodile!" I'll use that to dismiss the children at the end of the day. There are also two turtles hanging around up there to keep me company in my pond.


This will be the view of the front of the classroom that the children have as they're sitting at their desks.


This is my kitchen area. I've decorated the cabinets with counting crayons as well as dragonflies and other various pond life stickers.


This is a shot of the classroom pets! Four beta's all in their own tank with their own cubby. Using stickers, I've put the name of each fish under his tank. From left to right we have, "Vai", "Satch", "Petrucci", "Wooten". Their namesakes are famous guitar players: Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, and Victor Wooten.


During open house, I had the children pick which desk they'd like to use for the year, then color a fish I'd drawn on the top. This kept them busy while I talked with their parents.


In this picture you can see across the room where I'm keeping books, puzzles, and other manipulative activities.


This is the "word wall" where we will place words children will need to recognize frequently in order to learn to read. Below the bulletin board you'll find the library shelf, full of a wide variety of children's classics.


Here we see the computer station, the large wall map, and my discipline chart. The children's lily pads will start on the top of the bulletin board each day, and after each reprimand I will move the card down one section. The lower your lily pad, the more trouble you're in and the less stars you earn on your daily note home.


This is the "quiet are" where children will go to read books and relax.


My mother and I made the red and green beanbags ourselves. (They're full of packing peanuts!)


This is a shot of the bathroom facility in the room that comes complete with child-sized "furniture". Yes, those are my legs in the mirror... and these pictures were taken on a Saturday, so please don't think I wear shorts and a t-shirt during school hours.


A room with a view. This is the view from my classroom window. Palm trees!!


Anyway, that's what I've been up to the last few weeks. The best part of working here is that I live right around the corner from the school. It's almost like working from home.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Don't be late for class on Monday, the bell rings at 8:30am.

Note to self:

When using a riding lawn mower in Florida for three hours straight, use sunscreen.