Name Idea

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I'm happy today because I am going on vacation tomorrow!

"Where are you going, Mrs. Greene?"

I am taking my kids to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Yes, we are going to Disney World!

Every summer we go camping at Fort Wilderness for a week.  Just me and the kids (Hubby has to work....awe, so sad!).  We have a wonderful time every year and I always look forward to this special "mommy" time that I get to spend with them.

I always plan it just before the chaos begins!  You know the chaos I am referring to.

BACK TO SCHOOL chaos!

Now back to school means one thing for kiddos, but it is an entirely different ball game for us teachers.

It means:

• Hours upon hours spent setting up our classroom, even working well beyond our scheduled work day and sometimes even working on Saturday and Sunday.
• Meeting, after meeting, after meeting, after meeting....oh, and let's throw in one more impromptu meeting. 
• Too many trips to the Dollar Tree/Target/Walmart to get those items that we MUST HAVE, of course, spending our own money.
• Lesson planning, Lesson planning, Lesson planning!
• Meet The Teacher Day
• Coming home so physically exhausted that you drop your bags by the door and head straight to bed (No strength to read blogs, play on Pinterest or Facebook, or even feed your family. Thank goodness for drive thru's.  I think they were invented just for teachers during pre-planning week!)

Yes, that insane wonderful chaos is right around the corner for me and probably for you as well.  

So, at least for this next week, I am going to forget about ALL THAT CHAOS and play the role of MOMMY with my two littles.

Well, if you have stuck with me, I am finally going to reward you with a back to school name idea.

I was going through my hundreds of school photos from last year and deleting many that I don't need anymore (you know, freeing up some hard drive space).  That's when I came across this little idea that I used last year and thought I would share it before I delete it.

This is my pocket chart center.  It is one of those cheap clothes racks from Walmart.  I think I spent a whopping $10 for it.  The kiddos can pull it out and both sides have a pocket chart.  

Each week I remove one of the pocket chart activities and replace it with a new one that goes along with my weekly theme.

At the beginning of the year I always read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to my students as we are learning about colors and senses.  After reading it a few times, we learn to manipulate this pocket chart by replacing the blank spot with friends names.  I find that these type of activities, using each others names, are perfect at the beginning of the school year.  Not only do they learn to read each other's names but they build confidence/fluency in reading.

Anyway, that's it for today! 

I am off to continue packing for our camping adventure.  I'm looking forward to some "magical" fun with my kiddos at Fort Wilderness.  

Happy Blogging!

Ann  (a.k.a. MOMMY)