tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78904980137904617472024-03-05T02:55:36.101-08:00TK and TASSELSI am just an OC girl trying to live by faith and make my dreams happen!
I have had the privilege of being a teacher for 10 years ( currently loving the littles in Transitional Kindergarten) and a wife to my best friend for 2 years ( but together for 12)! God has blessed me in my life immensely and I strive to SHINE for HIM in "TK and TASSELS!" Welcome to my little blog on teaching and fashion! I hope that it can be a ray of sunshine in your life! :)Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-8190867670907852572016-01-31T09:43:00.000-08:002016-01-31T09:49:39.550-08:00So-Cal Teacher Blogger and TPT Meet-Up!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Last weekend I was able to attend an AMAZING So-Cal Teacher Blogger/TPT Meet-up! It was hosted by the lovely ladies, <a href="http://sailingintosecond.com/">Aris</a> , <a href="http://teachinspirechange.com/">Caitlin</a> , <a href="http://researchandplay.blogspot.com/">Holly</a> , and <a href="http://islandloverteacher.blogspot.com/">Janice</a> . These ladies are rock stars! They are teachers, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and TPT authors! They juggle it all amazingly and are so inspiring!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVM-1TYUfwc5Drff7yqrJ83_bpujGjxrAvLlBrLlpPGQiYVlcBJirFLvq7PghaMt8welicfkLuMaPvjuJQRS1CXAq9_ZXFtnQAV8rCxxkrKglE4bj49Lh6dXllikSlMRVsRPlEJ0aeuU/s1600/12646662_10103592799847195_1832433917948421136_o+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVM-1TYUfwc5Drff7yqrJ83_bpujGjxrAvLlBrLlpPGQiYVlcBJirFLvq7PghaMt8welicfkLuMaPvjuJQRS1CXAq9_ZXFtnQAV8rCxxkrKglE4bj49Lh6dXllikSlMRVsRPlEJ0aeuU/s400/12646662_10103592799847195_1832433917948421136_o+%25283%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This event was at the swanky <a href="http://mb.shadehotel.com/">Shade Hotel</a> in Manhattan Beach. It was a beautiful evening! The sun was just starting to set and the fresh air from the beach was refreshing and delightful. I feel so lucky to live in So. Cal! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beautiful Manhattan Beach Pier!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cute giveaway/raffle table! </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was the perfect setting for mingling with amazingly talented, passionate, and dedicated teachers! Lots of collaboration was had, teaching stories exchanged, existing connections updated, and new friendships formed! It was a ton of fun! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my teacher bloggy bestie <a href="http://ramonarecommends.com/">Courtney</a>!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fun and hilarious<a href="http://sparklinginsecondgrade.com/"> Jen</a> catching up with sweet and happy <a href="http://lessonwithlaughter.com/">Molly</a> !</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The highlight of the event were the two <a href="http://teacherspayteachers.com/">Teacher Pay Teacher</a> girl's Sam and Jillian that were there! Sam is the Social Media Community Developer and Jillian is the Events Specialist for TPT.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They traveled all the way from their home in New York (where there was currently a blizzard happening) for this meet-up and the bonus was that it was in a much warmer climate! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sam and Jillian were so nice and down-to-earth and it was such a treat to meet them both! There are definitely a huge asset to Teachers Pay Teachers!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How cute is <a href="http://applesandabcs.com/">Michelle</a> with Sam and Jill from TPT?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There was a fabulous raffle featuring items from the wonderful <a href="http://erincondren.com/">Erin Condren</a> , <a href="http://astrobrights.com/">Astrobrights</a> , <a href="http://sheilajaneteaching.com/">Sheila Jane Teaching</a> , <a href="http://gonoodle.com/">GoNoodle</a> , <a href="http://teacherspayteachers.com/">TPT</a> , <a href="http://ellison.com/">Ellison </a>, <a href="http://sitspots.com/">Sit Spots</a> , and <a href="http://etsy.com/">Etsy</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I won this fabulous die cut machine and a credit for die cuts from <a href="http://ellison.com/">Ellison</a> ! I am going to use it to make seasonal cards, themed booklets, and classroom decorations for my Fab Firsties!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To top off this already amazing event, everybody left with a great swag bag! Inside of the bag were a Go Noodle lanyard, Teachers Pay Teachers water bottle and a green notebook, Erin Condren notepads with the cutest motivational cards, and a package of brightly colored Astrobright papers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I loved every minute of this meet-up and can't wait until the next one!</span><br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-35428399880335677182015-10-15T00:00:00.000-07:002015-10-15T07:09:28.346-07:00Style Spotlight-Fall Hats<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am thrilled to bring you this Fall style link-up with lovely fashion bloggers <a href="http://livingincolorstyle.blogspot.com/">Elle</a> and <a href="http://www.stylininstlouis.com/">Jacqueline</a> ! Our spotlight this week is on <b>Fall hats</b>, one of my favorite things to wear! Come join in the fun and link-up with us!</span><br />
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<u><br /></u> <b><u>Wearing:</u></b> Hat: Nordstroms Sweater: Nordstroms Dress: Old Navy <br />
Boots: Nordstroms Belt: Nordstroms Watch: Nordstroms<br />
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LINK-UP GUIDELINES:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">1. We kindly ask that you follow the two hosts: Elle from <a href="http://livingincolorstyle.blogspot.com/" saprocessedanchor="true" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Living in Color Style</a> on <b><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/3224635/living-in-color" saprocessedanchor="true" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bloglovin</a></b>', Jacqueline from <a href="http://stylininstlouis.com/" saprocessedanchor="true" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Stylin' In St. Louis</a> via <b><a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/8582403/stylin-in-st-louis" saprocessedanchor="true" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bloglovin'</a></b> and the guest host, Jessica of <a href="http://tkandtassels.blogspot.com/" saprocessedanchor="true" target="_blank">TK and Tassels</a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">(The first three links in the link-up.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Use the button provided on Elle or Jacqueline's side bar or link back to the link-up on your blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Enjoy reading other blogs and make new blogger friends!</span><br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-76115799288126687502015-08-08T10:23:00.000-07:002015-08-08T10:25:13.680-07:00Going Back to School in Style Giveaway!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Happy Saturday! This is my last weekend before I report back to school! I go back to school about a week and a half before the students come. In that time I attend teacher meetings, do Kindergarten assessments, setup my classroom, etc. I'm excited to share (in a future blog post) about my classroom. As usual, I'm changing things up and doing a fun tropical theme this year! :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This summer was amazing and I'm jazzed for another fabulous school year! If you are not quite feeling excited about heading back to school, I'm sure that some new stylish clothes and a great everyday bag that supports a good cause is all you need to put a pep in your step! I'm teaming up with a great group of teacher bloggers to bring you this exciting giveaway, hosted by the lovely <a href="http://mrsdaileysclassroom.blogspot.com/">Melissa Dailey</a>!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ae5f74e925/">ENTER HERE TO WIN THESE GOODIES!</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Enjoy your weekend and Happy Back to School!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> With glue sticks, staples, and fresh pencils, </span><br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-83233655530280934642015-07-31T14:19:00.000-07:002015-07-31T14:19:27.953-07:00What is TK? A post long overdue!<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Happy Summer Friends! I hope that everyone is having/had a fabulous summer doing all of your favorite things! I can't believe that it's Back to School time already! I know that it's been awhile *ahem* that I've blogged on here. It's probably not even worth mentioning anymore, but what IS worth mentioning is this FABULOUS post written by one of my new TK teacher friends! Nichole Phelps from <a href="http://alearningmoment.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-is-tk.html">A Learning Moment</a> wrote a phenomenal post that answers the question, " What is TK?" I know that was MY first question when I was asked to teach it two years ago! Since then, I can honestly say that I've had the BEST TIME discovering the wonderful world that is "TK " and it has led me to some of my most creative and FUN teaching moments and relationships ever! I feel so blessed to be a TK Teacher and have even started up a social media based community for TK Teachers to come together and connect! When I started, I had nobody to " talk TK" with. Now I do, and I couldn't be more exited! I'm going to stop babbling now and leave you to read Nichole's fabulous description of TK that I couldn't have written better myself. Thanks Nichole for sharing about TK so accurately and articulately! :)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Sidenote: <a href="http://www.earlyedgecalifornia.org/news-media/updates/2015/expanding-tk.html">THIS CHANGE</a> is pretty recent for TK! Thoughts?</span></div>
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What *is* TK??</h3>
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Hello!</div>
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So, over the past weekend I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to explain to my aunt (who is from Texas) the wonders of what I do. I gushed and I enthused. I shared about the wonderful things I get to do with my kiddos each year, and planning for subsequent years. I went on for about thirty minutes before she stopped me with a question that had me frozen in shock: </div>
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"What is tk??"</div>
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What is tk? WHAT IS TK? I was so shocked it took me a hot minute to really form a decent answer for her. I had, in my blissful ignorance, assumed that EVERYONE knew about TK. What it was, how amazing it was to teach it, the benefits...what "TK" even stood for. I was so surprised to find that this is definitely not the case!</div>
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Now, I want to put a disclaimer out there: I AM NOT AN EXPERT! These answers are based on information I have received from my district, some personal researche I have done on my own time, and discussing with other TK teachers. These answers are not written in stone, and more often than not will change in the future. I just want to shed a little light on the TK world. </div>
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<b>1. What is TK?</b></div>
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TK (also known as Transitional Kindergarten) is a new program being implemented in the state of California. As far as it has been explained to me, California is trying to split kindergarten into two years. The first year is TK. It is different from preschool and PreK, as well as regular kindergarten (those differences will be explained in a later question.) TK is completely optional. It is not mandatory in the state of California to have your child in school until they reach the age of 6, so TK and kindergarten are not mandatory at all. (I think they should be but, that's just me.)</div>
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<br /><b>2. What does TK consist of?</b></div>
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A day in TK is very different from a day in kindergarten. My day consists of teaching reading, writing, math, science, social sciences, P.E. and art. On top of all of this I also focus a good chunk of my time for developmental play. My principal actually wants me to focus a good 45 minutes each day on just developmental play because that is the distinguishing factor between TK and kindergarten. </div>
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Expectations will vary from site to site, as well as district to district. In my TK students are expected to learn their ABCs, 123s, sounds, and basic sight words (my rainbow program that I created for my class consists of 30 sight words.) <b> </b>I focus on teaching the mechanics of scissor working, holding a pencil, proper glue etiquette, and peer-to-peer interactions. I work towards writing a complete sentence by the end of the year so when they move on to kindergarten, they can focus on putting simple sentences together to form easy paragraphs. My job is to prep the students I get and help them get ready for a year in a regular kindergarten class. Hopefully, if I've done my job properly, kindergarten teachers can focus their attention on students who haven't been exposed to academic concepts. Basically, kindergarten teachers get to spread themselves a little less thin because a portion of their students (the ones who came from me) will have already mastered certain things (ex: their ABCs, 123s, writing their name, beginning reading and writing skills etc.)</div>
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<b>3. How is TK different from preschool or PreK?</b></div>
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A lot of this is actually licensing. To be a preschool or PreK teacher in my district you have to have special early childhood development credits. I must have a valid California teaching credential, <u><b>BUT</b></u> (please notice the bolding and underline) that is because I have been "granfathered" into the program. (This will be discussed in the next question.) </div>
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TK is also different from preschool and PreK because EVERYTHING I do is 100% aligned with the kindergarten California common core standards. I cannot speak for every preschool or preK class, but that is the stipulation laid down for me by MY DISTRICT. I <i>must</i> follow the CCSS in everything I do, and everything I do must be justified by a standard. The only aspect of my classroom day that is not aligned to the standards is my "developmental play time" and again, this is something I am <i>required</i> to focus on. (My background is 3 years of kindergarten instruction so cutting a big chunk out of my day for this is tough for me because I can think of so many more ways to use it.)</div>
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<b>4. Do TK teachers need to be credentialed? Do they need the ECD (early childhood development) credits like a preschool teacher?</b></div>
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Yes. Every TK teacher <u>must</u> hold a valid teaching credential. On the cde.ca.gov website it states: "Yes, in California, TK teachers need to have a teaching credential, just like Kindergarten teachers." {source found <a href="http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderfaq.asp" style="color: #a90033; text-decoration: none;">here</a>} The ECD credits is where it gets a bit tricky. I do NOT have any required ECD units. (My emphasis was in Early Childhood Development and Early Psychological Development but I do not have the necessary units to be a preschool teacher.) The reason I do not need to go back to get my ECD units is because I was "grandfathered" into the program. Basically, I was hired before the state of California set down specific guidelines on what is necessary to be a TK teacher. Again, on the cde.ca.gov website it states: </div>
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That "a school district or charter school shall ensure that credentialed teachers who are first assigned to a TK classroom after July 1, 2015, have, by August 1, 2020, one of the following:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">At least 24 units in early childhood education, or childhood development, or both.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">As determined by the LEA employing the teacher, professional experience in a classroom setting with preschool age children that is comparable to the 24 units of education described in bullet 1.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">A child development teacher permit issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). " <a href="http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderfaq.asp" style="color: #a90033; text-decoration: none;">{source}</a><br /></li>
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Now, Nichole, you just said YOU don't have any special ECD units. How do you qualify?? And you are 100% justified in asking that question. As I mentioned before I was "grandfathered" in. If you continue reading on that page it continues to say:</div>
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"Any current credentialed teacher who is or was assigned to teach TK, or a combination class of kindergarten and TK,<b> <i>on or before</i></b> July 1, 2015, is “grandfathered in” to teach TK without having to meet additional requirements. Any credentialed teacher assigned to teach TK, or a combination class of kindergarten and TK, <i><b>after</b></i> July 1, 2015, will have until August 1, 2020, to meet the above-mentioned education requirements." <a href="http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderfaq.asp" style="color: #a90033; text-decoration: none;">{source}</a></div>
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I was hired July 27, 2014. I eventually will have to go back (simply because I want to at this point) and get the units, but it isn't required of me just yet. </div>
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<b>5. How does a student qualify for TK vs. Kindergarten?</b></div>
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Right now, this is very simple to explain. Way back when I was in school, the cutoff for kindergarten was December 2. California has slowly been moving back the cutoff date. As of right now, it is Sept 1. I get the kids that have birthdays that fall from September 2 - December 2, so they are 4 when they start in my class. They are too young for kindergarten, and too old for preschool. SEND THEM TO ME! They are developmentally at the age where the extra time in TK will benefit them and send them on to a successful academic career. They will be starting with other kids their age, but they will be starting kindergarten <i>AHEAD. </i>I love that idea. </div>
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<b>6. What if a kid is ready for 1st grade at the end of TK? Do they still have to go through the year of kindergarten as well?</b></div>
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This answer is tricky. I don't like jumping kids up. I never have. (I was a candidate as a child and I thank my lucky stars my parents decided against it for me.) By the book, kids must enroll in kindergarten after they finish TK. BUT (and this is a BIG but) there are exceptions to that rule. Last year I had a little boy that came to me advanced. He knew 99% of everything I was going to teach him through out the year and the only reason he wasn't in Kindergarten is strictly because he missed the cut off by a week or two. I taught him above his grade and challenged him with standard kindergarten materials because I didn't want him to get bored. I was approached by my principal and instructed to give a handful of students the ending kindergarten assessment (parents were requesting that they jump.) The required pass rate to jump was 100%...he passed it<b> with 100% accuracy.</b> </div>
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Long story short, if they are 100% ready they <i>can</i> jump (based on your district's requirements) but I rarely recommend it. I think each grade offers their own unique focus and developmental challenges that skipping isn't the best option. (I'll get off my soap box now.)</div>
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<b>7. What does a typical day in TK look like? (Daily routine)</b></div>
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I have an early bird/late bird schedule. So my day goes as follows:</div>
<br />7:45-8:30 Universal Access/Developmental playtime (this is when I do assessments, and guided reading/writing)<br />8:30-8:40 Morning warm-up (clean up and dances)<br />8:40-8:45 Late birds show up<br />8:45-9:00 breakfast for the class<br />9:00-9:30 carpet time/calendar/morning meeting (this takes place on the carpet and is where I do the majority of my teaching)<br />9:30-9:45 morning math (introduction of the concept)<br />9:45-10:00 morning recess<br />10:00-10:15 Math seat work<br />10:15-10:45 Phonics/ELA time<br />10:45-11:00 clean up (early birds pack up to go home from cafeteria) line up<br />11:00-11:40 lunch and lunch recess<br />11:40-12:25 Universal access/developmental playtime (for late birds)<br />12:25-12:35 afternoon cool down (clean up and dances)<br />12:35-12:45 final message (positive shares and thoughts)<br />12:45 go home<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
My ELA time and Math time gets the art, science, social sciences, and P.E. all rolled into it. Certain days will have specific lessons, but for the most part that is my typical routine. </div>
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Well I hope I have answered everyone's questions! If I didn't please feel free to leave one in the comments and I'll either make a follow up blog post or I'll answer directly in the comments!</div>
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Thank you so much for everyone's feedback and giving me a general idea of what you want to know. I hope it was helpful!</div>
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Always remember, every moment can be a learning moment!</div>
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Sincerely from TK,</div>
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Nichole</div>
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-18354690682217177442015-01-01T21:00:00.000-08:002015-01-01T21:15:17.735-08:00Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland in So. Cal!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hello! Happy New Year ! For those of you who have been following me, let me re-introduce myself. I am "Jessica from TK and TASSELS" and I may have been a bit overambitious when I started this blog. I naively thought that I would post two to three times per week. Um...yeah...so that didn't happen. I am not going to give you a laundry list of excuses except to say that I am a teacher and then there is this thing called LIFE ...and that is all the "excuses" that my teacher friends need to have to understand right!?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But to those of you who are NEW to my blog...WELCOME! I am "Jessica from TK and TASSELS" and unless you are looking at my last blog post ( ahem..back in September) I'll just pretend that I'm actually a regular blogger . I do post regularly. I post REGULARLY when I am on any type of break from school that is. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank you to my So. Cal. Blogger Friends for jump starting the New Year with a fun blog hop and getting slacking bloggers like myself back on track with this post!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How was your Christmas? Did you feel like it snuck up ridiculously fast this year? I don't think I've ever been this "behind" on Christmas this year. Lucky for me, my family isn't that big and they are really laid back when it comes to gift giving and getting together. But, I wanted to do more than I actually got around to doing before Christmas! I mean, we didn't even have time for our traditional Disneyland trip, which we NEVER MISS! But, I feel that with each year, I'm realizing more and more that Christmas and life in general is about the PEOPLE and not about the "to do" lists or the presents or even where you go. It sounds so cliche I know, but Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and celebrating it with loved ones. And that can be done at home with your family (and friends) with no gifts at all or just simple / modest ones.That is what I teach my TK students and I really tried to live that out this holiday season. Having said that,I did get a WONDERFUL gift this Christmas...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The most exciting thing that happened this vacation was convincing my hubby to agree to fostering a sweet two year old rescue Maltese. I have never had a dog as a pet and I've been dying to have one for years, but never could have one due to living arrangements (apartments) and such before. When I found out that you could foster a dog ( where have I been?), that seemed non-committal enough to my husband so he agreed to it. But, who am I kidding, if I can't even keep my little blog going during school, how am I going to take care of a dog? Much less a dog that has abandonment issues and is extremely needy? As many of you have seen on my Instagram, my sweet Sadie cries every time I literally step foot outside of the room that she is in. We are currently crate training her so that she gets her potty routine back on track. She was potty trained when she came to us , but with the new environment and business of the holidays and people coming over, she got off track with her routine and regressed in her potty behavior. Thankfully, we are back on track with that now! The issue now is that she is super attached to her mommy ( me) and I am super attached to her! I can't believe that I'm saying this, but THE HUBBY WAS RIGHT! He knew that I wouldn't be able to "give her away" to new adoptive parents once I started bonding with her. Maybe this fostering idea wasn't so great.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I feel so bad you guys. I love her so much already! Sure, when she was crying and keeping me up at night and I was sleeping downstairs on the couch next to her crate that wasn't fun. I mean, humans should sleep in their human beds upstairs right? I don't want to spoil her and create bad habits, but she is just like a baby and is starved for attention and snuggles bless her heart! I can't say that I mind giving them to her either. I have actually LOVED snuggling her little warm body on these cold Winter days lately, but I want her to learn how to be OK when she is alone.When she cries it seriously breaks my heart. :(</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Look at this face!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mommy got me this new raincoat for our walks. Don't I look adorable?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But,when she runs around the house acting like a psycho dog when I come home because she was seriously have a panic attack while I was gone and is SO EXCITED that I came back I feel guilty! I've tried giving her natural "pet anxiety" drops, used a "Thundershirt" on her, and really tried to make her crate a happy and safe place for her to be in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I know she needs more companionship than I can give her once I go back to school. Sweet pup has issues but it isn't her fault. And I feel like I'm letting her down if I give her away...like I'll just be adding to her "abandonment issues." I feel like she is mine already, but I have to do the right thing and let her go to another home if that new home can provide more human companionship during the day and/or has other doggy siblings for her to play with. I know the right thing to do is to give her back, but it's killing me. I already told the foster coordinator lady once that we were going to adopt her, but then I feel guilty thinking of her being alone at home for so long during the day while we are at work. I know that she would adjust and get better with time, but I don't have the luxury of that. If possible adoptive parents are interested in her, I have to let them meet her and give her (and them) that opportunity. That's what foster pet parents agree too. What would you do?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't meant to make this a sad post. Thanks for "listening" you guys. I feel better just writing it all out here. I know that I can count on my blogging community to be supportive, positive, and encouraging! That is a major reason why I started blogging in the first place..because really who doesn't need to be surrounded by inspiring,positive, and kind people in their life? Everyone does! I've really started to only fill my life and spend my energy on individuals that want the best for me and uplift me as both a teacher and a person. And I hope to do the same as a friend! That is my goal and focus going into 2015!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because you are so sweet to read my post all the way to this point...I have a Winter freebie for all of you to use when you go back to the classroom! I know the first thing that my class asks me and I ask them is, "What did you do on your vacation?" I usually make it the first writing journal prompt of the New Year. Now, you can use these cute snowman notes to give to your students! Just put their name in the blank space, add a short line about what you did on your vacation, and add your name at the end for personalized and festive notes that make your students feel special. Print them out on cardstock and leave them on your kid's desks first thing the Monday back from break. Watch for their smiles! Or have your principal come "deliver" them sometime to your class in the morning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">My kids get so excited when they get "mail" from me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1fnXRBbHBbwNm5DTmJGZE1YSU0/view?usp=sharing">Winter Snowman Notes Freebie!</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And because everyone loves to win something....follow the directions below to win a giftcard to TARGET and/or Teachers Pay Teachers! How awesome is that? Good luck! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a class="rcptr" data-raflid="127fa65517" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/127fa65517/" id="rcwidget_qjkz49kj" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, since this IS a "Winter in So.Cal" post, I have to share with you a pic of where I live in Orange County; all decked out this holiday season! Any locals recognize this view? I am so blessed to live here!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my love enjoying the season!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now head on over to the fabulous Palma of</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">"<a href="http://kfundamentals.blogspot.com/2015/01/walkin-in-winter-wonderland-in-so-cal.html">KFUNdamentals</a>" here...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Cheers friends! May 2015 be your most fulfilled year yet! I wish you all the best!</span><br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-43919128964302363872014-09-13T11:10:00.000-07:002014-09-13T11:10:01.768-07:00Back to School= Delayed delayed post!<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">SCHOOL HAS STARTED and it is back to 100 mph warp speed folks! I wanted to do a "classroom reveal" but that might not happen until Christmas vacation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> It's like one minute we are all "gearing up for back to school" as teachers and then the next minute we are in the thick of it! And boy do I mean the thick of it! There is no "easing back" into early mornings, chaotic days, not eating or using the bathroom for many hours at a time, and being just about ready to pull out a sleeping bag on your classroom floor because you'll be back in less than 10 hours anyways! God Bless whoever made Labor Day weekend the weekend after the first full week back at school! I adore what I do, but goodness gracious what a busy exhausting first week back! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> I am blessed with the sweetest group of TK students, but I always forget just HOW much training I do in the course of the first month let alone the whole school year! Routines, routines, routines! We are learning those important classroom procedures that make the school year run like a well oiled machine. I actually had a sub one time leave a note for me that said my class had run like a " well oiled machine" and I think all teachers would agree that if you can have a sub say that about your sweet class then your "pulling out your hair" moments with your little ones is well worth it! :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, I'm sure that you are over this England trip that I took over what seems like years ago by now! I left off on my last blog post stating a "Part 3" was going to happen next ...so being one to try my hardest to always keep my word I am going to give a short recap on the last leg of my summer vacation so we can all just move on with our lives already ( or maybe that's just me)! Ha!:)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the adventures we had in England was our trek to the "Lost Gardens!" We found it so obviously it wasn't too "lost." Har har....bad joke. The gardens were beautiful and divided up into several sections. I took many pictures but only the food shot made it into this post.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornish pasty meal<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you have read every one of my England posts ( you deserve an award), you will remember that we stayed with my Aunt and Uncle in Oxford, England. My Uncle is a professor of Chinese at Oxford University. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are the kind of books that lined every room of my Uncle's home in Oxford!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He gave us an exclusive "backstage pass" kind of tour when we were there. It was amazing! The architecture was beautiful. I love buildings with rich history!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the highlights of our trip was meeting my English second cousins ( twin boys). I had a limited time to play with them so I had to work all of my Kindergarten teacher charm on them. One of the boys, Max, warmed up to me and we had a nice time playing in the garden. His brother wasn't so sure of my crazy ways and decided to stay closer to his mom ( thus why I don't have a picture with him). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Congratulations if you have made it to the end of this post! Go get yourself an ice cream or something! I know that I am going too! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Don't labor too hard! :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">*This post was written on Labor Day weekend and obviously didn't get posted until now! Have I mentioned that Back to School is really consuming?! :p</span><br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-73573204167709979422014-08-18T18:10:00.000-07:002014-08-18T21:20:50.847-07:00The Seaside and City Tour-England Part 2!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi everyone! Remember me? The "blogger" who naively stated that , " I will blog 2-3 times per week!" Go ahead and laugh now...because believe me I am laughing right along with you! :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I could pretend that I am "on top of things" with my blogging in addition to back to school chaos and all of that good stuff...I must make a confession. I wrote out my England trip posts as soon as I got back aka "when I wasn't consumed in the black hole known as my classroom now!" Boy am I glad that I wrote these posts earlier or else it would be like my trip never even happened ( in the blogging world that is)! </span>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second half of my England adventures included a trip with my British cousins to the Seaside. I thought that was the British word for "beach", but really when we got there it wasn't the sandy kind of beach that we like here in So. Cal. There was the water (freezing) and a bunch of wet sand, but it was still packed just like you would find our So. Cal beaches here during summer. My cousin Hannah took surfing lessons. While it was tempting since I've always wanted to try surfing, I didn't think it would be the best choice for me to try my first time surfing while this far away from home (with my luck I'd get seriously injured), so instead I cheered my cousin on and had <s> a couple of </s> an extra creamy Cornish ice cream. They use "clotted cream" in England and oh my word is it creamy! It was so delicious I didn't even know what to do with myself! :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My cousin got up on the board in a couple of tries. She is fifteen years old and ridiculously athletic! Oh, and I also got quite a tan! I thought by foregoing my trip to Hawaii this summer that I was missing out on my summer tan, but I guess going to England is kind of the same thing!? Surfing, beaches, and tans! Who knew?! And to think I brought a raincoat and clothes for cooler weather....I ended up wearing the same pair of shorts almost everyday on this trip (which means that you will probably never see me in them again)! Those who know me are nodding their heads because they know THIS IS TRUE!:)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now the tour of London town on a double-decker bus! We had a short time in London so we had to do a pretty quick trip. We figured the tour bus was the quickest way to do this and you can jump off and back on at any point on the tour.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Took this pic especially for my bestie Abby!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Ben ! Sorry if I am insulting your intelligence. I don't want to assume everybody knows this landmark.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London Eye</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London Bridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Queen heard it was our Anniversary and had us over for tea! Kidding!:)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I might have had a lot of fun saying British words in a fake British accent for most of the trip, much to the <s> delight </s> embarrassment of my sweet hubby. Ha!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, I thought that I could wrap this trip up in this post but it's looking like I will be needing a part 3!</span><br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-32142664146572055452014-08-05T10:14:00.000-07:002014-08-05T10:14:48.964-07:00Books from Buckingham Palace!<br />
If you know me, you will be shocked to hear that I did not buy ANYTHING (not even clothes) while in England...well except for a few children's books from Buckingham Palace ( The Queen's Shop)! I am linking up with Courtney from Ramona Recommends today for her Tuesday Travel Link Up!<br />
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<a href="http://ramonarecommends.blogspot.com/"><img alt=" Ramona Recommends" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju-thX1UA7JgwN8Iz0RlMi4w9-JzpHBDiJlNaKD74IynfkzHRCoJ-f2RIqUx-sFkVEXj7S4Vo5HFRQcXds9mqnFj9LvsrJrhoeRX4xKKcWtK5vdMVT_KULuTA_ZSvGTfUkU4IExYIYk2o/s1600/Ramona+Recommends+Traveling+with+Books.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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I think that buying children's books as a souvenir when traveling is a great idea! Unlike a cutesy magnet or even t-shirt (while those are fine souvenirs), a book is the "gift that keeps on giving." Last summer I bought the book <i>Goodnight Hawaiian Moon</i> while on vacation in Hawaii. This past school year, I read it most days to my littles right before their quiet rest time...it has a nice beach waves background soundtrack, that combined with turning my classroom lights off, puts <s> me</s> them to sleep (or at least calms them down). It's one of those great books that is short enough that every child knows the words after a couple of times reading it. It even includes a lullaby sung in Hawaiian. Many of my girls (on their own) would start hula dancing every time they would hear it. That spawned the idea that our class should have a Luau, which we did for Mother's Day. That is a separate post for a different day. But, needless to say, this book was definitely a class favorite!<br />
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Now let's get to the European goodies!I am excited to go back to school in a couple of weeks and share these gems with my new class while telling them about my adventures in England this summer!<br />
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1. <i>Madeline in London</i><br />
I have always loved the classic Madeline books , so it was absolutely necessary to buy this one while in London! What little girl ( or even big girl) doesn't love Madeline?<br />
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2. <i>Does The Queen Wear Her Crown in Bed?</i><br />
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I had to get this book because (besides the cute title) I immediately thought of the dozens of little girls that come thru my class thinking they are princesses-ha! Kindergarten is definitely the age where make believe and reality has a fine line. Everything is princess themed! Princess dress up, princess pink, and princess movies /books! It seems that when you start out in life THE DREAM is to be a princess...and it's even cute! But, do you know somebody that thinks they are a princess now in their adulthood? Not so cute anymore right?! :)<br />
I also LOVE how this book shows what life is like INSIDE THE ROYAL PALACE! There is even a picture of William and Kate ( the royal couple) getting married! Such a fun book!<br />
This book really satisfied my curiosity, since when you go to visit Buckingham Palace you don't actually get to go inside any of the rooms.<br />
*Side note: Shortly after I left England, they opened some of the rooms and gardens for tourists to visit!<br />
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3. <i>Paddington at the Palace</i><br />
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Who doesn't love our furry friend Paddington the Bear ? Another classic children's character book that I had to have! Join him as he has his own adventures at the palace! So cute!<br />
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Now, you definitely don't have to go all the way to England to buy these books. Good ol' <a href="http://amazon.com/">amazon.com</a> will get these to you in a jiffy! But, it sure is fun that I will be able to tell my students that I bought these books for them at the "Queen's House!" :)<br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-32400321114794274752014-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:002014-08-02T08:08:05.635-07:00So. Cal Blog Surf!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy Blog Hop Saturday! This is my first Blog Hop ever! I am SO excited to be a part of this with my AMAZING So. Cal teacher/blogger friends. I can't wait for you to "meet" all of them ( if you haven't already) as you surf on over to their blogs! Get ready to be informed, inspired, and just impressed! These ladies are the sweetest, the BEST teachers, and all around individuals!<br />
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Well, for my beach themed post I decided to do a review of my new teacher lesson planner for this upcoming school year! It is C.Jayne's "Teacher Anchor!" I just love it and I think that you will see why! I've been a loyal Erin Condren fan for years (and still am)! But, I just couldn't resist this adorable, yet extremely practical lesson plan book that C. Jayne has developed. Just look at the cover!<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span></span>
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I have been really into the nautical theme lately! So much that I am very tempted to do my classroom theme as nautical this school year, except that I just have so much owl themed stuff that I've decided to keep the owl theme again.<br />
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I just adore anchors though! They are a meaningful symbol for me and they go along with one of my favorite Bible verses..."We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. .." - Hebrews 6:19 (NIV). I have this verse in my home as well as my classroom. It has always spoken to me in my life even before I became a teacher. Now, as a teacher, it is a truth that I cling too! I just can't imagine this life or teaching without my faith in God! He is my anchor! Everyone has something or someone that is their "anchor" in life. It gets them through the hard and challenging times in life. Who (or what) is your anchor?<br />
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On the <a href="http://cjayneteach.com/teacheranchor.html">C. Jayne website</a> this is what it states as the meaning behind the "Teacher Anchor:"<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"><i>"The anchor has long been a symbol of hope and steadfastness – two words that any teacher could use to describe her journey each school year. When an anchor is raised on a ship, it signifies that a new journey has begun."</i></span></blockquote>
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This is so true! One of the best pieces of advice as a teacher was that, "Tomorrow is a new day!" I have tried to live by this advice. And on the really rough days, sometimes I tell myself that , " Each hour is a new hour!" I'm sure that all teachers can relate to this! We are a persevering bunch aren't we? We don't let our students give up and we certainly don't give up ourselves! :)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love this!I am a huge proponent of parent communication in my class!</td></tr>
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When I first received the "Teacher Anchor," my first thought was, <i>Oh my word it is heavy! Am I really going to carry this thing around? </i>Teachers already carry around a storage unit in their crates/tote bags/cars everyday! But, as I opened it up, I saw that it was very intentionally thought out page by page of what elements every teacher needs to have in their planner.<br />
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You will find that there are the Common Core Standards for EVERY grade level included. Yes...every grade level. At first I just thought it was just adding unnecessary bulk to the planner, but really it is a GREAT idea to have access to every grade level for differentiating our lesson plans! We all know that not every student is at "grade level" when they come to us, so this resource is great for meeting the needs of each individual student in our class! Also, this is handy for the teachers teaching more than one grade at a time. Hats off to you if you do!<br />
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Since this IS a beach themed Blog Hop, I just had to share my absolutely favorite beach with you all! I love this beach so much it is where I got married! This picture was taken at Ka'anapali Beach, Hawaii !<br />
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Check out my beach themed freebie here on Google Docs...<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hmGBngLjBcqq7hruJkqNlO_axVTU8QYOac0nbLzwRHk/edit?usp=sharing">Beach Themed Getting to Know You</a><br />
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Well that was my review! Thanks for surfing on over here! It's time to catch the next wave! But before you do....what blog hop would be complete without an AMAZING raffle? <br />
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Make sure to enter! You could win a $25 gift card to TPT and enjoy some of the phenomenal products that my teacher friends have created!<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/bbb3d31e3/" id="rc-bbb3d31e3" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>Now surf on over to my sweet and talented friend Kristen from <br />
<a href="http://www.easyteachingtools.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img src="http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n162/courtneyjuno/Untitled-1_zps97232cc5.png" /></a><br />
She is one of my biggest inspirations and helped me to get started with my blog!<br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-49020460172410041912014-07-31T09:36:00.000-07:002014-07-31T09:36:22.672-07:00England Adventures Part 1!I am back from my trip to England! Even though I'm very jet lagged, I wanted to write down all of my trip highlights while they are still freshly swirling around in my head! While we had many exciting adventures and enjoyed gorgeous landscapes, there really is no place like home!:)<br />
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I went to England with my husband and my parents. We went to a mini family reunion (whoever could make it)! My mom's side of the family literally lives across the globe ...from Canada to England to China! As you can imagine, we don't see each other very often. So, when everyone decided to get together this summer, my hubby and I switched out our annual Hawaii summer trip ( just us) for some family time.<br />
We love our Hawaii trips and even got married in Hawaii! I think that we have gone every summer for the last four years. So, it was kind of major to not go to Hawaii this summer.I might have been a <s>bit</s> A LOT more excited than my hubby to go to England this summer instead, but I convinced him to go by telling him that we had to visit the place where our last name ( Preece) originates from! Plus, where else are you going to get authentic fish and chips? So off we went!<br />
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When we arrived in London after a 10 hour flight ( plus travel time by bus), we were exhausted! Plus, we arrived the morning of the next day, so it was still another full day before we got any sleep! Our first stop was my aunt and uncle's house in Oxford. I have been here a couple of times throughout my life. They live in a cute green and white English house near the center of Oxford.<br />
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We were there for a quick 24 hours before my family that was on this trip ( 12 people) packed into two cars and drove 4 hours to the countryside of Cornwall. We rented a cottage for our family to stay in for the week. Now, I know what you are thinking...cottage implies a small, cozy house and as you can see by the pictures this place was not small! In fact, it was previously a barn that was converted into a holiday rental house next door to the owner's house. It was AMAZING! I absolutely loved it and the countryside was literally all of our backyard! I will let the pictures speak for themselves...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loving the wooden beams and windows!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The perfect place to have a morning cup of coffee!</td></tr>
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Gorgeously green and peaceful right? It really was the greatest get away! I never imagined that I could live in the countryside, but I really liked the simplicity and slower pace of life there. I think that I could even get used to hanging my clothes up on a clothes line outside to dry!:)<br />
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We did many things during our week in the country. One thing that I will never forget are the country roads! Navigating those roads was an adventure all on their own! They are super narrow and what you think is only enough room for one car to drive through somehow allows two cars to pass by each other (barely)! I definitely was glad that I wasn't in the driver's seat there! Whew!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Canadian uncle (on the left) navigating while my English uncle (on the right) has all eyes on the road!</td></tr>
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The next pictures are of some of the really pretty and quaint towns that we explored.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anchor Cottage! I love nautical and anchors! Now this IS a cottage! </td></tr>
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We went on an EPIC coastal hike in the breathtakingly beautiful town of Port Issac. It was a KILLER workout but oh so worth it for the views!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My love and the most beautiful place! So blessed!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish eye view of the town.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Who says you can't keep up your fitness on vacation?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The water was gorgeous shades of blue!</td></tr>
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Well, I hope that you enjoyed part one recap of my trip! In order to keep this from being a mega-long post, I will share the second half of my trip in the next post. Cheerio!<br />
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</s></s>Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-31441548560390277582014-07-05T16:26:00.000-07:002014-07-05T16:26:39.619-07:00A Patriotic Post!Hi ya'll! Did you all feel that earthquake this morning? Earthquakes freak me out so I'm glad that I didn't feel this one. People always say that when the weather changes that it causes earthquakes. I don't know about that. I do know that I already miss my June gloom weather! No, I don't miss the "gloom" part of it, but I do miss the cooler weather! One (of many) nice things about living in the O.C. is the nice weather . Even when it's scorching hot in other cities, it's usually about ten degrees cooler where I live making it a pretty comfortable temperature. I was reminded of this when we were at my in-laws house yesterday for the Fourth! We left our house and it was a pleasant sunny and warm 84 degrees and as we got closer and closer to the I.E. ( Inland Empire) I could just feel the heat coming in thru the car! The I.E. will always be where I grew up, but I do not miss living there!<br />
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The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays (Christmas is my all time favorite)! I love celebrating America, eating BBQ, hanging out with family, watching fireworks and being patriotic. Dressing up in red,white, and blue isn't too much of a chore either! Ha!:) I am very big on "going all out" and decorating for holidays and having traditions with my love!<br />
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There is a craft on Pinterest (one of many) that I had been eyeing for some time. I figured that last week was a great time to get my crafting on since these Kindergarten teacher hands haven't had some good paint stains on them for a couple of weeks now. It's kind of giving me an identity crisis. Almost.<br />
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You can do a search for "Mason Jar Flag" on Pinterest and follow the tutorials there. I can tell you right now that they are much better than following what I did since I made my "oops" look like intentional deviations from the original project! Without further ado....<br />
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And here are some pics with my FAVORITE ( only) niece with her FAVORITE aunt!:)<br />
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This above picture is my brother-in-law trying to show my niece (his daughter) the magic of sparklers on the Fourth of July. She was NOT interested and asked for bubbles instead! I love her and the honesty of little kids. She entertains us all for sure! :P<br />
I don't know about you, but I always feel like summer vacation goes into "fast forward" mode once the Fourth of July hits! Dear Summer...let's just agree that you don't need to go by any faster!:)<br />
I hope that you are soaking up your holiday weekend somewhere relaxing!<br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-45442449864279362992014-07-01T11:06:00.001-07:002014-07-01T11:06:54.668-07:00Aztec Mermaids for my first fashion post!<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Well...all that excitement about my first blog and it took until now to publish a "real" post complete with pictures! Ha! I think that this is the first summer that I actually am not feverishly creating stuff for my class day and night. There will still be plenty of craft/creating posts thrown into this blog during the summer, but I am really trying to relax and enjoy my summer doing things that I normally don't have the time (or energy) for during the busy school year! It's so important for us teachers to take care of ourselves so that we can be our best selves for our students during the school year!<br />
One of my favorite things is fashion and supporting local small businesses trying to grow. When I discovered <a href="http://aliceandivory.com/">aliceandivory.com</a> several months ago, I was excited to see their sweet whimsical prints for both the littles and the not so littles. The sweet owner of this San Diego based shop sent me one of their latest prints to model . I was so excited to receive this lovely package and wear this comfy shirt that expresses my "bohemian side" in a fun and casual way. I paired it with an old bright melon maxi skirt from Target and a mermaid colored headwrap from Anthropologie ( bought over a year ago).<br />
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If you like the style of this printed t-shirt, I invite you to go check out Alice and Ivory's etsy shop ! It's filled with lots of fun and cute tote bags, prints, shirts, headwraps, and sweet baby clothes for your friend's next baby shower (or your own)! And no...I don't get any compensation for this post or for promoting this shop!<br />
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Have a great week everyone! Keep on enjoying your summer and making your dreams a reality! Stay tuned for a patriotic craft coming next!<br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7890498013790461747.post-68307697492739445712014-06-20T12:39:00.002-07:002014-06-20T17:23:06.816-07:00<br />
Eeeek! I am SO excited to finally present my new teacher/fashion blog! I have been reading other blogs for years. It's so neat to get a glimpse into the other lives of people that you may have never met, but feel a connection to from reading about their lives through writing. I believe that words on a page are powerful and can really connect human beings. When you find a blogger and can relate to even one thing that they've written, suddenly there is an interest there that keeps you wanting to read more until you feel like you've "known" this person for much of your life! It's crazy and cool! Being an English major myself, with a love for writing, I've always enjoyed recording my experiences and thoughts through words.<br />
Fashion has always been another outlet in which I really enjoy expressing myself . Styling outfits and creating fun looks is a creative outlet for me. My hubby has always encouraged me ( thank you hunny) to have a fashion blog, but I honestly always felt like that (on its own) wasn't enough substance to really have a blog dedicated to it. This is not to take away from the amazing fashion bloggers out there! I enjoy fashion, but it's not what gets me up in the morning (well ok maybe sometimes it does ). :) Really though, I ADORE teaching children and am always wanting to be the best version of myself as a person and a teacher! The children that I have in my care every school year deserve nothing less! I have really grown as a person and an educator through the community of teacher bloggers that are out there!<br />
It really was after meeting some AMAZING ladies this past year, that I really was driven to start my blog and write this first humble blog entry! The passion and dedication of these teacher/blogger friends is what really inspired me to join the blogging world. So, now that I am a BLOGGER, stay tuned as this site is developed more over time. It is WILD for me to say that I am a blogger but so thrilling too! I hope that you are blessed by my ramblings and pictures! It is my hope that you are able to take something away that brings LIGHT to your life after spending some of your time here with me!Thanks for sharing in MY experiences in this little corner of the blogging community as a teacher and fashionista! :)<br />
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Jessica Preece http://www.blogger.com/profile/10797349038007339832noreply@blogger.com3