Three for Thursday

Here I am with my Kinder-besties, Mrs. McGinnis and Mrs. Fletcher!

It’s hard to believe it’s already Thursday!  This week has flown by!  Like all teachers, I have some favorite online resources that I use often and wanted to share with you.  They’re my go to—sometimes for my job and sometimes just for fun!  So here are three of my favorite things:

1)   My favorite online resource is Teachers Pay Teachers!  Y’all are amazing and the resources you put out are often a lifesaver to us all!  I love that when I have an idea, I can go there and search for it.  Sometimes what I need isn’t there, but I can usually find something that will spark my creativity if I need to create my own resource.  Sometimes I find exactly what I need and just click that purchase button and I’m ready to roll!

2)   My favorite app that I often use for flyers and announcements is PicCollage.  I’m sure there are TONS of awesome apps out there, but this one is my favorite and I couldn’t survive without it.  I use it for social media posts/reminders, flyers for school events (online and printables to pass out), and sometimes just to make a pretty graphic to catch someone’s attention online.  I can do it all on my phone, so it's always there within my reach.  This app is totally free (although you can upgrade) and can be used for so many things!  Here is an example of something I threw together recently to post on our social media pages for our students.

3)   The last of my favorites is going to be my favorite blog and vlog.  So, it’s actually 2 favorites……yes, I broke the rule and am actually giving you 4 favorites today.  You’ll soon realize that I am sometimes a rule breaker and that’s just how I roll. Haha 

Anyway, my favorite teacher blog is The Kindergarten Smorgasboard.  I have followed his blog for a couple of years and Mr. Greg has so many great ideas!  He has tons of awesome lessons, videos, resources, and just so much stuff.  If you have never checked them out, now is the time!  They often host online webinars as well, so it’s a great PD opportunity!

My favorite vlog actually belongs to a good friend of mine and is called Cori In Charge.  I have known Cori pretty much her whole life (I'm older than her) and she was actually a student teacher in my classroom a few years ago.  She is a preschool teacher and has such a fun personality--always having a good time wherever she goes!  She has lots of great videos about everyday life, so if you haven’t checked her out, visit her YouTube channel and subscribe!

Those are just a few of my favorites for you!  I would love to hear about some of your favorites, so feel free to share in the comments!  When you know about something awesome, the best thing you can do is share it with others!

Meet the Teacher Monday

That time I got to hold a baby kangaroo! 😍

Hello!!!!!  Welcome to my new blog, Kinder Crazy with Mrs. Cassady!  I can’t believe I’m actually writing my first blog post!  It has taken me 2 years of thinking about it to actually do it (I know—totally ridiculous!).  But, I’m glad you’re here and I took the plunge!

So, let me introduce myself.  I am Heather Cassady (aka Mrs. Cassady to my Kinderbabies), I teach kindergarten, and am crazy about it!  I was born and raised in Kentucky where I still reside and bleed blue—Go Wildcats!  Teaching is my passion and what I LOVE LOVE LOVE to do!  I love kids and being around them and it makes me feel happy, whole, and complete inside!  Kids are so full of life and carefree that I couldn’t imagine a different group of people I would want to spend all day with! <3

Here's a little throwback to my own kindergarten years!

I have officially been teaching for 11 years and the past 10 of those years have been spent in kindergarten—my favorite place to be!  I have had experience with grades K-8 through other various positions including my student teaching, substitute teaching (several times I was a long-term sub for different grade level positions), and as an interventionist at the elementary level.  Prior to teaching kindergarten, I taught 5^th grade for one year--talk about a culture shock when moving from 5^th grade to kindergarten!  Whew!

Here I am dressed as Pete the Cat in "Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes" for Character Dress Up Day!

I’ve always enjoyed writing, but as an adult I haven’t really found an outlet for that.  So, I’m hoping that with this blog I can write about doing the things I truly love!  I don’t claim to be the best teacher or know it all.  I just love to share ideas, collaborate, and get ideas from others—you know how teachers are famous for the line “beg, borrow, steal” to create their own lessons! haha I will also be sharing snippets of my real teacher life (because we are still people after all!), lesson ideas, crafts, and fun activities you can use with your kindergarten class (and that can be modified for other grade levels).

Thank you for following me this far and I hope you are as excited as me for more posts this week!  Be sure to put in your email and subscribe for updates.  You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and visit my TPT Store.  I will be sharing a freebie with you tomorrow, so stay tuned!