Read About My Weekend... You won't be sorry!

I am exhausted but filled with wonderful memories from the Southern California Kindergarten Conference. The keynote speaker was our head blogger Deanna Jump from Mrs. Jump's Classroom. She did a fantastic job on a topic that we all want to learn more about " The Common Core." Bloggers from all over  Southern California were asked to present here and it was a weekend to remember! 

I was so nervous before this presentation that my teeth were chattering. My bubble necklaces got tangled up and the room was packed with kindergarten teachers and my blogging buddies. I took a deep breath and looked up into Deanna Jump's eyes and knew I was ready to do this! I tossed a beach ball and gave away freebies. I hope they loved it! I tried to give them a general overview of CC in kindergarten through the lens of an English Language Learner and it took me months to put this together. I sweated over it more than my thesis for graduate school!  They laughed, they clapped, and blew bubbles at the end of my session. I love kindergarten. I love kindergarten teachers the most. They are so loving. On to the Blogger Bash dinner with Heidi from HeidiSongs as our MC. Miss Kindergarten and Michelle Griffo put this beautiful event together with help from other bloggers. It was FANTASTIC! They have some serious skills peeps.

We gave away gorgeous baskets we had each made and mine of course was none other than Pete the Cat! I filled it with Pete, my favorite books about Pete, my packets, Pete note paper and other Pete related goodies. The winner loved her goodies! She was so sweet and happy to receive this. The party was filled with food, laughter, and we raffled off gift certificates to our TpT store. It was so much fun to make teachers so happy!

At the end of the weekend it was pouring and I was exhausted. My husband took one look at me and booked a spectacular room at the Westin, took me out to a beautiful restaurant, talked about the conference over drinks late that evening and took me to a great breakfast the following morning. Yup, he is a keeper! #blessed

I went to most of the presentations my young friends did and I was overwhelmed by the quality of their work. They made gorgeous Power Points and handouts. They were relaxed, funny, and sent teachers home with a million ideas for implementing the Common Core in engaging ways for our young students. I was so proud of their work. Please come to this conference next year. My brain is exploding with great ideas and my heart is full. Kindergarten teachers are the best people on earth.

Much love to the bloggers in Southern Cal,

Fran