Monday, February 6, 2017

My sweet friend Sandy Welch and her Show and Tell aprons!

Hi Friends! Some of us wanted to share how much we love Sandy Welch and her Show and Tell Aprons! I have been a fan of her aprons for many years! I'll never forget meeting Fran Kramer at I Teach K! in Vegas while waiting to hear the keynote speaker Ron Clark several years ago-I think it was summer 2013. Fran was telling me how she had met a lady who wanted to start making these aprons. I can't remember how much longer it was but I came across them on TPT or facebook or somehow and thought "oh wow these must be the ones Fran was talking about and the lady she told me about." I emailed back and forth to Sandy and started my addiction to her aprons. She has been very kind in that I have many that are one of a kind aprons. I have decided not to post my one of a kind originals here with the exception of one that was originally made for Katie Knight last summer but I ended up getting instead. :) Thanks Katie! lol I use her aprons for virtually EVERYTHING! Here are just a few ideas that I have tried and I look forward to hearing other ideas that are shared.

At the beginning, of the year I made pictures of our staff and put their pictures in the apron slots. This is a great way to help the students learn the staff's name  and put a face with them. For example, principal, assistant principal, secretaries, guidance counselor, nurse, librarian, custodian, P.E. teachers, etc. After a week or so of that, I switched over and put all the students pics in the pockets. I would rotate them out until we had said good morning to all and they had a chance to tell us something either about themself or tell us something good. You could also use it as a way to show who is leader, door holder, etc. It's a wonderful way to help the students learn their classmates names. I also put picture clues of our schedule so the students would know what we were doing when and our special activity that day such as library, music, guidance, etc.

For reading/phonics, I use them for everything-I just put the cards that coincide with the skills we are working on that day/week. For example, our popcorn words, letter and letter blends/ digraphs cards, cvc/cvce words, spelling words, punctuation marks, sentence order (upper case letter at the beginning, the slots in the apron provide finger spacing :) and then punctuation at the end of a sentence), main character and setting and key events in story,etc. There are great cards that go along with fairy tales and kinder songs (oldies but goodies). These are a great way to practice retelling and sequencing. You can use picture cards to match with the letter that has the beginning, medial and/or ending sound.

In math, I use the cards for number order, subitizing, math equations and how regardless of the position of the number (first or second) in an addition equation, the answer is still the same. For subtraction, I show how you simply change the number in all from addition and subtract to get your answer. This leads in to a discussion of math fact families. You could put picture cards and have the students tell you which one doesn't belong/categorize.

You could always just hang on a hook at child's level and let them use the apron as a sorting chart while you are not wearing it. :) You can put more than one card in each slot so you can also use as flash cards. And the best thing about her aprons is that they all have pockets in them to store extra cards or other things you need to keep on hand (ink pens, small stamps, scented chap sticks to swipe on kiddos hands for happy chappys :), paper clips, magic wands and any other things you like to have at your fingertips without having to search for!

The cards for the aprons are also sold on TPT and each set has extra blank cards in them for when you want to add your own pics, popcorn words, illustrations, etc.


By the way, it is my understanding that there are some other imitation show and tell aprons out there on the market. Let me assure you that you get what you pay for and with Sandy's show and tell aprons you will not be disappointed! They are high quality fabric and very durable not to mention just down right cute and adorable! Who wants an imitation when you can get the real thing anyway.Don't wait-head on over to TPT and check out her show and tell aprons and order you one. Better yet do like I do and order at least two. That way you don't have to constantly change out the cards between reading, math, writing, etc. It's much easier having multiple aprons for the different subject areas! :)

She also has kid size aprons so what better way than to have the leader or student of the day or special helper where their apron and quiz their classmates on their skills. :)

Here is the link to her website http://www.showandtellaprons.com/
or find her at TPT Teachers Pay Teachers http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/  and just search show and tell aprons.

Here are some pictures of my aprons with examples of the cards and how I use them and a picture of me and Sandy, Fran and Deedee at I Teach K! last summer! I love her so much and I am looking forward to seeing her again this summer! Oh yeah and I can't wait to get one of her new aprons that she is in the process of making!!! She teased me with a picture of the fabric-Eric Carle!!!







Ya'll these aprons are the best but even better is the woman behind them! Sandy Welch you rock and I'm so blessed to call you friend and I'm so thankful that Fran played a part in introducing me to you and telling me years ago about your vision! If I ever move, I'm coming to California to be closer to you and Fran and Katie Knight!
Here are links to my other Sandy loving and apron loving blog friends!
http://mrswillskindergarten.com/learning-with-novelty/
http://kindergartencrayons.blogspot.com/2017/02/apron-lady-will-you-be-my-valentine.html
https://ckisloski.blogspot.com/2017/02/sharing-love-show-and-tell-aprons.html
http://www.time4kindergarten.com/2017/02/my-show-and-tell-apron-apron-that.html
 http://kindergals.blogspot.com/2017/02/teaching-words-with-show-and-tell-apron.html
http://kfundamentals.blogspot.com/2017/02/im-in-love-with.html
 

7 comments:

  1. This made me cry Leigh Ann. Your words are so beautiful and I love your "story." I cannot imagine life without you and Sandy. You have been so important to me and our friendship means the world to me.

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  4. Leigh Ann, I just love this post! I love the pictures. We are so blessed to have found such true and genuine friends in this world of blogging and teaching. Beautiful post!

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  5. I loved every word of this post because I LOVE Sandy's aprons too! We have discovered the most exciting tool to use with children! Where else, but in the early childhood classroom, can you gain MORE credibility, love, and respect by putting on a colorful apron? All eyes will be on you and you as you engage ALL learners! :)

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  6. Oh my goodness, just look at your fabulous collection. You win the prize for being the biggest fan for sure. Your post truly shows how much you love Sandy's aprons and how valuable they are in the classroom.

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