Sunday, September 8, 2013
Library
Something that I am excited about this year is our library time. In the past we used this time to use the computers in the library and just quickly picked out new books. This year our school bought each cluster a chromebook cart and now we can do our technology time in the classroom and have a separate library time. I started off by introducing the kids to the library and showed a video I found on youtube. It was about Skippy jon Jones visiting a school library and talked about how to care for books. The kids thought it was hilarious and it was educational at the same time. I then taught the kids about using a book stick to find a book and we had a little time to explore the library. I am excited to have this time to do more book talks. Next week I want to show a Don't Let the Pigeon Touch the Books video and read the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. Now to just find time to plan all of these things out! I definitely have a lot of favorite authors I would like to share!
Teacher Tipster
I will admit it, I am a little bit obsessed with Teacher Tipster (teachertipster.com.) I strive to be as exciting and enthusiastic about teaching as he is! This week I incorporated two of his lessons into my classroom. The first one was the bubble lesson on self control. I feel like this is a big topic this year in my class because I have very many active boys and sitting on the carpet as we explain rules and procedures is tough for them! In the bubble lesson you talk about how much you like popping bubbles and then you blow bubbles and the kids get crazy and out of control. Then you dare them to not touch the bubbles. ( I ended up betting them a Hershey kiss and I still had one or two or tried to pop the bubbles!) You then make the connection to self control and how just like the bubbles when you really want to pop them but you don't, that's self control. I thought it was great because it gave them a reference point. I know a lot of times we use generic phrases but don't always tell the kids what that means. I say things like use self control or make good choices but they don't always understand what specifically we want them to do.
The other lesson I used this week from Teacher Tipster was the Sleeping Baby. I took a baby doll out of the play center and carried it around with me. I used it during writing class and said that during writing is the baby's nap time. I said we have to work very quietly because the baby is sleeping. Then as I work with students if they start to get loud I say SHHHHH! the baby is sleeping or Don't wake the baby. It was very effective for most of the class. I did have one little boy who is not a fan of the baby but I felt like writing time as now been established as quiet time!
The other lesson I used this week from Teacher Tipster was the Sleeping Baby. I took a baby doll out of the play center and carried it around with me. I used it during writing class and said that during writing is the baby's nap time. I said we have to work very quietly because the baby is sleeping. Then as I work with students if they start to get loud I say SHHHHH! the baby is sleeping or Don't wake the baby. It was very effective for most of the class. I did have one little boy who is not a fan of the baby but I felt like writing time as now been established as quiet time!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
First Day 2013
Well, it has been exactly one year since I have written in this blog. The time and energy it takes to teach distracts me from even touching a blog. I would like to try again so that I can process and remember my thoughts throughout the year. I made the reflection today that God's plans are always bigger than our dreams. Where I am today from where I was last year is an amazing, new and completely different place and I love where my life is personally and professionally I still LOVE teaching Kindergarten. I decided to revisit the blog tonight because I know I had posted stuff about the Daily 5 and I am gearing up to introduce the Daily 5 tomorrow! Hopefully throughout the next few days I will be able to post some pictures of the new changes to my classroom this year and things I am excited about.
For now I will start with a reflection of the first two days of Kindergarten. At this moment I am blessed with 15 students and brand new and excited teaching assistant. As always I forget exactly how little they start out and how much they have to learn. This year at Young Scholars we started a school wide positive behavior system (hopefully another post soon on that.) Part of that included teaching the new school wide expectations for behavior. At 9:45am on the first day of Kindergarten my students were troopers and went to their first assembly! That was a little tough but otherwise it was a pretty good day! We read David Goes to School to learn our classroom rules, sang Rise and Shine and Freeze Dance and completed our first buzz message and tallied the number of boys and girls in our classroom (9 boys and 6 girls!)
In the afternoon we read the Kissing Hand and graphed how we felt on the first day of Kindergarten and enjoyed a Hershey Kiss. We also completed a scavenger hunt in our classroom to find all the supplies in the room! In math we started our calendar routine and explored teddy bear counters. We ended the day learning our packing up routine and I gave out Kindergarten is a Hoot! bags! I have an owl them in our classroom again this year! We also read Froggy books and used story wands to answer comprehension questions about the book. I definitely left tired on the first day but was glad to meet all the bright shining new faces!
On Day 2 we practiced our morning routine and sang and dance and completed a Buzz Message again. At 9:15 we started rotations with the Kindergarten and 1st Grade cluster to learn about different behaviors in the school. The students learned about indoor recess, computer cart, library, hallway, bathrooms, office and dismissal procedures. It was great to see my students from last year and see exactly how far the students will go this year and gave me some encouragement that this class too will get into a routine and be awesome! One of the first grade teachers said how much she loves her class and I told her "You're Welcome!" It felt good to know I had a part in helping those kids be successful!
The rotations took all morning and we came back just in time to review rules and head to lunch. As I watched the kids in Chinese and Spanish today I could see the steps they were making already to get into the groove of being a Kindergartener! Thankfully we dodged the rain and made it outside to recess. We had a small talking to about how to line up and be ready to go inside from recess. In the afternoon we learned the different ways people might write to build confidence in Kidwriting and then explored pattern blocks in math. By the end I could tell they were tired and started to get a little rowdy. I am sure soon enough they will be used to the long day! Tomorrow I am excited to start Daily 5 and hopefully keep establishing our routines and procedures!
For now I will start with a reflection of the first two days of Kindergarten. At this moment I am blessed with 15 students and brand new and excited teaching assistant. As always I forget exactly how little they start out and how much they have to learn. This year at Young Scholars we started a school wide positive behavior system (hopefully another post soon on that.) Part of that included teaching the new school wide expectations for behavior. At 9:45am on the first day of Kindergarten my students were troopers and went to their first assembly! That was a little tough but otherwise it was a pretty good day! We read David Goes to School to learn our classroom rules, sang Rise and Shine and Freeze Dance and completed our first buzz message and tallied the number of boys and girls in our classroom (9 boys and 6 girls!)
In the afternoon we read the Kissing Hand and graphed how we felt on the first day of Kindergarten and enjoyed a Hershey Kiss. We also completed a scavenger hunt in our classroom to find all the supplies in the room! In math we started our calendar routine and explored teddy bear counters. We ended the day learning our packing up routine and I gave out Kindergarten is a Hoot! bags! I have an owl them in our classroom again this year! We also read Froggy books and used story wands to answer comprehension questions about the book. I definitely left tired on the first day but was glad to meet all the bright shining new faces!
On Day 2 we practiced our morning routine and sang and dance and completed a Buzz Message again. At 9:15 we started rotations with the Kindergarten and 1st Grade cluster to learn about different behaviors in the school. The students learned about indoor recess, computer cart, library, hallway, bathrooms, office and dismissal procedures. It was great to see my students from last year and see exactly how far the students will go this year and gave me some encouragement that this class too will get into a routine and be awesome! One of the first grade teachers said how much she loves her class and I told her "You're Welcome!" It felt good to know I had a part in helping those kids be successful!
The rotations took all morning and we came back just in time to review rules and head to lunch. As I watched the kids in Chinese and Spanish today I could see the steps they were making already to get into the groove of being a Kindergartener! Thankfully we dodged the rain and made it outside to recess. We had a small talking to about how to line up and be ready to go inside from recess. In the afternoon we learned the different ways people might write to build confidence in Kidwriting and then explored pattern blocks in math. By the end I could tell they were tired and started to get a little rowdy. I am sure soon enough they will be used to the long day! Tomorrow I am excited to start Daily 5 and hopefully keep establishing our routines and procedures!
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