I feel like the summer has been a whirlwind of fun and I can't believe that I am officially going back to work tomorrow. Monday starts our week of in-service and then the kiddos return to school on Wednesday September 8th. This coming Wednesday I will get to meet my students at Back to School Night and I am kinda freaking out that Wednesday is coming so soon! I know my room is almost ready, yet there are still little things to be done like arranging, cleaning, and labeling, so I am 100% ready for kids.
I visited my storage unit again today and found my calendar and math items after some digging. I also found some stuff that was from our house that I think will be great for my classroom like a small fan, small portable heater, and a paper shredded. Since they are not currently in use at home, why not take them to school?! I didn't drop that stuff off yet since I set the alarm off the last time I tried to gain access to school on a weekend. We have plenty of time tomorrow for working in our rooms, so I can get it all situated mañana. My roomie wants to start the day bright and early with a spin class and I agreed to it. Crazy? Definitely. We did a 26 mile bike ride on Saturday which was awesome, so I am honing my biking skills for sure.
Now that I have had some training for our new math curriculum, I am excited to get my main wall all set up with the calendar and elements for math. With a little more work everything should be in order! I am just about ready to curl up with some of my new teaching texts because I have not done as much reading as I would have liked to get ready for the start of the new year. I still have not even started The First Six Weeks and I am happily reading my way through Debbie Diller's book about Literacy Work Stations. I made signs for each station I want to have and tomorrow I need to laminate them. I also need to make labels for the coat hangers and the desks, but I want to check in and see how close my classes are to being full. I think families are still registering and those kiddos are being placed in my class.
Also, I was so excited to find out today that my donor's choose project was eligible for a match offer from Nickelodeon. There is a special Dora The Explorer Beyond The Backpack program that supports projects that will benefit kids who are starting Kindergarten. Awesome! I am now only 128 dollars away from being funded! It will be awesome if I can actually get a hold of all those great books for Literacy Bags closer to the beginning of the school year. Wahoo!
Standards, Curriculum and Icebreakers...oh my!
Today was the first day of training for our new math adoption. Cool surprise of the day is that we get paid for attending the two-day training. Nice! That helps with some of the spending I have done putting my classroom together. :0)
Certain parts of the training were fantastic. When we broke out into grade level teams to go over the first edition of the teacher's manual, I really got a lot out of it. It was great to meet some of the other Kinder teachers in the district and to get their take on teaching math to the little ones. Everyone was really nice and we had a good discussion going about how to incorporate the changes that come with the new adoption.
Other parts of the training were not so great. I know they include ice breakers and "fun" activities to break up the day and make sure we are not completely bored, yet I signed up because I wanted to become familiar with the new curriculum, not because I wanted to get to know people better. If it's a long day filled with lots of information--I can take it! I can see starting the day off with something fun or silly, but I felt like there were too many switches taking us from the larger group to our grade level teams which interrupted the flow of what we were really there to accomplish. All of the additional activities were interesting and fun, yet ultimately I feel like we could have gotten more out of the day if we had just skipped over those... I know...party pooper in the house...
I got to see a few other teachers from my former school which was nice and I feel more comfortable about teaching the curriculum now that I had the chance to look through the teacher manual and get some guidance on what to expect. When I am done posting this, I am going to take a look at youtube because I was told there are some sample lessons posted on there. It's always nice to see a new curriculum in action to help wrap my mind around what I will be doing. Fortunately, they have specifically stated that half day Kinder sessions are expected to get through unit 4 instead of unit 6 and they have put together separate pacing guides for full day and half day Kinder. They also expressed that this is kind of an action research year so we are really encouraged to try out the curriculum even if we are doubtful certain things will work with our grade levels and the district wants our feedback. We were a little skeptical of the little notes in the margin recommending that we look ahead to notice that we should cut out the paper manipulatives ahead of time and that we might want to print them on card stock, but we will give it a go. There are some daily practice activities that are important to the curriculum and even though they require us to do calendar and some math activities in a different way than we are used to, they actually seem to be fun and I think the kids will do great. We can already tell it will take a lot of time to train the kids to do the daily routine/practice activities, but in the end I think it will become pretty simple.
I have another day of training tomorrow and then I am planning to try out a spin class at my new gym with my roomie. I got a pair of those super padded bike shorts today, so hopefully I will make out ok with spinning. I have done it before and it's not a favorite of mine, but I know it's a great workout and it will be fun to do together.
Certain parts of the training were fantastic. When we broke out into grade level teams to go over the first edition of the teacher's manual, I really got a lot out of it. It was great to meet some of the other Kinder teachers in the district and to get their take on teaching math to the little ones. Everyone was really nice and we had a good discussion going about how to incorporate the changes that come with the new adoption.
Other parts of the training were not so great. I know they include ice breakers and "fun" activities to break up the day and make sure we are not completely bored, yet I signed up because I wanted to become familiar with the new curriculum, not because I wanted to get to know people better. If it's a long day filled with lots of information--I can take it! I can see starting the day off with something fun or silly, but I felt like there were too many switches taking us from the larger group to our grade level teams which interrupted the flow of what we were really there to accomplish. All of the additional activities were interesting and fun, yet ultimately I feel like we could have gotten more out of the day if we had just skipped over those... I know...party pooper in the house...
I got to see a few other teachers from my former school which was nice and I feel more comfortable about teaching the curriculum now that I had the chance to look through the teacher manual and get some guidance on what to expect. When I am done posting this, I am going to take a look at youtube because I was told there are some sample lessons posted on there. It's always nice to see a new curriculum in action to help wrap my mind around what I will be doing. Fortunately, they have specifically stated that half day Kinder sessions are expected to get through unit 4 instead of unit 6 and they have put together separate pacing guides for full day and half day Kinder. They also expressed that this is kind of an action research year so we are really encouraged to try out the curriculum even if we are doubtful certain things will work with our grade levels and the district wants our feedback. We were a little skeptical of the little notes in the margin recommending that we look ahead to notice that we should cut out the paper manipulatives ahead of time and that we might want to print them on card stock, but we will give it a go. There are some daily practice activities that are important to the curriculum and even though they require us to do calendar and some math activities in a different way than we are used to, they actually seem to be fun and I think the kids will do great. We can already tell it will take a lot of time to train the kids to do the daily routine/practice activities, but in the end I think it will become pretty simple.
I have another day of training tomorrow and then I am planning to try out a spin class at my new gym with my roomie. I got a pair of those super padded bike shorts today, so hopefully I will make out ok with spinning. I have done it before and it's not a favorite of mine, but I know it's a great workout and it will be fun to do together.
Another busy day
I had an excellent morning planning with my new teammates. I got to spend some time with them and got to know them a little bit better. I was feeling pretty nervous about how I would fit in as part of the team. They are extremely organized and have systems down pat for pretty much everything they do. The good thing is that they made me feel very comfortable about doing things in a different way if I want to. They kind of expressed the attitude that they want to do it their way (it seems like they like the consistency of how they have done things) yet they were open to my ideas and were enthusiastic about my suggestions to do things differently with my own classes. We talked and planned all morning and then went out to lunch together which was fun.
I also met up with my old first grade team for some appetizers later on and it was so nice to catch up with them and chit chat for awhile. I did get some sad news from them though...One of the students I taught during my first year had a mom that was sick with Cancer. She had brain Cancer and because of that she didn't make too many appearances at school. She called to check in often though, and she was one of the sweetest women. She was so nice and cared so much for her daughter. She had been battling Cancer for awhile and earlier this year she passed away. I hadn't thought about this family in awhile, but they were always so sweet and I was really upset to hear this news. I just can't imagine what they are all going through and how hard it must be for young kids to lose their mom. My current roomie actually taught this student last year when she was in 4th grade and she said it was just a horribly sad situation. The youngest child in the family was in my previous team member's first grade class this past year and she said she actually had two students' mothers pass away during the school year. Such a difficult thing to deal with, especially when the kids are at such a young, fragile age. Even though this didn't just happen super recently, I know the family is still mourning and my heart goes out to them.
After returning home from seeing those friends, I hit up the gym for a good sweat session on the bike and started reading the book I just received from amazon today.
I have only read the first two chapters, but so far I LOVE it. I am so excited to try out the ideas! Here is a little excerpt for you:
It's the end of summer. School begins in just a few weeks. At night as you sleep, you find yourself dreaming about your new classroom, how it will be different this year. You see yourself sitting at the guided reading table with five young students gathered around you ready to read a new book. As you introduce the new text, no one interrupts you. There is no "Teacher, I need help with this paper," "The headset at the listening station doesn't work," or "He hit me." You glance around the room and see the rest of the class working cheerfully and intently at reading and writing tasks that the children find purposeful and fully engaging. Two boys stand beside the overhead, which is projecting a poem onto a nearby screen. Together they read this poem, which had been introduced to the class during shared reading. Then the pair take a dry-erase marker and circle the rhyming words. They read the rhyming words together and use magnetic letters to make other words that rhyme with those from the poem. They copy their rhyming words onto strips of paper, which they put in their literacy work station folders. You smile and return your gaze to the small group you're sitting with. You observe which children are using the strategies you've been modeling. You guide their reading and prompt when necessary, watching your students in the process of becoming independent problem solvers. At the end of your guided reading group, students move to different work stations and the learning continues. Is this just a dream? It doesn't need to be...
I am looking forward to reading the rest and getting ideas for great literacy work stations that I can use in my room. I love how the author, Debbie Diller, emphasizes the importance of creating work stations using materials that have already been used for instruction, the importance of modeling what to do in each station, and having the children demonstrate they understand what to do before they are released to work independently. She also stresses the importance of teaching the work stations one at a time and not overwhelming the children with too much stuff too soon. I like her reminders to take it slow!
Tomorrow I will be in a training for our new math curriculum adoption. I am really intrigued to see what it's all about. From what I have seen so far, it does not look at all developmentally appropriate for Kinder students, especially since the manipulatives were not purchased. There are pages in the workbook that have very small paper "manipulatives" that have to be cut out. As if I would waste precious time having my five-year-old students cut out these paper pieces. No thanks! We are supposed to give the program a try, but I suspect we will be making some adjustments as we go along. In any event, it is always good to receive training and become more familiar with a program instead of just complaining about it, so I will give it a go and hope for the best!
I also met up with my old first grade team for some appetizers later on and it was so nice to catch up with them and chit chat for awhile. I did get some sad news from them though...One of the students I taught during my first year had a mom that was sick with Cancer. She had brain Cancer and because of that she didn't make too many appearances at school. She called to check in often though, and she was one of the sweetest women. She was so nice and cared so much for her daughter. She had been battling Cancer for awhile and earlier this year she passed away. I hadn't thought about this family in awhile, but they were always so sweet and I was really upset to hear this news. I just can't imagine what they are all going through and how hard it must be for young kids to lose their mom. My current roomie actually taught this student last year when she was in 4th grade and she said it was just a horribly sad situation. The youngest child in the family was in my previous team member's first grade class this past year and she said she actually had two students' mothers pass away during the school year. Such a difficult thing to deal with, especially when the kids are at such a young, fragile age. Even though this didn't just happen super recently, I know the family is still mourning and my heart goes out to them.
After returning home from seeing those friends, I hit up the gym for a good sweat session on the bike and started reading the book I just received from amazon today.
I have only read the first two chapters, but so far I LOVE it. I am so excited to try out the ideas! Here is a little excerpt for you:
It's the end of summer. School begins in just a few weeks. At night as you sleep, you find yourself dreaming about your new classroom, how it will be different this year. You see yourself sitting at the guided reading table with five young students gathered around you ready to read a new book. As you introduce the new text, no one interrupts you. There is no "Teacher, I need help with this paper," "The headset at the listening station doesn't work," or "He hit me." You glance around the room and see the rest of the class working cheerfully and intently at reading and writing tasks that the children find purposeful and fully engaging. Two boys stand beside the overhead, which is projecting a poem onto a nearby screen. Together they read this poem, which had been introduced to the class during shared reading. Then the pair take a dry-erase marker and circle the rhyming words. They read the rhyming words together and use magnetic letters to make other words that rhyme with those from the poem. They copy their rhyming words onto strips of paper, which they put in their literacy work station folders. You smile and return your gaze to the small group you're sitting with. You observe which children are using the strategies you've been modeling. You guide their reading and prompt when necessary, watching your students in the process of becoming independent problem solvers. At the end of your guided reading group, students move to different work stations and the learning continues. Is this just a dream? It doesn't need to be...
I am looking forward to reading the rest and getting ideas for great literacy work stations that I can use in my room. I love how the author, Debbie Diller, emphasizes the importance of creating work stations using materials that have already been used for instruction, the importance of modeling what to do in each station, and having the children demonstrate they understand what to do before they are released to work independently. She also stresses the importance of teaching the work stations one at a time and not overwhelming the children with too much stuff too soon. I like her reminders to take it slow!
Tomorrow I will be in a training for our new math curriculum adoption. I am really intrigued to see what it's all about. From what I have seen so far, it does not look at all developmentally appropriate for Kinder students, especially since the manipulatives were not purchased. There are pages in the workbook that have very small paper "manipulatives" that have to be cut out. As if I would waste precious time having my five-year-old students cut out these paper pieces. No thanks! We are supposed to give the program a try, but I suspect we will be making some adjustments as we go along. In any event, it is always good to receive training and become more familiar with a program instead of just complaining about it, so I will give it a go and hope for the best!
Year Long Plan
Sorry, I don't have any more fun photos to post today. I took a day off from the classroom and went walking with some friends this morning and then went on a river float with my roomie and two other teachers from my previous school. It was a nice, relaxing day.
Tomorrow, I am heading to school bright and early to do some year long planning with my new team. I have never put together a year long plan before, how about you guys? Apparently it is required at my new school and must be submitted to the principal. I will definitely be relying on my teammates to guide me through this process. I can see why it is important to think in terms of the entire year, but at the same time, I think that so many things change as you go and I hope this plan is viewed with some flexibility in mind.
I received the schedule for our in-service week and we actually have a significant amount of time to work in our classrooms. I am excited to meet the staff, but I am mostly concerned with making sure I am ready for the kiddos. We have Back to School Night one week from tomorrow, so there is still a lot to be done. Once we get our year long plan, hopefully we will also do some planning for the first week. I already have some ideas in mind, but of course I am interested to know what the other teachers are thinking since they have done it all before.
I am still working my way (slowly but surely since I have been so busy) through The First Six Weeks of School. It seems like it will be a great source of guidance regarding what should be accomplished at first. It is easy to get swayed by the powers that be who insist on the immediate start of content instruction, so I always appreciate a good resource to back up my own personal beliefs about what should be happening in the classroom to make the children feel welcome, comfortable, and part of a community that needs to work together to learn together.
I know many teachers have already started back and I hope everything is going smoothly for you! The first week back is always exciting, yet incredibly exhausting at the same time!!
Tomorrow, I am heading to school bright and early to do some year long planning with my new team. I have never put together a year long plan before, how about you guys? Apparently it is required at my new school and must be submitted to the principal. I will definitely be relying on my teammates to guide me through this process. I can see why it is important to think in terms of the entire year, but at the same time, I think that so many things change as you go and I hope this plan is viewed with some flexibility in mind.
I received the schedule for our in-service week and we actually have a significant amount of time to work in our classrooms. I am excited to meet the staff, but I am mostly concerned with making sure I am ready for the kiddos. We have Back to School Night one week from tomorrow, so there is still a lot to be done. Once we get our year long plan, hopefully we will also do some planning for the first week. I already have some ideas in mind, but of course I am interested to know what the other teachers are thinking since they have done it all before.
I am still working my way (slowly but surely since I have been so busy) through The First Six Weeks of School. It seems like it will be a great source of guidance regarding what should be accomplished at first. It is easy to get swayed by the powers that be who insist on the immediate start of content instruction, so I always appreciate a good resource to back up my own personal beliefs about what should be happening in the classroom to make the children feel welcome, comfortable, and part of a community that needs to work together to learn together.
I know many teachers have already started back and I hope everything is going smoothly for you! The first week back is always exciting, yet incredibly exhausting at the same time!!
Getting it Done
Another productive day in the classroom!
Take a look...
Take a look...
My masterpiece of the day. The idea is that as we learn about the colors, the children will find/bring in small items in various colors and place them in the bags. Then I will tape/staple them to the train car of the matching color. I want to write a little poem or something to explain that and post it above. I am also going to add the color words of course. I got this idea from Jessica Meacham's page, but I made it myself.
We put up the letter/picture cards for the phonics program and the number cards along the bottom.
I am still trying to figure out where I want the rest of the stuff on the big wall and I have to get my calendar supplies out of storage. I don't want to have this wall be too busy so I have to think some more about placement. I also have a little easel that I will bring out and use for instruction as well when I really need the kiddos to focus on one particular thing.
Since I don't have a bulletin board outside my room (they are designated for student work instead of a welcome to the class type board), I decided to just add the swimsuits as decoration. Originally I was going to write the students' names on them, but I decided against it. I think they look cute just as a little additional decoration above the main wall.
I added another set of alphabet cards on the cabinets near the "house" area. I figure the kids can never have enough exposure to the letters!
The room doesn't look that different, but a few more things are checked off the list.
Speaking of lists, I got my preliminary class lists today. They are interesting. I only have 14 kids in the PM class (so far) and there are 3 boys and 11 girls. Weird, right? The AM class has 18 kiddos (10 boys, 8 girls). I am fairly certain the classes will change between now and the first day and that most likely both classes will be larger, yet right now they seem unbalanced in a few ways. A few more boys should definitely be added to the PM class. I have a mixture of kids classified as both Hispanic and non-Hispanic, but that is the extent of the diversity in my classes. The morning class has a much larger percentage of non-Hispanic children than the afternoon class. I don't really care how the classes are made up or who I teach and when, but I do know that the morning session is preferable and I question why I have twice the number of Hispanic children in the afternoon class. It may be nothing, but it seems odd to me. That also leaves me with very few kiddos when children leave for English Language Development. That could be quite nice, but it just seems unbalanced between the AM and PM sessions.
I won't be working in the classroom tomorrow, but I am meeting a few friends to walk in the morning and I am going to take them in and show them my space. They are both teachers in the same district that I went through my master's program with.
P.S. I just got an email from a rep at Oriental Trading who quoted my recent post where I mentioned that I was disappointed in some of the items that I purchased there and encouraged me to provide some feedback because customer satisfaction is important to them. One the one hand, I was thinking...that's creepy and totally random...how did they come across my post..yet, they sure are on top of their customer service if one of their reps is actively seeking out websites/blogs that mention their products and takes the initiative to contact customers who are not satisfied. I feel bad now like I hurt Oriental Trading's feelings! I will say that some of the things I ordered from there are great.
The balloon lanterns are absolutely adorable and I think they are one of the cutest decorations in the entire classroom. I have not yet figured out how to assemble the beach ball lights, but they look pretty cute as well.
The took a risk on the stampers I got because some of the reviews were iffy, but I was happy with the size, bright colors, and easy to grasp handles on the stampers. I will see how they hold up once the kids start using them, but so far I am happy. Now that I was contacted, I feel like I should return what I was not happy with or at least provide feedback rather than just saying something negative on my blog space. Although, it is my blog and I can say what I want. hehe. But seriously, go OT for being interested in customer satisfaction. Bonus points have been awarded!
P.S. I just got an email from a rep at Oriental Trading who quoted my recent post where I mentioned that I was disappointed in some of the items that I purchased there and encouraged me to provide some feedback because customer satisfaction is important to them. One the one hand, I was thinking...that's creepy and totally random...how did they come across my post..yet, they sure are on top of their customer service if one of their reps is actively seeking out websites/blogs that mention their products and takes the initiative to contact customers who are not satisfied. I feel bad now like I hurt Oriental Trading's feelings! I will say that some of the things I ordered from there are great.
The balloon lanterns are absolutely adorable and I think they are one of the cutest decorations in the entire classroom. I have not yet figured out how to assemble the beach ball lights, but they look pretty cute as well.
The took a risk on the stampers I got because some of the reviews were iffy, but I was happy with the size, bright colors, and easy to grasp handles on the stampers. I will see how they hold up once the kids start using them, but so far I am happy. Now that I was contacted, I feel like I should return what I was not happy with or at least provide feedback rather than just saying something negative on my blog space. Although, it is my blog and I can say what I want. hehe. But seriously, go OT for being interested in customer satisfaction. Bonus points have been awarded!
Have you ever been randomly contacted through your blog?
Another Bag of Loot
I started out the day with a nice run through a local park with Jill and then we enjoyed some coffee and a trip to Lakeshore.
I heart Lakeshore.
I could spend my entire teacher salary there in a heartbeat and I definitely found some great things today! I am officially over my allotted spending money from my district, but I am okay with that. I appreciate every penny that doesn't come from my personal funds, but I recognize that teachers do end up spending a lot of their money on materials for the kids and the classroom.
I wasn't planning to go work at school today, but I was so excited about my purchases that Jill and I decided to head over and get some stuff done. Unfortunately, I set off the school's alarm! How awful! I was told when the principal and secretary left on Friday afternoon that the alarm was not on and that I could swipe my badge to gain access. Unfortunately, the badge was not linked correctly to my new school and when I tried my key, it worked, but that set the alarm off. Luckily, the number for the alarm company is printed right on the badge, but they were not too helpful. They told me they could not shut the alarm off and I would have to call my administrator or someone in maintenance, yet I did not have any of those contact numbers. The guy told me would try to call the head of maintenance and would call me right back. After waiting 30 minutes without anyone coming or anyone calling, we decided to just leave, but by that time the alarm had gone off. So, I didn't get to do any work and I am so embarrassed! When I got home I emailed the principal and she was understanding, but that is not exactly the impression I wanted to make! We were always allowed into my other building on the weekends and our ID badge gave us access. We only had to swipe once to turn the alarm off and then swipe once again upon leaving to turn it on again. I guess each school is different!
I heart Lakeshore.
I could spend my entire teacher salary there in a heartbeat and I definitely found some great things today! I am officially over my allotted spending money from my district, but I am okay with that. I appreciate every penny that doesn't come from my personal funds, but I recognize that teachers do end up spending a lot of their money on materials for the kids and the classroom.
These will be great for literacy stations!
I printed a smaller version of these, but purchased the big ones for name tags on the tables. Since I printed on regular paper, even after laminating, the small ones were too thin. I don't think the kiddos will be able to grasp them to move for the attendance daily check in. I want to try reprinting on card stock if my printer will take it.
SO excited about this Letter of the Day chart and accessories. We will do a letter of the week, so this is a great way to get extra exposure to words that start with the letter, how to write the letter etc. I think this will be prominently displayed on my huge blue wall.
I'm not sure where I want to hang these number cards yet, but I love how they go with the beachy theme and include the numeral, written word, picture, and tally marks for each number!
I adore all of the "Kid Drawn" items and I was excited to come across these nursery rhyme posters. I definitely want to incorporate rhymes into our day and these will be great!
I already have alphabet cards that go along with the Fast Track Phonics program that I will be teaching, but these were too cute to pass on and it's always good to have the alphabet posted in more than one location.
I wasn't planning to go work at school today, but I was so excited about my purchases that Jill and I decided to head over and get some stuff done. Unfortunately, I set off the school's alarm! How awful! I was told when the principal and secretary left on Friday afternoon that the alarm was not on and that I could swipe my badge to gain access. Unfortunately, the badge was not linked correctly to my new school and when I tried my key, it worked, but that set the alarm off. Luckily, the number for the alarm company is printed right on the badge, but they were not too helpful. They told me they could not shut the alarm off and I would have to call my administrator or someone in maintenance, yet I did not have any of those contact numbers. The guy told me would try to call the head of maintenance and would call me right back. After waiting 30 minutes without anyone coming or anyone calling, we decided to just leave, but by that time the alarm had gone off. So, I didn't get to do any work and I am so embarrassed! When I got home I emailed the principal and she was understanding, but that is not exactly the impression I wanted to make! We were always allowed into my other building on the weekends and our ID badge gave us access. We only had to swipe once to turn the alarm off and then swipe once again upon leaving to turn it on again. I guess each school is different!
So, Jill and I are going back in tomorrow to put in a full day and hopefully we can finish the rest of the projects on my list. I've got some laminating to do, some letters to hang, a train to make, a number line to find a home for and lots more! Hopefully the alarm incident will not be the running joke of the school because I really don't want to be "that person." I realized that because of all the budget issues, I will be the only new teacher at my school this year. Both last year when I joined the international school and my first year of teaching I had other new teachers to bond with. Hopefully it will be okay!
So excited to continue arranging, organizing, and creating in my home away from home tomorrow!! Stay tuned for more pictures :0)
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