Today was a great day, but I did have one little guy who was NOT having anything to do with being in my classroom. He showed up yesterday at the wrong time, so today was his first day and he was really wishing that he was in the same class as a friend/cousin of his. He refused to come over to the carpet with the rest of the class and as I was doing activities he kept creeping closer and closer to the door.
Then, he was off...heading down the hall...towards the other AM Kinder room. I got my cardio in trying to get him back, but thankfully, the rest of the kiddos were super well behaved when I was trying to get this kiddo to calm down and join us. Eventually he participated and made a traffic light with the rest of the kids, but he did not want to leave his chair at the table and would not come over to the carpet. Hopefully tomorrow he will feel more comfortable. Since we read The Kissing Hand yesterday, I brought in my little Racoon stuffed animal and all the kids had the chance to give him a hug. Anytime there was a moment of upset throughout the day today, one of my boys would go and get Chester the Raccoon and bring him to whichever kid was upset so they could hug him. So sweet! At the end of my day the kiddos in the PM class asked if they could hug Chester again.
Our major project for the day was making a traffic light out of construction paper, which gave me a chance to work on hand raising, not calling out, the "give me five" rule, and how to use the glue bottles. We have these awesome special lids that only require the kids to press down in order for the glue to come out. There is no mess and no twisting of the orange caps which then get left open. Awesome and so easy for Kindergartners! I passed out baskets that had all of the materials (glue, red circles, yellow circles, green circles, and a traffic light poem) and both groups did a great job of waiting until I assigned certain kids with the job of taking a certain item out of the bucket and passing it out to the rest of the kids in their group. They stopped each time I asked them to stop so that we could do the project just one step at a time and it went really smoothly. It took much less time the second time around because the afternoon group is smaller.
They also rocked out the morning greeting circle. I taught them that when the good morning song comes on, they should put their crayons and pencils away and come to the alphabet carpet and sit in a circle. Right before I played the song, I mentioned how I hoped they would remember to come to the carpet when I played the morning song so they would recall my expectations for the procedure that we had practiced yesterday. As soon as the song came on, they immediately came to the carpet and it literally took less than 15 seconds for them to be seated in a beautiful oval. By the time whichever Beatle that was singing got to his lyrics after a few good mornings, they were all ready to go. That same routine often took the entire length of the song in with some of my first graders. We did have to review that all crayons should be put away and chairs should be pushed in, but they were so enthusiastic about fixing their tables up and then came to the carpet right away when I replayed the song. So cute! We played the name game again and this time they had to introduce their partner instead of saying their own name. We talked about how they could ask the person their name if they weren't sure and they were so cute getting close and whispering "what's your name?" so they could share. Even some kids who I thought didn't speak a whole lot of English spoke up and raised their hands to answer today.
Tomorrow I am going to try introducing some of the materials that will be available during work station time with 5 minutes of modeling followed by 10 minutes of "exploration time." The kids have been asking about lots of the materials they have seen on the shelves and are curious about when they will get to play, so I think they are in need of some unstructured time (well, not entirely unstructured, but not stop and go with continuous directions). I would like to have them try out the Unifix Cubes and the letter beads. We are going to try out some patterns too so I can attempt to plug activities into my real schedule in preparation for next week!
So happy that it's almost Friday!
...and we're off!
Wow--time sure does fly when you're having fun! Or when you only have a little more than two hours to teach Kindergartners. Both classes were super cute and I am amazed at the difference in climate between the two. The afternoon class is smaller ( I am now at 23 in the morning and 18 in the afternoon), but there is also a huge difference in personalities. Don't get me wrong--I have some very funny/interesting/quirky/sassy/sharp kiddos in both sessions, but the mood was just different in the afternoon than it was in the morning. There were a few that just cracked me up!
For the most part the kids did great. Yes, there was a lot of calling out and interrupting and a lot of kids asked me when we were going to have snack (we don't) and when we were going to the playground (we don't), but both groups did a great job of learning to come to the carpet and sit on the letters when they hear the good morning song (by the Beatles) and how to "Give me Five." They followed directions, were excellent volunteers during our daily math routine (which was pretty fun) and the day was a success. There were some bus issues with the AM group, but I am happy that none of them were my fault (except the one kid who I didn't send on the bus after his mom and I specifically talked about how he was going to try it even though he was down as a parent pickup). The others were not my fault and that is a good feeling because I hate mix-ups that result in frantic parents wondering where their children are! Note to new teachers, especially Kindergarten teachers, or anyone dealing with lots of little kids---WRITE IT DOWN! Luckily the mom that got called to come get her child because I thought he was a pickup was very nice and wasn't upset.
It would seem like the bus routine after the AM session would be easier since there are only 3 buses, but surprisingly things went more smoothly in the afternoon when the Kinders go on the same buses as the big kids and there are about 8 or 9 different buses. My little PM friends were rocking a straight line and nobody wandered away. Sweet!
When the morning session was over, I was thinking to myself, Icannotimagingdoingthisagain! The afternoon was 20 minutes shorter because school lets out earlier all this week, so it really went by fast. It was a little more relaxed with fewer kiddos and I really enjoyed that group. They are adorable. Both groups are adorable, but the afternoon group has a few kiddos that I know will make an impression on my heart this year. It's just easier with fewer kids! Not that 23 is that many compared to classrooms that have 30 or more these days, but each Kindergartner is kind of equivalent to 2 students who already understand how school works.
During the math routine we talked about the number 1. A major goal of Expression is for kids to gain number sense so we discussed what we had one of on our face. We mentioned that we have one nose and one mouth and one cutie said we also have one head and one brain. (He got a high five for that!). When I used the number cards to have them point to the number 1, I tried to trick them by holding up a 2 and a 3 and they were not fooled! Smarties already!
I only had a few criers, but they both ended up doing just fine as the time went on. I thought a few parents were going to stay the whole time, but I only had to breakdown and ask one to leave since over 30 minutes passed and she was still there. She was okay with it and I made sure to call her after school to let her know that her kid did just fine! It's so important for parents to just leave, even if it makes them sad, because staying just drags out the crying. Most often, as soon as the parent leaves, the kid adapts and does just fine!
Lots of rambling in this post, but it was a jumble of busyness today and I had lots to post about! Looking forward to another day with my new friends and to getting to know them better. I can already tell there are several kiddos who are very smart and who will be advancing quite quickly! I will have to start writing down their quotes....and I wish I could recall the direct quotes (plural) about Jesus during circle time.
For the most part the kids did great. Yes, there was a lot of calling out and interrupting and a lot of kids asked me when we were going to have snack (we don't) and when we were going to the playground (we don't), but both groups did a great job of learning to come to the carpet and sit on the letters when they hear the good morning song (by the Beatles) and how to "Give me Five." They followed directions, were excellent volunteers during our daily math routine (which was pretty fun) and the day was a success. There were some bus issues with the AM group, but I am happy that none of them were my fault (except the one kid who I didn't send on the bus after his mom and I specifically talked about how he was going to try it even though he was down as a parent pickup). The others were not my fault and that is a good feeling because I hate mix-ups that result in frantic parents wondering where their children are! Note to new teachers, especially Kindergarten teachers, or anyone dealing with lots of little kids---WRITE IT DOWN! Luckily the mom that got called to come get her child because I thought he was a pickup was very nice and wasn't upset.
It would seem like the bus routine after the AM session would be easier since there are only 3 buses, but surprisingly things went more smoothly in the afternoon when the Kinders go on the same buses as the big kids and there are about 8 or 9 different buses. My little PM friends were rocking a straight line and nobody wandered away. Sweet!
When the morning session was over, I was thinking to myself, Icannotimagingdoingthisagain! The afternoon was 20 minutes shorter because school lets out earlier all this week, so it really went by fast. It was a little more relaxed with fewer kiddos and I really enjoyed that group. They are adorable. Both groups are adorable, but the afternoon group has a few kiddos that I know will make an impression on my heart this year. It's just easier with fewer kids! Not that 23 is that many compared to classrooms that have 30 or more these days, but each Kindergartner is kind of equivalent to 2 students who already understand how school works.
During the math routine we talked about the number 1. A major goal of Expression is for kids to gain number sense so we discussed what we had one of on our face. We mentioned that we have one nose and one mouth and one cutie said we also have one head and one brain. (He got a high five for that!). When I used the number cards to have them point to the number 1, I tried to trick them by holding up a 2 and a 3 and they were not fooled! Smarties already!
I only had a few criers, but they both ended up doing just fine as the time went on. I thought a few parents were going to stay the whole time, but I only had to breakdown and ask one to leave since over 30 minutes passed and she was still there. She was okay with it and I made sure to call her after school to let her know that her kid did just fine! It's so important for parents to just leave, even if it makes them sad, because staying just drags out the crying. Most often, as soon as the parent leaves, the kid adapts and does just fine!
Lots of rambling in this post, but it was a jumble of busyness today and I had lots to post about! Looking forward to another day with my new friends and to getting to know them better. I can already tell there are several kiddos who are very smart and who will be advancing quite quickly! I will have to start writing down their quotes....and I wish I could recall the direct quotes (plural) about Jesus during circle time.
Final Touches
One last day of prepping before the kiddos come tomorrow. Everything is in its place and just waiting for the chaos of the first day of Kindergarten. My school had a meet and greet for grades 1-5 from 4:00-6:00 so there were lots of families going in and out of classrooms, dropping off supplies, and meeting teachers. Both of the other K teachers went home, but I am glad I happened to still be there working because several of my kiddos stopped in with their families and I was really happy to get a little more individual time. Since we don't have doors, they could have gone in the room even if I wasn't there, so I am glad I was there!
The kids that came enjoyed finding their seats, cubbies and mailboxes. I got to practice a little bit of Spanish and got a little taste of how some kids have no concept of what it means to be in school. A couple of the kids that came headed right for the little kitchen area and started playing so I made sure to empty it out until I actually introduce the materials and open it up for free choice time. I'm so mean!
Jill came and helped me again and I am so happy to have her help! I know I have said it before, but she rocks!
I am sure tomorrow will be a total flurry of chaos, excitement, and energy. Hopefully, no tears! I have my plans all set, but I am sure I will still wake up really early so I can have some time in the room before the kids start arriving. We are letting kids in whenever they arrive instead of holding them in the cafeteria until 8:10, so I am fairly certain that there will be some early birds who are excited to get their Kindergarten on!
The kids that came enjoyed finding their seats, cubbies and mailboxes. I got to practice a little bit of Spanish and got a little taste of how some kids have no concept of what it means to be in school. A couple of the kids that came headed right for the little kitchen area and started playing so I made sure to empty it out until I actually introduce the materials and open it up for free choice time. I'm so mean!
Jill came and helped me again and I am so happy to have her help! I know I have said it before, but she rocks!
I am sure tomorrow will be a total flurry of chaos, excitement, and energy. Hopefully, no tears! I have my plans all set, but I am sure I will still wake up really early so I can have some time in the room before the kids start arriving. We are letting kids in whenever they arrive instead of holding them in the cafeteria until 8:10, so I am fairly certain that there will be some early birds who are excited to get their Kindergarten on!
Anyone else starting tomorrow? I feel like our first day is the latest!
Planning
I took Friday and Saturday off from most things teacher related. I worked out, had lunch with Jill, did some outlet shopping, and caught up on some shows that I didn't watch during the week. I also read a little bit, but not nearly as much as I hoped to. Maybe I will have a marathon reading session later and finish The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest!!!
This morning I finally started to flush out my morning and afternoon schedules (they are so different!) and plug in my activities for the first few days of school. I guess I shouldn't be too worried about getting bored by teaching the same things during both sessions because due to differences in when we have ELD and specials, the daily schedules are nothing alike! In the morning, I really like the schedule because the activities that the kids do with me are broken up by specials and ELD pullouts. I think there is a great balance between seated activities, carpet activities, and movement. During the afternoon, I have a larger block of time with my kiddos when they first come, but I also think that is good because they will get tired and worn out in the afternoon, so I would rather get all my important stuff accomplished and let them be tired for ELD and Specials (mwuahaha!).
Both schedules are very jam packed with activities and some time slots are only 10 minutes long. I am required to do 60 minutes of reading instruction which includes 30 minutes of Fast Track Phonics and 30 minutes of Treasures. Fortunately, we don't do all of the Treasures curriculum and mostly focus on a letter and word of the week, so I can incorporate those thirty minutes as my schedule allows. I just received my Heidi's Songs Sight Word Cd's which Kelly recommended (thanks Kelly!) so I am hoping to do a lot of active, fun activities that incorporate movement in order to get in some sight word practice. We have 10 minutes of push in Specials on 5 out of 6 days in our rotation, so I am going to talk with both the PE teacher and the Music teacher about incorporating content into their activities. That way we can learn and have fun (and not waste precious minutes!).
I feel like I am still going in somewhat blind, but it will take everyone a few weeks to get used to being in Kindergarten, so I am not the only one who will be experiencing some adjustments. I think that a lot of singing, an upbeat attitude, and a lot of patience (with both the kids and myself) will take me far this year.
I am organizing stories for the first week and figuring out what routines/procedures I want to embed within other activities so I can teach important stuff while still having the kids engaged in exciting, fun learning activities. My team shared a few activities that they always do during the first week, so I am working on making sure I fit them in while also structuring my sessions in a way that fits with how I want the classroom to operate. So far, I have managed to figure out schedules that include 10 minutes both at the very beginning and the very end of each session to allow time for a "morning greeting" and an afternoon wrap-up/story. I have been working my way through a few books that I purchased and definitely want to try out a morning meeting style gathering, but I have changed the name a little to morning greeting. I do not have time for all of the aspects of a traditional morning meeting, but the one part I feel strongly about including is a daily greeting. This contributes to all children being recognized and greeted each day and helps them learn each others' names. We also do a Star of the Week program which requires a time each day during which that child can share certain items with the group. I am hoping to also fit that in during that first 10 minutes each day. If kids are still trickling in, it's okay and hopefully everyone will be ready to go by the time I start Phonics. I really want to take the time to build a strong classroom community even though we are very short on time. Learning how to get along, share, cooperate, talk to one another, and be part of a team that cares for one another are all very important skills that should be developed in Kindergarten. We have become very academically focuses and there is little time left for play and "whole child" development, so I need to make sure to keep a balance and fight to keep that designated time in tact.
For anyone who is teaching Kinder and hasn't already started....these are some of the stories I am going to use during the first week. Special thanks to Roxanne from Books That Heal Kids for some great suggestions! If you haven't checked out her site, GO THERE NOW! She is stupendous!
I may also try to work in a story or two about difference or kids with special needs since I will have two students with special needs this year. I am very supportive of teaching kids to respect differences and educating kids about differences they may come across.
Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend!!
This morning I finally started to flush out my morning and afternoon schedules (they are so different!) and plug in my activities for the first few days of school. I guess I shouldn't be too worried about getting bored by teaching the same things during both sessions because due to differences in when we have ELD and specials, the daily schedules are nothing alike! In the morning, I really like the schedule because the activities that the kids do with me are broken up by specials and ELD pullouts. I think there is a great balance between seated activities, carpet activities, and movement. During the afternoon, I have a larger block of time with my kiddos when they first come, but I also think that is good because they will get tired and worn out in the afternoon, so I would rather get all my important stuff accomplished and let them be tired for ELD and Specials (mwuahaha!).
Both schedules are very jam packed with activities and some time slots are only 10 minutes long. I am required to do 60 minutes of reading instruction which includes 30 minutes of Fast Track Phonics and 30 minutes of Treasures. Fortunately, we don't do all of the Treasures curriculum and mostly focus on a letter and word of the week, so I can incorporate those thirty minutes as my schedule allows. I just received my Heidi's Songs Sight Word Cd's which Kelly recommended (thanks Kelly!) so I am hoping to do a lot of active, fun activities that incorporate movement in order to get in some sight word practice. We have 10 minutes of push in Specials on 5 out of 6 days in our rotation, so I am going to talk with both the PE teacher and the Music teacher about incorporating content into their activities. That way we can learn and have fun (and not waste precious minutes!).
I feel like I am still going in somewhat blind, but it will take everyone a few weeks to get used to being in Kindergarten, so I am not the only one who will be experiencing some adjustments. I think that a lot of singing, an upbeat attitude, and a lot of patience (with both the kids and myself) will take me far this year.
I am organizing stories for the first week and figuring out what routines/procedures I want to embed within other activities so I can teach important stuff while still having the kids engaged in exciting, fun learning activities. My team shared a few activities that they always do during the first week, so I am working on making sure I fit them in while also structuring my sessions in a way that fits with how I want the classroom to operate. So far, I have managed to figure out schedules that include 10 minutes both at the very beginning and the very end of each session to allow time for a "morning greeting" and an afternoon wrap-up/story. I have been working my way through a few books that I purchased and definitely want to try out a morning meeting style gathering, but I have changed the name a little to morning greeting. I do not have time for all of the aspects of a traditional morning meeting, but the one part I feel strongly about including is a daily greeting. This contributes to all children being recognized and greeted each day and helps them learn each others' names. We also do a Star of the Week program which requires a time each day during which that child can share certain items with the group. I am hoping to also fit that in during that first 10 minutes each day. If kids are still trickling in, it's okay and hopefully everyone will be ready to go by the time I start Phonics. I really want to take the time to build a strong classroom community even though we are very short on time. Learning how to get along, share, cooperate, talk to one another, and be part of a team that cares for one another are all very important skills that should be developed in Kindergarten. We have become very academically focuses and there is little time left for play and "whole child" development, so I need to make sure to keep a balance and fight to keep that designated time in tact.
For anyone who is teaching Kinder and hasn't already started....these are some of the stories I am going to use during the first week. Special thanks to Roxanne from Books That Heal Kids for some great suggestions! If you haven't checked out her site, GO THERE NOW! She is stupendous!
I may also try to work in a story or two about difference or kids with special needs since I will have two students with special needs this year. I am very supportive of teaching kids to respect differences and educating kids about differences they may come across.
Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend!!
Tired
Today we had some more math training and at this point I am feeling like I just need to spend some time on my own digging into the lessons and figuring it out. I attended the two-day training last week and we have had an additional two sessions for staff members who did not opt to participate in that training since then. Most of what we have heard has been a repetition of what was already shared, so at this point it feels like a less than productive use of our time. I brought my manual home so I can read through the first few lessons this weekend. We also got brand new laptops today which feels extravagant considering all the budget deficits. I guess the money comes from a different budget and the district adopted a technology plan years ago that they are continuing to implement. Of course it's nice to be handed a brand new MacBook, yet I would have been fine using the other computer that was just 4 years old.
I spent most of the afternoon in my room just running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I feel like I am trying to keep track of 100 things all at once and I just hope I am doing the necessary things to be prepared on Wednesday. We did get together for some team planning, yet we just went over a few of the typical back to school activities that our kiddos will work on. I still need to flush out all of the different routines I want to teach, the stories I want to read, and what will happen when. I have a lot of work ahead of me to get all that thought out, prepared, and organized. I don't want to go in to work this weekend, but I will probably end up having to. I would much rather spend time working my way through some of the back to school books that I purchased in order to get ready that have been sitting around in my room collecting dust. Each day just seems to fly by and before I know it, it's time for bed and I haven't gotten everything done. I am so exhausted and I know that will only intensify once the kids come! Yikes!
I took a few more pictures in the room today, but nothing is looking majorly different. I am just finishing up little projects here and there and trying to make everything just right.
I spent most of the afternoon in my room just running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I feel like I am trying to keep track of 100 things all at once and I just hope I am doing the necessary things to be prepared on Wednesday. We did get together for some team planning, yet we just went over a few of the typical back to school activities that our kiddos will work on. I still need to flush out all of the different routines I want to teach, the stories I want to read, and what will happen when. I have a lot of work ahead of me to get all that thought out, prepared, and organized. I don't want to go in to work this weekend, but I will probably end up having to. I would much rather spend time working my way through some of the back to school books that I purchased in order to get ready that have been sitting around in my room collecting dust. Each day just seems to fly by and before I know it, it's time for bed and I haven't gotten everything done. I am so exhausted and I know that will only intensify once the kids come! Yikes!
I took a few more pictures in the room today, but nothing is looking majorly different. I am just finishing up little projects here and there and trying to make everything just right.
name tags and supplies are all set
a few more touches added to the wall (days of week & calendar)
view of our carpet area
I hung the beach ball lights above the writing table for some extra inspiration!
love them!
In other news...my niece was born this morning at 3:31 am weighing in at 8 pounds 9 ounces. She is beautiful and both she and her mama are doing well!
Meet and Greet
Whew! Our Kindergarten Back to School Night, or "Meet and Greet" was tonight and it was a blur of cute kiddos and parents. It is so hard to actually remember everyone since I have 42 students and I was trying to move them all through my line so people at the end didn't have to wait too long. The kiddos were all super adorable and I can't wait to get to know them better. I thought I would be shocked by how little they are, but they are just too cute! There are a few in particular that are just to die for! Hopefully they are all perfect angels, right?
We checked to make sure that our information on how each child will get home is correct and then we sent each family to the classroom to drop off their supplies, get a photo of the child, and pick up their information packet. Fortunately I color coded everything so I could keep my two sessions straight! After we checked everybody in, we did a presentation in the cafeteria to give the parents some more information about Kindergarten while the kids took a ride on the bus. It was a busy night and I am excited for school to start!
That wasn't the most exciting part of the day though...I got a call from my mom and my sister-in-law's water broke a few hours ago, so she is on her way to the hospital to deliver baby #2! They already have a daughter and I can't wait to see pictures of my second niece! Yay!
I know I should be tired, but I am a bit wired from all the excitement of today. I will probably stay up until I hear that the baby has been born. So exciting!
We checked to make sure that our information on how each child will get home is correct and then we sent each family to the classroom to drop off their supplies, get a photo of the child, and pick up their information packet. Fortunately I color coded everything so I could keep my two sessions straight! After we checked everybody in, we did a presentation in the cafeteria to give the parents some more information about Kindergarten while the kids took a ride on the bus. It was a busy night and I am excited for school to start!
That wasn't the most exciting part of the day though...I got a call from my mom and my sister-in-law's water broke a few hours ago, so she is on her way to the hospital to deliver baby #2! They already have a daughter and I can't wait to see pictures of my second niece! Yay!
I know I should be tired, but I am a bit wired from all the excitement of today. I will probably stay up until I hear that the baby has been born. So exciting!
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