As part of our Daily Math Routine with the Expressions math program, one of the exercises we do involves me showing a giant number card and the kiddos holding up that many fingers. My PM class has really taken to showing what the program refers to as number partners.
Rather than just holding up their hand with five fingers, they've started to show me 2 fingers on one hand and 3 on the other or 4 on one hand and 1 on the other. I have been really happy to see this and I feel like it's a way that the kids who are more advanced are able to take this exercise to the next level.
So, the kiddos have been experimenting with using different fingers to show each number.
2,3,4, and 5 were really successful.
1...not so much.
You have to chuckle when you look at our your little friends and several are giving you the finger :0)
Mochi
Have you ever bought Mochi ice cream from Trader Joes?
Good stuff.
My favorite is chocolate, but they also have mango and green tea flavors.
And, the greatest part is that the containers they come in are absolutely perfect for holding paint.
I saved a few last year and used them today for our painting project.
Worked like a charm :0)
Bullet Points
- I went to a training on culturally responsive instruction today. I felt more tired after being there all day than I do after being with 5 year olds all day! Guess I prefer the activity of the classroom...but I am so not jealous that my sub had to do star of the week snack today while I was gone.
- I tried to watch Gossip Girl when I got home, but promptly fell asleep. Hopefully I fare better for Top Chef Just Desserts tonight.
- I have a ginormous mountain of laundry to put away, which does not look appealing right now. Fortunately, my sluggishness in getting household chores done as of late has motivated Mr. Sneaker to volunteer taking on dish washing duty. Score!
- I am going strong with my daily reading/writing for my paper. I have about 18 pages and still have a long way to go, but I am working on it every single day after work which is good.
- Speaking of working on my paper....I need to get going on that.
- I haven't posted on my classroom blog in over a week. I hope the parents don't think I'm a slacker!
- I am SO thirsty. I feel like I have been drinking TONS of water, but I am still thirsty...and really loving orange juice. Although, I try to just drink water and then juice or something flavored only on occasion.
- It is pouring rain out...welcome to fall in Portland :0)
- I am cooking up a spaghetti squash with meat sauce for dinner. Yum!
- I can't wait until Friday. PJ's and a movie with Mr. Sneaker are calling my name!!
Back Today
I had a student who was out all last week because he was pretty sick. The day I found out he wouldn't be at school all week, I had his classmates make him cards because he had to spend some time in the hospital.
After being out for 6 days, he finally came back today and it was SO cute to see how excited the other kiddos were to see him. One girl at his table kept telling me that she thought he should get to pass things out instead of her or the other table mate.
Several kiddos told this boy how excited they were to have him back and he literally bounded to his table and just dove right back into all of our classroom activities.
It was really nice to see how connected the kids are and how much care they show for one another.
Really sweet.
I am out of the classroom for a training tomorrow, so I prepped for my sub and I feel pretty good about leaving the kiddos for the first time. I am sure they will do fine and although it's hard to be out, it's always interested to see how they do with a sub. Hopefully it will show that they have all of our routines down and can just continue the flow without me!
After being out for 6 days, he finally came back today and it was SO cute to see how excited the other kiddos were to see him. One girl at his table kept telling me that she thought he should get to pass things out instead of her or the other table mate.
Several kiddos told this boy how excited they were to have him back and he literally bounded to his table and just dove right back into all of our classroom activities.
It was really nice to see how connected the kids are and how much care they show for one another.
Really sweet.
I am out of the classroom for a training tomorrow, so I prepped for my sub and I feel pretty good about leaving the kiddos for the first time. I am sure they will do fine and although it's hard to be out, it's always interested to see how they do with a sub. Hopefully it will show that they have all of our routines down and can just continue the flow without me!
fastforward
I am amazed at how fast the days go by. Without specials to break up the flow of the day this year, we can just seamlessly go from one activity to the next. If I'm a little off schedule, it's no big deal and before I know it, it's time to take the kids to the bus.
Half day Kindergarten is seriously short!
The kiddos are doing really well in math. Today I did some informal assessment to see which kiddos are able to put their number tiles in order and the majority did really well. I had one child in the PM class who struggles with number recognition and counting and several in the AM. When I laid out their tiles and asked them to point to each number, however, they did fairly well (some better than others), so I am hopeful that all of the practice we are doing is helping them remember.
During our daily math routine, one of the activities is to pass out number cards (one per child) and have the kids put them in order by standing in a line in number order. I remember the kids struggling with this task last year and this year they are doing great. Even the kids who are having a harder time are doing well with it.
We also do an activity where I show a number and they have to show me that many fingers. The kids are getting creative and showing me different ways to make each number. For example, typically when we show four, we show all four on one hand, fingers up and thumb tucked away. Today I saw a few kiddos showing two fingers on each hand and a few even showed three fingers on one hand and one on the other. They are getting the concept of number partners, which is something we work on later in the year. It's nice to be able to stretch math out a little more and do some things I didn't do last year because of behavior/management/crowd control issues.
I wrote sub plans after school today since I will be out Wednesday for a training. It took a long time because I always write extensive plans. Since it's the first time writing them this year, I am getting everything down so in the future, I can cut and paste the routine and procedure parts. Writing sub plans, is one of the times teaching two sessions really has its advantages. I write for half a day and then basically just include times for the PM class and write same as AM for each activity. All of my subs are great and they always do fine, but I think I tend to leave a lot more information than necessary.
I am off to bed to read. I still haven't finished my chapters for book club, which meets tomorrow and I haven't gotten in my daily quota for work on my paper. I didn't feel well at all after school, so I got in bed and tried to relax. Mr. Sneaker made dinner, cleaned up, and emptied the dishwasher so I could just chill. Love it!
Half day Kindergarten is seriously short!
The kiddos are doing really well in math. Today I did some informal assessment to see which kiddos are able to put their number tiles in order and the majority did really well. I had one child in the PM class who struggles with number recognition and counting and several in the AM. When I laid out their tiles and asked them to point to each number, however, they did fairly well (some better than others), so I am hopeful that all of the practice we are doing is helping them remember.
During our daily math routine, one of the activities is to pass out number cards (one per child) and have the kids put them in order by standing in a line in number order. I remember the kids struggling with this task last year and this year they are doing great. Even the kids who are having a harder time are doing well with it.
We also do an activity where I show a number and they have to show me that many fingers. The kids are getting creative and showing me different ways to make each number. For example, typically when we show four, we show all four on one hand, fingers up and thumb tucked away. Today I saw a few kiddos showing two fingers on each hand and a few even showed three fingers on one hand and one on the other. They are getting the concept of number partners, which is something we work on later in the year. It's nice to be able to stretch math out a little more and do some things I didn't do last year because of behavior/management/crowd control issues.
I wrote sub plans after school today since I will be out Wednesday for a training. It took a long time because I always write extensive plans. Since it's the first time writing them this year, I am getting everything down so in the future, I can cut and paste the routine and procedure parts. Writing sub plans, is one of the times teaching two sessions really has its advantages. I write for half a day and then basically just include times for the PM class and write same as AM for each activity. All of my subs are great and they always do fine, but I think I tend to leave a lot more information than necessary.
I am off to bed to read. I still haven't finished my chapters for book club, which meets tomorrow and I haven't gotten in my daily quota for work on my paper. I didn't feel well at all after school, so I got in bed and tried to relax. Mr. Sneaker made dinner, cleaned up, and emptied the dishwasher so I could just chill. Love it!
Still here
It's been almost a week since I last posted. I keep thinking about things I want to write and then I get home and have other things to do and I just don't do it. I made a deal with my advisers that I would have a final copy of my specialty paper completed by October 15th, so I am feeling the pressure and trying to work on that for at least an hour each day after work. So far it's going well and I have made a good amount of progress. Here is a little bit about what I have been up to and what's been going on in the classroom in bullet points.
- I got a new student last week, but he is adjusting well and hasn't shifted the dynamics of the group
- I am still loving my small classes and new groups. I was so impressed on Friday that they were working independently and I could grab kids that were finished to play a phonics game with them.
- I have been working on getting assessments done and I was really pleased to see a few kids really connecting with the phonics lessons that we have done. A few kiddos don't know the letter names at all, but they knew the sounds that we have covered, which tells me they are tuning in and it's working for them. Yay!
- I am seriously in love with my carpet. It is awesome for management, organization, and saving time. Best. Purchase. Ever.
- I did choice time for the first time on Friday as it was the first week that the kiddos had to keep their sticks all week. I did it differently this year and chose 6 activities, which I put out on the tables. It went really well and felt a lot more organized than last year. I was a big meanie and took out the play kitchen that I had last year, so the activities available were all pretty academic (bingo stampers with sights words written in bubble letters, science trays with magnet activities, counting cakes, connecting cubes, stamping markers and regular markers for coloring, and a magnet/building activity). The kids were totally fine with the choices and had fun. I was so happy to not have the drama involved with everybody wanting the kitchen. Yes, I LOVE dramatic play, but we only provide 15 minutes of choice time, so the table activities are great. I am going to try to include math, science, sight words, and art each week along with something for building. Creativity can manifest itself in other ways with those choices.
- I had a few parent helpers cancel this week, but I have been loving my Friday helpers who put together the kids' Friday folders for me. One less thing I have to do on Thursdays after school and a great job for classroom helpers. I am also LOVING my three high school helpers. One comes every day in the PM, which is absolutely fantastic. The other two come every other day, each for an hour. All three girls are terrific and I am finally at a point where having help is not scary because I feel like I am more organized this year--therefore organized enough to know what to have them help me with. The high schoolers are totally hands on with kids and it's wonderful to have extra hands and helpers. I had some technical challenges getting a video set up on Friday so I just passed a story to my helper and got the projector working while she was reading. What could have been stressful and chaotic was totally fine because of her help.
- I am starting to attend a writing group with other members of my cohort on Thursday. We meet for two hours each week just to write. I am hopeful that I will be able to get a lot done so my draft is ready in two weeks! I am really excited about my paper and have been continuing to read about reading instruction, curriculum theories, whole language, culturally responsive instruction etc. etc. I got two new books and they are both awesome. I just wish I was a speed reader because there is so much literature I need/want to read for my paper and I am short on time.
- Speaking of reading, I started a new book club and we are reading Cutting For Stone. Anyone read it? I started it, but didn't really get super pumped about it. I have to read four chapters by Tuesday and I am hoping I can get that done.
- Last but not least, I had an ultrasound on Friday and everything is looking good. Baby Sneaker is looking good and the doc said we will be able to find out the gender at our next appt. I had no idea we would be able to find out this soon, but we are excited.
Hope everyone has a great Monday!
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