Weebly

Last year our Kindergarten program got infused with a technological blast because my team was selected to participate in the district's Digital Learning Collaborative. We are incredibly lucky to have iPads for all of our kiddos, which resulted in a lot of instructional revamping. I really wish I had posted more about teaching with iPads last year, but I think I was too engrossed in trying to figure everything out that I forgot to stop and take photos and create posts detailing our iPad adventures. (And, I was also figuring out how to do the whole working mama thing and writing my dissertation so blogging took a backseat...) This year I hope to do a lot more writing about what it looks like to have iPads in Kindergaren. I know there are other bloggers out there who focus exclusively on teaching with iPads, or even teaching with iPads specifically in Kindergarten, but my blog will always be a bit more eclectic because I like to remain open to talking about anything and everything having to do with teaching, learning, and my life. I would, however, like to make teaching with technology more prominent than it has been. Teaching with iPads is the biggest way that we have integrated technology into our program and our instruction, but I've also made some changes to other things based on what I've learned this past year through the DLC team. 

In the past, I used blogger for a classroom blog. I really like blogger as a platform, but when my district switched over to google, I had trouble moving my blog over to my new school account. What resulted was that I could make new posts, but I couldn't edit any of the pages I had linked to my tabs at the top. So, the tab that led to a meet the teacher page contained outdated information that I could no longer edit. I also had a page detailing classroom info such as birthday policy, homework routine etc, and although I had made changed to those procedures,  I couldn't change the descriptions on the blog. Now, I don't really think that my students' parents flock to my blog on the daily to get the 411 on our classroom activities, but I didn't like having outdated/incorrect information posted.

So, after hearing a lot about Weebly from various colleagues, I decided to give it a try. I created a new classroom website and I am really happy with how it's turning out. 

Using Weebly is really easy and very intuitive. You can add pages and then customize each page by simply dragging the elements from the tool bar on the left. 

You can also choose from a variety of templates or you can upgrade to Weebly Pro and customize even more (I am using the free version).

I remember really struggling to figure out how to add elements I wanted using Blogger. I had to google tutorials to add things like tabs and it was really time consuming, but Weebly automatically creates tabs at the top so you can have a variety of separate pages to provide information to parents. I have created a blog page where I will post on a weekly basis about classroom activities and there are icons on the top that allow me to easily share on facebook, twitter, and email. It's easy to add photo galleries, slideshows, and other images and that's awesome because photos mean more to parents than just reading about activities. I also have a page detailing our Kindergarten curriculum with links to the Common Core State Standards in each area. As the year goes on, I will also maintain a page with information about all of the apps that we are using so parents can download them at home as well. 

So far, I have invested very little time in building my site and I think it will be a great resource for parents. I am excited to show them at Back to School night and emphasize to them that this site is replacing classroom newsletters so they should check in often. 

If you're looking for a platform for a class website I highly recommend that you check out Weebly. 

Do you have a classroom website? 

Has email/tweeting/blogging replaced traditional newsletters?

Do you Dojo?

I've been hearing a lot about Class Dojo lately, so I decided to look into it and created an account for myself. For those of you who aren't familiar...

You can log in on a computer and see your class 

(Note: this is a sample class. I do not teach Matt Damon and Johnny Depp)

Or, you can use the Class Dojo app on your iPad or iPhone

From the data perspective, I think this looks like a great way to collect data on student behavior and have sufficient info readily available for report cards and conferences. 

However, I am not sure I really understand how this motivates kids and how functional it is to keep track of an entire class using this system. I thought I heard that the app makes different noises depending on whether you make a note of positive or negative behavior, but that's not happening when I use it on my phone. Maybe I need to change a setting or something...

Anyway, I have also run into this article on facebook a few times this week. It has got me thinking about the behavior management system I use and, honestly, has got me feeling a bit defensive due to all the educators out there arguing that a visible behavior management system (like the red, yellow, green stoplight one pictured in the article) is "publicly shaming" children. I do not at all feel that the system I use shames children or embarrasses them in front of their peers; yet, that article just makes me think because I would never want that to be the case and many educators are against such systems. 

Things that make you go hmmm....

So I looked into class Dojo as an alternative. If I managed this data on my iPad, it wouldn't be "out there" for all students to see. Yet, am I not supposed to let a student know when they are not behaving according to my expectations? Is that supposed to be a secret? If I make a verbal comment about who is getting a point or losing a point, then the kids are still aware of who is "good" and who is "not good." If I don't say anything and just plug it in, how exactly are kids getting specific feedback?

Can someone walk me through this please????

Do you Dojo?

What makes Class Dojo different from those others systems? 

Do you find it easy to manage? 

The system I currently use involves each child having three sticks that they keep/lose based on their behavior. At the beginning of the year sticks are replaced daily, then as they become competent with rules/procedures, the sticks are only replaced weekly (Once a stick is lost, it is out for the remainder of the week). Sticks are lost when students are not following expectations. Each students' sticks are in a little pocket so they can see how many they have. If all three sticks are lost, a student does not earn choice time on Friday. Instead of choice time, they sit with me and talk about why they lost sticks and I fill out a note to send home to parents that needs to be signed and returned. Students who have 1, 2, or 3 sticks on Friday get to have choice time (which lasts 15 minutes). Students who keep all 3 sticks for the whole week get a special certificate to acknowledge their good behavior on Friday and we clap for them.

Personally, I don't see anything horrible about this system. Yet, comments from other teachers on the stoplight system post made me feel uncomfortable. When teachers throw out words like "punitive behavior management" and "publicly shaming" to describe something that I am doing, I do not feel good about it. I don't agree; yet, these are knowledgable professionals who are finding huge fault with something that I am using. It's not personal, but it is. Is calling a child out for poor behavior truly "shaming" them? I don't want children to feel stress or embarrassment, but I do want them to know what is okay and what is not okay. 

Some things I am considering for this year:

• using numbers instead of names on the chart I have posted (easy)
• moving the chart closer to my desk so it is more private (easy)
• replacing lost sticks during the week for good behavior  (not sure how this would play out)
• using a new system altogether (maybe Dojo)

Please tell me your thoughts! 

I want my behavior management system to focus on the positive and I think I do that because kids are excited to keep their sticks and most kids keep their sticks most week. If a stick is lost, it comes with a reminder that whatever behavior that caused it is not okay. I'm not mean, I don't yell, and I certainly don't shame kids when they lose a stick. When three sticks are lost they don't play, but is this a consequence or punishment? What's the difference? Most of the time every child earns choice time. Most of the time, kids who lose a stick realize they don't like to lose sticks and make efforts to keep them by following expectations. When kids struggle with the system, I don't let them continuously fail, I provide them with something more tailored to their needs. 

Lots of questions in today's post because I really want your feedback and input! 

Organizing Classroom Books

This morning I took Baby Sneaker to my classroom to attempt some classroom library organizing.

Last year a good portion of my books were put away in my cabinets to make room on my shelves for my games and learning activities. I realized it was really tough to locate books when I wanted them and I decided to change things around this year. Because I share the prime real estate shelf space with my classroommate, I cannot keep all of my things easily accessible, but I do want to have a better system for organizing my books so that I can keep track of them more easily.

I've seen many ideas on Pinterest for how to organized books, but most often they are to organize the books in a way that makes them easily accessible for kids. I am not trying to covet my books and not let kids touch them, but I am keeping my books on a "teacher shelf" and only putting out a limited number at a time on my rain gutter shelves for kids to look at. In half day Kindergarten, our time is so scheduled, that the books I have are really for read alouds and instructional purposes and we don't do a reading workshop where kids can self select and read on their own. I am not planning to utilize baskets and labels like I've seen a lot of other teachers do, but I wanted a way to sort my books by time of year, theme, author, etc. with a way to clearly separate the sections.

So, I decided that rather than looking to how other teachers organize their classroom libraries, I really needed to look to the actual library. When Baby Sneaker and I went to storytime at our local library I liked how they separate their books by the first letter of the author's last name and they have dividers to indicate the letter for each section. I tried to using cardstock to make dividers and it looks okay, but I think they need to be laminated. They are too long as they are right now for me to laminate them with the pouches I bought, so I still need to figure out how to make them sturdier. I may try to cut them a bit shorter if it will still allow enough to stick out on the end.

My next step will be to print out labels and stick them on so that I can easily look through the dividers and locate the books I am looking for. The bottom shelf is kind of a journey through the school year.

Kindergarten/Back to School

Expectations/Behavior

Fall

October/Halloween

November/Thanksgiving

Winter/Snow

Gingerbread Stories

Christmas/Santa (don't get a lot of use out of those)

Groundhog's Day

Valentine's Day

Presidents/USA

100th Day of School

End of the Year

Some additional groups are:

Multicultural Stories

Individuality/Being Special

Colors

Math

Science

Then on the middle shelf I started grouping by favorite authors/characters

Pete the Cat

Froggy

Dr. Seuss

Berenstein Bears

Little Monster

Clifford

Mo Willems

I have a huge pile left that still needs to be sorted, but working with a 16-month old in tow is pretty difficult. I had this dream that maybe she would nap if I brought her blanket and her paci and of course Curious George, but she wanted nothing to do with that. 

While she naps at home, I'm going to work on my labels and then hopefully I can finish the rest on Friday since my in-laws will be visiting and they can stay at home with Baby Sneaks while she naps so I can have some really good work time by myself. 

I don't know why I am feeling this way, but I have this huge urge to organize everything. I have gone through almost all of the closets in my house and I want to do the same in my classroom--it's just harder to get time in there without my mini tornado that takes everything out while I am trying to make things neater. She can be a great helper at home, but there is way too much tempting stuff in the classroom for her to check out. 

How do you organize your classroom library?

 Do your students have access to all of your books or do you keep some in a location that is off limits for kids?

Experimenting

Let's talk baking.

When I was taking courses for my ESOL endorsement, I took a class about culture. One of our assignments was to bring in a food/dish representing our culture. One woman brought in a recipe for her grandmother's banana bread and I have since then never made my own mom's banana bread recipe because I really liked this classmate's grandma's recipe. I still have the handout she gave us with the recipe. At the top she wrote:

Every time I went to my grandma's house when I was a kid, she had warm banana bread waiting for me. I never knew if she did it just for me, or if she had always made it. It is a memory that I associate with all of our holidays, family dinners, camping trips etc. I remember making it with my grandma and even saving our yucky bananas to take to her house. This is something I make now when I want to think about things from my childhood and wallow in nostalgia (or whenever I have nasty bananas).

And that, my friends, is why I decided to make banana bread (well, muffins actually) tonight.

Nasty bananas.

When the peels start to appear more black than yellow you know you have a situation on your hands.

A situation that requires pulling out a recipe that is crusted with batter and the Kitchen Aid to get some bread or muffins started fast.

Usually I follow the exact recipe, but tonight I decided to experiment with some innovation.

The original recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of sugar. Since I am making these for Baby Sneaker, I wanted to cut down on the amount of sugar, but also add some fat and calories because she is a tiny peanut that can stand to have some hearty grub.

So, I only used 1/2 cup of sugar and added 1/2 cup of full fat Greek yogurt in addition to about 1/2 cup of chunky peanut butter to the mix.

peanut butter and bananas ==> #winning!

My special version looks like this:

Ingredients:
3 or 4 overripe bananas ( I used 2.5 because that's all I had)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I used full fat)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 lb (1 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners. Place the bananas and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and "whip the bejesus out of them" for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Add yogurt, peanut butter, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Whip well and scrape down the sides of the bowl before each addition. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, and mix to combine. Pour into prepared muffin cups. Bake until golden brown and firm in the center.

My recipe yielded 15 muffins and I baked them for 20 minutes. I started with 15 minutes then continued for 3 more then a final 2 because I didn't want to overcook them.

yum!

Mr. Sneaker gave a thumbs up and asked for more, so that's a good sign, but the real test will be if Baby Sneaker likes it in the morning. 

I thought the batter tasted a bit salty (I used salted peanut butter) but the cooked muffin doesn't taste too salty. I do think they would be even better with the addition of chocolate chips, but I left those out since these are for Baby Sneaker and I was trying up the health factor and reduce the sugar. The look very plain, so chips would make them look a bit better too. But, the overall taste is pretty good. They are not as moist as the original recipe, but that means they are less sticky and that is not a bad thing considering sticky equates to messy little hands and face. 

Are you a by the book recipe follower or creative innovator when you bake/cook?

Do you have a favorite food memory?

800

Ok guys. This is monumental. This is my 800th post on Sneaker Teacher. 

Cue the party horns and confetti. 

Woo Hoo!

I wish I had a big announcement or a giveaway. 

But, I don't.

I feel like I need to say something really important.

 But, I really just want to share the photos of what I accomplished in my room today....

It's far from done, but I only had 3 hours to work before I had to go to the dentist, so I did as much as I could with my classroommate. It doesn't look like much, but putting up all that paper takes time...

I was disappointed to realize that the borders I bought were in my car, which Mr. Sneaker took today because it has our only carseat and he drops Baby Sneaker off at daycare. So although we put up fresh paper for our display boards, they are lacking fun borders to make them look complete. 

oops.

 This will be the space where I gather with the kiddos every morning to review our letter of the week, words of the week, and to do some quick math practice. I moved my math wall to a new location this year so I could have separate walls for phonics and for journeys.

Fortunately this wall stayed in really good shape last year, so I actually didn't have to do anything to it. I am not sure if those things will all stay up against that wall, but we want to have a space for our "throne" that allows us to access/reference either of the display walls. I have not yet put up anything on this wall which will be dedicated to our reading program. The program comes with large Focus Wall posters for each lesson (so a poster that gets switched out each week) and we want to add something cute to decorate it that goes with the theme of journeys (maybe a hot air balloon?)

This will be our phonics wall which will be home to our alphabet, our letter cards that we add as we complete each sound lesson, and our word wall. I plan to staple the words below the picture cards as we introduce them. We decided to leave some open space at the top for photos or student work that we can hang throughout the year. And, you might notice that my alphabet is really low. I've never had it that low before, but I think that it's easier for the kids to see and reference since they are small and sitting down on the carpet. Plus, then I can add the letter cards on top and the words below. If I want them utilizing the word wall, then I figure it should be more on eye level. I feel like I am breaking some rule by having it that low, but that's what we decided we want to try this year. 

All of these areas will look better once they are actually completed and I will post more pictures then. The biggest change is that my classroommate and I want to save more space for student work instead of having all the spaces covered and decorated right off the bat. I want the visuals to be meaningful, which means things will be added as we go. We also want to preserve space to put up more photos of students. 

I'm really trying to hold back and not put everything out in its place now because I want to avoid having students and siblings touching everything when they come to drop supplies off the week before school. I love getting everything all set, but I just need to think about all those untrained kids grabbing at everything and I remember that I can do all that in good time. 

I really wish I could have stayed all day. I love setting up my room and getting everything organized. I need time to attack my desk, file cabinet, and shelves. 

I need to seriously organize my books. I should check out Pinterest for some ideas on organizing books. ooh that sounds fun!

When I picked Baby Sneaker up from daycare she was sleeping on a little cot with all the big kids instead of in a crib like she did last year. When did my baby get so big?

She was wiped out after spending time with her friends today.

I'm going back in tomorrow to chat with the new teacher on our team. I don't know if I will be able to get much done because Baby Sneaker is coming with me (yes, now I have a grabby child of my own who just might wreak havoc in my classroom), but hopefully I can at least staple the borders up!

Do you decorate everything before school starts or add as the year progresses?

Do you cover every square inch of space or use your real estate selectively?

TPT Treasures

I spent a lot of time laminating today in preparation for spending some time setting up my classroom tomorrow, so I thought I would share some of the TPT treasures that I am loving right now. Most of them are for math, so I also spent some time organizing math files so that I can have my loot organized as I go through the year. 

So, first I'll show you what I got. 

Then I'll tell you what I plan to do with it and how I'm organizing it. 

Sounds like fun, right?

Common Core {Kindergarten Math Vocab list & cards}

This packet contains lots of math vocabulary cards with images to help illustrate the definition. Math vocabulary is really important so these will help me stay accountable for using "math words" and will give the kiddos a good picture representing what I am talking about. 

Math 3D Shape {Mini Posters} for the Primary Classroom

My kiddos always have a tough time learning the names of the 3-D shapes so I am trying really hard to gather resources with good images to show 3-D shapes (in addition, of course, to having actual models to show the kids). These posters are great for showing 3-D shapes and a real life example. 

 Solving Math Problems {Strategy Posters for Addition} Common Core

I LOVE these posters that provide visuals for different ways to solve math problems. The images are really cute and I think this will be a great addition to all the story problem work we have to do.

"Owl" About Numbers {Math Posters 1-10} Kindergarten Common Core

We have a "number parade" that goes along with our math program to reinforce number order 1-10, but I love how these number cards show the various representations of each number. Each card shows the numeral, number word, dots on a 10-frame, tally marks, and how the number looks in dice dots. I think this will help provide differentiation for kids who know their numbers right off the bat because I can have them show me the numbers in the variety of ways these cards model. 

Shape Friends {Posters and Poems}

I have been really surprised by how difficult it is for some kiddos to learn the names of basic shapes. This packet includes a variety of posters in both black and white and color that show 2-D shapes. There are plain shapes, shapes with faces, and shape poems. I plan to do a lot of shape review so I'm excited to have additional visuals for my kiddos. 

Shout to Cheryl at Primary Graffiti who made these!

Then a few things for Reading & Writing...

Writers Workshop POSTER: Adding DETAILS using FEELING WORDS.

I'm very excited about this poster visual because as part of narrative writing, the kiddos have to express how they felt about what they did. I get a lot of "I felt good" or "I felt happy," so this poster will give a few more examples of feelings that we can talk about and hopefully include in journal writing. 

Journeys Through the Year...Kindergarten Edition

This was a bit of a splurge at $25.00, but I know that quite a bit of work went into making this. I am planning to have a wall dedicated to our new reading program, which is Journeys. This collection focuses on what should go on the word wall and includes all of the essential questions, comprehension strands, phonics we focus on and everything is labeled with the particular lessons it goes with. It also has binder covers so that all the materials can be organized into binders for each unit. Great stuff. The cards might be a bit small, yet I'll take it considering it's all ready to go! 

Now for my plans...

My plan is to create a much better math wall than I have had in the past. I am moving the math wall to a different area in the room and plan to make it a lot more interactive that it has been in the past. I would like to make the calendar and the 120 chart staple items that remain all year, but also add a space at the top where I change out the posters and cards depending on what we are studying. I had shapes posted all year last year, but some kids still had trouble because the poster just stayed on the wall and we didn't really interact with it. I want to use the math wall as part of a new morning review so that we can look at and talk about vocabulary every day. 

I have different things to post for each of the CCSS strands, so I will change the top section of the math board at the beginning of each unit. Once a unit is over, the visuals I used will then move over to the side of the board specifically for reviewing concepts. I hope this will be a great way to learn the current content better and continuously review as we go. 

I decided that in order to keep track of all the things I got and when I want to use them I should make file folders for each CCSS strand. That way at the beginning of each unit I can locate what I purchased and put it to use. 

 Measurement & Data

 Counting & Cardinality

 Geometry

Numbers & Operations in Base Ten 

Operations & Algebraic Thinking

I'm excited to get into my room tomorrow with my classroommate and start getting some of these instructional boards ready. We only have a few hours together because I have a dentist appointment at noon, but we'll try and get as much done as we can. 

I think setting up my room in preparation for the school year is one of my favorite parts of the school year. But this year, I swear that I will remember it's not necessary to put everything out before we have our supply drop because there will always be kids who start playing with anything and everything they can get their hands on and who will ring my bell and that always drives me nuts!