I actually made it to spin class this morning before school at 5:30 am! It felt great, but it was a long day that didn't end until 9:30 at night when my doctoral classes were over. Wednesday I join this year's cohort for year 1 core classes and then Thursdays I join up with my cohort that I worked with last year via Skype from Germany for the year 2 core courses. I kind of sensed the nervous energy from the group tonight and I felt a lot more relaxed and informed about the process that they seemed. Everyone seemed nice, but it's tough to have 5 hours of class after 9 hours of work! Whew! I am enjoying some TV to relax now because I won't be in the classroom tomorrow so I feel like I can stay up a bit later. I am attending a training on positive behavior support and classroom management tomorrow. I already took the training during my first year of teaching, but my principal wanted me to do it again since I am teaching a new grade level this year. I told my PM Kinder class that I would not see them tomorrow but I will see them on Friday. One little boy said, "That's a long time." So sweet. The other times I was out for training, I greeted my class and did the morning greeting circle before leaving because the time of the training allowed me to do that. Tomorrow will be the first time my AM class has a sub and the first time the PM class has a sub for the entire session. I am sure it will go great because Jill will be there, but I always worry a bit about what will happen when I am not there! I hope the kiddos are good for Jilly!
I already have a lot of work for one of the classes that started today, but so far from what I can see on the syllabus, the amount of work seems manageable. Hopefully tomorrow's class will stick with that trend. I feel like I haven't posted a ton about what I am doing in the classroom lately. I think that is because I am posting more of that for the parents on my other blog. I kind of like to keep this one separate from that one, but I will try harder to include some info and pics about what we have been up to!
Stations
Today kicked off our first official day of stations where I actually limited the number of children per station and it worked out pretty well. I need to make sure I figure out a rotation so that there is more of a system dictating who chooses their stations first. Since it's choice time, I don't want to assign stations, but I do want to allow children access to stations they are interested in and I also want kiddos to try out different stations in the room. If I just call names randomly, I feel like I am not giving all children equal access to pick their first choice. The most popular station by far was the kitchen area, which I opened today for the first time. It was so cute hearing the scenarios they were thinking up as they played. I had the kids stay in their station the entire time, but once they get used to it, I will ring the bell after fifteen minutes and have them cleanup then switch to another spot.
While the kiddos are in their stations my plan is to pull small groups, but since today was the first day, I didn't do that. I worked 1:1 with some kiddos doing a part of an assessment with them in the morning and then supervised 2 kiddos painting at a time in the afternoon (I had a parent helper do that in the AM!). Tomorrow I need to do some more assessing, but since the classes are smaller during the pullout time, I am hoping it will be a great time to be productive and get in some extra practice with the remaining kids. It's really hard though because I feel badly that the kids that leave do not get playtime and if I try to do assessments or certain projects when they are gone, they are behind once they return. Having those kiddos leave today just made the day go by even faster! Goodbye flexibility in the schedule! I really need to be on point with timing and I hate when we run out of time and have to move onto something else when the kids have not finished something.
Tomorrow after school I start my fall doctoral classes....I always get really excited to start classes and I am definitely excited to meet this year's cohort because I am doing some of my first year core courses with them in addition to second year core courses with the cohort that I already know. I already know one of the teachers who I will take class with this term, so I am excited for her class. I know once I get going I won't be super excited about all of the assignments, but I do enjoy the back to school feeling! Tomorrow my roomie and I are going to spinning class at 5:30 am so it is going to be a LONG day!
While the kiddos are in their stations my plan is to pull small groups, but since today was the first day, I didn't do that. I worked 1:1 with some kiddos doing a part of an assessment with them in the morning and then supervised 2 kiddos painting at a time in the afternoon (I had a parent helper do that in the AM!). Tomorrow I need to do some more assessing, but since the classes are smaller during the pullout time, I am hoping it will be a great time to be productive and get in some extra practice with the remaining kids. It's really hard though because I feel badly that the kids that leave do not get playtime and if I try to do assessments or certain projects when they are gone, they are behind once they return. Having those kiddos leave today just made the day go by even faster! Goodbye flexibility in the schedule! I really need to be on point with timing and I hate when we run out of time and have to move onto something else when the kids have not finished something.
Tomorrow after school I start my fall doctoral classes....I always get really excited to start classes and I am definitely excited to meet this year's cohort because I am doing some of my first year core courses with them in addition to second year core courses with the cohort that I already know. I already know one of the teachers who I will take class with this term, so I am excited for her class. I know once I get going I won't be super excited about all of the assignments, but I do enjoy the back to school feeling! Tomorrow my roomie and I are going to spinning class at 5:30 am so it is going to be a LONG day!
Time is Flying!
I can't believe I didn't post all weekend! I had class on Saturday and then I went to a party with my roommate to celebrate her friend's birthday. The weather on Saturday was GORGEOUS...too bad I was inside most of the day. Sunday it rained a LOT which was also unfortunate because I participated in the Buddy Walk with one of my former students. It was still great to see her, but I wish we could have been outside in the sun instead of hovering under umbrellas and hoods. The Buddy Walk celebrates people with Down syndrome and the announcer mentioned that there were over 1300 people in attendance despite the rain. It was awesome!
I feel like life feels even busier since good TV is coming back this week and I start my weekly classes on Wednesday. I am going to have class both Wednesday and Thursdays which I think will make the weeks go by even faster than they already are! I can't believe I have been back in the U.S. for almost a month and a half already! Almost halfway through the first chunk of time without Mr. Sneaker.
In class this weekend, I found about some great speakers that are presenting at local workshops! Howard Gardner (Mr. Multiple Intelligences) is speaking locally on October 8th and we happen to have that day off from school so I signed up to attend. Sonja Nieto (the author of one of my textbooks on Multicultural Education) is also giving the Keynote Speech this coming weekend at a small conference. I am supposed to have a class to learn about all of the library resources, but her workshop is only $5 for students, so I may sign up anyway and try to attend some of the afternoon sessions. I also just found out that Mo Willems is going to be reading his new book at a somewhat local bookstore! I love his books, so I am thinking about going to see him next Monday too!
The kiddos have been doing okay, but boy are they chatty! My afternoon class is now down to 17 children, which is great, but the morning class feels really busy and less productive in comparison. I feel like it is such a struggle to get everything done! Tomorrow our ELD pullout begins which takes away any flexibility that I have had in my schedule since school started. It will be interesting to see what it's like to have fewer kids in each class and to see if I can get some small groups going while those kiddos are gone. I am not allowed to teach anything new, so my plan is to make that "play time" (with educational activities, of course) while I pull groups of 4 to reinforce literacy concepts, phonics etc. Tomorrow I am going to try and train the remaining kiddos who don't leave to work in stations. I hope that goes well!
Tomorrow I am hopefully going to meet up with a friend of mine who recently moved to Seattle because she will be in town on a business trip...I haven't seen her since my wedding three years ago, so I am looking forward to catching up. She recently got engaged and started working for Starbucks and it's been TOO long since we have chatted!
Life feels really busy right now!
I feel like life feels even busier since good TV is coming back this week and I start my weekly classes on Wednesday. I am going to have class both Wednesday and Thursdays which I think will make the weeks go by even faster than they already are! I can't believe I have been back in the U.S. for almost a month and a half already! Almost halfway through the first chunk of time without Mr. Sneaker.
In class this weekend, I found about some great speakers that are presenting at local workshops! Howard Gardner (Mr. Multiple Intelligences) is speaking locally on October 8th and we happen to have that day off from school so I signed up to attend. Sonja Nieto (the author of one of my textbooks on Multicultural Education) is also giving the Keynote Speech this coming weekend at a small conference. I am supposed to have a class to learn about all of the library resources, but her workshop is only $5 for students, so I may sign up anyway and try to attend some of the afternoon sessions. I also just found out that Mo Willems is going to be reading his new book at a somewhat local bookstore! I love his books, so I am thinking about going to see him next Monday too!
The kiddos have been doing okay, but boy are they chatty! My afternoon class is now down to 17 children, which is great, but the morning class feels really busy and less productive in comparison. I feel like it is such a struggle to get everything done! Tomorrow our ELD pullout begins which takes away any flexibility that I have had in my schedule since school started. It will be interesting to see what it's like to have fewer kids in each class and to see if I can get some small groups going while those kiddos are gone. I am not allowed to teach anything new, so my plan is to make that "play time" (with educational activities, of course) while I pull groups of 4 to reinforce literacy concepts, phonics etc. Tomorrow I am going to try and train the remaining kiddos who don't leave to work in stations. I hope that goes well!
Tomorrow I am hopefully going to meet up with a friend of mine who recently moved to Seattle because she will be in town on a business trip...I haven't seen her since my wedding three years ago, so I am looking forward to catching up. She recently got engaged and started working for Starbucks and it's been TOO long since we have chatted!
Life feels really busy right now!
Back in the Game
I had my first class of fall term tonight with some of my doctoral peeps. I felt somewhat like part of the group last year through my skyping from Germany, but I cannot even express how nice it was to actually be in the same room with them tonight. We met from 4:30-9, which seems like a long time to be sitting in class on Friday night, but the time went by fast and we did so many great activities. We had a potluck dinner to celebrate the completion of our first year. This particular class is a Leadership Seminar that is geared towards helping us manage the workload and stay afloat in the program. There are two professors that are piloting this course and I cannot imagine doing the rest of the work without it. One of the teachers did so many great activities tonight, I already feel like I was never gone from the group.
She spent some time in France this summer and while she was there she chose a postcard for each person in our group and wrote us each a special message. She brought red clown noses (ala Patch Adams) and pins that say "I Did It!" to remind us of all we have accomplished and the importance of maintaining creativity and play as part of work. With all of the hard work and stress that comes along with getting a doctorate, I really appreciate her efforts to relieve the stress and infuse some fun into our classes. Another member of the group brought along some unique cards that he purchased through UNICEF. He suggested that we each select a card that we like and then we passed them around so each person in the group could write a short message to everyone else. I am so pumped about how supportive this group is. Since I am basically trying to squeeze both year 1 and year 2 core courses into one year, I know it will be a very challenging and difficult endeavor to get it all done. The two teachers leading this seminar are so supportive and are doing everything they can to help me complete all that I need to.
We have class from 9-3:30 tomorrow and even though that is a long day to spend in class on the weekend, I am looking forward to spending more time with this group and getting to know them even better.
She spent some time in France this summer and while she was there she chose a postcard for each person in our group and wrote us each a special message. She brought red clown noses (ala Patch Adams) and pins that say "I Did It!" to remind us of all we have accomplished and the importance of maintaining creativity and play as part of work. With all of the hard work and stress that comes along with getting a doctorate, I really appreciate her efforts to relieve the stress and infuse some fun into our classes. Another member of the group brought along some unique cards that he purchased through UNICEF. He suggested that we each select a card that we like and then we passed them around so each person in the group could write a short message to everyone else. I am so pumped about how supportive this group is. Since I am basically trying to squeeze both year 1 and year 2 core courses into one year, I know it will be a very challenging and difficult endeavor to get it all done. The two teachers leading this seminar are so supportive and are doing everything they can to help me complete all that I need to.
We have class from 9-3:30 tomorrow and even though that is a long day to spend in class on the weekend, I am looking forward to spending more time with this group and getting to know them even better.
Fab-u-lous
It's almost Friday, Friday is payday, and I am rolling in Scholastic bonus points! I was recently introduced to the wonderful opportunity of having parents place their Scholastic Book Club orders online. I had several families take advantage of this and they bought a lot of books! Our September order was for $133 and I now have about 1,600 bonus points in my bank. Not to mention, when the books arrive, I will get a $3 coupon for each online order. I love purchasing books from Scholastic because the prices are great and the books are geared towards particular age groups. I have no idea if the orders will continue throughout the year, but 1600 bonus points will buy our classroom a lot of books!
I have class this weekend both on Friday night from 5-9 and Saturday from 9-3:30, but Friday is always a happy day and if I get my buns to bed soon enough I just might get up early and try to squeeze in a workout before school tomorrow morning. Not too sure what the chances of that happening are, but the thought is there!
I have class this weekend both on Friday night from 5-9 and Saturday from 9-3:30, but Friday is always a happy day and if I get my buns to bed soon enough I just might get up early and try to squeeze in a workout before school tomorrow morning. Not too sure what the chances of that happening are, but the thought is there!
Anyone else really excited that Grey's is back? Happy Weekend!
Good for the ego
Teaching Kindergarten requires a lot of energy, a LOT of patience, and it's a lot of hard work, but boy it is good for the ego! My little kiddos are throwing compliments at me left and right and it makes me smile so much. One girl who is the teeniest, cutest little thing was raising her hand for awhile today during my lesson. I didn't call on her right away and finally when the kids were asked to go back to their seats she approached me so she could say what she had been raising her hand to say. She pointed to my shoes and said "this is beauuuty." HOW CUTE! This group is seriously all about my shoes, it's too funny!
Then when my afternoon kiddos arrived, one girl noticed that I had gotten my hair cut and told me I looked pretty. What observant students I have! We haven't even talked about compliments but they are pretty good! I hope I make them feel just as special as they make me feel. :0)
Then when my afternoon kiddos arrived, one girl noticed that I had gotten my hair cut and told me I looked pretty. What observant students I have! We haven't even talked about compliments but they are pretty good! I hope I make them feel just as special as they make me feel. :0)
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