Making a Mess

This morning I brought both Little Sneaker (2 years) and Baby Sneaker (2 months) with me to my classroom because I really wanted to start organizing in there. I wasn't sure how much I would be able to get done with a very curious toddler in tow, but I made some good progress. I didn't take any photos because the room looks a whole lot messier now than it did when we arrived. I spent the entire time taking everything out of the cabinets. All of my stuff is disorganized and mixed up from the move and there were things in the cabinets that belong to other people. I feel kind of bad booting out stuff that people left, but I am pretty sure it should have been moved by now. It's not like I am throwing it out, just moving it out into the hallway.

It was quite an undertaking, but I finally got everything out. I sorted all my stuff by subject so all my math stuff is on one table, all the science/social studies stuff on another table, and all my reading games on a third table. I put all the random stuff in a pile and hung all my literacy bags in a cabinet that I don't plan to use for student stuff.

Now, I am really anxious to get back in there and put stuff away. The school is open for a daycare program all summer and the rooms aren't locked. I no longer have my key because it was turned into the office by my maternity sub so I can't lock the door or else I won't be able to get back in. I don't think anything will get stolen, but you never know. I'd much prefer to have my stuff hidden away in cabinets. Before I start putting stuff back though, I need to figure out a plan of attack to make sure it will all be really organized. I have so much stuff and lots of things that I haven't used in a long time. I am hoping that if I get my stuff more organized, I will be better able to access everything.

I literally could have spent all day in there working, but it was time for my littles to eat and we needed to get home for nap time. I think we will head over again on Wednesday morning. Little Sneaker enjoyed playing with all my stuff so she kept herself busy without making any disastrous messes. She was exhausted when we got home and went right out when I put her down for her nap. Baby Sneaker slept the whole time we were there and still went down for another snooze at 12:30.

While they sleep, I am going to work on my orders for the print shop since they get really slammed at the beginning of the year and orders come back much more quickly over the summer. I have all my orders saved in a folder from last summer, so it should be pretty simple to get that taken care of today.

Do you go into your classroom during the summer? How often do you go?

Organizing

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that I'm not the only one that loves color coding. I am currently working on organizing the materials that go with our new phonics program and I just about spent a fortune at Staples buying binders that match the ones containing my Journeys materials. 

Last summer I purchased Journeys Through The Year Kindergarten Edition from Teachers Pay Teachers. It includes binder covers with different colored backgrounds and I was really excited to find binders in those same colors at Staples. They weren't cheap, but I just like the way they look and I think that color coding by different units is helpful.

This year we are using a new phonics program called ECRI which stands for Enhanced Core Reading Instruction. ECRI is not a curriculum itself, it's a set of instructional routines, so our district paid a lot of money to have those instructional routines aligned specifically with Journeys so that we can more explicitly teach letters, sounds, phonics, and word blending using the scope and sequence from Journeys. The ECRI materials are broken down into units just like Journeys, so yesterday I went back to Staples to buy more coordinating binders. I used the same binder covers from the Journeys bundle and just wrote ERCI at the top of each. 

Now, for each Journeys unit, I have 1 binder with all the lesson cards, retelling cards, sight word cards etc., and 1 binder with all of my ECRI materials for that unit. 

I have the organizing itch, so I think I am going to bring both Little Sneaker and Baby Sneaker to my classroom tomorrow so I can start organizing my shelves and my cabinets. I don't know how long we'll last, but I figure it's worth a shot. I have stuffed animals and a little market stand among my classroom stuff, so I am hoping those will keep Little Sneaker occupied for at least an hour. 

How do you use color coding in your classroom? 

Classroom Progress

I spent the morning in my new classroom arranging furniture with the help of my wonderful friend Jill. We were only there for about 2 hours, but we made really good progress. There's still a ton to do, but the basic setup is good to go!

This will be our area for reading instruction. The alphabet cards and word wall will go on that wall. It looks so plain without them!

 This area is my work area with my desk and my curriculum materials. The mailboxes in front of my desk are where students put their completed work. The round table to the right is going to be my parent helper table. To the right of that table is a door leading outside. I am really excited because there is a cute little area out there that will be great for outdoor learning activities or just for working outside. It's on the side of the building so it's pretty secluded and quiet. 

My shelves clearly need organization, but I just tried to find all of my teacher manuals so they are all in one place. My stuff was moved when I wasn't there because I was on maternity leave so things are pretty much all over the place and really disorganized. 

View from the back. I am SO happy that I have round tables this year. I think they will work much better than the huge rectangular ones. 

The white cart houses our iPads and that is by the classroom door that leads to the hallway. Each kiddo has his/her own magazine bin which houses his/her iPad during the school day as well as journals, morning work, headphones etc. I put their names and photos on those and they each have a designated spot. The dark brown shelf will either have their book boxes (if I go through with doing The Daily 5 this year) or a little classroom library. 

I decided to put my second carpet at the back of the room. This will be a gathering place for story time and also a gathering spot for math introductions/review. The wall will be a place where I post math concepts and vocabulary we are working on. 

I can't wait to get back there and organize my stuff. Baby Sneaker came along this morning and slept almost the entire time, so that was helpful. Most of my belongings are already in the cabinets so my next goal is to literally take EVERYTHING out and sort by subject so that I can get everything organized. I have a lot of cabinet space, which is nice.

Although moving a classroom isn't exactly fun, I actually prefer our new home. All four Kinder classrooms are close and are located near bathrooms and the library. We have a slightly longer walk out to the buses, but we can use the door that leads outside and walk around on the sidewalk. 

Have you started prepping for the school year already?

What have you been working on? 

Moving

This year I am moving to a classroom at the opposite end of the building that has been my home for the past four years. Moving a classroom is kind of like moving a small apartment, but I consider myself lucky that this is the first move I've had since returning from Germany. 

The setup of my new classroom is different from the previous one, so I am in the process of deciding where everything will go. I am kind of excited because I like to keep things fresh and rearrange every year anyway. Tomorrow Little Sneaker is going to daycare to see her friends, so Baby Sneaker and I will head over to my school to do some initial furniture arranging. 

Last week I stopped by school to meet the new principal and I snapped a few quick (and somewhat blurry) pics of my new room. 

This is the only area  of the room that I have a vision for so far. To the right of the chalkboard (yes, that's a CHALKboard), I plan to have my carpet area. The alphabet and word wall will go along the right wall (the only wall long enough to fit all the letter cards) and the wall directly next to the chalkboard will have my reading focus wall and any info pertaining to our reading program/themes etc. I was told that the chalkboard is being replaced with a whiteboard before school starts, but I just don't get why a chalkboard has lasted this long! 

I am really excited that our amazing custodian found enough circles tables for me this year. I have had huge rectangular ones before and they are just so BIG. I think the circle ones will make it easier to maneuver around amongst the kiddos when they are working and I also think the plastic magazine bins I use for their iPads will fit more nicely on the round tables. Their buckets will almost function as dividers between students who share the table.  I will probably use the bookshelves to section off the carpet area from my desk area and I'll keep my desk over by the window.

I'm not sure what I will do with the wall in between the cabinets. Maybe that will be a good place to display student work or for our family tree. I will probably put some rectangular tables back there for small group time and for a spot where parents can work if they come to help out. 

Tomorrow I am hoping to get the carpet and tables set up where I want them jus to see how everything looks. I have a second carpet which is an oval and I'm not sure where I will put that. I like to use that carpet for story time and sometimes math when I don't assign seats, but I can't really picture where it will fit in this new room. 

I will post some "after" pics once I am done tomorrow. 

What is your favorite part about starting a new school year? 

Do you start fresh each year or keep things the same as you've done them in the past? 

App-time at Naptime: Letter School

Let's Talk

Letter School

My Kiddos LOVE LOVE LOVE Letter School!

They are always super excited to use it and it's really effective in helping them learn how to correctly form letters and numbers. 

The price of the app is $2.99 and it is money well spent!

Rather than include screenshot photos for this app, I decided to make a video because it will better demonstrate the animation.

To recap (just in case you didn't make it through the entire video)

• Engaging animations
• Self correcting--students cannot incorrectly form letters
• Includes Zaner-Bloser, Handwriting Without Tears, and D'Nealian handwriting styles
• Provides practice in uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and numbers 
• Students can use either a finger or a stylus for writing practice

Model Kindergarten

I recently signed up to get updates from EdWeek via email and today's update included an interesting link.

I highly recommend that you click on the link and watch the short video. Susan Kempton, the author of the book Let's Find Out: Building Content Knowledge with Young Children, takes you on a tour of her classroom. Let's just say it doesn't seem like a "typical" Kindergarten classroom...

I am very curious where she teaches and what kind of school it is (public, private, charter?). 

I am interested in reading her book, yet I am not sure if it would just frustrate me. 

Her classroom seems amazing, yet VERY different from my own.

No doubt, her students are learning a ton and LOVE going to school each day.

Getting greeted with a big hug follow by visits with a variety of live animals that are the classroom pets, followed by choice time to explore a variety of fun stations include big wooden blocks, sewing, and a pretend dentist's office for dogs and cats, as well as opportunities to look through tons of interesting books...who wouldn't want to be in her class?!

But, watching the video left me wondering...

How does she teach reading? 

How does she teach math?

Is all the learning exploratory and incidental? 

This strikes me as what Kindergarten should look like. Yet, in most cases I think Kindergarten no longer resembles this kind of classroom environment and this kind of learning. 

What do you think of Susan's classroom? 

What do you want to know about her teaching?