A new blog or a new direction

So I've been playing with the idea of taking this blog in a new direction or perhaps starting a new one. I've had a few teachers message me or become my friend on Facebook for some help on using a Smartboard in a kindergarten/ early childhood classroom. We are blessed to have one in our classroom (mounted w/ LCD projector and speakers). and I try to utilize it as much as I can on a daily basis. I am steadily building up an arsenal of Smartboard lessons and tips, created by myself. or borrowed from colleagues, that I think might help others who are looking to use for more than a giant movie screen.

I've also been thinking about starting a "next year" blog. As any good educator does, I'm constantly reflecting on activities. events, and lessons. I'll have grand epiphanies on how I can improve for next year, yet the next time it (activity. event, or lesson) I can barely remember how I originally did it.

We'll see. I have enough trouble keeping up with the two blogs I already have.

We're back!

So I was too exhausted to post on our first official day back from Spring Break, so here is a quick recap:

Our schedule has been overhauled to accommodate centers twice a day, literacy in the morning and developmental in the afternoon. It was chaos for a bit, however, it smoothed out and I was able to work with two reading groups and informally assess where we are. My superkids totally blew me away with their reading; we are exactly on target for Spring (which is a pretty big deal considering they had a string of subs until October when I was hired)! Ms. M, our literacy coach, returned to our class, much to the delight of my budding sprouts. We learned, we laughed, we played, and it was a fantastic start to the last quarter.

Today, we added to our numbers, bringing our class count back up to twenty. Our new friend was shy, but was welcomed warmly, and soon felt at ease. Again, chaos ensued when it was center time, but we figured it out and got down to business.

I realize this is not a very detailed post, however, I am one tired teacher. I will try to do better on the morrow.

Ready

So it's the last day of Spring Break, and I am more than ready to see my cherubs again. I've been housebound for the past 48 hours due to the "blizzard," and used the time to get some school projects out of the way. Our new center system is complete (for now), and our classroom website is finally up and running. I am excited for spring and all the newness it brings, and the growth I am sure to see in my sprouts. I'm ready for discovery and exploration and lots of laughter and learning. I love my job!

Truth in Play

I am a big advocate for play. I think it crucial to the way children develop socially, emotionally, and cognitively. It allows children to express what they may not be able to during direct one-on-one conversation, and provides teachers/parents/child specialists a chance to glimpse the world of a child, as evidenced by a particular conversation in my classroom.

During Free Centers, it is not uncommon for my students to involve me in their imaginative play. One of my boys, who I have mentally nicknamed Warrior, decided he wanted to be a bad robot.

"Ms.S, I'm going to kill you."

"Really, why?"

"Because I am a bad robot."

"Why are you a bad robot? Why not be a good robot?"

"I don't know. I'm just bad. Maybe I came from a bad factory."

Now, many people would have flipped out after hearing his initial statement, given the current climate from recent events. But I know how little boys play, and more importantly, I know this kid, so I didn't take it as a threat, but a compliment. He felt comfortable enough with me to include me in his play, to invite me into his world, which for this little boy is a big deal. But this conversation did confirm that there is much turmoil under his clam, quiet everyday demeanor. My heart aches for him, and all I can do is continue to love him and pray that he comes to understand that he is not a bad robot, no matter what the other voices in his life say.

Fantastic Friday!

What a great day to start Spring Break!

We had our EHES Olympic Closing Ceremony during Harmony on Friday. It was fun to see all the kids dressed in their grade levels/countries colors, wearing the hats of their country, and waving all the different flags. My little Olympians loved chanting/screaming "U.S.A!" as loud as they possibly could, and cheering when the medal winners were announced. Our class won a silver medal in Music, one of the two medals Team USA/kindergarten won. There are no words to describe the look of pride on ALL of kindergarten when Molly, our representative, went up on the medal stand.

After Harmony, we had just enough time for our morning drink & restroom break and morning recess before lunch. Pizza day and a silver medal; my sprouts were on cloud nine.

Afterward, we finished Dr.Seuss week out with reading The Foot Book. I then announced we were going to play rhyming bingo to help us with our rhyming skills. I was rewarded with "Thank you Ms. S! " "You're my very best teacher." and lots of I love you's. (I'm pretty sure this was more because of the prizes, than actually playing the game, but whatever motivates them to play!).

Playing Bingo in my class is loud, hilarious, and LOUD. I'm sure if someone would have walked in, they would have thought it was utter chaos. However, I love that we are loud; to me it says we are actively engaged in, and excited about learning. Each word I called out would be rhymed by everyone in unison, whether it was on their bingo card or not. We played three rounds (my usual limit), and had three winners. I only had one crier, which I consider a success.

Free centers were after bingo, which is also a pretty loud activity. My kids imaginations were on fire; I was served several delicious meals, visited by a team of doctors who cured me of "dying", and even rescued from a killer robot.

We ended our day with activity (art), snack, recess, and of course the Treasure Box. We did our goodbye song, and my kids were off to a week of quality time with their families. It was a long, loud, eventful day; the perfect end to Dr.Seuss week, and a great start to Spring Break!

Terrific Thursday

Today was "Theodore Thursday" and we had green eggs and ham! Our creative art teacher even created some Seussian verses ala Green Eggs and Ham using the names of each kindergarten teacher. My sprouts thought it was the coolest.

Of course, we read the book and discussed how the main character thinks green eggs and ham are gross but finds that they are very yummy. I then served the green eggs and ham scramble I made in the morning to my kids. Their reactions were what I expected: "Ummm, are these really eggs?" "This looks gross!" Their reactions after eating them, however, I was not expecting: " These are delicious! Can I have some more? It is soooo good!"

If you have ever seen green scrambled eggs with chopped up lunch meat ham in it, you know it doesn't look good and (to me) smells/ tastes even worse. Besides a little butter, salt, and pepper it was straight eggs and ham (instead of the delicious breakfast casserole I was supposed to make). But they loved, and even more exciting, they loved writing about it. We did a shared writing in the morning after announcements, an invitation to the principals to join us for green eggs and ham. My little writers also shared their opinion about green eggs and ham, which will soon adorn our bulletin board.

It was thrilling to watch my sprouts try something new, form their very own opinions, and then share them. It made me realize how much they've grown in the short time I've had them. Before I know it, they will be first graders.

Wacky Wednesday

Yesterday was "Wacky Wednesday" in our Dr. Seuss Week. We wore silly socks and read Wacky Wednesday and a few other Dr. Seuss books. By wore silly socks, I mean that we got to walk around in our classroom with no shoes on. My little buddies were delighted. "You mean we are going to do Morning Math in our socks?! That's wacky!!!" In fact, I think wacky has become the hottest word in kindergarten. "Ms. S , look at the bus! It has two steering wheels, that is soooooo wacky!"

Word to the wise: If you ever read Wacky Wednesday to young children, there is a bathroom scene with partial nudity. Consider yourself warned.

Tophat Tuesday...

aka Terrible Tuesday! We continued our Dr.Seuss week today, focusing on the Cat in the Hat. During Bell Work, students colored, cut, and assembled their Cat in the Hat hats. We all had our hats finished/mostly finished by the time it was time to go to our "special assembly." Now, I am all for school plays, and for showing of all of the hard work the wonderful 2nd graders have done, however, this was the worst week ever (for kindergarten) to have a play. My little ones were already excited about Dr.Seuss week and all that it entails, but disrupting our morning routine and not having enough time to even do calendar makes us certifiably INSANE. Not to mention that today was the first class rotation for Dr. Seuss week (instead of all of us coming up with numerous Seussian activities, my team decided we would choose one activity and rotate our classes in the afternoon). And that our special was combined with 1st & 2nd grade today.

By center time, my kids had transformed into little ping pong balls; they were bouncing off the walls. Thankfully, we were able to reign it in a bit with a never-been-read-or-heard-before Dr.Seuss book, and then outside recess. Then we went home.

Thank goodness for Spring Break! I don't know how much more of this Spring fever we can take!

Mixed Up Monday

Today was the first day of our Dr. Seuss Week, a week filled with wonderfully wacky themes and literature. Today was Mixed-Up Monday, for which we got to wear our pajamas to school It was a wonderful day of reading and literacy games/activities. We spent our morning reading block with Dr. Seuss' ABC and played Alphabet Bingo. I gave prizes (bubbles) out to the winners, which added an element of excitement, and afforded me an opportunity to talk about graceful losing and playing for fun.

Side note: I know a lot of teachers who try and make everything fair/equal for their students, especially in the lower grades. I've never been a fan of that philosophy; I think it is setting children up for even bigger disappointment later in life. In my opinion, it's better to learn how to deal with it in smaller situations (bingo), so that bigger situations (losing a national competition) are not as shocking/damaging to a child's self-esteem.

In the afternoon, we read Hop on Pop and Fox in Socks, and had all kinds of fun with rhymes, not to mention some much needed practice. This year, we have found rhyming to be a very difficult skill to master. We topped off our afternoon with a Dr.Seuss Rhyme Match game, which everyone enjoyed thoroughly. Of course, it made it so much better that we were in our pajamas. Seriously, who else gets the privilege of going to work in pajamas?

I love my job!

Spring Fever...

has sprung. It was positively insane today.

On the news a few weeks ago, a kindergarten teacher was in hot water for cutting one of her students braids. Of course, the mother was irate, and the teacher was appropriately disciplined. Her reason for cutting the braid...the student would not stop playing with it.

A few weeks ago, I laughed...today, I totally know where she is coming from.

While I was able to control my emotions enough to avoid making the 10 o'clock news, getting through today was as hard as whistling peanut butter. Every 10 seconds I was reminding a talkative student that it was learning time, or "helping" someone control their bodies (by helping, I mean isolation and think time, otherwise known as a timeout). However, we managed to make it through all of our lessons today, and even managed to squeeze in some extra outside play time (to get the wiggles out).

The highlight of our day was an unexpected visitor, or visitors: Travis & Presley They even brought us gifts (an autographed book and DVD for every child). We were so excited to meet Presley, and we were even allowed to pet him! I wish I would have thought to grab my camera, everyone was amazed/in love with the dog. You'll just have to take my word for it, it was great!