My, How Time Flies!

My, my, my....It's October already! (and one month since my last post, but no one is counting, right?)

It's been a bit of a rough start, but we are finally settling in to our routines. Here are some highlights of the past month:

• Today we welcomed our first guest reader for DEAR time. Our principal was gracious enough to come and read to us. He read The Principal from the Black Lagoon, and much to the delight of my class, invited us back to his office for a tour. We talked about the differences between fiction and non-fiction, and what a principal does. They even got to sit in his chair ( a truly historic moment in the life of a kindergartner)!
• We've implemented a new center system. We are still working out the kinks, but both the kids and myself are much happier than with our old method.
• The bond in our district passed, so hopefully we'll be getting a SMART board again! We've had the opportunity to use the one in the classroom across the hall while that class is in the library, which led to my dear little kinders asking why we don't have one. My answer: That's a good question, we should ask (our principal) about that. A bit bratty? Maybe. But I like to think of it as teaching researching and investigation skills. Why ask me, when they can go straight to the primary source?
• We are currently reading the Black Lagoon series. It's a favorite in October, and lends itself to talking about imaginations and the difference between fiction/non fiction.

I am sure there are so many more things I could/should post about. However, it's a school night and I'm tired.

Even when exhausted....I love my job!

P.S. Unfortunately, my Amazon gadget isn't working, so I will try to post links later.

What We Are Reading: Intro

One of the new ideas that a group of teachers is implementing this year is posting what they are reading (personally) outside their classroom on the news board. The purpose of this is two fold; 1- two model being a life long reader to our students, and 2- to start conversations about books. Of course, I jumped on the bandwagon as soon as I found out about it, and posted my current read (the Harry Potter Series). It also gave me an idea for a series on this blog...the What We Are Reading series, hereafter referred to as WWAR. I will post and review books that we read during our DEAR time at school; be it a book I read, or one selected by our guest readers. I love hearing about, discussing, and of course reading new books,  so I thought I would give my little piece of the blogosphere a forum to do so. Please feel free to recommend titles as well.

Happy Reading!

I can READ!

I think the only thing more challenging this year than teaching my tots to read, was convincing them that they were readers. It didn't matter how many times we discussed the different ways of reading (searching for sight words, telling a story with the pictures, sounding out words, etc.), or how much praise was poured upon them for doing the things that good readers do (make pictures inside their heads, use sound clues to figure out a word, etc.), the majority were convinced that they were not readers because they could not read like big brother&sister/mom&dad/grandma&grandpa/Ms.S.

But then there was Seuss.

We celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by having an all Seuss day (because of snow days, we didn't have the time to do an all Seuss week, like we usually do). We rhymed, we danced, we created, and most of all we read. And read and read and read. And then read some more. Like every child I've ever encountered in my life, my dear tots fell madly in love with Dr. Seuss books. We read all of my books, and then they would go home and read more Dr.Seuss. A few tots brought in their books the next day to share with the class. We even created and read our own version of Green Eggs and Ham.

The change was subtle, but I could see it throughout the day, and the rest of the week. Through the magic of Dr. Seuss, my not-so-tiny tots have come to seem themselves as readers.

Thank you, Dr. Seuss.

I Love My Job.

Class Obsession: Flies

Like a good teacher, I have read and will read a plethora of books to my kindergarten people in an effort to teach concepts and spark a love of reading and good books. Like good students, my kindergarten people take what they have learned, and apply it to real life. Which is every teachers dream....right?

Right now my entire class is OBSESSED with and the rest of the books in the series, which is pretty awesome in itself. It's about a boy, Buzz, and his pet fly that can say the boy's name, Fly Guy, and the many adventures they have in their community, like going to school or playing in a football game.

However, our classroom is also infested with flies. Our maintenance staff have sprayed for bugs, however, it only makes the flies drunk and bold. They have a tendency to land on the faces of my dear kindergarten people throughout the day. However, instead of swatting them in annoyance, they will shout "HEY LOOK! IT'S FLY GUY!!!" at which point every one will crowd around until I remove the pest/pet and continue our day.

Only in kindergarten...I love it!

Fire Drills and Tornadoes

It has been quite an interesting day.

Tomorrow is our Kindergarten Awards ceremony, so we spent a large part of our day finding our places on stage and rehearsing our songs. Corralling 80+ almost-first graders is quite a feat in itself, let alone two choreographed numbers. How ever, it went well, and I am so excited to see my not-so-little kids  make themselves and their parents proud.

If performing on stage is not enough to rile up a class, today's class activity also involved painting. We read Little Cloud by Eric Carle and created our very own "little clouds" with blue construction paper, cotton balls, and white paint. They turned out fabulously. However, while creating the aforementioned clouds, we had an unexpected fire drill. Apparently, the heat from the cotton candy maker (PTA) next to our classroom was enough to set of the alarms for the entire school. While there was no actual fire, it was enough to get everyone's blood pumping. Although not perfect, we did a pretty good job getting everyone out and accounted for.

Today is also an "extreme weather" day in our state. I had recess duty, so I made it a point to keep my eye on the weather reports all day. As expected, we had indoor recess, and now I sit working on the awards ceremony slide show under a tornado watch (soon to be warning), for the second time in a two week period. Granted severe weather affords me time to hang out with friends at my old stomping grounds, but I'd rather not have had this happen the night before awards. Oh well, c'est la vie.

The First Feature Friday- Building a classroom Family

Awhile back, I wrote about a couple of directions that I take this blog. A friend suggested that I could start doing features to integrate some of my other educational-related musings, and I thought it was a brilliant idea. So, henceforth, I shall be posting an idea/ activity or activity that I would like to share or try in my own classroom on Fridays, and sharing Smartboard tips, tricks, and lessons on Saturdays.

For the First Feature Friday, I would like to share a beginning of the year activity that I want to use next year.
The goal is to promote and build a safe, family-like classroom environment, and help students understand how important every student is. The materials needed are a floor puzzle (teacher keeps one piece), the book The Crayon Box That Talked, and the song We Are a Family by Jack Hartmann (on the Learning to Love CD).

Read the book to children, discussing how the crayons act, and how they would feel. After the book is read, as a class, put together the floor puzzle. As students realize that their picture is not complete without the missing puzzle piece, discuss how the classroom family is not complete without every person. Listen to and learn Jack Hartmann's We are a Family.

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!

PINK!

y students are obsessed with the color pink, both boys and girls. It is quite a wonder to behold, really.

Morning coloring:

"You can use violet red to make pink."

When we got new journals:

"LOOK! They're PINK!"

During snack time:

"Can I have the pink one?"

Anytime a color vote is taken, pink is the clear winner. Our kindergarten T-shirts...you guessed it, pink.

And of course, our favorite book...PINKALICIOUS.

Ahh, the joys of kindergarten!