Smartboard Saturday: 100!

The number 100 is practically magical to most kinders, and it is so fun to see them "discover" the concept of 100. The 100th day of school was this past Thursday (post coming soon), and our Smart Board was a great part of our celebration. Using the interactive objects in the gallery section of the Smart Notebook software, I created a 100 Day presentation (making it was very time consuming, so if you want a copy, let me know). The kids had a blast flipping 100 tiles on the interactive hundred chart, challenging one another to do something for 100 seconds using the timer, and popping 100 balloons. We also watched  on Discovery education which lead to a transition into our 100 day presentations. I'll be posting about our hundred day soon; I am waiting to get the rest of my pictures.

Have a great weekend!

Smart Board Saturday: Dice

I know, I know, it's been eons since the last Smart Board Saturday. But in my defense, I have been sans technology since August. We finally got our Smart Board delivered, installed, and operational last Thursday, and it is fabulous!

This year, our district has switched to the Everyday Math curriculum for pre-k and kindergarten. This curriculm has tons of games, one of which is the Roll and Record. To play, students are given dice and a graph. The dice is rolled and students count and record the number on their graph. My students love playing this game, however, it does lend itself to a center/ small group lesson. So when a variation of the game came up again, I decided to tweak it a bit to make it more whole group friendly. I opened up a blank Smart Notebook document, searched for dice in the gallery, and inserted two on a page. Each student was given a chance to touch and roll the dice, count the total number of dots, and then announce to the class the total. They LOVED it!  So, there you have it, a short, simple activity that provides practice for so many concepts.

Have a great weekend!

Snow Day!

The powers that be have cancelled school for today. I am very appreciative, and I'm sure my kiddos are too. Mayhap, I will actually get around to posting a few entries today. Or maybe I'll just sleep.

Woohoo, I love my job!

Smile

Today was a mellow, low-key kind of day for us. We had two friends absent, and one got went home with a severe earache after specials. The rest of us sneezed, hacked, and coughed our way through the day. Well, except for DC, who was in very good spirits.

DC is one of the most charming little boys I have ever had the privelege of meeting. He almost reminds me of my little brother when he was that age; smaller than most, yet a heart that is bigger than the size of Texas. He finds joy in everything and has the most wickedly funny sense of humor ever contained in a 5-year-old body.

During seatwork today, DC decided to get a little "creative." I hear "oooooo, I'm telling" coming from his table, and look up to find him drawing with a crayon on his chair. I asked him to bring his chair over to me, so that we could discuss his actions and the ramifications of such behavior. Ever so slowly he pushes the chair towards me with his head down. Using our learning tools responsibly is a big deal in our classroom, so he knows he is probably going to get into a bit of trouble.

I look down at the seat of the chair to examine it, and find a blue crayon smiley face staring back at me.

I laughed. I couldn't help it, I just had to chuckle.

He looks up and breaks into his million dollar grin. I hand him a lysol wipe and tell him to clean it up. He spends the next 15 minutes scrubbing the crayon smiley face off of the seat, with the smile on his face intact.

I love my job.

SNOW!

Today was a snow day. Not the kind that gets you out of school, but the kind that makes you wish it was.

We've had snow on the brain for a little while now, not only because of today's precipitation, but because it's January. And, in kindergarten, January means snow. We've read a few books, made a circle map, had a few discussions,etc, etc. But nothing quite compares to the real thing. So, being the rebels that we are, the K team decided to let our kids out and enjoy the light dusting of powder for 5 minutes.

You would have thought Hannah Montana was coming to play. Oh, the screaming and excitement. The snowball fights. The muddy feet. The raised eyebrows from other teachers. It was positively wonderful.

The only thing that could have topped that was making our own snowflakes. Which we did, of course. It took a few tries for some, however once we mastered the cutting of the fold and symmetric principles, we churned out some pretty awesome snowflakes. I think the best part was hearing the kind and encouraging words that spread like wildfire among my kinders.

Man , I love my job!

A Teacher's Heart

Warning, the following is not a light-hearted/ funny post. This is real bidness ya'll:

So, the last week before winter break, the bond issue we so desperately need was voted on by the patrons of our district. The basic premise is this:

Bond passes= close schools, consolidate and build new schools, minimal loss of jobs and programs, rainbows, unicorns, and happy fairy dust.

Bond fails=close schools, consolidate in old schools,200+ people lose their jobs, higer class size, plague of locuts, and weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In our state, the law says a bond has to pass with 60% yes vote. Ours failed with a 59.93% yes vote. Once the numbers were crunched, it came down to a difference of 15 votes. 15!

So now, we are looking at rift in faculty and staff that could go as high as 6 years. It's depressing, and hard, and many have shed tears over it.

But I have to say, this is my third year of teaching, and the third year that I don't know if I will have a job next year. For years, we've been told of teacher shortages, (which at some level is still a problem) and that education is a safe, secure profession, yet I've had to change schools every year because I my lack of tenure/budget cuts.

I want to teach. If I could have all my bills paid for me, I'd do it for free. Teaching is not a job, it's a calling; a calling to make a difference, to change the future. So it hurts my heart to see the sad state of education, not only in my district, but at the state and national level as well. Why are we letting go of those who are called to positively impact the lives of children?  Why will I, and several other colleagues, have to start looking for work in the middle of a recession that is probably outside our field of study?Why is education important enough to talk about, but not important enough to fund?

I love my job. Why can't I keep it?

Shopping Spree

Sorry it's taken so long to post, here is a story from the last few weeks before break:

December is here, and for almost every kindergartener that means presents. We've discussed the history and true meaning behind the December holidays, as well as the joys of giving presents (quite a hard concept to grasp when you're five!). To support the idea that giving is often just as good, if not better, than getting, our PTA hosts "Giftland ", a shop where students can buy small trinkets as gifts for family members. To a kindergartner, you may as well be shopping on Madison Ave.

Yesterday, I took the students who had brought money down to Giftland to purchase their presents. Little Dennis had $20 to spend, a veritable fortune in kindergarten terms. With the help of a PTA mom, he looked around, carefully selecting the items he wanted, buying multiples of many things like yoyos and rings and flashlights. At the exhaustion of his $20 budget, he had two plastic bags bursting with dollar store treasures. As the PTA mom helped him tie the bacgs close, he looks up ever so sweetly and says, "Hey, where's my change?" PTA mom,, looks a bit confused and reminds him that he spent all his money, and that if he wants change, he'll have to put something back. "Would you like to put something back?" she inquires. "No," he replies with the space cadet stare, "but I would like some change."

Que the laugh track.

I love my job.