To Class DoJo or Not to Class DoJ?

Class DoJo seems to be and has been one of the most popular communication tools that teachers at my school are using right now, but I am not yet sold. While I should just give it a try, I am looking for some feedback, positive or negative. 
     
     I would be excited about the opportunity to be able to better communicate with parents and send them pictures more easily. On the other, I do have several families who do not access to computers and/or the Internet. Also I am concerned with the idea of giving red points to students publicly and having that be the cause of anxiety for some students. 

     I am looking for some input. :) Thank you!

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A Glimpse at our 100th Day of School

  100th Day Super Hero Capes!

My daughter wearing her 100th Day Super Her Cape - (Each Class Had a Different Color Cape) This was taken as we started our 100th Day Super Hero Parade! 

Putting Together a 100 Link Chain

Playing With 100 Balloons Before We Saw How Long It Took Us To Pop Them!

Dressed Like We Are 100 Years Old!

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The Countdown Begins!!

We will finally be celebrating the 100^th Day of School this Friday! Due to the number of snow days that we have used this winter and February vacation, the 100^th Day has been pushed back further and further. Well I am happy to say that it is finally here! The 100^th Day of School is like a holiday to me! I have to say that it is my favorite day of school. Better than the first day and even better than the last.

        I have loved, loved reading about some new 100^th Day ideas on Pinterest and some different blogs and would love to hear from you if you have a last minute, must-do activity that I should include in my day of fun! Will share our day soon!

                                                               

                                  

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I Need Your Ideas Please!!

I am a firm believer in the co-teaching model. My school implemented this model over five years ago dissolving all self-contained classes that we once had in the elementary school and have not looked back since. Having two teachers in the classroom as well as a teaching assistant allows us to implement small group instruction for the majority of the day.

Needless to say with the elimination of the self-contained classrooms, we have absorbed any and all students with emotional needs, and/or behaviors. These past few months have been on the more difficult side with one of our students and I am looking for simple behavior plan ideas. This student often has emotional outbursts and needs to be removed from the classroom for swearing and prolonged meltdowns. We remove him to a quite empty room and bring him back when he is ready. He is currently in the process of being evaluated, but functions at about a three-year old level.

We have tried using pictures –(happy/sad), first/then charts. He really is not ready for a behavior chart. I am looking for any and all of your suggestions please!

      Thank you in advance for your ideas! J

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"Rotten Apples" - Thank You to Nancy Chewning

As I am sure many of you have did today, I came across the article that was so brilliantly written by Nancy Chewning, an assistant principal in Roanoke, Virginia. This article was written in response to the Time Magazine piece depicting all American public school educators as "Rotten Apples." In case you missed it, I wanted to post it here, in an effort to draw more attention to her bravery for speaking for educators everywhere. 

Please take a moment to read.

http://leading-by-example.blogspot.com/2014/11/dear-time-magazine.html

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Facebook for Educators?

Hello-

I know that I have been to conferences before where colleagues have discussed using a a program similar to Facebook that is designed specifically for educators to share classroom pictures, posts, etc. Are there multiple programs for this?  Any thoughts on this would be appreciated greatly. Thank you!

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With a Blink of an Eye...

     My last post was a couple of months ago already when I said something about feeling relaxed, refreshed and excited to get back on top of my blog.  Lol!! With a blink of an eye, it is now November, almost Thanksgiving and my first post of the school year. How does this happen? It is my 15th year of teaching kindergarten and I am still evolving as a teacher, especially this year as we follow the CCSS.  So I will try again with my blog, starting now!!!

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Back to Blogging

Ahhhh, for the first time in a long time, I feel that I can take a deep breath and gather my thoughts.  I hope that all of you are feeling the same way! I have been away from my blog for s-o-o-o-o long :(! It was a really difficult couple of months, but I am hoping to start fresh! 

I am a blogger who enjoys reflecting on my own teaching, sharing best practices and fresh ideas, and discussing everyday experiences with other teachers! At this point, I don't have anything to sell or freebies to give away, but still look forward to blogging!!!

I also am addicted to TpT! and love, love, love hearing what people are using in their classrooms!

Hope to connect soon!

Sarah 

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Welcome 2013!

Happy New Year!

Tomorrow is back to school after a wonderful holiday vacation.  I always feel a renewed energy when returning back to school after the new year.  I'm not sure if it is because I was able to spend lots of time in my classroom over the break (I need a life, but it is so relaxing for me). Now when I walk in tomorrow morning, I can take a breath and feel prepared!

I also feel that January is a great time to reflect on my teaching and make necessary adjustments to guide instruction for the remainder of the year.  It is also a fantastic time to get students to work on the self reflection process (which is needed for APPR even for kindergarten!)

Another reason I am looking forward to going back to school tomorrow is that I know this vacation has been too long for some of my students and they need to come back to a smiling face and a comfortable routine. I too long for that routine when I have been home for too long. We will start the day off with a celebration of course! What a great way to come back!   We love to celebrate EVERYTHING so we will ring in the new year (because I certainly didn't make it up to see the new year and hopefully they didn't either!)

We will talk about making class resolutions and complete some adorable New Year's projects as we ease our way back into our routines that make us all comfortable and we  prepare to give 100 percent until our next vacation.

Hope you are just excited for the new year and all that it brings!

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Run, Run, As Fast as You Can! I Love the Gingerbread Man!

Gingerbread taste graph-
which body part did you bit first?

I soooo love the gingerbread man unit and all the activities that go along with it.  We just finished our week long gingerbread theme, which was not long enough, but there are too many other fabulous themes to squeeze in this short month!  Here's a quick peek at some of the fun things we did...

Student traced gingerbread people that
the kindergarten class did across the hall!!

Paper bag gingerbread houses - so cute!!

Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments -   
made our classroom smell delicious!



Where in the United States is our Gingerbread Man?
Our postcards are starting to arrive!!

Gingerbread take-home
decoration project


 

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Back to my Blog - Thanks to an Award!

I have been feeling so overwhelmed this year that I have not been on my blog since September :(. While I still have been following as many blogs as I can because they help me so much, I cannot find the time to contribute, and for this, I feel so disappointed. After teaching for 14 years, it doesn't seem that I should feel like this. Not sure if it is the Common Core Standards that I am trying to learn or if it is keeping up with the New Teacher Evaluation System that our school has implemented according to the Danileson model. All great changes, just lots of adjustments.

So enough complaining, today I received an award for having a fairly new blog with less than 200 followers from Lisa at Teaching Kindergarten Kiddos and I thought, Wow! I really miss blogging and what a great reason to make a post! So many thanks to Lisa who has a great blog!

The Rules:

~ You must post 11 random things about yourself.

~ Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.

~ Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.

~ Choose 11 blogs you love with less than 200 followers and link them in your post.

11 Random Things About Myself:

 

- I love the beach and warm weather.

- I lived on a marina for 5 years.

- I have two children.

- I just adopted a dog from a shelter.

- I love pasta.

- My dream is to love a marathon, but I am not a runner.

- I had a December wedding in the snow.

- I broke my foot running in my classroom.

- The 100th day of school is my favorite day of the year!

- I just recently opened a Face Book account.

- My daughter and I share the same birthday.

 

Here Are the Questions Asked by Lisa:

 

-What grade do you currently teach?

     Kindergarten

-If you could teach a different grade/subject what would it be?

     Probably pre-k

-How many years have you been teaching?

     This is my 14th year

-What is your teaching philosophy?

     Every child has the right to an eduction that teaches them at their own level and pace in the

     least restrictive environment where they can learn from all different types of peers in a classroom

     that embraces individual differences.

-Name one of your favorite children's books.

     I love the llama llama series!

-How many students are in your class?

     18 studetns in a co-teaching class

-What is your favorite candy?

     Reeses Peanut Butter Cups...yummy!

-Do you use Pinterest? Have you used it?

     Yes, I am often searching it for classroom ideas!

-Do you have a pet?

     A chocolate lab, just adopted from the shelter

-What do you like to do in your spare time?

     Be a great mommy to my 5 and 3 year old :)

 

To be continued.... I have to find some new amazing blogs!!  Thanks again to Lisa from Teaching Kindergarten Kiddos!

 

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Benchmarks in Kindergarten? Oh My!!

(sung to the tune of On the Twelve Days of Christmas)

On the fourth day of kindergarten, my teacher gave to me
A number two pencil for a benchmark that really frightened me!

Now keep in mind that I am a week behind on all of my posts, so this was the fourth day of school and the first year that we had to give our sweet babies a benchmark in ELA and Math. It was so sad. The ELA was two parts, two days and the Math was one part and an individual part. Many people in the building did comment that they have never seen so many kindergarten students come in crying on the first full week of school before:( That is heartbreaking for me to hear.  Of course we told them that this was just something to help us learn what we need to teach and do your best, it doesn't matter if you don't know the answer and all that, but it didn't help. The look of horror on their faces said it all:(  This is due to the new APPR regulations that we are following at our school this year.

I would love to hear from other teachers who are going through similar experiences! Good luck to you if you are:)

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A Pirate's Life for Me!!

There just isn't enough time! I can't keep up!!! I haven't even had a moment to post pictures of my classroom this year. Every year I change the theme of my classroom, which I use for back to school. I have to say that I am so in love with the pirate theme that I used this year, that it may be my theme for the next several year. Many thanks to all of the talented teachers who have posted products on TpT and Teachers Notebook. I know that I have mentioned some of you by name. Your products have made my pirate classroom so much fun!!
Here's a little tour...

A large pirate sits on the window of classroom greeting mateys as they enter (we have covered the sword with a book, just to be on the safe side)

Pirate Numbers to line up on:)

Love this hanging outside my classroom - it once was on my door
but due to the fire safety regulations, we are no longer able to put anything on
our classroom doors:(

Posing with pirate hats on the first day of school - we also used pirate eye patches to find gold in the sand table!!

Happy Birthday - Pirate Style!!

Pirate Numbers 1-30

A pirate letter chart and word wall

 





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On the Other Side of Kindergarten

I have been away from my blog far too long as I have been busy preparing my classroom for the upcoming school year and mentally preparing myself for my son to go to kindergarten! My son will be attending kindergarten at the same school where I teach. Actually he will be directly across the hall from me. Which at first I thought would be very difficult for him, but now as the first day approaches, I think it will be more difficult for me as I constantly worry about him.

I found this post on Pinterest and initially it just brings tears to my eyes, but then I can really put myself in the shoes of the many parents that have brought their child to my kindergarten room over the past 13 years. While I have always considered myself to be sympathetic and understanding, I have a whole new understanding of how parents feel.

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I have mentioned in previous posts how I have found some incredible resources at Jansen's Blog and TpT store. Heather has so many wonderful ideas and is fabulous to work with! I recently purchased the Pirate Binder that I am soooo in love with.

She is holding a Back-to-School Giveaway. One that you won't want to miss! Check it out:

http://tcdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbuserhome/Heather-Jansen-12-1345054375/148193.jpg

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Everything You Need to Know About Kindergarten From A-Z and Pirates!!

It's that time of year when we are starting to get our parent packets and student letters in the mail.  This year we are doing a pirate back to school theme which is so exciting!! This is the first time that we have ever done pirates and I am thrilled with the resources that I have found on Teachers Notebook and Teachers Pay Teachers. Both of the sites have been such a lifesaver as I start to prepare my classroom.  This year I feel that the students will so excited with our pirate theme because it will cover everything in the classroom.

Here is a copy of the packet that we sent to parents before school starts. It is "Everything You Need to Know About Kindergarten From A-Z." Hopefully you will find it helpful! It obviously has to be tailored to your school district, but we get lots of positive feedback from our parents.

For the cover!

Thanks to the freebie posted by Lensie Stanley on TpT, I printed printed our parent letter on this stationary. 

I have found sooo many pirate goodies on http://www.mrsseymourssuperstars.blogspot.com/.  She has amazing products on her Teacher's Notebooks store. I am addicted to her shop right now and I am stalking her blog!




Another awesome pirate resource that I found on TpT was from Heather Jansen.  I am totally in love with the pirate binder that she has created. I have started to put these binders together and am sooo excited to use them. I have contacted her a couple of times to ask for a few changes to be made to the binder so that it fits the co-teaching classroom (just changing some of the wording from I to we) and she has gone out of her way to be helpful. You should check this resource out if you are doing a pirate theme!

I still have two more weeks of summer school and then I will start putting my pirate classroom together! Can't wait to share how is progressing!

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Back to School Time!!

....At least that is what the media is telling us. Here in upstate New York, we have another five weeks before we go back to school, but everywhere around us, we are surrounded by Back to School sales and advertisements that have been going on since the Fourth of July weekend. Surprisingly this does not bother me at all! I LOVE it! Today I found myself wandering through Wal-Mart and Target (I am still too upset with Staples over the Teacher discounts) staring at the school supplies.  Now to people who are not teachers, you are probably thinking that I need to get a life, but this is such a great time of year to buy!  It is almost better than black Friday!!! I try to purchase an entire stock pile of glue sticks and crayons that will get us through the year after our school supply has run out. It is just incredible what you can buy now!!

This week on my "To Do" List is to send out letters to my students and their parents, including a supply list so families can take advantage of all the sales too! I would love to hear what is on your school supply list that you send home to your incoming students? We are no longer able to ask for items considered to be toiletries, such as tissues or baby wipes (cleaning tables, hands, etc.) because we don't have a MSDS for it.

Are you allowed to ask for supplies? If so, what do you ask for?

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Morning Meeting

I just read a great book by Roxann Kriete, called, The Morning Meeting Book. Now I always have a daily circle time in my kindergarten classroom, but this is differnt. Our school also participated for several years in a K-2 Morning Program that was held in the cafeteria (I LOVED this program!) Anyway, the book by Roxanne Kriete discusses the importance of holding a morning meeting in your classroom daily that encompasses the four components:

• Greeting
• Sharing
• Group activity
• Morning Message

This is not circle time. It is a special time of day (15-20 minutes) where students build a sense of community and learn that they are important and appreciated in the classroom.  It is a great opporunity to teach social skills.  As a co-teaching classroom, I am thrilled with this idea.  At first I was reluctant, thinking, there was no way I could fit this in because my schedule is so tight. After taking more time to read the book and reflect on the benefits.

I would love to hear from anyone who has read this book and/or who has implemented a program such as this.  Thanks!

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The Versatile Blogger Award - Thank you

Many thanks to Perrine Curry from Modern Kindergarten for sending this award to me. She has an awesome blog that should definitely be checked out!

I am just getting back from vacation and have been away from my blog for some time.  I will have to finish the rest of this post in the next couple of days after I catch my breath from unpacking and getting back into the swing of teaching summer school. Thanks again, Perrine!

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A Blog Award

Many thanks to Jess from Blood to Books and to Ann Green from Mrs. Green's Kindergarten Korner for passing a blog award on to me. They both have great blogs that should be checked out!

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