Pleased to Share
After a year of posting here, here, and here, I’ve been fortunate enough to have made some wonderful new colleagues, friends, and acquaintances through our shared commitment to teaching children. I’m apparently now showing up on more than a few blogrolls, and have started being contacted by other bloggers, educators, even sales-pitch-people, complimenting my blog and asking me to please visit theirs, share, or contribute.
I am grateful, in awe, blushing a bit, and thrilled to be expanding my network with other parents, teachers, child advocates, and those involved in public education.
I am also very pleased to share links and blogs I’ve been invited to peruse:
~OpenEducation.net has some incredible posts I am looking forward to catching up on, but their offering of videos as Inspiration for a New School Year was just the right pick-me-up that a lot of us need as we return to our classrooms. “Kindergarchy” is a phrase I’ll enjoy reading up on at their site as well with their latest posting, Parenting Lessons at the Weekly Standard.
~NIEER, the National Institute for Early Education Research is now posting articles individually (rather than in a collection in one issue) that are accessible via their issue archive.
~Author and former teacher (not really, she still teaches and guides teachers through professional development!) Deb Renner Smith made me an instant subscriber to her blog after I read Parents Matter! First Days of School.
~Kathy at Teach-a-holic (what a great blog name!) has taken me right back to my subbing days, before I was hired to teach full time in my own classroom. The ins and outs of hiring, irregular paychecks, and the annual TB test can be found in her online blog/journal.
Check ‘em all out!
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What I’ve Been Flagging
My blog writing and blog reading schedule has been topsy-turvyfied for the past two weeks thanks to the start of the school year. My weekends are spent playing catch up, posting blogs to the queue and reading through NetNewsWire, flagging posts left and right that I want to return to or share. After yesterday’s parent teacher conferences, Dear Daughter’s last morning practice session for Freshman Volleyball (she made the team!), and another week under our belts dealing with the Toddler’s transition to a babysitter, I’m hopeful that the family and I can settle into a somewhat regular and predictable routine so that I find time for the regular reading, regular posting, and regular commenting I’ve enjoyed for the past year. Coffee, blogs, exploration and discovery. Coffee, blogs, exploration and discovery. Coffee, blogs, inspiration(!) and discovery!
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* Pulling at my heartstrings again, Poppytalk shares photos and links to an Old School Exhibition that has me wishing I had a collection of globes with which to decorate.
* The Red Bee Creativity Blog shares how to’s for two Halloween make-and-take booklets here and here…
* Cakespy has me hoping a classroom mom will make ice cream cone cupcakes as a birthday treat this year…
* Hostess With the Mostess has added nummy new recipes to The Recipe Box (grown up s’mores, bread pudding with chocolate chunks and bananas, caramel nut popcorn, seared scallops with chili pepper dressing, and many more)…
* The Purl Bee shares a wonderful tutorial on how to make a fabric party banner/garland (I know, I’ve become banner-addicted!)
* And just in time for today’s rainy day weather, The Secret Recipe Blog shares a copycat recipe for Olive Garden’s Angel Hair and Three Onion Soup
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Back to reading!
Posting at In Practice
I’ve posted over at In Practice again (I know, it’s been a long time!), this time regarding Professional Development for Teachers. Check it out!
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I would love to see district in-service meetings run like TED Talks. Have you watched “The Future We Will Create: Inside the World of TED?” Do so, do so do so. The energy is incredible. “Books ARE technology.” “Creativity is as important as literacy.”
My brain is about ready to swoon.
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What My Super Stars Learn About Me
Meeting the teacher is a stressful and yet strangely exciting event. Getting to KNOW the teacher during the first few weeks of school is an amazing process for students and their parents as well. My Super Stars and I are almost at the end of the second week of school…what have they learned about me?
~ I love to sing and dance. I use the melody of the “Happy Birthday” song for just about anything (this week it was for our color days: “Happy Purple Day to you, Happy Purple Day to you, Happy Purple Day Dear Super Stars…Happy Purple Day to you!”), and I enjoy relaxing, instrumental music playing in the background as my “white noise” or soothing “static.”
~ That I can recognize most of my Super Stars’ voices by now, even when we’re in a darkened planetarium, or I’m standing outside in the hallway waiting for my students to finish using the restrooms.
~ That I don’t think shouting makes you right, it just makes you LOUD.
~ My favorite smell in the air is freshly peeled bananas (yellow day certainly helped them figure that one out!).
~ That *I* won’t forget our classroom rules.
~ That my computer is somehow linked to their parents *knowing things* that have happened at school.
~ That I make mistakes, and that I appreciate help.
~ That I have clothes, jewelry and accessories that “go” with any color.
~ That if Mrs. Sommerville doesn’t pick her nose, wipe it all over the carpet or worse yet, *eat it*, then neither should any Super Star.
~ That whining is one of my least favorite sounds, and tantrum throwing won’t make me change my mind.
~ I make extra copies of activities, just in case a total goof happens with scissors.
~ I’m good at repairing glasses.
~ My toenails match my fingernails.
~ My favorite kindergarten book is Where the Wild Things Are.
~That I’m glad to see my Super Stars every day.
~ That I’m not just a teacher, I’m a mommy too (”Oh MAN!” is usually the response I get to that tidbit, often from a precocious boy who realizes he’s not going to be able to sneak things by me).
~ I really like letter sounds and practicing counting.
~ That sometimes I wear my hair “up” and sometimes I wear it “down” but it’s still me each day, even if my hair looks different.
~ I keep band-aids in my desk.
~ I like to hear manner words…often.
What do your students learn about you?
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My Own Personal Teacher Quirks
More self-reflection and “A-ha” moments for me:
~ I’m not a teacher who can hang out in the teachers’ lounge. Visit on occasion, yes. Donate goodies and nummies on payday Fridays, certainly. Eat lunch every day…no. Working with kindergarten students means I’m talking with them, listening to them, taking in their verbal and non-verbal communication constantly. Lunch time is my break. I like to listen to a bit of music, or even just have some quiet time. Teachers’ lounges are rarely soothing, calm places. Being social 24/7 is not in my nature. I could roam antique malls for hours, silently, all by myself, or with a friend. Shh. No wonder I almost became a librarian.
~ I don’t hang out with parents while I’m their child’s teacher. Invite them to volunteer in my classroom, yes, oh yes. Attend their Longaberger or Pampered Chef parties? Nope, though I certainly welcome a catalog or two into my classroom and gladly order goodies that will help out the hostess! Once I’m done being the teacher and school is out at the end of the year? Lunch at Panera, Ladies, lunch at Panera!
~ I have to do all the motions to “The Wheels on the Bus,” “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” and “Little Bunny Foo-foo” with my students. HAVE TO. Thankfully, I also have a toddler, so I can usually get away with doing the motions on the weekend, out in public with my family. I suspect that my husband and daughter are looking forward to the day they have to pull me aside and whisper “uh, Honey/Mom, could you *not* do that anymore?”
~ I like putting up bulletin board displays and vignettes. Yep, I’m a sicko.
~ This year, I’m not a fan of “professional development” for “new teachers to the district.” Probably because this is the THIRD ROUND of “new teacher PD” I’ve had to go through in the last four years. Show me the computer program, tell me the quirks, give me the inside scoop on the ins and outs of drills and the school calendar, and then let me teach, please. A person who will be teaching for the first time *ever* needs all the support and help colleagues can muster to give them. They need to be taught that they have resources, they often need to be taught HOW to use those resources and build collegial relationships~ I remember, I’ve been there. Meanwhile, a person who has taught for twelve years previously needs to know what abbreviations his or her new school uses as labels for the same services s/he was required to provide at the previous district and his or her district password to get into school programs, records, e-mail. Is it called the intervention team, the S.I.T. Team or the S.W.A.T. team? They’re the same thing (though their format and operations change a bit, especially now with “response to intervention,” R.T.I.) and every school has to have one. My most helpful “training?” Being taught how NOT to set off the alarm at school when I’m there after hours. Alarms are new to me. Otherwise I know how to get information and who to ask. When I don’t know who to ask, I ask colleagues anyway, and get steered in the right direction. I know how to read teachers’ manuals, know how to set up my curriculum map for the year, and know how to assess my students. I operate PC’s and Mac’s quite well, and know how to communicate with parents. I know how to teach.
Yet another reason to hope Uncle Sam doesn’t move us again any time soon: I don’t want to be the new teacher anymore. I just want to teach.
~ Many teachers have day runners, Blackberries, or desk top calendars. I have my binder, divided by sections: Class lists and info; Curriculum map and year long calendar; lesson plans; Kansas State Standards for kindergarten; screening sheets. Want to get on my not-so-nice side? Move the binder.
~ Though the thought never appealed to me before, I would consider being a “mentor teacher” if I could follow the example of my own, Laura. She welcomed me to the district and Kansas before school started, has had lots of info to share with me, has made it clear that she both IS a resource and HAS resources for me should I need or want them, and folks, she has a garden! My family and I are enjoying cucumbers and tomatoes thanks to her green thumb- I’m thinking BLT’s for breakfast tomorrow…seriously!
~ My students accommodate me as much as I accommodate them since I hear things a bit differently than most people. I hear everything (except for whispers), and I mean, everything, at the same volume. I hear the student talking with me, the lights buzzing in my classroom overhead, the water dripping from the water fountain, colleagues talking across the hallway, students debating on whether to build a tower or a snake out of blocks, and parents chatting outside of my classroom windows if they’re occurring at the same time, AT the same time. Students have to get used to raising hands, and taking turns when I’m listening to someone else, because it takes a lot of focus and attention for me to give a person my almost-undivided-attention. Just another reason I could handle working in a library!
~ I can’t wait to make more banners for my classroom decor- I’m enjoying the shift away from pre-printed, pre-packaged classroom displays that can be found at teacher supply stores to more homemade and kindergarten friendly elements that I can create over the weekend. The fact that I have to drive half an hour to forty-five minutes one way to GET to a decent teacher supply store might have something to do with that too! I found some inspiration on Flickr…
1. Back to School Banners, 2. fall round tag banner, 3. Fall Tag Banner, 4. Sparkling Fall Banner, 5. trick or treat swap banner for jess and sarah closeup, 6. Spooky Halloween Banner
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How “quirky” are you?
Playing Catch Up!
…with a little bit of this and a little bit of that today~
A very happy birthday to my grandmother, my childrens’ “G.G.” I spoke to her today on the phone, and she mentioned she enjoyed a celebratory cappuccino during lunch. She hasn’t had a jolt of caffeine in years, so her afternoon was probably spent hanging out with this fellow:
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It has been a busy first week of school with students. A lot of joy, tons of enthusiasm, a bit of drama, much-appreciated reassurances, and a remarkable amount of support from parents, students, new colleagues and administrators. I knew I would *love* returning to teach in the land of Oz!
Reading the comments many of you have left and the e-mails you’ve sent to me about my classroom decor, teaching philosophy, and your unselfish sharing of ideas, links and resources has been the icing on the cupcake, truly. I’m looking forward to exploring your sites and updating my blogroll this weekend! Professional Learning Communities and Collegial Ties certainly can and DO exist worldwide now!
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~Poppytalk Handmade got my attention with School Days, a back-to-school and fashion market.
~ Now that I’m teaching in a school that utilizes Smart Boards in the classroom, the nostalgia of chalkboards has hit me… Poppytalk has been similarly affected!
~Frazzy Dazzles has me wishing we were neighbors, crafting friends, because she captured The Very Hungry Caterpillar perfectly for her daughter’s birthday!
~The family wants me to try Crispy Yogurt Chicken, thanks to The Pioneer Woman Cooks…
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Tomorrow is Purple Day in my classroom! Yes Mom, I’ll be wearing my purple cowboy boots- but the students will be enjoying several stories about Harold and his purple crayon:
I…am…*SO*…Excited!
The first day of school is Monday, and I’ve already met all but two of my students, thanks to a short Open-House-type visit yesterday afternoon!
I’ll wrap up some details for you today, and then unveil the classroom in all its glory tomorrow, okie dokie?
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I made center tags:
Many teachers list their centers on a single chart, somehow rotating names of students to cycle them through activities each day. Some teachers leave all centers as “free choices” for the year. I make center tags that are located at EACH activity, and I myself rotate students’ names/photos (not shown for confidentiality’s sake) that are affixed to each tag with hook-and-loop tape or dots. This may seem labor intensive, but for the first few weeks of school, I like to move through the classroom, helping and monitoring each student in all of the center locations. I signal it’s time to clean up and move to the next center with a special clap or by ringing a bell. Rotating the tags myself gives me the chance to see if the students are cleaning up appropriately, or are just leaving their mess for the next student to deal with as everyone else moves on. Catching students cleaning up gives me the opportunity to provide positive feedback, and I’m able to redirect mess-makers back to their last center before they become too engrossed in the next activity. After the first month of school, I can become a center that students will visit, and I can trust the kindergartners working elsewhere to clean up before moving on without too much intervention on my part.
Changing the photos to rotate students through centers assures that I won’t be stuck sitting all morning as well!
Each center lasts anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes, and no, none of my centers are “optional.” Every student cycles through every center, visiting their favorites, and knowing that, should they encounter an activity they’re not very fond of, it WILL end, and they WILL make it away from there to work elsewhere!
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Here’s a close up of my “Welcome” card (it’s a postcard by Mary Englebreit, available at many teacher stores) and the button my kindergarten colleagues made for each student:
I put a poem about the first day of school in the card for parents to read, and let my students know they can wear their pin for the first week of school, and then transfer it to a lunch bag or backpack. I’m guessing there are a few parents out there that save the button for their childrens’ scrapbooks or photo albums!
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While new kindergarten students need quiet and calm guidance paired with nurturing on their first day of school, many parents are just as tender-hearted and emotionally fragile as their children. I give each family a little gift bag that has a cotton ball, some kleenex, and a tea bag before they leave us on the first day. The cotton ball is to remind parents of their child’s soft spirit, the kleenex is to help them dry their tears, and I encourage parents to go home, heat up some water, make a cup of tea, and relax.
Frankly, it’s the most gentle way I’ve found to…cut the apron strings.
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We’ll be learning about colors for the first two weeks of school, so I’ve prepped some die cuts and art activities in advance:
I’m not sure if we’ll make necklaces out of the die cut shapes or use the shapes for some other activity, but the large white apples with green stems are ready for students to cut or tear red construction paper out to glue onto them on “Red Day.” On Red Day we’ll wear something red or bring a red item from home to share. Same thing for Blue Day, Yellow Day, Green Day, etc., and of course we’ll read books like Green Eggs and Ham, Blueberries for Sal, Green Wilma, Who Said Red, Harold’s Purple Crayon, etc. Dressing in similar colors and making group projects helps to bring us together as a class, giving us ownership of our surroundings, making us feel like we belong, and forging bonds with classmates and teachers.
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Tomorrow I’ll be baking “Kissing Hand” cookies, but will post classroom photos for you to see too!
A Full Teacher Work Day Tomorrow
…and you know what *that* means! No meetings, no professional development, no inservice topics to discuss. My to-do list? A full page in my notebook. But it’s a small notebook. And I’ll have Dear Daughter to help. We…will…plow.
Tonight I’ll be making the Rolo/Pretzel/Pecan nummies, and tomorrow my house will be smelling delicious as I bake cookies, cookies, and more cookies for my colleagues’ Friday treat. When you’re new to the staff and can’t possibly learn the names of everyone in the school, I highly recommend taking in wonderful treats. It’s staff support, I tell you!
Don’t tell my grade level colleagues, but I’ll be making something for each of them this weekend! We are going to have a GREAT year!
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I need to make sure I have my “beginning of the year” kindergarten playlist loaded onto my iPod this weekend. Songs to remember? Shake My Sillies Out, The Wheels on the Bus, Five Little Monkeys, Purple People Eater, YMCA… and some Summer Solstice selections by Windham Hill for our “Brain Break” time. Can’t forget Apples and Bananas (you *know* it’s a cool song if Keith Urban will sing it!):
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Tomorrow is Show and Share Thursday (hey, I didn’t forget this time!) so check back in for some updated photos of the classroom- school starts Monday, so we’re in the home stretch!
The Apple Basket Tree
Oh my goodness, teachers *do* love creative and pretty storage!
I found this apple basket tree several years ago as I was treasure hunting through several antique and collectibles stores. The last store I visited on that day was going out of business, selling everything, including shelving, fixtures, etc.
I couldn’t find a price on the tree or the baskets, and asked the shop owner if the tree was for sale. She told me that she was indeed selling the tree, but “wouldn’t sell it to just anyone.” I explained that I would give the tree a good home in my kindergarten classroom, as I was in need of vertical storage that was kid and puppet friendly.
Five minutes later, she was helping me load the treasure into the back of my truck.
I have searched all over it for a label or maker’s mark, but to no avail. Hopefully some of you know some craftsty-with-wood friends or relatives that could create a pattern from the pictures I’m sharing and make it for you, though I’ll keep looking online and link to the bottom of this post if I find anything similar for sale.
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~ Here’s one that is a table top size….
~ …and here’s one very similar to mine, called a “bushel floor tree!”
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You’re welcome!
“F” is for “Filament,” “C” is for “Ceiling”
Look at this ceiling:
I think it needs a little something…but how to hang decor without creating unnecessary visual noise?
Filament. Fishing wire. “Monofilament.”
The clear stuff.
I cut twenty five pieces, all the same length, long enough to be doubled over, knotted at the end (double knot it, this stuff can be slippery):
I gathered twenty five large paperclips and twenty five small…
Hooked the large paperclip onto the tied end:
…and hooked the smaller clip at the opposite (or big-clip-at-the-top, little-clip-at-the-bottom):
Had Dear Daughter place them on the desks above which they would hang (be careful, monofilament tangles and knots very easily so don’t gather up several strands at once!):
I tucked the end with the large paperclip between the dropped ceiling tile frame and the tile itself:
…which left the other end free to hang:
I’ve seen classrooms where teachers have used yarn to make these hanging loops, but the thickness and color of the yarn was pretty distracting, taking away from the artwork or curriculum materials displayed. Can you see the hooks I’ve hung?
They’re there, trust me!
I found some patterned star and crayon shapes, punched holes in the top, and ran one of the pokey ends of the small paperclip through the holes:
There they are!
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Things to keep in mind if you decide to hang decor from the ceiling:
~ Some districts/schools don’t allow items to dangle down from the ceiling due to the fire safety hazard.
~ Districts that *do* allow ceiling decor STILL have to follow fire safety rules/regulations, which will dictate the height or length of the loop. Typically the tallest person in the room (which is probably YOU) should be able to walk under the loop, paperclip, AND item dangling on the display safely. Nothing should touch your hair, your head, and certainly should not be low enough to get caught on clothing, or be within reach of students.
~ I use the ceiling decor loops to display patterns (star, crayon, star, crayon, star, crayon) throughout the year, or any student artwork that is two-sided or three dimensional. When the leaves turn color and start to fall, we’ll make “Fresh Fall Leaf Mobiles,” and in October, we’ll have jack-o-lanterns, bats, and spiders hanging. Hand print turkeys, cornucopias, and tissue paper maize art look wonderful in November, and winter holiday artwork gussies up the room in December.
~ Make sure that the weight of the artwork being hung won’t pull the clip from the ceiling, hitting students or falling onto their desks. This is an art display idea for lightweight items only!
~ I only use the loops over the childrens’ desk area, NOT throughout the room. When kindergarten students sit at their desks, the ceiling can seem very tall, and very far away. Lowering some artwork helps to “cozy up” the space. Students always enjoy “figuring out the pattern” or seeing their own artwork admired by their classmates or room visitors too!
~ Don’t change out the artwork when students are in the classroom, because chances are you’ll have to use a ladder (or *cough cough* a chair/footstool) to safely reach the hooks yourself.
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Several of you have commented on or emailed me about the Apple Basket Tree I have housing our puppets in the classroom. Check back tomorrow for photos!
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