We're Going on a Letter Hunt!

I'm discovering that this year's class is much, much different than last year's. This is to be expected, but since I'm only in year 2, it's weird to transition to a new class with different needs and challenges. Last year's class was crazy smart. I'm fortunate to teach in a private school with parents who care, really care, as well as a great pre-school with amazing teachers. Last year, 8 out of 10 of my students came from our Pre-K. This meant that they all had fine motor skills that were well-developed, good classroom routines, they were familiar with the school, and they all came in knowing almost all their letters and many letter sounds. This year, only 3 out of 6 students came from our Pre-K. This means that I'm encountering students who don't recognize letters and under-developed fine motor skills.

Sooo I've spent the last few days combing Pinterest for some good ideas for letter recognition and fine motor development. One purchase I made that I am extremely excited about are these Alphabet and Number Play Dough Mats  from the Printable Princess! The Letter Play Dough mats had been on my TPT wish list for weeks, but when I saw the bundle yesterday, I was sold! And my husband lovingly spent hours today cutting laminating for me :-) I'm excited to use these for letter recognition, number recognition, and fine motor development.

A letter activity we did today is based on the book Alphabet City. This is an activity I snagged from my mom in her teaching days. Alphabet City is a book of just photos of hidden letters in various places around a city. The kids absolutely loved looking through it to try and find the letters.

Today, we went on a letter hunt to make our own Alphabet School Book. The difficult part of this was trying to show the kids what we were looking for -- not printed letters like on signs or posters, but "hidden" letters we could find in furniture, walls, etc., in order to follow the theme of the original book we read. After a few examples, they seemed to get the hang of it!

He found a D in the shape of my teacher table.

He found a V in the table legs.

We started in the classroom. We looked around and found some letters. I helped by finding them and then asking kids to identify them, or just by pointing out a general area to guide them. I put one student (who knows all his letters) in charge of marking off the letters that we found as we went. He felt very special doing that!

We found a P in the wall rack and an X in the lines on the floor!

After the classroom, we moved to the gym. The lines on the floor and equipment on the walls provide lots of hidden letters!

We found A in the legs of the picnic table. 

She found S in the fence.

Lastly, we went to the playground to finish up our list. The last few letters were a bit of a stretch (R and K are really hard!), but hey, we got them all!

My next step was to put all the photos into a class book. Rather than having to pay to get them printed, I was planning on just putting them into a Publisher document and printing them in color. I figured while I was there, I might as well just add the text! I made them simple sentences. Each page has the sentence "(Student's Name) can see (Letter)." The simple text and the fact that the students have their own pictures on the pages will hopefully encourage them to read this book in our classroom library!

God's blessings and happy teaching!
Mikaela

Tool or Toy?

The marathon continues...surviving the first few weeks of school. I had my full class for the first time yesterday, when student #6 returned from vacation. However, today, he was out sick and we were back to our class of five.

Today also marked the day that my kids all decided that they know each other well enough and felt comfortable enough in the classroom to be mean to each other. between morning recess and lunch recess, I heard more fights, mean comments, and tattling than I had heard in the first four days of school. So we had a lot of talks and practiced using kind words with each other...and then, during rest time, four of them passed out and slept for over half an hour. Time came to wake them and I just couldn't bring myself to do that. So I let them sleep. I know I can't let that happen often, but right now, they're still adjusting to being back in school, and since I have the luxury of having the time and space for them to rest as they need it, I'm going to give it to them.

A lesson we did today (after they all woke up!) is about using the materials we have in the classroom. I came up with this idea part of the way through the year last year, and thankfully I wrote it down to remember it when I started planning this year! At some point during the year last year, whenever I would catch a student playing with their pencils, or scissors, or crayon box, or glue, or... you know what I mean? Rather than giving them a long lecture, I would just ask them, "Is that a tool or a toy?" So this year I chose to preface the whole year with this lesson and a discussion on classroom materials and how we use them. This way, my catch phrase now has a deeper meaning and something they can reference.

It was simple really, all I did was take a large piece of construction paper, and made it into a t-chart. Then, I collected a large box of various classroom materials, both "tools" and "toys." I modeled the procedure of pulling out a few items and putting them on the chart, and saying why they belong where they did. Then we passed around the box, and the kids followed suit. We had really great discussions about what materials are for, and why it's important that we use them in the right way.

Another way to do this (that I opted out of due to the fact that it would have taken longer to prep, and I have no wall space) would be to make an anchor chart. You could either print out clip art photos or even better, take photos of the items you have in your classroom, and have the kids participate in placing them in the right category on the chart, and hang it up in the classroom.

What's your catch phrase? How do you discuss the proper use of classroom materials with your students?

God's blessings and happy teaching!
Mikaela

Day 3

Friday was so much easier than Thursday! It was the second full day of school, and I could see the kids wanting to be more independent and showing their knowledge of our routines. They are SO good at raising their hands! Granted, it's Kindergarten, so when they do, it's usually something totally unrelated and off topic, but it's been fun to see that in them. And let's be honest, they are pretty adorable.

A few routines that I started right away in the classroom are life savers! The first are hand signals for when they need to use the restroom and get a drink. If you've ever heard Rick Morris speak, he uses hand signals. You know when you're having an awesome lecture discussion, and you call on a student, and you get the "Can I go to the bathroom?" question, throwing off the entire discussion, and causing five other students to realize they have to go to the bathroom too? This way, all you have to do is give a little nod, or say, "Go ahead" or "Wait" and get on with life. SO MUCH EASIER. Rick Morris lectured at my university when I was there in the teaching program, and he has some pretty awesome ideas. This idea, I actually learned from my mom, but it was nice to have it reinforced. He uses a lot more signals, but I find that Restroom and Drink are sufficient for my classroom (although I may add a Tissue one when winter comes around!).

Another idea I've implemented this year that I've seen around on blogs a lot are the visual directions. Last year, I got so tired of constantly repeating myself (what teacher doesn't) or having to try and stop in the middle of a project and get control of the class to give them the next step of directions. Last year, I started using a Whole Brain Teaching type method to give directions, having the kids repeat after me before we started a project. But there was still always the question of what to do when you're done, or which type of supplies to use, being shouted out at me. This summer, when I had some time, I put together cards to do a visual display of directions to solve this problem as much as possible. I've used it several times, and they don't quite have it down yet, but I'm confident it will be a huge help in the classroom! These are the directions after a project we did the other day. It's nice because it solves the problem of what order to do things in, which supplies to use (I'm picky about whether they use a glue bottle or a glue stick!), and what to do when they're done.

Now, I know you can find these sets all over the internet and on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I decided to make my own set based on the needs in my classroom and the routines that I have in place. I printed them out and then glued them on scrapbook paper for some cuteness!

God's blessings and happy teaching!
Mikaela

Day 2

The second day is harder than the first. This is because the first day was all happiness and smiles and it was only a half day. Today, I had the kids all day for the first time. Went through lunch for the first time. Went through rest time for the first time. And by the end of the day, we were all tired. But I'm holding on for that day when the routine settles and we aren't faced with the change and newness of every minute.

Today, we made a fun craft I found last year. Simple, but a good assessment of skills and fun way to get to know them.

We also read a fun favorite, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. After reading, we played the Letter Bag game. So much fun, so quick and catchy! I didn't do anything fancy, just got a lunch bag and threw a bunch of foam letters in it (I really don't know what they're supposed to be for, they were just in the classroom when I arrived!). I also wrote the song on the bag because I knew I'd forget it otherwise. But it's really simple and the kids love it, to the tune of The Muffin Man.

Oh, look who has the letter bag,

the letter bag, the letter bag.

Look who has the letter bag,

now please take a letter!

It was a good way to help me assess the skills my kids have in letter identification, because we were able to go around the circle several times (with a small class that's easy!). 

After playing the game, I put on this Chicka Chicka Boom Boom video, which I think is such a fun way to re-read the story, without, you know, re-reading it. A fun way to work on letters in the first days of school!

God's blessings and happy teaching!

Mikaela

Classroom Reveal

Okay, so maybe it's not a "Classroom Reveal" since I don't have a mass of people following my blog and just waiting to see what my classroom looks like! But...I've spent enough time on Pinterest and enough time working on my classroom that I feel like it's special enough to call it that! I am SO excited about my classroom this year! I came into a very messy, cluttered classroom last year as a new teacher, so over the course of the year, I cleaned and purged (many times!), watched for what worked and what didn't, figured out what I wanted to change around and how I thought it might work, and decided what I wanted that I didn't have in my classroom.

As soon as kids were out of my classroom in May, I went to work. The first thing I did was to snag my kidney-bean shaped teacher table from the classroom across the hall, where the teacher was leaving. Step one, check! I also traded a shelf with another teacher across the hall, switching shelves about the same size, but this one gives me three shelves, instead of two, which just works better in Kindergarten. I also snagged a small rug from a friend who was moving so I could have a separate library area away from the big learning rug. Step two, check! I also cleaned and cleaned and cleaned! I was able to get rid of things because I knew for sure that I would not be using them, something I couldn't do last year as a first year teacher. Next, I went to Lowe's, bought a beautiful bright blue paint, and then dragged my husband to my classroom for a few days to help me sand and paint my mismatched and dirty blue and maroon shelves. Step three, check! After they dried, I rearranged the classroom to how I thought I wanted it, letting my eyes and brain adjust to it over the summer. It actually ended up pretty close to how I imagined it, I just tweaked the arrangement a bit throughout July to fine tune it. Step four, check!

Seriously, my classroom ended up perfect. I hope that doesn't sound arrogant, but it's perfect for me! It ended up that everything had its own perfect little place, there's nothing awkward or just there because I didn't know what to do with it. And that's such a relief! Plus, I was able to spend the time and money this year to make it cute, and that's just fun. Enjoy!

his is the back corner of my classroom. I was SO excited to find a place that was out of the way and sort of hidden for those Saxon Math boxes! Anyone else have that problem? The cart next to it is the cart that holds centers - more on that to come in a later post! The pocket chart is our center chart. I choose to let my students choose from centers and go as they please rather than dictating their centers and making them go on a rotation. I switch out the options regularly and the kids choose whatever centers they want during center time. They're divided up into Morning and Afternoon centers, and color coded for my kids.

 My sink area, which I am so fortunate to have! We wash hands every day before lunch as well as after any crazy painting or art projects. Last year, I got tired of saying "ONE pump of soap, ONE paper towel" over and over, so I made a nice visual this year and hung it right above the sink.

 This is the wall right by the door, as you can probably tell by the visual directions right there. They are so nice, even after only two days of school, I can point to that and the kids know they need to fix their line behavior. I also have my Brag Tags hanging on that wall in a small calendar pocket chart. More on that to come later!

 Ahhh my Writing Center. I am so proud of this center this year. Last year, my Writing Center moved around as I rearranged the room and wasn't very well stocked, as we had just moved across the country and I didn't have much to contribute. But, after a year of stocking up and learning, I have a beautiful, well-stocked Writing Center that I'm proud of. I've got envelopes that I've saved from junk mail, stencils from another teacher, stickers I stocked up on, some "I Can Draw" books, as well as four different kinds of paper. I made the labels after scrounging up those four baskets from different spots around the room and baking a ton of cupcakes to get those frosting containers for the writing utensils! The small green and red containers, I found at Dollar Tree last year.

A second major area of triumph this year, my library. Last year, the library was pretty much a bunch of books shoved on the shelves, no organization or way for the kids to get past the first level of books. It was just something that fell by the wayside in the rush to get the classroom together, and then continued to be neglected due to having to, you know, plan and teach! I was also overwhelmed by the sheer number of books in the classroom. This large shelf was completely covered in books. I took spring break last year to get the library under control. I bought a bunch of Sterilite baskets from Walmart (WAY better deal than buying the book bins from Really Good Stuff, in my opinion), along with four large plastic tubs. I then removed every single book and sorted them by themes into four quarters of the school year and put them each in their own tub, labeled and sorted. I also divided up the fiction and nonfiction books that didn't fit in a category and distributed them among the tubs. They sat in my classroom for the remainder of the school year, but as soon as we got some shelves cleared out in a storage closet this summer, they were out of my room and down the hall. Now, when I'm changing my themes up, I can easily grab them and switch them around, and the kids get a variety of books all year and aren't overwhelmed by the selection...or the piles of books threatening them. This summer, the READ letters were a fun craft project for me. I bought the letters at Target and the paint at Hobby Lobby (on sale!) and spent a few days painting. I found the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie at Kohls and got Pete the Cat through Scholastic with my bonus points. I also turned a tall shelf on its side and made some pillows (with fleece, because my sewing skills are not great) to make it a fun little bench. There are also more pillows inside the shelf for kids to use on the rug. So far, this area seems to be a hit with the kids! I really think there's a lot to say for giving the library its own area and adding personal touches like pillows.

 This is right next to the library, right along the back wall. The blue shelf houses toys, yes, toys, and their book boxes (because my library doesn't have a shelf tall enough for them!). Being a small, private school, we still have time for play! And I love that so much! Playtime at the end of the day is so good for their social skills, and I like knowing they're using their imaginations and doing some play without a screen. Next to it, we keep their crayon boxes and books on the white shelf, since they have tables, not desks. I like them to have their own crayon boxes, instead of communal supplies, to reduce the spread of germs and reward responsibility for their belongings. I have them color coated to match the colors of the tables. This way, even on Day 2, they know where their crayon boxes go and they know which supply box to get.

This is the front corner of the classroom, you might call it the command center. Yes, my desk has to be up in the front where all the action is, because that's the only place my computer can hook up to the internet AND the interactive whiteboard. Last year my desk was in the back, and I hated having to move my computer back and forth if I was doing work or planning during my break time and then used the projector right after that. But I keep my desk (fairly) clear so it is for instruction, not clutter, especially since I have a document camera this year (yay!!!). That's for my teacher table in the back :-) Up here, I also have sight words, vocabulary, and our weekly Bible verse, as well as the date and schedule, posted.

This is the clip chart I designed. With the copyright issues with Dr. Seuss things, it's hard to find a good one on Teachers Pay Teachers. So I downloaded a good Seuss font and some fun borders (find them here) and made one myself! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The problem with my classroom is always finding some free wall space that's tall enough for the clip chart, where the kids can reach it! So we're using the side of my filing cabinet. But hey, you do what you need to when you don't have much wall space.

I apologize for the multiple photos of this one, but I couldn't get a full picture with the words visible. This is one of my favorite things because I actually came up with it all on my own! It wasn't even Pinterest-inspired. I was wanting to post more about goals and life skills, especially because it's an accreditation year for the school, so it looks really good! And I had gotten this cute bulletin board set from the teacher store, mostly for the characters in it, but I had all these book pieces. As I thought about using these Dr. Seuss books in my lessons this year to teach life skills, I realized this would be so cool! So I put statements up on the wall based on the life lessons taught by these books. I love how it turned out and can't wait to start using them in lessons to teach the kids life skills.

 This is my hallway bulletin board...a foreign concept to a girl who grew up in California, where the classrooms all open up to the outside, but hey, it's nice...especially because we don't have large bulletin boards in our rooms. This is my beginning-of-the-year board this year. I got the striped paper from the paper crafting section of Hobby Lobby and the characters in a bulletin board set with the books in the above pictures.

My voice chart! I still haven't introduced it to this class (and I may never have to with only 6 of them), but I started using one part way through the year last year and it was invaluable. This year, I took the time to make a cute one. This was a Pinterest-inspired project. I again used a good Seuss font (Grinched 2.0 found here), printed onto different colors cardstock (I went with the stoplight approach), and then glued onto some matching scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby....can you tell I really like Hobby Lobby? It's seriously one of my favorite places.







So those are some of the highlights of my Seuss classroom! I decided not to hit the Seuss too hard, and went the primary color theme so that I can reuse more things. As a new teacher, I feel like that's the best approach, until I've stocked up supplies a bit more. I did purchase a Dr. Seuss border, some Cat in the Hat hat cutouts, and the bulletin board set, and I love those! This classroom is the result of a lot of time, frustration, paint, Pinterest hours, and hard work, but it is so worth it! I am so happy with my classroom this year. It is so satisfying to get it exactly how I want it.

God's blessings and happy teaching,
Mikaela

First Day of School!

So today was our first day of school...a long-awaited day, that wiped me out more than I expected! Being only my second year teaching, this was my first time going from having a well-trained class of almost first-graders to a class of just-out-of-preschoolers who don't know any of the routines yet. Did this throw any of you off in your early years? It certainly was hard for me, and I'm sure it's still going to be an adjustment in the coming days...weeks...months.

However, I really don't have much to complain about for this first day. It was actually probably one of the calmest first days I could ever hope to have. Last year, I had parents all over the classroom, unloading supplies, kids meeting me for the first time, and one case of separation anxiety that resulted in major tears and screaming. This year, I have a class of only 6 (no, that's not a typo, SIX kids), one of whom is on vacation this week. Their parents were calmer. We asked them to bring their supplies on Back to School night so there was no supply-unpacking to do. I met all the students this year on home visits and they all saw the classroom on Back to School night. And... (I was SO excited) NO CRYING. The bell rang at 8:00 and within 10 minutes, I had 5 little angels quietly coloring at their tables, no parents to be seen anywhere in the classroom. Like I said, very calm.

We are also fortunate to have a half-day for the first day of school, with chapel thrown in there to take up half an hour. And yet somehow, I'm still exhausted. I'm also very excited for the possibilities of this school year. It's so weird to think of a brand new adventure ahead of me, with different challenges, different talents, different events and highlights. So far, I've only known one class as truly "mine." I have to remember that my experiences last year, as much as I learned about being a teacher, and teaching Kindergarteners, will still not have fully prepared me for this upcoming year. And as scary as that is (I like to think that I'm SO prepared as a second-year teacher), it's also kind of exciting.

The only major hitch in our day was the possibility of rain. As grateful as I am for the cooler weather with this storm system moving through, I did not want to have to introduce my kids to gym recess on the first day! So I kept an eye on the clouds out the window, and thankfully, we were able to get outside for recess on the playground before the rain came!

One of my favorite things to do on the first day of school is to sing "The Circle Time Song" by the Kiboomers. It's just a fun little song with a good repeating chorus that can be sung in a circle with some simple actions. I used it last year, somehow I stumbled upon it, and decided at the last minute (as in, at 7:12 this morning) that I wanted to use it again this year. Sure enough, it was a hit, and after a few times through it during the day, the kids were loving it!

This year, I chose a few favorite books to read for the first day. I started off with Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes by Eric Litwin. This one is SO much fun as a first day book! Not only does it address first day feelings of anxiety and sparks the conversation of how to deal with it, but it also introduces locations in a school building. Of course it also has the awesome song to go with it (available on CD or online with the book), saving a bit of your voice and giving the kids a way to interact by singing that tune over and over.
I also chose to read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. Now, I have seen many bloggers saying that they DON'T read this book on the first day. However, I chose to, because when I went on home visits, I brought along a little Chester stuffed animal that I got through Scholastic, and so I brought him out again to read the story. Also, how can you resist all those cute crafts to go with it?! We actually ended up having an awesome discussion about how raccoons are nocturnal, and the kids made that connection by talking about how they've seen raccoons outside at night (apparently they're common here...not so much in California where I grew up!) I am blessed to be at a school where the parents really care, and they come from good pre-schools, so the kids are so knowledgeable and excited to learn and we can have these discussions even on the first day!
As a time filler, I also brought out a quick favorite, The Singing Chick by Victoria Stenmark. I think it's so important to read some good "just for fun" books on the first day, and this one definitely is! It was one I inherited from my mom from her teaching days in Kindergarten, and one her students always loved too. Last year, I didn't pull it out until my bird unit, and I knew I had made a mistake for waiting so long! It is a funny, entertaining book, with opportunities for predictions. However, it only works if you're willing to do the silly voices!

After reading The Kissing Hand, we did a craft to go along with it. It was a good way to assess their scissor and glue skills, as well as their ability to follow directions. I was expecting to have to walk them through it step-by-step, but as soon as they saw my example, they were all working away and got it finished like that! They are a very independent group. I sort of mish-mashed this project from several ideas I found from other bloggers. I had the pieces traced and ready to go, and they did all the cutting. I decided to play the hand part by ear, since I didn't know exactly how the day would play out. I had decided to put off the hand prints until tomorrow, but then we came back after chapel with plenty of time to spare, so I traced their hands for them and them color them in (since I had forgotten to grab paint from the closet down the hall!). Don't they look adorable?

Unfortunately, I couldn't go home and sleep after school, so I'm sitting at the auto shop with my laptop while my car gets its 30,000 mile inspection and maintenance (yay for being a grown up!). But I am looking forward to a few hours of relaxing on the couch with some Grey's Anatomy tonight to recharge for a full day tomorrow!

God's Blessings and Happy Teaching!
Mikaela