New Room-New Paint!

I am excited to share that I will be teaching Kindergarten at a new school this coming school year! I have been at the same school for 16 years, so this is a big change. It has already had me reflecting on what I want to bring with me, and what new things that I want to try! I have been pinning on Pinterest like crazy.

I also painted my new room. I am very thankful that my new principal arranged the cleaning schedule so that I could get in there early and paint!

Before--2 of the walls were purple. I went with a Pebble Gray to make the surroundings more neutral. This wall with the Smartboard had the most square footage, but also the fewest obstacles. My awesome 10 year old daughter helped out. My 4 year old is photobombing the before shots.  And please pay no attention to the furniture arrangements!

There is a markerboard and 2 large chalkboards. I plan to use the chalkboards mainly for display purposes. There are 4 small bulletin boards that were painted black, and I painted them a sandy color.

I don't do a "theme" like many classrooms used to, but I try to have a planned out color scheme. I want it to be mostly neutral to attract attention to student work and materials. I am going for a beachy color scheme--pebble gray, shell white, sandy tan, and pops of turquoise water. My daughter said that I picked "boring" colors....but I have some tricks up my sleeve with items that I add! 

All of my "stuff" is in my garage right now---and as soon as I can arrange for some manpower to get it all to school---I will be up there like crazy with updates!

Scoop Rockers

My Scoop Rockers arrived this week, and I could not be more excited! These floor height chairs have been an amazing addition to our reading area. The kiddos can rock, wiggle, and lounge as they enjoy their independent reading time. They already love them!

 

Even my 2 year old daughter approves!

An Ethic of Excellence-Ron Berger

Several years ago, our school had Ron Berger visit as a guest speaker. He showed us example after example of amazing work. He has a quiet demeanor, but tells stories in a captivating and inspirational way. This year, we were asked to read his book, An Ethic of Excellence.

This was the second time that I read this text, but it was still a powerful read. Parts of it really resonated with me, and made me wonder how I can use his information in our classroom. Philosophically, I agree with him and would love to teach in a setting similar to his school. Our school uses more of a Standards-Based approach, and is trying to incorporate Project-Based learning into our current practice. The difficulty for me, and teachers like me, is determining how we can weave both approaches into our teaching. I do not have a perfect answer to this question, but I am experimenting and working hard to figure it out!

One of the examples that Berger often references, is Austin's butterfly. Click here to link to a video where he shares the critiquing process with a group of students. This picture shows the progression of his work.

The student created a drawing of a butterfly, presented it along with a picture of a butterfly for feedback from his peers several times, and revised his work each time after receiving their feedback. 

I teach Kindergarten, and thought that something like this is manageable, even for my young kiddos. We are reading non-fiction books currently, and our book for this week is Getting Around By Plane. 

Before I showed the students the book, I asked them to draw a picture of a plane. Then, we read the book. It showed the students many kinds of planes, and included important components of planes. When finished, the students listed parts of the plane that they thought should be required on our drawings. We drew a picture together, making sure to include each part from the list. Then, they drew their own planes. When complete, they shared ideas about what they added to their second plane. Some students even asked to draw another plane, and even now, a few days later, they are still drafting planes! An advanced student labeled the parts of his plane, and after he shared, we discussed the benefits of a labelled drawing. 

Here is an example of on of the student's work, before and after:

When I asked if I could use his work, he insisted that I explain that you cannot see his engines because they are under the wings! This is because we had a discussion about how the viewpoint of the camera made it hard to see some of the components in the book. He also pointed out that his landing gear was down because his plane was about to land! I was extremely proud of this student, because he tends to sacrifice quality for speed on much of his work, and he really took his time and added detail to this drawing.

This activity really energized all of us. They have been requesting specific non-fiction books, and we have been searching our class library, my files, and the school library for books on their requested topics. They are accustomed to thinking about our schema, our misconceptions, and our new schema, so they truly embraced this activity. I will be sure to update this post as this develops. 

Kindergarten Classroom Tour

This is a simple tour of my classroom environment. I try to maximize space and create inviting, cozy areas for the students. In addition to everything pictured, I have many lamps, a sound machine, and a wax warmer to create a sense of peace and tranquility. I want my students to feel like our classroom community is a comfortable second home. My goals is that they feel like our classroom belongs to them. If you click on the double diagonal arrows at the bottom, you will be able to see the slide show better.

Video About Me

Most of the information that I include on this page is professional, so I thought that it would be fun to get to know me on a personal level. I put together this slideshow using IMovie. I enjoy using programs like this with my students and feel that technology gives our students an opportunity to present information in an authentic way.

***disclaimer--My 10 year old daughter viewed the video, and informed me that my ending was silly. I assured her that you have to be a little bit silly to teach early childhood kiddos!

Self Regulation

I am passionate about guiding my students to independent thought and work. A critical piece for success in this area is teaching students to self-regulate. Students must be able to recognize when their emotions are not appropriate for the situation. They need to have strategies to calm themselves down, and they need to learn to recognize when they are ready to rejoin activities. I have a cool down spot in my classroom with many items for students. I have calming jars and bottles, an I Spy jar, fidgets, small marble mazes, gel masks, brushes, clothespins and other clips, therapy putty, sand timers in different increments of time, and more. Students visit when they are angry, upset, or needing a break. Some of them choose to relax on a pillow with a gel mask over their eyes. Some choose a simple cognitive task like a maze or the I Spy jar to engage the logical area of their brain and move away from the emotional area. Some need some time to fidget or squeeze something to get some sensory stimulation. After becoming familiar with all of the items, they are very good at self-selecting items that are effective for them.

Examples of Cool Down Spot Items

Another component of self regulation that I feel is important, is for students to recognize when they are working inefficiently. We have class meetings and discussions about this topic. I want my students to notice if they are distracted, think about what changes they can make to limit distraction, and find a way to change the situation so they can work effectively. Students make choices such as changing locations, putting up folders, taking a break, getting a drink, stretching, and more. Even at age 5, they do a great job of noticing what needs to change!

Fine Motor and Sensory in Kindergarten

Education is a dynamic field. Even in the time that I have taught, many things have changed tremendously. As standards have become more rigorous in the early childhood grades, and academic expectations rise, I find it increasingly important to incorporate sensory and fine motor experiences into my classroom. Many of my students are learning to write in preschool, or even younger. This means that many of them come to me with an immature pencil grip because they lack hand strength or have not moved past grasps that are appropriate for younger ages.

Click here to visit a great website that explains pencil grasps and when to attempt to modify them!

I work with my kids to build up hand strength by offering opportunities to exercise their hands. I find that my student have very strong and coordinated thumbs because of their video game experience, but  often lack strength in the remaining fingers and hand. I currently have a sensory center that has a large bin of popcorn kernels, with a variety of cups, plastic test tubes, funnels, measuring spoons, and other containers for the student to scoop, pour, and fill. I encourage play with play dough, including putting beads or other small objects in it for the students to find and remove. I offer opportunities with chopsticks and tweezers frequently. This week, we read a book about tools, and students visited centers where they could use real pliers, pulleys, nuts and bolts, and hammers and nails. (with eye protection and my close supervision!) Throughout warmer months, I also offer opportunities with water and squirt toys, turkey basters, and sponges that they can squeeze. These activities expose them  to a variety of sensory opportunities, strengthen their hands, and are lots of fun!

Experimenting on the light table

Working with water beads

Working in sand

What Do My Teammates Think of Me?

One of our activities in August before school began, was to take a picture of ourselves and list words that we feel define us. I have an extremely self-deprecating sense of humor, and tend to be highly critical of myself, so this simple project was a real struggle for me. (The same could be said about interviewing and going through hiring processes--I am not always effective at selling myself, because I always see the flaws in my own work, and end up downplaying my abilities.) To solve this issue with my discomfort, I asked my teammates to think of words that they associated with me. A friend of mine even typed them in and submitted them for me. I did not know what words were entered, until I received the final product. Because they were all generated by others who work closely with me, I truly cherish the final product and feel flattered and thankful for my colleagues.

Process Art

I think it is very important to balance activities for early childhood students. We work very hard on academic subjects, but I also offer activities to express themselves in other ways. I have an art/sensory area in my room. It includes a tall wood table, where students stand to complete activities. I have been really excited about offering process art activities in this area. Giving them an opportunity to practice a process results in improved work on larger projects.

Process art, simply put, is art that focuses on a process instead of a product. I use this when I want my student to pick up on an art technique instead of trying to recreate my work. This always makes me think about the trend of "paint parties," where people come together and follow step by step instructions to create a piece of art. While this is likely a fun activity for all, it is not really teaching the participants to create. The end products are highly similar with little variation. While following step by step directions is an important life skill, I want my students to be creators, particularly when making art! I feel that there is a lot of transfer of this creativity to their project work, which makes these activities extremely important to me.

My current art center has blue, yellow, and white paint, along with brushes, bottle caps of different sizes, and many colors of paper. Students select their own color of background paper. We are working to mix colors to make shades of green, so they mix the provided colors to make their own shades. They paint the caps and use them to stamp circles on their paper in any design they wish. It has been fun for me to see what they do! Some meticulously line their circles up in rows and make their green shades get progressively lighter or darker. Others randomnly stamp their circles without pattern, often overlapping to create new shapes and shades. Many students ask if they can complete another paper when they finish the first--which is a sign of a successful activity in my book.

Here is an example of one student's work--she made several green shades and tones, but chose to keep her circles similar in size with no intentional overlapping:

Here is a great link to show many ideas for process art. Click here.