My Kindergarten Adventure

Creative Minds

2010-09-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

For our math lesson a few days ago I gave them some pattern blocks and had them arrange them into different patterns. I gave them an example of a flower and then let them play with the pattern blocks and this is what they came up with: Pretty creative for kindergarteners!

A Lion

A fish

A flower

A car

dishes falling into the sink!

A tree!

School Supplies

2010-09-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have added a list to my blog that informs parents of the supplies that we will be needing for our classroom. With the economy doing poorly our school funding for supplies and necessary classroom materials has greatly decreased. Anything you can do to help out would be greatly appreciated. I will continue to add to the list as I see a need and if I need something by a specific date I'll make sure that I make that known on the list. I'm sure that as the year goes on the list will grow. As of right now I have pretty much all that I need for awhile. The things that I listed are those items that I believe we will run out of first.

Thanks for anything and everything that you do!!

Mrs. Franklin

The First Day!

2010-08-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday morning I was greeted with 17 eager little faces awaiting the start of their adventure in education. I felt a little more prepared than I did last year but I soon discovered that you can never be completely prepared for kindergarten. This new group of students brings with them new and interesting challenges.

My first day was met with much anticipation, preparation and excitement on my part. I have always LOVED the first few days of school. After about an hour spent with my new kindergarteners I realized that an entire day with them may just end up being very stressful, for them and myself. I was right - not even halfway through the morning I was getting comments like, "Is it lunchtime yet?", "when to we get to play?", "this is boring," "when do I get to go home - I think my mom misses me too much for me to be here," "when do we get to eat all of those m&ms that we brought", "when can we do art?" It was about 10:00 am when I realized that it was going to be a very long day!

Luckily we didn't have any issues with lunch or missing students which was nice and the afternoon went a lot more smoothly than the morning. As the end of the day approached I was acutely aware of the fact that this year is going to be a lot different than last year. I have a new crop of kindergarteners that are at very different academic levels and that this year may be a bit more challenging. But with that said I anticipate and hope that with the difficult challenges ahead of me I will be able to see the rewards at the end of the year and look forward to how much they will learn and grow.

The second day was a lot better than the first which was extremely encouraging. It gave me hope that this year was going to be just fine! I will adjust to each of them as they adjust to me and we will have a whole heap of fun learning so many new things. I can say now that I really look forward to teaching this group of youngsters and am glad that I have the first week under my belt.

My wonderful group of kindergarteners!!

It has Begun!!

2010-08-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten is a little over a week away but my room has begun to take shape. I revamped and rearranged a few elements in my classroom to make sure that I utilize my space more efficiently. I am in the proccess of going through stacks and stacks and stacks of books. I am putting them into categories and throwing away some that are really old. I decided that this year I would not have an overwhelming amount of books for the kindergarteners to look through - it was too much and what I ended up with was a bunch of ruined books and destructive looking bookshelves at the end of the year. No Thanks!

As I approach the beginning of the schoolyear I am not as stressed as I was last year and am looking forward to getting my new crop of students. I know that this year I will be better equipped with the skills to teach these youngsters more efficiently and effectively.

Now to the task at hand - preparing my room which has always been exciting for me but stressful as well. I will post pictures as soon as my room is complete.

The End!!

2010-06-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well - this school year has been a whirlwind of new learning opportunities. Teaching kindergarten which is a grade that I told myself I would NEVER teach has turned out to be a grade that I enjoy. I would not have said that the first few months of school - it was challenging and I was left feeling completely unfit for the job. However, as the months continued the more and more I began to enjoy teaching them, laughing with them and playing with them. They taught me many lessons in patience that will forever be etched into my mind and used frequently in years to come not only with my students but with my own children as well.

I have accepted to opportunity to teach another bunch of kindergarteners this coming school year. Part-time has proved to be such an amazing experience as a mother who loves to be home with her own children as well as teach. My own daughter will be gracing the campus of our elementary next year as a kindergartener and it will be fun to step along side her as she begins her journey through education, especially at the school that I'm come to respect and love. I'm looking forward to another adventure with a different bunch of kindergarteners.

I don't know how long I will be teaching kindergarten - honestly as much as I enjoy teaching the young ones I also extremely miss and my heart longs to teach the upper grades again. I call 4th grade my teaching niche!! Who knows if I will end up there again soon but I hope to. I miss it tremendously!

As for this coming school year I hope to do a better job with this blog - making sure that I blog not only about our experiences in the classroom but also about different lessons that I teach, what works best with my group of students, different strategies that I use for the different temperments and ability levels in my class. It may seem strange but I learn best by teaching things myself and if I'm writing down strategies somehow I convince myself that they work :) That is my aspiration for the blog next year - not only that but to have something that the parents can look at and read and feel like they are aware of what is going on in their child's classroom.

Well, without any more blabbering I'm going to end the blog for this year. A shout out to all my parents who worked so hard alongside me this past year to make sure that their students succeeded. And a last farewell to all of my 20 kindergarteners whose faces and smiles I already miss so much. I look forward to watching them grow and who knows - maybe someday I'll teach them again in the upper grades :)

Have a great summer!

Mrs. Kara Franklin

Graduation!!

2010-06-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well - the year has come to a close - and I'm late in posting the last few entries for this year. Whoops!

I survived my first kindergarten graduation - I was nervous because I had to get up in front of a bunch of proud parents and grandparents and tell them how wonderful their children were and how great and challenging of a year it was. I hate getting up in front of people! It went well though and I couldn't help but be proud as I saw each of my little students march across the stage to receive their diplomas from the superintendent.

They were such a blessing to me this year! And I'm thankful that each of them were brought into my lives!

Here is a picture of my cute kindergarteners - not all were in attendance!

Track Meet

2010-05-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

My kindergarteners participated in their first Melba Elementary track meet this past week. It was great weather and we had a lot of fun. I was very proud of the way they gave their best effort and encouraged and cheered each other on. Way to go guys!

IRI - check!

2010-05-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

I have been dreading the state IRI for awhile now, especially since the winter IRI did not go well. Our kindergarteners in the winter scored an average of 44% and the state average was 75%. Needless to say we had a lot of ground to make up. We worked really hard and yesterday they took the spring IRI - they each left the room one at a time as I crossed my fingers and prayed for each one individually. With kindergarteners each day is different and they can test great one day and terrible the next so I just wasn't sure after a four day weekend how they would perform and I was nervous. I knew that they knew their stuff, we've drilled and practiced and drilled and practiced and drilled and practiced! But whether or not they would prove that they knew their stuff when tested would be a different story.

After the test was finished and all of them were back in their seats ready to keep learning I breathed a sigh of relief - it was done! There was nothing more I could do now to make their scores reflect what they know.

I anxiously awaited their results and received them around 2:00 pm. I remember closing my eyes as I opened the attachment that held their scores, took a deep breath and then eagerly scanned through the results. I have to say that my immediate reaction was one of disappointment. I was foolishly expecting all of them to get a 3 (which is the highest score) - not because I personally wanted to look good but simply because I knew that they could, each one of them has proven in the past few weeks that they are capable of a 3. However, much to my dismay 3 of them scored a 2 and one of them scored a 1. I overlooked the fact that 80% of my class scored 3's which is amazing. It was also frustrating that the three that scored 2's came within a few points of scoring a 3. MAN!!!!!!!!

In hindsight I know that if they were to test on Wednesday some that scored 3's could easily get 2's and so on. Who knows? The scores are what they are and I'm proud of them all for doing their best.

And thank you to the parents who worked with your child at home in preparation for this test. Your efforts definately paid off. And I have to say that I'm glad it's over! At least until next year!

Mother's Day Gifts

2010-05-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

So - this year I was at a loss for a Mother's Day gift. I was late in thinking about it and was stressed last week when I only had one day to figure something out. However, the lovely website "The Crafty Crow" (one of my faves) gave me some great ideas for homemade Mother's day gifts and they were adorable. I then only had to purchase some small matchboxes and some ribbon because I had plenty of scrapbook paper of my own. The total of this gift out of my pocket ended up being around $7.00 total. Incredible!! I think this just may be a staple gift for years to come. And their school pictures fit perfectly in them.

Happy Mother's Day to my kinder moms!! Thanks for all that you do!

Hoedown in Melba

2010-05-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

So - Last night I spent the evening watching my cute little kindergarteners dressed up in their western finest perform in the spring program. The theme was western and man was it upbeat and lively. When you came in the doors you were greeted by the 5th graders doing line dancing and loud western music - it was great. There were plenty of cowboy hats, bandanas and overalls to go around and if you were to look closely you probably saw each foot taping to the upbeat tempos that resonated through the gymnasium. It was a sight to behold. The set design was great and the kids had so much fun performing. I was very proud of them!

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

I'm all about Easter Egg hunts - anything that's fun and makes people happy!! We didn't have a specific time period set out in our monthly schedule for an Easter egg hunt but my room mom and I decided that it would be a fun thing to do. Unfortunately it rained outside so our hunt was inside - but the kids really have a good time.

There were plenty of eggs to go around and we keep finding hidden eggs around the classroom even this week.

Empty Easter basket

Logan found one!

Jeff can't reach!

Telissa's stash!

The Things They Say

2010-04-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

So this morning my students were coloring a worksheet on the letter "Jj" and one of the boys says to me, "Mrs. Franklin guess what? My grandpa can't play with me anymore." To this I responded, "well, why not?" and he says, "because he has diarrea."

Today we were standing in line for music and one of my students asked whether we were going to music or P.E. I told him that we were going to get to go to music today and to this he replied, "Ahh man, I'm never going to be a music teacher."

A few days ago during the morning journal writing the class seemed fairly quiet which is nice in the mornings. However, one little boy broke the silence and with complete seriousness said these words to the other students sitting at his table, "hey guys, guess what? My mom doesn't know that I turn into a werewolf at night." And instead of laughter (except from me) the other students go into what they turn into at night - it was quite comical. We had everything from clowns, black ninjas, vampires, bats, spiderman and spongebob.

Haven't had some funny ones in awhile so it was refreshing to hear them today chat about cute little innocent things.

Kindergarten Catch-up

2010-04-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything since Valentine's Day. Life somehow got in the way and my "free-time" was rendered more useful elsewhere.

However, we have been having classes regularly and we have been learning quite a lot. I've been focusing the majority of my attention on preparing them for the spring IRI and making sure they are confident with their abilities to be able to survive first grade.

I will be posting some pictures of our Easter party and any other fun activities that we do this spring.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

We've accomplished the celebration of our first Valentine's Day at school. I had forgotten that Valentine's Day was never a big day for this little guys until this year. It was a lot of fun to see them open their valentine cards and gasp at the candy that came with practically every card (who started that tradition?) - anyways it was a fun afternoon full of candy, cards and games.

Questions!

2010-02-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

So - I'm starting a unit called "By the Sea" and I introduced this unit by asking them what they already know about the ocean. That went pretty well. Then I asked them if they had any questions about the ocean or anything that they wanted to know. When they asked their questions I was into "the teaching moment" and didn't really react one way or another to their question I just simply wrote it down on the board. Well, after school I as I was copying them onto little "fish" to put on the bulletin board I realized that some of their questions were very cute so I decided to post a few.

1) How long is the ocean?

2) Do fish get sick?

3) Can squid stretch their arms?

4) Do humpback whales have spouts?

5) Can sharks get as big as a boat?

6) Are the sea creatures cold-blooded?

7) Can you go under saltwater?

Oh the Things They Say

2010-02-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

We were getting ready to play a game for birthday parties and Ryan saw that someone was moving chairs around. He got so excited and exclaimed, "Hurray, are we going to play High School Musical chairs?"

"Mrs. Franklin, your breath smells like Ramen Noodles." - Dawson

Ryan's joke:

"Why did the pencil cross the road?"
"Because he was dumb"

Letter Celebration!

2010-01-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

On Monday we had our first party celebrating the first 5 letters that we have extensively studied and hopefully mastered. We celebrated learning the M, P, D, S and A. It was an activity involving centers which is one of my students favorite things to do. I was lucky enough to have a couple moms join in the fun and help us out - thank you Mrs. Hunter and Mrs. Christensen. I was also lucky to have my mom come out to help as well and she brought my daughter Addison who will be in kindergarten next year. She had a lot of fun doing the centers with the kids. I also had help from Mrs. Friddle. We had so much fun celebrating the letters that we've learned. At each center the students had a book read to them, they did a craft and had a snack all of which correlated with a letter than we had studied. I look forward to our next letter celebration party!

The Letter Mm:

making Marshmellow "M"s

snack: M&Ms

The Letter Aa:

craft: Alligators

snack: ants on a log

The Letter Pp:

craft: pyramids with sugar cubes

snack: popcorn

The Letter Dd:

craft: ducks

snack: donuts (sorry I guess I didn't get a picture of them eating their donuts)

The Letter Ss:

craft: snakes

snack: sugar cookies

Thanks to "No Time For Flashcards" blog for all of the great ideas for the letters. I did learn that I will need to incorporate a drink of some kind next time as well as try and make sure that all of the books are about the same length. Other than that it worked out great and I was very pleased with the result.

The Things They Say!!!

2010-01-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

Before Chandler and Jeff went to recess they approached me with these pretty alarming facts:

Chandler: "Guess what teacher? My dad was born in 2001"

Jeff: "Oh yeah - my dad was born in 1891" - totally serious!

Apparently I hold the record for the youngest and oldest parents in my classroom.

Today in a discussion about lightning:

Dawson: "Lightning never hits our house because NO ONE can even find our house. Only Jesus can find us."

This lead into a discussion about Jesus at a certain table during transition time in which Jeff said:

"Oh yeah - I have a bible about him."

These kids are just too cute!

Christmas Program

2010-01-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

I tell ya - it is tough working part-time and trying to keep up with this blog. I wish there was more time in each day.

On Monday, December 21st my kindergarteners participated in their first Christmas program. They were all dressed so extremely cute and they sang their little hearts out. I wish I could've gotten better pictures of them but my camera was not cooperating.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I wish you the best of luck in the year 2010. I know that I'm looking forward to my continued journey working with my kindergarteners and am excited for the things we will learn in the coming months.

Waiting patiently for their turn to sing.

Singing so sweetly

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Santa is tired of milk and cookies!

2009-12-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Last week I did a writing project with my kindergartners. I told them that we were going to make a Christmas book. In the book were going to be their drawings and ideas about what they should leave for Santa on Christmas Eve. I told them that Santa is tired of milk and cookies and he needs something different so here are a few of their ideas and drawings that went into this fun book. They enjoy looking at everyone's drawings during free time and trying to read the book to each other.

M&Ms and grape juice

Pizza and chocolate milk

Jerky sticks and orange juice

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Thanksgiving my kindergartners did a lot of fun projects. They made turkeys and wrote what they were thankful for, we read stories and talked about the pilgrims and indians and discussed traditions that they participate in on Thanksgiving. After I show you a few photos of the things they made I am going to list each student and what I am most thankful for about them.

Joshua and Savannah

Leah

Ally

Andy

In random order . . . .

I'm Thankful For . . . .

Jeff - your maturity - you set a great example

Joshua - you always want to do the right thing

Leah - your sweet spirit

Savannah - your loving acceptance of everyone

Daisee - your honesty

Telissa - your precious smile

Jacob - I can count on you to get things done

George - the funny things you say

Chandler - your ability to make us all laugh

Ryan - your love for learning

Ally - your joy and love of being a kid

Jennifer - the look you get when you remember an answer - so cute!

Dawson - your energy and loving attitude toward everyone

Logan - your precious attitude - even when you are in trouble

Morgan - your leadership qualities

Erika - your love for learning and following the rules

Laura - your sweet spirit and love for learning

Luke - your love for art and making things

Andy - your sweet smile and kindness to everyone

My class is soooo extremely amazing!! I am truly blessed and thankful!

Veteran's Day

2009-11-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Day happened to fall on a Wednesday this year which meant my kindergarteners would be able to go to the annual Veteran's Day assembly that Melba has. Well, this year I was supposed to choose one kindergarten student from my class to say a few words up front during the assembly. Immediately I thought of Ally. She does a great job when she talks in the front of the classroom and she is loud enough and articulate enough for the audience to hear her. She did a great job and we were all very proud of her representing our class. I was also proud of the rest of my kindergarten class who sat through a hour and a half assembly without any restroom visits or extreme naughtiness.

Ally is waiting her turn at the mic. My camera died after this picture so I was unable to get a close-up of her saying her words. Sorry!!

November Students of the Week

2009-11-19T07:55:00.000-08:00

So these two cuties are my students of the week for the month of November. Both Ally and Joshua exhibit all of the qualities to make them worthy of this award. They are both extremely well-behaved, treat everyone in the classroom with respect and seem to enjoy the educational process. I feel so blessed to have these two in my class this year.

Ally Carlisle

Joshua Waite

The Period!

2009-10-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

So - I've been teaching my Kindergarteners what a period at the end of a sentence is. I don't think it's technically in the curriculum for Kindergarten but I'm always using one when I write on the board and they should know why and what it is right? Anyways, I'm always telling them that a period is used when writer's need to stop their thoughts so that their story can make sense. I've gone into quite a lot of detail about it and I thought that they were catching on to the concept - I have to say I was pretty proud of myself. Well, it just goes to show you that pride goeth before a fall because on Monday while we were doing our stories for Melba writes I was helping Ally construct her sentence. I was curious as to the placement of her period so I questioned her about it. The young man sitting next to her leaned over and said, "Mrs. Franklin I know why Ally put her period there?" To this comment I inquired, "Jeff, why do you think Ally put her period there?" His reply was all too serious and so adorable. With a straight face he replied, "Because she said that she needs to stop there so she can go use the restroom." I guess we still need to work a little bit longer on the whole "period" concept. I had to have a little laugh though - to myself of course!

September Student of the Weeks!!

2009-10-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Laura Forsgren and Jeffrey Fahey for being awarded as my student of the weeks for the month of September. These two students set a great example for the rest of the class. They are always on task, they are kind to others and they are extremely respectful in the school environment. Great job you two!!!!!!!

Laura

Jeffrey

My last name is 2nd!!!

2009-09-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday my class was doing their monthly writing project for the district and as they were finishing their work I was coming around and writing their initials in the bottom corner. I was saying their first and last names out loud and then telling them their initials as I wrote them. So, I get to little Jeffrey who acts very grown up for his age - in fact he is my student of the week for last week because he sets an amazing example on how to behave. Anyways, I sat down next to him and said, "Jeffrey is your first name so J is your first initial and Fahey is your last name so F is your last initial, JC" and then I wrote it on the paper. He immediately jumped to the defensive and said, "Fahey isn't my last name!". To this comment I responded with, "really, what is your last name then?". He replied, "2nd!" I have to admit that I immeditely knew what he was talking about and began to giggle inside but to him it was no joke so I wasn't going to let him feel foolish in any way. So I replied to him, "Oh yeah I remember you are Jeffrey Fahey the 2nd". To this he said, "yeah"! I nodded and removed myself to another table continuously laughing inside. It was soooo cute!!!

Fall Trees

2009-09-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

We had our very first art project this past week and I have to say it went pretty well. Thanks to an organized art mom and well-behaved kindergarteners (I threatened them within an inch of their life). I have to say that the projects turned out very cute and very original to each kid. It's amazing how much you can tell about a child by just looking at their artwork - it truly says a lot about who they are. It's also amazing to me how much fun and joy it can bring to their little lives and I can't believe there are school districts out there that will not allow art projects to be conducted in the classroom without a full scale curricular intent complete with lesson plans, standards and how it will relate to what is being taught. Let's just let fun be fun. I think that every time they pick up a crayon, paintbrush, marker, gluestick, scissors they are tapping into their creative ability to imagine and express themselves in order to be comfortable with who they are. How is that not educational?

Alright - I'll hop down off my arts and crafts in the classroom soapbox and show you some pictures of their creations. Keep in mind that they are supposed to be autumn trees - sometimes kinderart is difficult to decipher but that is what makes them so darn cute.

Mr. Alabama

2009-09-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

So we were sitting around in a circle and Laura my student of the week was doing a show-and-tell in front of the class. She had brought a postcard that she had gotten when she visited Mt. Rushmore. I was trying my best to explain the concept of Mt. Rushmore to a bunch of kindergarteners but didn't think I was getting anywhere. I had told them that a man had decided that he would like to sculpt some giant statues of presidents in this huge rock for everyone to enjoy. One of my students asked if those presidents that he made were dead and I was amazed that she would pick up on that concept and I told her that she was correct. Then little Ryan spoke up and said, "Mr. Alabama isn't dead". Ummmmm . . . . . I sat there confused for a few seconds thinking of a way to respond to that statement when Jacob replied for me, "It's not Mr. Alabama, it's Mr. Arock Obama." I giggled to myself and told the students that Mr. Obama is not dead and he is our President right now. Of course then my kindergarteners were off topic and they began with an array of comments such as, "that's a weird name", "what's a President?", "my brother hates him", "oh yeah, he's in charge of our town", etc . . . Sometimes when they get off topic I have learned quickly that if I just sit and let them chat amongst themselves that it's quite entertaining.

The ABCs

2009-09-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

So - I had to come up with a creative way to fill one center and came up with a hands one way of letting me know if they remembered what we had learned that week and it was the letters A, B and C. So, they had to make the letter A out of popsicle sticks, the letter B out of some string and the letter C had to be done with paint dots. They had a lot of fun working on this project and they look forward to taking them home and showing their parents. I was pleasantly surprised as to how well they did.

"IT'S SCHOOLTIME"

2009-08-31T17:17:00.000-07:00

O.K. - so recess duty isn't exactly my favorite part of teaching - honestly, it's my least favorite part of teaching. The only days that I enjoy it are when I have everything prepared for the next lesson, maybe even the next few days and the weather is in the 60 - 70s with a light breeze. So - you guessed it - that's NEVER!!!

Well, today I was standing out in the heat of the day for afternoon recess not particularly enjoying myself due to the 90 degrees and the screaming children. When the bell finally rang I nonchalantly but gratefully headed back toward the office do deposite the "phone" (in case of emergencies) when I hear one of my little boys screaming at me tell me that the bell rang and "IT'S SCHOOLTIME - YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE TEACHING US NOW." Apparently he was distraught that I was walking in the opposite direction that I was supposed to be. My day however brightened because the look on his face was priceless - one of absolute certainty that I had no idea what I was doing. Ahhhh - - too cute!

Catching Bubbles!!

2009-08-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

O.K. - so I've been searching and trying out new tactics to get my students attention quickly. So far just asking them to close their mouths doesn't seem to be working - go figure! So I gleaned some great advice from the internet and a fellow Kindergarten teacher who said that the "catching bubbles" concept works great for her classroom. I was hesitant to give it a try because I thought even though the concept sounded really cute I doubted whether or not it would work with my kids. However, I was at my wits end on Monday afternoon and needed "SOME WAY" to get those little mouths to cease from moving constantly. So I tried it - and it worked - and they LOVE it!! Hurray for taking someone else's advice - something I should do more often.

The genius concept goes as follows: I asked them to pretend that there were invisible bubbles floating all around them. When I ask them to catch a bubble they reach into the air, pretend to capture one and put it in their mouths. Well, everyone knows you can't talk with a bubble in your mouth and so it's worked great. It is also really cute to see them walking in line with little puffy cheeks and their hands behind their backs. Hopefully it will last throughout the year.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten!!!

2009-08-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what todo and how to be I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at Elementary School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic.

Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

The First Few Days!!

2009-08-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

DAY 1 -

Wednesday was my first day of teaching Kindergarten. I have no experience in teaching this age group. My student-teaching experience was spent in 3rd and 4th grade classrooms and I thought that it would be sufficient for I never saw myself or desired to become a Kindergarten teacher. I should have known better! Luckily my first year teaching in Melba provided me with the experience of a preschool/special education teacher and I definately pulled from that experience while preparing for this adventure. I have to say that now I am excited for this age group and am so thankful that I was able to remain in Melba this year and spend my days off with my own children. What a blessing!! I'm sure that this year will provide itself many life lessons (for myself and my students) as well as many fun stories and projects that I will share with you all.

It began - the first day of Kindergarten. Little 5 year-old children coming through my door eagerly anticipating the beginning of their journey through education. I was so excited to see their smiling faces and to meet their parents. All seemed like it would go exactly as I had planned and I seemed to feel myself relax a little as I looked at these children and somehow thought to myself, "piece of cake". That is until the bell rang, the parents left and I was left with 19 5-year olds staring at me waiting for their first instructions. I remained calm even though my insides began to churn and my brain began to think of what in the world was I going to do with them? Where do I start? What do I say? So, here is my first day outline with a few sidenotes for your reading pleasure.
1) Line practice - ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!! Watching the person in front of you seems like a great way to have them stay in line if they knew what "front" meant. And it seems as if they are more interested in their surroundings than the person in front of them. I thought they were doing great until I looked behind me to see a sea of Kindergarteners, anywhere from 1 foot to 15 feet seperations between them in nothing that resembled a line whatsoever. We practiced and practiced and practiced. And I think I said "We need to have patience" probably every 3 min. And they probably don't even know what "patience" means. FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!

2)Pledge of Allegiance - Explaining this seemed to go well and I even had one little guy who knew it!! Awesome!

3) Go over the rules - Apparently they all seem to think that if they are naughty they get sent to the principals office. When I told them that they would be missing some recess time for being naughty I had a little one ask me what recess was. Awesome!

4) Discipline Plan - My students have to pull cards if they are naughty. They try to stay on the green card all day but if they are naughty they turn it to yellow which results in a 5 min. loss of recess. And red means loss of entire recess and call home to parents. After explaining this in great detail and I thought they all understood I had a Kindergartener willingly walk over and turn his green card to yellow. "He likes that color better."

5)Morning activities for our reading program - Passed out name cards for them to wear. Whose idea was it to give 5-year olds namecards to where all day long? I really don't feel like making new ones each night and no matter how often I tell them to quit playing with them it still happens - constantly.

6) Bathroom break - this went pretty well. I was pleased.

7) reading - this was around 10:15 a.m. and these kids have done nothing "fun" yet so I began to get questions like, "Can I go home now?", "When is lunch I'm hungry?", "Why haven't we painted yet?", When are we going to "play"? and comments like, "I'm bored", "I'm thirsty", "I need to call my mom", "I don't like to color", "I hate books". During this time I became more and more tense - headache dully began.

8) recess - went great - except that I was missing two students when the bell rang. They had lined up with the other Kindergarten class.

9) lunch - went pretty well - had one little boy forget his lunch in the classroom so he had to wait until after lunch to eat. Some kids wanted seconds and some decided that they weren't hungry and wanted to save their lunch until later.

10) P.E. - during this 15 min. short break I ran back to the classroom to try and prepare for the afternoon with these kiddos. I think I ate something but can't quite remember.

11) Afternoon - the most difficult part of full-day Kindergarten. We spent it doing some free-time which they LOVED, read some books - enjoyed a snack and spent 40 min. preparing for the "end of school". Getting backpacks ready, bus necklaces on, room in order, etc . . . .

12) Bus lines - we were supposed to get out there before the bell rang because I needed to get the Kindergartners in the bus lines before the "big" kids came out. Didn't happen!! We were out there early all right but the bus signs were not up so it was stressful once they did get them up. Luckily - all the kids got on the correct bus.

13) Went back to my classroom and took a few headache pills. I think I'm going to need more energy for this job. I'm so glad that it's every other day.

DAY 2:

A whole lot better than Day 1 - I think I was more prepared and they were as well. I was more firm with my discipline and didn't let them get away with much.

Morning: Went great - made friendship salad with the kids and then did some morning reading activities. Only heard one student complain that she was bored. No kids lost at recess!

Lunch: One student didn't like standing in lines so he sat down at a table and I realized that he was sitting there with no lunch only after all of my students were seated and eating. He also did not show up for class after the bell rang and having no aide to help me I couldn't go searching for him. They finally found him in P.E. with the other Kindergarten class.

Afternoon: Again this was the difficult part of the day. We did some math, had free-time, read books, had a snack in which the conversation turned to wedgies somehow. Apprently you can lick the fruit roll-up and your fortune appears. I don't know where the topic of wedgies came from except that one of my boys was calling them fruit wedgies. I asked a student if she knew what a wedgie was and yep - she did - and was pleased to share with the rest of the class. After snack was over I had a little boy say, "I ate my snack but didn't get a wedgie". Oh heavens!

End of the day: Went a lot better as well. Kids on the bus were in line early and I was stressfree as far as that goes. I think that this Kindergarten thing won't be so bad afterall. I am already beginning to love those precious kiddos and all of their funny antics.

Sidenote: It's amazing to me how quickly I can loose a Kindergarten class - I'm in the middle of talking about how we got ready for Kindergarten and my question to the class was, "How did you get ready for Kindergarten?". I called on one student who said, "My favorite cartoon is Spongebob!" - Ummmm . . . from that point on my class was lost - lost to a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. It took me probably 7 min. to regain their attention back to the subject at hand.