Resolutions For and Jitters About the New (School) Year

Since there are currently two Blog Hops going on right now about the new school year, I figured I'd participate in both. Really, they go pretty hand in hand.


The first blog hop is about resolutions by Teaching Maddeness. Now, I've only ever stuck to a few resolutions. One was my freshman year of college and I resolved to taking ONLY one tray of food at each meal and not getting ice cream every day. The other resolution was an idea stole from someone else: brush my teeth with my left hand once a day and my right hand the other time. I'm hoping I'll be able to stick to these resolutions like the ones above.

1. GO HOME! My first resolution is to go home after school and not arrive ungodly early. I left my home at 6 am to get in by 7 (gotta love traffic); kids arrived at 7:30. My kids would leave between 3-3:30 pm. I left before 4 about five times. Typically, I was there till about 5:30. Add about a 45 minute commute and my day lasted over twelve hours with commute. I then quickly grab the dog to go to the dog park for an hour in apology to him. So, my first resolution is to get out at 4:30 every day, except on very special occasions.
2.  STAY POSITIVE! Now, I am a pretty calm person and can tolerate a lot of things. I grew up with a brother with Autism; I had to learn patience early on. But, things got to me this year and I didn't always stay positive. I hope teaching Kindergarten I will be able to remind myself that they can't know everything and will need plenty of reminders- all while staying cheery enough.
3. SING and DANCE! I worked four years at a Girl Scout camp and taught Sunday school for eight years; I was used to singing and dancing with kids. I did very little of singing and dancing this last year. Yet, I believe it is a great way to learn vocabulary, learn conceptsA HUGE part of that was my students beliefs. To some (mostly my third grade boys) music and dancing were against Islam. So, I didn't fight them. I did use the Reading Street Amazing Words songs with my Seconds and sang Reading Street songs with them. I did very few songs with the combination and none with just the Thirds.
4. LAUGH! Laughing, we did that, but not enough. I think they need a good laugh in at least a few times a day. When student teaching, I had kids read Shel Silverstein after specials and tell jokes at the end of the day. I definitely want to hear laugher and see smiles on my kids' faces every day.

The other linky party is by Fierce in Forth and is about first day jitters. Teaching a new grade in the fall and I am full of jitters! Of course, accepting the Kindergarten job, I knew I'd have two months to prepare myself. A month into the assignment, I'm still nervous- but I do have some great ideas swirling through my head!

1. TEACHING KINDERGARTEN! Okay, that is very broad, but it's also very true. I am very nervous about teaching Kindergarten. Teaching them to recognize letters, numbers, to read, to write, how to go to lunch, etc. - I admit, I took advantage of my previous kids knowing how to do this. I've spent every day doing something for Kindergarten and a lot of my time is going into prepping myself. I think it will slide into place, but I just need to feel that I know what I'm doing and have the materials and ideas to do it. 
2. CRIERS, RUNNERS, AND SCREAMERS! Well, I did have a few criers and screamers last year, but those were angry cries and screams, not scared and sad ones! I know at the camp I had some of these, but by no means is it the same as in school. With some twenty other students, I have no idea how I will be able to handle all of these problems. And, how will I able to handle it without other students catching onto the sobs? Any ideas you want to share are good ideas!
3. BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT and PARENTS: Last year, I was hired so quickly before the start of the school year and a program was put together then too, there was no back to school night for us. I don't exactly know what to include, how it will go, etc. I want to make a good impression and I want them to feel confident in me teaching their child. I want to get information out of them and I want to give information to them. I worried about being able to communicate with all of the parents and have things to do for the ones that only have a Kindergarten, yet catching all of the parents that have two, three, six kids at the school.

Sigh! So many more, but these are some of my current jitters! Alright, off to try to relax and play some frisbee with the dog. 

Must Have Picture Books

I stumbled on a linky party about books at The Teacher Wife. I love to talk about books, so here I'll add a few that I haven't seen listed on some other lists! It's terribly hard to think of absolute favorites, but I'll just stick with a few that I love or my kids loved or both! My guilty pleasure, especially during garage sale season is buying books, so I love getting ideas, link up and share yours for others to read about!

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1. The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf

This book tells a story about a bunch of crayons that doesn't get along. They each believe they are the best color and will argue about the others. When bought and taken home, they learn they can make a beautiful picture by using all of the colors. 

I read this around Martin Luther King Jr. Day to help teach acceptance and diversity. It could be read anytime and this next school year, I'll read it much sooner. 

2. Pinduli by Janell Cannon 

The author of Stellaluna, also deserving top mentions, also wrote this book. Opposite of The Crayon Box that Talked, Pinduli is a young hyena that doesn't like being different. She's picked on one day and ends up running into a number of other animals that weren't having a good day either. It teaches about how words can travel and hurt those you say things to. In the end, Pinduli learns to accept herself and helps other accept each other too. 

I read this last year in the beginning of the year to help teach about how to discover what words mean. The book is filled with great vocabulary. We used context clues, picture clues, and the dictionary to help us out. The kids loved the imagery and enjoyed all the animals in it. 

3. Zink the Zebra by Kelly Weil

Now, I'm on a roll with books that teach about appreciating differences. Zink the Zebra is another book about how people can be different. This story follows two zebra siblings: Zink and Fink. Zink was born with spots, Fink, with stripes. They go around the jungle asking which one was "weird." Their parents tell them they are special the way they are. 

I've been reading this one to kids for a long time now. Having worked with Girl Scouts, this program was a big part of our camp. This very short story was written by a young girl, Kelly, who had cancer. She felt alone and different. She did lose her battle, but her memory stays with this book and program. You can watch a video online for free with your class: http://www.zink.org.

4. Black? White! Day? Night! by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Less of a picture book and more of a flip book, this book still deserves a mention. The book is a great book of opposite with excellent pictures to illustrate opposites. One part of the page will have a picture with one idea and you open it and see the opposite. The pictures here are tiny and huge.

When I started to read the book with my second and third graders when teaching antonyms, they said: "This is for Kindergartners!" By the end, they were saying their predictions and how cool the book was!

5. Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

By no means is this a masterpiece, but it is terribly funny. Kitty used to be a very good kitty but then became a very bad kitty when her owner had only healthy food for her. She goes through a terrible fit and does some terrible things until her owner buys her "tasty" food. Then, she must apologize and fits all the wrong things she did. 

My students loved this book, the illustrations, and the chaos! It is easy to read with an ABC format and has some great vocabulary as well. My kids wanted to read it again and again, along with any other book that was in the series! The Poor Puppy book has good geographic locations, which is another fun aspect to talk with kids about. 

Extra: Oh, How I Wished I Could Read! by John Gile

I almost forgot about this one. I got this when I was in school and absolutely loved it! I read it so often! So, I figured, I may as well add it as an extra. It's about a little boy who dreams he can't read. He has a terrible experience without knowing what the letters meant! It helps to show kids the importance of reading and how words surround them. I did read it to my class, but it was so early in the year I forgot it originally on the list!

Those are just a few, there are so many other books I could rave on and on about! Check out the linky party to add your own! 

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Like I wrote before, I am trying to do something a day for Kindergarten. Some things are more general, like the pocket chart and now these. I searched many places around me to get library pockets to no avail. So, I decied to make my own. I cut 12 x 18 pieces of construction paper into four parts: 4.5 inches by 12 inches. I then cut them all to be 9 inches long, saving the other 3 inches. These can fit into the pockets later on.

I scored them with my scissors four inches up so I could later fold them. Before I did that though, I cut .5 inches off of each side of the longer chunk.

I folded them up next. Then, I glued the excess tabs and folded them over to create pockets. I rounded the top corners to make it look more professional. It took about 3 episodes of The Vampire Diaries (my latest Netflix TV show) to make 25. 

If my classroom was a deserted island, I would want...

I have only four days left of school; I can't figure out where the rest of this school year went! It must have been between staying late nights at school, pulling out my hair, and collecting items on teacherspayteachers without my notice. I haven't spend much time on the blog, but it was something to start for the future.

My tests all went pretty well. I have students that struggle; that's all classrooms for you! But, the growth of my students is undoubtable. All the same, I hope they continue to grow over the summer. They can use IXL.com and Raz-Kids.com over the summer through our school and I hope that they do. I considered sending homework, but I didn't have enough time to finally pull together a packet. I'm sure they'll be happy for the time off.

While stubbling through other blogs, I discovered a linky party. New to the blog sphere, I wanted to participate.

1. Smartboard (And thus my Laptop)

I  have no desire to ever go backward into a classroom with no SmartBoard. I have used this religiously over the school year. I have put together pages and pages of daily problems, themed units, and simple games. The interactive features keep my kids better focused and willing to participate. With the MCAs (our state testing) being online and interactive, it also allows good practice for moving things, putting them in order, and clicking on something instead of putting A,B,C,D. Plus, it adds color and ditches clapping erasers together outside on Friday.

We watch brainpopjr.com videos for science, do our Daily Word Problem for math and Daily Comprehension for LA, work out story maps, and use graphic organizers on a pretty regular schedule. When math starts or when Arabic ends, they know right away to head to the front and sit down. This sitting and staying in the same spot is something I need to reorganize for next year, but at least they got the schedule down!

2. The Organization System: Bins, Files, and Table

I have my week materials inside these bins with all my copies of sheets, homework, and take-home words. I also include books I'll read, supplies for activities (if they're too big, they get sent to the very bottom drawers that are not shown), and other daily materials. 

Inside each is a five-section binder, these hold my Saxon math sheets: facts for seconds, saxon practice for seconds, facts for thirds, saxon for thirds, and extra sheets for both or either. The binders were bought from Target this year in the $1 section. They came in pink, green, blue, and black and I bought a number of them. Despite having extra, they haven't come undone at all yet. I think some Targets have them in still, if so, I totally support using them!

The night before, I reposition all of the days work on the front trapezoid table in piles from homework, science, LA, to math. I clear the contents over the next school day. This way has made it easiest to grab what I need at what time. It also helps my students see where the work is and help if a sub is needed. 

3. My Scout Bag

I would have been lost without this bag (well, I have pink, green, blue, and black stripes). It is large enough to fit my laptop, a few days of grading, my gradebook binder, my purse, and more on the inside. The six pockets on the outside can hold my camelback waterbottle, coffee thermos, keys, cords, a snack, make-up, and other nick-nacks. Plus, it has water-resistant sides, a zipper on top, and it has remained sturdy!

4. MAP Reading Practice (And other free teacher-created resources)

Since we use the NWEA testing system, this has been a fantastic resource. We do Daily Comprehension from this website. It is divided based my RIT scores and by topic. I switch it up between practiced skills and try to spiral teaching to keep materials fresh. My average scores in reading (with second and third graders) is 197, but I teach up to the thirds with this and usually do activities from 201-210. 

You can click on the picture to take you to the site. It is a really complete and organized compilation of other websites and their games that relate to certain topics. Even if you don't use the NWEA, its a good practice sight and allows students to click things on the SmartBoard. Some are more work than play, but others have the kids very interested. 

Other free-resources are definitely a win. I love teachers-pay-teachers, http://exchange.smarttech.com/, dafont, and, of course, personal blogs. If anything else, they've inspired me to create new resources too!

5. Library and Book Shelves 

Five things is difficult with how much I use on a daily basis. Books though are obviously important. Unfortunately, this is not something that I have managed to get into a system. A number of my kids have no control to sit and read. Even with a number of reading chairs, blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals, it was not enough incentive to find a spot and just read. It ended up taking more out of me to stop fights, arguments, and unruly behavior during this time and I stopped "Quiet Time." Now, they only read if they finish early. Next year, I would love to implement the Daily Five or CAFE. I will need to learn more about them,  but it could easily help. Since I work with such a large ELL population, it seems like this would be the most important thing. 

I will need more and more bins and crates for next year though. I have too many boxes of books that haven't been unloaded. I am also a Half Price Books junkie and end up in the clerance rack at least bimonthly. For 50 cents a book and 45 when the 10% teacher discount kicks in, there is no turning back. Plus, they have great teacher resources too. I never (or very rarely) by any book for full price- last being The Hunger Games for myself. It kicked me up to the $100 mark for my scholastic book order too, so it wasn't for nothing!

Those are my top five; link up and post your own!