The Best Teechr Ever

     Well, school's out and although I am thankful for my days off -- 53 days, to be exact -- I hated to say goodbye to this sweet class. One of my favorite things to do is read journals. In the last month or two of school when they are really learning how to write,  you never know what you will get.  I love how this one sounded out the word "elementary" -- l-u-min-tre. And I am proud to be "the best teechr ever." But when I get one whose favorite thing  is NOT recess, but reading -- "because I am good at it"-- well, that just makes me do the dance of joy!!  That's my goal -- to see a whole class of boys and girls who love reading because they are good at it!.

     I brought my Kindle to school -- I found some free downloads of early reader books about ocean animals and let this little boy try it out.  From that day on, he asked every day to read more stories. And when we wrote about "The Best Thing About Kindergarten"  -- he said, "The best thing about kindergarten is the Kindle."  When we had a rainy day with recess in the classroom, he and 2 other boys spent nearly the whole playtime gathered around the Kindle, reading about jellyfish and sharks.
What a wonderful tool to get kids reading!  I wish I had a whole stack of them!
     It is an amazing and wonderful thing to be able to teach children to read and write.  They come to me like a blank slate -- and I cram as much learning into their little minds as I can from August to May -- and VOILA! This magic happens and a whole new world is open to them. Teaching kindergarten is the BEST JOB EVER!  (I will read this again when I get another roomful of blank slates in August and try to remember the June feeling as I am pulling my hair out during the first month of school!)