Meeting Heidi!

Not only did I get a day off school today, but I had the pleasure of meeting the one and only creator of HeidiSongs, Heidi Butkus!

My school made it possible for two of the kindergarten teachers to go to the North Carolina Conference on State Standards in Greensboro.  And I was very excited, since Heidi Butkus was going to be one of the presenters.  I have been reading everything she has written , both on her website and in her blogs, for several years.  She has written a ton of songs that teach sight words, and my kids love to sing them -- so have learned to read and spell a lot of tricky words. 

As she said today, children need to hear, see, say, and do in order to retain information. Her songs have certainly made a difference for us with tricky words like "what" and "the" -- and she is lots more fun than flash cards! 
She reminded me today of lots of games and activities that I have used in previous years -- but with  the slightly overwhelming number of children in my class this year, I forgot about all these great ideas.  How could I have forgotten the "Quiet Game?"  If she can teach a class of 28 AND publish books and songs AND travel all over the US sharing her ideas, I can surely manage my large class.  Thank you, Heidi, for giving me a much needed boost -- and the reminder of ways to increase learning for even my struggling kids. You are amazing!!