KINDERWORLD: PBL Cue

Saving this to read this summer.
KINDERWORLD: PBL Cue: Project-Based Learning CUE My amazing colleagues and I presented at the CUE up north. Our focus was project based learning in kindergart...

Last Day uv Skl

Wow! Last day of school is finally here. We had graduation on Wednesday, so most of my children didn't come back for the last day and a half. After having from 25 to 27 children all year, it was fun having a small group. We were able to have an old-fashioned pre-Common Core day with time for painting the dinosaurs that we briefly studied a couple months ago. We got out the dishes and food toys that have been hidden behind a curtain most of the year -- it was fun for the kids, and I got to hear lots of interaction as they sorted and decided to be the chef or the customer. We got out the doctor kit and baby dolls. One girl made the sweetest little momma to the baby doll, and they learned about taking temperatures and blood pressure and giving shots. They wrote stories with the special colored pens and worked with math manipulatives. They sorted and worked together all day. I read lots of their favorite books and a few good ones that I didn't have time to read earlier this year. We sang songs and everyone had a great time.
It was a sweet ending to a challenging year -- all the assessments were over, grades were recorded, and the pressure to keep pushing them to achieve more academically was finished.
As I reflect on the year, I wish I had found a way to squeeze in a few days like this. There was so much to teach to so many kids this year. I am so glad that they plan to have smaller classes next year. I read today that there is a bill before the legislature that would lift the class size limits. CRAZY! But as much as I am looking forward to the months off, I know I will be planning for the new crop of kinders before long. And I write this to remind myself to plan for more developmental activities next year. There has got to be a way to cover all the Common Core and assessment requirements while remembering to have more fun.

The End is in Sight!

We have 8 and 1/2 days left. Three of those days don't count, because we have a field trip to Tweetsie, and Field Day, and Graduation. That means 5 actual days of school. Subtract the last day and a half, because most of the kids won't come back after graduation next Wednesday. That leaves 4 actual days together. It has been a long year, and I think we are all ready for a break -- I have never had so much tattling and whining and TALKING! It seems worse, I think, because I have an ear infection that has made me almost deaf in one ear for a week now.
Here's the to do list as of now:
1. Finish the math Assessment -- it is taking an eternity to give individually to 25 kids
2. Score the writing assessments
3. Write out the Student Support documents for the 4 or 5 who are below grade level.
5. Do the evaluation for the college student who worked in my class this semester.
6. Find the $17. Mistake in my receipt book.
7. Figure out what awards to give each child and write out certificates.
8. Enter grades for report cards
9. Enter scores on county schools website.
10. Find all library books.

Okay, I am getting stressed out and that is just the beginning of the list.
On the other hand, I Am very pleased that all but one child scored at grade level -- "benchmark" on the DIBELS assessment. That is HUGE! We have come
a long ways together, and I have done all I can do to get them ready for first grade.
Please, God, don't let me have such a big class next year!