We Survived the Field Trip!

             Today we went  to the apple orchard on our first field trip, and thanks to some great parent and grandparent volunteers,  I think almost everyone had a good time! The bus ride was kind of long, but we sang lots of songs and that made the time go by faster..

            First off was a trip on a wagon pulled by a tractor through the apple orchard. We saw apples growing on dwarf trees and bigger trees and even some baby trees.

    After the wagon ride, we went in to see the conveyor that graded the apples as peewee, small, medium, and large. We found out that the best apples are sorted to be sold, the slightly bruised ones are squished for cider, and the rest are called deer apples because they are fed to the deer.

    After we saw the cider mill, we were able to taste a cup of cider and some apples.  We even got to choose 6 apples to take home with us. Then they let us go in the cooler room where they store the apples. It was COLD!

     We had a picnic lunch, then got on the bus for the trip back to school. Everyone had a good time except for one of our little friends who had an ear ache. He was in great pain, and he cried until he finally fell asleep on my lap. I am so grateful for the moms, grandma, and a dad who came along to help.  

     This is  one tired teacher now, but I am sitting at the eye doctors office, waiting for my eyes to dilate so he can finish the exam, and trying not to fall asleep. Tomorrow we will write about our adventure at the orchard

We Love Apple Week

   This is apple week in kindergarten, and tomorrow we are going to the apple orchard for our first field trip.  The children brought in all kinds of apples, and they have described and compared them this week. Today we did a taste test to see which kind of apples were the most popular.  The winner was the green Granny Smith apple, but yellow and red were close behind.  Mrs. Austin used some of the apples to make applesauce in the crock pot -- it was very yummy. She brought her cool apple peeler to speed up the peeling process.

   The other new activity this week is learning to read with a partner.  It was amazing to see them sitting in pairs, engrossed in their books.  After reading back to back for about 10 minutes, they turned side to side to share books. I want them all to be book lovers, and they are on the way.

Things A Kindergarten Teacher Says

  Since some of my readers will never spend a day in kindergarten, I thought I would share what you might hear.  Some days are a little crazy.  

"Have a seat.  Have a seat. Have a seat. "

Get you fingers out of your nose and go wash your hands.

Get your hands out of your pants and go wash your hands.

Do not crawl under the stall -- now go back under there and unlock that dook.  Wash your hands.

Line up.  Line up.  If you can't  be quiet, you will all have to go back and sit down.

I like the way some of you are standing so quietly!!

I love you, too.

If you would stay in your seat, you wouldn't spill your food.

Who does this belong to?

I'm sorry, but you can't get another library book if you didn't put yours in the book basket.

Listen when others are speaking, especially your teacher!

KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!

We don't play guns at school. No, not swords either.

Do not throw rocks!

You know all the ABCs? Yay!!

What is the month? No, Monday is a DAY - see d-a-y day.

You wrote a sentence! I am so proud of you!

What is that rule about hands???

What a good helper! Thank you for picking up that mess!

Yes, I can snap your pants.

Yes, I can tie your shoe, but please ask someone to teach you to tie your shoes.

If you didn't scratch your scabs, you would not be bleeding.

Go get a tissue.

What a good job of reading! Was your mom happy when you read that to her?

You know all the color words! Wow!!

A new student? Oh, come on in -- you can sit here......sigh.....

It is time to start more assessments? I just finished the last ones!

Don't forget your field trip money.

Name on your paper!

Again? You just went to the bathroom 20 minutes ago!

I love you, too.(more hugs) now go sit down.

No, it isn't time for lunch. I promise I will tell you when it is time for lunch. Don't ask again.

Just a minute -- I'll get the mop. 

I called your mom. Go sit by the trash can until she gets here.

What stinks? (I only say this inside my head)

Oh, what fun. Sometime I can't get a complete sentence out.

Today I have a -- stop that! -- a story about -- get your hands off him -- a story about a -- I love you, too, but go sit down -- the story is about -- 

But, they are learning! Somehow, with all the craziness and interruptions, they are learning to read and write. Today I talked to them about using details when they draw a picture, and I was so tickled when one drew himself and made stripes on his drawing to match his own shirt. And I am seeing sentences. And some are sounding out words and using sight words in their writing. 

Through it all, I still love my job. I love opening little eyes to a whole new world of words that gradually make sense -- I love the random hugs that I get all day long -- I love to sing songs and tell stories and teach poems -- I love being able to look across the room to my assistant and know that she knows what I am thinking. And I love when the bell rings and the last child is loaded on the bus.  I am blessed.

Endless Assessments

       We have been in school for 19 days, and I spent many hours doing assessments this week.  In the perfect fantasy kindergarten world that the lawmakers imagine, teaching continues during the assessment weeks.  But in my real world, that is not exactly how it goes.  Oh, there is still teaching going on, but my assistant is teaching the whole group while I work one on one with each of the 21 kids.  I assessed letter naming and first sound fluency last week -- "What is the first sound you hear in  the word _____?"  This week I've been checking to see if they know a word, a letter, a period, a capital letter, etc. etc. etc. as they read thru some little books. I pretty much have to take them individually down the hall to a quiet room while Mrs. A. takes care of the other 20. Luckily, she is a wonderful teacher, but you just can't do much  small group teaching by yourself.  I have also assessed naming numbers and shapes, word recognition, and letter sounds.  So I have a real good picture of what each child knows, and that is helpful. But I'd rather be teaching!  I will be working on progress reports this weekend to share all this information with their parents, then we can go back to our previously scheduled program!
         On the bright side, some of them started writing actual sentences this week.  That is a huge step for little kids. and a big thrill for their teacher. Quite a few can read the color words now, several passed the first list of sight words, and we gave out award certificates to those today.

         Next week we will start our apple theme in preparation for our first field trip to the apple orchard. That will be a lot more fun than assessing.

       Still reading!

          

       

Building Stamina /Finally Friday

'   We made it through the second week of kindergarten! And even though it is exhausting, there have been some bright spots.  One of my favorite times was when I managed to have a couple reading groups and they memorized  read the words in the first little reading book. They are eager to take the books home to read to their moms, so I will send those home next week. I hope it is a thrill for their moms!

      It was 6:10 when I finally left my school this evening.  My car was the only one left in the parking lot.  That does not mean I am more dedicated than anyone else -- I think it just means I am slow.  But there is not a minute to do anything during the day when you have 21 children to teach.

Even at lunch we are opening milk and juice cartons, yogurt containers, etc. and cleaning up spills and moving kids who are wrestling instead of eating -- not exactly a relaxing time! So even though I resolved to leave by 4:00 some days, I have only managed to do it about 2 times.

•   I had to do a "self-assessment" on the computer and check endless boxes to show how I thought I was doing at meeting the standards that I will be evaluated on this year. 
• Then I had to write out my yearly Professional Development Plan to show what standards I planned to work on this year.  
• Registered for a workshop for professional development
• Made arrangements for a sub on some days I am going to miss school.
• I had to make some phone calls to set up our first field trip to the apple orchard and fill out the paperwork to get that approved. 
• I found a note from a parent that I didn't answer, so I had to call her and apologize -- things get buried on my desk during the day, and it was 5:30 before I got to that layer.
• I printed out all 21 names in Dnealian font so I can start working on correct letter formation when they write their names next week.
• Wrote my lesson plans so I don't have to do them at midnight on Sunday!
• Looked for math magnetic buttons that I put away last June -- still didn't find them
• Checked email messages and wrote dates in my calendar for faculty meetings, due dates, field trips, picture day, etc.

So, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home -- so grateful that my son knows how to cook because I hadn't even thought about supper.  I heated up some spaghetti,  sat on the couch and turned on a documentary about Nazi Germany.  When I woke up, it was midnight and Jimmy Fallon was on.
What an exciting Friday night!

If you made it through my long, boring evening, here are some pictures from this week.

 

      I brought a turtle to school and we compared living and non-living things -- the one on the left is plastic. They drew turtles and some wrote " I love turtles" 

      We continue to work on building stamina -- one day they were able to read for 8 minutes!

      I am also working on building stamina -- I'd like to be able to stay awake past  9:00 on Friday night!

Well, It Is a Start!

One week down, and we are starting to see progress!  The first few weeks of kindergarten are really challenging -- so much to learn! But they can say the rules and most can write their name.

They know that 3 blasts on my whistle means to run for the line when playground time is over. They've learned some songs and poems, and did a good job on sorting shapes and writing a - d on the whiteboards. They love markers.

The line for the bathroom is endless, and it is so hard to keep 16 boys quiet in the hall, but we will keep practicing until they are able to do it. Might take all year....

A few know all the letters and most sounds of the alphabet. But some don't know a single letter. So next week we will try to do some small group reading activities -- making words with those who are ready, and teaching the letters and sounds to those who will need a lot more help. It always amazes me to see such a gap in the readiness level at age 5.

So, if you have never heard of "Daily 5 and Read to Self" -- let me say that it is almost magical to see all these little children  begin to sit quietly and look at their basket of books.  We track their stamina on a chart, and today, the second day, they were able to sit quietly on one spot and keep their eyes on the books in their basket for 4 minutes. FOUR MINUTES is a lot for a little child. But I have confidence that they will make it to 20 minutes before too long. Then we will be able to work with small groups while the rest of the little ones will practice reading and writing independently. Glorious day when that happens! It won't happen this week for sure, but one day, one day.....

I am thankful it is Friday! And thankful for the opportunity to teach one more class of sweet little kids  -- hope I am able to keep with them!!

What did you do in kindergarten ?

What did you do in kindergarten? (Day 2)

When you ask,"What did you do in Kindergarten today?" and the answer is "Nothing..."
Here's what they really mean --

• Read the morning message together and practiced the words "Dear Class" and "Love, Mrs. Spencer"
• Found out the difference between a word and a letter.  Counted letters in a word.
• Said the pledge to the flag
• Listened to stories/poems -- "I Love my White Shoes" and "Rocking in My School Shoes" and "Mary Wore Her Red Dress" and "No, David"and "Humpty Dumpty"
• Sang and learned motion to several songs
• Practiced air writing Aa and Bb and heard a song and story about Annie Apple and Bouncy Ben
• Sorted long and short names
• Explored math stations
• Learned about the calendar and named days, months, and seasons
• Practiced saying the rules of the classroom
• Learned 2 ways to read a book
• Visited the library and checked out a book
• Visited the computer lab and learned to use a mouse
• Found out about different voice levels in the classroom
• Colored a picture of Annie Apple and tried to stay in the lines
• Used a whiteboard and markers to write the letter "a"
• Practiced reading and spelling "red" in a song
• Walked quietly in a line -- at least we tried to be quiet!
• Carried my own tray and ate lunch in the lunchroom
• Cooperated with a partner to use math manipulatives
• Told the teacher which letters I recognized
• Went to art class
• Made a school bus for the bulletin board
• Played on the playground
• Told stories about our pets
• Went to the gym for PE
• Glued a poem in my poetry notebook
• Started making friends
• Wrote my name on my papers
• Made a Pete the Cat hat
  

This is NOT your mama's kindergarten!!  There is a lot to learn this year, and you will be amazed at all they will accomplish in the next 177 days of school!

Meet the Teacher Night

I                                    

      Well, it it almost time to start!  The door is decorated, the pencils are sharpened, planners are labeled, and this afternoon I met most of my new students and their families. I have 23 on my class list, and 16 of them are boys! Oh. Wow!  So many cuties -- some hiding behind mom, others bouncing around the room -- looks like it's going to be a busy year. I am eager to see how they all work together.

Just a year ago, I had a different group of little strangers, but before long we were all a community of learners.  It made me a little sad to see their names on desks in the first grade rooms.  And I loved it when many of them stopped by my room today to say hello and give me a hug. I miss that group of sweet kids.  

      But now I have my room ready to welcome a new class of little strangers, and I am wondering lots of things.  Will that little boy who was hiding behind his mom be able to let go without tears? Will the bouncy one be able to sit still long enough to learn? Who will be the first to write a sentence or read words? How many will already know how to write their names and count to 20?  Will I be able to inspire them to get excited about reading and writing? And will I ever get them to all be quiet at the same time? And, most importantly, will we become a community of learners who love each other?

I am praying for them, and thanking God for one more opportunity to make a difference in these little lives. It has been such a privilege to teach kindergarten for the past 10 years, and since I expect to retire after this year, this time is especially precious -- knowing this is the last time I will be teaching kids to read and write and do so many things. And on the evenings when I come home and collapse on the couch, tired to the bone -- I hope I still remember why I continue to teach! Right now, I can hardly wait to start introducing them to my favorite books and songs -- I love seeing their eyes light up when they realize that they can actually read a book by themselves. And I love seeing their amazed parents -- I have the best job in the world!( but I will have to remind myself of that for the next few weeks -- the first days of kindergarten are TOUGH!) Prayers are appreciated as we all adjust to school!

My Summer To-Do List

   I am sitting on a tour bus with my daughter and about 40 other people, and we are inching our way up the Interstate toward New York so I can mark off number 10 on my summer to-do list.  The traffic is bumper to bumper, and has been this way ever since we crossed into Maryland. But the bus is comfortable and air conditioned, and we have watched 2 nice videos plus I took a nap, had hash brown casserole at Cracker Barrel, and best of all, the bus has wifi so I can use my iPad! And tomorrow we will spend the day in New York and see Aladdin on Broadway. 

    As for the rest of my list -- well, the summer went by so quickly! The 40th anniversary trip would not fit in, so that will happen in October. I worked on the weeds in the flower garden some, but it was always too hot or too wet--so now I guess I will just wait for the weeds to die. The church library still needs work, although I did make some progress. 

   On the plus side, I did clean out the closet, but the clothes are still in a basket, waiting for a trip to Goodwill. I made it to WV for a week long family reunion marathon, and ate DQ hot dogs and Tudors biscuits, so check that off! I kept walking and exercising, and actually lost a few more pounds--check!

And I have learned most of my music for chorus except the brand new song.

    As for getting rid of my school stuff -- well, I found a teacher consignment shop, but I spent $20 instead of selling anything. 

That's kind of a problem with me. I have school on my mind all summer. When we go out of town, I always look for a teacher supply store.  I bought a bunch of stuff from Teachers Pay Teachers, and I pin kindergarten ideas on Pinterest and I read blogs and books about effective teaching. I spent at least 4 full days at school working on my room -- on my own time, of course. And the corner of my living room is still stacked with school stuff.  I have a stack of games and activities waiting to be laminated. And the floor beside my bed has a stack of books as well. And here I am on vacation -- blogging about school.

     I did read some other books this summer, often until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. And that creates another problem, because I need to get on a school time schedule by next week!

    So, I didn't quite do it all, but I enjoyed having the time to just do nothing some days. And I have to admit that I am looking forward to meeting my new class. I could have used another week -- but that would mean missing the NYC trip -- making memories! I thank God for the opportunity to spend time with my family, near and far, and for another opportunity to teach children. 

     New York City, here we come! I wonder if they have any teacher stores there??

Monkeying Around on the Fourth

                                                                  Four on the Fourth

      One of my favorite teacher bloggers, Ms.M,  is having a Four on the Fourth linky party, so I thought I'd add 4 of my latest shopping finds.  I didn't really plan on doing more school shopping for a while, but my husband had some Bass Pro Shop gift cards that were burning a hole in his pocket.  The 4th of  July seemed like a good time for a drive to Concord Mills, the huge outlet mall about 1 1/2 hours away, and oh, joy! It has an Education Express store! So while Sam was in fishing supply heaven, I headed for the teacher store.
       My first mission was to find some bananas to use with the Top Banana letter recognition unit

that I use at the beginning of the year.  (Thank you, Marsha McGuire). What do you know? I found bananas. But then I saw these really cute monkeys with the bananas, and thought, Wild about Kindergarten, or maybe Welcome to the Zoo? So I put the bananas back and got this instead.

     So I am not exactly sure about how I will use them, but there are lots of possibilities.

     Then I found this chart -- perfect for charting the mastery of letter recognition and later sight words.

 

       Now all I can see are monkeys, so I added these stickers and incentive charts to my cart.

    That was enough with monkeys and bananas!

    My other purchase was some new sticks for my "BANG! Game. I think I got that idea from Reagan Tunstall several years ago.  My kinders always love that game, and my sticks were pretty dirty, so I got new sticks that I color coded to match the sight word lists -- now I can differentiate. The kids can choose a stick by the color that matches the sight word list they are working on.

     I have turned in my supply order, and I don't intend to buy any more school stuff - until TPT has a nice sale sometime before school starts. I have a couple things on that wish list.  I need to make one more trip to school to do a little more sorting and purging, then I hope to forget about it for about a month. 

Happy July!

Dollar Tree Treasure Hunt

         I promise I was just stopping in Dollar Tree to get a fly swatter and a paint scrapper!  But of course I had to look down a few aisles, and looky here! Pete the Cat's shoes! And although I already have about 10 boxes of eraser manipulatives, I couldn't pass these up.  And then I saw this squishy caterpillar, and I knew I had to have that -- it will be great to pass around when we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." It's also good for wiggly kids to hold while they are trying to sit still.

      And craft sticks! I'm going to make new sight word sticks for my "Bang" game -- the ones I have are so grimy from many, many hands playing that very popular game.

       Oh, and a little tiny bag of Lindt truffles was calling my name...

       While I was in the neighborhood, I stopped in Walmart and found some plastic name tag holders -- my others have been chewed and curled, besides having food dripped all over them. 

         So, I came home and quickly made a game frame for Pete's shoes. Just roll the dice and put that many shoes on the footprints -- good counting practice at the beginning of the year. They will also be used to make patterns, sort, add and subtract.  

          I stood and admired all the colorful baskets and tubs that could hold crayons, pencils, etc. -- and met another teacher who was doing to same thing -- but we decided to hold off on buying new containers.  After all, we ARE  on vacation and not hardly thinking about school at all... Really!

End of Another School Year

   I locked my classroom door and turned in my keys this afternoon after carrying out 2 crates of books, coffee cups, a terrarium, some leftover Oreos, and the lone surviving goldfish in my fish tank. After eagerly counting down the days, I felt a little sad to be walking away. I am looking forward to having time to do all the things on my summer list, but I am already missing the hugs and smiles from my little ones. And my assistant/ best friend is flying to France tomorrow to visit her daughter and granddaughter, so I am really going to miss seeing her every day.
   There will be a lot of changes next year. Because of our shrinking enrollment, we will have fewer teachers next fall, and abou a third of our teachers will be moving to a different grade. I am feeling lucky to be able to continue teaching kindergarten, but unless we get more students, I will be the only kindergarten teacher next year. That will be very strange, and I will miss collaborating with my teammate after 9 years together.

   

        "Grajwashine" (graduation) was sweet, and I hate to lose some of the great parent volunteers I had this year.  Just when you get to know them, it's time to start all over again!

       On the other hand, I can finally see the top of my desk! And I found lots of treasures under the piles of papers, including a bag of candy leftover from teacher appreciation week!

  

   

    So, I'm about to have some of those Oreos and milk, prop my feet up and contemplate my schedule for the next few days.  Do I start with the weeds in the flower garden, the piles of bills and mail, or the mopping and dusting? Or just finish the book beside my bed? Plenty to keep me busy all summer, and August will be here before I know it! I love this job!