51/180 HALLOWEEN 2016

Halloween day is always a challenge.
You really can't do anything really serious.
The kids minds are elsewhere.
So today we painted faces,
made puppets, painted pumpkins,
and stuffed a witches hand.
Nothing scary, just a few activities until we get to the main event--
The Annual Halloween Parade!

 One large bag of skinny popcorn was enough!

A mummy face!

Painting pumpkins in orange, yellow, or green.
It goes with our weekly poem.
I think I wrote it while I was student teaching in Sally Tsuchiguchi's kindergarten 1989, and I still use it today. It's a great poem for early readers and you can teach so many concepts through the poem too.
(phonics, letter Pp sound, descriptive words, ELD, sizes, syllables, COP, diversity)

PUMPKINS
Pumpkin big,
Pumpkin small,
Pumpkin round,
Pumpking tall,
Pumpkin yellow,
Pumpkin green,
All for us on Halloween!

I have kids act it out with their bodies, created flannel pieces, and ordering pumpkins according to size too.

Our web page is up and running! Check it out: Room 27

Saturday Reflections...

It's report card time.
I don't have to do report cards this year.
ETK has continuum, developmental scales.
I love them but...
I have 8 domains and 56 measures for each student.
Lets see... 56 X 16 = 896
I think for parents, I am just going to print out the report
and share with them 3 areas of strengths and 3 areas we are working on.

50 days down, but so much growth already!
Most you can't "see" on paper, but a few you can...

50/180 It's that time of the year!

 Our fancy classroom sign for the Halloween Parade on Monday!

 Door to our Learning Center!

Our door decorated for the Door Contest!

49/180 UNEXPECTED DAY "OFF"

When your kid has a fever in the middle of the night and you have to find a sub after 1:00am...

Today was an unplanned day at home. Bryce has been having fevers and had one last night. Time to be mommy and make sure he gets well.  A day off from school and the classroom, but when you're a mom, especially a single mom, it's not really a day off...

• Secured 8 buses for 18 classes to go to the Getty Center this spring. 

• Found out that the kids' amazing artwork had not been returned to the pick up site yet! Wrote memo to person in charge and included photos of the missing art masterpieces!

• Wrote our weekly newsletter with via text message inputs, sent it to co-teacher, who translated it into spanish, and sent back to me to finalize so that it could be copied and sent home tomorrow.

• Worked on Parent Conference request forms with co-teacher and finalized times and logistics.

• Replaced an old thermometer, living room light bulbs, and bought Tylenol (just in case this continues), and mailed bills.

• Picked up 3 dozen cupcakes and a chocolate cake, for a hard working, deserving TA who is celebrating her birthday tomorrow!

• Then finally to pick up my tuba player from late band practice, ... feed, bathe, and to bed!
• Now I can finally get some work done! 

48/180 WHY I SPENT MY SUMMER WRITING GRANTS...

... because there is so much learning outside of our classroom door, but unfortunately a bus costs over $400 to get us there (plus admission price)

Thank you FedCo Grant for providing my students and families with an experience they will not likely forget!

A long trip to Irvine!

 Petting farm...

 Deciding on a pumpkin...

Picking vegetables!

Now hoping that two more field trip grants get funded! #TargetFieldTripGrants

*ADDED BONUS TODAY
Ran into my former colleagues and families at my previous school.
Got a lot of warm greetings and hugs from former parents.
I was one of the founding teachers when it opened and stayed for 12 years. Made a move to be closer to home because my family needed it.
Don't regret the change,
I can be at the boys' schools in 20 minutes...
but do miss the people, community, families, and resources.
Thing I miss most,
the students I looked forward to teaching...

I knew Jake before he was born.
Had both his wonderful sisters.
Went to his first birthday party.
Follow his mommy on Facebook too!
Nice memories and relationships...sigh!

47/180 FIRST FEVER

Spent the morning getting the kids ready for our pumpkin farm experience tomorrow.

Spent the afternoon picking up a boy with fever.

#NoStaffMeeting4Me 

46/180 "RAINY" DAYS and MONDAYS...

I love the rain.
Just not this week.
We have a field trip scheduled for Friday.
It's suppose to rain.
Spent this morning...

• rescheduling a reservation
• changing a bus date
• ordering the school lunches
• editing a field trip slip
• writing an update letter
• texting parents
• doing a circle with 3-4 year olds
• managing a group
• helping teach kids to cut with scissors
• trying to find out who "that smell" is coming from
• and finding out that the grant check you were expecting to use to pay for admission for 35 will not clear for another several weeks...

It's all good. I love my class. I can't wait for them to visit a real farm. Nicolas told me that he will get a big pumpkin. I told him they are very heavy. "Nicolas is strong teacher..." was his reply. Nicolas is also super adorable and I love watching him grow and learn. He's only 3, so we get to spend another year together after this one. Lucky me!

Back to Life...

I bleed Dodger Blue.
I am sad the 2016 season is now over.
2016 Season Highlights...

Now on to fundraisers, report cards, and more family hikes!

45/180 FIRST FIELD TRIP

This was our first field trip.

2 Teachers

2 Teaching Assistants

5 Parents on the bus

5 Parents at the site

24 3-4 year olds

It was hot. It was crowded. It was fun. It was exhausting!

And we're doing it again next week!

A Very Special Arts Festival is an annual event held for special needs students and families that celebrates the arts. I volunteered at this event 30 years ago as a new teacher. I did face painting and LOVED it! I also volunteered for Special Olympic LA for a few years too... I must have had a lot of time on my hands back then! LOL. Now, over 30 years later, I get to bring my class. So thrilled that my general ed students get to learn with, play with, and understand at such a young age that we are all special in our own way. 

Did I mention it was nearly 100 degrees? I needed a Venti after school!
Here's a link to our new class website with photos from the day...
ROOM 27

44/180 SUB DAY

When you sit on the other side of the table of an IEP meeting...

It's always nice to hear that your kid is a model student in his classes... even though he may not be that model son at home! #ProudMom 

Band is a huge investment!
Five fundraisers before the end of 2016
And yearly member donation of $200!
Steep, but totally worth the value.
I thought teachers worked hard!
Band directors, coaches, and band boosters ROCK!
#Grateful

This is not counting the fundraisers at Bryce's school!
Late dinner to support the PTA too.
It's been a long day.
#LifeofaParent

 

43/180 FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Earthquake Drill this morning throws schedule off so...

We work on fine motor skills and some science with color mixing!

42/180 JOY

Quick post today because the Dodgers are playing the Cubs...

When your students asks you for the pointing stick during free choice time and you see them do this...

#JoysofTeaching #ETK #Spontaneous

41/180 Three-Phase Lesson Structure for Math with ETK

So our school is working on developing grade-level lessons for the Three Phase Lesson for math. I used 3-phase math weekly with my kindergarteners last year and loved it! Our grade-level created a lesson together last week, but I wanted to modify it for our ETKs.

Small Groups

1. Shared a story.

2. Pose the problem/question story.

3. Review and checked for understanding.

3. Let the kids have at it!

4. Observation and questioning.

5. Students shared work with me and I asked probing questions as needed.

6. Recorded observations and took dictation.

I wanted to begin this way because in ETK the only time we are in whole group is during circle time.

Most of the time it's small groups. Eventually we will transition to some whole group activities during the last trimester, but for now, I get so much more in smaller groups. Never more than 5.

As the students become more familiar with this structure, I will add some of the more formal elements to the lesson and eventually, we will do some sharing out, but for now this was our first attempt. I plan to do one at least every other week to start and then move to a math journal format.

Story/Problem Posed to Students:

Mr. Almonte went trick or treating. 

When he got home, he counted his candy. 

He counted 4 candy bars.  

Show what he counted.

 D: Almonte's stash is on the left and he wanted to draw his stash too! He never counted 1 to 1, he is already visualizing the numbers.

D: He started right away to draw a hand and I noticed 4 fingers. Then started drawing tallies, which he says are candy. He knows his numbers, but wasn't interested or focused on showing the 4, but he did understand parts of the question/story.

J: After hearing the problem/story, he drew four circles right away. He didn't take as much time in coloring his 4 candies!

A: Understood what was being asked, but lost track of the number. She was able to draw and count 1 to 1. Partial understanding, but didn't focus on the 4. 

 Samples of students that were able to find the "answer," although the answer wasn't the main focus on the lesson. I am more interested to see how students went about solving the problem... what strategies they used...did they have 1 to 1 correspondence... were they able to answer my question: "How do you know?"

These samples show partial understanding of the story/problem and is a wonderful initial sample for me to have and use to show growth later on! I just love observing!

#ProcessOverProduct

4 YEAR OLDS TEACH ME!

Here are some of my favorite moments during writing yesterday!
Enjoy! They make me smile!

Vanessa

She had a good foundation coming into ETK.

She knew many of the letters by name and is learning the sounds now.

She started to put them together.

At this stage, I am not worried about the order.

My goal is to have them build confidence in their abilities, 

explore letters, sounds, and words.

If we begin to "teach"when they are not ready,

it may shut down their development and progress stops.

Vanessa will let me know when she's ready for more.

Damien

He has a lot of letter and sound knowledge.

I love that as the adult, I assumed he was trying to write Pokemon.

His story was about playing Pokemon Go.

Silly me, of course you write GO with a g and o!

I need to just let them lead.

Abigail
I love being able to observe her development!
She didn't know how to write her name coming in.
She loves learning.
Once again, I am not correcting formation at this point.
My goal as her teacher is to inspire her to explore,
experiment, and take initiative in trying to figure things out.
I have seen all too often what it does to a child
when they are told that they are wrong and to "make it right".
No erasing allowed here!

I love this part of the video.
I had to show it because it's so ECE.
She is learning not only the letters in her name,
but the letters of her classmates.
The letters hold meaning and she remembers.
She is also using the room to look for cues.
She points/looks at student work around the room
that begins with J as I am taping.

So privilege to be a part of all the discoveries!
#ILoveECE

40/180 WRITING WORKSHOP FOR ETK CONTINUES...

Been a long, but nice day.
Quick overview on my favorite center: Writing!
More on writing tomorrow with video.
I love capturing the students writing in action!

I've gotten accustom to teaching writing workshop in a longer period of time.

But realize that for 4 year olds, 12 minutes or less is just as powerful!

THEN (First Enteries) and NOW (Today)

Growth and progress appears in many different ways.

One size does not fit all!

     

 B's pictures are more developed and he loves his "B"!

I asked V if she could write dog herself and she did! 

I'll post the video tomorrow. 

She knows many of the letters, 

so I wanted to challenge her and see!

 J is working on fine motor skills.

He is opening up and speaking more now!

No response in first entry about his story.

Today he told me the sun and it's color, started naming them!

 J is starting to develop his language.

He loves dinosaur, so this picture tells his story!

I shared D's story today with class.

He code switches, but definitely had an interesting story!

I was able to ask a lot of questions!

 V is also exploring print and sounds on her own!

Y continues to explore the letter H!

 So proud of E. He was independently trying to write.

He wrote on the top right hand corner.

I wanted to give him more space on a line.

Then guided him into writing what sounds he knew.

"I saw a house."  (LOVE THIS STAGE!)

A is also exploring what she is learning in class.

Her name, letters of classmates too!

#LOVEDATAlikeTHIS!