149/190 TAKING A DAY... (Teaching & Sub Days)

This year our district is "cracking" down on employee absences...
Which leads me to ask...
Why are we given 10 days to use each year...
But given warnings if we use "too" many of them?

When I started teaching, I was told I had 10 days to use as needed for my health.
I took them all.
First year teaching = mental health days too!

Now I have probably over 133 sick days in my account.
I didn't really use too many days after I found my footing in the classroom,
then I became a single mom of two boys...
and a daughter of a mom that needed chemotherapy.
Today, Daniel got his overdue braces off.
A parent had to be there to pay for his retainers.
A parent has to, or should be, there for his IEP.

I have missed special awards, performances, and Back to School Nights
because I had to be in my own classroom.

Thank goodness I didn't have children when I stayed with my class through the Northridge Earthquake or the LA Riots, but I would have anyway.

Taking a day off shouldn't be questioned if I have the days to spend.
Glad I have administrators that put family first and understand.
I wish all of them did.

Today the braces came off.
Next week retainers.
Two years from now, implants and wisdom teeth!
One day at a time....

148/180 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...

We reused today!

147/180 Last Monday in April

The year is really flying by now!

Had a great weekend filled with family adventures and now we are down to 6.5 weeks!

During rotation groups today, I noticed...

-how nicely the independent group was working

-how lucky we were to get funded for 5 chrome books

-how grateful I am to have such generous friends

-how ready my students will be when they go to kindergarten

My group today started a science activity.
In ETK, we take small steps...
Today, we made observations (strawberries from our own garden!).
Then we drew and painted the details.

 Tomorrow we will move to part 2.

Tonight I will create DIY Administrative Professional's Day gifts!

Hope they like them!

Hope they turn out!

#Starbucksasbackup

146/180 We Love the Earth!

Our new poem for next week... illustrated by my artist team partner!

Practicing our dance for International Dance Day May 5th on Earth's hot surface!

Clockwise from top left: What do you see on Earth?
Our song of the week with illustrations by my artist team teacher.
Circle Map: What is on Earth?
Reusing newspaper/magazines to create parts of a flower.
Earth people inspired by Pinterest!

Today we took a nature walk (with school clean up).
We paired off.
One student with the "clipboard" and the other with a glove for trash pick up.

We found a spider web and spider!

 Discovering what wild mushrooms look like!

 Recording our data!

 Writing in our journal about what we saw on our walk.

Learning about concepts of print: shared writing and reading, sight words, letter knowledge, reading strategies...

145/180 Moving on... moving up... 35 DAYS till Kindergarten!

We are are working on an Earth Unit this week.

FOCUS for my center today...
The question was: What do you see on Earth?
High Frequency Word: see
COP: sentences are made up of separate words, letters make words, directionality L to R
Literacy Understanding: What I can say, can be written, print carries meaning

I wrote down the students' responses on mini strips as a group.
Then I asked them to illustrate their sentences.

 As they completed their illustrations, they read their sentences as I cut the words out.
As I did in previously,  I wrote a model for students that needed more support when putting words in order. That way, I am able to assess if they can distinguish letters and match print.

 One was able to match print and read the sentence back while pointing to each word and going left to right as he read. He has excellent letter knowledge, but not interested in reading words yet.

 *For the few kids that needed even more support, I had them glue the words directly over the model.

My friend D has excellent letter and sound knowledge. He can read simple sight words too. He put the sentence together the way he wanted to. He read each word correctly. He has 1 to 1 and directionality, but chose to keep it the way it is. 

With the first groups, I did the cutting of the words as students read the sentence. 

A couple of students asked if they could cut up their sentences.

I knew some of the students were ready, but wasn't sure about others.

But in the end, decided to follow the child...

D surprised me! He is learning to write his name and only knows a few letters at most.

But when he started to cut his sentence, I saw that he was able to cut out each word on his own.

He was able to match the words too!

This week he got 2 letters in his name... next week maybe 3?! #stepbystep

My emergent readers, pretty much took over the process. 

They shared their sentences. I wrote them down.

They cut up the sentences between words on their own.

Then they put the words to the sentence in order and read it!
This excites more than they will ever know!
#EarlyLiteracyLuv #Lovemyjob #ETK #Kindergartentransitions

A few of my students wanted to add more to their sentence frame.

Follow the child... and they may surprise you!

Moments like these make my heart sing... 

#GoBrandon!

144/180 A Day in the Life of ETK

Completing some spring assessments

Today it was writing 1-10.

I had a model in case the students needed it.

Some knew how to write it on their own.

Other's like J, used the model posted.

D has just started to write the first letter of his name.

Using the posted model was challenging for him.

So I wrote the number above for him to reference.

Then I did a quick 1 to 1 correspondence counting check...data! 

The best way to get your trays and mats cleaned!
Free labor and some fun!

Our basil is thriving and so is our chocolate mint!
What shall we make?

More strawberries are ready!
I noticed someone at recess (we share the yard) tried to take a bite.
So...

... we cut a few strawberries and shared a taste!

Technology center!

143/180 RJ Circles

"Restorative Justice (RJ) emphasizes community building and commits to restoring relationships. Restorative practices promote and strengthen positive school culture. Moreover, pro-social relationships also improve within the school community."-LAUSD Bulletin.

Our school district has implemented RJ practices.
We are lucky to have a RJ teacher assigned to our school.
One of the practices we have been trained to use are RJ Circles.
Although there are specific protocols for the circles,
We have modified them for our ETK classroom.

The focus for my very young students this year is to practice speaking, listening, and taking turns.
What I hope to do is create a community where students feel safe to share their thoughts and feelings.

We are STILL working on listening and taking turns...

Initially, we would do RJ circles once a week.
There is a talking piece (a special object) that is passed around.
The person that holds that piece is the only one that can speak.
My team partner and I provided the pieces we used in the beginning,
but now, almost daily, a student will bring in a talking piece to use for circle.

Initially, it went something like this during check ins...
"How are you feeling today?"
-I like chicken nuggets.
-I feel happy because I went to the park.
-I like when my mom buys me stuff.

Today I realized that they can now answer the question and state a reason (evidence) without prompting, and more students are moving beyond just saying what makes them happy, and sharing deeper feelings inside.

"How are you feeling today?"

D: I’m scared because the world is going to end.

N: I’m scared I’m going to die when I get old.

Y: I’m mad because my mom won’t play with me.

B: I’m mad because my mom won’t buy me chicken nuggets.

U: I’m sad because I miss my mom.

Real concerns for 4-5 year olds.

We were able to validate their feelings and friends were able to give hugs and words of support.

I know teachers of older students have had many serious issues come to light in circle.

It can be uncomfortable.

But it is important for our students to know that we are not hear to judge them.

We are here to support them, accept them, and validate who they are and how they feel.

#thewholechild