PS 22 Makes Me Want to Dance!

(Image used is from Google Images via http://murmurator.com)

I was on at Twitter tonight when a fellow teacher posted a video of the chorus at PS22 in Station Island, NY. As I watched the video, I watched the students as well as the teacher. The students were excited and involved and the teacher's joy for what he does almost cam through the screen. I find motivation in many things and seeing teachers with a genuine love for what they do always lights a fire under me. I love what I do and witnessing people demonstrate their passion for teaching in different ways give me a whole other level of motivation.

Here is a link to PS22 singing Just Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0FPZolbYns&feature=related

This video reminds me of a few things:

1) How lucky we are to call ourselves teachers.

2) How great it is to work with children on a daily basis. Children have a joy and sincerity that adults sometimes loose in their daily lives. Their joy and innocence is amazing to witness daily.

3) Even if you do not teach a chorus or music class, you can use music in your classroom any time. Music is such a great medium for learning. I can still sing you the Declaration of Independence from Mrs. Jackson's class circa 1988!

PS 22 has a blog: http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

New Year's Teaching Resolutions

Many people don't like New Year's Resolutions but I always look forward to setting goals for myself. I have some easy personal resolutions like quit picking at my fingernails and the always present lose weight but I have never made teaching resolutions. As I was thinking about this blog over the Christmas break I came up with a few goals/resolutions I wanted to make for the new year.

Here are some of my teaching goals for the new year:

1 - Maintain my blog and Twitter accounts. I need to post more frequently!

2 - Explore different schools. (No, I don't mean change jobs. I love where I teach.) I would like to look at the way kindergarten is "done" all over the world. What are some new ideas and resources I could find in other areas and at different schools?

3 - Don't get flustered! Have you had one of those days where the lesson didn't go well, the kids are bananas and you are internalizing all of it? I think we all have! I am going to approach those days with a calm attitude because getting flustered doesn't help anyone.

I would love to hear some of your teaching goals for the new year.

Please share with me if you like!

Happy New Year to you all! We have one semester under our belts.

Good luck with the Spring semester!

Where did the year go?

I cannot believe it has been so long since my last post! As many of you teachers know, once November rolls around, it is crazy at school. Special programs, special activities, class parties, school programs, holiday breaks, etc. We had a fun Thanksgiving in my class with the traditional hand print turkey place mats and indian garb. Since then, we have been traveling around the world and learning about how Christmas is celebrated in Italy, Sweden, Germany and many other international locations. I have learned a few new things, myself. I always love teaching Kindergarten but being with a group of kids at this time of year is just magical (although exhausting). The kids are so excited and the fun activities that we get to do in class are what we were all thinking about when we decide we want to be kindergarten teachers. Another one of my favorite things to do with my class during the holidays is share great books. Here are some great books we have read in class this month. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Enjoy your breaks, all you teachers and I will be back to my blog more diligently in January.

Web tools for students, parents, and teachers

I was in a meeting today where the topic of discussion was the turn that education has taken, and is still taking, in regards to technology. Some great resources were discussed and, while these don't always relate to kindergarten per se, I think they are great tools to have with your list of Web resources. I have listed a few below with a short explanation of what they are. Check them out if you get a chance and pass them on. If you have any great resources you would like to share, post a comment.

Khan Academy: The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit educational organization created and sustained by Salman Khan. With the stated mission "of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere", the Academy supplies a free online collection of more than 2,000 videos on mathematics, science, history, and economics.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

ePals: ePals is the leading provider of safe collaborative technology for schools to connect and learn in a protected, project-based learning network. With classrooms in 200 countries and territories, ePals makes it easy to connect learners locally, nationally or internationally.

http://www.epals.com/

School of One: This is a new way to look at teaching and learning. School of One re-imagines the traditional classroom model. Instead of one teacher and 25-30 students in a classroom, each student participates in multiple instructional modalities, including a combination of teacher-led instruction, one-on-one tutoring, independent learning, and work with virtual tutors.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/School-of-One/113172042987?v=wall

Go to Meeting: This site was discussed because a teacher used Go to Meeting as a tool for tutoring students in reading. There are a plethora of ways to use this site.

http://www.gotomeeting.com

QR Codes: A QR Code, also known as a Box Code, is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smart phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data. You have probably seen these in magazines, lately. These were places outside our classrooms this week. A parent can download any QR Code app on their smart phones, scan the code, and be instantly taken to our class web site. A great tool for all schools!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

Counting by 10s with BoxTops

I just happened upon an activity the other day. My class and I were discussing how much each BoxTop for Education is worth (10 cents). As a group, we got out our bag of BoxTops that had been brought in and started counting. About half way into counting it dawned on my that we were doing a 10s activity AND a money activity. So, if you have a big bag of BoxTops, divide them up by tables and have each group count each BoxTop by 10s. Then you can have each table tell you the monetary value of their Boxtops counting by 10s.

This is a fun and easy activity and as a bonus, it keeps the BoxTops a topic of interest for the students. This might help them remember to bring in the valuable little items. Have fun!

I love handwriting!

I love teaching every part of Kindergarten but if I had to choose 2 of my favorite things to teach, I would choose handwriting and reading. Handwriting, at the beginning of the kindergarten year, can be trying but it is always amazing how quickly they develop. We use the Handwriting Without Tears program. I have been teaching this program for about 6 years so I know it like the back of my hand but the one difficult thing about it is the 2 line paper. It is a challenge to teach without a top line but it can be done and it can be done well.

I am currently working on an action research project for part of my professional development this year that will focus on handwriting. I am always looking for great books, articles, blogs, and any examples of different ways to teach handwriting. I am also constantly searching for research on the importance of teaching/learning handwriting and it's effects on other areas of growth. If you come across any resources you think are great, please share them with me. I want to have a great action research project but I also want to become well-versed in handwriting research for my own personal growth. I hope you all enjoy teaching handwriting as much as I do. It is an important skill that will be used long into the future...even if we to type most of what we share these days!

A Great Find for Whiteboards!

We recently purchase some Crayola Dry-Erase Crayons for our classroom and they have been a hit! They work and look just like Crayons you use on paper. They look great on the whiteboard and you can really jazz up your lesson with all the different colors. Clean up takes a little more than a dry-erase marker. I typically use 1 wet wipe to clean up but these take two or three for full clean up. I love these and highly recommend them to any teacher!