I've Been On The Move

Update:



I have been away from the classroom over the last few weeks and will continue to be away from the classroom until the beginning of the year.


Here is what I have been doing:


• Going around to all the classrooms in our program 16 to be exact, where we serve 560 children.


• I have been conducting ECER’S and ELLCO’S with all the teachers and sitting down with them as a group to writ their program goals for the year. We are using the findings from the ECER’S, ELLCO and their Desired Results to come up with their individual goals for their classroom.


• Once all the findings from all the classrooms have been found a group of 3 will sit down and write the goals for the whole program based on the findings in the individual classrooms. The program goals will then be submitted to the State for future funding.


It is a lot of work, but I really enjoy going around to all the classrooms and see what great things are happening in the classrooms. It is a great time to gain valuable knowledge and ideas from other seasoned teachers. I always say, “That great teachers are made by the teachers next door.” (Always learning from one another)


Here are some things that have been coming up as some of us go from classroom to classroom:


We are a group of 16 teachers, but some of us are in our first year teaching and some of us are going on 30 years of teaching experience.


• What classroom rules do you have?
• What does your classroom schedule look like?
• How do you organize everything?
• Where are you getting your extra supplies and materials to help keep the children engaged?
• How do you handle disciple?
• Do you use time out?
·  How do handle transitions through out the day?


Since I am away from the classroom I will be taking this time to answer these questions over the next few weeks. I will also be sharing ideas that are coming from other wonderful teachers on our teaching staff.

Art Studio

I just love when the children go to the art studio and create what ever comes to their minds.  Two girls sat in the art studio before leave for the holiday and this is what they came up with.  The imaginations is endless when provided with the right kind of materials.

Classroom Art Studio

Everything is always ready for the children to create their own art projects.  We restock the art studio daily with new materials to keep the ideas flowing from the children. 

Paint Studio 

The easel area is also always ready for the children to create one of a kind painting projects.  They have a variety of materials to choose from to paint on.

Graphing our Families

In the 3 year old classroom the teacher there is introducing her class to graphing.  This week they found out how many people are in each of their families.

This teacher had them pick out shapes to represent the family members in their family.  Once the children identified the shapes that they had chosen, she then had them draw a picture of each family member on each shape.  Once they had drawn on their shapes she had them find themselves on the graph and glue the shapes on their row.  When they were done she had them count how many members were in their family.

Some of the children got really detailed in their drawings as you can see above.

This teacher will then use this activity to help her meet her observations for her assessment of the Desired Results Developmental Profile.

Thank you Lyndah, for sharing and inviting me to visit your classroom.

Turkey Spelling

Here is a fun way to get your students spelling and recognizing letters. Make picture cards with seasonal themed word. Have the children turn over the picture card and identify the picture and read the word under the picture. Next have the children spell out the word to one another. Once they have spelled it to one another have the children find the letters to that word and place the feathers in order around the turkey. Have the children check each others turkeys allowing them to help one another. Once they are done with that picture card, have them move onto the next one.

Note: Have enough feathers with letters for each child to spell out every word. Remember there are no winners or losers.