Staying On Top of Things!

This year has sent a whirlwind of move-in's and move-out's in our school. I rarely ever have so many in my classroom. But this year is much different and I needed a system to stay ready for those new students coming into my classroom. I always have extra's "just in case" but I never really had them organized and all in one spot until right before I left to start my Christmas break this year. At the very end of the day that day, I was informed that it was one of my student's last day at our school. I was sad that we didn't get to give him a proper farewell but I didn't have long to dwell on that because a half-hour later (thankfully I was still at school) I was informed that I would be getting a new student the first day back from break. I grabbed a few of my extras as I ran around my room pulling from this cupboard and this shelf to make sure my new student would have what he needed. That's when the I thought to myself...I need ONE place where I keep all of my extras so that I am not running around the room pulling from here and there. I made myself a "New Student Supply Tub". Best thing I have done this year! (Well that and revamped my Sub Folder)

Inside of the tub I keep several extras of everything that my new students will need in my classroom.
First is our "take-home" folder, which is called the BEE Folder (Bring Everything Everyday). It is just a 2 pocket folder laminated for durability. It is taken home and brought back to school daily. Inside are important notes for parents regarding my classroom discipline policy, our school and classroom rules matrix and a list of kindergarten basics (important information to know about contacting the school, lunch prices, our class schedule, how birthdays are handled...etc).

The next item in the tub is the "Cart book" folder. Our students take home a leveled book each night to read and it is kept in this plastic folder. Included in the folder is a book log so parents can sign that their child has read the book and a "reading contract" to ensure parent's know what the cart books are, how they are to be used and a promise to let their child read to them each night.  Also included is a book mark with reading strategies and helpful hints for parents to help their child know what to do when they come to a word they do not know. One last item included is a "sight word" envelope so that students remember to practice their sight words nightly as well. Plus, this keeps all their sight words in a safe place where they won't get lost! On the other side of the folder is a latched pocket for the book that the child will be taking home. This is to ensure it doesn't fall out and get lost.

Then I have extra P.I.G. folders. This stands for Poetry Is Great! At the end of each week we put our new poem in the folder and the students take it home to read to their parents over the weekend. They then return the folder on Monday. This folder then goes in their "book box" for their silent reading time.

I also included a ziplock baggie filled with crayons, 2 sharpened pencils, 2 glue sticks, 2 erasers, and a highlighter. These are items that my students keep in their pencil box.

Last but not least I have a small container inside the tub filled with locker tags, desk tags, book-bag tags, labels, and all the goodies I need to label my students things. Also included in this little container are some of my "business" cards that I send home for parents so they will know how to get a hold of me whether it be through snail-mail, email or  phone. 

Since making this tub, I have been informed that I have 2 other students that will be moving. So I know, that when new ones move in...I will be PREPARED!!!

Just a little organizing idea I thought I would share with you! And keep in mind, it will make it easier for a sub or a colleague to find things just in case you get a new student on a day you are absent!

Happy Organizing!

Organize that room!

Wow! I can't believe another school year is upon us! Where has the summer gone?!?! My parent's always told me to enjoy it while I was younger because when I get older, it will fly by...I guess they were right!

Hi, my name is Carie Ramirez and I am a kindergarten teacher! I have been spending this week in my classroom, cleaning, organizing, laminating, copying and TALKING!! Haha, I swear, if I would just lock myself in my classroom I would be done in one day! But, just as the kids do, I miss my friends over the summer because not all of us get a chance to get together! 

The time I have spent in my classroom organizing things for the new year is what I want to share with you. I have taken some things that I had a home to help organize and keep a fairly clutter-free classroom. 

First we will start with my old utensil holder that I bought from Pampered Chef many moons ago. I quit using it at home and didn't want to throw it out, so I decided that I would take it to school and use it for my markers, pens, scissors, paper-punches and highlighters. It sits right at the corner of my desk (well it actually sits on the file cabinet that makes my desk a little longer). It spins around too, which makes for easy access to what you are looking for!  So if you have anything like this sitting in your cupboards or in your basement, dig it out and take it to school!

Next, I have some old CD holders from the dollar store and that is where I keep some of my CD's of course but I also use them for organizing my word cards for our seasonal/themed word bank! This way they don't get lost in the mix of everything else and they don't take up all that space in the file cabinet. Then to the right, you will see where I keep my poems that are used throughout the school year. I used to fold them in half and put them in the corresponding file but again, that took up a lot of space in the file cabinet, so I went out and bought some C-hooks, screwed them into the bulletin board and starting hanging them up. They are hung up in the order in which I do them, so they are easy to find!

Below, you will see my Guided Reading area! I am sure many of you are familiar with Thirty-One bags. They are wonderful and can be personalized if you want them to be!  I have received many as gifts from family and I have so many that I started using them at school to SPICE up my room! The two totes you see below hold everything I need for my guided reading groups and also our Jolly Phonics program. It's an easy access and less hassle of running back and forth to the file cabinet when I need something. I then have baskets for each reading group located inside the cabinet below the totes.

And look it here, another Thirty-one item! It is my little caddy that hangs from my pocket chart! Again, easier than running over to my desk in case I need a different color marker or a pair of scissors! I LOVE IT! Inside you will find highlighting tape, correction tape, a notepad and extra magnets! A friend of mine uses hers on her guided reading table.

Our school's theme is Bee's because our three school rules are Be Ready, Be Safe, and Be Kind. And with these rules comes several teaching aides! But where do I store them all so that I know where they are without losing them???? Well, I designed a bulletin board...again, for easy access! Each Bee on the board has an expectation next to/under it. But rest be assured, I don't just do this because it is easy access for ME but I do it more because it is easy access for the kiddos! The expectations are always posted and if they need reminders all they have to do is look up at the bulletin board!

We do have more expectations, but usually the one we are working on at the time is posted in the front of the classroom by our calendar board. When we are done working on that expectation, I will post it on the Bee board.

 And since I was sharing our Bee theme, I thought I would throw this picture in of how I do my class jobs! My helpers are known as WORKER BEES. Each student has a bee with their name on it and I just rotate clockwise daily.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you a picture of what I walked into on my first day back to my classroom (which was Monday) and what I got it to look like by the end of the day! At the end of each year we have to pack up and get everything off the floors, so usually it goes on the back counter and I throw sheets over top of it. So that is the mess you see in the "before" shot.

I hope some of these organizing tips are helpful to you and that you can take some of these ideas to use this year!

Here's to a great school year! 

CREATIVITY AND COMMITTEE'S!

WHAT IS A COMMITTEE?

Hello and Happy Spring to everyone!!!

It's Enrique from the F.A.M.E. Foundation saying... Hello! Hola! Neehow! Ciao! and as my elephant puppet likes to say.... Aloha!!!  

Today I'm sharing with you a true story of how preschool children were introduced to the idea of "What is a Committee?"  Not only were they introduced to it, but their parents were used as part of the educational journey.  No surprise that this comes to us from the same center that used the wire to create wire sculptures after exploring with wire to bend, twist, roll and more!  So thank you again to the Sunnyside Head Start Center of Tucson, Arizona!

STEP 1

Children were engaged in authentic dialogue to find out what they knew about committee's.  A brilliant decision to keep the process child centered.  This is both very respectful of what children are capable of and it creates an environment of exploration.

STEP 2

We all know that the home is where education starts.  The teachers at this center then went to the parents of their children and involved them in asking what they knew of committee's.  The parents were asked to share what they knew of this word with their children at home, over a meal or at bedtime.  Below you can see what their responses were like.  By connecting the learning going on in the classroom with the learning going on at home elevates and deepens the experience for the children.  Bravo Sunnyside Head Start Center!

STEP 3

One idea that seemed to surface was that committee's are "People working together" as you see below by one of the responses.

STEP 4

Below are many responses from some of the children showing how their perception of the word committee had changed from the beginning of this process to after they had discussed this at home with their parent(s).

STEP 5

Now that the children had a common understanding of the word "Committee" they were asked to create potential committees.  They were the:

• PAPER Committee
• GARDEN Committee
• BIRTHDAY Committee
• EXERCISE Committee
• BUILDING Committee
• BOOK Committee
• SUN Committee
• UNICORN Committee

The class agreed that they needed to choose four of those eight committee's.  To do this they had to vote.  The children were then asked what they knew of the word "Vote."  Below are some of the responses.  As I discuss in my book "Living Like a Child" we need to use questions to engage critical thinking skills.  This "Committee Journey" is a fantastic example.

The four committee's chosen by the class were the:

• BUILDING Committee
• GARDEN Committee
• BOOK Committee
• BIRTHDAY Committee

Each committee continues to shape the community in their classroom with collaboration and critical thinking.  Simply wonderful!  To engage young children in activities that empower them is one of the key areas for us to evolve as educators of the next generation.  Content is important, but our ability to deliver and connect with others, our ability to discuss and grow as a community is extremely important. This process of "What is a Committee"does exactly that.  Here is a quick peek at each committee.

THE BUILDING COMMITTEE

THE GARDEN COMMITTEE

THE BOOK COMMITTEE

THE BIRTHDAY COMMITTEE

BIRTHDAY COMMITTEE BREAKOUT IDEAS

Once the committee's were formed, each committee asked themselves questions related to "What should our committee work on?"  Below are some of the responses from the Birthday Committee.

BIRTHDAY COMMITTEE OUTCOME!!!

Below is one example of some of the work children on the Birthday Committee decided to do; "to share with their peers the different ways they celebrate their Birthdays."  Enjoy a snapshot of this one child's Birthday!

THE GRAND FINALE!!!

One of the children who was not on the Building Committee asked the teacher if they could be on the Building Committee in addition to the committee they were already on.  The teacher reminded the child that they all chose one committee to be on.  The child was persistent and described how they could really build very well and they they "had to be on the Building Committee."  The teacher and her colleagues thought about this situation and guess what they decided to do? 

They introduced the idea of "What is a petition?"  The child wanting to be on the Building Committee gathered the necessary signatures and is now a member of two committees!

So often adults underestimate children and what they can accomplish and understand.  This center and this educational journey is an example to remind us all of how much depth of learning children are capable of.    

Think of a question you can pose to your children and see where it takes you!!!

Enrique

LIVE LIKE A CHILD

ORGANIC MATERIALS AND LEARNING

MEANINGFUL LEARNING with 

ORGANIC MATERIALS

The world around us offers us so much to use to create learning opportunities with children. as my colleague Rachel so wonderfully points out in her article on creativity. So often as adults, we forget how much wonder and discovery exists in simple things.  We need to remind ourselves of all the ways to live like children.  As the founder of the F.A.M.E. Foundation I have the great pleasure of visiting hundreds of classrooms each year and working with thousands of teachers.  One of those classrooms is at an elementary school in the same neighborhood I grew up as a child. Below, you can see how children at this school used their hands, paint and some adult created questions to accomplish many things including:

• An organic piece of Art.
• A piece of Art that was made with teamwork.
• A piece of Art that tells the important story of how similar we are, despite some small differences.

USING ORGANIC MATERIALS and 

FOSTERING ENGINEERING SKILLS

From shells, to rocks, to feathers and more.... using organic materials offers many advantages including:

• they have shapes all their own that can connect to shapes we use throughout life
• they connect children to nature
• they produce curiosity, which in turns produces questions
• by producing questions, critical thinking is engaged
• low or even no cost

Below you can see a poster board of shapes made by children using dried bean pods and straw.  It's great to see that the teachers at this school are allowing the time for children to truly understand how to make the shapes themselves.  It's important to remind ourselves that children absorb a lot more and learn a great deal more when the learning they experience includes the journey of trial and error.  As a parent I can attest to the fact that it is so easy to give the answers away, instead of allowing for the time for deeply meaningful connections to be made by the child.

NUMBERS, NATURE and NUMERICAL LITERACY

In this same preschool children are supported in their experience of numbers in the following ways:

• Writing the number
• Finding something in nature that represents that number
• Writing the word that represents the number

Again, the journey of learning is embraced and oh what fun the children have!  Fun.... yes, FUN!!!  FUN IS NOT FLUFF as my fellow blogger Melissa points out in her fantastic article on creating rainbows with cars! Fun is simply where it's at, if we are interested in creating life long learners who embrace a life time of learning, playing and sharing.

Let's here it for the numbers 5, 6, and 7!  Below are three examples from 3, 4 and 5 year olds.

ORGANIC MATERIALS, DOCUMENTATION 

AND ASSESSMENT

Ahhhh.... we all love to document, right?  Well, not all of us and that's alright, but we all know it's important and the same can be said for assessment.  While we live in a world which many times over does it in these areas and many times forgets to document and assess some really important things, we need to find creative ways to document and assess.  Using organic materials as you've seen in this article is one way to find out what the children know in a play-based way!

Yes, documentation and assessment can be fun and you already know how I feel about that :)!  Below is a document I really love, especially the page on the left.  Enjoy and share!

CREATING ENVIRONMENTS FOR DISCOVERY AND LEARNING

Below is a fantastic photo of the many kinds of materials which can be used, from wire, to cork, and much more.  It is so helpful to create stimulating environments to help us find the interests of children.  This also allows for multiple ways for children to represent what they are learning.  Again, we need to remember to:

LIVE LIKE A CHILD!

ENGINEERS WANTED!

I used to think of the word "Engineer" as a boring word, because I didn't see myself as an Engineer, but I was wrong and I admit it.  Over the past couple of years I have been finding organic and artistic ways to connect learning to engineering skills with preschool and kinder children.  This is what I have observed.

• Engineers think!
• Engineers create!
• Engineers build!
• Engineers can be inventive!
• Engineers can be original!  
• Engineering is empowering!

I AM an Engineer!  I'm an Engineer of people and of music and I bet you're an Engineer of something as well.

Below is a "in the moment" photo of a young 4 year old exploring, building, creating....yes, this child is Engineering! 

Let's remind ourselves to not let our own preferences color the opportunities we offer our children.  We want them to experience all life has to offer so they can make their own decisions as they move along the wonderful, marvelous and magical road we call life.

 LIVE, LEARN, and TEACH LIKE A CHILD

Simply Organizing Those Flannelboard Stories!

by Pam Bergman

Each year around this time, I resolve to organize at least one area of my preschool classroom!  It's the start of the new year; perfect time to get organized!  Besides, I've always found that the time and energy I spend organizing the classroom pays off in the end!  I love being able to quickly swap out materials at the last minute if needed.  I also love being able to find additional items quickly while working with the children!  And, since I tend to have more than the average number of children with very short attention spans...this comes in handy quite often! 

So, about a year and a half ago, and after creating over 40 flannelboard stories, songs and games, I realized I couldn't find a single one that was complete!  I was constantly losing one or two pieces from our favorites. I had resorted to storing some in Ziploc bags, while others were thrown in my group time basket!  We were more than just a bit disorganized!  And it was driving me CrAZy! It was time to organize our flannelboard stories!

                                                                                  Luckily, I found

 an expanding file folder collecting dust at home!  I quickly bought one more and set out to get our flannelboard story situation under control!  (NOTE:  These are the expanding file folders with a handle- that look like very small suitcases.  I found mine at Walmart.)

I started by putting each flannelboard story in it's own Ziploc bag.  I then typed out a label for each bag with the name of the flannelboard story as well as the number of pieces that belonged with that set.  This way I could just quickly count the pieces as we put them away to make sure we hadn't misplaced any!

                                                                              I also made note of any extra items, such as a story or song card, that belonged in the Ziploc bag. On many of these labels I also included the main skill we could work on while enjoying the story, song or game (ex. colors, sequencing, counting etc.).  This has been useful while planning.

I alphabetized the flannelboard stories and inserted one Ziploc bag in each file space.  I typed up a numbered and alphabetized "cheat sheet" listing all the flannel board stories in the first file folder and another list for the second file folder  (although they are ALL alphabetized as one large group). I put these in the front of each file folder as a reference. 

                                                                              

I also put a small number on each section of the file. This way, when I need to find a flannelboard story, song or game in a hurry, I can just match up the number on the cheat sheet with the number on the expanding file section!  Could it get any easier?!

Numbered and alphabetized "Cheat Sheet"

NOTE: I decided not to add the number to the label on the bag. That way, when I do make more flannelboard stories, I won't have to change the label on the bags.  I'll just re-work the cheat sheet to indicate the additional stories and adjust the numbers for all (and the placement in the expanding file spaces).

OK, so it may look a bit scrunched here, but you may be
able to see one of the expanding file folders on the
far right!



When we're done with a flannelboard story, all I have to do is count the pieces to make sure we haven't lost anything, tuck them back in the Ziploc bag, put the Ziploc bag in the correct space and put the whole file folder back under our group time easel!

Simple and organized!









Here are a Few Additional Tips:

For several of the stories, I actually have two matching sets.  This way, I have one to use with the whole group and another set to leave out during center work for the children to use to retell the story. When I can squeeze in a few more hours to my day, I plan on making more identical sets!  These come in quite handy when you have children who may be a bit rough with the flannelboard pieces!  

While I know there are many resources on the Internet and in books for making flannelboard stories, I found the best resource for large, simple designs was the book 2's Experience Felt Board Fun.  (look for this at your local library.  I simply checked this out many times and created many of these over a period of about a year!) 

 Of course, there are many other ways you could organize your flannelboard pieces! Another great way to organize flannelboard stories was highlighted by Deborah at Teach Preschool!

Finally, if you would like to check out some of the other ways I have organized classroom things, take that long walk down to my blog: How Long is This Hall!? and check out "that ongoing classroom organization".  Or if you would like to see a creative way to make flannelboard pieces check THESE out!

Getting Organized with Deanna Jump!

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