Wow!

Well, it was a short and very sweet week. On Thursday the school was told that at 1:45 there would be an assembly about the fundraiser for our school. Our class showed up, got seated and awaited the speakers. Our PTO president and vice president came up to the mic and gave a pretty lackluster speech and that's when I realized that this wasn't about a fundraiser.

Up by the podium stood Dr. Dole, our superintendent, and a woman that I recognized from KU Credit Union. Something was up. Dr. Dole came up to the mic and started talking about how we have great teachers at Kennedy (of course we do!) and went on to say that today one of them was getting an award. He then preceded to quote faculty members and our principal. When he got to my dear friend Ann Lounsbury's quote, I looked over at her and she winked at me. That's when I knew, this was an award for me. A huge wave of emotion came over me and I was fighting back the tears.

On Thursday at our assembly I won the Horizon Award. It's an award given to new teachers that show promise and exemplary teaching. I am incredibly honored that I was nominated and that I, out of the whole district, was chosen. When Dr. Dole said my name I came up to the podium, gave our principal a big hug and fought back the tears. I don't need an award to validate what I do, I really don't, but wow, does it feel nice. My parents and husband were also in the gym and it wasn't until Mrs. Anderson pointed it out that I realized. They made me get up to the podium and say a few words, but at the moment I really couldn't summarize what I felt, so I think I'll do that now...

Being a teacher is everything to me and it just "fills me up." I would be lying if I said it was easy or that my kids are angels. It is hard work and some days I have to muster everything I have to get through our day. They make me laugh and sometimes they make me cry, both out of frustration and out of joy. Last year was hard and I was mystified that no one told me just hard it would be! And then, just like my friend Mrs. Holland told me, it got better. The kids started to get it and I did too.

What I love most about teaching is seeing kids come to life. I love reading them a story and watching their faces fill with anticipation as to what will come next. I love listening to them congratulate a friend or help one of their classmates out who really needs it. I aspire to teach them, but I also aspire to show them that they are worth it, no matter where they come from or what they look like, that they are worth something. I strive to teach them that they can do what they thought they could not. I hope that they begin school with dreams of becoming something great and that they will continue through school thinking just that. No, my class is not full of angels, but in the end, if I have done my job, they are all learners and dreamers.

My deepest and most sincerest thank you to all who have supported me. And thanks to all my teachers over the years.

Kindergarten Corner

August 30, 2012

August 27th - August 31st

*Every week I'm going to post a sneak peek of what our class is going to do for the week.Sometimes I might come back and fill in missing parts :)

 READING:

• Animated Alphabet - 
• Monday: We are going to draw a pup and put together a mixed up sentence using the SMARTboard. e a math sheet
• Tuesday:  We are going to learn the song "Catch A Fish" and then write about what kind of animal we would catch! 
• Wednesday: We will be learning the letter "O" and meeting Ollie Ostrich. 
• Thursday: We are going to do a sort of the letters "O" "P" and "U"
• Friday: We are going to use fruit loops and make a colorful "O" on a paper plate.

MATH

• Math Expressions - 
• Monday:  We are going to continue to use our math manipulatives and work on showing a number with tiles and pattern blocks. Next we will be drawing a scence of 3.
• Tuesday:  First we will discuss our scenes of 3 using the document camera. Following that we will show amounts of objects by drawing with crayons. For example, "show 3 hats."
• Wednesday:

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL

• Solution Cards
• Share: We will read a book about sharing and talk about using our solution cards. 
• Get A Timer: Talk about using a timer to help solve problems with friends. 

The Year Has Begun!

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Our first week of kindergarten is over and our second week is about to begin. The kiddos did so well adjusting to a longer day full of big kid expectations. I for one came home every night exhausted, so I'm guessing my little ones did too.

To start the week off, we all reviewed the rules and expectations of our classroom. We have four rules that we follow and respect.

1. Keep hands, feet, and other objects to yourself.
2. Raise your hand to talk.
3. Listen and follow directions.
4.  Walk quietly inside of school.

All three kindergarten teachers have the same four rules for inside of the school. We also have recess rules, these are very similar, but there are some details about swinging and sliding on their bottoms, as well as keeping rocks and sticks on the ground. All in all, we want our kiddos to be as safe as possible so that they can learn and thrive in school.

Along with our rules we also started our Clip Chart on Tuesday.  Kennedy is a PBS school, which stands for "Positive Behavior Supports" and this means that teachers and staff focus on the positive doings of kids, rather than the negative. In my room I use our Clip Chart to encourage the kiddos to do the right thing first and then I reward them just for that! Every day the kiddos clips start on green (Ready to Learn). As the day progresses they aim to get to the top, which is red for OUTSTANDING! This week all of the kids were above green and were simply rockstars.

Red = Outstanding

Orange = Great Day

Yellow = Good Job

Green = Ready to Learn

Blue = Think About It

Purple = Teacher’s Choice

Gray = Parent Contact

Along with practicing routines and procedures we also learned two letters!, We started with the letter "P" and the character Polly Panda. Polly has her own story and song. We glued popcorn kernals onto purple p's and found words that start with "P" using our SMARTboard.

On Thursday we met Uncle Upton, who stands for the letter "U." Uncle Upton loves onion soup and he is an umpire, so we talked about our favorite sport and read "Curious George Plays Baseball." Friday we read the book "Aliens in Underpants Save the World." It was hilarious and really got the kids engaged. After reading the book we colored paper underwear and I strung it up around the room!

Please continue to send those BEE books and snacks! We appreciate all the help that we can get!