September 2012

Settling In

The kids are finally settling in and getting the hang of procedures! My most un-favorite thing about starting a new school year is reteaching a new class all the procedures that make our day go smoothly. But, we're getting there!

I've attempted to incorporate some of the componants of Whole Brain Teaching this year and I am AMAZED at the results. I cannot wait to learn more about it. So far I have introduced the rules (slightly modified), Class-Yes, Hands and Eyes, and Mirror. Powerful!

I have been using the "Whole Brain Teaching-ish Rules" from

The Polka Dot Patch

and 3rd Grade Thoughts.

The design is super cute and I really like the slight modifications to the rules. Go check out all her wonderful posts on Whole Brain Teaching!

I've also started a WBT Pinterest board to collect ideas. There are only a few pins so far, but as I come across great stuff - I'll pin it! Here's the link...

http://pinterest.com/sabiston4/wbt/

A Birthday

The busiest times of the year for a teacher are September, June, and the holidays. So when were all my kids born? You got it - September, June, and Thanksgiving. Today is my youngest son's 3rd birthday and all the child has wanted for months is a fire engine birthday party. Great! I can swing by the party store, let him pick out some cute fire truck plates and napkins, grab a couple of dozen cupcakes, drag it all into the preschool at the appointed time - and there you have it - birthday party, done!

But, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It seems all the party supply stores have decided that little boys do not want to have fire engine birthday parties anymore and have stopped carrying fire engine birthday party supplies. (Side note- you can buy all kinds of stuff for 247 different tv/movie related characters:(

On to Plan B (there really was no Plan B). The boy insisted that fire engines be involved so I fused together a few Pinterest ideas with a few fire engine birthday parties that I've thrown for the other boys and came up with this.

The preschool requires store bought treats and these fall themed sugar cookies were the perfect colors.

Here is what I used...

And it was all under 20 bucks!

Facebook

I have decided to jump into another social media arena and now I have a Facebook page! If you're interested, here's the link...

https://www.facebook.com/teachinginprogress

I hope your students are settling into their routines, too! Have a great week!

~Nikki

I did it. I made it through the first week of school. (My 17th one!) I'm tired, but I seem to have a good group of kids and they picked up on most of our procedures really well. I am introducing every aspect of my classroom bit by bit and as slowly as is necessary so I don't have to pick up the pieces later.

I am trying to use more chants and callbacks to help with transitions this year. I hope this will help the kids stay focused on the transition task (like putting away supplies or moving to the carpet) and not get caught up in conversation with a neighbor or tattling on someone.

My favorite one so far is for when we move from a circle on the carpet (or from our seats) into rows on the carpet. We sing, "Row, row, row your self gently into place. Quietly, quickly, we sit down, crisscross applesauce!"

I have a few pictures of my classroom (finally). They may seem a little plain - stations haven't officially opened and they are still a bit sparse. They will look a bit more inviting and 'lived in' after a few more weeks.