I feel I should say that since I have been MIA! I started two weeks ago and since I am in a new district, I had A LOT of stuff to learn. I am so glad I did though, because my district rocks! I would know that already because a VERY popular first grade blogger used to work here before she moved to Houston...wink wink. :)
So this post is all pictures!
First, my baby Penny
She makes getting home SO much better!
AND now my classroom!
The Reading Jungle! My mom made that tree for me! It's made of pool noodles and brown paper bags!
So lucky to have a bathroom in my room!
Home center
My desk and area
Small group table, with word wall and daily five/CAFE wall
Good work wall and math wall
Front of the room
My door and word work station storage
View from the door
Yee-haw! My kindergarten picture! No clue why I am on a horse
? Those bangs are killing it too.
Cubbies with birthday wall above
We don't do clips here so I blew up my WBT rules and put it on my tree.
Lunch choice wall, they will have clothespins with their names.
My outside display
YAY!
WBT classroom rules
So that's my classroom! I had my first day with my kiddos this morning. It was great! We do a kindergarten camp at my new school, where we have a new class everyday. Whew. But it is great because we really learn a lot about the kids before we put them in classes.
Stay tuned for a giveaway from Really Good Stuff.....because it is!
So, I got my baby girl Penny!! She is actually laying on my lap right now fast asleep. :) Since I have been hanging at home with her, I have realized some other signs I needed to make for my classroom! I am loving animal print, because it's sassy and I like that.
I just finished making these two sets of signs and they are up on TPT! I made a set of signs that have the months of the year and the days of the week:
And the next set is for colors:
I realized I needed to display these for my kinder kiddos. I also plan to make a set to put on my word wall.
I am off to see if I can get this potty training thing down....when they say you should have a puppy before you have kids they were right!
So, the last few days I have been in my classroom...sweating. Gross, I know. BUT the AC has been off. :( I have been waiting till the afternoon to go up there and in the mean time I have been watching Grey's Anatomy from the beginning. I forgot how amazing that show is! McDreamy...mmm.
Anyway, teaching stuff:
I am a HUGE lover of Whole Brain Teaching. I discovered it last year, since I had a rather rambunctious class and needed something new. I watched SEVERAL videos on YouTube of how it worked and fell in love. This was the first video I watched:
I found it so amazing how the kids are all into it, and I knew that I needed something to get my kids in gear! So, I went home and typed up all the key points and then the next day put it in motion. I started with the rules. Here are my kiddos doing it last year:
After we had the rules down, I taught them the scoreboard which I LOVE! It was such a great way to provide rewards and consequences quickly. I also used the Class? YES! response which is a great way to get attention quickly. After, I started using the Teach! OK! during whole group time. I LOVED this too. It was a great way for my students to do peer teaching quickly. I would have them discuss sight words, spelling words, or math skills. It was such a treat to watch them during this time.
This video is also amazing! It is a lesson on compound words, completely using the WBT method. I was so impressed!
So, for my new classroom I made this set of posters with my version of the WBT rules! I just put them up in my TPT store.
The first THREE to comment get them for FREE!!
Also, my fab teacher biffle Morgan is doing an amazing giveaway with Lakeshore! Go check it out! One of the ways to enter is follow our new blog! {note: there is nothing there yet :) we want it to be a big thing and since it is August and she just got married we are working on it HA}
