Already October?

Wow! Time flies! I can’t believe it is already October. School has been going great. Our themes have been butterflies, apples, and letters. Technology has really helped me because I was able to find butterfly PowerPoint’s and pictures on line, and play them on my classroom tv. I also collaborated with the other 2 kindergarten teachers to show interactive internet sites with the team board. I can’t wait to have one of my own! Our school has nettrekker.com it is an awesome search engine that has allowed me to find lots of lesson plans and age appropriate websites.

I have been taking a lot of pictures in my classroom and the kids love it. I download them onto my computer and play a slideshow on the tv. The kids are silent, and are so excited to see the pictures right away. I have also made some pretty neat newsletters to send home to my parents that show what is going on at school, instead of just telling. I have gotten a lot of positive comments from the parents.

This week I have a field trip, a release day, and grandparents day. It is going to be very busy! I have found a literacy website that I LOVE. Carlscorner.com has tons of free printables, center ideas, and lesson plan ideas. I have been busy copying everything off this year, and filing it so that next year I won’t have to go and investigate to find everything again.

My classroom is still coming together. There are lots of little organizational things that I still have not done, and I know I will feel much better once I do. I feel like I spend a lot of time there, but there is still so much to do. At least I enjoy every minute of it.

My home computer is still broken, and I am lost with out. I miss my color printer most. How sad is that? I like for all my binders to have nice covers, and the black and white just isn’t cutting it for me. I am glad my parents aren’t too far away because I can come home and print when I really need to.

Classes are going good, but they are picking up. I need to get working on my journaling and get ready for parent teacher conferences. I have been keeping a lot of my kids work so I think that will help guide my conferences.

Other than that, not much is going on. I am always busy, but that is the way I like it I guess. I am going to Columbia next week for the Mizzou game so I am excited about that. But, I also know I have to get a lot done at school this week so I don’t feel guilty about leaving for a whole weekend.

Hope everyone is doing great! Kindergarten is going good. Happy fall!

First 16 Days...

Wow, it seems unreal that I have had my own class for 16 days. I am really getting to know the kids and their needs. Being in kindergarten, the beginning of school has primarily focused on routines and procedures. Things are going good, but I know building community takes time.

My fellows classes have been a joy. It is nice to have weekly meetings with peers who are having similar experiences. I love my school, and I love my job so networking with other first year teachers is a great outlook to discuss my challenges.

I have 14 boys and 6 girls in my class. It isn’t balanced at all, but so far it has not created a problem. It is kind of funny though because I try to get the boys to use the bathroom as quick as the girls…they haven’t realized that the girls line only has 6 and that is why it is so fast!

One thing that I want to work on is planning. I find myself planning every night and morning. I want to be able to plan a whole week in advance so I am not constantly working on preparing the next lesson. I don’t think I realized the amount of time I would be spending at school, but coming in early in the mornings allows me to organize my day and take time for myself before school. I have used many lessons off of the internet and it is awesome to have a computer in my room to pull ideas from. I have found a lot of websites that have ready made lesson plans, worksheets, and center ideas. It is also nice that the copy machine and printer are right across from my room.

A sad thing in my life is that my personal laptop computer died. I am investigating getting it fixed vs. buying a new one. I didn’t realize how much typing I did at home to prepare for school the next day. I am ready to get it figured out! I can’t get on my blog website at school, so that has been a challenge. Once my home computer is up and going you will be hearing much more from me.

Hope everyone is doing great! Happy teaching!