Groovy Educator

Yesterday was the first time I have not had a "first day of school" in fourteen years.  I started teaching in 2000 and last year had to go on a leave of absence after the first nine weeks. It was very emotional but at the same time I was very excited that my family member's son had his first day of school.  This little guy was amped up.  He attended VPK (voluntary pre-k) and has been super excited about kindergarten. He came home on red his first day of Kindergarten.  That makes me so angry as a former Kindergarten teacher. Every year I made sure that the first day of school was positive for my students.  Yes even when I had to redirect them.  The first day of school sets the tone for the school year and Kindergarten sets the tone for their school career... At least that's my philosophy. Now when I had a child in my class that acted up... The first thing I always did was kneel down to eye level and ask in a quiet voice "Is everything alright?" ...

The cereal box is a powerful tool for teaching in so many ways.  Here are some ideas: Shapes Explain the difference between a rectangle and a rectangular prisim Circle all the shapes you can find on the box and write a list to record what you found. On a different day repeat the previous activity but then transfer the information into a Venn Diagram (two circles that intersect/overlap).  Write the shapes that were on both boxes in the area where the circles overlap.  That shows what was the same on both boxes.  Write what was different in the other areas.  (I will have to upload a photograph on this in the future.) Discuss how rectangular prisms can stack and slide but not roll.  Test it out.   Compare the size of the rectangles on the sides of the box to the front of the box. Trace the box to make a large rectangle and then draw a picture using shapes you found on the box. Math There are endless adding and subtracting activities th...

I just love linking up with DoodleBugsTeaching for this Linky party! What a week, what a week... (If you read only one of these five things, please read #5.) 1.  I have been sick since Saturday!  Yes that's right... A WHOLE week!  I still do not feel a hundred percent. :(  I had to miss THREE days of school this week due to the fever. :(  This is a nasty virus (sore throat, fever, cough, headache, stomache ache, etc).  BUT it afforded me the time to start not one but TWO LINKY PARTIES! 2.  We had our Egg Hunt at school and the kids were so sweet.  They had a BLAST! I just love my class.  They all brought in stuffed eggs earlier this week.  I counted them all up and checked them last night.  Some parents came to help me hide the eggs while the little darlings were at P.E.  Each kid had to find fifteen eggs and then sit on the bench until everyone was done.  They were not allowed to open the eggs until we got...

I just had an idea this afternoon that I am debating on doing next year.  I would appreciate your thoughts... While grading papers, I was thinking about how far the children have come since the beginning of the year.  I was also reflecting on the common core standards and the first grade mastery checklist that I need to fill out again this quarter. Wouldn't it be nice if every child had a testing binder to document their progress?  Now I'm not talking about the regular assessment file or data notebook each teacher usually keeps on each child but rather their classroom tests (reading tests, math chapter tests and checkpoints, science tests, etc.).  Each folder could have tabs for each subject.  Whenever a test is completed, I could add it to each kids' binder and the parents could sign off on it.  There could be a sheet at the front to document.  It would go home on Friday and come back on Monday.  It would be a great study guide to review what...