Happy First Week!

Yahoo, we made it through the first (very short) week of school! The class is learning what it looks like to be responsible, respectful, and safe at school and are quickly learning our classroom routines and expectations. Currently, we are working on self control and remembering to raise our hand before we speak. It is awesome how fast they are catching on and practicing this expectation.

Our first day of school flew by! It was focused on basic how to's, including how to listen like a learner. We use five body parts to listen: 1) eyes on speaker, 2) mouth closed, 3) ears on (We pretend our ears have knobs and "turn them on"), 4) feet are quiet and 5) hands in lap. We also learned how to use our classroom and hallway bathrooms, how to use the lunch room, how to line up, how to walk in the hallway, and how to safely walk around the classroom (we "blow a bubble" around our bodies and try not to pop other friends' bubbles). 

Our classroom has many materials and manipulatives to enjoy. Slowly, but surely I will be introducing different school supplies to the class. On Thursday, I did a guided discovery on how to properly use and color with the crayons. Everything is community-style so the kindergarteners will learn to wait their turn, ask for something they need, and make deals with one another. Soon, I will introduce glue sticks, scissors, colored pencils, and markers. The quote, "You gotta go slow to go fast" rings true with teaching kindergarten!

Here we are enjoying afternoon snack at our table spots.

We are loving playtime at the end of the day. Below, we are playing with pattern blocks at our letter spots.

Our principal Dr. Warner stopped by to say hi!

The more the boys and girls show me that they can take care of and use the materials in our room, the more I will open up more choices! After having a very successful second day of school on Friday, they were able to play with six more play stations: Lincoln logs, railroad tracks, K'Nex, crazy pipes, ball connectors, and foam blocks. 

I took "My first day of kindergarten" photos as well as birthday month photos of the students. (Side note: I took the birthday month photos during rest time.)
\

January

February

March

April

May

June

July (Max and Riley share the SAME birthday as me. So all 3 of us were born July 30th!)

September

October

August

We have a very sweet classroom helper, Mrs. Patterson. I can't be more fortunate to have another set of eyes to help me out in the classroom! 

And here is the kindergarten team! From left, Mrs. Alpaugh, Mrs. Gerdes, Mrs. Seidensticker, and of course, ME!

I am very excited for this upcoming FULL week of school! Keep posted on Schoology for what we are up to and for fun photos of the class. Continue to check and empty your child's folder on a DAILY BASIS. They are doing wonderfully!