In our kindergarten class, we don't have class rules.
They were good rules.
We used to.
They were good rules.
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Last year I took the plunge and changed the way that we "do" calendar. (Thanks to (Matt Gomez and Mardelle Sauerborn who posted about their calendar journey.)
Instead of the traditional turn-the-date-over monthly calendar, I put up all 12 months, to create a living document of our year.
Instead of the traditional turn-the-date-over monthly calendar, I put up all 12 months, to create a living document of our year.
It was a learning curve as the kids and I figured out together how we wanted it to work.
First thing that went up was all the birthdays. Pretty important.
my goals
I wanted the kids to see the passage of time. The whole school year - not just the current month.
I wanted to the kids to refer to the class calendar the way that I use my calendar at home - to see when events were going to occur.
Lunar New Year celebration.
We have a parade together.
We have a noodle feast together.
We (the teachers - we) decided that we should have a Lunar New Year project together.
We figured we could make a dragon.
Three classes of kids took over the school hallway decorating and blinging (sparkles and sequins but no glitter) their handprints.
One of the teachers glued the handprints onto a dragon body shape.
A dragon head and some Lunar New Year banners, and we think it looks pretty impressive.
We have a parade together.
We have a noodle feast together.
We (the teachers - we) decided that we should have a Lunar New Year project together.
We figured we could make a dragon.
Three classes of kids took over the school hallway decorating and blinging (sparkles and sequins but no glitter) their handprints.
One of the teachers glued the handprints onto a dragon body shape.
A dragon head and some Lunar New Year banners, and we think it looks pretty impressive.
I am sure that our dragon is bringing much good luck to our school.
check out lots of other ways
to celebrate and learn about Lunar New Year
and then I don't feel so bad
Day 6 of the Kinderblog Challenge: a photo of your favourite thing about your classroom
I have lots of "favourite things" in my classroom.
After school, when things were all tidied up, I was wandering around the classroom with my camera. But none of the photos felt "right".
There was something missing.
Actually, there were someONEs missing.
All the little someones who bring life and laughter to the room.
They are my favouritest thing about my classroom.
Day 6 of the Kinderblog Challenge: a photo of your favourite thing about your classroom
I have lots of "favourite things" in my classroom.
After school, when things were all tidied up, I was wandering around the classroom with my camera. But none of the photos felt "right".
There was something missing.
Actually, there were someONEs missing.
All the little someones who bring life and laughter to the room.
They are my favouritest thing about my classroom.
So far I have only had one day with my class (I was on leave before Christmas).
I have quite a kindergarten to-do list.
I have quite a kindergarten to-do list.
laugh so hard we are a wee bit out of control
get lost in books together
Community building.
It's one of the most important things I do at the beginning of the school year.
We learn to respect and celebrate our differences. Our differences make life fun - I tell the kidlets "wouldn't it be boring if we were all the same".
And the things that are the same - aren't they the things that are at the core of our human-ness?
We have a couple of books that we read together celebrating our "same same and different".
(In Thailand, there is a saying "same same but different". I am choosing to adapt it to celebrate our sameness and our differences.)
It's one of the most important things I do at the beginning of the school year.
We learn to respect and celebrate our differences. Our differences make life fun - I tell the kidlets "wouldn't it be boring if we were all the same".
And the things that are the same - aren't they the things that are at the core of our human-ness?
We have a couple of books that we read together celebrating our "same same and different".
(In Thailand, there is a saying "same same but different". I am choosing to adapt it to celebrate our sameness and our differences.)
Two Eyes, a Nose and a Mouth
author/illustrator: Roberta Grobel Intrater
published: Cartwheel Book (1995)
ages 4-7
I got two letters in the mail yesterday.
My name on the front, stamps: Old School Mail.
And not just any mail.
Letters from 2 fabulous 5 year old boys.
A real reason to write.
Now that I have finished bragging about getting TWO letters from TWO handsome young men (who each own a bit of my heart), I need to get letter writing.
My name on the front, stamps: Old School Mail.
And not just any mail.
Letters from 2 fabulous 5 year old boys.
A crab to remember the fun that we had on Beach Day. This friend is an expert beach explorer. On one of our beach trips, he was organizing a group of older children getting crabs out of water between 2 big rocks. I will always remember his happy confidence exploring crabs, and his curiosity about science stuff- "you do remember that I like to read non-fiction, don't you Ms Sandi?" and the fabulous creations that he made with bits and pieces that he found in the classroom.
A love letter. My friend hopes I am having a good summer and will see me soon. I love him too.
************
At the end of the school year, I send a note home with my address and the promise that if the kid lets write me a letter, I will send one back. A real reason to write.
Now that I have finished bragging about getting TWO letters from TWO handsome young men (who each own a bit of my heart), I need to get letter writing.
#Kinderblog has a summer blogging challenge.
Each week a different word to inspire a post.
Last week the word was brag.
I like summer challenges. (Doesn't mean I will meet those challenges!)
Daily yoga before breakfast.
Eat lots of veggies from the garden.
Take the time to enjoy cooking delicious meals.
Build a fairy garden.
Read lots of wonderful books.
some challenges/necessities I don't like ...
Sort out filing cabinet.
Organize school stuff that got dumped in the basement for the last 10 months.
Weeding.
I like blogging challenges.
Jen at Liv, Laugh, Love is challenging bloggers to make a Top Ten Post.
I chose a random top ten photos of the past kindergarten year. Random, because tomorrow I might choose a completely different set of favourites. Random because there were so many top ten photos that I did not choose.
My self imposed rules are that the photos had to be capturing a moment, not creating one. No setting up a photo, or posing in a super cute Thanksgiving turkey hat or pirate costume. Regular kindergarten life captured by my camera.
In roughly chronological order ...
Daily yoga before breakfast.
Eat lots of veggies from the garden.
Take the time to enjoy cooking delicious meals.
Build a fairy garden.
Read lots of wonderful books.
some challenges/necessities I don't like ...
Sort out filing cabinet.
Organize school stuff that got dumped in the basement for the last 10 months.
Weeding.
I like blogging challenges.
Jen at Liv, Laugh, Love is challenging bloggers to make a Top Ten Post.
I chose a random top ten photos of the past kindergarten year. Random, because tomorrow I might choose a completely different set of favourites. Random because there were so many top ten photos that I did not choose.
My self imposed rules are that the photos had to be capturing a moment, not creating one. No setting up a photo, or posing in a super cute Thanksgiving turkey hat or pirate costume. Regular kindergarten life captured by my camera.
In roughly chronological order ...
field trip to a local corn maze
setting the table for our Stone Soup lunch
a forest kitchen
superheroes make signs and write lists
I <3 it when they help each other
sticks - an original toy
a busy librarian: he built the library, acquired the books, made a scanner
and is now ready to check out your books
wings make everything more fun
dressing the baby
very gently
how many sand dollars
do you think my friend found on the beach
very gently
do you think my friend found on the beach
I enjoyed this challenge. Loved looking at pictures of my kidlets doing their learning thing. And it kept me from attacking the filing cabinet.
I am no artist.
I do appreciate art.
And I want my kidlets to know about art, think like artists and create.
I want our classroom to be full of art to inpire the kidlets and that they have created.
One of the projects that has been rattling around in my head is a a Reggio inspired chandelier. I am inspired by the chandeliers that Sally from Fairy Dust Teaching shared. And this fabulously amazing chandelier I saw in a restaurant (that makes to-die-for rum punches) on a tiny Caribbean island.
I wanted to make a hanging work of art that would become part of the classroom. A last project that we would do together. A bit of history left in the classroom.
With one week of school left before summer holidays, I decided that if it was going to happen this year, it had to happen right away.
After wondering how I was going to get five year old fingers to work with florists wire, deciding that I did not want to use pipe cleaners, wondering where I was going to get a bunch of cool beads that would not break the bank, I figured it out.
Scrapbook paper, hemp string and wooden beads - all leftover from previous projects.
I do appreciate art.
And I want my kidlets to know about art, think like artists and create.
I want our classroom to be full of art to inpire the kidlets and that they have created.
One of the projects that has been rattling around in my head is a a Reggio inspired chandelier. I am inspired by the chandeliers that Sally from Fairy Dust Teaching shared. And this fabulously amazing chandelier I saw in a restaurant (that makes to-die-for rum punches) on a tiny Caribbean island.
I wanted to make a hanging work of art that would become part of the classroom. A last project that we would do together. A bit of history left in the classroom.
With one week of school left before summer holidays, I decided that if it was going to happen this year, it had to happen right away.
After wondering how I was going to get five year old fingers to work with florists wire, deciding that I did not want to use pipe cleaners, wondering where I was going to get a bunch of cool beads that would not break the bank, I figured it out.
Scrapbook paper, hemp string and wooden beads - all leftover from previous projects.
The kidlets drew their self portrait with a black marker on 2" white squares.
They chose a piece of coloured hemp string and put some beads on it.
A piece of scrapbook paper was chosen as a backing.
The self portraits were hung on a piece of drift wood that I hung in our window.
While, on a macro level, I am pleased with this project (and the kidlets are pleased with their stamp on the room), there are some adjustments that I want to make.
I want to bring the driftwood home during the summer and spray paint the hooks something that is not gold and shiny. A couple hooks fell out; time for the cordless drill and a bit of glue.
We will have to talk about where we will hang the driftwood next year when the new kidlets come to kindergarten. Where will we find it's permanent home?
A permanent reminder of a year well lived.
I always laugh when I hear my words coming out of my kids' mouths.
But it makes me stop and think.
Think that I need to choose my words carefully.
When I first saw this quote, it hit me hard. There are some things I would love to take back.
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| source: gchimani1964 |
Sometimes, I get it right.
Last week one of my little guys looked at me and said
- I have a conundrum. And that's a little problem, and I can solve it easily.
Another little chap, who understands anxiety was having a hard time with something. He called out to me
-What is that you always say about problems - something about there's no problems too big to be solved.
Hallelujah - they do listen to me - occasionally!
Tammy from Forever in First had the brilliant idea of holding a linky party for the things that we always say to our kids.
I have a few classroom/life mantras that have developed over the years.
Every single person in the room has something to contribute to the class, and something that they can teach others. Every single person in the room has the responsibility and privilege of learning new things. When someone asks for help, I ask them if they have asked the teacher next to them. I am the tallest teacher in the class. And the tallest learner.
I figure that it is part of my responsibility to demonstrate, teach and expect polite manners. It is not polite to hunt for and take the biggest piece of brownie on the plate. It is not polite to yell out that you need the red freezie. It is polite, when you are offered something, to say either "yes please" or "no thank you". I find that my ears are kind of unusual; when a child says, "I want purple", my ears tend to hear "no thank you". Funny that.
No one is perfect. We all mess up every once in a while. Even when we are trying our best. And when we are learning something new, we are going to make mistakes. That's okay. It's one way that we learn. We try not to make the same mistakes every day. That's the learning part.
What life/classroom mantras do you hope become part of your children's inner voice?
Kindergarten is pretty important.
Just ask any five year old.
It's even been said that everything that a person needs to know they learned in kindergarten.
So, it must be important.
We make lists of important things.
Other classes might call them criteria. We call them important things.
That leads into our second important list - cleaning up! A topic dear to my heart - at least the kidlets think it is. From my perspective, it is OUR classroom, so it is not right that I do all the tidying. And, I should never do for a child what s/he can do, or almost do, for themselves (Maria Montessori).
Just ask any five year old.
It's even been said that everything that a person needs to know they learned in kindergarten.
So, it must be important.
Other classes might call them criteria. We call them important things.
Our first list, is something that is dear to the kidlets (and me) ... playing.
We sit down and talk about what is important about playing.
There was a pretty in depth (for 5 year olds) discussion about wanting to play alone sometimes, saying some children can play and others can't, children coming into a game and taking it over (stealing the game), saving favourite bits of lego, knocking over someone else's tower ...
We could have had an important things list a couple of miles long.
It had to be boiled down a bit. We decided that we wanted others to be kind and fair. That pretty much covered the two mile list.
The last point could be because I tell the kidlets that if they can't clean up the toys, that means that there are too many toys in the classroom and I am required to take the ones left in the classroom into my "office" (the space under my table).
That leads into our second important list - cleaning up! A topic dear to my heart - at least the kidlets think it is. From my perspective, it is OUR classroom, so it is not right that I do all the tidying. And, I should never do for a child what s/he can do, or almost do, for themselves (Maria Montessori).
After we clean up, we can do a check in to see how we did in reference to our important things.
Did we do a really really good job?
Did everyone stop playing and help?
Did we sit down on the carpet when the classroom was tidy?
What are we good at?
What do we need to work on?
After a month of kindergarten, we sat down to chat again.
We chatted about what was important in kindergarten.
I need to back up a bit. At the beginning of the school year, I read a light bulb post by Madame Belle Feuille about mission statements. She posted pictures from one school where every class crafts a mission statement and posts it outside their classroom. Brilliant. (She also has whittled down to a short, concise and powerful mission statement for herself. Again brilliant.)
Our mission statement - what we want in our classroom - is our important things in kindergarten list.
Yes - the second two points I say all the time, and the kidlets were parroting me. I was delighted - means that they actually sometimes listen when I am talking!!
After I had finished writing down all the kidlets' important things, a quiet little voice said, "hugs are important".
Yes, they are my sweet one. Yes they are.
I have been thinking about nests recently.
Building nests. And empty nests.
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| source http://tinyurl.com/cyvh8b9 |
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| source: http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/latina/empty-nest |
My own fledglings have left the nest, so I guess I am, reluctantly, an empty nester. The kids' Facebook profiles state that they live elsewhere. It's a difficult mental shift to move from in-house parenting to parenting by text. Even though, I might not feel ready to have almost-adult children, it's my job to adjust to supporting them to fly without me by their side.
As I was helping my kids get ready to move into their student accommodation (Daughter 2 carloads plus a mountain left from last year - Son 2 suitcases and a box!) I was also preparing the school nest for my new set of hatchlings. It was an interesting juxtaposition.
What should a nest be?
It should meet safety and comfort needs.
It should facilitate growth and development.
It is temporary and should be outgrown.
We build our nests with love and care, knowing that the fledglings will need to fly off and leave us for bigger and wider spaces.
And it's a good (if hard) thing,
What should a nest be?
It should meet safety and comfort needs.
It should facilitate growth and development.
It is temporary and should be outgrown.
We build our nests with love and care, knowing that the fledglings will need to fly off and leave us for bigger and wider spaces.
And it's a good (if hard) thing,
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