Martin Luther King Jr. Day

"Martin Luther King they say, thought of friendship everyday. He just wanted you and me, to live together peacefully."

Today we talked about Martin Luther King Jr because we will not have school Monday. Throughout the day we had a lot of mini lessons that we broke out into to discuss who he was, why he was important, and create projects from what we learned. Throughout, the day a lot of interesting statements were made, that made me appreciate their hearts.

As we were painting our hands one student looked at me and said: "Miss Parr, my dad's hands aren't either of these colors, would Mr. King still want to be his friend?"

I had another student that saw a picture of Martin Luther King and said: "That's weird, a long time ago we had a dark King. But Obama is our first dark president."

After watching a video on Martin Luther a student went home and asked: "Since I am black like Martin Luther King Jr, will I get shot when I am older too?"

It is little comments like these that I receive everyday that make my job completely worthwhile. They are my constant reminders that they truly have so much to learn about life, yet they aren't afraid to question their thinking.

And that, is a very powerful thing.

Practice Makes Perfect! Right?!

Well today we were DIBELed for the second time this year. For those of you that don't know, DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. It is an assessment system designed to assess all students' progress. The students are tested three times a year; Fall, Mid-Year, and again in the Spring.
As a teacher it is my job to make sure that they are all prepared, knowledgeable, and making adequate progress. Therefore, it isn't only a stressful time for students, but it is also stressful for the teacher!
Once again, being new to this whole system, I felt fairly confident that all my students were prepared to the best of their ability. We had practiced the expectations, the questions, and the rules. Today, I had to take them down right after lunch, so yes, no brain break for these kiddos! And boy, was it a learning adventure!
I walk my students down three minutes early, in alphabetical order. Each one was carrying their white boards, markers, and socks to practice their words while they waited. Sounds peaceful enough right?
Well the students were all doing their job, but just so happens that I forgot to do my job! I forgot to bring down ALL their test booklets from the previous testing. So I briskly walk - because running is against the rules - all the way back to my classroom, at the other end of the school, and then briskly walk back and hand them the booklets.
The test administrator politely smiles at me and then says, "Now do you have their scoring slips?" And off I go again, briskly walking back to my room again to get their scoring sheets. And my luck didn't stop then. During our testing period, we were outside their 4th grade room lockers and their lunch break happened to fall during our testing period. Therefore we had to have everyone quietly stand up, move to the other side of the hallway, and reposition themselves in alphabetically order - which is always interesting to witness 20 kindergartners do!
After it was all said and done, I am proud to say WE survived and my pandas did very well! Hopefully, the more times I do this routine, the more I will perfect the procedures. Because with time and patience, practice really does make perfect!

Wonderful Words

Oh yes, it is happening and it is beautiful.

During the first half of the year I really pushed the importance of reading the letters, remembering what sounds they make, blending words, and writing the letters correctly. Not to say that we are not still practicing those things, but they are starting to write. Truly write.

They all have their own notebooks which they use to "journal" about their weekend, or make rough drafts for their weekly writing. But I wanted to really see how far some students could push themselves when writing. Once/If they finished their reading station today they were to write about their favorite part of school. This is some of the sentences I got back from a variety of levels:

I like to pla at kid tim (I like to play at kid time)

I like to rit big werds (I like to write big words)

I like to sig songs nd dans! (I like to sing songs and dance)

I like to read big books and rit words. (I like to read big books and write words)

I like to play with mi frends. I like to dans with ms parr. (I like to play with my friends. I like to dance with Miss Parr)

You can clearly tell that they are all working on becoming good decoders. Granted, some may be further along than others, but they are all giving their best and learning! What an exciting day :)

Welcome Back and Welcome Here!

So, the day is finally here! My pandas finally returned after a 12 day break. Now, at first I must admit that this didn't seem very long. But, soon into the break, my ideas changed. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the break was too long, or unnecessary. But being a first year teacher, I wasn't sure what to expect when those kiddos came walking through our classroom door this morning. I found myself pacing, panicking, and wondering what it is going to be like when my Pandas come back from their holiday break. You see, Kindergartners are so much about routine, structure, and schedules, that although it's only been two weeks, what if that was TOO long!?

But let me tell you, it was magical. They checked in on the SMARTboard, gave their welcome back hugs and/or high fives, they sang rise and shine, they hung their art projects on the "Miss Parr's lil' Picasso's" wall that they completed over break,they sat criss cross applesauce, and so much more. They were just grand.

That is why I wanted to create this blog. For those little moments that mean so much. My first semester was FILLED with them. Those little worries, wonders, experiences, and memories that happen day in and day out. In a sense, it is my open journal to share with those who might be experiencing the same first year wonders, it might be for the parents that want to know "what really goes on in Kindergarten." Some days it might provide a comic relief, while other days I may just ask questions and share ideas.
Welcome to our classroom. Hope you enjoy the journey.