March Madness

I know that I am not the only one that is already looking ahead to March. March is not only crammed with wonderful learning possibilities; it is also my month to celebrate....MY BIRTHDAY! I am so excited I can't stand it. My husband has things planned for me for the whole weekend. I know there is going to be a southern style cook out and fish fry. What can I say...I love to eat. Once I have stuffed myself with all of that grill-fry goodness, I am back to business on Monday.

I have been getting ready for Read Across America Week. Mrs. Bowman (another fellow Kindergarten teacher) and I will be doing the following activities:

Monday (March 4^th)-Cat in the Hat: Dress as Things and teachers dress as the cats (All classes in K are doing this)

Purpose: Teach about being honest; introduce Dr. Seuss and his book collection

Tuesday (March 5^th)-The Lorax: Wear orange and I will have moustaches provided

Purpose: Teach students about keeping the Earth clean, taking responsibility for our actions, seven habits-be proactive

Wednesday (March 6)-Fox in Socks and Wacky Wednesday:  Dress wacky (mismatched clothes and crazy socks).

Purpose: Teach students about tongue twisters, what's wrong with the picture.

Thursday (March 7)-Oh the Places You'll Go: Dress to show what you want to be when you grow up.

Purpose: Teach students about having a goal, seven habits-think with the end in mind, and how do can we reach our goals.

Friday (March 8)-The Sneeches: Wear yellow and I pin green stars on their shirts

Purpose: Teach students about being different and that it is okay! We are all are unique!

We are also doing t-shirts as a grade level (THING "K"). We are very excited with what's to come. We are also Having Dr. Seuss Movie Marathon. Can you imagine how wacky the first week of March is going to be...MARCH MADNESS!!!

More to come; so in the meantime...

STAY INSPIRED!!!

Renaada

Busy as a BEE

Hi everyone,

As you know I am completely new to the blogging experience. With that being said, I have not learned how to balance all of the things I have been working on with my students and be a mom/wife/blogger.
I am sincerely sorry for not keeping up with this as I should. But I did come to the realization that once a week may work out for me until I can get the hang of this.
Now, back to business...
Is it me or has February turned into the busiest month. in between Dental Health, Presidents' Day, Valentine's Day, Black History month, math, science, reading, social studies, Literacy Lab... I think you get the picture. I had a moment of panic. However, a great since of calm came over me... I am only human. THAT'S RIGHT PEOPLE... I, a teacher, am ONLY HUMAN. I continue to have meaningful lessons with my students, I try to keep them engaged, and I assess their knowledge so that they are prepared for the things to come. I feel that if I do all of those things, I have accomplished my goal for the students. (thinking: Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...;0))
Our school system has decided to adopt the JOURNEYS reading series. If there is anyone that has some insight as to how this works with your students, let me know. Do you like it? Do the students stay actively engaged during learning? How does it support your tier 1, 2, and 3 instruction? Do the students enjoy it? i would love to hear some feedback.

As always...

STAY INSPIRED!!!

Renaada Spears

Time for "Teeth"

I am so worn out from this Super Bowl weekend. I was ready to throw in the towel after the first half (upset with the 49ers). The power outage during the game just added fuel to the fire. Despite my disappointment (disguised as frustration), the 49ers gained their bearings and went to work. They showed so much heart; and, although they didn't win, they made great gains during the game.

This made me think of my Kinders. There are times when I get so frustrated with them because I know what they are capable of and they don't seem to put forth much effort. Then there are times when they get frustrated because they are not getting it. Now that we are in our second half of the year, I am starting to notice PROGRESS. Even at its smallest scale, my Kinders are showing signs of awareness in our lessons. It is because of this that I stay INSPIRED to teach another day.

Now that I have had my testimonial for the day...

My students have been engaged in Groundhog Day activities. I was able to find 2 videos online in conjunction with my activity pack I posted last week. My students really enjoyed it. I also had a game that I played with them that I found by Angela Rubin. My students used unifix cubes as game pieces. If they won a game, they received a cube to make their game piece taller. The first person to make a cube train of ten is the overall class winner. This was my students favorite game so far (thanks A.Rubin).

I am now starting my Dental Health activities. We have a dentist that will come this Friday. Feel free to check out my TPT store to preview some of its content. Let me know what you think. I am always open to feedback.

As always...

STAY INSPIRED!!

Renaada Spears