COVID & the Classroom

 We all know that COVID guidelines have changed the way our classrooms look and operate.  HUGE change for me!  I have always allowed my students to choose their seat.  They can change it throughout the day.  Now we have to have a seating chart and assigned seating.  WHEW! This was hard for me!  Obviously my students don't know any different, since they have never been in a classroom such as this.  

We have always had tables in the classroom.  I have a confession....I hated them.  Like..HATED.  This year, our district required dividers on any table that had more than one student.  Terrible dividers.  Nope.  I took the opportunity to ditch the tables.  GONE!  Instead.....

I went full flexible seating!  The foam squares mark their "space."  Each morning, students choose the type of seat they want and the type of tray.  Student materials are housed in 3-drawer units spaced across the classroom.  Students keep their same space so their materials stay with them until naptime.  At naptime students stack their seats, trays, and squares, and their space then becomes the spot for their napmat.  Squares, trays, and seats are all sanitized at the end of the day, ready for the next student!  

It's very different, but we are making it work.  Normally we start school mid-August.  COVID pushed us back a couple weeks.  Before we had a chance to start school, we were hit by Hurricane Laura.  Our area, and school, sustained significant damage.  97% of the schools in our district received so much damage, reopening was not possible for weeks.  Before we could reopen, we were hit with Hurricane Delta.  October 19th was our first day of school....FINALLY!  Thankfully my students have been F2F since we started, with minimal disruptions.  Hoping for a non-eventful rest of the year!

Last year...good times!

I  never posted pictures of my classroom last year, so let's take a little walk down memory lane...

My theme was watercolors & llamas...love the llamas!

Here is the wide open full view of my classroom.  I have several types of tables and chairs, as well as open space if a student chooses not to work at a table.

Here is my reading center, courtesy of a Donors Choose project last year. The kids absolutely LOVED it!  The furniture is also easy to clean.  The first day we had it, a student walked by with an open dry-erase marker...and left a mark down the back of the couch.  I nearly cried.  I grabbed a Clorox wipe, and the mark came off easily! You can find the couch here  and the chair here.  (Other colors are available.)

Small group table.  The wobble stools DESTROY my tile floor, so the foam tiles protect it and keep the stools from slipping.

Student Computers...'nuff said.  Oh, and the board turned into our Brag Board.  If a student presented exceptional work, whether curriculum related, free writing, or even art, we posted it to the Brag Board.

I incorporated some new seating!  A caterpillar chair...how could I resist!?!?

I decorated the hallway!  This was a labor of love.  I'm lying.  I paid my teenager and her friend to make the pencils! LOL  I saw the idea on Pinterest, but no one had any type of template for it.  So I had to make my own.  Those pencils are made from construction paper and then laminated.  They worked GREAT for holding student work!

This might be my favorite part of last year.  I found this antique telephone table on Facebook Marketplace.  It was in rough shape.  But after a little love, some paint, and new fabric cover, I have the coolest seat in the school!  Seriously....it is.  Here is the BEFORE pic.....

AFTER!!!!💖💖💖💖💖

I'm sad that our year in the classroom was cut short.  There were so many things we missed out on doing, but we made great memories while we were together!

Sale & a Giveaway!

In case you haven't heard, Teachers Pay Teachers is having their Back to School sale this week!  To celebrate, my entire store is on sale.  If you use code BTSFRESH, you save even more!  I am also giving away a $10 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers!  Just come on over to my brand new Facebook page and check out the pinned post!

Neon Classroom Theme

Every year I say I'm sticking with my theme for at least two years....and every year I change my theme.  I'm totally blaming this on my A.D.D.!  But seriously...it's kinda like rearranging your living room.  Or classroom.  I just can't help it.  I have done monsters, sports, and Pete the Cat.  This year I feel like I need something...BRIGHTER!  I'm focusing on neon colors with a little bit of pineapple thrown in.  I will be doing a before and after classroom reveal before school begins, but here is a sneak peek.

This is my hallway bulletin board to welcome back students.  We are blessed to have a poster maker at our school, so I used it to print my pineapple from Krista Wallden of Creative Clips .  (Can I just say I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE her clipart?!  We won't even talk about how much I spend on clipart. 😮😂)  For the letters I printed them on Astrobrights cardstock.  The font is KG Blank Space Solid.  I typed my text, highlighted it, and changed the fill to "none" and increased the outline to make it easier to cut.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to finish my student work display so I can share this one too!

They ask a million questions a day...

Anyone that has spent a day with a five-year old knows they ask questions.  Lots of questions.  I'm not sure they even wait for an answer before asking another question.  Put them in a classroom and tell them to ask a question and you get blank stares and cricket sounds.  How does that even happen!?  So I had to figure out how to get my students to ask questions.  It took a lot of thinking and planning and experimenting, but I finally figured out how to do it!  Here's how I did it:

Before I even pick up a book, I talk to the students about questions.  We talk about what a question is, what it isn't, what question words are (who, why, when, where, how), and why we ask questions.  Practice asking questions with students.  
After practicing how to ask questions, I hold up an interesting book.  For example:  A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue

I say absolutely nothing about this book.  I simply show students the cover of the book.  Then I model questioning.  Examples:  "Hmm...why is his tongue funny colors?  Why is he sticking his tongue out like that?"  Students may have their own questions.  You can prompt with question words or help guide them from making a statement to forming a question.  Be patient! It takes practice!

Our students come to us with little or no knowledge of story elements.  Pacing for introducing story elements really depends on the class.  Some students catch on quickly and others need to slow down and practice.  Don't let them get overwhelmed with new terms!    We teach author, illustrator, characters, setting, problem, solution, and events.  I ask these questions with every single fiction book we read.  
What does the author do?
What does the illustrator do?
Who were the characters in our text?
What was the setting?
What was the problem in our story?
What was the solution?
What happened in the story? (We use Beginning, Middle, and End)

These are basic recall questions and we all know students need higher order questions.  Our absolute favorite is "If you could change anything about this story, what would it be?"  Oh, they love that question! They can change the gender of a character or turn a princess into a pig.  They get to be creative!  After I ask the questions, I have them turn to their partner and ask/answer.  Once they have gotten comfortable with the questions, I give each set of a partners a ring of cards.  These cards have a picture representing the story element questions.  Students take turns asking their partners about the story...without your help!  OK, you have to help in the beginning.  They are five....they forget what they are supposed to be doing.  But it only takes a few practice sessions before they no longer need you!  You get to walk around and check for understanding.  After students have asked and answered the questions, I ask the same questions and let students take turns sharing answers.  This is what it looks like:
T:  Ok, can someone raise their hand and tell me what an author does?
S: (answers)
T: Does everyone agree?
Students show thumbs up if they agree and thumbs down if they do not.  BOOM!  Instant peer assessment!  

If you would like your own set of cards, you can find them HERE.

Leave a comment below if you have any questions!

In the Beginning...

I completed my student teaching in a fourth grade math and science classroom.  After I completed my student teaching, a principal friend called and asked me to teach kindergarten for the rest of the year.  I laughed.  I tried to convince her that I could not teach kindergarten because I was only certified for first through fifth grades.  She promised that it would only be for the remainder of the school year, and then she would move me to second grade.  I reluctantly agreed.  Boy, was I in for a surprise...

As in....Surprise!  They need VERY explicit instructions!  HA!  I was so unprepared.  I assumed too much.  I assumed they knew their letter sounds, or simple three-letter words, or how to properly use glue sticks and scissors and paint....oh, the list goes on.  It was definitely a culture shock for me!  In the end, I found I loved kindergarten.  I loved it so much that I raced down to the testing center and added my certification for early childhood.  This will be my third full year of teaching kindergarten.  I can honestly say that every day is an adventure and I usually need a nap by the time I get home in the evenings, but I wouldn't have it any other way!