Trying to be a good teacher AND a good daughter

Let's be honest, being a teacher is hard. I teach kindergarten and there are days I go home completely spent. Having given so much of myself to my students. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, I love my students but their needs are never-ending. It can be exhausting. But we are also mothers, daughters, sisters, friends. If you are lucky enough to still have your parents continue to cherish them, love them, laugh with them. For the vast majority, we will one day watch our parents die. Being part of that eventual transition of being the child to becoming the caretaker for our parents is often an emotional one. To watch a powerful father who commanded respect become so sick that he is confined to a bed wearing a diaper is awful for him and awful for you. To see your mother, who took care of everyone and everything, need you to be her voice, to ask for her pain meds, to feed her. It can be unbearable one second and feel incredibly noble the next.  No one gets out unscathed. We will all have our day when we lose the person who loved us the most, who saw the very best in us. Losing that person changes us; we are never the same. Never recover.

                                                                   

The transition of illness to loss is a painful rollercoaster. Often filled with tears, fear, and loneliness. But we must continue either during the illness or after they are gone. Our job is hard. Our students need us in a way that an accountant will never understand. For goodness sake, we can't even go to the bathroom when we need to. Every teacher I know has trained her bladder to go hours without being emptied. There is no relief to walk away and have a moment after or during a loss. 

So to those of you out there that are suffering from an ailing parent and trying to be an excellent teacher, here are my words for you. You are not alone. There are hundreds  thousands of us traveling the same path. Let's reach out a hand to our teacher friends and lend a smile to those who are smiling on the outside and crying on the inside. Let's start this week with kindness and support in our heart for our fellow warriors. Let's focus on the humanity of the teacher. Let's stand together. We may be "Mrs. Larsen" from 8:30-3:00 but we are "my loving Della" the rest of the day and into the night as we sit in a hospital room hour after hour watching our parents slip away. 

Let's remember to always be kind and gentle to those around us fighting a battle no one knows about. 

My top five reasons for using task cards.

                      My top five reasons for using task cards.

I LOVE task cards, and to be honest so do my kids. I have center time every day in my class and you can be sure one of those centers will have some type of task card.  There are lots of reasons people use task cards and here are my top 5.

#1 The kids are independent. Task cards are designed for kids to be able to complete the work by themselves.  The work I add to  task cards is generally review and practice. Although the kids don't think they are practicing.  There's something about squeezing those clips that makes the kids happy.

#2 My kids will take risks. No one wants anyone to know when we make a mistake and kids are no different. We are always assessing them and it must become exhausting to them to be constantly under the microscope. With self checking task cards no one will know if they make a mistake. They can check their answer and make the adjustments by themselves. I think the kids are willing to take more risks if no one will know if they made a mistake. 

#3 They are hands on. I use a variety of task cards. Some require clothespins. My kids LOVE clothespins, I'm not sure what it is about clothespins but when they see them they want to go to the center. I also use paper clips, and dry erase markers and brads. The kids get a chance to manipulate the cards and somehow it's WAY more fun than answering with a paper and pencil.

#4 I can differentiate easily. Task cards are perfect for differentaiting instruction. I can have kids working on a variety of cards. Each child can be working on completely different skills. 

#5 It saves time at the copymachine. Sure you have to print them out and laminate them. But once you do the little bit of prep work you have the cards for a whole month, unit or even year. Grab a recipe box and you have a perfect storage compartment. They can be used year after year. 

Check out my favorite task cards from traditional to a little bit more fun. 

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Go Outside!

"Go outside and play", this was the direction given by my mother daily when I was growing up. I know I'm taking the risk of sounding like grandma but, back in my day, we played outside. A lot. 
I spent the weekend enjoying some warm sunny weather, and it got me thinking. Being outside is good for the soul. It clears your mind and it feels wonderful to fill your lungs with fresh air. 

I worry my students don't spend enough time outside exploring, discovering nature, just being part of something bigger than themselves. I want them to come in with dirty knees, with cuts and scrapes, filthy hands, and a body that's tired. They should be digging in the dirt and finding bugs. It's not beach weather here in the northeast, but it is spring. It's the perfect time to get outside. I may not be interested in looking for bugs, but I love taking a hike, a walk around a lake.  Dusting off that bike in the garage, filling the tires with air, and taking a spin around the neighborhood sounds like heaven. When I was a girl I used to love that feeling of almost flying when I was on a swing. It makes me smile just thinking of it.  Being outside is great for kids, but it's also great for adults. The stewardess tells us every time we travel. Take care of yourself first, then you'll be able to care for the young. Now that spring is here let's make a decision to go outside and play. A lot.

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Writing in Kindergarten

I love teaching kindergarten because the kids go from barely knowing their letters in the fall to full on writers by the end of the year. However the journey is not always easy. 

I've seen my kids be really excited during group, ready to get to writing then they get to their seats and..... nothing. They get stuck; they forget what they want to write about. They feel a little intimidated. I honestly believe the first step in writing is not only having a topic that you know about, but believing you can do it.

One of my effective strategies is …..

Visual writing prompts.

I love using visual writing prompts because it’s very user friendly. Of course I want to hear their stories, their voice, but for some kids they just have a hard time getting their ideas down. This is what I use with those kids to build their confidence.

I give them an engaging picture, something they know a lot about recess, sports, friends, then I ask them to color the picture and write a sentence.  

"I see the girl cleaning the table."

The coloring aspect really helps  the reluctant writer. They can sit down next to a strong writer and not stare at an empty page.  They can start to color.  I do a mini lesson on the rug first, we talk about the picture, I model writing, then they turn and talk to tell a friend what they will write. Then it’s back to the table to get at it.

When we started I got a lot of sentences like. “I see a girl.”  But as we have progressed they have evolved into sentences like “The girl is going down the slide at the park. I think she is happy because she is smiling. I love to swing on the swings.  The park is fun”  

If you have students who struggle to get their ideas down, try this and let me know what you think. Here are some of my most popular prompts 

 

What I love about board games.

Can we bring back board games? I love technology and I'm so grateful that children have constant access to it, but I love board games.  There's nothing quite like sitting around the kitchen table with an old fashioned game. My own kids  love "family game night" and so do I.

                                 

In this society of everyone gets a trophy I honestly feel there is a lot to be learned  from playing a board game. Here are my top 5 reasons for playing a board game with the family.

#1 Not everyone wins. Imagine, you have to survive getting sent to "jail"  you do not pass go, you do not collect $200. Sure we get disappointed, but guess what? We survive. We learn not to fall apart when it happens. We learn the next roll of the dice can change everything.

#2 You talk to each other!! Imagine? Good old fashioned face to face look em in the eye talking to each other. Maybe we wont have earth shattering conversations, but we can feel  connected to each other in a way that can only come from actually sitting and being with that person and sharing an experience.   A text just can't come close.

#3 You actually learn. What better predictor of future real estate mogul than Monopoly? What about strategy and looking forward with a plan. Checkers ( and especially chess) can help you learn just that. You need a strategy if you want to sink your brother's battleship. Rolling dice is probably the best way to subitize numbers. 

#4 You have to take turns. Honestly, enough said. 

#5 Good for ages 5-99. Such a great way to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. Connecting with family members that are multi-generational is one of the best reasons to play a game together. Often the experiences of our kids are so different from our parents, but everyone can feel the joy of the "get out of jail free" card. 

                                         

So put down your phone, turn off the TV and dust off a board game, I bet you'll have some laughs and simply enjoy the fun of playing a game together.

Check out my newest writing prompt about games

Leap Year!

How will YOU celebrate Leap Day in Kindergarten? It only comes around one every four years, so let's make it fun. 
My class will be leaping into the future!  What will life be like in 29 years? What will cars look like? Can you imagine that anyone thought 29 years ago that cars could park themselves???
Will we all have robots? What will cell phones be able to do? 29 years ago no one could imagine we'd all be walking around with a phone in our purse. What will we have 29 years from now??? 
So exciting to think about. Let the kid's imagination go wild. 
Check out this quick and easy Leap Day Writing Prompt to get them started.  Please comment below and let us all know what you are planning.

                     

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Text Dependent Writing in Kindergarten.

Text dependent wrtiting in kindergarten, is that even a thing???
Yes, Your kids can become text dependent writers when you use non-fiction topics. I find even my youngest learners respond well to non-fiction text. In my district it's all about text dependent writing. We want to the kids to not only write about what they're learning, but integrated that knowledge. Seems daunting, I know, but it CAN happen.

If your district uses the  common core you'll have to figure this out for your kids.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

I've spent some time trying to figure out how this works with kids who are just learning to write.  I think the key here is the kids "use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts."

My kids really respond to visuals so I've created a tabletop writing rubric. 

They respond well to the "directions". I have kids who want to write about their ideas, which is great for "writers workshop" but this is different. They need to respond to specific information. Remember, this can be accomplished through drawing. With a little bit of practice, your kids can become more adapt writers.

I like to keep track of my kids writing, and I keep some work for a portfolio, but often they want to bring their work home-who can blame them!! So a quick trip to the copy machine and a copy of this rubric helps fill their portfolio.

If you want to download these rubrics for free, check my store. 

Here's our most recent non-fiction writing; All About  Owls. 

Best of luck, please comment  with your experience.