Caldecott Snowy Set

I love beautiful books, but in this day of very funny books it's hard to get kids to notice beautiful. So I was thrilled when I received my latest order from Scholastic Books. I decided to start growing my library with beautiful award winning books so that the kids can be exposed to literature that is appealing and lovely no matter how long ago it was created. Today I read

Then after we read it, we just talked about how pretty the pictures and the language was and how much information we learned about animals in winter. Then I gave them animal footprint stencils and asked them to color in the stencil on card stock and write a few sentences about where the animal was going. They loved the activity.
Tomorrow I will read 

And the next day I plan to read 

Last one tagged...

I have been tagged by THREE amazing women: Megan at First Grade Magic, Laura at Peace, Love, and First Grade, and Allyce at Teaching and Life: At the Beach. I feel so lucky.

Here are the rules of Bloggy Tag:

1.  Post the rules

2.  Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3.  Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.

4.  Tag 12 people and link them in your post.

5.  Let them know that they have been tagged.

My 12 Facts:

1. I have four brothers and no sisters.

2. One of my brothers is my twin.

3. I have been knitting since I was 6 years old.

4. I have to knit and read a little every day.

5. I have celiacs disease. Sometimes it's hard.

6. I have a daughter Annie, 4 and a son Felix, 6.

7. I hate owning a lot of things. I buy stuff, but get rid of anything old that isn't meaningful.

8. I love to cook, but having young children and working 50 minutes from home makes that hard.

9. I have always wanted to work with babies and their families in the NICU or children in the hospital.

10. My husband loves me just the way I am and it makes me feel special every day.

11. I have to have certain label foods or I won't eat them.

12. I love skin and bath products.

Megan asked…

1.  Do you have a pet? No

2.  What is your favorite type of food? Steak, Lobster

3.  Do you have a phobia of anything? People chasing me

4.  If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Alaska

5.  Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks? Salty

6.  What did you want to be when you grew up? Veterinarian

7.  Where did you go to college? Skidmore, Saratoga Springs, NY

8.  When did you realize that you wanted to be a teacher? In College

9.  What is your favorite grade level to teach? I like them all

10.  What subject do you like teaching the most? Reading

11.  What is one thing in your classroom that you feel like you can't live without? Books

12.  What is your favorite part about blogging? Seeing how other people’s ideas make me look at my teaching and the world in different ways

Laura asked…

1. What was your favorite childhood toy? jacks

2. How old were you when you got your first cell phone? 22

3. Do you have a nickname? What is it? Kimmers

4. Diet or fully leaded drinks? leaded

5. What's your favorite way to exercise? walk

6. Night owl or early riser? both

7. What's your favorite color combination? black and gray

8. Cold weather or warm weather? cold

9. Have you given up your home phone to go just cellular?  not yet

10. What's your favorite thing to do during the summer? hang laundry on the line and watch my kids play in the backyard while I drink coffee and knit

11. What's the best book you have read lately/last? Room

12. How early is your Spring Break if you have one? We have a February and an April break

Allyce asked…

1) What technology do you wish you could have in your classroom? Smart board

2) What is your favorite grade to teach? like them all

3) Do you eat in your staff room? sometimes

4) How many elementary schools are in your district? five

5) What is your favorite way to spend a day off? organizing my house with my kids

6) Where do you go when you need to think? Or just completely relax. library

7) Do you use standards based grading at your school? yes

8) What is your FAVORITE dessert? chocolate peanut butter pie

9) What is your guilty pleasure tv show? Biggest Loser

10) Do you play a sport? no

11) Pets? none

12) What is your very favorite childrens book? The Root Children

I am not going to tag anyone because my guess is that most people are tired of thinking of 12 things and we’ve already learned so much about everyone. This was fun!

4th graders teach 1st graders better

1) I've been struggling with getting some of my first graders to read more fluently.  2) At the same time some of my kids have really been missing the mark on writing for their readers. I can't read anything.

These are facts that keep me awake at night, but at least I can get some blog stalking in.

The story continues. It's still unconnected, at least to me, but read on please.

A spritely, blonde, blue eyed fourth grade boy stops me in the hall. I have his brother in my class. He says, "can I come to your room during writing time and read my journal story?" Sure, I say. He is so cute, it's ridiculous. He can hardly stand it he wants to read to us so badly. He shows up three minutes after asking his teacher if it's okay.

He opens his journal and turns it to my students who look at him in a way they have NEVER looked at me.

Yes, I am a little jealous, but I'm a grown up (sort of) and I can handle being second for a minute thirty seconds.

Anyway, back to Parker (yes, he even has a cute name). He turns the journal to them and starts to explain that he writes on every other line so that his readers (!) will be able to read what he writes. I swear, I could not have scripted this more perfectly. The first graders oo'd and aah'd. Really. They were so impressed. Then he started reading his story and it was well written, funny, focused, and clear. The kids asked all kind of questions about his story and about how he writes. It was fabulous. It was like a book signing.

Sadly, the fourth graders don't have a schedule that works with ours right now, but we are working on changing that because clearly this is modeling as it should be.

So today I was talking about my reading problem with my kids. Remember? Back in the beginning? #1. They aren't working to be fluent. The fourth grade teacher had a brilliant idea! She took a bunch of books from our LLI system of books from Fountas and Pinnell. My lower kids (DRA 8/10) LOVE the Orson and Taco series. There are several books about these two dogs. They beg for them during Monday book shopping. So, get this, the fourth graders are going to read them aloud into an iPad so I can use them for Listen to Reading time. I can't wait!

Thank God for older kids who can help my kids. Cause you gotta do whatever it takes and put yourself and your self-esteem on the back burner.

Beg, Borrow, Steal so that kids can have voice and choice.

I'm throwing this out there to you blogging genius teachers.

What should I buy to fill up my classroom with books so that during read to self (I do Daily 5 and CAFE) kids would be able to pick books they can read AND are interesting AND support their reading advancement? Please tell me what you would do. Where would you order from?

What would you die to have or adore in your own rooms? Do you know of any blogs or sites that would help me figure this out? I am confused!

I am currently stealing Fountas and Pinnell books that are supposed to be in the Literacy Room for the kids in intervention. It is the LLI collection. They are great and I have no choice but to steal because otherwise my kids won't have choice and voice and I must offer this!!

I should add that I KNOW this requires you to put work into something that is clearly meant for my success. I am hoping that you might have it in you to help out a fellow teacher or guide me down a path I might travel over the summer. Thanks in advance!! Really.

Assessment Month= No Learning Month

I have to give the end of the unit math test, the mid-term math assessment, the NWEA math test (computerized and in two parts), the final math assessment (because our principal wants to see what they know BEFORE we teach it), a spelling test, a sight word test, and the NWEA language arts test (also computerized and in two parts).

I'm not kidding.

This would be tolerable if I was the only one organizing the schedule and giving it to my kids...but, of course, this would be too easy. My principal says she needs to set up the test, review the scores, and set up the schedule.

In addition we are short on testing rooms, so some of the kids in my class who need to take tests in small groups need to meet with the special ed teacher in my room.

Why is this a problem, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you. When my kids finish the test, I wanted to send them back to my room with my ed tech so they could do read to self or read to buddy. Instead they roamed the halls because I needed them out of the computer lab so they'd stop distracting other students.

I couldn't even start a new math unit because the math tests I gave them stressed them so much I had to calm them down with free play. Really. They were like, "We have NO idea how to DO these problems!" I'm all, um, yeah I know. I haven't even taught it to you yet. Just move on and tell me when you are finished. It feels SO wrong.

The kids are out of their gourds because they lose their minds without structure. Kind of like when you take the wheel out of the hamster cage. So, I guess it's no surprise that I'm exhausted. The wine didn't help either. I think I'll just go to sleep.

Add some art to your Language Arts!

I've been amazed by some of the bloggers out there who teach art or share how to teach art. I consider myself creative, but by no means artistic. I knit and quilt and create art projects for my own children. Imagine my surprise when I followed the simple directions for how to draw the Pigeon from Mo Willems' books and discovered I can do it and do it well! So I taught my kids how to do it and THEY could do it well too. They were just as pleased as I. It's amazing how adding this drawing enhanced their understanding of speech bubbles and dialogue.

Then I heard about Deep Space Sparkle from one of my favorite new friends Barbara over at Grade ONEderful. I was reading The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and thought this activity would be perfect. We did it! Here is a not so great picture of our artwork. I didn't have my camera, so I used my MacBook PhotoBooth which wasn't very clear. I can add a better picture later.

The kids loved doing this so much. It only took about 20 minutes and my walls look beautiful. I really prefer having their stuff instead of mine on the wall. The ownership is so important.

Finally, today I started to introduce Jan Brett. I don't do themes really, but I introduce lots of books from one author so they get used to looking for authors they like. Just one more way to find a just right book and become intelligent, independent readers. I found something that showed me how to draw a hedgehog. It looked kind of complicated, but I guess not. The kids were just as excited as with the pigeon drawings. Look at these. Even my kids who struggle with fine motor skills did awesome. It was great for everyone's morale!

Necessary

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. (Hans Hofmann)

Today I planned very carefully to simplify every aspect of my classroom day. We didn't do anything unnecessary. We practiced counting by 2s and 5s. We figured out how many ways to equal ten (10) and made an anchor chart for it. We figured out how to remember doubles up to 10 and made an anchor chart of it. We read Keat's Snowy Day and went over and over every part so we could get good at retelling. We played every chance we got and did a whole lot of art that mimicked Keat's style. 

We let the necessary speak. It was so clearly articulated that it screamed to me, "this is right!"

Conferencing

I've been moving towards meeting with children independently. Unlike many other teachers who blog, I have no curriculum cops in my district. Quite the opposite. So I feel weird about not having Guided Reading groups be the backbone of my literacy program, but I don't worry that I'll be in trouble. I was finding that my kids were deferring to the strongest link and were getting really good at not really doing the work on their own. Even when my groups were as small as three children. But when I meet with them individually, I get an amazing picture of who they are and what they can do. I find the ones who are nervous to read and ask them why...and they tell me. Why do they tell me? Because they don't have anyone else listening. So I can totally help them. I'm still trying to figure out how to track and organize the data I'm collecting, but my new best friend Laura Komos from Our Camp Read-A-Lot and Delightful Daily 5 Cafe told me about this amazing book.

I'm reading it cover to cover and learning a lot.  Apparently it's assessment month in our district where no one learns anything, they just get tested all day. So I'll practice in February.

Thoughts for the Day

An emotionally responsive teacher will easily become a more creative teacher. When teachers invest themselves emotionally in their teaching, they begin to work out of a deeper part of themselves. They get closer to who they really are and, at the same time, become more authentic and more original. Authenticity and authorship, not authoritarianism, are at the heart of real authority.

Good teachers learn early to protect themselves. They close their classroom doors, dedicate themselves to their ideals in private,  and befriend other dedicated teachers. Most of all, they turn to the children and thrive on the immediacy of that relationship. They take solace in the knowledge that their work is as important for the children as it is for them. With that understanding, they commit themselves repeatedly to being good teachers.

COMMIT, my OLW.

These quotes are from the book I shared about "Understanding Waldorf Education" byJack Petrash.

Gentle Teaching

You know when you read something that changes and deepens what you've already been passionate about? You sound almost insane to other people. I've been there. I'm looping back to reality now. I'm thinking on the, what can I really do in the classroom? I've come up with a term to call what I plan to do.

Gentle Teaching.

It is a combination of good parenting, Waldorf drawing and fairy tales, Montessori life skills, and great teaching. I found a grouping of wonderful snow books. 

I am working on how to teach some form drawing and letter pictures. I'm downloading some beautiful opening and closing songs. I'm pushing myself with this thought in mind...How last week, when I played Elizabeth Mitchell's Little Liza Jane, my school children sang and tapped and swayed while they did their math and wrote in their journals. I felt a happiness in my heart that isn't measurable in words. I saw their palpable joy and wanted more for them, yes, but also for me.

Gentle Teaching. It's the thing to do. Follow me.

Teaching from the Inside Out

This weekend I went away with my best girl friends in the world. We met in a friend's house high in the mountains in Vermont. I brought my knitting and a book on Waldorf Education. I am working to find ways to teach my first graders that aligns with how I feel children should socialize with the world. The book I found

had me yes-ing and wow-ing all weekend long. I had my computer too so I started generating lists of websites that shared more of how this works. I felt I had cheated my first graders until now. The idea that all letters and words should be tied to images and stories and songs was in my mind, but I was never quite sure how to do this. I think I have found my way and as long as my principal continues to observe my classroom only about two times a year, it think I can sneak it in the classroom. We shall see.

Imagine teaching children about queens and kings and castles and having them draw pictures of a King from the shape of the letter K and then teaching the children that he has a faithful helper cat who sometimes has to do his work. The cat will be drawn from the letter C. Suddenly the children have something to remember or tie the sound of K and C to when they come to a C that makes the K sound. "Oh," they'll say, "the King's cat must be helping him here!" I just love love love this. It speaks to me.

Anthroposophy

This is heavy, don't read on if you'd like silly today. :)

I am knee deep in a philosophical discussion with myself about whether it is more important to be a teacher with great skill at teaching the things we are told we need to know or at teaching the soul how to be independent and want to learn for learning's sake even at the expense of test scores. I know there is a combination in there of sorts, but I feel that schools are lacking the soul part.

We seem to have decided that we can let the 'who' disappear in an attempt to make sure everyone has the same thing. I understand completely that we are not an industrialized society anymore and that people must have more of an education of different things in order to survive, but we have desensitized everyone in the process.

My children are a mass of DRA levels and NWEA math scores. They are upper or lower in my classroom depending on how well they handle testing. I can't let this happen. So I am moving forward to bring more daily art and writing and dance and song into every day. I will keep you posted on my changes and my reading materials and my monitoring of the children's changes.

COMMIT

My OLW...

*Commit to protecting what I believe in.
*Commit to pushing through when faced with tough challenges.
*Commit to my family coming first.
*Commit to reading when other diversions abound.
*Commit though no one forces me to.
*Commit to making my students happier, stronger, and wiser.
*Commit to finding a way to motivate every one of my students to read.
*Commit to who I am.
*Commit to the teaching profession.
*Commit to being healthy instead of thin.

Currently (I figured it out!)

I'm breaking the two posts in one day rule because I cam so excited to have figured this out!!

OLW and Currently

I want to be a part of my blogging community by sharing my OLW and my Currently for January, but it's hard. For one, OLW, I vacillate wildly between several words. I just can't feel like one is right. But I have forced myself to choose (see below). For the other, Currently, I have no idea how to download the template and write on it. Can someone help me?

OLW. As Kristin on A Teeny Tiny Teacher shared, I too can't stick to one thing without thinking another might be the right answer.

I'm going with COMMIT.

I wanted a word that means commit without sounding like commit, but there isn't one. I desperately need to commit to some things and move on. This year I need to decide whether to stay another year in my District and see how my teaching improves or move closer to my home for a job. I work 45 minutes from my house. I have a 4 and a 6 year old and a husband who has to work late hours. I spend a lot of time rushing around on a kind of dangerous road feeling like I'm never where I should be. However, I love the people I teach with and I'd like to have things stay the same for a while so I can focus on making teaching changes rather than get to know a new district changes. Feel free to weigh in.


So COMMIT it is. I'll do Currently tomorrow once I figure it out. I can't come back on tonight because I have book club and I'm hosting!!

Moving into Independence

I have been doing a VERY personalized version of the Daily 4 (we aren't really set up for listening to reading right now). I do Read to Self, Read to Buddy, Write to Self, and Word Work every day, but we all do our own work at the same time. It is differentiated, but at the same time. I want to move toward kids making choices about how they learn best and how long they can do each activity. I started to move towards that independence today. I haven't worried about losing control, more about how to make sure the kids know how to do what they need first etc. I have to remember that it's my first year and I need to watch and be flexible and adjust as needed.

My non-fiction unit is going really well. I use this book for my mini-lessons.

I use a lot of Kids National Geographic books and magazines.

I am teaching features of non-fiction and helping them decide what topics interest them by listing their top 5 topics and then narrowing it down. They are learning about Dash Facts--essentially note taking. Click here for a freebie that really worked well...Dash Fact note taking. I will continue to update with what I am using and how it is working.

Congratulations!

I did it!

I mean you did it! 


I'm at 53(!) followers. Thank you all so so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. 53 is awesome too because if a couple people decide I'm not worth following, I'm still above 50!

And the winner is...

 Kelly B aka Queen Bee! said...

I am a new follower, #45, to be exact! I hope you get more and more followers!

BTW, I just turned 41 and let me tell you, I had a really hard time turning 30-I have never been vain, but it was awful from the moment my eyes opened and feet hit the floor. I made a doctor appointment, got some meds, and it has just been better and better ever since! I can't help but giggle when people complain about turning 27 or whatever.

I have a blog and would love for you to join! Kelly Brown

http://busyinkindergarten.blogspot.com/

Kelly: I've already emailed you a $10 amazon.com gift certificate. Let us know what you used it for! I love to hear how people spend their money on Amazon.  

Thank you all so much! I feel very much a part of this world now. If ever doubt my path, I look at you ladies and feel so blessed to be in your company.

50 followers!!

No, not really.

I just really wish I had 50 followers. It would make me feel more popular. I only just got into posting regularly and commenting on other blogs, but now that I get it and feel more a part of the crowd and understand the street talk...I want more!

I know! I'll have a giveaway! If you blog about my site, please let me know. And, if you aren't yet, PLEASE follow me. It's shameless I know, but really I don't care. When I was younger I would have cared, but I'm 43 (!) and I just don't care anymore. If you aren't in your 40s yet, you might not get it. When you hit your 40s, you really get who you are and you are psyched about it. I hear 60 is even better.

So, on January 8th at 9PM EST, I'll pick a winner. That winner will get an electronic gift card from amazon.com for $10. That's the best I can do. Come on! I need to feel more popular.

PS if anyone knows how I can make a button or put someone else's button on my website, could you please let me know at kagmoran at gmail dot com? Thanks!!

Saddened

I had a sad day today. My classroom children are doing well, but I worry about when they go on to Second Grade and higher. In my room, we play, we laugh, we sing, we dance, we read, and we talk about who we are and why that's just fine.

However that same environment is not replicated where ever a child might end up.

My own First Grader at home is a lovely, beautiful, charming, funny, and VERY intelligent 6 year old.

When he had only just turned 5 (August 28) I sent him to Kindergarten because he was already reading and doing lots of higher level math and thinking skills. I thought Kindergarten was, well, what Kindergarten had been when I was there. I had been teaching Middle School and working in non-profits. I didn't know. I really didn't.

Now he's in First Grade. His school is small, just a K-2 with only 3 classes of each grade and only 15-18 kids in a class. The teachers are teaching what they are supposed to. They seem nice, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of, I don't know, play and joy and singing and sometimes...well, sometimes doing nothing. Why do 5-9 year olds have to work so damn hard? What will they lack if they play? We play so much in my classroom and my kids know a lot. I'll be judged I know by their scores in the Spring, but I still think it'll be fine.

Anyway, back to the point. Yesterday my beautiful son told his teacher (and his Principal) that he didn't want her for a teacher next year. He is supposed to have her for 2nd grade because he is in a looping class. I asked him why he feels this way and he says he just wants someone different next year. He says he's fine, but if he had his choice he wouldn't be in that room next year. He "just wants to meet other teachers and kids."

I didn't really have to ask him why. I knew why. His light isn't there this year. He's tired. He misses the joy. I can't see it anymore and I feel grief the size of which I can find no words to describe.

It brings me to this. When did we stop singing in the morning? When did we decide children didn't need to learn to knit or sew? When did we stop cooking with our kids and start putting them on computers without our supervision? When did we think an iPad app was better than drawing a picture or reading a Caldecott award winning book?

Am I getting too Waldorf-y? Too earthy?

All I know is that I wish all children could feel like school is joyful and exciting and challenging, not miserable. Not something to get through. I think this, and this alone, might help raise scores.

Charitable Giveaway

I have to give a shout out to Holly at Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade. She is doing an amazing giveaway. Check her out.

Rewards

My kids have really settled in to the routine. I heard they would be older and better in January and it's true. I told them to get in line today for lunch and one of the boys was like, "hey guys, follow the line SOP: face the door, voices off, hands to self, stay together!" They all followed him and walked out the door. I felt like crying. No, really, I got teary about it. Is that ridiculous or normal?

I have such a respect for this profession. It requires constant figuring out, reviewing plans, adjusting them to accommodate a variety of circumstances and children's learning styles and crazy schedule changes that have nothing to do with educational goals. The thing is that the effects are instantly apparent. They are right in front of you all the time. For some reason, that works for me.

Back in the Saddle

Coming back after break was actually quite pleasant. The kids were thrilled to see me and each other. We sat for 15 minutes and just listened to each other share their favorite parts of the holiday off. They were so darling.

The real best part...my Ed Tech (one-on-one for an autistic child I have in my class) was moved to another classroom! It is a victory for two reasons.

1) She is the single most negative person I have ever known. She talked about the kids as though they weren't there, over their heads. As in, "Well, I can see that Jane didn't learn her numbers in Kindergarten." She did this kind of stuff all the time, but most especially when a child was trying hard to take a test. "Looks like Frank didn't study for his spelling test!" The child would  then look at me like he/she might die at any moment. His/her face would turn bright red. I can't tell you what this does to me. I would see a white heat (do you know what I mean?). I would calmly put my body between said woman and the lovely child and help him/her get through the terrible moment. I never wanted to contradict her in front of the kids, but I h-a-t-e-d her with everything in me. And to be honest, that's an understatement.

2) The child she was working with was doing amazing in my classroom and didn't ever freak out anymore. Well, that is, unless she worked with him. She just rubbed him the wrong way (which made me feel good really). I think autistic children have a sixth sense that we don't have.

Anyway, the peeps in Special Ed believed me, but wanted data. So I documented every time I gave the child a warning or a prompt and how many times he refused me. He was on task 85-95% of the time which is more than many of my average First Graders. So...I got my classroom back!! Yippee.

I felt so happy today without the negativity that even my insane behavior problem little challenging angel couldn't push my buttons.


Lastly 
I changed my journal writing time to the end of the day. 
I get everyone all packed up, then they go to their tables to write for 10 minutes. This means that the end of the day was quiet and lovely. I put music on and the kids wrote and wrote. I had to make them stop so I could get them on the bus on time. This never happens. I'm thrilled!

2012

Well, it's a new year. I had a fabulous vacation up in Rangeley Maine with my two kids and husband. We read, ate, walked, and laughed for 7 days. It was just what the doctor ordered.

I read a lot of books about teaching non-fiction in the classroom as that is what I want to focus on with my First Graders in January and February. It may continue right along into March too...

We are going to start by looking at common features of non-fiction. What we like to read about. How we will remember what we read and how we will share what we have learned. I have a lot more planning to do and apparently only one more day to do it. But slowly I know I will see the bigger picture emerge for the lessons. I am learning a lot about myself this year. I see what kind of teaching works for me. It isn't just about how the kids learn because I realize now that if I don't enjoy the way the teaching is going down, they won't either. I find my parenting improves my teaching and my teaching improves my parenting.